more ricky stuff

Ricky just posted this link on FB - when he was 5 years old he saw this video - this video prompted him to start drawing.




I remember him telling me that something he watched on Sesame Street inspired him to start drawing but I never saw exactly what he saw and who knew it would spawn a career.

This is the result of that video -
25 years later it hangs on the wall in my living room
pretty amazing, eh?

Speaking of Ricky - I'm learning a couple of Nirvana songs (can you say 'power chords'?) - this song reminds me of Ricky - he didn't like meat back then because it was "too chewy". A snippet from the lyrics. "I couldn't chew my meats

too good". I love that kid.

code complete

I don't talk about work much. I LOVE my job and consider myself very lucky to be in the position I am...but when it comes to blogging - i'm pretty all about mtn biking (or ricky).

So I've been busting my ass at work for the past 4 months. My project started in July with a deadline of 10/30/09.

As I laid out the work I was confident that I had enough time to complete this project. I was thrilled that I was assigned to do everything from the architecture, setup and coding. It's my first big project since I've been able to delve (or maybe I should say sneak) back into the world of coding.

It's a new medication module for our software and there were several new (to me) components: such as doing my first webservice and working with Spring and Hibernate - but I figured I'd could handle it in that time frame.

As July progressed - I was on track. In August, I was on track but I knew it would be close. I had to stay on top of things and a couple of "bad days" could derail me. So in August - I only took a couple of days off work to ride (most specifically - doing the pseudo mtn biking guide gig) .

By the time September rolled around - I had run into a couple of road blocks and that took some time to get past - but putting in a few extra hours kept me on track. But I started sweating it.

At the very end of Sept and early October - I ran into a HUGE roadblock. I tried to get past it on my own and had to bring in one of the senior engineers to help me. Turns out the vendor I was working with had given me wrong information and when I FINALLY got to talk to the Dev Manager on the otherside we were able to bang out the problem in 2.5 days. Oh man - I was so frustrated with wasted time but I had to let that go and keep on plugging.

That roadblock really set me back but I knew if I busted ass I could still make my deadline.

So in October - I was pulling long days. At times rolling out of bed at 4am to immediately start working and working until 11pm and then doing the same the next day. I did go with Jeny to Moab - but while she was riding on Friday - I was at the hotel working. It was super close but by 10/20 - I knew I would make it. What a huge relief. I still worked long days but last week I had a code review (only requiring minor changes) and on 10/30/09 @ 5:03pm - I checked in my code. code complete. yay! :)

Striped Socks girlies ride again!

In November, 2008 - the weather was still beautiful and a few of us got out for a SS (striped socks ride). Carrie has been bugging me about a repeat - so with a flurry of emails - a ride date was set.

This time - 8 girlies showed up.

I took them on my favorite section of the CT. It starts off with a 2.5 mile, ~1300elevation gain climb and that 2.5 miles contains 23 switchbacks. woot! The plan was for a casual ride - no chest beating, no racing to the top - just everyone having a good time riding their bikes.


I took the SS running my 32x19 - that was dumb. Good thing it was a super casual ride - with all the hours i've been putting in at work since early August - my fitness has been on a fast decline and I am in no way, shape or form in SingleSpeed shape. Three of us were on SSs and boy - I think us SSers were missing our gears...but it felt good(once it was over) to clear out the lungs with a 35 minute climb.

There was much stopping and chatting and we rode a measy 11(!) miles. But it was still around ~1900ft elevation gain.

hamming it up!
jeny jo looking as cute as ever

I always see these guys after my CT ride.

Afterward we hit up 3 Margarita for post ride drinks/food. My girlies rock - i'm pretty lucky to have such great friends. :)

not a bad-looking crew, eh?

jeny's side of the story here.

carrie's here.

wwhhheeeeee!

playing around getting a little baby air on the hardail :)

view from solo row

backstory
I'm behind on my blogging. Work is still kicking my ass and my days are mostly spent - eating, sleeping and working 12 - 16 hour days.

I did sneak away for 2 days to ride in New Mexico and then I had the pleasure of crewing for Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris at the 24 hours of moab with my "partner in crime" - Jeny Jo. I love that girl - we have had plenty of good times together and it was so wonderful to road trip with her.

The only reason I'm not working tonight is I've given up for the evening...a little too much wine while working has rendered me very ineffective - i better stop before I mess something up...so might as well blog, eh?

well...so there so much to say about the 24 hours of moab....here it goes...
the "buzz on solo row"
There is a buzz on solo row before the race. All the racers checking out the competition...the speculation of who will do what and to who. Who will fizzle in the night and who will remain strong. And I had a front row seat to all the action - 4th tent from the transition area.

Being Jeny Jo's sidekick for the Wallenfels/Harris pit was an experience. These two have the respect and admiration of all the racers. It was interesting as people came by to (the only I way I have to describe it) is to pay homage to these guys. and after watching them race - I can see why.

One of the "buzz factors" was the Solo women's race. (all this is hearsay on my part - just stuff I heard throughout the weekend - so take it with a grain of salt) Pua Sawicki and Jari Kirkland were generating the most buzz. Lynda said "Pua is super strong when she is on" and it was obvious that Lynda has respect for Pua's ability. Also all along "solo row" was the talk about Pua's attempt to set a record for the Guinness Book of World Records. She had publicized it on her website and it was well known that she was gunning for the 'stars and stripes' jersey and the record. She had been in Moab training for this race for 5 weeks.

the "how to" clinic

Lynda and Dave put on a "how to win at 24 hour race" clinic.

final result - Lynda and Dave won the stars and stripes jerseys.

Lynda had a plan.

She was going to pull "slow" laps of 1:30 during the day and then pace herself throughout the night.

She had her nutrition all setup and a plan for lights. It was amazing (and an honor) to watch Lynda race. She was so calm and so consistent. She was "on the dot" with her lap times. Seriously - I couldn't believe it - you could set your watch by her lap times. The first 3 laps were all right at 1:30 splits. She would come in - eat, change camelbacks, and off she'd go. Somewhere around the 4 lap - she lapped her competition. She took it in stride and never wavered from her plan. The only break she took was ~3am where she took a nap. The she was off again. In the morning when she saw she had the 'stars and stripes' jersey wrapped up - she called it good. Lynda was always cheerful and upbeat and I liked how she respected her competition.

lynda and dave - sometime in the middle of the night

Dave's race was a slightly different story - it was just a strong but a little more hyper. He is a definitely a bit more hyper when racing than Lynda is. On the first lap - he buzzed in at around 1:15 or so and said "I have no front brake". Then he threw his arm around, Kong(the mechanic) and said "I have the goods to win this thing - I'll just need a front brake sometime soon...be ready on the next lap to change it out". So off he went on his second lap with no front brake. The top 3 SS guys were within seconds of each other. On lap 3 - Kong did an amazing job of changing out the brake in less than 2 minutes and then off Dave was again.

Dave was consistent in his lap times too and as the race progressed - we watched his competition fall further and further behind. He was strong throughout the night but somewhere around the 10 lap - the course started taking it's toll. But he always remind confident and upbeat. He had a strong lead but he keep on pushing and he 'sealed the deal' for the stars and stripes jersey.

dave resting for a bit before he headed out again -even tho he had the race wrapped up at 10am - he rode until 12noon. he's one tough dude.


the ultimate pit bitch

Jeny Jo worked her ass off during the race. On Friday - she helped Lynda and Dave setup the pit (I stayed behind at the hotel and put in a solid day at work). The through-out the race she kept on top of things. She was truly amazing.

but then pix speak louder than words.







then in this video you can see Jeny working her ass off - while I'm just yapping in the background. Jeny Jo did all the work - I just stood around chatting with everyone and tried to keep warm. ;)

the "e-factor"

pic stolen off Eszter's blog
(hope you don't mind - but I love this photo)

So the Women's solo race was interesting. Local Boulder racer, Eszter Horanyi was in this category. She's been winning pretty much everything she's entered this year - excelling in the high-altitude, gnarly singletrack races...putting many a man to shame.

I've watched Eszter at the Boulder Short Track races and always have admired her quiet confidence. To me that's so much more appealing than someone that's always bragging about their accomplishments - she let's her riding do the talking.

Eszter and Jeny have been riding a fair bit this season - so Jeny was keeping tabs on Eszter during the race.

As expected Pua started off strong - busting out a 1:11 lap time on the first lap. Sadly, Jari crashed out on the 2nd lap and Eszter and Sarah Kaufmann ( a 4'11" dynamo - yay for short people) were *very* close in lap times. Eszter would roll in then then less than a minute later Sarah rolled in. By lap 4 it looked like it would be a race for 2nd.

Pua busted out a really fast 2nd and 3rd lap too. The announcer was really talking her up - saying "we can call the women's solo race now". Pua was super strong the her first 7 laps. By the 6 lap she had put 40 minutes on Eszter and Sarah.

But as the night wore on - Pua lap times started fading and we saw Eszter and Sarah putting time into her. The 40 minute gap dwindled to 30 minutes and then 20 minutes. When the gap got down to 20 minutes - Pua pulled the plug on her race.

So at 4am the race was on for 1st as Eszter and Sarah remained close. Eszter always looked pretty good when she rolled in while it was dark. The only time I saw her look worked over was when the sun had come up and the 11 laps she did looked like they were taking their toll. Slowly in the early morning hours Eszter finally put a gap on Sarah and after discussion amongst their camps - they called it good at 13 laps - with Eszter being the 24 hour champ with a Stars and Stripes jersey.

Here's Eszter's story. I'm really impressed on how she respects her competitors and gives them credit. She is a true champion and a real class act.

I was wondering how Pua would portray her race - the only thing I've seen on the web is "Both Eatough and Sawicki were suffering from flu-like symptoms and were unable to defend their solo national titles of 2008"

It's girls like Eszter and Sarah give me hope for this sport of mtn bike racing. As Jeny Jo would say "yay team!"

the men's race.

this video says it all. From my personal view point - Josh looked like a broken man the last 3 laps. I can't believe he kept riding - he's one tough dude. big congrats to the 2nd place guy too. hardcore.

pilgrimage

For the past 4 riding seasons I've made what has become a pilgrimage for me - a trek to New Mexico.

I've been mtn biking for 7 years - and in all the trails I've ridden and seen - the South Boundary Trail has become my all time favorite trail. Every time I ride it - somewhere along the way I am in slack-jaw amazement of this trail

This year was no different. It was a much smaller crew this year as I missed the "official GITA" (gasping in the aspens) the week before due to attending the GABF with Dave. Also, Sasha bailed and then Tom bailed (Tom sadly had to put his cat to sleep that Friday). and most sadly - Glen is no longer in New Mexico.

so this year - it was just me, Mark and Ben (from the UK)

Ben caught me (and my sheepish grin) getting ready to ride while braiding my hair and wearing my boots. (hey - they were too big to put in my suitcase - it was easier to wear them)

Start of the trail - never disappoints!

amazing apsens (and pine groves and rock gardens)

a few boo-boos along the way

ending with another post ride tradition - dinner at Eskes

actually I didn't like any of Eske's beers - so when I got to Boulder - I made a b-line for the Southern Sun and had a GOOD beer. :)

mark's pix here.
ben's pix here.

"celebrate good times - come on!"

it's a celebration....celebrate good times - come on!

that song has been playing in my head ever since I've heard that Ed proposed to Jeny! yahhhoooo!!!

Tonight we went to dinner to celebrate and hear all the gory, girlie details. And in addition (no pun intended) Jeny's sister Jessica is going to have a baby. So there was much to celebrate and talk about and laugh about. I swear - my life is just so damn good...i'm so lucky to have such great friends.

me and the girlies

dana and xanthe - enjoying their smoothies


jessica - jeny's beautiful sister

ed made a surprise visit :)