Busting some moves in the Querque

I drove back to Albuquerque today that way I have a day in between the drive here and the Gila. Silver City is only a few more hours down the road. The drive went pretty quick, I made it in 6.5 hours. My '94 Sentra was rockin' today. I was driving 80-85 mph and getting ~42 mpg! I put some new spark plugs in a few weeks ago. I think that helps the gas mileage. I have never really appreciated my little car till now, where gas prices are around 3 bucks a gallon. Now all those gas guzzlin' SUVs are really paying. Suckas! It's always nice to come home and get spoiled by my parents. My mom was equipped with cake, cookies, two types of food for dinner, chips and dip, and my dad made us some mojitos. That's what I'm talking about!

Gila starts on Wednesday. I'm a little nervous because my legs have felt terrible all week. I hope they recover before the race. I am convinced there is an evil leprachaun who lives in my room. He makes bad things happen so I can't recover in my sleep!!! Hopefully the recovery fairy will pay me a visit. I did a 4 hour endurance ride yesterday out to Carter Lake. It's kind of out by Fort Collins and is a popular ride among Front Rangites. There were some threatening rain clouds and a 20 mph head-wind for 2 hours all the way out. I'm trying to learn to embrace the wind, so my mantra for the ride was, "wind is good, I like wind." Here's some pics of the lake. I was a little hesistant to put this pic of me on here since I look like Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Too many cookies. Oh, and I look like a boy. hahaha





Actually, I figured out how to do well this week. For those of you who don't know, female cyclists have a stereotype of being lesbians. I need to flirt or possibly bust a move on one of the fast women so maybe they'll let me sit on their wheel. What do ya think? It's going to be hard to stay motivated and get all my school stuff done. That looming take home final is causing a lot of pain and will eventually cause a lot of tears once I get started!! That's it...peace out homie(I have to talk like an Alb homeslice since I'm here)

Rain,rain! Go away!

Despite going to bed at 2:30AM, I still woke up at 8 AM as usual. Unfortunately, I woke up to rain! This week is being mean to be!! I'm supposed to be getting in one last week of training before Gila so later, I may be doing intervals with my heart in my throat, and getting my bike all dirty. I guess it wouldn't be the first time!

Last night was really fun. I had drinks with Fred Dreier, celebrity mountain bike editor at Velonews. Fred is a cool guy, goofy like me. At the Rio, there was this horrible band...so after pretending to rock out and suck down a rita on the rocks, we moved on. We ran into a lot of cool people including Henk Vogels... a totally badass European pro(on Lotto) who is just in Boulder for the week. He does the Giro, Tour de France, you name it!! We also ran into the Nicks(Ranno and Martin). It's a good time. It's actually fun to go to the bars in Boulder(compared to Albuquerque). It's not super ghetto. Albuquerque boys would think they are heaven because there are a lot of hot chicks. In Albuquerque, homie G funks cruise up and down Central with their bling bling, old english last names on the back windows, hydraulics pumping, and their mouths screaming out the windows at the chicas. Most of these chicas are actually hoochie mamas. Hoochie mama= fat, too much make-up, big nasty hair, wearing clothes that are WAY too small for them and trying to act all tough, with the New Mexican accent. Hot! Hot! Hot!

TGIF! I'm so excited for the summer to be here! Yes! I have wanted to live in Colorado over the summer for my whole life.

Saying howdy

Today I had a bike fit for both of my bikes in Ft. Collins. I tell you what, in Boulder, you can't see the HUGE snow-capped mountains behind the flat irons. When you are further north, you can see them. It's pretty cool.

I am getting some new road pedals from a friend. Egg Beater Quattro SLs, and they are pink. I'll show a pic tomorrow...now my pedals AND my seat are pink. Sweet!! A lot of bugs decided to commit suicide on my face today during my ride. I tried out some aerobars for the time trial at the Gila and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm looking forward to going home and getting this semester ALL done. Tonight I'm going to the Rio to get some margaritas with a friend. I randomly made friends with the velonews moutain bike editor, so he'll probably have some cool stuff to say!! This Rio place has a limit of 2 on the margaritas so I think one will be sufficient for me. Then maybe I'll go to sushi happy hour at Hapa. 2 rolls for 5.50. no bad,eh?

Wine party

My friend Chris Jung has wine and cheese parties(that's sooo snobby Boulder! ha) every now and again. Our little cliche of cyclists gets together and sees who has the most lightweight tendencies(usually me...) Oh, and we make fun of roadies ;) jk

Chris Jung, me, and Josh Bezecny. Those bunny ears were pretty clever!

Caroline Jaromilek, Jess Vogt, me. DHers teach me how to be cool

Collin is always trying to be a badass.

This is Karl, not a statue. Amazing, amazing.

Today in Boulder

The roads were dry so I got to ride today, but here's a pic I took on the way to school...

Let it snow?

Yesterday and all last week: Sun and 80 degrees. Today: snowing.... 32 degrees. What's going ON? I saw several confused victims to the weather, trying to fight the strange day still wearing shorts and t-shirts. Maybe feeling cold made them feel better...I don't know. At least it was an excuse to take a rest day. I did want to try out my new seat though. I also got some aerobars to practice with before Gila next week.

Here's a quick overview of the race yesterday: The course was an out and back circuit. It was about 7.4 miles/lap, we did 6 laps. The road had 2 huge rollers and was on a closed section of highway. I arrived at the race bright and early (7:10 AM to be precise). I did the pro race(cat 1/2/3) and there were about 20 women in the field including Ann Trombley(former Olympic mountain biker). Basically the race consisted of me getting hammered. I am no roadie, and it's quite evident during the races when someone attacks. I can hop on the attack for about 10 seconds and then POW! Off the back i go. It's the super high end bursts of speed that I do not train for, nor have. As a mountain biker, I train to sustain a pretty hard effort for a long period of time. Road racing is more about riding in the pack, conserving energy, and then going super hard when someone attacks. I need to work on that stuff. I don't it will be as big of a problem in the Gila next week because the climbs are pretty long and if people jump the way they do on a roller(a relatively short, steep hill), they definitely will not be able to hold it. I got dropped off the back 4 times over the course of the race and was able to flog myself and chase back up to the main group. I'm pretty satisfied that I'm able to get dropped and catch back on, but dang it, I would save so much energy if I could just hang with people on the attacks. I didn't do so well, got like 15th or something. The official results aren't in yet, but I had a good time and got some good training. I was trying to get used to riding in a pack again before I hit the big time next week where there will be more like 70 women in the pack versus 20!

I'm leaving sometime this weekend so I have a day or two in Albuquerque before I go down to Silver City. I still don't have a confirmed place to stay, but hopefully it will all come together!! This week I'm just trying to wrap up my schoolwork and get ahead.

Adam has been missing my cookies(more than me I think, haha), so I did some work in the kitchen and here is a picture to tease him... now you can take joy in his pain as well. muhaha













There's that crazed look in my eye!

PINK bike seat

Well, I am tired of getting chami sores so I decided to get a new seat. This is the Terry Damselfly seat, made for women. I got it in pink so I can really piss off guys when I pass them and made chodes feel like wusses when they try to hammer me and then blow up. Sweet! I'm trying to pimp my ride a little, but hopefully next year I'll get me a nice, new road bike. The frame on this one is a handme down and it's actually pretty heavy compared to what the other girls are riding. It's a leaned out frank the tank. The original frank was my 35 lb mountain bike that I thought was light before I knew better. More later on the race I did today. All I can say is that I will be in a world of pain next week at the Gila.

New template

Ok, so I figured out how to put a pic of the Sandias up. I may change this template again... you have to let me know what you think.

I had to go in for a drug test today for my internship. I drank THREE Nalgene bottles and then left(about 96 oz of water). It all hit me at once and I ended up having to wait 40 min. By the time they called me back, I was clenching every muscle in my body trying not to pee my pants. I think they purposely wait till you're at your breaking point so they can laugh at you.

I can't wait till May!

Howdy howdy. I got in a killer ride yesterday. The state of my legs never ceases to amaze me. Tuesday I was totally blown from my weekend and long ride Monday. So blown that I cut out my ride. Yesterday i went out and did some of the canyons, and it felt like I had my race wheels on. I guess that hint of fitness is a little encouraging for the Gila. A preview of this weekend: 50 mile road race in Grand Junction/Fruita and crit in Fruita. it should be pretty fun. next weekend I will take a break from racing and get ready to go to the Gila. I gave notice at Wild Oats...I just can't justify working there if I make twice as much at my internship this summer. I am so excited to have school over and done with. This year has been incredibely challenging in both school and life. It'll be great to have fun, go camping, race my bike, and have a change of pace with my internship at Xcel Energy. It shouldn't be very technical since it's for a utility company.

Sierra, you would be very proud of me. I was talking to a friend at 11 last night, and we spontaneously went out for Mojitos. I am such a wuss... I had ONE and was feeling prettty good. ha I was the decoy for my friend Thurein. He likes this girl and is trying to play hard to get. He wasn't going to show up tonight b/c the girl he likes asked him to go. Instead, he decided to show up with me and I laughed at him when she wasn't there. Why do guys feel like they have to play all these stupid games? BOOO

On another note, I'm trying very hard to change the template of this blog. I don't like it, but I'm no whiz with HTML coding, and I am picky.

Durango... long entry!

Last weekend I went to the beautiful Durango, CO for my first real race of the year. I went with the CU Cycling team. We were supposed to take a 16 passenger van which we rent for races. The vans arrived 2 hours late. People were probably wondering why there were a bunch of cyclists standing in the Safeway parking lot for 2 hours. We finally loaded up and it was packed...butts in every seat! We departed at 5:30 PM meaning that the 7 hour drive would put us in Durango very late! At a gas station about 60 miles away from Wolf Creek Pass, we had a scare. Signs were saying the pass was closed after 7 PM meaning we would have to tack on yet another 2 hours to the trip. Fortunately, it's just Mon-Thurs, so we were okay to go. However, it wasn't so easy. As we started ascending the pass, it started to snow, turning into a full-on blizzard. There was also construction, so to add to the chaos, we were on a dirt road in total darkness except for our headlights and the blowing snow. The van got silent very quickly. It looked like something from a horror movie where 16 college kids get murdered in a blizzard under the full moon. The werewolfs decided to spare us and we made it to Durango okay. The site of our hotel was the next fun thing. I didn't think Durango had ghettos, but apparently it does. It had weekly/monthly rentals. The people in the room next to me were living there, complete with the lawn chairs outside. After seeing who lived there- basically white trash, we weren't suprised to experience the bum fight the next night. That's right, bum fight. A bunch of drunk dudes, one named CJ... yelling for 2 hours at the top of their lungs to show some respect. They were slamming up against the vans, against the doors, drunken punches being thrown. It was pretty crazy and we almost called the cops. I was glad Adam wasn't there, because I knew that if his sleep was to be disturbed, he would have been partaking in the bum fight to try and get them to shut up. I tried calling the front desk, but for some reason, the front office was always closed. Oh wait, I know why! We were in the ghetto. We left at 7 AM Sat morning to head to the TTT. Our bum neighbors were already outside getting started on a 24 pack of Bud Light. That's right! No wonder CJ had no respect later that night...he had been drunk since 7 AM. That's just how they roll.

We didn't have enough women there to do the TTT, but we watched the guys. It was snowing and freezing. Tom Danielson and Ned Overend even showed up. The team went out to lunch and I went to City Market to buy pb&j supplies for the weekend. That's me, poor grad student extraordinaire. I don't have mommy and daddy giving me all the money I want like most of the trustafarians... I like pb&j though. It's good stuff. :) Later that afternoon, I drove the huge van and we went to get ready for the hill climb TT. I wasn't feeling that great on the bike and the TT was a very short 2.5 miles. Ouch. I was warming up on the course and I found the most pompous official ever. We'll just call him cowboy hat. The moment he saw me, he yelled, "You can't warm up on the course!" when the chief ref had already given me permission. He proceeded to complain that I crinkled my number, and had to comment on my headphones. He had to go on and on. The weather cleared up for the TT. At the start, my calves cramped, but I tried to ride through it. I got 3rd in the TT right behind Molly Hummel... not too bad I guess!

Dinner was interesting. A van full of 15 roadies all bitching about where to eat. That was pretty much the theme of the van. Whining. No one could be pleased!! The sound of my alarm the next morning at 6 AM didn't feel good after being up all night listening to screaming bums. With the first few pedal strokes on the trainer, I knew my legs were feeling less than adequate for the day. The course had some good climbs...my favorite. I ended up working for my teammate. I helped bridge her up to the attack group since we were a little late jumping on. I had to turn myself inside out to do so, so 15 minutes later, I had just finished a pull and there was another attack. My legs were destroyed and I couldn't grab onto my teammates wheel in time. I guess she forgot I was with her or something... stupid road racing. I ended up riding solo for 20 miles and held off the chase group. I still finished mid pack overall which is okay. I got some good VO2 max efforts in since I didn't let off the gas at all when I was riding solo. Our new clothing sponsor, Domino is pretty sweet! Check out the new uniform:



Next up is Mesa State in Fruita this weekend. I want to bring my mtb so bad. I'll take some pics. I'm trying to get a little bit of race fitness before I become imprisoned in the hurt locker for the month of May. I'm hitting the Tour of the Gila(5 day this year!), a Prescott endurance MTB race OR a Las Cruces Stage Race(Road) Chili Challenge(MTB), and Iron Horse(road). I was thinking of going to collegiate road nats, but much to the coaches dismay, I think I'll decline that spot. There were waaaaaaay too many wrecks last year for my comfort level. I would rather not risk it. Plus, why in the $@*$# would I want to go to Kansas?!?!

Anyway, the length of this entry is indicative of how badly I do not want to do my homework. I have tried it and am again too dumb to do it. Grad school kills me. We got our midterms back for my soft switching and resonant converters class... I didn't do very well, but at least I didn't get the lowest grade in the class. I did get a C+ WITH the curve. I think I need to drop out of grad school. I refuse to live in the lab, and everyone else in my classes does...so basically I'm screwed! I'll figure it out someday.

Oh yeah, the final verdict is in! Adam is moving to Colorado in the fall. I know all of you were waiting to see if I was going to be with my heart's desire or turn into a Boulder pimptress. ;)

Race Recap

Howdy! I know it's been awhile. My life is kinda going crazy right now... hard times at school, possible break-up, no funding for school next year... no fun. On the up side, it was 80 degrees here in Boulder today. I enjoyed the sunshine and gorgeous mountains with a run and bike ride. I had my first race of the season last weekend in Golden, CO. It was a collegiate race, specifically a hill climb time trial. I am not the best at TTs, but I did this to see where I'm at as far as fitness. I am a climber though, so this suited one of my strengths. I didn't get to preride and as a result, was a little too conservative. I ended up getting 2nd which I am very happy about since last year I did terrible in a collegiate TT. However, I should have gone harder!!! Maybe I could have won it. Tom Danielson even showed up to the race in his Discovery Channel gear. He started two guys in front of me. It was weird having a Tour de France rider right in front of me like that. And folks, this guy is skinny. You don't realize how skinny these top guys are until you stand next to one. I took it easy on him...I didn't want him to feel too bad if he got run down by a GIRL. ha, right. Next race is this upcoming weekend in Durango. It's another collegiate road race. Mountain bike season officially starts next month for me. I'm peaking for my first race, Chili Challenge in Angel Fire, NM.

I got a job at Wild Oats a few weeks ago. I work in the deli/juice bar. I need to pay off some bills before race season gets into full swing. The job is alright. There are some weird people that come in! You just don't see it as a shopper there, but when you see everyone...you see the wack jobs. I only work there 2 days a week, so it's not bad at all. It is a nice break from engineering although it involves a LOT of cleaning since I have to take closing shifts.

School's out for the summer.... in about 4 weeks. I can't wait!!!!! I have been looking forward to spending the whole summer in Colorado since I was little. It's going to be great... and NO HOMEWORK!!!!! YAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOO. I have an internship at Xcel Energy and don't even have to work 40 hours a week. I'll shoot for 25-30 hours/wk and race my bike. That sounds like a dream come true to me. Funny...now I spend 20 hours/wk JUST working on homework for ONE class every week. What a nice change! I'll take my camera to Durango and take some refreshing new pics for my peeps.

You know it's bad when...

...you are out on a ride and you get passed by an old man, on a beater mountain bike wearing a backpack!!!!

...you wake up in the morning and realize you were happier when you were asleep

Poor abused road bike.

Man, check this out. My road bike is very filthy from all that wet riding I was doing. Yuck. I guess I really am a mountain biker at heart. I'm looking forward to getting out on my bike tomorrow after being sedentary for four days. It was partially by choice since I've been working on this nightmare of a takehome exam. Thought you roadies would freak at the sight of all the dirt on my bike! ha

NEW BIKE!!!!

Howdy all!

I've been pretty busy lately (what a surprise, eh?) Adam came to visit me last week for his spring break. We always have fun, but this time I didn't really get to see him as much as I would have liked. I was gone most of the week at school working on crap, and he had his own school work to do. We got in some good rides last week though. I really upped the anty of my climbing workouts and really hit it hard last week. I did Lee Hill and Old Stage both three times, Sunshine Canyon 3 times, and Flagstaff once. It was a productive week. Sunday the snow came again and I had to ride in it. It was 35 deg and raining when I started and it eventually went away. Right when I thought that maybe the weather forcast was wrong, the temperature dropped and quarter sized snowflakes began to fall. It was snowing so hard at one point, I could barely see in front of me! My cables got really wet and dirty, and my rear derailleur gave up too. About one minute from my apartment, I had my first road bike crash. I was on the Boulder Creek path and came off a bridge and around a corner a little too fast. My rear tire slid out! It was kind of funny.... I ride all these technical trails with no problem and wreck on stupid wet concrete. Fortunately I was wearing both leg and knee warmers. I ripped right through them and just got a teeny raspberry on my knee. Now both knees of my knee warmers are ripped. If you've seen my knees, they are not the most beautiful, but at least I have cool scars to compare with people! ;)



My new Titus came in the mail a couple days ago. Adam was in Boulder with me when it came. I came home from school and was in my room. My bed looked funny and Adam followed me in. He pulled off my comforter to reveal a big box with the Titus logo on it! It felt like Christmas time as I unwrapped the box and began taking out all the packaging material. Once all that was out of the way, my gorgeous new frame and all my components were there! We went through them and were admiring all the sparkling new bike parts. The frame is new this year with some extra carbon. You should check it out at www.titusti.com under Aluminum Racer-X. The carbon in the rear triangle is great because it makes the bike ride even more like a hard tail(except on really bumpy stuff!) I have been working on building it up and will be taking the bike out for its maiden voyage when I go home for spring break on Saturday. I also swapped out the black Chris King headset for a pink one. I had a pink one last year too and it was fun! I can't wait to take it into the foothills in Albuquerque! I am looking forward to trying my Avid Juicy Carbon disc brakes and DT Swiss wheels. I've never ridden with disc brakes or DT Swiss wheels before! People here in Boulder seem pretty impressed with Titus' new look!



I've been slacking on the collegiate races but will definitely get into it soon! The ACA crits and road races in CO start next month. That'll be painful but good.

Other than that, I've been fighting this take home exam. I really have no idea what I'm doing and there's a chance every problem could be wrong. I really should just do an MS in exercise physiology. I already had a meeting with the dept. If I work as an engineer for a year and still don't like it, this will be my next path.

Happy trails!!!

I had a big bowl of crazy for breakfast

It has been snowing/raining/sleeting since I woke up at 7:30AM this morning. My intention was to go out for a 3 hour ride until I saw how wet it was. I invited my friend Anne to come along the night before. I got a phone call from her, and we decided to go brave the weather. I put on all the warm weather cycling gear I owned AND my new gloves Adam got me. We were completely soaked in the first 5 min thanks to the rain and sopping wet roads. The rain turned to huge snowflakes and our legs grew numb after a short time. We cut the ride short to 1.5 hours, but had fun doing it. Nothing like riding in the crazy weather, huh? Here is a self photo I took after my ride...




I had school and stuff today. I got a call from Anne(she's such a diva!) and wanted to go for a hike with her dog, Bode. We hiked the first flatiron even though the snow was 5-6 inches deep and we couldn't see the trail in some parts. That's what makes it exciting. It was snowing the whole time and was so gorgeous. Coming down was kind of sketch, I got to go sledding on my butt a few times! Here are some pics. It's crazy to think it was in the 70s here just a few days ago!

Wimpin' out

Well, I decided to scratch the CO Springs race this weekend. I've been riding like crap all week. I even threw on my race wheels(which are MUCH lighter than my tank training wheels) and struggled up a climb today. I'm going to the CU bball game with my homie tomorrow night instead and doing some fun rides in the hills at a leisurely pace! Here's a pic of me and my good buddy here in Boulder, Anne. I think she may be crazier than me! I've definitely been having fun with my digital camera!





I'm getting ancy waiting for my mountain bike. It's supposed to come in next week. I'm tired of being a roadie! TGIF.

pics

here are some pics from my ride today. I was hoping they would come out a little better...but this is what it looks like around Boulder. Next time I'll take some photos of the mountains.

Hurt locker, here I come

Howdy howdy!

Well, I've been trying to get to bed earlier, but it's a lost cause so I'm bloggin away for my few readers. I appreciate you reading what I have to say! It gives me a purpose to write. Anywho, not too much has been going on... I'm having an unmotivated week for school. It's been hard to make myself get stuff done, but I'm still plugging away. It's a great feeling to know that next week, the semester will be halfway over....and better yet, after this semester is over, I'll be halfway done. yahooo. Adam was here last weekend and we had a great time! We went skiing on Saturday at Winter Park. My buddy Brian let me use his equipment(I'm referring to his skis, boots, poles... get your mind out of the gutter!!) I checked online and the tickets were supposed to be 50 bucks. We left late to avoid the infamous ski traffic and still got stuck moving 20 mph on I-70. When we finally got to the resort, finding a parking spot seemed impossible. Fortunately, I scouted out a tiny spot in between a snow drift and a car. We managed to squeeze my car in...good 'ol nissan sentra. I had to pee really bad so I ducked down in between two cars and made some yellow snow. We got in some good runs in including one that was a little out of our league. Black diamond with moguls up to my chest, close spacing, super steep...yeah. It was an interesting experience and took maybe thirty minutes to get down. I really want to buy some skiis and a ski pass for next year. Then maybe 8 year olds bombing down everything doing jumps won't make me look so bad! Much to my dismay, we went running and Adam beat me for the first time. I gotta start training for running with him so i can hammer him again. haha One of the ONLY things I could beat him at. That's what I get for having a man who is good at everything! :) :)

check out these sweet shades I found on one of my rides. It's right up there is the big booty ebony edition of road porn!


This weekend will be the first race of the season. I am hesistant to call it a race because I am far from being in race shape. The first race I care about is the Iron Horse in May! These collegiate road races are just for the hell of it! Sunday is in Colorado Springs and will be no picnic.... 50 miles and 10,000 ft of climbing. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I have gone uphill maybe 4 times this winter and am still doing base miles. It'll be interesting to see the different abilities in the collegiate road scene. Nevertheless, I will be in the hurt locker for a few hours. I'm pretty stoked to try out my new race wheels.

gotta love trying to take those self portraits


I have a meeting tomorrow with the intergrative physiology dept. I'm thinking of doing a PhD and need to find out if that would require me to do another M.S. If that's the case, I think I'll probably go to PT school. I know, I'm all over the place, but it pains me to imagine the rest of my life full of engineering. I should probably try to work a few years first and make some $$$$ since I'm beyond broke. I really need to get me a sugar daddy. (Sorry Adam)

It was 80 degrees here yesterday. 10 days ago it was below zero for multiple days, and now the temp is from 60-80. Crazy weather.

view from my balcony. next time I'll post some pics of Boulder now that I have my digital camera

Well, I will bid you adieu...till next time!

Looney

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I sent this to most people, but for more laughs. YES!

Oh yeah, I bought a digital camera today so there will be much more photos of Boulder and stuff in the weeks to come. yaaaay I'm excited.

This is a photo of my new baby. I still have to build it and the snow needs to melt so I can do some some mountain bike rides. I'm sick of my road bike. Blah!

Brrrrrrrr-oulder

Well, it is freaking frigid here. We reached record lows meaning no riding for me. booo Well, I rode my bike back from the gym tonight and it was -3 out, but with the wind chill it felt like -17. THAT was very painful. Even with a hat, my ears were in serious pain and were part frozen when I got home. Speaking of frozen, I was outside for TWO minutes last night with wet hair and my hair FROZE solid. It was crazy. There is snow everywhere and the cold smacks you in the face when you walk outside. It's pretty awesome though...as long as it doesn't stick around too long. I went for a hike yesterday when it was 7 degrees in town. I got these sweet 0 degree boots last year and finally got to test those bad boys out. It was so gorgeous in the flat irons. It's amazing how beautiful mountains can be regardless of the conditions. I wish I had a digital camera to share with all, but alas, I am poor and behind the times. Tomorrow I will most likely do another hike since the high is 11 degrees, not suitable riding weather. I wanted to go out and try some skate-skiing, but brrrrrr. Do you realize that collegiate road season starts in a mere 2 weeks. Ughhh..not...in....shape!

I've found a new way to waste time. myspace.com. When I was visiting my cousin in Dec., I swore up and down I wouldn't join it because there are so many skanks and losers on there. however, I decided it's worth it because you can find people you haven't talked to in years. My other new favorite time waster is a program called Skype. You can talk(with your voice0 thorugh your computer to people all over the world. I get to talk to my french friend, Matthieu and attempt to speak french. It's a lot harder than writing it...good practice though. I'm glad he's so patient with me. With my free internet and cable TV at this new pimp apt, it's hard for me to get shit done!! By the way, in all of my patheticness, I got drunk from 2 beers last night. Sweet.

I told my advisor back in January that I'm not doing a Phd meaning I wasn't going to take the prelims and I got to drop this shitty class. There were 8 people that took it and studied their ass off through xmas break and for a month after we got back. 5/8 people failed and the advisors are all pissed off. What do they expect? I was really glad that I didn't take it after hearing that. I definitely wouldn't have passed if these geniuses failed. Jeez. These Colorado Power Electronics Faculty members are kind of psycho.

Anyway, it's late and I need my beauty rest. Have a fantastic day!
-S

You gotta want it

Have you ever wanted something so bad that it's all you can think about? You felt like it had to happen because you want it that bad? This is just how I've been feeling lately. This will be my first year as a professional mountain biker... no, this doesn't mean that I am getting paid to ride my bike, that I can quit my school/job, or that I'm any good for that matter. It means I have to get my butt kicked into the ground my first year so I can get better and pay lots and lots of money for travel and entry fees that somehow USA Cycling manages to store away in king size mattresses somewhere... Get my butt kicked by derriere extradonaires(seen Zoolander?) who actually get paid to train, drink fabulous coffee, travel, and ride their bike for a living. These people are my heroes...they are who I want to be and when I read about them, gives me goosebumps in hopes that someday I will be like them. This lifestyle is very hard to come by, especially due to the low extrema on the sponsorship rollercoaster lately. It's also haunting that I will be finishing my master's degree next year in engineering....meaning I will be expected to grow up and work a full time job as an engineer. Granted school is more than a full time job since it takes up your days, nights, AND weekends...but the charm of school is that it offers me the flexibility so I feel that not all is lost... it gives me day hours to train and wee hours of the morning to study. It's all I can think about lately...I can't even sleep at night because I want so bad to train and do what I love for a living! I guess that pesky bug in Boulder has bitten me and I want to be like all the other high rollin' pros. :) It is commonly known that when you want something so bad, it means you have to make sacrifices... some sacrifices that your head would tell you in a second are not logical, but your heart is screaming at you to do the opposite. So what's a person to do? Anyway, just thought I'd add something to my blog that isn't terribly sarcastic.

I've been busy with school and training. My classes are no doubt a mountain of work with one homework assignment in one class taking 15-20 hours a week. That's what I call fun. Training has been going well although the weather in Boulder has been like a woman trying to go on a diet. There are the good days where the sun is shining and things go just as you want them to...and there are the bad. Where the wind is howling or it's snowing...and things don't go as well for you. For those of you who thought winter in Boulder is bad, think again! It's actually pretty nice save the crazy wind. I am happy to report that I got to start climbing again. It's just so much more fun then a flat, windy road. Another bout of GREAT news! I sold my '05 Titus and am ordering my new PIMPIN bike tomorrow. The new 06 Titus Racer-X frame is pretty sweet. It's lighter with carbon in the rear triangle. I also am getting XTR components AND disc brakes this year. I better learn how to ride a bike before race season! ;) I am definitely missing the mountain biking...it's been quite awhile. I'm getting sick of the road. things are going to heat up soon. My first race will be here before I can lose the extra 5 lbs I picked up this winter! We have our first collegiate race march 4-5. Colorado road racing picks up in April--lots of crits. I better learn how to do that stuff soon. All I know how to do is ride uphill to get away from the pack because I don't like being stuck behind someone's wheel. Speaking of road.... DANG!! I want a new road bike. I got some great offers on some sweet bikes, but alas, I am a poor graduate student who is even wondering how she'll pay for race entries this year! If anyone has like 2 grand they feel like donating to me, I would be very grateful! :) I've been obsessing about going to Sea Otter. Although it would be likely to be my debut as a pro racer and probably yield bad results, it would be so fun to be part of a huge UCI event such as this one. My dilemma is school! There is a homework assignment I'd have to turn in very early...yes, one of the 20 hour homeworks that are impossible to do alone. What to do? I've already checked plane tickets, driving hours, the works!! If anyone is an expert in soft switching and resonant converters, give me a shout out!

Adam came to visit last weekend and it was great. Naturally he demonstrated his talented,superhuman strength on the bike, frollicking up hills in what would be my hardest gear where I would be in my easiest gear, struggling just to turn it over. As much as he denies it, those legs are supercharged. Maybe it's those cookies he likes to eat so much.

Anyway, just thought I'd say howdy to my two fans that actually read my blog. See ya!


Here are a few more pics I got from collegiate nats. Not my most glamorous, but fun!

I know, I am a slack blogger

What's up my friends? Sorry it has been so long... I'm happy to know that people actually read my blog and complain when I don't write stuff. Someone loves me! ;) Anyway...yes, it has been a month almost. I came back to Boulder and was in the throws of an existential crisis when I realized how hard it was to get back in the swing of things after a month off from school. I came back and had to start packing my shiz to get ready to move. I moved into my new pad on Thursday and let me say, it's BIG PIMPIN! It's 80 sq ft bigger than my old one, and much nicer. I have a huge balcony to enjoy Colorado sunsets all by my lonesome. haha School was kind of crazy at first, I was enrolled in 3 classes and after only one week of school, decided it was going to be way too much. The first week, I spent 14 hours on a hw project and wasn't even halfway done. That class went bye-bye. I am not a lab rat...I need fresh air and sunshine. The glare of a computer screen with a window telling me I have 30-40 errors on my chip layout is not going to fly. I also was brave and told my advisor that I'm doing a masters instead of a PhD. So now I'm livin large in my new apartment, taking 2 classes and research. Cookies are good. (that's my ADD comment)I'm starting to get used to this grad school thing and feel much better about everything. I no long feel like a rampant chicken running around with my head chopped off in a constant state of panic.

Riding has been good although it's been freaking windy here in Boulder. A couple times I almost got blown over and several other times, the wind pushes you slowly off the road and you can't move against it. I gave USA Cycling a large sum of money for my pro license so it can be hoarded somewhere... somewhere... no one really knows where considering the top pros at the NORBAs don't get prize money and we pay through the nose for entry fees. I AM getting pretty excited to race this summer.

My man is coming to visit on Thursday and I'm pretty stoked. Then I can enjoy the CO sunsets in the company of a human being. I apologize that I don't have anything entirely sarcastic to rave about...that'll have to wait till next time. I went to a wine tasting party the other night and sampled many wines. :) it was fun. Now I can be yuppy in Boulder.

Alright, I'm done now. Till next time!!! And if anyone knows Brian Boitano, say hello for me!



I miss the Sandias!

Back in da Querque

I just got back this afternoon from the land of the Bush. Although the plane ride was a mere 1.5 hours, I was anxious to get back, see my family and boyfriend, and get back on the bike!! Last night was my uncle's bday and we got sushi. MMMM. We also had champagne when he was opening presents. yeehaww! I did a short 2 hour ride today and man, my legs were definitely feeling all the junkfood and booze! I was welcomed home with a tray of baklava. Yeeeahhh! Now it's back to riding and chilling. I am reallly dreading going back to Boulder on Thursday. NOOOOOO!!!!! At least after this semester(if I pass), I'll have 2/3 of my M.S. all done. I can't wait! Well, just wanted to say howdy to my peeps. Later.

Things are goood

Howdy! I am in Texas right now and have been having a fantastic time visiting my cousin. The break has been fun so far! I have had some big training weeks and this week I have been resting and partying! For New Year's, we went to a cabin outside San Antonio in Frio Country.



















Me and my CUZ










There were 10 of us and it was great fun! We did some singing because three of the guys could play guitar, drank some beers, and even had a video camera set up in another room for drunk "confessionals." Good times.

























Drinking uno... don't try and lie about your number of cards!



















awww, Sierra and Scotty





Did you know that there are actually hills and tress in Texas? I am NOT looking forward to going home and back to school. I go back to Boulder on the 12th.




TexASS hillz




On the other hand, Sierra(my cuz) and I have been gawking at myspace.com. Have you seen this site? This might as well be a dating service... there are all these slutty pics of girls. I know the guys are opening up their browsers to check it out ASAP. Chicks putting up pics of their bare butts, skanky lingerie, you name it! It's like Maxim magazine, but worse. The hoebags can post comments below their pics, and some of these bimbos can't even spell!! We have come to the conclusion that there are many many many more hot chicks than there are guys, and that's why you see tools with hot chicks. So if you have a hot boyfriend, you should feel blessed. I, of course, do not have a tool for a boyfriend, but a HOTTIE! WOOO WOOO!

Hope your break is going well! I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing my bf, brother, and parents tomorrow and riding again! yeah!

Some pictures since I've been slack

Collegiate Nats. Look at that snow!

































My parents. This is how they normally dress.... afterall my mom is Lebanese and makes KILLER baklava. J/k... halloween






















Awwww, my grand-parents are so cute!





















What a hunk!












Adam and I

Pimpin Ain't Easy

I am home now...it's been so great to not be studying 15 hours a day. I managed to get through finals without jumping off the first FlatIron. I got home about a week ago and started training again... I'm putting in 17 hours this week. Last week was 14. It's been awesome being able to ride my bike again and even Adam rode with me a couple times. For him, riding with me is like taking a little kid for a walk! My heart rate at any given time on the bike(up to a point) is 40 beats faster than him. Honestly I think he just goes so can ride behind me. ;) I need to get base miles in before my living hell begins Jan 17. Yes, 3 classes, training, and research. I can hardly wait. I wish I could just be a bum for a few months...hell, forever! It's been 60 degrees here and I've been getting spoiled by my parents, and getting to see Adam. My mom made some baklava. mmm. It's a good thing I'm riding so much or I'd be a blimp. I have to start thinking of studying again soon...yes, I have to take the PhD Prelim although I could give a crap about it. Good times. I am moving when I get back to Boulder. It will be awesome to not live in little Mexico although I was starting to learn the words to all the spanish songs! This new place is under the control of the university called, "family housing." Only grad students and older people can live in them and there is a 1 year wait list! The rent is about $60 more a month, but the apartment is bigger, has a huge balcony, a real kitchen(opposed to my matchbox I'm supposed to call a kitchen), cable TV, internet, and a local phone line. Sweet. I'm thinking of buying a digital camera...I can keep you more updated when that happens.

I'm going to Texas next week to party with my awesome cousin. We always have so much fun together... hell yeah! She and some of her friends rented a cabin for new years. Actually it's a gang bang with just the two of us and 100 football players. just kidding

my bro, my cousin, and I


Story of the day......One night I went with my parents to see this thing called "the river of lights." My mom was in a hurry to get there due to the rumored heavy traffic. We stopped by my grandparents house first (they generously lent me their car for the time I'm here. What would I do without them??) and my dad had a drink. My mom was distressed because she was already in a hurry to get there. We drove down Central to the Botanical Gardens and what do we see? A parking lot... everyone was trying to go see the lights and the traffic was herendous. There were also idiots trying to cut through parking lots to get in front of us. My mom was having a fit, especially when we saw they were turning people away. It's amazing to me how freaked out people get about lights! Lights! Electricity! WOW! We had to go park somewhere else and the guy had told us to take this little train. There was a big crowd of people waiting, and we see this small train-like thing moving down the track at about 3 miles an hour. The attendant kept yelling at us to get back. This train moves slower than a senior citizen with a walker and a hip problem... I think I would be able to get out of the way if it looked like it would hit me. They let about 5 people on and the train slugged away, going in the wrong direction... if we actually took the train, it would have taken like 30 minutes. People started to get angry...including my mom. Everyone was chanting, "Let's just walk." The walk took all of 5 minutes. It's amazing how lazy people are that they would wait 10 minutes for a train that moves the same speed they walk, and goes the wrong direction first so you end up waiting like 30-40 min! My dad paid 6 bucks for each of us to get in. It was nice, but not as spectacular as the Querque builds it up to be. There were people milling around, screaming children, the works. The end.

I'm not a racist, I hate everyone. Oh, I'm bitter too.

Hello, hello! Well, if you haven't heard from me, I have been in the land of engineering. Yes, yes... for the past 6 days, I have been studying or doing homework for 10 hours a day and I'm not exaggerating. I just finished the longest homework assignment of my life. FORTY pages. Scary, isn't it? Words of advice, I don't recommend engineering grad school. Get out while you can! So I have finals next week. I have a take home that I get on Wed. The homework that was 40 pages was the practice take home, which took over 30 hours. So Wed. I get a take home that will take 30 hours due Tues(11/12). Also on Tues(11/12), I have a final at 7:30 AM for 3 hours followed by another 3 hour final and then have to turn in my take home exam right after. In 5 days, I have a take home exam and two finals to study for. If you hear about a suicide in the news, it could be me. Meanwhile, I am living in little Mexico. I don't know if I've mentioned my apartment, but I feel right at home being from New Mexico and all. Boulder is known for not being very diverse. However, I get the culture baby. The mexicans in the apartments behind my parking lot blast their mexican music, jamming out to the tuba and shit while the apartment below me has like 5 people living in a one bedroom. I live in the boulder ghetto paying 550/mo. I'm starting to learn the words to all the songs so if I go to Mexico and sing karoake, I'll be all set. The tuba lovers have no job because they are probably illegal immigrants, and all sit outside in a row and watch me. I didn't realize they watched me until Adam pointed them out one day. I was working on my bike outside in shorts and sure enough, they were all enjoying the show. I make sure to keep my blinds slightly closed. So I go from little mexico to little china... my lab at school. Well, little china with a few people from india. I am in the minority and these bastards will not stop studying. They are hard core. There are sleeping bags and pillows under some peoples' desks and that is no joke. These enginerds are there at all hours of the night. It's quite impressive and highly alarming. No wonder these brainiacs are killing the curve. It's their fault I am going to fail out of grad school. I need some fat, no neck fratties in my classes to fail tests so I look better. Anyway, enough of that.

I haven't been riding much. Lotsa running to relieve the stress. I had a panic attack this weekend and couldn't breathe. It was fantastic. I'll start training next week when I go home to da Querque. I can't wait. I can actually SEE my boyfriend instead of talk to him on my new shitty cell phone. This phone is super static-y. It doesn't work worth a damn so I'll return it when I get home. Bastards. I can't wait to get to da ghetto. It'll be nice to see the fam too. I'm working on pictures. The internet I'm stealing in my apt. is superslow so I can't download pics very well. Until next time, ta ta! Wish me luck... hopefully I won't be too below average on my finals so I can pass and not be put on probation.

Quote of the day: "I can see Blue! He looks glorious!"

Story of the day

Once upon a time there was a below average wanna-be enginerd doing her impossible homework at a coffee shop. She had been depressed and gloomy for several days due to her below average performances, but decided to sit in the sun and hope that the rays would cheer her up. Sure enough, with the mountain views and fresh air, she started to feel better. Unfortunately her homework would take many hours to complete, and alas, it grew dark. She moved inside by the window. There were many different breeds of homo sapiens at the coffee shop... fratties with huge necks and backwards hats, foreign exchange students, persons with various laptops, the couple on their first date, the group of girls analyzing their relationships..... These were her companions for the baffling journey of the day...completing her power homework without going insane. Over the course of the semester, she had fallen down the rabbit hole. Instead of down Dante's Inferno, she went deeper down the rings of angst and mania.

The heavy-hearted run of the mill girl looked up and saw the most herendous coffee shop companion of all. He was very round with about 100 keys connected to his belt, walking to the counter with a cup of steaming joe in his sweaty, pudgy hand. Then her attention focused to his head. She was temporarily blinded by an appalling, grisly haircut. The hobbit had his head shaved all around to the skin except for a curvy mushroom top hair cut. The thick blonde tufts of hair fell on his fat head only along the top portion of his skull. In the center of the golden lilypad atop his head was a bald spot. Maybe if he grew it out thick all around the bald spot and shaved around the sides of his head, the ladies wouldn't notice he was balding. Or maybe his collection of keys were his pimptastic tool to attract the ladies. Or maybe it was the fact that his head looked like a large fallus. The engineer girl found this harder to conceive than her torturous homework. He exited the coffee shop and out into the darkness.