Putting It Behind Me

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic came and went. There were many notable parts, like my fantastic home stay and host family, the weather gods that mostly smiled on us for the hard stages and my fabulously horrible results. But now I'm working on putting that behind me, and looking ahead at the next two months or so. Here's what's on tap:

Banff Bike Fest - 4 stages over 3 days in Canada's gorgeous Banff National Park. Need I say more?

Hailey Criterium - Since I'll be in Boise to help Sammy celebrate his birthday over Independence Day weekend, we figured we'd get in some local bike racing, too.

Boise Twilight Criterium - This race is known for its searing temperatures and big crowds in Kristin Armstrong's hometown.

Cascade Cycling Classic - The name says it all - lots of climbing in and around Bend, Oregon, in this epic National Racing Calendar stage race.

After that, I'm going to try something I've been thinking about doing for a long time: triathlon.

Beaver Lake Triathlon - A short, sprint-distance tri with an "easy" swim, a climb-y bike, and a little bit longer run will test my abilities to make the most of transitions - and see how I measure up against my coworker, Ben!

Lake Stevens Triathlon - An Olympic distance triathlon that is going to be quite the challenge, but I'm excited to see how it goes.

Stay tuned!

Is Altered Reality Still Reality?

Yesterday, with some of my distribution of the team winnings from the Tour of Walla Walla, I treated myself to an almost 2-hour long massage under the magical hands of Angela. She had me start face down, and as we progressed, with my deep breaths in and out through my mouth, my nose became more and more plugged up. Allergies? Perhaps. Turn over, face up. Continue. Breathe. In, out. Through the mouth. Deep sighing breaths. Feeling amazing. Almost falling asleep. So relaxed and rejuvenated.

After we finish, I sit up, stand, reach for my clothes - and realize my ears are plugged. But not really plugged. More...altered. It's not the plugged ears you experience when you're flying or climbing up a mountain, where everything is just muffled until they "pop". This altered my hearing in the strangest way, making it sound like Angela was speaking to me from inside a deep cavern. And I could hear my clothes make sounds against their own wrinkles and against my skin as I put them back on. Sounds I've never heard before - hardly even realized they were there.

After being upright for another few minutes, my hearing returned to normal. But as I drove away in my car, taking big swigs from my water bottle, I pondered what had happened. Because I knew that what I had heard with my altered hearing, I was actually hearing. I wasn't making it up, and it wasn't me going crazy (or at least I'm pretty sure of that). I was actually hearing my clothes. And I was actually hearing Angela's voice echo in my ear canal. And I was actually hearing my own breath from inside my body.

This event makes me question reality even more than I have been lately. Are there really many versions of reality? What I see and hear and smell and touch and taste every day must truly be just one of many possible ways to interpret my experiences.

This afternoon I'm planning on attending an art exhibit of a friend's sister, Margot Quan Knight, at the James Harris Gallery in Seattle. The title of the exhibition is "Mirror, Mirror," and I expect there to be some pondering of reality while I'm there, too.

Enjoy your weekends, everyone - whichever forms of reality they decide to take.

Intermezzo

For a wrap-up of last weekend's race, hop on over to my team's blog. It's a pretty good summary of how everything went down, and panned out.

As we drove into Walla Walla on the first day of the race, I found myself thinking, Man, wouldn't it be nice to hang out here for a while after the race is over and just ride, drink wine and chill? Then I realized - I was already planning on doing that! Perfect. So on Sunday, instead of heading back to Seattle, my job and real life, I spent 3 extra days in beautiful Walla Walla with my teammate Cheryl, a Walla Walla native, before heading down to the next weekend's stage race, the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic. I kicked off the week by partying Sunday night with the Whitman cycling team, then proceeded to ride every day, enjoy the perfect weather and even watch a sweet documentary about human towers, with live Q & A hosted by an actual participant.

But my favorite memory from the week?

Tasting some local wine with Sam & Cheryl, then meeting up with Timbah for the best sauna experience I've ever had, grabbing Walla Walla sweet onion burritos at La Monarca, and polishing them off sitting on the edge of the quad on Whitman campus, watching intramural ultimate frisbee. I'm not kidding about the sauna, either - there was something almost transcendent about it - is that possible?

The next morning, we headed down to The Dalles, Oregon, after stopping at Andy's for some local, inexpensive asparagus and sweet onions. The amazing drive is mostly spent right along the Columbia River, and we were treated to fantastic views of the valley, green hills, rock formations, Mt. Hood, incredibly long and colorful trains and of course the river itself. We also passed one of those tree farms - the ones that are almost hypnotizing with their rows and rows of trees that if you look down the rows to the end, appear like stop-motion photos that barely seem real. There's also something satisfying about the fact that these farms help alleviate clear-cutting of forests.

Once we made it into town, we joined Lang, Phil and Kennet for a quick recon ride of the Stage 2 circuit race course - a great way to shake off the 3-hour drive and stresses of traveling, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

This is the life. Now to figure out how to live like this all the time...suggestions?

Wanted: Recovery

Phew! My legs are TIRED. Hard training has left my quads feeling like bricks - both in weight and touch.




Santa Barbara Training Camp in 4 days! I think it's time for some rest and active recovery, how about you?