Kern Time Trial....bring it on!

My friend, Cat, is letting me borrow her TT bike. This is more machine than I will ever appreciate. She rode this bike in Race Across AMerica, last year......I'm hoping that some of her super powers will rub off on me. Here she is training for RAAM on the Titanflex.


The finish line ceremony. Did I mention she came in first, solo female?

Carrying her flag of Sweden and Titan.

All Girls Ride....

We had an awesome ride this morning. At 8:am, it was 75 degrees and I knew we were going to have a great day.

Left to Right:

Diane, Mendi, Liz, Katie, Amy, Kathie, Vee

Rolling down Auberry Road, the sun was brilliant,

traffic was low and the birds were singing.....

Riding through Prather, we have miles of these

lovely tree lined roads. That's Amy and Katie, taking the lead.

Our last stop of the day.....pee, drink and eat.

I had to get in some more ride time so I continued on to Appaloosa Acres. Lots of happy horses live here.

My total ride time today was 3:40 and I feel great. I am so lucky to have friends like this and to experience these kinds of days.

Riding in Fresno....

First off, the above date is incorrect. This ride was done on Tuesday afternoon, the 24th.

Yesterday's ride in 80 degree temps....hillwork and sun! Ahhhh!

Going up this hill at 4.2 mph and coming down the same hill at 44 mph is always a blast! I guess I was being artsy-fartsy with this shot...........>

There are alot of these right now. I saw 4 on today's ride.

Really, I'm not this pigeon-toed. I was attempting to photograph the snake as I rolled by him......which did not work out, as you can see.

The Rolls Royce of Port-o-Potties. This is always stocked and smells orangey fresh! It even has a sink, with soap and paper towels.

This is how I felt after this workout.....

Sea Otter rehash.....

Kathie and me!

Another fun weekend of racing under my belt. Ahhhhh......

Steve stayed with us on Thursday night and then Kathie arrived, staying Friday and Saturday. Good times.

Jimmy and I drove the RV on Thursday and rolled out Sunday afternoon. We encountered gale-force winds, 70 degree sun and a downpour that rivaled Noah's adventures.

The circuit race is held on the Laguna Seca Racetrack and is an awesome course--provided you are a mountatin goat. A huge hill, followed by a 40-mph corkscrew....that's the best part of this race. It is a tough course, to be sure. Racing with my teammates is so exhilerating!

On Saturday morning, the sun was out and so I decided to ride to Carmel Valley all by myself. Half-way up the gradient, the rain came down in buckets. It was the oddest optical illusion; I was trying to go up this hill and a river was flowing straight at me. It rained almost 1" while I was out. Once I got to the top of the Grade, I could see the row of RV's on the hillside. Look all the way to the top, right side, little white boxes....that's us!

On Sunday, Jimmy and Randy went to ride their mountain bikes, while Kathie and I went to the expo. We ate and drank every sample that was provided. Energy bars, amino acid drinks, natural supplements, potions and elixirs abound.

Meet the Rescues.....

I wish I had a picture of every stray we have taken in. Jimmy is an animal lover too, and he gets ga-ga-eyed when he sees an animal in need. Between the two of us, we have many happy stories to tell.


This is Ben and Jerry and these lil' guys were abandoned at my workplace. These two went to a great home, after they were nursed back to health and had been neutered.



Meet Lil' Kitty. As you can see, she has a collar, which means this stray still lives with us. I found her at work, when she was 5-weeks old. She was so thin, that her ribs were visible through her brittle fur and fleas were crawling in and out of her ears. Now, she is a very healthy and awesome 18-month old kitty. Noticed the clipped ear...a sign that she has been spayed.



This is one of the saddest attempts to rescue. Shown, is 1 of 2 dogs that were living inside of this drainage pipe, on a quiet farm road. I would drive out every other day to feed and water them, hoping to win their trust. Over the 3 months time, I watched them--from a distance--getting fatter and fatter. It was an awesome sight to my eyes. On one of their feeding days, I went out to the pipe and they were gone. No where in sight. I continued to leave food for another week or so, hoping to see any sign of them. When I resigned to the fact they had left the pipe/home for good, I drove away with tears in my heart. I am hoping that some rancher came by and swooped them into his pick-up truck and they all lived happily ever after.

Livin' Life

Not boasting....merely appreciating....


I am really lucky to have the life that we have and I notice it more when I am on my bike. Yesterday, I went on a hilly 50-mile ride. As I was huffing and puffing to get to the top of each climb, I relished in the fact that I am given the opportunity to even do this.....on a weekeday, no less.

Fortunately, Jimmy loves to work. His passion for working allows me the luxury of having to clock-in only 3 days per week, which is great.

I ride my bike 5 days a week, go to school 4 days, work 3 nights and am able to hang out with my pets every day. Woo-Hoo! I am really fortunate to have my life. The kids moved out years ago and are healthy, we are financially comfortable, we have jobs that we love and I have a terrific hubby (he has a pretty awesome wife, too).....

Spooky......

Jimmy and I went to Yosemite for the afternoon and had an awesome time. While snapping photos and hiking on some new-found trails, we came across this oooold cemetery. Most of the headstones were etched into a rock or wooden slabs. None were dated after 1930. We walked around and read a few of the headstones, then we continued on with our journey up the trail.

We downloaded our pics and all of the photos came out beautiful....except for the ones taken at the cemetery. You be the judge. Whether you believe in ghoolies or not, this is freaky.

These are posted in the order that they were taken.

#1 #2

Yosemite Valley

#3 #4

Cemetery

Resting deer

Jimmy took four other pictures of different headstones and they all turned out black or in this odd shade of yellow.

Do you believe?