Race Report: Halloween Cross

Made my way up to Astoria, OR over the week-end.  The farthest, NorthWest corner of Oregon and also the filming location of The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Short Circuit, Free Willy I and II (but not III), and Halloween Cross 2008.  What's that you say?

One of the biggest cycling events that I have ever seen.... two days of cyclocross, both legit, one with costume all but required.

Take One:  Cross Crusade #4 Astoria

The Womens As were lined up at the start by cumulative points in the Cross Crusade series.  Having only raced one other in the series (crashing twice and struggling across the line), I didn't think I had any series points.  But my 12th place finish at #2 was enough to get me into the third row (of four) for the start.  I jumped in behind Bridget Stoick and Tina Brubaker, two people I knew to be really fast starters.

At the horn, 32 fast women jumped off the line for a 50 yd sprint straight into an S curve on wood chips and a muddy downhill.  I got edged out on the far right just as the woman in front of me nipped a cone and sent it into my drivetrain. I came unclipped on the right and ferociously wobbled, almost losing the handlebar, before righting myself and gaining control of the bike.  I was amazed that I kept it rubber side down.  As I calmed my racing heart I heard "That-was-an-awesome-save" from behind me... from the woman who would have eaten it along with me had I gone down.

And after all that, this course had more in store: a barrier in the middle of an uphill, five horse stalls with muddy 180° turns, a knee grinding uphill, and a bumpfest descent, not to mention the six-pack of barriers.  You could say I had a lot of fun... if your definition of "fun" is painful (mine sometimes is).  But this "fun" included every alcohol percentage point of the martini that Heather the Enabler had bought me at Downward Dog the night before, after I had already had two beers.  She owes me big.

But, the big news is... I finished 5th!  That's one point for the triathlete.

Take Two: Cross Crusade #5 Halloween

A word to the wise, if you race without a costume, you will be taunted mercilessly, hit with frisbees, and run off the course by another racer (I saw it, but that guy might have deserved it even if he was wearing a costume).  Not to worry... Heather and I looked awesome.  Think 80's aerobics instructors.  We were trying to pull off Jane Fonda, even doing a little "and-1-and-2-and-3.... feel the burn!" prior to the race.

The race was a blast, with a similar course to the day before.  The one addition was a mandatory jump that I nailed every time, even getting some major air on the last lap.  But the best part was all the costumery.  And every one should know that I love racing in costume.  It was a little hard for me to get pictures of myself on the bike, but I did borrow some from SoSoVelo, including some incredibly ironic pics:

Feeling the burn!

Sarah Palin v. The Wicked Witch of the West... tough call.

The Devil is after Jesus.

Cyclocross 2008 Video

Videographer extraordinaire and Super Fan Jim placed himself strategically throughout the 45 minutes of the Women's races at Veloshop Rickreall and Psychocross #2.  As a result, he achieved excellence in cyclocross clippage of Heather and I (and a few chasers) riding around the course.

I took the liberty of compiling these into a short video and adding a few special effects...

Enjoy!

P.S. Race report from the Halloween Cyclocross race is coming soon.

Night Rider

When you meet up at 6:15 pm at the Oak Creek entrance of the Mac-Dunn Forest on a clear, mild, late October evening... you know you are in for something special.  The vivid reds and yellows of the turning leaves fade into the dusk as the sun falls behind the hills.  Sounds of town are muffled.  And the only things you are aware of are your breathing, the crunch of leaves and gravel under rubber, and the stillness around you.

I rode out to meet Pam, Brent, and Christine for a little night riding last Thursday.  This was the second test of my new MiNewt X2 LED bike light, and the first time I would be riding in deep darkness (the first was just a twilight test).  I was a tiny bit nervous, but the butterflies in my stomach could easily be explained away by the 5 mini-Toblerones that I had as a pre-ride snack.

Pam and Christine were on mountain bikes and were meant to finish up at the cars, whereas Brent and I were on cross bikes and planning on riding to our respective front doors.  Brent and I took off first (Christine tried to ride in her clogs... doh!), heading up the Oak Creek fire road (becoming Patterson Rd.) for a little climbing and loopage on the forest maintenance roads.  Darkness didn't fall immediately, but almost getting nailed by riders coming down the trail made us realize we were kind of invisible.  At the top we turned on our lights and looped around to the Saddle (a point at which four forest service roads converge at a small parking lot and the peak of the Lewisburg Rd.), deciding to ride back and descend Dan's trail (single track) in the dark to get home and extend the awesomeness.

There were so many riders out enjoying the warmth of the forest, including boys from Full Cycles and several groups of two with dogs in tow (thankfully wearing blinky lights).

We stopped at the top of Dan's on Dimple Hill for Brent to change his tire (slow leak) and I was able to drink in the "city" lights of Corvallis.  And then here is where the fun begins...  descending down Dan's is a blast.  Descending down Dan's in the dark with lights (but not a head lamp) is slightly sketch but also a blast.  Descending down Dan's at full tilt when that light goes out... not so much.  About 2/3rds of the way down, on a section that I was admittedly taking faster than the conditions merited, my LED light went dark, leaving me to test the mettle of my cross breaks.  I yelled out "Brent" to which he responded... "What!?.... Oh!"  By the time he got back to shed light on me, I was already four feet off the path and in a fern.  So much for being able to feel your way in the darkness.

After that, I stayed close on his wheel, riding the rest of the way slowly back in to town.  It wasn't so bad.  But from now on I am going to charge my light every night and bring a spare. Jeez!  That could have been bad.  Bad-ass and awesome!

Let's try this: Jalapeño cheddar waffles

I was watching Iron Chef on Monday night.  The secret ingredient was cheese... any and all kinds of cheese.  I was fascinated... not only because one of my favorite foods is cheese (Gouda, Brie, Extra Sharp White Cheddar, you know, the good stuff), but because the Greek-American Southerner, Cat Cora, was cooking, and I love her take-charge, I'm-a-rockstar 'tude.

Cheese is also a great ingredient (as opposed to fennel or shellfish (like last night)) because most people like it and anyone can work up the nerve to cook with it (I am still waiting for the peanut butter episode).

That said... Cat Cora did something so cool, she took a traditional Southern Soul dish (chicken and waffles) and added some awesome.  She put jalapeños, garlic, and two kinds of cheese into the waffle mix.

I couldn't wait to try it.  I mixed up a ten grain waffle mix that I picked up at Winco Foods (the best bulk foods section I have ever seen... and open 24 hours).  I used the food processor to mince jalapeños, tomatillos, red peppers, and some yellow onion.  Combine these with some shredded colby and monterey jack cheese.  Three minutes in a round waffle maker (round is better than square) and a little more melted cheese and chopped yellow tomatoes on top, with green onions for a little added color, and... Voila!

It was so good.  I love breakfast for dinner, but this added a whole new twist.  

(In case you are wondering... those are Denver scrambled eggs on the side)

Home sick for Boulder

I know I talk a lot about the fact that home is in Missouri (and damn proud of it... Go Tigers!).  But I also think that "home" can be used to describe a place that gives me a feeling of peace and well-being, filling me with hope and promise and excitement just to think about it.  So then, "homesick" becomes a longing and general despondency that I can't help but acknowledge when just thinking about home is not enough.  I have a real physical need to actually be there.

And so last Friday night, I was so homesick that I watched Catch and Release, one of the worst films ever made, from start to finish.  It is so jam-packed with Boulder, CO references and scenes from Pearl St., Spruce St., the Boulder Creek Path and the Peace Park.  Of course, I dropped everything and snuggled into the couch.  And, I'm not entirely pathetic for doing so.  It does have some good eye candy! (I love chin dimples).

There is one line from the movie that is so dead on it is scary:  "This place is like a Patagonia Disneyland… Everyone is happy all the time."  So true!  And as the "daylight" (take this with a grain of salt) shortens and the rains come to Oregon, I count the days until I will travel Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my second family (A&E).

But these bouts of homesickness are infrequent and seem to coincide with something... I can't think of what it is ;-)  And I have found that I am beginning to settle into my life in Oregon (finally) and have found pleasure in the most unexpected places... sharing dog walks with Marsh-mallow and Erika, twice-weekly forested commutes with Heather, racing cyclocross, the richness of the food.  And even the smallness of Corvallis is starting to grow on me as I discover favorite places to run, ride, get a massage, drink mocha on a Sunday morning, the best bagel sandwich, a hair person, running buddies, and quiet sanctuaries within walking distance of the lab.

Peace.

Race report: Cyclo-crash

Here's a joke for you:  What is black and blue and red all-over?

Sunny

After two crashes during my cyclocross race last Saturday, I look a lot like someone who had an incident with a cheese grater.  In the matter of Cheese Grater v. Sunny... I rule in favor of Sunny.

Why's that?  Awesome-ness.

I lined up at Cross Crusade #2 (Wilsonville) in the Women's A field with some of the biggest names in Women's cyclocross/ cycling in the Pacific Northwest.  It was the biggest cyclocross race I have been in yet (and #4 ever... almost can start counting on the other hand).  33 women in the women's A, and if you conclude correctly that the Bs, juniors, masters, and beginners were all on the course at the same time.... that amounts to over 175 women looping around a ~1 mile cyclocross.  

We all started together, after roughly lining up by category... 100 yds of blacktop pavement and then a 135 ° down-sloping right turn onto gravel, and we were off.  I took a position somewhere in the middle of the group as we careened over gravel, construction equipment grooves, miscellaneous hard-packed dirt mounds and wheel ruts so deep that I bonked my pedals on the sides a few times.

With 45 minutes of racing, I figured around 5 or six laps for the total.  I didn't get a good look at the course before the race, so I spent the first lap feeling it out.  Lots of technical turns, and tricky lines all over the place and only one really good spot to pass slower riders.  On the second lap, I started to move up among the field of As, at one point sitting pretty in 6th!  And then we started to lap riders, inexperienced riders who were obviously a little bit timid and intimidated by the race and the course.  Passing became extremely difficult, and in a few spots I almost rode up on riders when they balked at bumps and turns.

That's how my first crash "went down".  Hanging wide on a gravel turn trying to pass a woman who almost came to a standstill, I didn't have a good line.  My body turned left into the corner, and my bike stayed straight.  Only option left to me was Superman-ing down onto the gravel... a maneuver destined to minimize devastation (a.k.a. no broken bones or torn musculature).

After ensuring my bike and my body were okay (in that order), I jumped back on and tried to gain the ground I had lost.  Still in the top ten at this point.  I managed to keep rubber-side down for another 4 minutes, when at the start of the 4th lap, I again took a digger.  This time on my right side.  Nobodies fault but my own.  Now I had matching gravel-rash on both elbows and legs... Cool!

The gun show is this-a-way!

I took a lot longer getting up from this one.  Also having to massage my chain back onto the chain ring.  Thinking, not all was lost, I hopped back on the bike.  However, I rode the rest of the race a little more conservatively, taking 12th place in the process.  And still smiling.

To get a taste of what I am talking about with cyclocross racing... there are a few people who take some fantastic pictures of these events:

velodramatic

pdxcross

Let's talk science.

Here's an interesting question:  How does research on gene regulation in plants relate to cancer in humans?

A lot.  But I won't go into it here.  I just got back from a meeting in California that was attended by the 1st and 3rd year awardees of the postdoc fellowship that funds my research.  One word: Amazing.  We were a group of scientists that seemingly would have had nothing in common:  immunologists, neurobiologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, biochemists, chemists, medical doctors, and embriologists.  Mouse people and worm people and plant people.  Different, except that we all had a pretty common purpose: a desire and now the means (thanks to the donors and the fellowship award committee) to address critical issues in (for lack of a better phrase) the fight against cancer.

And I had another opportunity that grew out of this opportunity (along with nine other fellows whose research seemed the most accessible to the general public) that not many scientists get... I got asked to give an interview where I spoke about my motivation in science, why I do what I do, what I do (in lay-terms), how I started, and what I hope to accomplish.  Eventually, the interview will be used to show donors to the foundation the kinds of research that their contribution helps to fund.  But, I'm going to preview the interview before I post a link (just to make sure it's all good).

And after I couldn't imagine it could get any better, afterward, Carol Dronsfield, a really immensely talented photographer, made me feel beautiful.  For close to an hour, she and I took pictures around this spookily cool ghost house on the premises of the Marconi Conference Center in Marshall, CA... overlooking an inlet of the Pacific Ocean that was surrounded by forested hills just beginning to turn to their fall colors.  If I get ahold of the pictures, I'll ask for her permission to post one or two.

So, last thing, being at the conference meant that I didn't have much time (or hardly any service) to check email and phone... but I did eat my first raw oyster ever.  Shucked it myself.  It tasted kind of limey (probably because of all the lime juice that I squeezed onto it).  Next time I'll try and taste it.

And in case you are still wondering how plant molecular biology relates to cancer... it turns out that nature does not like to reinvent the wheel.  Meaning, over the course of evolution, once living things figure out an elegant solution to a problem, it keeps using it over and over again (with a little refinement).  The toolbox for regulating genes in plants is pretty similar to the one in humans.  Thus, if you figure out what the tools are and how they work, you can maybe start to identify with your tomato plants on a whole new level.

What do you say when...

It has been a hard week for my friends.  People close to me have lost loved ones, people I knew as friends as well.  Two young guys in the absolute prime of life, victims of separate tragic accidents that neither could have foreseen or prevented.

Both were in the middle of doing something they love, the same kind of adventurous sports that I do all the time.  And in one case, riding a section of road that I had ridden less than 24 hours before.

And so, for the last few days I have been wondering what to say, what to do, how to react.  I have been going through the motions of my life with just a little less oomph, a little less of a bounce in my step, and two less friends in my life.

So, in wondering how I could find a little closure and a little meaning, I am writing this now in memory of my friend Ed.  Also because I could not make it to his memorial this afternoon (I was at a scientific meeting in California and no flight could get me home in time).

I've only known Ed for a short time.  Our most memorable time together was spent driving 11 hours each way to the Wildflower Triathlon earlier this year.  Along the way we shared stories, tri-geek talk, his excitement over his new tri store (Northwest Multisport), how he met his wife, how I ended up in Corvallis, and the largest bowl of ice cream known to man from the scoop shop in Rice Hill, OR.  He took a great deal of pleasure in the day-to-day living.  He loved everything about triathlon, especially the cycling.  He was an Ironman.  He was a Husband.  He was a Dad.  And, so I will remember Ed as someone who loved to talk to people about just about anything and one of the first people who befriended me in Corvallis.

If you would like to help out Ed's family, an account has been set up for his wife and four kids at Dream Dinners.  Dream Dinners is a place where you can hand pick evening meals that can be taken home and eaten at a later date. This is a fast and convenient way to get good evening meals.  You can call Dream Dinners at 541-752-3040 and make a monetary contribution to Kay Bomber's account.

Also, I mentioned I was short two friends. Matt Chesaux was someone I knew as an extraordinary friend to good friends of mine.  He inspired many to seek out the epic adventure in life and will be hugely missed. To continue his spirit, you can make donations to The Matthieu Chesaux Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Branch.

I don't know if these were the right words to say.  But, I wanted to say something.  No need to say anything back.

Race Report: Velo Rickreall Rampage

Actual quote from the race flyer:

"Mostly open, slightly bumpy, farm-course with a woodsy trail"

Translated:

We are going to run you through the dry corn fields that are so bumpy you're going to need dental work and a CAT scan afterward.  The woodsy trail is so tight and narrow that your front wheel will meet your rear wheel coming and you'll feel like a pinball, bouncing off the trees and getting matching bruises on each shoulder.  And lest we forget... for the women, we have something special.  We are going to wet down the approach to the bridge so that you have ample opportunity to get muddy!

Yeah!

Sorry this is a little late.  It's been a weird week.  But, I wanted to get this up, as I have now officially competed in three (count 'em 1-2-3) cyclocross races.  AND, I threw it in with the Women's A field, no sand-baggers here.

I rode up to Rickreall with Heather, Sandra, and a slightly "happy" Jim.  We approached the hazelnut/ corn farm just as the Men's single speed division was getting started.  The course immediately made an impression on us as being not-so-much beginner friendly as we watched 

several guys attempt to ride down into the drainage ditch, work a 180 in the gravel and dirt only to dead-wheel it trying to get out of the ditch.  Hmmm.. we were all thinking we would attempt it the first lap and run it the rest.

Waiting for the start of the race....

The race started a little late, owing to the fact that the crew had to "build-up" the approach ramp to a narrow bridge after each race because the loose sandy dirt kept falling away.  Then one crew member must have thought "Wouldn't it be cool.. if we wet it down?  Then the loose dirt wouldn't fall away".  For all intense purposes, this would have worked, except they got a little overzealous with the water and turned it into a mudslide.  So, 400 yds from the start line, the Women's A field hopped over a barrier and attempted to claw their way up this ramp.  The first rider made it okay... the second, not so much.  The third (me) and fourth (the girl next to me) were impeded by #2  who almost dropped her bike on my head.  Seeing this develop... I put a firm hand on her butt and pushed her up onto the bridge.  However, my physics teacher would have at this moment reminded me of the law of conservation of energy, and I slid down the ramp in the mud and back into the barrier.

So, I had to let every one go in front me and then took a running leap at the ramp to get up and over.  At this point, I got caught by the Women's B field that had started 30 seconds back.  But, I  managed to stay ahead of them and pick my way into the single track section.  Both legs and one arm were muddied from this ordeal and as I came out of the woods, I heard one guy remark to his buddy "How'ld I miss the mud wrestling part?"  HEHE.

So, from this point on it was just me trying to catch and pass the Women's A field in front of me.... not as easy as you might think.  The first rider was gone... superstar, she would beat me by half a lap.  But, I put on enough speed to catch 2nd place around the 5th lap (out of 9, I think).  I got a little help from my teammates on the course who let me pass just before or in the single track and took slightly longer to pull over for my pursuers.  I attempted the 180 in the drainage every time and even managed to ride up it once.  I got major props from the spectators for hoping on the bike on top of the bridge and riding down the other side unclipped (no small feat).

The Finnisher demonstrating the bridge technique while Sandra and Heather wait for racers to come out of the single track section.

And in the end, I was muddy, out of breath, numb from the elbows down because of the corn field (and thankful I was riding 30 psi in the tires), and smiling ear-to-ear.  I love this sport.

Oh, and the next morning, I managed to run a road race 10K personal best at the Fall Festival of 37:39.  Yeah, baby!