Sea Otter Classic

Another Sea Otter Classic has come and gone, officially starting the DH race season. We couldn't have gotten any luckier with the weather...sunny and 65 degrees nearly every day...which is pretty incredible since the typical weather is cold, windy and rainy with hub-deep mud making it nearly impossible to even roll down the downhill track. The DH track was the same as always...turn, pedal, jump, jump, jump, turn, pedal, jump, pedal, turn, turn, stepdown, pedal pedal pedal...notice some kind of theme here?! Sea Otter is great because you get to see all the new factory bikes and gear and say hi to all your old friends and new sponsors, but the DH track is really nothing special. More than anything it's just a long mountain cross track. It's a good fitness test to let you know where you stand amongst your competitors, and let's just say I did not pass the test. As much fun as it was to spend two weeks sitting in the car going to Nebraska, it really didn't do much for my endurance and/or leg power. I was feeling it by the time I got to the first traverse pedal section in the course, which is only about 45 seconds out of the gate. WEAK!!! Besides that, I was feeling great on the jumps on my Cove Shocker and finally got over the mind f*c% from my crash a few weeks earlier. I took 0.3 seconds off my time from last year and ended up placing 19th out of about 26 riders. The pro field was stacked with world cup champions so I wasn't disappointed in my placing as much as my lack of pedal power.

I spent a lot of time in the expo area which ended up paying off. I won a Northstar season pass in a raffle worth about $280, so you'll know where to find me this summer! Mammoth is still covered in 30 feet of snow, and they're still getting dumped on, so I'm guessing their bike park won't be open till mid-August.

Turn Two Crew! heckling racers...the best part of the otter!!!


Pump Track and Dual Stunt Course


Marzocchi tent was a great place to hang out with free beer and Ronnie killing it!


Tom Rogers multi-tasking


I won the season pass, but Steph won this sweet new Giant cruiser from Northstar!!!


Ryan Leech trials demo

Nebraska...The Good Life!

A few weeks ago I hopped in the car with Natalie, Bella, and Mika and we drove 1,500 miles out to Nebraska to spend some QT with the family. Got to spend a few cold and dreary days with Nana in Albion and few more cold and dreary days in St. Edward with Grandma and the Zurovski family for gma's 94th birthday party. Nana hosted some lovely coffee and dinner parties and took Natalie and me out to the Runza because Natalie just adores it and always used to insist on going! She's a much better sport than I am. No way I could stomach the combination of a doughy bread pouch filled with meat product, cabbage, and onions. I'll stick to the chicken salad, thanks! Totally kicked Natalie's butt at Scrabble and she returned the favor with Cribbage (she's a cheater and I'm a sore loser). Marcia Wilcoxon and Therese Mortenson came over for dinner and I got schooled in a game of mexican train dominoes.

It was nice catching up with all the cousins at Grandma's. I can't believe how big some of their kids are getting! Brings back memories of all of us playing when we were that age and would get together during the holidays at the old farm house and do Nebraska farm things, like make parachute baskets and throw them off the tops of the silos and walk down the train tracks. Really exciting stuff!!! Drank my fair share of wine with my cuz, Jessica, and my mom, sister, and aunts Marlene and Marcia. Grandma is doing amazingly well, and I agree with my mom 100% when she says that all she asks for is to still have an amazing mind and heart like Grandma when she gets that old. Slept in the creepy basement where it's not uncommon to find snakes, squirrels, and who knows what else (George's ghost from the old farmhouse, perhaps???) running around in the dark. But, she does have the best shower with more pressure than you could ever want or need. Reminds me of that shower head Seinfeld episode...

Spent 2 cold and dreary days in Oakland and Lyons and got to spend time with Mom as well as Jane and Brandee Johnson, Kirk Kunze, and Derwin Andelson. Shortly after I got a tour of the new house in Lyons, I let Mika out and she immediately rolled in something dead so I had to jump in the shower with her and scrub her down. We both smelled like purple Suave shampoo for days! Stopped by my old high school for a few minutes. Besides a couple teachers, nothing has changed...even the awful orange gym with a faded orange stage curtain. YUCK! Spent a day with JJ and I made an attempt (pitiful at best...) at throwing on a pair of grips and swinging on the high bar at JJ's Gym. Brought back many many great memories...and lots of pain in my shoulders and back two days later! Spent St. Patt's having spaghetti and wine with Kate and Amber in Omaha. It's always entertaining busting out the old yearbooks and reminiscing about the "good ole days". I know that the three of us will always be close friends, even if we have nothing in common and only see each other once in a blue moon. Love you guys!!!

Made my way to Lincoln and just as I was driving into town, my old roommate from Mammoth, Brandon Sheaffer, just so happened to be driving through Lincoln at the same time! He was in the middle of driving cross country back home to PA before heading to Kyrgystan for the next two and a half years with the peace corps. He arrived there just a week before all the deadly anti-government fighting, but thankfully is in a safe place getting accustomed to his new surroundings. Anyway, as he was driving into the Nebraska, he took a picture of the "good life" sign and sent it to me thinking I was back in California. We played a frustrating yet hilarious game of cat and mouse around the city of Lincoln but finally met up for a few minutes before he continued on his journey. I really hope I have the opportunity to travel over there before his time comes to an end. It would be an experience of a lifetime to visit once he's settled in and can translate the Russian/Kyrgys language for me and be my tour guide through the amazing mountains and rural communities.

Unfortunately my time in Lincoln was limited and with dad's new schedule keeping him at work from 8-5, I really had to make every last second I got to spend with him count! Luckily, we spent quite a bit of time together last fall when he drove out to Cali with Nana and Karen and I got to tour the Hoover dam, Nevada sand dunes, attend Steph's graduation from Brooks Institute of Photography, and show them all around Mammoth Lakes. Somehow, between all the shit talking and sarcastic joking around, Dad and I always seem to find ourselves in trouble...and of course it's ALWAYS his fault. We almost got arrested trying to shoot photos of the dam at night (my idea...). A cop actually threw multiple f-bombs our way...yelling at us about terrorists blowing themselves up.... Nana would have killed us if she had to bail us out of jail 30 miles outside of Vegas. If it weren't for Dad's amazing driving skills, we would have gotten stuck in the middle of the dessert attempting to offroad Nana's Impala over moto whoops to get photos of the sand dunes up close and personal (also, my idea...).

These are the Impala's tire tracks through the deep sand with the dunes in the background. SKETCHY!!!

So anyway, I spent 2 days in Lincoln and was able to hang out with Tara for an afternoon. We went shopping and she helped me pick out an ice cream cake to help Tami celebrate her graduation and Karen and Natalie celebrate their March birthdays. I was able to make it to Tami's Nursing school pinning/graduation ceremony. It's been a long and difficult journey for her, but I'm so proud of her for sticking to it and coming as far as she has! Went out for a nice dinner at (where else...) Outback Steakhouse with Nana and the family.

Afterwards I drug Dad and Karen out on the town to meet up with Natalie and Tami for my standard Jameson on the rocks, followed by a few games of pool and some horrific karaoke singing. Dad and Karen were troopers till about midnight and then Tami took us to a cowboy bar on the north end of town. Drank our fair share of Bud Light bottles and I found someone to help me remember how to dance the pretzel. Last time I attempted that was in high school and I ended up with a fat lip. They almost convinced me to enter the fake bull riding contest, but that's one thing I'm glad I wasn't quite drunk enough to participate in. There were some pretty good looking muscular guys wearing nothing but their cowboy boots, hats, and whitey tighties, and boy, did they know how to ride!!! The girls were next, but I refused to follow up the chick that stripped down to her string thong, bra, and white socks. No thanks... I still had an amazing time and got home WAY too late (3am?) considering I had to wake up at 6am, put all my crap back into my backpack, and catch an airplane out to Baltimore for my boyfriend, Pete's, sister's wedding in Annapolis, MD.

Gotta love some good clean Midwestern fun!

I love going back home and being able to spend time with my family, but being in Nebraska makes me realize that I really do belong in the sunshine and mountains of California. I think I saw 3 hours of sunshine the entire time I was in the Midwest. I couldn't live without my downhill bike and my snowmobile and my laid back mountain town transient lifestyle. Who knows...maybe 10 years down the road when I'm finally ready to settle down and get married and have kids I'll reconsider the flatlands. But then again, who am I kidding? Me?...settle down? HA!!!

Suicide Sunday

Got up way too early this morning, made a quick visit to the donut shop for some coffee and, of course, a donut (rare occasion these days... trying hard to eat healthy). Drove 40 minutes over to Agoura Hills and met up with some of my favorite people in the world. Steph drove separate so she could head straight to work afterwards. Hiked 45 minutes up Dead Cow to ride the incredible Suicide trail. Fast, rocky, loose, and out of control. What a great way to spend a Sunday morning!

I guess these people have a different idea. They take up half the parking lot every Sunday morning and do this weird thai chi sort of crap. They don't hold back on the music or their props... today we saw them working on a routine with fake swords and fans! Weird but entertaining as we gear up in our full face helmets, body armor, and Leatt neck braces to ride bikes down trails that most people choose not to walk up or down for that matter. I can only imagine what they think of us...

Ended up doing two amazing runs. The first hike up sucks. The second run...forget it. Plus today it was about 50 degrees and really windy, and when you're sweating your butt off, it makes you feel even colder. But once you drop in you tend to forget about the 45 minutes of suffering and have the time of your life for the next 5-10 minutes. One lady walking down made a comment as we were all pushing our 40lb bikes up the trail "Sure seems like a lot of hard work for not much fun...". She obviously hasn't ever ridden a downhill bike.

Props to Steph for making it through the rock bowls for her first time ever. I'm so insanely proud that she's doing so well on a bike and can keep up with the big boys out there. Who would have ever thought our little Stuffy would become such a badass downhiller chick! She probably wouldn't want me to mention this, but early on the trail she got to feel what it's like to hit your unmentionables on your top tube. Welcome to the club Stuffy... It won't be the last time that happens. I was riding behind Carlos in Mammoth last summer practicing for a race and he hit his nuts on his top tube and just as he was going down I slipped a pedal and hit mine as well (not my nuts...the female counterpart). As much pain as we were both in, it was pretty damn hilarious that we were both down for the count at the same time.

Rollin' in the Escalade!

I was feeling more confident than I'd felt in quite some time out there and got a good feel for how fast (and sketchy...) my new tire setup is going to be for next weekend. We made it to the bottom after our second run and in good form, at 10:50am, we busted out the cooler and enjoyed the most delicious beer any of us had ever tasted. But I suppose that's how all beer tastes after a great day of riding. Cheers to all my Suicide riding buddies!!!

Vultures, the Easter Bunny, and Itchy Balls...

Got up early this morning to ride in Simi with Carlos and Steph. We pull up to the park at the bottom where we leave a vehicle for shuttling the downhill trails and no more than 15 feet away was a vulture ripping apart a poor little bunny rabbit. Seeing how Easter wasn't long ago, I couldn't help but think that the unrecognizable mess of fur and gore was our one and only beloved Easter bunny. But on that note, I guess I'm surprised we had egg hunts this year at all.

Rewind a few weeks... I was working on the pump track doing a bunch of digging and maintenance (dirt therapy) when Steph and I look over and see Mika chomping down on some sort of creature. My first thought was ground squirrel since she's always digging around for them, but as we walked closer we realized she was in the process of eating a baby bunny that she had dug out of it's nest. She had finished it before we could get over there and before we knew it, she went back into the nest she pulled out ANOTHER bunny. Mind you, we're not talking tiny baby bunnies; they were at least four inches long. She must have seen the looks of horror and amazement on our faces and known that we were going to try to take the thing away from her, so she squeezed it hard enough for it to make that high pitched squeak noise (if you've ever heard a baby rabbit clenched in the teeth of a dog, you know the sound I'm talking about... not pleasant or easily erased from memory) and preceded to swallow the furry little guy WHOLE. I can't complain too much because for one thing, there's no shortage of rabbits in this part of the world and two, I really didn't have to feed her much the next couple of days, so she actually saved me some money. As Carlos always says..."It's a recession, son! I gotta pay my bills somehow!!!" Anyway, like I mentioned before, this happened about 3 weeks ago and we didn't notice any fur in her excrement until just days ago. Poor thing's been digesting cottontail for almost a MONTH!

So back to the vulture... I snapped this photo of Carlos leaning out the window taking a picture of one ugly ass bird gettin' his grub on...

Just as I was about to switch over to video, Carlos JUMPED out of the truck yelling I'm gunna catch it! and started chasing the damn vulture. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Watching him chase it around with his arms flailing and chest out... that's why we keep him around!

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to rub a rabbit's foot for good luck, not eat one that had escaped the clutches of the scavenger's claws and razor sharp beak. The vulture reminds me of the Disney movie "Jungle Book" when the three vultures are chillin' on the dead tree. "Whatcha wanna do? I dunno, what YOU wanna do? Doh ohoh (laugh). I dunno. So whatcha wanna do?... I just found that clip on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGTWmrnPdgk

Turns out my memory's pretty good! I haven't seen that movie in probably 15 years.

Moving on... it's about a 15 minute hike from the top of the shuttle drop off to the DH trails and we spent nearly the entire time talking about riding through poison oak and how it's possible for it to spread so easily. Of course Carlos holds nothing back and tells us how he showered right after a ride and spread the poison oak ALL over his body. Legs, arms, crack, and yes...balls. Steph went on a trail ride earlier in the week and about 2 days later she was covered in the telltale rash and bumps and uncontrollable itching. Armpits, scalp, legs, thighs, and yes... Well, I won't go any further into detail. I've been lucky so far this spring riding the bike trails in Southern California and have only gotten a few small spots on my legs, but even that is enough to actually wake you up from your sleep because it itches so bad. I'm sure my time will come soon enough.

Carlos found this cave and we convinced him to ride down and out of it. Some hikers actually stopped to take video for youtube. Luckily the photo came out pretty good because the descent was pretty weak... Sorry, Carlos. We still love you!

We decided to ride Hummingbird, which we hadn't done on our downhill bikes in years. It was a great warmup run, especially since I was still holding back a bit due to a pretty hard body slam over the bars about a week before on a stepup jump on g-spot. We dropped in shortly after I avoided the Rattlesnakes as I relieved myself and I played a clip of "Three Best Friends" from the movie, The Hangover. I charged down the trail and it turned into a highspeed chase between Carlos and me. It felt so great to let go of the brakes, grab all bars, and charge as hard as you can over rocks and around tight berms and corners. Got to the bottom after playing around on a few drops and had just enough time to reset the shuttle and do another lap on Animal trail. As always, it's super fun and SKETCHY! It's got some great sections that you can't think about. Just hold on and hope for the best.

Steph and Carlos took off for work and Mike's wedding, and I headed back to the house to watch a mindless movie while Tom climbed his "sweet 16" in the backyard. I still feel bad about the time he jumped down from at least halfway up and when he landed he got that awful warm squish through his toes. Mika...why don't you pick up after yourself?! On the other hand I don't feel TOO bad because it was midnight and he was a few beers deep, so that helps makeit a little more hilarious.

I then worked on my bike for countless hours in the garage. Got the bike pretty dialed for the ultra-pedally Sea Otter race, which is next weekend. Changed out the front tire to a 2.5 Maxxis dhf supertacky (ghetto tubeless) and the back to a 2.35 Kenda semi-slick (xc tube). Made some new bumpers for my fork out of my new best friend, rubber splicing tape. Packed the bearings with grease, dialed in the drivetrain and then moved on to Steph's trainwreck of a bike. Poor thing needs more love than anyone can give it at this point, but I did my best to keep it rolling (attempted to true her dented wheels. attempted being a key word...). If only it were possible for mechanics to make millions...that'd be my next pursuit.

Somehow it's 1:30am and I've got my alarm set for 6:30am to meet the crew for the regular Sunday Suicide ride. I can only hope they've got the cooler ready for afterwards. They haven't failed me yet...

Lake Elsinore adventures with "Frosty" Dave

This picture was actually taken about a week ago when Dave shuttled me (THANK YOU DAVE!!!) for some DH runs on one of the test tracks down there. This is the start of the trail and it's incredibly fun. It starts about 3/4 of the way up the Ortega. The trail is steep, loose, and has fast corners that make you hold on for dear life and hope your brakes don't fail. Mika charged along for two runs and spent the next two days limping around on sore paws...but you'll never seen a dog happier than Mika on a bike ride! Totally worth the pain and suffering...I guess that's where Mika and I are so alike! Dave said it was pretty cool watching Mika chasing me down the trail from the bottom shuttle stop. I got to ride this trail a few months ago when I hopped in the Marzocchi RV with my roommate, Tom Rogers, to meet a couple of the Intense riders for suspension testing. Pretty amazing being able to follow two world champions down a trail... only for about 5 seconds before they rode out of sight... but still pretty incredible. We did somewhere between 12-15 laps and I could hardly hold onto my bars, let alone the brakes, for the last 4-5 runs.

These pictures were taken just outside Hell's Kitchen. If anyone ends up actually reading these blogs of mine, I hope you're not offended by any of my pictures or writings. Couldn't help but have a little bit of attitude when you're standing in front of a sign like this and behind a bike like that...



Wow...I just wrote an entirely too long blog about my adventures doing DH shuttles and going for a streetbike ride with Dave (Frosty, Dizzle, D...) on the Ortega Highway...and my internet lost it's connection and I lost the whole damn thing. Blogging is not going well for me so far. Do I dare even attempt this again??

Here goes... The weather was too beautiful not to go out and enjoy it. 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I swore long ago I would never allow myself to ride a streetbike, especially after witnessing a guy tumbling down the freeway shortly after flying into Baltimore, Maryland just a few short weeks ago (a story for another day). But I've never been one to turn down the opportunity for an adventure, so I put my hesitation aside, held on for dear life, and went along for the ride. I know better than to allow myself to do these kinds of things, especially when I'm broke. Last time I went out to play on a friend's toy, I ended up with a new snowmobile that I'm still paying off month to month. Same thing happened with downhill mtn biking...thanks Ganley!

So we took off and rode up the Ortega Highway, one of the most beautiful and deadly highways in the US (due to high speeds, wreckless streetbikers, no passing lanes, blind corners, traffic commuting from IE to beach cities, and turnouts that noone ever uses). Someone actually told us when we made it to the top that they had just passed a biker laid out on the road that had rear ended a BMW. OUCH! We were lucky enough to only have to pass two cars and one semi truck early on and had a road free of any traffic on the way up since all the traffic was commuting back down in the opposite direction. I know Dave was holding back on the throttle but it was still pretty exciting and kept me at the edge of my seat feeling the power and cornering ability of a streetbike. Hardest part about it was figuring out how to keep from slamming into him as he pulled in the clutch and not being ripped off the back when he let it go.

Ended up at Hell's Kitchen at the top of the Ortega, which is a pretty amazing biker bar (Mom - you'd LOVE IT! Put it on your list of 1,000 things to see and do before you die!) that pretty much follows the motto: We Don't Give A Shit! Awesome. They had signs in the bar/restaurant like "Live to Ride" and "A Tip is Like a Penis - Size Does Matter". Enjoyed a delicious cheeseburger and Sierra Nevada sitting next to a coffin containing every condiment known to man with some sort of hydraulic lift that opened and closed the lid when you pulled on the skull handle.

The view really is amazing as you look down on Lake Elsinore and the surrounding mountains. The picture I posted above doesn't come close to showing how incredible it is. Even though you're still so close to the city, being up there on a bike that has more power than you know what to do with really makes you feel away from it all. Makes you feel alive, like you're able to separate yourself from the daily grind of all those 9-5'ers that don't take that extra minute to take it all in. Much different feeling than sitting in stop and go traffic...

Spent the rest of my time in Elsinore bullshitting with Dave and hanging out watching season 5 episodes of Weeds and Robot Chicken and eating freshly picked oranges from the backyard and cold Digorno garlic crust pepperoni pizza. Add a little red wine to the mix, and life doesn't really get much better than that! Thanks Dave for all the exciting adventures and letting me crash on the couch again...sorry for the drool I may have left behind. Until next time...!

And So It Begins...

Couldn't really get into the whole idea of Tweeting, and I really enjoy reading all of Brandon's blogs (Sheaffer...I had no idea you were such a great storyteller!), so I figured I'd give this blogging nonsense a try. I'm not a good writer or story teller, and I don't expect anyone to actually follow my writings, but I think will be a great thing for me to be able to look back on all my adventures years from now. And so it begins...