Monday, January 26, 2009

how many tangents can you *really* handle?

so i had a week of frantic wake-ups.  you know the ones--  the alarm is supposed to go off at 5:00 or 4:45...but you are so nervous that it isn't going to go off, that you are really up at 3:30.

that is what sunday was like.  last last sunday.  i had my minnesota track friends in town......... 

[tangent 1]  speaking of which, it was great having midwestern visitors.  it was like a little piece of home coming to me.  and it just made me want to move to minneapolis all the more.  minneapolis has not only a sweet track, but gwen lives in minneapolis and she just cracks me up over and over.  it was good to finally find someone crazy like me.  and by crazy i mean, do a ridiculous amount of research on a sport that you have never tried and become secretly obsessed over it. for gwen, that is speed walking.  for me, that is speed skating.  (note: both have the word "speed" in them.)  i don't even know how to ice skate (let along cross over step with longs blades!), but i think i'd be better at short track (as opposed to long track) speed skating.  and to be honest, that is probably how i got into track cycling...i wanted something a little bit more obscure than "road racing".  i had a bike for two months when i decided i wanted to do track racing..... you know what?  i think that palm reader was right, i research things too much to the point of over analysis.....

well, back to 3:30 am last last sunday.  i got the bright idea to wake up at 5am and bike to fremont for the early bird crit.  but of course i was afraid my alarm wasn't going to wake me up.  so as i was biking along at 6am down hesperian and doolitte, i realized that i am pretty stupid.  last last sunday was probably the most beautiful january day in history, and there i was biking in the dark and cold down contenders for the most industrial, ugly streets in the east bay.  but, in the long run, such a stupid decision was probably smart because i was nice and two hours warmed up by the time we finally started at 8:30am, a nice 5 hours after i awoke.  racing with the 3/4 men was very fun last last sunday.  it felt super smooth and everyone was very *quiet.*  key word: quiet.  this made me very happy and i didn't pop off the pack until the last lap, so i was pretty happy with hanging in for almost the whole time.

two days later (tuesday) i also woke up at 3:30. (non-biking related) this time, i didn't really have to be up until 4:30, to be at the oakland oracle arena for 6:00 for the inauguration viewing, but again, i was alarm clock nervous.  that morning, i was tabling and of course some idiotic food vendor was cooking bbq tri-tip at 7am, which of course was right next me, and was frankly making me nauseous.  then someone walked up to my table and said: "you are with a health organization.  where can i get some healthy food." and i think i told them: "there are some free jalapenos behind me."  (fixings for the nacho vendor...)  the event was good; the clinic folk were happy.  then as i was leaving this clinic guy from hayward had me participate in a 45 minute sage burning ceremony in the parking lot of the coliseum, which was cleansing, cultural, or interesting - pick your favorite.  but really i just wanted to go to sleep, but instead had to work until 5.

so last sunday (not last last sunday), i was planning on doing the early bird race again with the boys.  except i kinda wanted to go to track afterwards to play with annabell, so i figured i could drive into fremont, do the race, then drive from fremont to san jose, and get to the track.......  

[tangent 2]  so before the first early bird, i road with some roaring mouse guys and karla down from san francisco, across the dumbarton to fremont to go to the "early bird talk" where a bunch of people gave little talks about racing, etc.  it was very nice.  one dude spent a very long time giving advice on how to pack your car the night before.... having your bike in working order a week before.... etc., etc.  now, i am sure the little talk was quite informative, but it seemed a bit excessive at the moment.  but perhaps i should have heeded his advice. but, what he doesn't understand is that some people are adrenaline junkies.  like me.  i love the rush of packing at the last minute.  or of running to the bus.  ahh, spring to the bus......

[tangent 3]  so this one time i was in downtown san francsico making my way to the transbay terminal to get on the geary/38L. i did this every day for 2.5 years.  so i knew all the bus drivers: shades, hat guy, bitch lady... (i had names for them all).  some bus drivers are heartless and they are at the stop, close the door, and move up literally 2 feet to stop at a red light, and won't let you on the friggin' bus, even if you knock on the bus door.  (i.e. shades and bitch lady)  now, some bus drivers are nice and open the door (i.e. hat guy), but this particular day bitch lady was driving.  i hate her.  hate is a strong word.  but i hate her.  she has no heart and is mean.  so when she pulled this shit on me, literally closed the door in my face, moved up a foot to a red light and wouldn't let me on.  i was PISSED.  that day she shouldn't mess with me and make me wait 15 more minutes in the friggin' cold.... so i was going to show her.   so i started sprinting to try and beat her to the next bus stop.  i ran across the street, across mission, and was bolting down fremont like a crazy woman, dodging in and out of tully's coffee drinkers--the sidewalk was just too difficult to maneuver, so i jumped into the street after a few buildings,  in and out of a few cars, dodged in front of another bus, to make it to the bus stop which is located in the middle of the street on an island.

now, at that moment i felt more victorious than i think i ever felt in my life.  (except perhaps a soccer game i played in 7th grade, but that is a much longer tangent...).  as i stepped on the bus, i showed her my pass and really wanted to pump fist at her and yell: "WHAT?!  WHAT?!"  and then raise my arms and run down the bus isle, expecting everyone to be cheering and giving me high fives for beating the bus lady at her own game.  

except that didn't happen.  

i merely showed her my pass, and panted to the back of the bus, and was mad all of the single window seats were taken.  then i moped that there is no collective spirit on big city buses, and i continued day dreaming about what it would be like if there was collective spirit on big city bus lines...and how things would be different.....  

and, so, yeah, i like the adrenaline rush, even for stupid shit.  but that whole story was meant to make another point: i am good at timing.  yeah, i often push the limits, but i rarely fail.  that is because i am really fast.  and i am best under pressure.  i almost always know just how much i can push the limits so i can still have some time to spare.  except last sunday. 

[tangent 4]  so i started this acne regimen, dan kerns acne regimen, which takes a lot longer than i anticipate.  i met dan kerns at a bbq a few years ago, and i am happy to now be supporting his "3 step products."  addressing my acne was my new years resolution.  superficial: yes.  but i don't care.  so far, i am very happy with dan kerns regimen.  and imagine, had i not been a lazy butt saturday night, i could have been playing cards with dan kerns himself.  i am actually very sad i missed this opportunity, because he is now like a celebrity that i think about twice a day - morning and night - so i am very sad i didn't know he was going to be a the card party i was supposed to attend.  i didn't attend because i wanted to sleep a lot because of the race the next day.  and then, ironically enough, the time his regimen takes prevented me from leaving on time.  

anyway, it takes a long time to rub in two pumps of benzoyl peroxide.  and then i forgot i needed gas. and the gas station i went to was out of gas or something.  and then i got off a exit early in fremont and had to remember how to weave the city streets.  and blah blah blah. (OF COURSE i should have just gotten up earlier! but that doesn't make for a very good blog entry....sans dan kerns acne regimen and 38L bus lady)  

so it was 8:10, i pulled in, and the race started at 8:30.  so i had a nice 2 lap warmup.... which is almost as good at 2 hours.  

now even if i did have a 2 hour warmup, i don't think it would have prevented me from getting dropped after 1.5 laps.  yeah, how do you go from one week from sitting in nearly the whole 50 minutes...and the next week, you get dropped 1.5 laps in.  i blame: a) me, b) the wind, c) me not being pushy enough in the wind, d) men (obviously.  that should have been the first one).   so i popped off, then got back in.  made it a whopping 2 laps next time. popped off.  made it 2.5 laps then popped off.  and then the race was over.  so, needless to say i totally sucked balls.  and then a mentor tried to be all supportive cause i was a girl and say: "good job" to which i replied: "no it wasn't."  and then continued on with my thought: "i need to grow some!" but i didn't know that guy, so i actually only said that in my head.

my track time i'd like to say was much better, but i don't think it was. i had one really good start.  actually it was awesome. pete billington said so.  and pete scares me, so i will believe whatever he says.  so, i would say there was a quality 12 seconds of exercise yesterday, and about 2 hours, 57 minutes, and 33 seconds of mediocrity.... which is better than 2 hours, 57 minutes and 45 seconds of mediocrity... so one must stay optimistic.

3 comments:

Gilby said...

Thank you for hosting us! We had so much fun!!!

Here is the video that inspired it all for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUpXENEdkPE.

EB said...

how do you go from one week from sitting in nearly the whole 50 minutes...and the next week, you get dropped 1.5 laps in

That's just how the early birds work. They're so unpredictable. Same thing happened to me -- week one was no problem, week 2 the pro tour folks showed up & wouldn't you know it, I ended up heading out for my own ride through the park...

Unknown said...

It's ok. I popped after a couple laps too and didn't bother getting back in. Maybe doing the HOP in the middle of 98 mile ride isn't such a good idea the day before a race? :)