another season begins

Seems like fall now: sort of chilly, long shadows, and maybe rain tomorrow or Tuesday.

ZsaZsa started a new racing season with a major long drive up to a place called Penn Valley. I mapped out our various rides today. ZsaZsa going to Penn Valley and I heading out through West Sac to the American River bike trail. We woke up at an unspeakable hour to trek the three hours, one way, for the 0.5 hour race. I got dropped off on a exit near the old Lighthouse course in Sacramento. Reed exit. Guess what, there is now a new IKEA at this exit. How funny... ZsaZsa continued to Auburn and then to Grass Valley and finally Penn Valley. I figured I could ride out to the end of the bike path and back in the four hours that it would take to drive and race in PV.

We coordinated pretty good. ZsaZsa called about four hours later, and I was almost back to our meeting spot in OldTown.

As I got in the car, I noticed a certificate. I said "oh, how cool, you got a certificate". ZsaZsa said "no, I won". Not bad for the first outing of the season and one where her arm was sort of twisted into going. ZsaZsa said it wasn't a big deal. But, then about four hours later she asks "do you think anyone took pictures?"

We are celebrating with Rice Krispie treats, non vegan, with real butter. I asked Flandria if she knows of a vegan recipe, but her blog is down until the 2007 racing sesason begins. Frick.

so what...

Floyd got a new hip yesterday and Shakira is singing about no lying hips? Hum...my hip hurts too, but I think I can wait on the replacement until after I win a Tour de France. Maybe a thumb replacement might be in order. I heard they can replace the thumb joint. Oh well. Meanwhile, back to other matters of no consequence.

From www.cyclingnews.com 9/29/06...
Astana riders Alexandre Vinokourov and his most valuable domestique Andrei Kashechkin have decided to call it a day for this season after the Züri-Metzgete, the pair announced. Even though the two could not participate in the 2006 Tour de France, they made the Vuelta a España a tough battle for Alejandro Valverde, and managed to turn the race around in the final week, to take home the maillot oro.

It is this achievement that French trainer Frédéric Grappe questions now in Vélo Magazine, saying that the physical progress Vinokourov achieved since the Tour de France last year was practically impossible. "He would have gained, in one year, between 35 and 40 watts on the verge of the anaerobic threshold? That's nearly impossible on that level of training. Even the best training in the world would not lead to this kind of performance increase," Grappe told the French magazine, speaking of those last two mountain stages where the Kazakhstani reversed the overall classification.

Those French. Can't they just let their inner child out, imagine a glorious ride, and believe in the "impossible" sometimes?

Loafing around

need a new post...here's where the bread goes...

frig you...mother fricker...

Marscat once said that I don't like the word fricking or frigging. That is partially true. I didn't grow up saying either of those words. I didn't even know how to say fuck. I said "fock" as in rhymes with locke, until I heard my dad get mad at someone. Then I learned that it wasn't fock but fuck. I figured if you were going to get mad enough to cuss, why not say the whole darn thing. A while back I noticed that everyone was say fricking or frigging. To be in, I started saying it too. But then I wondered??? Why can you say "fricking" but not "frick you" or "frig you" or "mother fricker"...guess it's not the same.


When I was younger, another thing that I did not know was that the English called track and field: "athletics". Interesting. Some folks that I work with decided to go to an Athletics game today.



We took 1/2 day off and BARTed over to Oakland. The game was pretty fun - all 4 innings that I saw. I left early and went on a bike ride.



My bike is funny looking. Can you spot all the weird things about this road bike? Perhaps, all the cross talk has got me in a tizzy.

training and walks

today's training is either off or a 40 min walk...does it count if the walk is 40 minutes and 1/2 block?

porno for wrists & cats

I just got this splint for my aching wrist. I swear if you look at the splint at just the right angle, it looks like something from a porno shop.
Hernando

has a picture of the little blow-up porno doll that it reminds me of.


Here's what the splint is really supposed to look like, and how it is supposed to be used.

blogger ate the cow

Blogger must not be a veggie. Blogger ate this picture, and it didn't make it to ZsaZsa's berkeley veggie story last week.

vegan tendencies

Ever go to a restaurant and order a meat dish? Then the dish arrives and for some reason, the meat has a funny flavor? I notice this ever so often. Today, we cooked dinner, and took it over too our friend's house. We got on this subject. She agreed, and had the following to say about it.

"You know that you're a vegan when you feel so guilty that you still eat rotten meat." Dr. Maria Nieto, Cal State East Bay, Professor of Immunology.

What she meant was that after she ordered the meat dish, she felt so guilty about the dead animal, that she had to eat the whole darn thing even though it tasted terrible.

The original Marscat doing her girl thing...

This ritual must be a girl cat thing. Daisy does the same odd scraping when she drinks water too. Minnie, a boy, does not. So inquiring minds want to know if Emma O has shown any signs of this waterdance ritual?

p.s. I look for Vino to be in the golden jersey after the ITT tomorrow.

before going on a training program

Kitty in the Sink Pics

Minnie pie!

he's a bit skinnier these days.

At least someone is lickin’ their chops…

Doc said to cut out wheat, white sugar, no sodas, no gluten, no grain, no oat – rye –or barley, also no pasta, no bagels, no crackers, no bread – oops mentioned that already.

Coach said no eggs, no cow's milk, no goat's milk, no cheese, no butter, no flesh, no fish –I hate fish so that’s an easy one, no chicken.

Girlfriend said no potato chips, no fries, no McDs, that means no Happy Meals and no Happy meal toys.

Rheumy said – no alcohol. Other Rheumy said 2-3 per week is okay.

Rheumy said hematocrit going down from 40 to 32 is not a big deal and won’t be noticeable. OK…

Also, said taking a drug that inhibits making DNA drug is not a big deal. Excuse me, I like my DNA.

Hematologist said –oh, I can fix that, the RBCs that is…Yes, then I’d need a TUE from USA cycling.

So what’s left that’s worth eating (nutritious and makes me happy) that can help me fuel riding my bike on minimal RBC fumes?

Just bought a buncha cat food that cost a fortune since the 15 year old is getting picky now – isn’t that just like a frickin’ teenager?

Maybe, I’ll eat that…

And to top it all off, the frickin’ Vuelta is boring.

more Vino please

Since we have can't have two or more vinos for a while, the next best thing is two stages wins by a Vino.