Take Two

This weekend brought upon round two of my cyclocross career. After class on Friday I did a mad dash to gather up all of the essentials, raced down to the ferry, and made my way up to Burlington, WA to spend the night with Cait's cousin and his family.

On Saturday morning, with looming 100% rain forecasts, we raced! Cascade Cyclocross put on an amazing race, the Thanks Given'er, on the Lutherwood Bible Camp grounds on the shore of Lake Samish.

This race required a bit more technical finesse but that was what made it so fabulous.

 
 Cait's cousin, Ian, on the "Fly Over".

 
Ian's wife, Leah (right foreground), on the move.

Ian and Leah were fortunate enough to beat the weather and both had fantastic races. As for me, the rain began just as we lined up and increasingly fell leaving the trails a little... muddy.



It was amazing! During lap one I went over the handlebars. One lap later, my tires slid out and I ended up in the bushes. I managed to stay on my bike for the remaining four laps, other than portions that required a run. I may actually still have dirt in my eyes at the moment and it was totally worth it.

Here's to race number three which goes down one week from today. Next Sunday is the Seattle CycloCross series finale, held in Monroe, WA. Even more exciting? It'll be Caitlin's first cyclocross race!

Stay tuned!

Riley

CycloCross

This past weekend I participated in the first, of what I now know will be many, CycloCross races. CycloCross combines the fitness of road biking, the technical bike handling skills of mountain biking, and strenuous trail running into one 45-60 minute event.

A CycloCross bike looks like a road bike but has higher clearance, wider tires, and the ability for accumulated mud to shed easily. In its simplest definition, CycloCross is a continuous sprint, over uneven terrain, where at some point you'll dismount, throw your bike over your shoulder, run up a hill while jumping over protruding logs, re-mount, and do it all over again.

On Sunday, at the MFG series finale in Woodland Park, I rode 6 laps, dismounting and remounting 12 times. It was fantastic.

 
An anxious and cold Riley waiting for the race to start.


Just cresting the hill after two sections of barriers.


And I'm off again, winded but loving every moment.

CycloCross is as close to the feeling of a nordic ski race as I've been able to find. You start as a mass of riders. The gun sounds and absolute chaos ensues. At the first turn everyone bottlenecks except for rider number one. People crash. Equipment is broken. Some people are faster on the flats, some are faster on the hills. Dismounts and running sections leave you winded and scattered as you attempt to relocate your pedals and rhythm.

Yet, through all of the chaos, the pain, and the difficulty you eventually find yourself alone at some point, smiling from ear to ear, and truly embracing that pure moment.

If you ever have the chance to spectate or compete, do it. You will not be disappointed.

Riley

Halloween's Events

Zombie - An animated corpse resurrected back to life by mystical means.

 

Thriller - The sixth studio album by North American recording artist Michael Jackson.

Flash Mob - A group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression.

What I Did On Halloween -


Super fun.

Riley

Morning Visitor

This morning I stepped out onto our back deck to breathe in a little of Washington's moist musk and looked down only find a Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) on one of our potted plants. They are amazing little creatures.

The upper tentacles on their heads are actually their eyes. The lower pair are used to feel along and detect variance in chemicals of the ground they are moving over. Both the upper and lower tentacula can be retracted or extended, very similar to a turtle's appendages.

They have a single lung called a pnuemostome. The opening of pneumostome is a hole in the side of the slug that allows for gas exchange to occur.

I think they are incredibly fascinating and I likely would not have dedicated an entire blog entry if it weren't for one detail, we live on the second floor. This slug climbed an entire story to get to our deck.

Riley