Dirt to Dirt.... SLaB goes to Vascona Park

Afternoon cruise and test ride of a "real" mountain bike - Jaimie & Vix and Bev go for a bike path ride in Los Gatos. We went from our Pottery Studio Class - and attempting to build out of dirt or clay... to playing on the dirt. 

Fantastic way to enjoy an hour or two in our busy days. Vix escapes the photos, but the 3 of us enjoyed some easy going riding... object of afternoon; no fear, nothing too taxing, and to try something new! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! You don't have to get completely geared up and do a big epic ride each time you get on your bike... sometimes just playing around on curbs and small trails - can improve your confidence and help start forming cycling muscles - for future rides that may be more challenging. I recommend doing this little treat often - to bring the fun factor back into riding, and introduce our bodies to moving around and trying little challenges!

Discovered lots of fun whoopdie doo's to practice technique & test the bikes out!

The bike path is sweetly marked for traffic, and we had almost none!

Your choice, the paved path above, or this nice little single track 

beckoning your fat tire's to come play!

Madness of Small Worlds - a book I designed

My first full book design since I managed for Scholastic in '95. 

The Graphic Design went longer than expected as with perhaps... a house renovation... but the result is something to be proud of! The publisher and I got creative with the layout, and it was worth the extra weeks in the end! Check out sample pgs below, and perhaps if you are a fan of this famed playwright, Mac Wellman (Obie award winning), you'll be interested in getting a copy!

I met Mac Wellman when he came as a guest to Stanford, during a production of one of his plays, early on in our book publish process. I didn't know what to expect, as he is one, or the most published playwright of our times - and what goes on in his head might be a little scary. Being that I'm more of a picture person than literary, and want to be more positive than cynical - not sure (his and my) future has a lot of Christmas cards in store.  The "artist self pity" of "people don't get it" attitude made me wonder how many friends he has. I realize society is a little too simple, and there is a terrible virus of un-awareness and apathy in our world - but the cryptic style of his analgesic writings are to me, meant to be riddles and puzzles and creative, not slaps in the face if we don't get it right away. (actually I meant that word to be analogous, but I just love that it turned out to be "analgesic", I think it works!). I liked his writing more than him, and I suppose he'd not mind that at all!

It may be that he was super critical and pushing the student-director to try harder with future plays. I did see his more jovial side come out a couple times... but somewhat at the expense of others. 

With that said... I find his writings very creative - and so cryptic that I feel like I'm wondering in a labyrinth - one that resembles some of my strangest dreams, and nightmares. I'm as frustrated as the next aware human, and try to intellectualize the reasons for our state of society, the lack of taking our own responsibility for all or any actions. The need for excessive laws to protect ourselves from ourselves shows the priorities that have gone awry. We accept the reasonings of "economy" or take away our human rights of choice - so protect the abusers of rights. I can get crazy mad with that. Mac Wellman's writings help feed and humor-ize (I love to make up words) and stir up even a giggle and some anger I think. So enjoy it if you dare! 

Know that you have met the designer of the book, and maybe that'll bring an extra smile to your face as you turn the page for another surprise typography element, or verbage you know I didn't understand as I placed it on the page!

At top of post is the cover of the small press book - 

published by "Trip Street". 

Painting on cover is by Karl Roeseler, the publisher.

Click on the pages above to witness the depth of design/layout, and to taste the crazy stories of small worlds - perhaps analogies to our own bigger world of small worlds. You decide!

Buy it ($15) on Small Press Distributors (SPD)

Buy it ($15) on Amazon!

Click THIS LINK for the Book Forum.com review - which is smashing! Good Job Trip Street and thanks for getting me involved and we produced a beautiful and creative book together!

Happy Memorial Day!

THANK you to all who gave lives, time, limbs etc - so that I can live here, with my religious and political views, work here and have a happy home!

Put up this huge flag today. We got it from some dead guy down the street. We also got some really awesome vinyl from him at that estate sale, Harry Belafonte and more! Anyhow... they tried to convince me this flag was not for a casket... but being that it was over 8ft long... I just don't know if I believe them! 

Today... we were supposed to have been finished with a 4 day bike ride to Santa Barbara... but with my energy levels low... we instead rested and relaxed all weekend. 1 major league baseball game, 2 bbqs, then today... a gin and tonic... and no bike ride again... YEEIIKES!  I think I'm taking doctors orders a little too seriously! Time to dust off our bike this week!

Bitter Sweet Moss Green

You know you love someone when you drive across the Bay area on a Holiday weekend, to go see their baseball team play at the opponents cold, windy stadium. Am I bitter, no, I know my honey's a HUGE Red Sox fan, & had no excuse as we cancelled our 4 day bike ride to Santa Barbara and had no plans. My 2nd game in 2 weeks-Yeeikes!

We kid about this being punishment for me needing to cancel our athletic endeavor with our friends - that I have to suffer through more baseball. Kidding aside, I'd rather watch a live game then have it droning on the TV, while we sulk at the fact friends are riding epic days down the California coastline. Meanwhile we're stuck with the smoke filled cold air, same ol' suburbia... and haven't ridden our bikes in WAY too long! (oooh, bitterness again... oops)

My bonus is we get a very quick visit in with a dear friend in Oakland who is moving back East soon. First thing I notice in Oakland compared to Cupertino is COLOR, character and style! The visit is crunched between our bb game and his DMV visit and date with his sweetheart Nicole. But in the 1hr we had, these pics were taken.

Tom is one of my first friends here in CA when started to live by myself in Mill Valley. A dear friend with many amazing adventures together. A bicycle expert - building, riding, buying, selling, marketing, trading, fixer upping, try anything once, 24hour racing team-mate of honesty, advocacy, and true loyalness (new word). It is a bittersweet visit in several ways. Only weeks left in his 10 year bay area stint, and I'll miss him dearly. We used to buddy up every weekend, and recently with our love lives and work/home locations - visits are barely annual. Sweet to visit, sad to know only a few slots left for more visits before he starts his new adventure. 

Moss Green and interesting patterns are scattered everywhere. First image is bricks alternated with Moss in Tom's backyard. Here a dresser's drawers are filled with bars of chocolate at... yes..."Bittersweet Cafe" on College Ave.

Nicole's new old bike spruced up by Tom

Tom retrieving our treats - on a moss green dish of course. We sufficiently get wired on Chocolate, flour and sugar with croissants, muffins, and chocolate laced drinks.

My honey gets to see a game... Red Sox Lost... and we scidattle back home - unscathed by traffic, but pooped and chilled to the bone w/ the huge contrast of cold weather - from last weeks HOTness.

Women in Sports and Events

Took the train to an SF Giants game last night with WISE, "Women In Sports & Events", a fantastic networking group! Chatted with folks I saw speak at the last event regarding "managing your digital identity" (which prompted this blog!) It was remarkably warm and comfy for San Fran from our bleacher seats! It was gorgeous out, and I love this view, as it is hard to imagine I'm IN a baseball stadium, surrounded by hotdog vendors when I took this photo with my phone, from behind large scoreboard!

"I'm gonna wash that lead right outa my hair"

Some of you have been more interested than others in this crazy "metals cleanse" I seem eternally on! Here are a few details, and the great results after 10-12 weeks, and what it means for me right now!~ thanks for all your support! 

So this is a sampling, most of the bottles, (some were recycled already and not shown), that I took in a methodical - spreadsheet of a schedule - for 10 weeks to "CHELATE" the excessively high Mercury and very high lead counts in my system.

The original results (behind) just arrived yesterday - follow up test results are composited on top layer! Great reductions-YAY!

What this means: The drastic reduction you see in the bar graphs, and more-over the numbers - proves that also my GOOD minerals are depleted as well. Having a major electrolyte deficiency now! This explains my muscle pain, poor recovery, fatigue and major charlie horses! Mostly good news regarding washing metals out, but still need to balance and recover. I'm good for a workout under 2 hours. Sounds okay to a non athlete... but in our crowd... 4 hours is somewhat a normal ride!

New Plan: REPLENISH my Magnesium, Potassium, Iron... etc.. until I'm recovered, over about the next 2 to 4 weeks. Goal... to be patient and keep my crazy athlete friends at bay until I can re-join them!

FINISH: Then do a shorter 5 week Chelation cleanse again... to try and get the Mercury back to the "green" level, or non toxic level. We more than halved it... but it is still higher than acceptable. Shows you how dangerously high it was!

FUTURE: I want to motivate my neighbors and friends to get tested, Test our water and air, and pursue the Hansen quarry's plan for filtering their Coal Fired Kiln - to reduce exposure going forward.

KQED-on Cement Kilns Coal/Mercury emissions

HANSON Cupertino quarry

Hanson - heidelbergcement  

Wellness Architecture (Dr. McCully)

"They tried to kill me"-- local 'epic'

Detective log: 05:13:2008

Crime: Suspective Murder by exhaustion case

File: See evidence below.

Time start: oh 5 hundred

End: 8:30ish

Acomplice: Sya, who is a no show

Plan: 5pm, Target rides with conspirator Terry to meet agents Chris & Camille at 5:15.

Climb: Montebello Rd. (2080 ft of gain, 5.11 miles)

Descend: Steven's Canyon trails. 

Trick: Surprise "Target" with extra Bella Vista trail(s)

Supplies: run out

Target: 40 something year old, 

admits to depletion of electrolytes from metals cleanse... 

and lack of regular or long or steep workouts.

Geographical location: Montebello Open Space... and then some.

Somebody's computer states it was (only) 28ish miles... 

I'm not certain I believe this...

Conspirators: Corn Dog, Chris, Terry

The last of the climbing... or was it?

Hmmm... suspicious character... is that Enervit you are eating?

Don't we look chummy... actually I look tall! 

(and Corndog's suspender straps add interesting 

thigh/hip shape...note to self!)

The SUMMIT! Or so I thought. 

Looking South/East - at Ridge Vinyard on left

Descent starts with amazing single track into the sunset. Grass was back lit, and trails perfectly dusty. Fast and fun.

Corn Dog is wondering what took me so long... 

light is fading... and the extra leg of Nature Trail and to 

Pagemill seems to have taken it out of me. 

The bumpy fast downhill on new mystery trail from Pagemill had me take a unplanned stop.

I adjusted my falling off glasses, my ill-adjusted shock (my fault)... 

and washed down the large - very big - bug 

that was in the wrong place at the same time as my open mouth. ;-)

Last picture other than one of my beer at Gumba's for quick recovery. All pictures are from my fancy phone... this one, and a few others... were taken WHILE RIDING!

The blurry photo captures how I felt riding at the moment! 

It was darker than this image shows. I survived the ride... all 28(Really?) miles... but realize again... that 2 hours is my limit. Good to find out our limits. This may change after I replenish all the goodies that my cleanse took out... but for now... my friends (and foes) will have to realize that the ol' endurance Bev... is out of town for a while. But short fun ride Bev... is still local!

Beach Ride with heavenly replenish stops

(updated note; this is exactly where the "Summit Fire" is - we ride right through the same canyon, and this market has become headquarters for this tragic fire in this last week of May 22nd on thru Memorial weekend! Gorgeous Canyon, our hearts go out to the residents)

Terry, Bev, John post ride

Yesterday was my longest (road) ride in almost a year! Think I did a 20 miler a few weeks ago.

Los Gatos --> over the Santa Cruz mtns --> to Capitola --> Corralitos --> & back to LG. 65miles. 

Stops

1. Cappucino at Zelda's, Capitola beach. 

2. Detour for an open house in Aptos. 

3. Snack time w/ fresh strawberries, Corralitos. Up nasty climb to Nisene Marks/Demonstration Forrest. Where there was strangely very few cars. Perfect temps, and gorgeous Redwoods. After it started to feel like I was pushing square wheels... we came upon road barriers (aha! no wonder no cars!) where the road has slid on down the mtn. At the 2nd barrier - there was an unexpected oasis. #4.

Stop number 4. A group of celebrating mtn. bikers, happy to share. An unexpected SAG (support and gear) stop from Heaven! WOW! A few sips of a beer the 3 of us shared, one oatmeal cookie - and we knew we needed to get the ride done and go get a real meal!

The boys helped me survive the long (for me) and gorgeous route - and the "rest stop" at the top triggered my craving for this Guinness you see photographed - which is mostly gone!

Where are all the girls? I need to get my SLaB butt in gear and get more of you out there! 

I'm sore, my quads feel huge - been calling them "Eric Heiden" legs. (remember the Gold Medalist speed skater?). Still pretty tired, but happy! Need to get longer rides in more often!

Cheers!

Strong, Light and Beautiful - with one leg

I took this picture of Sarah Reinertsen running by me, just after my husband ran by - both starting the final portion of their Olympic distance tri's. It not only was super inspiring to see her smile, so beautiful, her power and strength, and how light hearted and energetic she was - the definition of SLaB - it threw me back to the day before - during my Sprint distance triathlon attempt. 

Yes I did not train enough... but I wanted to accomplish something. The swim as you know I didn't like for the crowds. I LOVED the bike portion, as I know bikes, ride them, and just plain always feel happy riding a bike. The run was something else. "Heavy legs"... I thought... then "no... I have to say my mantra".  Another 40+ yr. old lady and I struggled up the short steep hills, and I tried to motivate us both into thinking how light, fast, and strong we were. We got quiet... and turned a corner to face another steep short hill... and both of us involuntarily gasped a sigh of struggle.

Not a second or two later, a CAF (Challenged Athlete Foundation) runner with ONE LEG, like Sarah here in this picture... was returning from the turn-around point on the run. Ahead of us, strong, smiling and amazing. 

That put it in perspective for us two moaning ladies who felt like our 2 legs were too heavy for us.  We could have just one... and would we be complaining so?

I'm happy to say both my legs are sore, and I'm still feeling the affects of accomplishing an event, be it shorter than other challenges, but long enough to scare me, excite me, and make me feel proud I tried it. Thanks Sarah and your colleagues - for inspiring us so much!

www.challengedathletes.org

Bass-o-matic wetsuit blender

You might like this sort of swimming. If you don't mind drowning by the force of some neoprene laden - goggle bearing - rubber cap toting - drowning victim splashing over or under you.... after being kicked a few times, poked, and swallowing some lake water. 

Ironically I like to swim, grew up swimming in a lake almost daily in the summer. I really love to swim... but not in this nasty "bass-o-matic blender" of wetsuits.

Anxiety ends with successful Wildflower "fun"

Bev and Terry pre-ride some of the "mtn. bike course" with our event schwag bags on our backs.
Bev starts bike portion of tri - after the brutal nasty mosh pit of a swim. By the way, took me about 2 minutes more to swim the swim, as it did to transition to the bike from the swim. Guess I predicted or attracted that to myself, by the previous blog regarding the darn wetsuit!

Ride starts by going under the finish line, so ignore the time - just notice I'm not smiling yet. It took about 20 minutes into the 9.7 mile ride for me to start singing to fellow riders. I loved this portion of the tri. Needed real single track or some technical though. 

Afterwards at expo area relaxing to a band, trying to get rid of head-ache and rehydrate. This spectator took over my helmet area - and had the right idea!

Karen who kicked butt w/ a 1 hrs 16 min time, top 8 for our 40+ women's cat. Then me with 1 hour 28 minutes of stress, joy, exhaustion then celebration. Terry on right - waiting for his race the next day - he did the Olympic distance - and did fantastic - cutting a couple minutes off his last time in 2001 - at 2 hrs 46 min. 

Did it, glad I accomplished it, very cool event, not sure I'll do it again. ;-)

girl found unconscious at swim-bike transition....

We leave tomorrow, my race is day after tomorrow. 

Just for fun.... I decided to try on the borrowed wetsuit... and simulate a transition. Had my husband point the garden hose at me to get the suit wet - he enjoyed that a bit much... then I tried to take it off. I got stuck numerous times. 

Exhausted, nearly giving up - but wanting out of the suit now making me sweat... I use a good 10 minutes to get it off. Total transition... 15 minutes. Wow... I'm so not breaking any records other than worst transitioner... 

Wildflower... here I come!