happy holidays

We had a fantastic christmas with family. It was nice to take walks, make homemade pizza, open presents and drink heineken. Tim got a new Sprinter Van and a speedo. Life is good.

Happy Solstice

Its been a party week. I've put all the energy that used to go into training, into partying. We had the Shenanadoah Bicycle Company party that was catered by Indian American Cafe. It was so good and so much fun. Even though it was party mode. There were fun games to play like the Indo balance board and the paper bag game. We also went to the Blue Nile Christmas party and Kathy Byers's 50th. And then of course the Solstice Party at the Carpenters. I've gone to bed after 3 am 3 nights this week. Its fun, but exhausting and not sustainable.

I did get my but into the pool today. I really love swimming. I still have some Xterra dreams. It would be nice to have some kind of club to practice with because it can get pretty boring staring at the bottom of the pool.

Also, went to see my doctor. He said, "Let comfort be your guide" . He asked if I think about my leg all the time still and I said no. He said well its healing then. So I guess I have free reign to do whatever I want now as long as its comfortable. I wonder if TIm will interpret that as I can go nordic skiing? The doc did take an Xray, but it really doesn't look like the other ones. One view looks really healed up and then another looks like a big gap still. There was a different techie doing it so she did it a little different than the other one.

Tim, Ruby and I are going up to Delaware for Christmas. All of my family will be there, so it should be fun and loud.

Michael Browne at Trek finally let the riders know that there is not going to be a Trek/VW team next year. He hasn't made a press release, but it was pretty obvious he didn't want to talk about it to the press. Its just sad that after 12 years of great racing, something couldn't of worked out. But they decided to put their money towards a Euro team and a stacked Downhill team instead during these tough economic times. Lea, JB and Ross didn't have much notice that they weren't going to have jobs. But hopefully, they will find great sponsors so they can keep doing what they love. Like Lea said, its not a great time to be a bike racer.

Maybe its not a good time financially, but the competition keeps getting better and better. Its just the right time for a highly motivated and savy racer who can get to the big races on the cheap.

Is Katie Compton the most bad ass racer or what? I love to see her win and kick butt in Europe.

Happy Jack Frost

The Jack Frost party was so much fun. It was so magical that it was snowing, too. I didn't get to do a shotski with Chippy, but I should have other chances to do one. It was nice seeing so many friends from near and far. White Grass is a special place.

The skiing was fantastic. My leg is getting more stable and stronger. Of course, White Grass is a pretty hilly place all in all. And the downhills are still not so good for me. One of my favorite aspects about the trails at White Grass are the big corners on the downhills. They are sweeping and require comittment. There was still plenty of untracked woods, too. When you get to know the trails really well, you can start making your own different ways up and down the mountain. Its nice to get intimate with the woods in between the trails.

We ate at Sirianni's... the best pizza ever. Happy Birthday Mike Goss!

Today was a spring day. I actually went out for a road ride. It felt awesome, but now I'm tired from it like I trained or something.

Get outside and have some fun this weekend!

Is that So?

We spent Thanksgiving in New Mexico with Tim' s family. We had a good time and charged up our love batteries from seeing family. It was a reminder of how much I like visiting the southwest and how I'll really miss going to Tucson for winter training.

Stop reading now, if you want balloons and ponies.

Some bad news is coming down the pipeline regarding the Trek/VW team for next year. Its a shame, but I guess all things must come to an end. Or like George Harrison sings ' All things must pass'.

I've been reading Ekhart Tolle's books lately trying to figure things out, like how to be more aware and conscious in the present moment. I might of mentioned before how much of my former life as a racer was spent reveling in past wins or worrying about future race results. And how I was basing a lot of my self worth on those results and fell apart at any criticism. I also would think that I have to do these intervals or workout to get the results that I want. The means(the intervals) were becoming something that I really didn't like even though I thought that the ends(winning a race) would justify it. There is this assumption that success or winning is in the future and the ends will justify the means. But the ends and the means are the same. And if the means didn't contribute to my happiness, then neither will the end.

I relate to what Tolle says. He talks about a king who is tired of his life and seeks out happiness, enlightenment and peace from a wise man. The king will pay any price for this knowledge. The wise man says it is too great a price for the king to pay for that knowledge, so he will give that knowledge to the king as a gift. The wise man gives the king a ring with the inscription: THIS, TOO, WILL PASS. Before you call anything good or bad, touch the ring and read the inscription. That way the king could always be at peace.

He talks about another scholar who is angrily confronted with (false) accusations by some townspeople. The scholar simply replies "IS THAT SO?" Instead of saying, 'how dare they?, don't they know who I am or how upstanding I am.' His non judgement of their accusations shows he is not attached to people's opinions of him. He also knows the fleeting nature of people's emotions and has chose to not resist them.

So what can you do about other people's decisions? Your bike sponsor chooses to take their marketing budget in another direction, that is the reality. In the past I might of said, how dare they? Don't they realize what an amazing person and racer that I am? I would be bitter and angry. I would blame them from holding me back on being successful. My ego would be offended.

Quoting Tolle now," What the world doesn't tell you- because it doesn't know- is that you cannot become successful. You can only be successful. Don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment. And what is that? There is a sense of quality in what you do, even the most simple action. Quality implies care and attention, which comes with awareness. Quality requires Presence."

Yes, its a rant. But I don't know how much of this blog is going to be about bike racing/rocket science any more.