still life with sinead

balance for speed!.

2010-12-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

Part one the feet, part two, the pelvis! or..how improving your balance can make you run faster..

it's all in your head

2010-12-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

Mental fortitude, mind over matter, courage of conviction.. it doesn't matter what you call it, if you don't have a vision of what you want, and if it doesn't sustain you on an existential level, you haven't a hope of reaching your goals. I am always interested in the pain of athletic endeavors, and what it takes to over-ride the incredible urge to quit and get out of the pain zone. Even in a 60 minute strength training workout with Ed on Friday evening, or in this mornings long run when my right forefoot was on fire and my hips were groaning in the 10th cold mile, I am constantly fighting the brain demons, the negative voices. Those little conversations in my head that bizzarely seem to have my voice, yet are trying to get me to quit, to finish early, to walk up that hill, to take the short cut home. Sometimes the counter voice is louder, stronger or more persistent, sometimes not.

When I give in, as I have done on occasion now over decades of training and racing, I am invariably disappointed, as if I have eaten a full chocolate cake from the fridge in the middle of the night, or watched a beautiful plant die because I couldn't get off my arse to water it. It is this urge to avoid disappointment in myself that pushes me, that gives me strength to finish the appointed workout, and sometimes it is stories like this, that put my mind in a different place, imagining the pain, the difficulty and the suffering, and gaining perspective. Stories like Sam, and Nick never cease to inspire me, and I relish having painful limbs to feel, and feel grateful for the ability to push a mile more, to get another 3 reps done. I will always draw on my early experiences mountain bike racing, 24 hours of Snowshoe WV, in the middle of the night when I was whimpering through the "dark side of the moon" trail, towards the gnarly down hill. I was passed by a guy calling "on your left", and I pushed to the edge of the trail. In the light of my headlamp, I spotted a fella my age, riding by me with a carbon arm attached to his carbon handlebar. "On yer bike missus" he said, and that was enough. On my bike I got, and have kept going since.

M.O.A.B. 2010

2010-12-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

Finishing my 5th day in class at 6:30, my brain was like spaghetti and I needed a break. I needed to ditch Provo like a pair of worn out knickers, so I sat heavy on the gas down I-15 past the windmills, and headed for route 6, bearing west-southwest and towards the desert.

says it all..

First night at the Aarchway Inn, I was glad to get a bed, any bed. Even one that was behind a triple lock (didn't bode well). The morning sun on the red Moab rocks outside my window confirmed my doubts about the "hotel", asI had to sidestep someones throwup by the front door, and again outside the front door.
Poison Spider bike shop set me up with a sweet ride, Trek Rumblefish 29er, brandy new, all set with bottles, repair kit and slimed tires. As well as the regular credit card info, I had to give them the make and model of the rental car, my height and weight, and let them know which trails I would be riding. While I first thought that the cute shopgirl was hitting on me, I realized then they were just taking the necessary precautions for when solo riders like myself blow into town with the tumbleweeds at the end of season. The wanted to get the bike back from the desert, and presumably, me with it. As I was filling the requisite forms and proving my helmet was actually with me, a couple waltzed to the counter and began arguing, eyerolling and huffing as the mandatory helmet-speech was given..I wanted to hand the dumb asses a recent "brain sprain" article from Dirtrag magazine, but just gave a knowing eye to the shopgirl and rolled out of the store.

sinead and shadow, my only company

Back on Amasa Back

Colorado green, 1000 feet down..

Fun fun fun, 3 hours on Amasa back, lunch in town, then greedy mountain bike pig that I am, out onto Slickrock for the end of the day, another 3 hours.

yep, I rode this..

yes this too..

Amasa back is one of the alltime favorite rides in Moab, technical but rideable, especially with my new friend Rumblefish..the full suspension 29er almost feels like cheating, just eating up the nasty climbs, bouncing smoothly over ledges, and giving me the "cojones" to tackle terrain that I was a wee bit hesitant to manage (solo, in the desert, on rocks, edges of cliffs...)

follow the dots home...

Arriving at Slickrock late in the afternoon, there were only 3 cars in the famed parking lot, with the sun diving towards the colorado river. I rode conservatively, getting my brain used to the mind-game of sticking to rock at obscene angles, and clearing all kinds of slopes that would normally have me walking, whining, and crying.

Brandon, Tyler Rob and ?Tim my LDS buddies

One BIFF tore my elbow open, and I thought my knee cap was fractured. I waited it out, then watched 4 out of the 5 guys behind me all slide back down the rockface at the same point as I had just done. We commiserated and compared wounds, then rode the rest of the loop together. Just as well this group of polite, clean, well groomed ne'er do well Mormon boys adopted me, as we finished the ride with the stars out over Poison Spider Mesa, and the temperature plummeted 20 degrees to freezing.

leaving Slickrock

Back to my lovely abode, this time no puke, I crashed after a bucket of pasta and salad in one of Moab's main street eateries. 10 hours of zzz's. Joy.

local wildlife (4 feet long, 100lbs..not really)

mountain bike in spring, summer, dirtbike in autumn, winter

Next day on Sovereign trails, communing with the dirtbikers, critters and the wide open landscape, I made my peace with sticky, pointy steep rocks, and thanked whatever for the chance to ride, ride alone, and ride (relatively) unscathed.

local restaurant recipies

Dinner alone at Desert Bistro, I said a silent "grace" to the massive elk burger before I swallowed that puppy, and was truly grateful for a belly full of local meat, and a soulful of bike time. Can't wait to come again in May, wanna join me?

semester 5.. over the halfway hump en route to PhD..

2010-11-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

Back in Provo, UT: Early morning dreadmill run, spin or weights got my brain revved up for the 8am start at Rocky Mountain University Semester 5, module 2. Glad to have been moving for the better part of 2 hours, I now sat for 10 hours, brain exploding while my butt was compressing.

Days 1-3: Cory DeRosa and Jim Porterfield: Anatomy, Biomechanics and Pathophysiology of the spine: veritable giants in the PT world, they were a fun tag-team in reality. They used cadaver disections, videos and tons of hard-core science to expand our understanding of ABP spine. My 30 minute presentation on clinical reasoning and model for PT management of low back pain, luckily drew heavily on their prior publications. I swore to them that I wasn't brown-nosing, they rolled around laughing, and then simply admitted they were glad that at least SOMEONE had read their work.

Day 4: Research Methods 3: Mitch Rauh browbeat us for clarification of our methods section for the proposed dissertation. The presentation had to include a detailed account of the variables to be tested along with the appropriate statistical analysis. Phew. While this is a weakness of mine, I can honestly say that I am getting a better handle on this "slippery knowledge" as Dr Allison defines the EBP / Bio-Stats portion. This is the third time around at getting through stats, my B.Sc program was a perfunctory breeze through a little red book (not recalling anything of the contents, I am happy to remember the cover colour). My M.Sc was better, but I ended up farming out the data analysis portion to my classmates husband, a professional statistician, so for this PhD program, I am actually happy to be forced to finally get a grip on this stuff. The night before the presentation, I had a RM3 panic and slashed a whole section on epidemiology from my proposal, but Mitch, the epidemiology specialist with his sunny San Diego ways, talked me down from the statistical ledge. And the dissertation will be a ll the better for it.

Day 5: Pathophysiology and clinical management of pain: Russell Foley: our brains are dead, and perhaps this course should have preceded the ABP spine section. Russell is a great guy with tons of information, but an old, non-interactive style of teaching. We needed interaction by now, since the coffee in Utah is appalling, and 10 hours of class followed by 2-3 hours of prep for the next class is wearing on me. I wallowed through it, mentally promising to get a better handle on the literature later, while planning my escape to Moab that night. My analytical brain is full and my adventure brain needs to get going..

As I get swamped in cytokines,TNF-alpha, spinoreticular tracts and the hypothalmus-pituitary-adrenal axis, Becca and I swapped notes at the back of the class, coming up with nicknames for our classmates that I want to get emblazoned on t-shirts for Christmas gifts.
Jeff: LDS (Mormon) "family guy"
Kunal: (Muslim Indian, math + stats whizz) "smart guy"
Navpreet (Kunals wife, Sikh Indian,chef extraordinaire) "curry chick"
Bob (Californian obsessed with Gluteal function) "glute guy"
Joe (Bostonian pumped weight-lifter, fightin' Irish) "superset guy"
Becca (Portlander, eco-friendly) "PDX chick"
Jason (new to our cohort this semester) "new guy"

Time to get going and rescue my brain..I hug my team mates / classmates goodbye, we will meet again in May, but will be in constant touch over the coming 6 months of submissions. Car loaded, tank full of gas, coffee to go, and I head down route 15 into the night for the next adventure.

Stage 4: Etherington to Anchor D ranch

2010-09-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

more points, more and more points..

An inauspicious beginning to the 4th stage. I felt well recovered despite sleeping on damp ground and tossing with bike dreams all night. We rode incredible single track to CP #1 at 15k, then another climbing slogfest to CP#2. Dennis's back gave out on the steep climbs, so I grabbed his bike, and pushed. And pushed and pushed, until he was able to ride again. No shame in it, this was the purpose of the the team of two. I knew I was going to have some hard days ahead where I would likely be whining and teary, so for now, I was content to be the one pushing, without the pain. While he lagged behind, frustrated and cranky, I took a few seconds and marveled at the soaring golden eagles and the huge landscape in which we plodded along. The peaks gave way to the endless valleys, filled with cow shit, mud from hoards of cows, and mud rivers. Cattle country they warned us last night. Stomping along in it, sliding down hill in it, losing my favourite Oakleys in it and up to my shins in the sticky brown stuff for hours now, I wondered whether at a certain point, cowshit acts as chain lube. 15k of it, it took us over 2 hours to hike a bit, ride a bit before we hit the dry trail again, in 4th place again, exhausted and disappointed, but ready to settle down at Anchor D ranch. Having been mired in shit all day, we were more than disappointed to roll into camp and find the tents all perched neatly on piles of wet cow shit, Cattle country indeed. The long day finished with marble sized hailstones, pelting us as we stripped for the showers, then denting the shower truck as we giggled inside.We were finally warm, somewhat clean, our bellies growling for dinner (justifiably with Alberta beef on the menu!) and we were ready another shot at the podium after a good nights sleep.

is there a bike under that mud / cowshit?

Altogether now..singing..

TR2010 Stage 3: Sparwood to Etherington

2010-09-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

line up behind Gustavo's head please

Sunny spells and scattered showers. The forecast sounded like the millions of Irish weather predictions that I grew up with. The start line was blustery, but it was still nice and sunny, though cool at 56 degrees as we lined up in the corral again. Music blaring, AC/DC "Highway to hell" being apt, we rode off into the base of the mountains, headed to the wilderness on Stage 3. The TR3 group would be leaving us after this stage, so I knew that the organizers would have designed a wonderful day for us. Not wrong. We had fueled up well and were ready for the dirt: 2k parade around the town at high speed, then off into the hills: 25k of fast, rolling hills on double-track, with a consistent climb to the 40k checkpoint Into the woods, and across the first river of the race. In my short adventure racing career, I was always leery of the river crossings, usually designed to get you wet and miserable, and keep you cold for the rest of the race. I anxiously struggled to find a footing on the slick rocks beneath the roaring water, schlepping my bike at waist height on the first crossing. Since the second and third crossings came soon after, I began to relax in the rivers, enjoyed the cool-down, and I realized we were quickly crossing a watershed, the rivers getting smaller and less vigorous as we continued to climb.
Up into tightly would alders we rode, with the thin branches whipping us as we squeaked by on the barely visible trail. The riding came to an end as the trail kicked upwards, and the alders grew tighter together. While the trail eventually measured 2k, it took almost an hour to beat our way to the top, with some sections of the trail scrabbly rock, and approaching 20% grade at points. Stand up, reach your arms to above head height but not quite overhead, and now lean forward. Imagine pushing a 20+lb bike at this angle, and now imagine it for the next hour, grunting and slipping, stopping to let another grunter by, a stronger one, or one with better traction on their slippery mountain bike shoes. The trail finally let up and turned into this incredible vista of rocky ridges which while treacherous, were rideable and incredible fun. The hike-a-bike-sections continued intermittently, though now above the treeline, were mostly on scree slopes and up rockfaces. What a break! We continued onward and upward, looking back only at the ant-like figures beneath us, finally reaching the top of the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.. Phew.

our funny Israeli friend gives us some perspective

At the top, the wind was howling over the bare rock, we seemed to be close to the top of the world, and bizarrely, I was reminded of the rocky contours of Connemara, in the west of Ireland. I thought of our friend Andrew, and how he would have loved this landscape too, growing up with similar contours, similar colours, albeit several thousand meters higher than at home.! 2200m high, it was almost dizzying to be pounding over these crests with just a couple of inches of rubber beneath me. We clambered into our rain jackets for wind protection, slammed into a bigger gear, and started the descent. While the climbs were crazy, these descents were epic. Sheet rock, slabs of broken granite, slate, shale, rivers of rock led us down the mountain side. It was just like Aviemore (Singlespeed World Championships 2008 Scotland) I shouted at Dennis, except longer, more, higher, and harder!There was no "trail" as such, we simply followed the mud patches of previous riders, picking the sweetest and safest trail down as we bounced and slid and let it rip. On 29er hard-tails, this was the only section I felt that I would have likes a full suspension bike, as about an hour of this had my sacrum aching, and my hands tingling from the pounding. All things considered, the GF Superfly held up well, and I was glad of the light agile machine, constantly amazed how it withstood the beating it was getting. Legs were alternating with cramps, right hamstring, left Quad, right Quad, left Hamstring, Calf, Calf, Hamstring, Hamstring. Like some weird muscle dance, after 5 hours in the saddle, I was getting too tired to get off the saddle to shock absorb, and was getting thrown about with rocks and cramps tossing me about. I knew we were positioned well though, since the Brazilians weren't too far in front, and I hadn't seen Brian and Cricket since the top of the CD. We pegged the last 15k, tag teaming the final single-track sections, across the last 3 rivers for 5:28:00, 66.8k, another third place on the podium for the days efforts, and back to 3rd overall in our group. Happy. I sat on the dirt ground in front of the massage tent while I inhaled a burger, too tired to even get a massage. Eat, snooze in the sun, eat again, then awards.I did a mental inventory of the day's intake:

Breakfast: pancakes x 3, scrambled eggs x 2-3, OJ, coffee, french toast x 1, yoghurt x 1, banana x 1.

On the bike: Hammer gel x 5 (in flask) honeystinger packets x 3, Endurolytes x 10, Ultimo carb drink x 2 20oz bottles, Heed 3 x 20oz bottles,

Post-race: Burger + whatever was on it, Chips, Protein honey stinger bar, Recovery drink with protein 20oz,

Dinner: 2 servings of pasta + some kind of meat, tons of bread, veggies, beans, chickpeas salads, 3 1/2 CC cookies, 1 glass of wine. Phew. One sure thing about this kind of racing, you might be afraid of crashing, but you can't be afraid of eating. Ready to rock stage 4.

TR2010: stage 2: Fernie to Sparwood

2010-08-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

more pointy mountains

Sitting down indian-style in the tent, with a bottle of Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris (yesterdays podium wine) served at perfect tent-temperature (61-62 degrees), in Styrofoam cups, to recap on todays stage 2. It was a hustle in the early dawn in Fernie, to get the duffel bags packed and loaded into the truck, bike checked and ready, breakfast pounded down and bottles filled. Phew, I was already sweating and panting.

start line.. we are mid-pack I think

Stage 2 from Fernie to Sparwood was a 71k stage with the first 30k straight uphill. Pointy start, very steep descent, then some bumps to finish. I was beginning to see a theme here. The first 10k was furious, a veritable time-trial on hard-packed dirt roads, we blew past the first check point, stopping only to strip arm warmers after a couple of hours and a few pints of lost sweat. The second check point was at 40k, after the crazy descent. Dennis and I planned to meet at the top, check in at the peak then I was to follow his line down. Nice plan Bat man.

uurrrgh

downhill finally, no white knuckles..sit back, relax!

When we finally slogged it to the top, Dennis was having back pain, nausea and dizziness, I think the altitude was kicking in, as well as a blinding pace in the granny gear for almost 2.5 hours. None-the-less, several minutes of stretching later, we entered the crazy single-track near the top of the continental divide, dropped over the edge of a cliff on a trail as wide as my forearm, and began the plunge down. We dropped over 1100m in 5km. Do the math. All I remember is scree at a bizarre angle to my usual horizon, trees at a strange angle to the earth, and a tiny trail winding down towards the bowels of the earth. And it sounded like this.."woohoooooohheeeehhheeeeeeeewwwheee ooo o o hoooohhhhheeeeee" for about 30 minutes more. The tag line of the Transrockies is as follows.."some days may feel like they last forever, but really, you're just having the ride of your life". When I signed up, I though it was corny. Now mid-way through day 2, I knew these TR people weren't joking. A skull marked the last dangerous corner of the descent, or so we had been warned the night before, no sign of it as we blew past the hairy off-camber 170degree switchback with dropoff, and down to the final section of descending trail.

The rest of the ride was a bit of a blur, lots of rolling roads, mostly hard-packed dirt, lots of stopping to wait for Dennis who was suffering like a dog. He had ridden his heart out on the technical sections, and really enjoyed the screaming descent, but the seated climbs were killing his back. He was also on his second saddle of the race, the first having died in the middle of yesterdays race, now this piece of Specialized + Bontrager crap was angled at 20 degrees pointing north into his nether regions, and was wedged there. We stopped and started, taking the time to enjoy the spectacular mountain vistas, and keep an eye out for roving grizzlies. I began to appreciate the benefits of team riding, I rode about 200 yards ahead, creating a mental tether for Dennis to view, but not getting to close for fear of hearing any grumbling. The tandem passed us, yes, a crazy couple from St. Louis were racing this on a tandem!! We tried to hop on their dust trail and bomb the last few miles, but Sandy and Ted had us pipped. 5:25 in the saddle, we lost 3rd place today by a mere 5 minutes. We rolled into Sparwood to a huge welcome from the mining town, and promptly lay flat while guzzling as much Coke as we could. Burbling bellies, jellied legs and exhilarated spirits, we hopped on the shuttle to transfer us to Elkford, tonight's campsite. Our tents, while yesterday had seemed cramped and damp, today seemed like a sweet haven. Bike wash, bike repair (new pads, totally burnt out the rear pads today), bike worry( should I replace the front ones too? Do I have another set for later in the week?), laundry (fast becoming a synonym for getting some mud off the shorts and jersey) in a squishable 1 gallon bucket, hang on the wire fence surrounding campground (on a baseball field in some remote mining village). We enjoyed the last of the wine, this time no cups available, just the earplugs container. We were entering the wilderness the next day, so I had better get used to roughing it a bit. Wine was fine, no ear-wax either, bonus!
We wished our buddies Andrew, Danny and Marty were here as they would totally die for the killer scenery and the epic riding.. Ah well, plans for 2011 building already. Pound down the dinner, awards, second dinner, preview of the next day, and crash. Again I was sensing a pattern. Bring it on, I am just getting warmed up!

TR 2010: stage 1: Fernie to Fernie TTT

2010-08-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

So rain it did, all night. We woke to the rain, had breakfast while looking out at the swelling Elk river and the rain, and then like champions, went back to bed. It was 50 degrees and we were freezing. I had left Sag Harbor in a sweat, with long (travel) pants and my compression socks worn under duress in the 90's, and arrived on my HOLIDAYS to the rain, the cold air and truly Irish weather. Under the duvet, Dennis and I made our plans, ride hard, finish safe. Priority number one, no injuries, number two, have fun. Funny that having fun on your holidays plays second fiddle to being able to earn an income on your return. We shook ourselves out of bed and rode in the rain to the start line in Fernie.

race course: pointy and hard

hyperventilation: not joking

The set-up was just as in regular UCI time trials: the media circus, the tent, the starting corral, the UCI official counting down from 5 to 1 with funny finger signals (just in case you couldn't figure it out yourself, the two of us bumping knuckles with 2 to go, and then "beep" and we were off..thirty seconds after Brian and Cricket, also on hard tails, also east coasters.. We were on a mission. Play safe, have fun. And beat Brian and Cricket. Haha, as always my competitive side always rears it's ugly head at these moments. I had had butterflies all morning, despite being here "for fun", or "to go the distance" or "just for adventure" as I had told everyone including myself. But only Dennis and I know the truth. In every competition that I have ever participated in, my urge is to win. Or at least beat the person nearest to me. And that was Cricket. She is a lovely lass from North Carolina, and was riding a Gary Fisher Superfly XC 2010, wearing a nice orange kit, but all I saw was CHALLENGE. Her team mate Brian, in a Clif Bar kit, was very discernible on the powerlines trail, so we pounded it out and passed them early, swapping panting congrats for what would not be the last time in the week as we jockeyed for position. I was certain that in the rain, the "roots" trail would be a walk, but with enough caffeine and adrenaline, many things are possible. I cleaned it, and while walking many sections on trails appropriately named"hyperventilation", "hyper-extension" and "broken dérailleur", I was amazed at how much we rode. Amazed and pantingly flabbergasted. This was a tough ride, rocks, roots, hike-a-bike sections and all this on the uphills. I battled the same territory a bit on the downhill section, before my cramping hands and white knuckles bade me relax and let the bike do it's thing. I finally began to breathe, as opposed to breath-holding which is what I had done to this point, hung my arse back off the saddle, and let the damn bike roll. Saddle whomping me in the belly at points, I kept a firm grip, soft knees and let the terrain decide the 8" line, hung on graciously, and had the ride of my life. We pounded the flat (mud roads) and hammered the back section of the course, rolling terrain with 100% singletrack, keeping us focussed and fast. The last 2k was through the park, into town and heads down we charged to the banner.

not us, my camera is dead..

Stage one down, 3rd in our category, Ryder sunglasses and a nice certificate. We were chuffed. We sat through the ceremony and slideshow, the GoogleMaps video of the next stage, and sank a well earned beer.

tent city: anywhere: TR2010

We retired early to the campsite in town, and enjoyed the warm and fuzzy feeling from tucking down into a dry sleeping bag, in a dry tent. "Enjoy it while it lasts" a little voice in my head told me. I didn't know whether it was talking about the podium spot, the thrill of the ride or the weather. Little did I know it was talking about all three..

TR2010 recap..Travel to Canada for recon..course preview

2010-08-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Fernie to Fernie: Day one: Team time trial: check out the sharp pointy profile!

Travelling with bikes is always difficult, and this trip was no exception. While we breezed through LaGuardia, Toronto and Calgary airports, and we were excited to see that our bikes made it on the same planes (doesn't always go this way..), we were left stranded in Calgary by the Transrockies shuttle bus, at 10pm, having been up and travelling through 2 countries, 3 airports and for 21 hours at this point. Cranky wasn't the word for me. We had to take a cab from Calgary to Fernie, a mere 370km, and a cool $500. Since the mix up was largely the fault of the organizers, I consoled myself with the thoughts that we would get some reimbursement, and a cab from Manhattan to Montauk would cost way way more..Our driver hustled over the mountains to deposit us in one piece at our hotel in Fernie. ZZZZ.
Day one in Fernie, sleep late, snarf breakfast, check in at race HQ, register, collect goody bag and begin worrying. How the hell are we to get all our gear in ONE duffel bag? All of our bike repair stuff, multiple kits, camp clothing and the miscellaneous stuff like large bottles of Hammer gel. "Crazy Larry" (who we would meet later) was in charge of baggage, which would be transferred from one camp site to the next, and the limit was one duffel bag per cyclist. Unless you had an RV. This was not going to be the last time I thought of the RV option over the coming week.

view from the top of hyperventilation

Day one in Fernie, already rushing, already wishing we had an RV, already regretting the stuff we left on the bed at home, already worrying.. Whenever I am in a new situation, a strange town, there is one thing that invariably helps.. go for a ride and then find the local bar. We built our bikes, dressed in the new Spokespeople kit, and headed out to the course. We had been led to expect specific course markings, namely 18" of black and orange plastic tape, dangling from bushes and trees, so we were quickly oriented, on the Powerline trail. Not unlike our very own Montauk Powerline trail, except at 6000 feet higher. In minutes, my lungs were seared and my head was pounding. I guess all the hill repeats at 130' above sea level didn't really add up to altitude training. This was going to be a hard week. While the first day of the race was relatively short at 31k with a mere 1300m of climbing, it would be a nice easy start to the week. Or so I thought. We left Powerlines onto "Roots" trail, and as the name suggests, Fernie's oldest trails has plenty of them. All set at about 45degrees to the line of travel, a web of roots set to toss you off your bike at a moments lack of concentration. And these were the uphill ones. The trail kept climbing, taking a turn onto the aptly named "Hyperventilation", and then after about 2k of switchbacks so steep and sharp I had to dismount and wheelie the bike around corners, we continued to climb.. eeek. I was certain that the we had lost the course, and told Dennis so. We continued panting upwards for another bit, peering hopefully through the trees for a bit of skyline to tell us we had reached the top and we could return back to base camp for the pending brew. Finally, I had had enough, and flipped the bike around, definite that we were on the wrong course and the race would never be routed into such a technically difficult trail. And that's when I spotted the trail mark, dangling right in front of my face. Damn. This IS the course. Wow, this is some of the most sweet single-track, but also some of the most technically difficult stuff I have ever ridden on. And we were relatively fresh, and not even racing. I was a wee bit daunted, but kept my mouth shut, only to whoop it up on the fun, twisty, rocky rooty dusty descent. At least it is dry, and mostly ride-able I said to D-lo, sipping a cold local one, and previewing the course from the comfort of the Mexican burrito stand/ skate shop / bike hang out.
Fernie is a cool town, reminds me of what Moab was 10 or more years ago: bikes and brews in summer, snow-bums and brews in winter. We hung for a while, planned the next mornings kit and agenda, got a late dinner and hit the sack, our last cushy, comfy bed for a week..Seeing roots and rocks in my head as I closed my eyes, I hummed like a mantra, at least it is dry and mostly ride-able, at least it is dry and mostly ride-able..
By the river, our hotel room opened out to the landscape where the fishermen were shuffling about quietly in the grey twilight. Despite being full to the gills, the building was quiet.. and then I heard it. The gentle spray of light rain, building to the sustained crescendo of a true, Rocky Mountain summer downfall. All night it rained, on these lovely dry, dusty, rocky rooty trails.

leaving for canada TR2010 in 36 hours!

2010-08-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

New Spokespeople kit: want one?? : ) email me..

One large dose of antibiotics and one week later, Dennis is back to full form. We did our final training weekend with 5 days straight in the saddle, all the better to toughen up the nether regions for the Rockies. He is riding like a demon. I am riding like a woman possessed. I have finally tweaked my mountainbike until I am 95% happy with the set-up. No more crushed helmets, no more skinned knuckles: I cut a whole three inches off the bar width, to bring it in line with the singlespeed set up.. no wonder I was bouncing off the trees in the twisty stuff! I finally have the handling of this beast down, and since Sunday, feel better traction in the corners, run 5psi lower pressure without burning out in the bends, and can hit the downhills without the fork bouncing back into my jaw..
Ready for the RIDE..

Packing a few last things, I am amazed at how much stuff we need for a supported race. Bear bells and biffy bags, whodathunkit? Dennis has vowed to be the first to try the biffybag, a porta-potty for hikers and cyclists: mandatory gear since we will be riding in wilderness areas. I just made him promise not to use it IN the tent..

No cell phone reception, no computers, no iphones, no FB.. already sounds like a real holiday..
Here is what my (bike) doctor ordered..
Rx: Eat, ride, ride, ride, eat, drink, sleep, REPEAT x 7

See you in a week!

eat s*** and (almost) die: eee coal-eye 2 weeks before TR2010

2010-07-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

The headache, the lightheadedness, then the chills. I knew something was up with Dennis, but I didn't know what, or how bad it was. He was ashen in the TRX workout on Monday, but as usual, I forced him on, "you'll feel better once you get the blood flowing" I coaxed.. But when his heart rate didn't drop after the first set, I felt we were in for a few rest days, nothing more. The next day, he was home at lunch from work to sleep in bed for God's sake, he must have been feeling like death. A trip to Oppendoc, some bloods drawn, a urinalysis and a reminder to lie low while the 100+ fever was working it's way through his body. We thought is was a UTI, or even a prostate infection, I joked to Dennis that he would need daily prostate massages to recover.. but when the doc informed us that it was this!, we were taken aback. Hand washing freaks, I go through tubs of Purell at work and am cautious with food preparation at home. We share 2 daily meals, and yet I wasn't sick, it didn't make sense. Had I confused the salad bowl for the toilet bowl? Did I really make him s*** on a stick for dinner? Not funny, he groaned as his insides convulsed and he lay soaked in sweat puddles. He took broad spectrum antibiotics and lay low. I filled my water bottles and rode my bike alone. We both worried that this would upset the plans for TR2010. Bummer.
Turns out, we need not have bashed our brains too much wondering where the poop in the system came from.
As I hosed down my bike, and scraped the turkey dung off the tyres and wheel rims, a little lightbulb went off in my head. Then, on this morning's ride in the North West woods, Craig stopped to wipe the turkey poo off his water bottle, smearing it all over his gloves, yummy. We swapped funny stories about getting covered in the stuff while mountain biking, almost crashing with laughter as Danny recalled a Brian Monaghan tale about getting crap all over his bike during a ride, cleaning it off meticulously and then still complaining an hour later that he could still smell it. Little wonder, since a big glob of it was on the end of his nose! Poop problem solved, we will be digging out the Camelbacks and limiting our daily intake of trail droppings in the future.
What a difference a few days and some antibiotics make. The good news is that Dennis is riding like a demon, back to 4 hours today, albeit slower than normal..the bad news is the worry about what this junk can do to your system. It may get rid of the bacterial infection, but it just might explode some tendons in the process.
We are making the proverbial list (bike parts, how many pairs of shorts, will we pack 2 tubes of assbutt'r, where is the mandatory bear spray..) and checking it twice. I will take a bear attack over an exploding Achilles tendon anyday, and just in case, I am brushing up on my how-to-survive-a-bear-attack-videos. Honest.

The devil you know.. ..5 weeks to TR2010

2010-07-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend I learned about the importance of being familiar with one's equipment..the hard way. As I massage my bruised ego, my scratched elbow and lumpy thigh, I can reflect on the past weekend's riding, preparation for Canada in 5 weeks time.

Friday's post-work ride was spectacular. Dennis and I rode our single-speeds, indeed, this is all I have been riding for almost 2 years straight, and haven't dug the geared bike out since our 2008 trip out west to Tahoe, Fruita and Moab. My Gary Fisher Rig is totally broken in, dialed to fit me perfectly, and I have learned the nuances of SS riding on the local trails. 3 laps down the "switchbacks" and up " gun club" with a loop around the "farmstand" trails had me on the rivet, almost gagging, just like the good-ol' days of hard-core Cat 2 road and MTB racing. But I was flying. I actually felt like D-Lo and I were riding the same bike at times, pivoting around the trees in a sweaty swirl, popping over tree roots and baby head boulders in sync, heaving for air as we crested the hills, grinding the 32 x17 into the dusty, sandy trails. We slept like dogs in the warm summer night, and took a chill road ride the next morning, after helping out with some bridge construction on our local trails. Spokespeople and EHTPS have been building metaphorical and physical bridges together, one proverbially muddy hand washing the other as we try to have a sustainable trail system locally.

The Sunday came. Sunday Mass in Montauk means a 2-3 hour snotfest chasing Dan F., Craig D., usually Marty R., (currently laid up with a fractured femoral condyle..) and Dennis around the trails in Hither woods and Montauk. Not today. In the basement, I blew past the Rig and loaded the geared Gary Fisher Superfly into the car. Once in Montauk, I took off mid-pack, sandwiched as usual between the lads. Barely warmed up, I was paying attention to how my new favorite saddle wasn't quite adjusted, and how I missed the bar ends and grips from the Rig, and how the bars had too much sweep for me, and the seat height wasn't quite right and and and .. next thing I snag a tree on the left, spun hard to the right, losing contact with the front of my bike and BOOM, launched into the dirt, shoulder and elbow first ("tuck and roll") sliding towards the huge boulder at the end of Laurel Valley (aka Death Valley!). Thank god for helmets, my super comfy helmet squished nicely as it is designed to do, and saved my noggin from a kiss of granite. I lay underneath the bike, curled up in the dirt, and waited for the lads to extricate me..No real harm done, just stick and stones trying to break my bones, but ending up only with scratches and scrapes..

Back on the proverbial horse that threw me, I tried to befriend it, made nice relaxing thoughts flow and attempted to settle into the ride. 45' of so into my groove, I popped over a log I have cleared a hundred times on the Rig, but this time, dug in my unfamiliar large chain-ring, and while the bike came to a grinding halt on the log, I projected over the bars, superwoman style..Despite the lighter landing this time, I was fuming, furious and feeling like a total beginner..t I wanted to ride on my own, sulk a bit and get myself together, but instead got a big dose of NO sympathy, with barely even a dust-down from my fellow riders. Exactly what the doctor ordered. Back again on the bike, I chilled down, wiped the snot, sweat (and tear) away, and headed for the Powerlines..

Danny challenged us to a multi-bike duel at the top, and facing a 15' hammer down and up steep scrabbly hills, I wavered for a moment..sucked down some gel, tightened my helmet straps, then hit it hard..What a rush.. I was sucking the dusty dry Montauk dirt, forcing myself to relax on the steeps downhills and power into the climbs, trying to keep him in sight. I blasted by John V and Dennis, never saw Craig, and came to a halt a few sweaty miles later. Exhilarated, and upright. Turns out I still love this stuff..and look forward to many more miles on the way to TR2010..Just need to get more saddle time in on this beast, and tweak it to perfection for August.

Semester 4.. half ways there..?

2010-06-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

..I kid myself. Halfways through the didactic portion of my D.Sc, which is now in conversion to a Ph.D program. At the very best, I will complete the last on-site session in May 2011 and complete the associated work by September. Then the fun begins, with a comprehensive exam and final defense before the IRB prior to the launch into the dissertation phase.. And the final end point? The RMUoHP program allows a student to take up to 7 years from intake (for me and my OS4 cohort, that would be last March 2009) and the majority complete within 5 years, the average is 2.5 years following the exam and IRB defense. Eeek.
Not to get to bogged down with the future, here is the present line up of heavy hitters:

CC 612 Biostatistics 3 Dr. Stephen Allison (thank God for him, what a treat)
CC 626 Directed Independent Study: Case Report. Dr Darlene Sekerak.
CC 635 Case Report Methodology: Dr Sekerak
OS 4 604 Ankle and Foot: Dr Cheryl Maurer
OS 4 605 Hip and Knee: Dr Mike

This past week in Utah, we spent many hours sitting, compressing the Gluteii into flattened shadows of themselves, but after prosections and classroom lectures I tried to shake the booty loose and clear the brain with some fun bike rides into the canyons to Bridal Veil Falls and around Provo. There is a cool bike trail along the Provo river that goes the whole way from Provo Bay into the mountains, totally sheltered from car traffic, it was the perfect way to unwind. At the top of the canyon is a girlscout ranch, complete with trefoil logo. After 15 miles mostly uphill, in 90 plus degrees, I could've downed a handful of GS cookies for the return trip!

So, the requirements for this session, in order that I think that I will complete them:

Biostatistics: Article reviews
Biostatistics: Homework submission
Case report methodology Exam
Case report article critiques
605 Technique paper/ case study paper
Biostatistics Exam
Case report outline
Case Report reviewed + final submission
604 Article critiques 2 x 5
604 Opinion paper x 2
605 Exam

Somewhere in this, I will continue with my full time, full-on MSPT work, find time to train for TransRockies and have some hang time with the wonderful Dennis..without whose support I would be a quaking glob of jello.

Bring on the caffeine, I am ready for the next semester..

Next Utah trip, November 2011..

A penny saved is a penny earned BullS***: aka mean people suck

2010-02-07T15:17:00.000-08:00

A long morning of getting stiff and chilly while sitting in front of the computer prompted me to warm up outside, in the 19 degree cool air. Dennis and I wrapped up in our winter bomb-proof suits, and started off into the woods. 45' into it, I felt that unmistakable feeling of metal snapping, and shouted ahead to Dennis, "hey, I think my bike is sick, it feels like it is going to break".. so we stopped. He quickly diagnosed a disgusting rear cog, with way too mucky grime accumulating and potentially causing a chain skip. I knew the prognosis was bad, it was much worse than that. As he scraped the layer of oily black gook off with a twig, my rear cog snapped in 2/3 and 1/3 fell off into the dirt. S'funny I was JUST thinking I should swap it out for a x17 tooth insted of the x18 that it is.. and cccrrrack.. there it goes..
I wonder if Chris King will replace it? :) At 127 lbs, I am not the heftiest rider on their cogs, and it really should withstand more than I have delivered to it, dirty grime an' all. Whatever the outcome, I will definitely be replacing it with the upgrade, a stainless steel version of the x18 gear. Having baulked at the $55 sticker, I had gone with the frugal aluminium option, leaving the SS version for Dennis, 50lbs heavier and much crazier on the bike than little ol' me, and now as I jogged down Old Northwest road in my mountain bike shoes, I regretted every dollar I had saved in the purchase.
As the shiny Landrovers (3) and Rangerovers (2) and BMWs (2) and Lexus (1) passed me (jogging, with my bike, chain dangling, helmet on, quite obviously not riding my bike) I began to realise that either my community is not as friendly as I thought, or I looked, in my helmet, black windproof lycra and bootie covered bikeshoes, like an axe-wielding maniac..Having run 3 miles (at 7.4-7.8 mph) clopping along with my bike in one hand, I got fed up enough to flag a car (Landrover) down, asking the driver (female, blonde, 40's) if I could toss my bike in the trunk and she could give me a ride to the end of Swamp road. She looked in the back seat, told me she COULDN'T, that she had a CHILD in the back.. and drove off.. I can only hope that her child never grows up to be a single woman, standing in the frigid weather with a broken down car. Clip clopping along, I made it back in 45' or so..Back home, I salvaged the afternoon with a workout on the trainer and a hot cup of Barry's (Irish) Gold Blend tea (thanks Rikki).

Semester3 @ RMUoHP

2010-02-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

Here I go again, launching into Semester #3 at RMUoHP. the first 2 were challenging, but very worthwhile, despite the sudden shift my life had to take. I kind of liken it to what some friends I know go through when they get pregnant and have a babby, except at the end of all this (much longer than 3 trimesters BTW) I will have a Ph.D, not a screaming child.. Phew.
One gruelling week in Utah later (snowboarding followed by serious schooling)
Courses as follows..

OS 707.2 Radiology: Dr Ken Schreibman
CC 611 Biostatistics 2: Dr. Stephen Allison
CC 710 Research Methodology: Dr David Brown
OS Pharmacology: Dr Charles Ciccone
CC 707.2 Foundations of Educational Practice: Dr Stephen Chesbro
OS 706.2 DIS Grant writing / research funding: Dr Darin Padua

Heads down, the work began last week with Radiology exam already completed and submitted..
Now the heavy stuff starts..
Next stop, June 2010, beginning of Semester #4!

A clean bike is a happy bike..

2010-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

While the thermometer is plummeting and the wind is whistling around the door, it is time to head into the basement.. This is a perfect time of year to do some winter cleaning, adjusting and preparation to the bikes prior to the not-so-distant spring.Some time spent now with basic bike repairs will allow you to get the most out of your bike, improve your bike longevity, and even prevent catastrophe later on in the season. A couple of pointers for the novices, some reminders for you old hands..grab an allen wrench set, some sponges, degreaser and a couple of old cut-up t-shirts..the work is going to begin! First you will need the following:

a good sized bucket or basin, or an old spackle bucket (cleaned)
dish soap fom the kitchen.. if it is good enough for your bike, it is good enough for your dishes!
a sponge, (big old car sponge, smaller dish sponges: all the ones you wouldn't use in the kitchen, but still have life left in them)
a large brush (an old toilet bowl scrubber works great), otherwise an assortment of toothbrushes, small nail brushes etc)
clean rags
a quality citrus degreaser, available at any good bike shop
chain lube
Music! Music makes even the nastiest jobs seem a more fun..crank up the tunes, imagine yourself n few short weeks powering through the trails and roads on a shiny happy bike..

1. Clear the area in which you will be working, use a canvas drop cloth or an old blankie to soak up the gunk from the bike..trust me, your partner in grime will thank you..

2. Pop the bike in a bike stand: all the better positioned at eye level to prevent you straining your back! With a bucket of warm soapy water and some old car sponges: gently remove last years grime from the frame, wheel rims, and tyres.Wipe down with a dry, soft cloth.

3. Spray (citrus-based) degreaser generously onto the derailleur, chain, cassette: allow to soak in for a wee bit..

4. Shift the gears into the smallest cog in the rear.. Spin the cranks and watch the chain run through the derailleur. Familiarize yourself with the routing so that you can return the chain along the same path of travel once you have cleaned it..

5. Open the brakes and pop off both wheels for better access to cleaning the brakes and the wheel rims, cassette etc.

6. If you have a chain cleaning tool fill it with degreaser, attach to chain and run the pedals backwwards while the chain gets magically clean. If you don't have such a tool, get one of these! it will save you hours in un-necessary manicure repairing, and dozens of band-aids.

7. Use an old toothbrush to get the junk out of the pedals, the remainder of the chain links and the brake calipers. Check the chain for cracks, stiff links. Lube the links and if they remain stiff, get a new chain.. if not, you risk it snapping mid-ride and leaving you stranded. Ask your mechanic about chains with replacable links and learn how to install the chain using a master link..

8. Check the brake pads for wear: if there are no grooves left on the pad surfaces, you need new ones! If you have disc brakes, carefully remove the pads, they have a spring clamping them into place. Removal and replacement is a good way to both check for wear, and to understand how they are put together.. trust me, these skills learned in the warmth of a basement without pressure, will come in handy when you are a few hours from home, hungry and cold..

9. Check your tyre sidewalls for cracks: if you have lots of tiny wrinkles of cracks, they are suffering frm dry rot and can fail when inflated in the spring.. get a new set if in doubt, a worthy investment.

10. Get up close and familiar with your clean, soap-free frame: check for dents,dings, paint loss, exposed frame: paying close attention to the welds and underbelly of the frame down by the bottom bracket, (where the pedal cranks are attached onto the frame).

11. Replace the squeaky-clean wheels onto the frame, remembering to center the wheel in the brake calipers. Make sure you do this while the bike is on the ground, first pulling the derailleur all the way rearwards over the outermost ring or cog of the cassette. Release the pressure on the derailleur, and jiggle the rear skewer into position in the dropouts. Tighten the quick-release, making sure it is snug, leaving a little dent in the heel of your hand as you push it into place.

12. Run some teflon dry lube onto all cables and along the chain. Rotate the pedals for a couple of revolutions to get the lube distributed evenly, remove excess with a dry cloth.

13. Release the cable housing from its position and get a couple of drops of lube down into the plastic housing and onto the steel cable itself. Replace the housing and squeeze and rlease the beakes a few times. If there is sgnificant resistance to braking still, you might need new cables and housing (usually good to replace yearly).

14. Check all other moving parts, get as much grime off as you can with toothbrushes and small rags. If you are in doubt about your ability to replace parts on the bike..don't take them off: simply clean it as best you can, then take it to your friendly bike-repair shop. Believe me, they enjoy working on clean bikes..

Below is a list of our local bike repair people, some with fancy store-fronts, some with special services of pick-up and drop-off or pre-race tune-up deals. Use them, support them. Instead of rushing off to do your grocery shopping, buy them a cup of java and ask if you can watch while they work on your bike. You will learn a bunch, and possibly save yourself so time and money in learning how your machine is put together.

Whether you have professional tune-ups, or whether you like to fiddle about with your own tools, a good bike repair book and a bit of time spent messing about in the basement can go along way towards a better bicycling season.

Dave Krum, Sag Harbor @ BikeHampton: 631 725-7329 http://www.bikehampton.com/

Myles Romnow (mobile) @ Eastern Cycology: email: ilovetoracecross.com, 631 255-9568

Rick Laspesa, Southampton @ Rotations: http://www.rotationsbicyclecenter.com/ 631 283-2890

Kevin Otto (mobile)@ kevinsbikeworks: 631 875 7507

Twin Forks Bicycles, Riverhead: http://www.twinforksbicycles.com/ 631 591-3082

Country Time Cycles in Mattituck: http://www.ctcycle.com/ , 631 298-8700

Imagine rolling in the sand covered in sun tan lotion, then getting into nice snug bike shorts and sneakers, then going for a run for an hour.. this is what your bikeparts feel like when they are covered in grime and mashing against each other..not fun, not efficient, not a good feeling.. Do them a favour, clean 'em up, lube 'em up and enjoy the coming season!

endless swimming in the snow

2010-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

Winter journey from 2009 into 2010

Dennis and I drove the 8 hours off the ferry, to BogBrook cove in Maine, to visit our friends David and Alan. Arriving at their farmhouse on the morning of New Years eve, we left our car (low profile wheels, 2WD, no traction in the predicted 2-3 feet of snow) at the end of the driveway 2 miles away, and hoofed it back to the house, ready to get buried in for the weekend.

A beach walk with Lola and David brought had all of us skating on pond ice and crunching salty icicles. We made the short drive to Lubec to search for lobsters, but being the eve that it was, the old smoke house was shuttered tight so we wandered to the wharf where there was some life in the diminishing light. Alan procured some fat scallops right from the boat, with the fisherman popping one in his mouth, fresh from the shell for good measure!

Dennis and I trekked over to the barn for a pre-dinner swim in the endless pool.. how spoiled are we? I didn't feel like doing very much swimming, so I happily ducked under for long breath-holding spells to watch him swim and to give feedback. I love this pool, not purely for its situation on the base of a rocky promontory overlooking the ocean, but for its utility in teaching, with instant feedback, about body position and efficiency in the water. Are you listening Santy?

We feasted on a wonderful dinner celebration with tons of champagne, local scallops and shrimp and good company rounded out the year, as the snow began to blanket us..

New Years day began with waking to the crashing ocean while tucked up in bed in the "grainery", an 18th century crop storage building renovated as a bedroom on the farmhouse..The new year was heralded with a pre-breakfast swim where I was totally lost in the endless pool, working on drills, experimenting in the water, refining stroke components and having fun! I totally understand the connection with Terry Laughlin's "total immersion" concept, and am able to apply it much more readily in this circumstance. I thoroughly recommend this tool to anyone who is curious about swimming, who wishes to master and refine their technique or who simply want to explore their physical function in a watery way..Here is one of my wintery swim workouts, which can be modified and replicated in a regular pool, but is specific here to the endless pool, endless fun!

Warm up: 10 minutes, @ low speed, (10 x 1 minute/ 50 strokes: 10 sec rest interval (RI)

Drill set @ very low speed: push off back wall to glide in streamlined position, allow current to return you to wall, try to maintain fuly streamlined position and land close to, or at the starting position. Allow your knees to flex deeply upon landing, pause then push off into the current again. The purpose is to develop body position sense and work on alignment in a fully streamlined prone position, as well as working on the plyometric components of the swim turn. Repeat 10-20 or more times or until you feel like your take-off and landing positions have the same footprint, ensuring control during the explosive phase, and optimal positioning in prone phase of swimming.

Warm-up set: (5-10 intervals@ moderate speed/ 100-200 strokes (2-3' intervals with 20 sec RI) with focus on alignment and elongation from previous drill.

Recovery 1-2 minutes @ low speed

Main Drill Set: @ low speed: Side-lying kick drills: 3 sets of 3-4 intervals on each side until "failure" point, 30 seconds to 1 minute each with recovery of breaststroke for 30 seconds: the point at which you are unable to maintain a consistent position in the current: pushing into the center of the pool in a side-lying position, once you have found the "sweet spot" that Laughlin refers to, maintain the balanced streamlined position and continue to flutter kick in sidelying. Try to alternate face down and face up while maintaining this position, using a point on the ceiling (in my case, one of the barn beams!) or an object on the wall as a visual guide. Alternate with Catch-up drills, with breathing on alternate sides. Here you will really feel the difference in balance from one side to the other, don't be reluctant to drop the speed of the current further in order to master the drill at a lower speed, before nudging the speed up for an increased challenge.

Main swim set: 3-4 x 5 minute steady open-water pace swim @ moderate pace, 1' RI @ low speed, inching the current up from the first to the final interval. Focus on the practices worked on during the drills, balancing right and left side glide while breathing, extending the reach upon hand entry, following though to complete the pull.

Finish with 5 bursts at full speed, maintaining central positon in the pool while concentrating on minimizing the splashing!

Cool down with low speed breaststroke, multi-directional walking against the current, or some on-deck stretching.

The snow was dumping about an inch per hour all day as we moved with reading material and coffee, from the kitchen to the living room and back to the kitchen before settling in front of the fireplace with a full-bodied zinfandel and some snacks. A brief trip (by Toyota Highlander Hybrid AWD) to get wood from the woodshed had the truck battery crash, while deep in snow, and resulted in us hoofing several armfulls and bagfulls of birch back to the house while the wind and snow whipped us sideways with 30 knot icy blasts. Having left the SUV buried, we were finally totally stranded! Our tracks each time, were totally obliterated, so we waded in increasingly deep waves of snow, through the fields and back to the warm farmhouse.

The next morning we feasted on Danish pancake dumpling things that Alan whipped up, resplendent in a sauce of maple syrup and farm-grown blueberries, from the lower fields outside the house. Rest assured, I ate many, many more than these few..Fully loaded for the winter weather, Dennis and I schlepped down to the cars to dig them out and prepare for the return journey to the real world! Some hot tea, more reading, some school work, some chatting followed by more tea, some short hikes in the deep heavy snow, and a final swim before preparing dinner for the final night..

Truly, a great break from the final wind-up of Christmas and Winter 2009 and fully recharged for 2010..

NEXT post: Goals, races, plans for 2010..

2009 finish line in sight..resolutions 2010

2009-12-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

The final days of 2009 draw to a close, the days are short if not sweet, the wind is howling and the mercury is plummeting. Time to light the fire, pour the wine and reflect on the year past, the year to come. However silly it seems to break the passage of time into relative chunks, I can’t help but do so, all the better to chew it up and spit it out if I need. Here goes, or rather, there it went.. Jan: Hilarity in Ballina, then home to the peeps in Wexford, quiet pints in Slade and windy hikes around the Hook lighthouse. Resolve to do more of this whether home or away. Feb: Hunkering down in winter. Enjoying the odd MTB ride, odder run, swimming like a fish. Resolve to keep it going every winter, for my brain, for my body, mostly brain. March: Utah, first session of my D.Sc in RMUoHP, the beginnings of a challenging chapter in my life. Resolve to complete dissertation on a topic that I can wake up with, go to bed with, love it as I hate it,.. gotta be a biking topic. April: Rain rain rain. Is it ever going to stop raining?. Resolve to remember that I grew up with this weather, and need to befriend it again if I am to avoid missing a while month or two or three! May: Block Island Shad Bloom 10k, with Dennis, A-Wal and Rikki: must be my favourite trail run. Resolve to bring more friends out to do this and share the love, the cliffs, the ocean views, the martinis at the Atlantic Inn! June: Rush home to visit auntie Phyllis in hospice, tears flowing as she wakes from a coma to eat scrambled eggs and ask me about Obama’s election. Resolve to see my family more often, before they are on death’s doorstep. Or bedside. July: July 4th. Sailing to Long Beach for macaroni and coleslaw, warm beer and burgers. Holy Crunch time, 4 papers to submit, exams, barely time to swim and sail. Resolve to be better organized so I can swim and sail more in the summer. Aug: Back out to Utah, Session #2 RMUoHP, hot and dry, good riding, great brain filler. SeptVermont 50 Absolutely my favourite MTB race. Only question was 32x 18 or 32 x 19. Wrong question. Should have put new brakes on before the race, and practiced running to prepare for the peanut butter mud. Resolve to be a better bike-mechanic, looking after my own gear. Oct: Bermuda 10k swim with a fun gang from home, resolve to swim further, faster in 2010.! Visit Maine with Dennis, fall in love with Bog Brook Cove. Resolve to spend more time here, maybe even save like mad and buy something here.. Nov: Rush home to see Mam and her badly broken shoulder, trying hard to be a PT (not worrying) versus a daughter (worrying). Crashing my cousins wedding, dancing with cousins that I hadn’t even met before. So drunk on family, lack of sleep and 72 hour visits to Ireland. Resolve to do more of this! Mountain biking with buddies at night, ducking the trees, wiping out in piles of dark leaves, sweaty night rides. Fun and laughter. Resolve to keep it going through the winter..(minor caveat) as long as it is above 19 degrees. D.Sc converts to Ph.D, the bar rises again.. eeek Pounding out the papers on the computer, force-feeding biostatistics into my small brain. Resolve to get help before I need it! Dec: Dark days of Christmas: Reality check, friends injured, friends sick, friends losing body parts to cancer, friends wife’s suicide. Curling up with my good squeeze, a warm fire and a decent brew. Planning races for next year, as long as my legs, my lungs, my will hold up. Thankful for making it past the shortest days, through the darkest nights. Resolve to enjoy it all, the whole damn rollercoaster, in 2010. G’night, happy new year!

Lessons in Procrastination: visualize the end, then go for a swim

2009-12-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end of semester #2 at RMUoHP, I still have a biostatistics exam to get done (Allison), review 6 more articles for shoulder and upper quarter pathology (Ellenbecker) and complete a paper outline (Caputo). I should be at a SPOKESPEOPLE meeting right now and I need to book flights to Ireland to check on the mammy with her broken wing. Instead, I am cooking a big pot of brown and wild rice risotto with shitake mushrooms,threatening to open a bottle of Bordeaux, and burst my lamps into tears..

I still, at this ripe old age, have tremenduous difficulty in prioritizing things when I haven't been swimming. Somehow, being in the water helps me regulate my mind, in the way that biking can't, and left to its own devices, my little brain is loath to manage. Even now, with a little taste of panic rising in my throat, I can solicit the calm I need from just thinking about tomorrow mornings workout, from envisaging the weightlessness in the water, and the deep quiet it brings when I leave.

Some late fall mornings at the YMCA, the sun is rising just as I am finally warming up in the pool, 30 minutes or so into the 4500 yd workout, and the rays pierce the water's surface lighting the depths of blue. An incredible vision to push off the wall, face down, rotate to face up, break the surface and for a split second before hitting the air, have a pillar of light deflected by still submerged, outstretched arms. I am never bored while swimming. My mind is never still while swimming, always feeling the water, always searching for perfect pressure through the pull, for optimal positioning to be longer, leaner in the juncture between liquid and air. I mentally struggle with every stroke to find the yin and yang, the power of relaxed effort. I have been doing so for decades now, conciously for ten years. It is my yoga, my meditation, breathing with motion, regulated breath with body movement, forced exhalation with effort facilitating the next inhalation, the next stroke, the next thing on my list to address. Already feeling better. Can't wait to get in the pool.

musical mountain biking

2009-10-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

So last week while taking a friend mountain biking on her new 29er, I noted how well she was doing for a relative newbie. Though a strong triathlete, she had been injured while running, with subsequent surgery and she had spent little time doing much more than swimming, road riding and physical therapy. I commented to Emi, on how well she was handling the twisty singletrack, and managing to get over the roots and small logs. She reminded me that she used to play violin in her not-so-distant youth, and felt that it was similar.. scanning the score ahead while managing to play the tune on demand, sight-reading the trail as it were! Having a (distant) background in flute and recorder, I loved the analogy, and took it with me as Dennis and I rode this warm autumn morning. I have often marvelled how we can ride in synch together, and at this time of year, having not been training very intensively for a couple of months, we are quite close in strength and speed. Since the Vermont 50 race, we still have a 32 x 18 gear set-up, so as we headed out on the blue trail, we rode stroke for stroke, barely an inch between my front tire and his rear wheel a capella together through the trees. Peak colours are just past, and the wind is causing showes of leaves to fall as we ride, hiding the trail in front of us and covering it as we pass, silent, poco allegro. We wound our way down the Switchback trail, carving into the berms scoured out by the illegal, inconsiderate dirtbike riders: I made a mental note to contact C.L.I.M.B's (concerned long island mountain bikers) president Mike Vitti, who has helped recover and renovate other damaged trails in the area. Our group SPOKESPEOPLE has made a strong connection with the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society and have a plan for dealing with transgressors adn those who facilitate them.. Watch this space.. and http://www.spokespeopleli.org/ ! The farmstand loop was sweet, fast and flowing, and we blasted along, only to slow andante past the EHTPS hikers.

Dennis and I don't speak as we ride, except to remark on the burning colours of the wild bluberry bushes, or groan as we test our jello-legs on the climbs not recently ridden! Many times, we ride so close in space, it feels like we are extensions of each other, his slight leaning leading me through the corners, my front wheel bunny hopping over fallen logs almost synchronous with his rear wheel landing. Batthump, batthump shoooosh, shoooosh. Like a heartbeat. Like a metronome. The Gun club trail was a rude awakening to our fitness level, with us making it up all but one of the climbs, but not without a serious stress on our lungs and legs! I love this feeling, a touch of dizziness, hollow legs, and then a well timed downhill to recover on.. I look forward to long, cool Autumn rides to get my base fitness back, already dreaming of sliding out on pine needles and russet leaves on tomorrow's ride. Behind Dennis, or leading him, feeling the rhythm, making our own music in the silent woods.

bermuda peeling

2009-10-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Bermuda; aaah: the feel of warm air on our goose-pimpled New York skin.. it didn't matter that it was howling a gale and flashing lightning as we disembarked from the plane: we were finally warm!

The trip to Bermuda for a 10k swim was a bit of a long-shot at the end of a summer of mountainbiking (a bit) and swimming ( not enough) and writing papers for school (a lot). However the enthusiasm of the swimmers was contagious, and we quickly got in the mood. A practice swim on the 2k section of the course was yummy, we could have stayed in forever.. the water in Harrington Sound is quite salty, so buoyancy was increased.. getting our white, glimmering backsides above water even more!! Check in was a hoot, serious goody bags including Bermuda Rum amongst other essentials,

Raceday start was relaxed, fun in the sun and a gentle current!

At 2k, we turned into the current to get around 3 little islands, then more cruising.. 4-6k was challenging with 2 foot chop, 12+kn of wind and minimal buoys: a lot of guessing regarding the course, I just got between these two old timers who looked like they knew where they were going..I wondered how Emi and my sister were faring. Knowing that Niamh loves the bumpy water and is very adept in open water swimming, I was really only a bit worried about the bergermeister..She swam like a trooper a couple of weeks back in difficult swimming circumstances, so I knew she wasn't a panicker.. she'd be fine..

6k in, my right shoulder started to talk to me, especially when sighting, pressing down on the water to lift up and buoy spot.. I was able to alter my stroke with longer strokes, firmer push past 90 and gentler recovery.. a bit stronger in the kick to balance the press while sighting..all stuff I should be doing anyway! I switched from alternate sides to breathing every 4 strokes on my more vanilla right side, and relaxed into the final stretches. 2K to go! The finish line was in sight, and I picked it up as best as my shoulder would allow.. sometimes it feels good to be a little restrained! I was happy gliding through the blue, checking out the starfish and stripey things en route to the finish line, staggering out at 2:55, funny to be back on shore..

Not yet registering the sunburn (idiot forgot to get her arse with the factor 40), my hip was the most demanding of my attention: I was limping after a 10k swim.. hilarious! Niamh tootled in at 3:30, Berger shortly after, trailing Harrington by only seconds..Rachelle came 3rd in the 2k swim, and Dennis was on hand enjoying the show, inspired to do the 4k next year..

Much fun that night on the town, hilarity on the plane, back to rain, wind and short days.. with peeling backsides..

http://www.aquamoonadventures.com/ Can't wait until 2010 swim, and now I have my eye on Rottnest 2013..contagious!

OWS..In the element...

2009-09-14T04:14:00.000-07:00

..water that is, for over 2 and a half hours yesterday. With my loonie friend Emi, I waded through the shellfish carcasses on an overcast Sunday morning in September, and pointed my nose in the direction of the Barcelona bluffs. With our backs to the Cedar point lighthouse, the plan was to swim to Barcelona, rest a moment or two while treading water, then swim on to Sag Harbor's Havens Beach. A 3.77 mile swim, it was going to be a fun open water passage, and having done it the prior week in ine hou and fifty minutes, I figured we were going to have a similar, if not slightly longer time.

Rubber first. Emi tucks her car keys into a doble ziplock baggie, and stuffs the bag between her wetsuit and swimsuit. A short debate about the merits of an extra front bump versus a rear bump. The rear bump wins, more hydrodynamic. Not that it would matter.

Launch time. With the breeze at our backs, we paddle, paddle, paddle, then faces down, head for the bluff, Emi on my heels, slow, log strokes, even breathing, stretching out in the green-ish slightly murky summer water. Seaweed on the floor wafting.. towards Cedar point..Crap, I forgot to check the tide times.. I do some quick mental math, and even double checking myself, can't escape that we will be swimming into a perfectly ebbing tide, hence the seaweed pointing in the wrong direction! I turn after a hundred strokes to see Emi's pink head bobbing a ways away from me..I wait a while for her to catch on, and encourage her to swim in my bubbles, drafting for an easier swim. We continue for 25 minutes or so before we stop for the first time, keeping the Grace estate on our left, and the 60' tall sandy bluffs straight ahead.

Landmarks. From years of sailing in the waters around Sag Harbor and Shelter Island, I have learned to measure progress using landmarks while caught in current. Spotting a small sailboat on a mooring at "9 0' clock", I put my head down for a hundred yards, 300 strokes, breathing long and steadily, feeling the surge as I matched the snap of my hip roll and arm reach, watching every 6-9 strokes for the pink head astern of me. Emi comes and goes from my draft, disappearing for seconds in the open waters of Northwest Harbor, then bobbing into sight on course. We continue, heads down, breathing, pulling, steady in the water, pausing only to check on each others position. 15 minutes should be about 1000 yards, so I stop to tread water, check for Emi and check the coast to my left. Same boat. Same spot.Same position. We weren't making any headway. The bluffs loomed just as large and distant as they has 45 minutes ago, and Emi seemed tired, switching from crawl to backstroke, then a breaststroke that took her backwards in the current..We re-grouped and I kept her tighter on my toes, kicking stronger to increase the draft, and pulling less strongly to minimize the seperation. Stopping for a giggle at the murky moustaches that each other was growing (summer OW swimmers will understand), we relaxed into the routine, knowing that we could always turn around and have an easy return trip to the beach at Cedar Point.

Eventually, the boat fell off to our left, we began "to make trees" in sailing parlance, as we tucked in under the bluffs and into flatter, though no less tidal water. Chest deep at Barcelona point after 1 hour and 30 minutes, we waded against the endless-pool-like current for a while, giving shoulders and brains a wee break, while I recounted the Trudy Ederle story to Emi. The first female to cross the English channel, Trudy swam for 14 hours and 32 minutes, the last 2 1/2 hours completely against the tide, in 61 degree water..at 19 years of age! We teleported to a different time, gathered some perspective and dove under again. The sun was coming out to play on the water, and as we passed the bluffs, we laughed recounting some unmentionable stories about my first summer on the east end, discovering the areas natural beauty. I am still amazed by it, and as many times as I have swam, sailed, paddled here, the shoreline and water make me breathless.

Not quite breathless, though feeling the heaviness build in my arms, I head for Havens beach, astern of the Mega-Yacht that we have pegged as our half-way buoy. Emi swims more steadily now, unimpededby the waves, though still against the current. I prepare mentally for Bermuda, feeling that as the fatigue sets in, it becomes almost easier to swim, letting go of the ego of swimming a certain speed, and stripping off the layers of effort, left finally with the bare bones of a stroke learned long ago. In different waters, on the other side of the Atlantic. Pulling right until we touch sand on the "catch", we swim to the feet of the clammers. 2 rubber-clad nymphs emerge 2 hours 35 minutes. I high five Emi, and arms around rubbery shoulders we wash off our OW beards and come ashore.

saintly last days with the latter day saints

2009-08-29T07:18:00.001-07:00

Feeling battered from the 6 days straight school, I catch my breath before catching my flight out of Utah. Dr. Allison (Biostatistics1) described it best, being a part of the "tag-team wrestlers" that flew into Provo, beat us up intellectually for 8-10 hours a day, then flew out, leaving just enough recovery time (6 hours sleep) before the next heavy hitter arrived. The week read like this:

Dr. Jennifer Caputo: http://www.rmuohp.edu/index.php?/faculty_staff/faculty/faculty_by_name/#Jennifer%20L.%20CaputoScientific Writing: management of electronic search, retrieval and storage. I had stumbled my own way through Endnote X2 prior to coming out west, so I was able to fine tune some aspects of storage and output modification. It is really interesting that a component of the course had to handle basic grammar errors in scientific writing. At this level of education I would have assumed that most writing hiccups had been beaten out of people, but apparently not. Hmmm.

Dr. Todd Ellenbecker PT: http://www.rmuohp.edu/index.php?/faculty_staff/faculty/faculty_by_name/#Todd%20Ellenbecker http://toddellenbecker.usptapro.com/ Scapula, shoulder and elbow: serious brain bomb, one of the two days was an 11 hour day 8a to 7p..All we were able for after this was a Polygamy Porter and an early-ish night. This was an incredible synthesis of clinical, research and conceptual work by an energizer bunny, who couldhave kept going well past the setting sun. Thank God he didn't. We had the rest of the week to get through..

Dr. Stephen Allison PhD., PT:http://www.rmuohp.edu/index.php?/faculty_staff/faculty/faculty_by_name/#Stephen%20AllisonBiostatistics1, fundamentals of data analysis, introduction to SPSS software, use of Excel for analysis and graph construction. Brain bomb. At the end, I was a blubbering mess with total confusion about variables, factors, x and y axes, needing a stiff glass of Cabernet to get me to sleep. Somehow, Dr. A has managed to retain me through the class, and actually makes statistical analysis both interesting and relevant. Verry funny, very smart.

Dr. Joseph Wilkes MD: http://www.rmuohp.edu/index.php?/faculty_staff/faculty/faculty_by_name/#Joseph%20S.%20Wilkes Hand hand hand: two solid days of wrist and hand: Having been interested in this topic as an undergrad PT (1987-91), and again while doing my masters (1993-4)I am totally intrigued all over again with the crazy wonderful hand. Dr Wilkes managed to inspire us with his surgical skills, his big brain approach to problem solving, and pure love of patient care. I gave him my copy of Neil Shubin's book: "Your Inner Fish" http://www.amazon.com/Your-Inner-Fish-Journey-3-5-Billion-Year/dp/0307277453/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251556937&sr=8-1which details the transitional phase of mammals from a marine environment to a land-based environment. The evolution of wrist joints in fish was a beautiful surprise to me, and prompts me to re-read some text books on embryology again, to better explore aspects of pathology that originate from a place deeper than the immediate presentation. I hope he enjoys it as much as I did. I hope my brain becomes even a fraction the size of his.

My classmates, all 8 of our cohort (OS4), get on incredibly well adn I look forward to developing with this smart, entertaining, diverse group.

In some of the intervening evenings, I managed to get out for some easy rides, spinning the air-conditioning out of my tissues, allowing my brain to focus on simple repetitive pedal strokes, not an easy feat after sitting for 8-10 hours.. and definitely not easy at 4000 feet above my home base of 5-50 feet above sea-level. I had a couple of spins into the canyon towards Sundance, diverting towards Bridal Veil Falls and up into the South Fork road where I got to ride with an older cyclist, 60-something year old blly goat, who told me it was his 176th time doing this climb (up to 5900 feet). I hung back on the descent, trying to prevent him catching me takeing photos as we dropped back into the vally floor...Supreme bike paths along the Provo River Valley: a solid 25+ miles of paved, off-road bike paths, away from the traffic, winding from Utah lake up into the mountains. Incredible. I will draw on this path as we try to build an equivalent on our very own South Fork, resurrecting Mike Bottini's original dream and nudging it forward. Utah lake, though grand and perfectly situated, looked funky in colour, and even the primordial fish in me couldn't get drawn in. I cycled around it instead, past the latinos fishing and beyoned the horse ranches, under roads and rail passes along the winding river back to the centre of town.

Sitting in the departure lounge, the building essentially sits in the Salt Lake Valley with a 360 degree view of the Uinta mountain range, I think it must be the most beautiful airport view in the country. The sun is coming up draping the mountains in light purples, blue-greys and glden streaks, and spreading across the valley by the minute. My only regret is that I didn't get to swim at "my" pool this morning before leaving, no worries, I will without a doubt be back.

Cleanliness being next to Godliness

2009-08-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

..maybe only in Provo, UT, but especially after this mornings swim while sojourning out west for semester #2 Module #2. Anxious last night to get settled quickly in Provo after an exhausting delay-filled trip, I did what makes me comfy: search out the nearest bike-shop and the nearest swimming hole.. Through the magic of the internet, I found the Provo Recreation center and swimming pool, located near the business district, right behind the Provo High School. Having taken a bike spin around the 'hood after Sunday's class (scientific writing), I was not really amazed to find it shut tight on the Lord's Day, the lord weighting in pretty heavily in these parts of the world. Still head-spinning after hours spent figuring out import filters to EndNote X2, I headed towards the big "Y" painted on the hills overlooking Brigham Young University, and span my wheels. Several Mount Greylock-like climbs later, I dropped down into the valley floor, burning up my CX brakes and heading towards Mad-Dog Bicycles (also closed).. Never mind, I had dinner, drank some utah legal micro-servings of wine and hit the sack. This morning, an early start at 4:45 got me out of the Marriott King size slumberpad and onto my bike for a quick, dark spin through Provo. Whizzing past the original BYU campus, the Womens Gymnasium (honest, I HAVE to find out more about this building) and onto BullDog Ave, I hung a quick left and arrived at the unremarkable pool building. 1970's style concrete block without any windows, it looked remarkably similar to my beloved Kennedy Memorial Swimming Pool in my Irish home town of New Ross, where I spent many many chlorine filled years. Wafting a faint scent of chlorine and humming in the dark. Home. 5am had 8 or so locals lined up for open adult swimming, and I stood out amongst the septugenarians. Or at least, I hoped I did. Inside, having parted with the princly sum of $3 for a swim session, I followed the unspoken pool ettiquette and showered, lined up on the deck and surveyed the landscape; everyone assuming their position in their respective lanes. One lane empty, for me. Cool. Sliding into the water, immediately comforted by the familiar tiles, the warm water, the silky embrace of the blue water. Several thousand yards later, my attention is drawn to the large, bobbing figures to my right as I flip turn at the deep end. Aqua-aerobics is underway, and along with the ubiquitous 1980's music, a dozen extra-large ladies bob and weave while strapped into floating water-corsets, heads crowned by rubber floral swim hats, bottoms dimpled, legs larger than life underwater. Pushing off and tightly wound into a long arrow, with my ears filling with slooshing and my eyes tracking the black lane line, I am settling into Provo.

back to summer

2009-08-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

Friday after work, Saturday afternoon after swimming 2 mile race (47', 1st female, 2nd O/A), plans to sail tomorrow after mountain biking..finally feeling that Summer is sinking in as we get Aisling wet with spray three days in a row..Ah Jaysus, summer finally rocks on..It has been late this year with school and work demands, but as I sit after dinner with salty dry skin, and uncontrollable post-swim-and-sail hair, I finally feel the heavy pace of the year fall away, at least for the moment.

Dennis and I talk not so idly of Maine, looking forward to poking around the Blue Hill region, possibly looking for a patch of rock to hang a hat on, and to launch a boat from..My brain is still rocking a bit from being on the boat all day. Next to curling up with my lover, this is my most favourite feeling. Slightly giddy, slightly off kilter, slightly drunk from constant motion, sun, waves, swimming and dreaming..

When once you have tasted flight you will always walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward; for there you have been and there you will always be. -Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

life updated

2009-08-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

ok, the first time home before 6pm in aeons, a glass of vino on the table and a few minutes to take a breath..recap on the last 8 months.. 1. Semester one completed at RMU http://www.rmuohp.edu/ only many many more to go. I have finally begun to setlte my scores with biostatistics, and with my third time around, (and the very capable help of Dr. Stephen Allison) I can get my brain around the terms statistical analysis, confidence intervals and MCID without my brain thinking "blah blah Rover, blah blah blah Rover" a la Gary Larson. 2. SPOKESPEOPLE is well underway, we have finally established a firm structure, are legitimately performing as a not-for-profit organization, and are on the radar in the community as an advocacy group. http://www.spokespeopleli.org/. check it out. 3. Bike-fit analysis wth use of Retul is a serious option for use for my dissertation http://www.retul.com/ as I have already completed a mini-prospectus and gotten good feedback to date. Will need many able and not-so-able bodies to be guinea-pigs. or just pigs. They are all good research fodder I hear. 4. Swimming: oh my watery love: I plunked down the e-greenbacks for a 10k swim in Bermuda http://www.aquamoonadventures.com/ on October 19th. This was a dream prior to Dennis's gift last night of Trudy Ederle's book: " the young woman and the sea".. a play, I am assuming, on the "old man and the sea" fish tale.. 4. Work @ MSPT: work is work, one staff member giving notice yesterday to depart for the dubiously greener fields of Nepal, to work for Medicins San Frontieres: their gain, my loss. I will miss Miki and her ethereal appearances in our offices. The door will always be open, and I am sure we will cross paths again. One new staff member in the front office, welcome Emily. If you are half the woman your mother Gail is, you will be fine! 5. Back running, First time since Block Island Shad Bloom 10k in May..23rd, 46.08 gruelling inutes of beauty on the bluffs of the Block.. http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/May9_ShadBl_set1.shtml I still can't believe that I am running again, though my calf muscles definitely can.. 5 miles in the woods with Liliana, while she is recovering from a stress fracture, and getting used to running again. We are a sweaty, slow pair.. cruising switchbacks and sandy spots. avoiding the gym by pounding up the hillocks.picking ticks off. having fun before work. 6. Dennis, ever the rock for me, planning our trip to Maine following our annual adventures in Vermont in Fall http://www.vermont50.com/. Singlespeed 34x 19 for 50 miles, rising into the breaks in VT's foggy clouds for autumnal views to gasp at, even if you weren't anaerobic. Great road trip together, finally..it has been a long, (not hot) summer of hard work, and we deserve what Maine has to give us! I CAN'T WAIT!!

spokes news..

2008-12-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, crazy time: we have had a bunch of meetings, with the chief, with the mayor, with the sag harbor village board: with reference to rescinding the ban on cycling on main street..then Christmas then a trip to Ireland to see my family (pending on Wed night, new year's eve..) Oh my GAWD, did anyone see the responses to the proposal to review the current (illegal) law baning cycling on main street? Following Marrissa Meiers article, the Sag Harbor Express reported the MOST ONLINE POSTS EVER in response to an article in the press! SURPRISE SURPRISE, some resistance to the notion that cycling is a STATE AND FEDERALLY PROTECTED method of TRANSPORTATION in this country.. and NO, we are NOT planning to take over the world.. as seemed to be the reaction to the DEVASTATING notion that we, as cyclists, be accorded safe, protected and LEGAL passage through the village. Letter to FRED THIELE (asssemblyman, who received my vote, despite being a republican {indie??}..) Dear Mr Thiele, As a consituent of yours and a founding member of SPOKESPEOPLE, (an east end cycling advocacy group), I am anxiously awaiting information about the status of the Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton turnpike Bike Lane. We will, as you know, be having a hearing on Jan 13th regarding the restriction on cycling on main street in Sag Harbor, and since the sag harbor bridgehampton turnpike is one of the main 4 feeder roads into the village, our group of 200+ east end constituents feels that it has an important bearing on the development of safe cycling routes in and around Sag Harbor village and beyond. I realize that Hank De Cillia, Reynolds Dodson, the Southampton bike lane advisory committee and many others have been pressing you to move forward on this important issue for many years, but we truly feel that now is the time to formalise such a commitment, to the environment, to alternative transportation, to congestion reduction, to the health and safety of your voters. I urge you to contact me at your earliest opportunity to discuss the matter, and inform our group of the current status of this important route.Yours Sincerely, Sinead FitzGibbon Letter to Tim Bishop (Congressman NY State) Congressman Tim Bishop Room 1133 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 December 16, 2008 Dear Mr. Bishop: As a founding member of SPOKESPEOPLE, an avid cyclist, and a constituent of yours living in Wainscott, I urge you to meet with us to discuss the dearth of progress in the provision of safe cycling facilities on the east end. We have met with various members of town appointed committees (Southampton bike lane advisory committee) and Planning boards (JoAnn Pawhl EH town planning), highway planners, (Bill Masterson) Mayors (Sag Harbor’s Greg Ferraris) Village Board members ( Sag Harbor, EH, SH)and local police chiefs (Chief. Fabiano)in our efforts to come to some resolution in the lack of plans for improvement of this ongoing situation. The common theme echoed by the majority of these people, over years of meetings, is that without political will to resolve the issues, little will be achieved, and certainly little of any importance. When there is money spent on projects, it is done haphazardly and without the consultation of experts, i.e. cyclists, bike lane advisory groups, local citizens. We invite you therefore, to be part of the solution, as opposed to being part of the problem. This is the reason for the existence of our newly formed group: we hope to bring together the politicians who can be the movers and shakers, with the local cyclists and concerned road users to facilitate the legitimate use of roads by cyclists, in a way that fosters safer cycling, and more cycling. We understand that your position on the Congressional Transportation and Infrastructure Committee puts you in a strong position to both influence legislation and to assist us in procuring the funds to direct towards the many local projects that are “shelved” for lack of funding. We trust that the lack of your involvement to date may reflect tha lack of organized groups to assist in designing and using such facilities, but again, we can change this. Our group, SPOKESPEOPLE, is already 208 people strong, ALL RESIDENT ON EASTERN LONG ISLAND, and growing daily as we spread the word and our issues get more local press. We know you can provide the leadership to make the position on cycling more to the fore of your actions on Long Island, and we can assist by pressuring Ken LaValle, Fred Thiele, and Linda Kabot and their colleagues to act, following your lead. We are proposing to you as the current leaders of Spokespeople that you arrange for a meeting with us, at your earliest opportunity. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Yours, Sinead FitzGibbon Haha we are on a ROLL: this letter accompanied at least a dozen more, possibly even more++ as we posted the letters with a template to our 200+ members.. follow the lead to this week in the Sag Harbor Express.. http://sagharborexpress.sagharborpublishing.com/shexpress/a-conversation-with/sinead-fitzgibbon/ KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR CYCLISTS! BRING YOUR BIKE TO THE HEARING, Jan 13th 6pm...Sag Harbor Municipal building, 2nd floor..Be there or be quadrangular..

2008-12-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

This week, as a representative of SPOKESPEOPLE, our newly formed east end cycling advocacy group, I attended the Sag Harbor Village trustee meeting, with the intent of presenting them with a proposal to rescind the current ban on cycling on main street in the village.

This proposal was initiated by the chief of police, Det. Fabiano, and was wholeheartedly endorsed by the mayor, Greg Ferraris, at a meeting the prior month. On proposing the change to the village ordinance, trustee Tifany Scarlatto and trustee Ed Deyermond roundly condemned the proposal, refusing to give the mayor a vote for consideration to come before a public hearing. This, despite the voicing from the floor, of the chief, to "give it a try, at least on a trial basis". By a slight margin, the board, with the support of a few villagers on the floor, agreed to put forth the proposal for a review at a public hearing, Jan 13th, 2009.

WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF LOCAL PEOPLE to make this work.

We are proposing this change to the village law, as a component of making the village more cycle friendly, to make cycling into town a viable alternative to driving, and to follow in tandem with the vision of the mayor to promote a "green" sag harbor. He after all, was the initiator of the 725Green committee, the group charged with doing its utmost to improve the transport, air, water and general life choices with a vision of making the village a beacon of green-ness on the east end.

Now comes the hard part: many of the village trustees, and many of the villagers, have some weird notion that RE-introducing cyclists onto main streeet is going to wreak havoc on the village, causing mayhem, death and destruction, with likely theft of properrty..

It is our job to present the rescinding of this ordinance, as part of a proposal to improve cycling access to the whole village as a reasonable idea, complete with proposals for other bike routes in the village, safe locking sites for bicycles and introduction of SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS with a bicycle component.

PLEASE ATTEND OUR MEETING, tomorrow, at ZIGGYS, 3pm, to brainstorm ideas and to develop a strategy to convince the village that we, as reasonable TAX-PAYING, VOTING residents, believe that retraction of this (in the chief's words, "unenforcable out of date law") is a good idea, and one that will contribute to a better quality of life in our town, on our beloved east end.

PLEASE CUT and PASTE into an email for anyone you know who rides bikes!!

Oh Yes, and to the wierdo who stormed my office today, yelling at my staff about this being "a stupid idea" and "trying to get people killed".. get a life.. and don't you dare invade my place of business again....

Def:"irony": being irish and without blather

2008-12-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Ah so, into the silence I go: after a weekend sitting in air-conditioned hotel rooms in florida, I returned to Autumnal New York (read: cold, raining, windy 35 degrees) with a distinct scratch in my throat. Monday in the office wasn't too bad, Tuesday I opted for riding easy on the rollers in the basement instead of the usual brisk run with Dennis, Wednesday I was noticably hoarse, achey and unable to think about getting on the bike..then cough ,sniffle, croak..and then, silence.. Today, I cancelled patients, unable to even whisper without feeling as if my throat was being slit. At 8am, I stopped in with my neighbor, my MD, Oppie, who took a look down my gullet (from the other side of the room mind you), and told me to go home. Or at least, shut up. That was it, no hallucinogenic drugs, no sedatives, no antibiotics. Just silence. Being a Jewish New Yorker, I thought even HE might have some idea about how difficult is is to be completely without words, pantomiming my way through the day. But there I sat, sucking down Ricolas until my jaws ached, swallowing hot cups of peppermint tea after hot cups of chamomile tea, and filing papers, returning emails, sorting out office folders, dossing off on facebook, doing all the things that I put on the telescoping finger..all while my lovely staff stopped into my office to laugh, do some Marcel Morceau imitations and generally relish the fact that I was finally shut up. Lunch at the Golden Pear was almost funny, writing my order (for porridge and honey) on napkins then noticing how the staff whispered back to me in low tones as if they too were struck by laryngitis.. As for tomorrow, we shall see: tonight some over-cooked pasta to suck down, some more Ricola's for desert, then a nightcap of Theraflu: I might squeeze out a couple of patient evaluations before my larynx decides to crap out totally for the weekend. At least my urge to ride is returning, and I don' t need vocal chords to hit the woods on my singlespeed.. Here's to enjoying the silence, while it lasts..

telly time

2008-11-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

Karl Grossman does his magic! Sit through 30 minutes of difficult reality about health "care" in 2008 or fast forward to 17 minutes for a giggle.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8vHhHHl8fA

cyclocross coverage from the hamptons

2008-11-26T14:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.hamptons.com/detail.ihtml?id=5634&apid=11519&sid=36&cid=193&hm=0&iv=0&townflag=

Paving the way to better cycling in sag harbor

2008-11-26T11:47:00.000-08:00

http://hamptons.com/detail.ihtml?id=5471&apid=11160&sid=44&cid=262&hm=0&iv=0&townflag=2 http://www.hamptons.com/detail.ihtml?id=5608&apid=11466&sid=36&cid=198&hm=0&iv=0&townflag= Omigawd.. so much coverage,..so much to do..draft of letter to sag harbor village, proposing to recind laws currently on the books forbidding bikes on main street.. meeting village on Dec 9th: wish us luck!! To: Sag Harbor Village Board Date: November 25, 2008 Re: Cycling on Main Street / Village code 50-7: sections B, C As founding members of Spokespeople (an East End cycling advocacy organization), and following consultations with Chief Fabiano and Sag Harbor Village Mayor Greg Ferraris, we wish for the board to consider revisiting this code, especially section B, for the following reasons: To facilitate movement of cyclists in Sag Harbor Village by allowing access to Main Street by bicycle in the normal traffic flow, in accordance with New York State traffic law. To facilitate greater use of bicycles in the Village in conjunction with the goals of the group 725 Green, and toward a reduction of carbon emissions, energy consumption, and traffic congestion, as well as the Mayor’s mission to promote Sag Harbor as an example to other local towns and villages. To coordinate efforts of SPOKESPEOPLE and the Sag Harbor Village Police Department in educating the general public about the shared rights and responsibilities of all users of Village roads. To increase motor vehicle drivers’ awareness of the presence of non-motorized road users, leading to the enhanced safety of all users. Proposal: To delete the following sections of the Village code, 50-7: Section B: “(or) to ride a bicycle or any other wheeled vehicle propelled by gravity or the use of the rider’s feet;” and Section C: ‘it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the activity commonly known as “jogging” on any public sidewalk or pedestrian footpath along Main Street from the southerly line of Spring street to the southerly line of Bay street. As a group, we propose to promote the change in this ordinance with cycling safety clinics, demonstrations, and a regularly-scheduled community bike ride (over 12) in the Village. The Sag Harbor Police Department has graciously offered bike-patrol officers to assist with these rides. Press will be invited and local businesses will be offered the opportunity to sponsor refreshments in an effort to both publicize the events and increase participation of interested Village parties in “greening” Sag Harbor Village. Yours, Sinead FitzGibbon, Dennis Loebs for Spokespeople

"Cyclosnot": or, "small fish, big pond"..

2008-11-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

OK ok, I finally did it: I spectated at the first (bitterly cold) day of the Whitmores supercross cup at SYS in Southampton, and raced on the second..Inspired by the professional CX racing women staying with Dennis and I, I trundled my bike to the start line and waited for a call up.. and waited, and waited, until last place.. Having not raced in 4 years in this dicipline, I have earned absolutely no UCI points, the requisite for a good starting position, so was at the very back of a national level, high calibre line-up with 10 seconds to go..

I had no idea that I would be so nervous with my first 'cross race this season (and coming in so late, possibly the last one of 2008). I had risen with the girls at 7am, had coffee, porridge, read the paper, stretched, donned my skinsuit and gone to watch valiant Dennis battle with himself in his race.. really, I mean battle, and I also mean with himself.. Neither of us have raced or trained at the super-threshold intensity needed to race well, so he rode the course in his own silent world of pain, as we screamed at him and rang cowbells in his ears as he rode and ran over obstacles, on the run-ups, through the corners, onto the asphalt, right to the finish line. All the while, I was counting the minutes to my own race, running to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so, and feeling the day pass in ultra-slow motion as I took a warm-up lap before the final call to line-up.

Literally shaking on the start-line, and not from the cold, from pure adrenaline and fear-aline in my veins, I knew it could only get better once I started. How wrong I was...

The gun, yes a gun, went off, and so did we, a gang of women powering off the asphalt, onto the grass and into the woods. The 3k circuit crossed sand, 2 kneecap high wooden barriers, wooded singletrack, more sand, lumpy hard-pack grass, off-camber crazy uphill and downhill sections, then more of the same... for 45 minutes, at full belt.

Foaming snot and lung-rasping aside, I was able to hear the announcer throughout the race, giving a blow-by-blow account of the race, which was just as well, since I couldn't see a thing from my position at the back of the field..I cheered my new Cx buddies {Amy Dombrowski (4th), Kathy Sherwin, ?15th and my old friend Anna Milkowski 20th??} on while I suffered in my secret world of pain , and wished Anna good legs as she blew past me on a straight section of grass. As I crossed the line on the final lap, I rolled to a stop by Dennis and a few of my local friends / fans (!) and wondered out loud, what the h*** was I thinking, to jump into CX racing again..

As my heartrate settled, and blood started to flow into my peripheries again, I was suffused with a warm glow of achievement.. Jen (http://www.jayasports.com/) has been doing wonders helping me prepare for long distance MTB racing this year, but we had barely even spoken seriously about CX until last week. Since taking a break from this dicipline, to train for 1/2 IM and MTB racing, I have been reluctant to return to my most favourite cycling sport, weirdly procrastinating from year to year. On the start line, I was fully aware of the main reason for my hesitation in returning to the skinsuit and the narrow knobby tyres, I was dreading the reality check, the drop to back of the pack, the anhillation that I was to suffer on the return to racing with the "big girls" of the sport. Seeing the emotional rollercoaster that my racing girlfriends were going through, hearing their stories of the season to date, Nationals, plans for possible World Championship selection, I was inspired to put my ego and fears aside, and race for the pure joy of it..

I can honestly say, at no time during the race was I enjoying it, (at one point, hoping for a flat so I could drop out!) but as anyone racing CX knows, this feeling ensures that there is nothing more in the tank, that I had pulled it all out for the race, even just this one race. That feeling brings with it the true enjoyment of racing. I am hooked again, making solid plans with Jen for the 2009 Cx season. Finally, having suffered a solid trouncing at the hands of the best in the nation, I am ready to suffer some more, this time, in happy anticipation of the line up in the cold and the wind..

SPOKESPEOPLE LAUNCH!!

2008-11-19T15:15:00.001-08:00

We had a terribly successful meeting at my office this week: 30 attendees, 10+ regret RSVP's:

here are the statements du jour (with many thanks to darling Dennis who made sense of my ramblings and put this all in order..)

SPOKESPEOPLE mission: to promote a BICYCLE‐FRIENDLY COMMUNITYBenefits of a BICYCLE‐FRIENDLY COMMUNITY:

• Environmental benefits: reduced noise, pollution, & carbon footprint.

• Reduced traffic congestion on roads.

• Enhanced public safety.

• Enhanced recreational opportunities for all ages through road and trail riding.

• Improved health of individuals and community through routine physical activity.

• Stronger social ties within the community through increased human interaction.

• Economic benefits: easier access to village businesses, increased use of public transport,increased local spending on bikes and related purchases, reduced taxpayer spending on carrelatedinfrastructure.

• Greater choice of travel modes, especially for kids and seniors.

Vision of Spokespeople:To enhance the quality of life on the East End of Long Island via the promotion andfacilitation of road and trail cycling, among citizens of all ages and all physical ability, forrecreation and transportation.

Proposed Goals:

• Provide safe and convenient bike access, bike routes, on‐ and off‐street bike parking facilities, andlow speed streets. Local cyclists to identify specific needs and target areas.

• Establish public information programs to promote cycling of all kinds, and communicate benefits tothe community. Create and distribute maps, create public awareness campaigns, organize and leadregularly scheduled neighborhood rides (“Ride with the Mayor”).

• Develop special programs to encourage bike use by the non‐driving population, e.g. Safe Routes toSchools programs, Senior Trike Program, etc.

• Encourage bicycle use among local village and town employees by providing preferential parking,showers and bike fleets. Use these municipal initiatives to encourage private businesses to adoptsimilar approaches. Encourage municipalities to provide financial incentives for private businesses toreplace car parking with bicycle parking.

• Ensure that all village and town codes include bicycles in existing and future transportation plans, incommercial building codes, in local schools, hospitals, and recreational facilities.

• Achieve a target level of bike usage within discrete timeframe. Establish current level of bike use bychildren, in schools, and villages and towns. Measure improvements in total hours riding time,adoption of bike commuting, or number of short bike trips.

• Review local traffic laws, and encourage enforcement of traffic laws to improve the safety of cyclists,with particular focus on behaviors / attitudes that cause motor vehicle‐on‐bike crashes (not“accidents”).

• Educate all road users to share the road safely. Increase the safety / visibility / confidence of cyclistsby coordinating road construction/maintenance with cycling education/awareness programs.

• Promote “intermodal” transport, between public transport and bicycles. Encourage installation ofsecure bike racks at train and bus stations, and bike racks on buses. Improve bike access to trainsand buses.

Proposed Action Plan:

1. Create annual media campaign focused on road safety including:a. Spring media campaign (local newspapers and radio) about Rules of the Road;b. Distribute Rules of the Road to bike shops, retail outlets (e.g. Starbucks), and schools;c. Encourage realtors to include Rules of the Road and Spokespeople’s “Eyes on theRoad/Hands on the Wheel” cyclist awareness letter in summer rental welcomepackages.

2. Create “Connection” media campaign: the cyclist (in your way) is your physical therapist / doctor/ child’s teacher / plumber / etc.

3. Organize annual Bike Lighting campaign (“Light Up a Roller”) to collect and distribute free lightsand reflectors for night & winter riding to commuters. Link with bike shops, local business, andlighting manufacturers for sponsorship, and to promote awareness through print and radioadvertising campaign.

4. Organize annual Helmet Drive (“Keep a Lid on It,” “Save a Melon”) to collect and distribute freehelmets to commuters without helmets. Link with bike shops, local business, and bike/helmetmanufacturers for sponsorship, and to promote awareness through print advertising campaign.

5. Liaise with trails groups to facilitate and encourage cycling on trails. Educate groups re:construction and maintenance of sustainable trails via partnership with C.L.I.M.B. Establish trailmaintenance crews and assign to areas throughout East End. Partner with local trailspreservation societies to fight trail damage caused by illicit users.

6. Organize school locker campaign to ensure schools have sufficient locker space available tocommuting students.

7. Promote the creation of bike clubs in each local school by organizing and providing leadershipfor extracurricular rides on both road and trail. Liaise with athletic directors, emphasizingbenefits of cross‐training. Progress to competitive cycling and creation of school road cyclingand mountain biking teams.

8. Organize festive monthly Critical Mass –style ride (“Critical Awareness Ride: Facilitating Ridingon the East End” [C.A.R.‐F.R.E.E.]) in each village and town. A one mile loop on local roads withpolice escort, preceded by a meeting reviewing rules, drills and stops / turn practice. Encourageparticipation by diversity of people and bicycles, and emphasize social aspect of event. Createcontests (with prizes) for best costume, heaviest bike, etc.

9. Organize monthly press‐covered Ride with Mayor in each village. Encourage local delis andstores to sponsor and provide food.

10. Initiate campaign for installation of bike racks in villages (a la NYC). Create open designcompetition with special award for designs based on village‐related themes (e.g. whaling in SagHarbor, fishing in Montauk). Enlist local metal shops to sponsor fabrication of racks.

11. Identify every municipality, trail group, community council, transportation committee, naturesociety, and environmental group on East End. To each group, assign dedicated liaison to attendall group meetings, represent cyclists’ interests, and issue meeting report to Spokespeople.

12. Create and maintain a website that provides news and information about rides, fundraisingevents, races, etc. Provide links to partner organizations, elected officials, etc. Provide a tool toautomate letter‐writing to politicians on cycling issues.

13. Establish regular letter‐writing campaign to local newspapers to increase public awareness ofcycling. Letters can comment on local news, focus on effects on the cycling community.

14. Organize a bicycle versus car race from Southampton Village to East Hampton village on asummer weekend. One car and one bike in each direction, with media converage.

15. Organize multi‐day mountain bike ride from Pine Barrens to Montauk Point to raise awarenessof Paumanok Trail.

16. Organize charity rides on the road for local causes and needy families.

17. Create a Senior Trike campaign to promote intra‐village riding by seniors. Encourage localbusiness to sponsor purchase of tricycles with shopping baskets. Study similar initiativesestablished elsewhere. Establish storage sites and develop free rental program.

18. Encourage cross‐membership and coordination among like‐minded groups.

19. Organize free skills clinics/rides for road riding and mountain biking.

20. Initiate program of providing free bicycles to local families in need.

Proposed Nuts & Bolts:

1. Executive Leader: to be determined.

2. Board of Directors: to be determined.

a. Purpose of Board of Directors: Establish and review goals and direction of organization.Develop general strategies and assist Executive Leader and others in creatingcommittees, appointing committee leaders, and task forces to achieve specific goals.Establish by‐laws concerning executive and non‐executive positions, elections,meetings, financial management, membership structure and dues, and by‐lawamendment process.

3. Proposed officers: Treasurer, VP, and Secretary, to be determined.

4. Proposed Committees:a. Membership & recruitment

b. Bike Routes (road)c. Trailsd. Schools. Fundraising and Special Eventsf. Media Campaigns. Public Awareness & Education

h. Racing

i. Retail

5. Proposed Positions:a. Media & Communications Coordinator

b. IT Manager/Webmaster

c. Legal Counsel

d Ride Coordinator

e. Race Promoter

6. Proposed Liaisons:

a. 725 Green

b. East Hampton Nature Preserve Committee

c. East Hampton Trails Preservation Society

d. East Hampton Town Planning Departmente. East Hampton Town Board

f. Southampton Town Board

g. North Haven Village Board

h. Noyac Civic Council

i. Chambers of Commerce (via RetailCommittee members?)

j. Sagaponack Village Board

k. Sag Harbor Village Board

l. Shelter Island Town Board

m. Southold Town Board

n. ?

o. Southampton Bike Lane Advisory Committee

p. Southampton Trails Preservation Group

q. Southampton Town Parks Department

r. Group for the East End

s. Suffolk County Parks Department

t. New York State Parks Department

u. The Nature Conservancy How about THIS for a Santa list!!

Serpent's Back Snotfest

2008-11-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

The LAST MTB biathlon this season: we collected in the field at Navy Road, lined up like in the school-yard and waited for the high-tech "ready steady GO"!

Again, I promised myself that this race would be different, that I would start calmly in the pack, build intensity as I warmed up, and not blow up like the previous three weekends, but again, I found myself chasing down Ed Cashin, Mikey Bahel and a few other billygoats, sucking wind at the one mile mark as their heels disappeared around a tree ahead of me, and I felt the blood in my breath..

We use to call this hypoxic state "cyclocross lung", but now I have to broaden the term's use, as I haven't done a single cross race this year yet..

The run was beautiful: along by the shore for a fast 1/4 mile, then into hilly twisty trails through the autumn trees in Montauk, the leaves thick on the ground covering the baby-head rocks, the ankle breakers! I suffered well on the run, managing 16.30 for the 2.3 miler, then calmed down a tad as I buckled the helmet and struggled into the bikeshoes.. on the bike, hoping that my heart-rate would settle somewhat over the next 10 miles: I felt strong and was able to pick it up for a few hundred yards at a time, not super powerful on the short climbs, but able to build some nice tempo on the longer easier gradients. I resolved to call Jen Gatz, my wonder-coach, and talk to her about doing some short hard efforts in this coming couple of months, all the better to suffer on the hard kicks in the local 'cross events. The bike course took us on a tour of the gems of eastern Long Island's MTB trails, opening up over the bay to get a brief view of the clear waters and golden beaches, then ducking back into the woods to dodge and weave the overhanging locust and pine trees. The Ho-Chi-Min trail (giving serpents back race its' name,) was famoulsy hairy, fast, scrabbly, gruelling and more fun than a barrel of monkeys..The fall is slightly past full glory now, and there are holes appearing in the canopy as the windy afternoons clear out tons of vegetation, I love this time of year, and it makes me look forward to the winter rides even more, through these naked woods, piled thick with winter gear, sweating and with foaming snot as we shift back into single-speed mode.. all the better for strength-training..outdoors!!

The second run was a blast, it always seems to be smoother once the blood, adrenaline and Gu is flowing, I eased into my own rhythm, having not had anyone pass in a while, able to finally settle into my own race! I approached the last mile, I caught a glimpse of a fellow racer, Marty Ross, ahead through the trees. Ever the comptitive one, I was able to pick it up a notch, eeking up onto his heels as we came out onto the last stretch on Navy road.. I think I still had some juice left, and thought that I could possibly pip him if i took the risk and sprinted for the line..a second thought crossed my mind.. that I might lose a hamstring in the process (the initial cramps were hinting in my legs..) but I figured it would be worth it!! I pulled it out, barreled up the field and with a whack on his backside, passed him by a nose on the line.. wipe the foaming snot off, photos, prizes, pizza and beer.. What a way to spend a morning with your budddies!!

http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=179095

also: http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Sports/Duathlon/tabid/7074/Default.aspx

On a sadder note, I read of our fellow athlete Sam, who is scheduled to have an amputation of his hand in 3 weeks, following survival of a devastating bomb blast in Iraq. Sam is one of the superstars of our sports world, and I hear he has already entered an Ironman next year, to aim for with his new hand.. Sam, you are an inspiration.. I was thinking of you as I swam this morning, bubbles up my nose, aching arms, tired lungs.. I look forward to your new limb, and your continued success. You make us all push a bit harder and dig a little deeper.

schiff-scout pantathlon

2008-11-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

This weekend saw us sailing into the sunset on the bay, for perhaps one of the last times this year: we wrapped up well in light foulies, got Aisling ready and cast of fthe mooring into 10 knots of westerlies: fail winds for htis time of year.. We sailed in silence to Mashomack Point, to better observe the seals that like to haul themselves onshore at high tide, but as we got within eye-shot, I soon realised the "seals" had become rocks.. oh boy.. Time to reconsider the Lasik surgery.. Undeterred we tacked back and forth in the lee of North Haven before returning to the harbor, putting Aisling in her "pyjamas" and heading back to shore.. We packed hastily for the next day, a return to one of our favourite races on the East-End: the Schiff-Scout duathlon: a 2/11/2 miler off-road race at the boy scout camp in Wading River, just west of Riverhead. We had not been here since Shari sold Bikehampton several years ago, and both Dennis and I had mixed feelings about returning. Brian, the race director, is one of the most fun, generous directors in the business, and his smiles upon seeing us quickly made us welcome. We also immediately reconected with some of our old cycling mates, warmed up briefly and lined up for the casual start. 45 degrees, windy, felt like 30. I dropped in behind Joe A., Bob C., and Chris R., all the while promising myself to NOT run with these jackrabbits, and instead, run my own race: The gun went off, the adreneline rushed and I found myself on Joe's heels, a mile into the race, chest heaving, heart racing, exertion headache settling into my thick skull. I glanced down at my watch ( NO HRM here, I was too scared to see the numbers!) and noted the one-mile time.. 6.31 I was in trouble, there was NO WAY I could keep this going, and finish the race well without blowing up so I had to back it off and kiss the heels of the boys goodbye.. I settled into my own race, suffering through the ups and downs of the new course and getting ready for the bike: the transition went well, I was glad to chill a little and lose hte hypoxia as I got into my bikeshoes adn helmet, then settled further into the race as I enjoyed the whoop-do-do's of the bike course: the wooded twisting singletrack was wonderful: Fall (Autumn) at its most glorious, I was regretting not having raced here for so long! Dennis blew past me on the 2nd bike leg, looking strong, though unable to talk to me! I knew he was pushing it! I tried to keep him in my line of sight as I picked up the pace for the final 2 miles, then raced into the transition area, not quite looking forward to the second run! Suprise, surprise, the legs didn't object too heavily, in fact, I felt comfy with a 7:00 pace and quickly caught Dennis before the first 1/2 mile was by. He hung close by, and we dodged the trees for the last mile, scrabbling up the steep gradients for a strong finish: I was the first female in, and made 15th overall in 1:25-ish, Dennis was only one minute down in 1:26: HE is getting stronger as he races and trains with more brains, short hard efforts, plenty of recovery.. and I think that these great ales that we have enjoyed recently must also be assisting. Despite the pounding headache, and the sudden need to eat everything in sight, I feel stonger form the last couple of weekends of racing, and I am sure we are both feeling the remnants of our trip, in our legs, our lungs, our spirit!. We both resolve to return in 2009, and more frequently.. Is is definitely not the same since S+M are no longer in participation, but it is a short burst of huge effort with some of our most favourite people in our sports world. The aftermath of the race was also fun, when Brian announced the winner of the 50-59 age group, rider #47: pictures to follow tomorrow.. http://www.triandduit.com/webforms/tad_ResultsDetail.aspx?rf=SchiffScoutFallDu2008.rdb&distanceid=1&Event=Schiff+Scout+Mountain+Bike+Duathlon&distance=Duathlon Even my friend Susan, loony triathlete and adamant NON-mountain biker, might be tempted to try it out if she knew who was hanging out in the wings at these little races..

mountain man biathlon, (20 years of stupidity), morristown, new jersey

2008-10-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Race recap: In the style of the old Bikehampton races, we piled into the suburban, lashed the bikes to the rack and hit the road: powered up on coffee, bagels and headed off in the pre-dawn. Dan Farnham from Montauk, our trusty driver, drove the well-troden I-495 with Mike Bahel, Dennis and I trying not to nod off in the back. We met swim coach Tom Cohill (East Hampton) Chris and Jill Robbins (Islip) , Matt Reale and Matt Ruggeri (East Hampton) in the parking lot of the Lewis-Morris State Park where the early birds for the 20th anniversay race were gathering. Classically freezing cold, we were happy to be lollygagging around in only 3 layers of clothing, before peeling down to skinsuits and cycling jerseys with one hour to go. Despite having been racing for a combined 100 years between us, we began to catalogue the disasters and problem solve with a clock counting down: First Mike discovered that the face-plate to his stem was not only corroded, but was cracked right through, the hendlebar being visible THROUGH the faceplate. With only 2 of the bolts having any attachment to the bike, the remaining two floating in space, he attempted to switch bikes with Matt Ruggeri. Matt now discovered that his spare bike had a serious headset defective wobble, which would surely fail on the rooty, rocky course. We had visions of Mike losing his teeth / collar-bone / brains until, genius that he is / we are, a 1/2 roll of electrical tape bolstered by a 1/4 roll of duct-tape saved the day..Not my choice of bike repair, but enough to get the brave Mikey on his trusty steed, albeit gingerly on the downhills. Next up, Chris arrives at our 'burb, with the announcement that he had inadvertantly left his sneakers at home on the stairs. Fat lot of good that did him now.. Jokingly, Danny offered his size 12 Merrell slip on shoes to sized 11 Chris. Accepted! Complete with his wife's socks on top of Dan's socks, and again making use of the duct tape to stop the slide of the shoe on his narrow foot, Chris was off to the races..The crowd was full of the usual convicts, race directors in full fancy dress costume, supporters and racers alike getting into the spirit of the race, dressing up as spiderman, sexy maids and disney characters. 250 or so racers lined up for the 2 / 11 / 2 race, with 2 mile run (hilly, off-road, trails slippery from the previous night's downpour) then 2 x 5.5 mile loops on challenging technical teeth-shaking fast terrain, and then repeating the 2 mile run; this time with cramping hamstrings, cramping calf muscles and a general anaerobic-induced hypoxia. I didn't wear a heart-rate monitor, mainly for fear of knowing my max was being maxed out, but it doesn't take a physiologist to figure that I was struggling near 175 for the majority of the race. After a really fast initial run loop, I belted out a bike loop, tried to settle into the second loop letting my heart rate drop somewhat, but arrived back at the transition area with the second placed female on my heels, despite seeing her wipe out in the whoop-de-do section 1/2 mile before the end of the bikeleg. I dug deep, reaching into the positive thinking part of my brain and tried to banish the pain demons. I knew that I didn't have much reserve remaining to increase speed, so I tried to just focus onto holding my lead. At each hill-crest, I took the liberty to check behind me, NOT SEEING anyone but a couple of guys catching me!! woo-hoo, I cruised the last 1 mile, only stalling at the hill sections to stretch my screaming hammies. Finishing in style hobbling over the line in my Champion-System team issued skinsuit (first time worn since our China trip) I won first place female in 1:22-ish and either 17th or 16th overall.. no official results yet. Danny had had an excellent race on his singlespeed steed, finishing 10th overall, not bad for a 50 year old commercial fisherman!! Mikey finished 5th, having been 2nd at one point, but possiblysaving his energy for the world series Philly game later. Chris had incredibly finished 2nd overall, having been pipped in the last 1/4 mile while flopping in Danny's Merrels, downhill over the roots..Dennis came in about 1-2 minutes after me, looking beat, but not cramping for a change: he had had a great run and initial bike, and I had expected him to catch me on the 2nd bike loop as he had been riding like a demon in Utah / Fruita / Tahoe earlier this month. Truly, my real champion system! Matt Ruggeri was at the finish line taking photos, having suffered an asthma attack on the run, retiring to do the "David Bailey" papparazzi thing. The last funny calamitous detail surfaced, Matt Reale having cracked his seatpost in the first bike loop, managing to switch bikes with the asthmatic air sucking Matt Ruggeri in the transition area.. adding to the hilarity of the event. The finishline was only 20 feet from the beer keg, the prizes were doled out, this year a lump of wood with a rock siliconed to it ..(previous years prizes being a rock with a lump of wood glued to it, a beer bottle with a rock glued to it, a hot sauce bottle with an alien glued to it, and another rock with a bike-shaped pasta piece glued to it). Despite the throbbing exertion headache, the only regret that I had was missing the last 7 years races.. what HAD we been thinking! We clambered back into the 'burb, grabbed some pizza en route and called home, regaling our friends with the funny stories, the successes, the tribulations, the foaming snot and cramping hammies. Grassroots racing..you can't beat it.. Sign us up for next year!

2008-10-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

The first trail repair session of 2008 was a resounding success: Mike Vitti, president of C.L.I.M.B. (Concerned Long Island Mountain Bikers) graciously hooked up with us through our local nature guru Mike Bottini, Tom Dees of EH town parks, and a crew of volunteers from the mountain biking and trails preservation communities. We met at the Hither Hills Visitor Center, and then re-convened at the overlook in Hither Hills, with the wonderful vista of the Atlantic Ocean on one shoulder and the sandy stretches of Napeague on the other. Our goal was to create a new sustainable section of trail to replace the trail adjacent to the overlook parking lot. The existing trail was suffering from severe erosion, creating gouges, spilling sand, exposing roots and generally becoming a headache for all. We were given a briefing with plan outline, tool demonstrations, safety considerations, then started at it: Initially we, the 15 attendees, cleared the trail brush by removing fallen trees, protruding limbs and beer bottles. The previous week, Tom and the two Mikes had laid out, marked and run the proposed contour trail, the last step confirming optimal trail flow, and grade reversals . Next was trail raking, pulling leaf cover to the uphill side of the trail, followed by the heavier cutting work using our new friends McCloud and Pulaski: long-handled tools and axe- like implements that did a wonderful job of creating a bench-cut in the side slope. We then leveled across the width of the trail, leaving a small downhill gradient across the trail to ensure run-off in a sheet pattern, then tamped it down. Returning the previously raked natural cover to the trail completed this portion of the task, and it was onto the next section in question. Here, closer to the parking lot, the trail had also eroded badly and was considered non-redeemable, so the objective was to re-route it: we brought the loppers into action, clearing dense brush, chopping and removing thick vines, then returning with a power trimmer to strip the thick vegetation to the base. Out with the heavy tools again, to break the surface, create a 2 foot wide trail, then tamp and cover: this time with mulch that had been delivered by the NYS Parks crew. This trail, closer to the parking lot, was routed to connect with the main trail, but was non-technical, gently sloped and wound through the beautiful native plants on top of the overlook, creating a short teaser walk for anyone so inclined to venture from their cars. Having walked the trail and admired our handiwork, we retired to Hither Hills Visitor Center, a wonderful NYS Parks facility: the spacious room, overlooks dunes and ocean and is filled with kids’ books, toys etc: full sized seal-lion models, jellyfish toys hanging from the ceiling, many educational tools, all relevant to the local environment... beautiful! Mike Vitti then gave a well-detailed and organized presentation on trail building, with a slideshow from around the state and nation to illustrate the engineering concepts behind sustainable trail construction. He also filled us in on grant application workshops, state / federal financing and volunteer recruitment. PHEW!! Full brain! We chatted on the way home, excited about the day, the turnout, the instant gratification, the information...I fielded calls from more local mountain bikers and trails enthusiasts and resolved to get our biking advocacy group, (Spokespeople) going asap: many friends, local cyclists and non-cyclists have expressed interest, as have the local community organizations. With a bit of effort, I know that we can make the biking here better and more inclusive, as well as strengthen our liaisons with the local trails preservation groups. Well done to everyone who attended, we all who look forward to the next event: with consistent effort, we will make a huge contribution to improvement of the trail management and cycling scenes on eastern long island. Keep your eyes out in November for the first general meeting of Spokespeople, and please contact me at sineadpt@optonline.net if you are interested in helping out in any way. www.climbonline.org

desert riding: part 2 of western states ride

2008-10-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

continuing our merry trip in the desert, Dennis and I sit and write our blog, combined meories of travel, crashes, skin loss, eating++ and epic off-road memories..

DAY NINE (REST DAY) 10/13/08) Wound assessment, bikes to Poison Spider for same, we to the understaffed Pancake Haus @ the Ramada for hearty breakfast. Later, went to Miguel’s Baja Grille for dinner: waded through a small waiting crowd, and were eventually greeted by a fourteen-year old boy who told us to “wait 20 minutes.” After 45 minutes we were seated right at the front door, cheek to jowl with the waiting hordes. Bolted after sitting for five minutes or so without a waiter in sight. Wound up at Moab Brewery which is big, busy, and served passable food along with their own microbrews. DL had fish and chips and SF had blackened tilapia on penne washed down by Derailleur Ale and Polygamy Porter. DAY TEN (10/14/08) RIDE: Sovereign and Salt Wash Trails. Time: 2.5± hr. (RT); 3+ hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: ?? Notes: Disembarked at Willow Springs Road, rode around in circles for about 30 minutes, serarching for thrilhead—no luck! Returned to car and drove to Dalton springs Road trailhead. Ledges, slickrock, etc. Difficult navigation due to braiding of trails. Got some help from a Ride with Respect trailbuilder who provided data for Lat.40 map we were using. Met Salt Lake MTB stage-racing couple who panned BC Bike Race as overly technical, citing pro riders completing a 30 mile stage in over 4 hours(?). EATS: Desert Bistro. Excellent and creative menu coupled with earnest (but unpolished) service. Started with rabbit sausage with goat cheese and just-out-of-the-oven bread. SF followed with melt-in-mouth buffalo filet in a rich reduction sauce, and DL with Antelope medallions on corn meal patties in plum/whiskey/habanero reduction, washed down with a Ravenswood Vintner’s Blend Zin. Wow! DAY ELEVEN (10/15/08) RIDE A: Slickrock Trail. Time: 1.5 hr. (RT); 2 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: 14± Notes: Had the trail almost completely to ourselves. Until the final mile or two, saw more dirt bikers (about five) than cyclists. Rode a counter-clockwise figure-eight loop inlucing the “Practive Loop.” Despite all warning against novice riders, saw a mother getting a shifting lesson from her husband in parking lot while young kids looked on. Always a blast, and the climbs are quite challenging. RIDE B: Amasa Back. Time: 3 hr. (RT); 4 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: 11.2 Notes: Awesome trail: technical ledgy climbing and descent, great views. EATS: Returned to Miguel’s and found it much less crowded than last attempt. Had a delicious dinner of fajitas, fresh margaritas, and excellent salsa. DAY TWELVE (10/16/08) RIDE: Poison Spider Trail (“Cliffhanger”) and Golden Spike Trail. Time: 3.25 hr. (RT); 4.5± hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: 18.5 Notes: Short, super-technical descent right from trailhead, then a climb made quite difficult by tread of loose, round rock and sand mix. Upper sections very sandy in parts. Trail on mesa was flat and uninteresting jeep track. Upper section loaded with big uphill ledges and super-steep slickrock. At end of PST, met couple with dog. Scouted first section of Portal Trail—appeared no more exposed/dangerous than Lion Loop in Fruita. Riding couple comfirmed same. Attempted to ride lollipop loop at end of PST, but lost our bearings and wound up heading south on Golden Spike Trail (big rolling slickrock!) to PST. EATS: Zax for pizza and beer.

(bike) riding the western states rides 1-7

2008-10-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Following the flight from (drizzly) Portland to (sunny) Reno, Dennis picked me up in our rented "mom-van" as the Toyota would be known for the next 2 weeks. Packed the bike in the back and swerved our way over the mountain tops to South Lake Tahoe, only temporarily blinded by the views of the lake and surrounding backdrop mountains. We stopped off at the "Inn at the Lake", our temporary lakeside home, built up the bikes in the sunny parkinglot (overlooked by the local trailer park residents) and clambered up the 2 flights of stairs for a quick snooze. Chest heaving on the stair climb, I am reminded of the first day in Brighton every winter, when we scramble from the car park to the base lodge for the first run of the season.. and forget that we have travelled from Townline Road elevation 106 feet, to 7000 feet in Utah. Here 2 minutes drive west of the CA-NV border, the lake lies at 6200 feet, so the effect was much the same, pounding chest, blood-starved legs, heaving lungs.. "and this is just after doing the stairs" I thought.. "how are we going to manage the mountains?"

A few minutes drooling on the pillow, and we pack up our stuff headed for the first rise of the trip: Spooner lake,Nevada. Since this was to be a shake-down ride, we read the bike maps and noted that this was primarily a 4wd road rather than singletrack trails: we thus anticipated a gentle leg opener, foolishly not realizing we were going to get our quads ripped off, not merely opened.

The trail leaves the car-park, downhill on a jeep road, then begins the inexorable climb to the sky: we hit the granny gear minus one, almost immediately, and stopped talking to each other.

About an hour of this, and we reached Marlett Lake, bore a left and continued on a wide trail around the lake, then continued more climbing, taking a path onto the famed Flume trail. Surely the most photographed trail in the USA, it towers 2000+ feet over Lake Tahoe, loaded with boulders, hike-a-bike landslide sections.. after gawking and photographing, my next thoughts were of amazement that this actually exists, in todays litigious culture..the capacity for death, or worse..are very real in barrelling down these trails on fat tyres,

So far, so good: here, on day 9: I sit with (the much more organized Dennis (DL)) to map out our rides thus far..forgive the momentary backtrack.. it is worth it for the big picture..

LAKE TAHOE (elev. 6225’) DIGS: Inn at the Lake. A faded “boutique” hotel in South Lake Tahoe. Good access to most trailheads. DAY ONE RIDE: Spooner Lake TH (elev. 7000’) to Flume Trail, Red House Flume, up Hobart Rd., to Marlette Lake and back. Time: 3 hr. Gross. elev. Gain: 3000+’ Mileage: 20 ± (did not record) Notes: Jeep road climb up from TH (elev. 8200’) and back down a bit to Marlette Lake (elev. 7823’) shocked legs. Rode Flume clockwise, against prevailing flow; saw approx. 30 riders on trail. Amazing views and blind corners at cliff edge. Continued on Red House Flume trail to Hobart Campsite, (elev. 7500’) missing turn to Hobart Road, which climbed to Marlette Peak (elev. 8780’): a gruesome climb through logged forest Dropped down to Marlette Lake through lovely aspen groves, then back to Spooner Lake (20 mph bike speed limit).

EATS: Freshies: a tiny Hawaiian-themed eatery in a strip mall directly next door to Inn at the Lake. Sinead sampled the Chimay (blue label) ale and pronounced it lovely. Great fish tacos (as advertised), wakame salad, a bowl of edamame, savory chicken curry, and seared ahi a bit buried in sauce left us full as ticks. DAY TWO RIDE: Tahoe Meadows TH (elev. 8400’) along Diamond Peak ridge to Flume Trail, to Marlette Lake, to TRT, and back. Time: 3.5 hr. (RT), 4 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: 1000±’ Mileage: 28 ± (did not record) Notes: Rolling and rocky ride along diamond Peak ridge to Flume Trail. Rode Flume counter-clockwise and agreed that this is the preferred direction. Reached Marlette Lake (elev. 7823’) and lunched Safeway turkey and cheese grinders on sunny rock. Rode up through aspen grove to great rolling ride on TRT section open to MTB only on even-numbered days. Back to diamond Peak, and down to Tahoe Meadows. Amazing views all day long! EATS: Freshies: Sineada revisited the Chimay with home-made linguini and chorizo. DL took to the Udon noodle bowl with blackened cod in a lovely ginger broth. Saved room to share a vegan chocolate mousse cake. Yum. DAY THREE RIDE: Kingbury Grade North (elev. 7000’?) to Spooner Lake South TH (elev. 7000’) and back. Time: 3.5 hr. (RT); 4 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: 3925+’ Mileage: 22 .2 Notes: ride starts on TRT with immediate technical climbing up granite boulders. DL crashed hard within five minutes. Could not get rhythm before the granite reared up. Monster sharp gravel, both in trail and loose on top, on approach to South Camp Peak (elev. 8866’) damaged brains and bodies. Photo op on The Bench. Descent to Spooner Lake South TH through mixed forest was beautiful, and featured sandy swithbacks. Lunched on Safeway turkey and cheese grinders on a trailside deadfall near TH. DL struggled with back pain and bonk on return ascent to South Camp Peak. Amazing descent down to Kingsbury Grade rolled through granite gardens. DL was done. EATS: Waffle Hut for breakfast. Homey, local, and good food, though DL’s Eggs Benedict were drowning in a light Hollandaise. Dinner: Sineada went to Freshies for takeout, as DL was bedrideen with fatigue and injuries. Sineada had fish curry; DL had organic BBQ chicken with veggies. Watched Presidential debate for entertainment; lights out @ 8 pm? DAY FOUR RIDE: Fountain Place Road parking lot (elev. 6400’) to Armstrong Pass Trail to Mr. Toad’s (loop). Time: 3.5 hr. (RT); 4 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: check book??+’ Mileage: ?? check book Notes: ride starts on paved single lane Fountain Place Road, which kicked up relentlessly after Corral Trail TH. At top (elev. 7800’), turned right onto Armstrong Pass Trail, which continued to climb and roll to TRT. Sineada crashed hard on right knee halfway to Armstrong Pass. We continued to within 500 or so of TRT intersection, but backtracked after noticing major discrepancy in mileage compared to guide book; turned around and reclimbed over a mile. Lunched at intersection on Safeway tuna paninis—sineada’s was a bit compressed from crashing but no complaints. Continued climbing on TRT (gorgeous trail) to ridge line. Ride along ridge was unforgettable, with views of the lake to north and peaks to south. Small snowfields scattered around us. Got to top of Mr. Toad’s and lowered saddles against Sineada’s protests. Had a screaming ride down Mr. Toad’s—even Sineada loved it and rode most of it. No crashes! EATS: Heidi’s for breakfast. Good food, with a proper German hausfrau hostess and appropriate alpine décor. Dinner: Mazatlan Family Mexican. Monster margaritas were too sweet, but we were to tired and hungry to care. Friendly service and monster portions did their job. DAY FIVE

(TRAVEL DAY) Drove back up to Reno, then onto Salt Lake city. Sineada enjoyed the cultural experience at our lunch stop at the Subway in the Winnemucca truckstop/rest area. Continued across dramatic salt flats with stormy skies at sunset. Rolled into Motel 6 in downtown SLC (surprisingly dirty and run-down). Had dinner downtown at RedRock Brewpub. DL had passable fish and chips and Sineada had a seared tuna “sandwich.” RedRock ale was too malty and sweet for DL’s palate. Finished the evening with the late screening of Religulous, which was riotous. The young local crowd peeled with delight when they found their own city and religion featured in the film. This movie should be required viewing for all Americans. DAY SIX Drove on beautiful UT-6, then I-70 to Fruita, CO. First stop was Single Tracks bikeshop for maps and directions; owner extremely helpful but shop inventory very limited. Next stop was Hot Tomato Café for a monster Kokopelli pizza. Booked a room at LaQuinta which was a welcome change from the Sienna and Motel 6: big new clean room offered the space and comfort required for proper recuperation. Though we had not had a proper breakfast and were reavenous, we could nott manage to complete the task, and saved the remaining three slices for future reserves. RIDE: 18 Road "lunch loops" Time: 1.5 hr. (RT); 2 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: check book??+’ Mileage: ?? Notes: Rode up kessel’s Run to Zippety-do-da, with ridiculous exposures, where sineada caupght a fright on a cliff face, then back to parking lot for a break. Legs a bit heavy after all the driving. Rode up Kessel’s again, to Joe’s Ridge (not so great), and headed back up Kessel’s when DL biffed his front wheel and pinched flatted. We took that as a hint from the MTB gods to pack up for the day and open a cold brew. DAY SEVEN RIDE: Kokopelli’s Loops: Mary’s, Steve’s, Horsethief, up (!) Mack Ridge. Time: 3.25± hr. (RT); 4 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: 27?? Notes: Wow. All the tech features of 18 Road, but as Nature herself presents it, with drop-dead Colorado River and canyon views everywhere. Wind screaming 25 kt, gusting to 40 kt, and threatening to tear us from the cliff edge into oblivion at any moment. Began at Lion’s Loop parking lot. Sineada biffed hard on the nasty rocky climb up Mack Ridge: blood but no tears. Finished ride descending Collarbone Hill to service road to parking lot. EATS: Fiesta Guadalajara. Excellent chunky salsa and solid margaritas preceded monster burritos and enchiladas. Fast, friendly service, ten gallon hats, lots of bikers, funky Tex-Mex décor (hand-carved banquettes and chairs). Perfect. DAY EIGHT RIDE: Kokopelli’s Loops: Mary’s, Steve’s, Horsethief, Wrangler, Rustler, Lion’s, down Mack Ridge. Time: 4? hr. (RT); 5 hr. (TT) Gross. elev. Gain: ??’ Mileage: 30 Notes: Epic day started cool (40’s) but sunny. DL crash-fest unnerves the I-chick. DL starts the day with a high-speed wash-out down Wrangler. High tire pressures needed to defend against rocky insults do little to assist traction on loose, fast tread! Rode Rustler (rated “Easy”) on recommendation of two Denver bikers, and following a tough little climb, did not disappoint with fast, swoopy riding. DL nearly launched big over the side and opened fresh shin wound on portage section of Horsethief during a flubbed abort maneuver. Lunched trailside on Mary’s on energy bars, and discovered we had “just enough” fluids between us to complete the ride. Found Lion’s Loop (missed it on Day Seven) with assistance of another lost rider: a gorgeous, technical rim tour. Mack Ridge was easier on the way down but did not fail to take its toll on DL who biffed, whacked the shin yet again, and landed with head pointing downhill and underneath bike, requiring outside assistance from the increasingly agitated I-chick. Made it back to car just in time for cold, three day-old pizza and Fat Tire ale. Drove via Cisco (ghost town) onto US-281 through canyonlands along Colorado River. Dusky colors on towers and moonrise to the east provide highlights of a beautiful drive to Moab. Checked into Gonzo Inn (home again, home again, jig-itty-jig!), and wolfed burgers and suds at the SlickRock Café. Evolution Ales were just the ticket, though the service was in rehearsal mode. DAY NINE (REST DAY) Wound assessment, bikes to Poison Spider for same, we to Pancake House @ the Ramada for hearty breakfast and more amateur service.

RIP uncle Larry

2008-10-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, early morning, my uncle Larry died. Quite uncharacteristically for him, it was a quiet affair, slipping away from this world in his sleep at the district hospital in my home town, while the nurses lit candles, not for him, but for his wonderful, graceful wife, Peggy. Larry was a black sheep in our family, funny, since most of the family are black sheep of sorts, but he was legendary. Throughout our childhood, he was a philanderer, a bar-fly, a chancer, a divil, but always with a broad smile and a hug, always gentle and kind to the kids, a kind of pied piper of the pub scene in town..

His one true love it seemed to our young eyes, had been the RNLI, the royal national lifeboat institution: the company of brave ocean warriors who defied fierce storms to rescue suffering humans, off the coast of Ireland and England. Larry was forever fundraising for them, selling christmas cards, whittling wood in shapes of lifeboats, building model lifeboats to put up for auction..For a small, ruddy, roundy man, whom I never remember even seeing in shorts, never mind swimming in the ocean, it seemed odd that he, and his two brothers (my dad amongst them) were such ardent supporters of life-support along the coast.

But there you have it, none of them could swim, still can't..or at least, none of my siblings ever recall seeing any of them enter open water other than to sail, or row boats, so in retrospect, they may be more naturally inclined to support the RNLI as a back up system (in the same way that I used to pray as a child! just-in-case..!!) Ireland, with her history of maratime industry, sharking, fishing, sea travel etc, has always been tightly woven with ocean, and as a result, death and drownings by the ocean have been a fact of life here. So in stead of tossing floral wreaths into the ocean for Larry, instead of wasting money on Interflora or 1800-flowers, I will send a fat donation to the RNLI in Larry's name, and stand on my own shoreline at home in Sag Harbor, by Cedar Point lighthouse and read a poem in his name. http://www.rnli.org.uk/ Growing older, moving on to the USA, on return to New Ross at Christmas, I would sometimes bump into Larry in town, usually in the pub, though less so in later years. He would still have a broad smile, a warm hug, always fondly addressing me, and anyone else, as "pet": "ah Pet, life can't be too bad in america pet", "since you're looking so good pet". .We'd hug, exchange small family talk and go on our way. I would tell my friends travelling with me, some stories baout Larry, about his annual Santa trip to my sister's playschool, where he would be the uber-santa, with the real, big firm belly to climb onto, and the real ruddy face to press close to wide-eyed children.

Go softly Pet, I wish you fair winds and following seas.

bikefitting level 2: part 1

2008-10-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

And so I find myself in Portland OR, getting picked up by Michael Sylvester (bikefitter extraordinaire) and dropped at Stephanie Edelman's house (PDX commuterchick) as part of the plan to develop the next phase of a bike fitting protocol for both Trek, and the greater cycling public. Since it it 3am east coast time when I hit the pillow, I am pretty shattered, though excited to be here. zzzzzz... Bright and early, Stephanie and I hit the road, by bike of course, and she thanks me profusely for assisting her in her "car-free lifestyle" ! We cruise (on her singlespeed commuter bikes) to her local java joint for a coffee bomb, high octane++ to get us to our first meeting. Buzzing with caffeine and enthusiasm, we meet at Michael's house for a breakfast of champions then ride downtown to his bikefitting studio. All the way, I am amazed at the number of cyclists out on the streets, the bike lanes and bike routes blending with cars seamlessly, the bike "blocks" at the intersections, the painted bike route markers on the roads.. all part of a greater portland alternative transportion plan that seems like heaven for cyclists and motorists alike.. So in attendance: Chris Pieck: Trek manager, facilitation, dream builder, cyclist Tyler (Trek) product development manager, head honcho in pushing new ideas forth, cyclist Warren: Prosthetist and Orthotist: works hand in hand with Michael fitting extreme cases, lower extremity biomechanic specialist, cyclist Lee: genuis, Ph.D student, engineer: specializing in cyclists, cyclists with amputations, P+O also, cyclist Michael Sylvester: one of the founders of the Serotta bike fit system, yoga instructor, fitter of 300+ per year, developer of level 2 bike fit program, owner of bike fit studio, ex-national cyclist / runner Stephanie: Massage therapist, bike fitter for Michael, scholar of human function, developer of bike fit level 1 program, cyclist Pattie: bikefitter, bike sales, developer of level 1 program, cyclist Jay, PT in VA, university research PT, incredibly talented clinician in ortho and sports PT, cyclist MTB and road Mark Timmerman: MD, family practice, sports medicine, developer of level 1, cyclist Doug MD, family practice, sports medicine, cyclist and me, PT, cyclist, enthusiast Oh Boy: what a group..I am honoured to be here amongst so many brains, all with the same purpose of improving bike fit for medical professionals, for shop fitters, for the industry: Mission statement of sorts: more happy asses on more bikes, for more years.. (I am in Lake Tahoe, mountain biking with Dennis, and travelling to Moab / Salt Lake region today, so this will be in a few parts.. THEN we get onto the MTB trail ride descriptions..suffice to say for now, 4 days, 4 rides, all 3 to 5 1/2 hours long, 2 crashes, one bout of tears, several beers, ice pack and perma-grin: Oh My GAWD if you ride mountain bikes, you must visit this place..)

new hampshire horrible 100

2008-08-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

So here we go, rising at 5am in the dark, crawling from our damp tent into the cool New Hampshire air for the preparations to our race..Dennis and I have camped with a few of our fellow East Enders (Long Island EE) in the Greenfield State Park for the princely sum of $25 a night, slept fitfully on lumpy ground, tossing and turning as the local owls tried their best to freak us out, and then dragged our arses out of the tent to begin stuffing our faces with whatever we could get down before the 6:45am start.. One banana sandwich, one vanilla smoothie, one egg and one bottle of HEED later, we roll to the start in the field across the road. Southern NH is a long way from anywhere, and it feels like a long way from the 70.3 Ironman triathlon world that I inhabited this time a year ago..200 racers in the pre-dawn, 1 minute apart in waves of 20 or so, and starting "gun" goes.. actually really old school.. "ready, steady, go!"

Dennis is on a new Gary Fisher superfly, and dumbo here, down to one mountain bike, is on her Gary Fisher Rig, single speed: 32 x 19..

(Insert "girls" for "men" :) )

Recovered from my failed attempt to score in Pennsylvania the previous month (bailing with severe GI issues at mile 62 of 100 miles), I am determined to do better this time. Cooler weather, more single track, suits me fine.. last minute course alterations mean the course is 66 miles not 62 (100k), but on the start line, we are fresh and foolish enough to think this doesn't matter much! Little did we know how we would feel 8 hours later..

Off we go.. I am in a wave with a couple of guys and a couple of girls: the single speeders all in front of me for some reason, and Dennis with the Montaukers (Marty Ross and Danny Farnham) a few waves back. Within minutes, we are off the dirt road, onto rickety rail tracks along the shores of a lily-covered lake, and covered in mud. I settle into a single speed pace, being limited by gear lack, I cannot jump onto the trains of bikers that blew by me in their big rings.. so I spin happily, passsing the other girls (on geared bikes..) by mile 10, and settle into my own rhythm. The Montauk monsters power on by, arse slapping as they pass, and cheering me on.. I never see Dennis until the finish line, despite him being a couple of minutes off my wheel the whole way. The course has aid stations every 10+ miles, though it feels like much farther between stops: I have a full Camelbak and 2 bottles with me, so I only stop 2 times, mainly to pee in the trees, but also to refill with Gatorade or some cold bevvie from a jug on the side of the mountain. The NH weather has been unkind this past 4 days, with consistent rain and thunderstorms, although race day was 78-81 degrees and clear blue skies: however the puddles had turned into troughs, and the small stream crossings got successively deeper and longer as we ground through the course. The trails were pretty technical after the intial flat-ish start, and soon we were heaving and gasping as we hit the ski slopes and powerlines that climbed towards the heavens. I took solace in the fact that as I was doing my hike-a-bike sections, I was still passing guys on their geared bikes, on foot also! In this length of race, their comes a point when you are no longer racing to beat people, as you constantly swap places with them on sections, passing, then giving way, but in the back of my mind, I was still keeping my eye out for the other lasses on the course..6 hours into the race, I was slugging through a 100 foot long "puddle", up to my mid-thighs, and carrying my trusty steed overhead when I spotted Jennifer, the second lady, behind me. It was at this point that I had quit the PA race, bloated and exhausted, but I was in a different state here, cool in the trees, fed and watered appropriately, and I was AHEAD! I got a surge of energy, and was able to pick up the speed, through the newly cut 10% gradient scrabbley inclines, over the granite slabs and drop-offs on the top of some mountain or other, through the remaining rivers and mud gulches that swallowed men's derailleurs and ground V brakes to a halt. I even stopped to fix one guys chain with my CONEX links and took a moment to feel like a bit of an Amazon-warrior-racing-repair-woman..8 hours and 20 minutes later, with a surge of energy, I pulled into the field for a lap before the finish line, spotted the Montaukers already home and dry, albeit muddy and sandy, and finished proud, first female in expert division, first (and only) female single speeder, proud owner of NH EFTA (eastern fat tire association) windchimes and a cool medal, proud owner of at least 2 spoons of sand in my chamois for 6+ hours (eeek!) and proud owner of a sore backside.. Well worth it. Dennis roared across in 8.40 and had had a terriffic ride, no trouble with his new bike, more importantly, no cramps, no injuries, no (major) crashes..As we pack our muddy bikes away in the van, and I squirmed, raw, in the passenger seat anticipating 6 hours drive home, I resolved to call our sponsor Louis Shih at Champion-System clothing to see if he has a waterproof version of our bike shorts. Maybe it doesn't rain like this in China..

We will definitely be back to do this one next year.. except with 32 x 20. and faster!

Next stop, Vermont 50, then bring on the cyclocross season!

fourth weekend

2008-07-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

And finally we sit still at the end of the "fourth" weekend, our feet aching, our backs straining, our hands puffy and dry: I slather on some peppermint foot cream, pour a glass of South African Chardonnay and reflect on the events.

Glad to have ridden my bike in to work on Thursday, on account of the village resembling the site of a bake sale with 5 minutes to go and all the goodies 75% off..the hoardes have descended on us for the weekend, possibly the season. There appears to be an inverse relationship developing between the numbers in town and their ability to do it in a mannerly fashion: I swear it gets worse annually: so I loaded my backpack up with some mesclun, mustard and chocolate soymilk and headed for the hills. On arriving home, I switched my commuter CX bike out for the singlespeed and cruised the woods by the house for an hour, then headed into town for dinner with Matt and John. John, the woodsman from NH, had taken it upon himself to nourish the bare-ish patch of grass outside the house with some compost in April: and now in early July, the side of the busy road is thick with the bodies of some 50 or so tomato plants, who wintered happily in the compost heap, and now find themselves on the side of route 114, open to assault and theft from passers by. I vowed to defend the patch, and will come daily at lunch time to check.and munch.. on their status!

Friday (the fourth proper) saw us varnishing Aisling, our beautiful wee boat, getting a coat on before a planned late weekend launch. We are tardy this year, in part with D-lo getting his new company builing underway, but also with the major renovation on the whaler taking priority. Styling now, we will have two very shippy boats to mess about in, and it will be worth the late evenings and early mornings for the past weeks..A quick 90 minute MTB ride with D before heading into Sag Harbor for the main event of the day..participation in the village celebrations at the Whaler's church. This year, I was invited to be one of the readers of the declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, as a fundraiser for the Walter Reed Fischer House and commemorating the life (and death) of Jordan Haerter, a local kid from Sag Harbor who died while serving in Iraq in April.

The celebration was wonderful, an ancient church, quiet and cool on this muggy day, the simple white wooden interior a possible reference to the interior of the whaling ships from the village's past. A collection of 15 of the villages sundry members, and a congregation of 100 or so from town. Beginning with some historical perspective before launching into the D. of I., I truly felt part and parcel of this little town on the other side of the Atlantic (where I have my other home). Some patriotic songs, (for which I am still scouring the pages for verses) while I feel a little unsettled, coming from a warring nation and growing up pained by its sufferings, I haven't quite reconciled myself to the fact that my adopted nation is steeped in blood and has still such a militaristic culture. I find myself singing, no, belting out the verses of "this land is your land", an old Woodie Guthrie folk song from ths 30's, and wishing that this was the national anthem, not a mention of god, or fighting, purely a celebration of the topography and physical beauty from coast to coast.

...This Land Is Your Land
This land is your land This land is my land

From California to the New York island;

From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,

I saw above me that endless skyway:

I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;

And all around me a voice was sounding:

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,

As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:

This land was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;

As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking

Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,

As I go walking that freedom highway;

Nobody living can ever make me turn back

This land was made for you and me."

The reading of the Bill of Rights followed, with audience participation in the form of clapping between the serene comments, especially when referencing such current notions such as limitation of government intrusion into reading material, government seizing of property, government acting without the will of the populace. I deepened my understanding of how great and good ideas are universal and timeless, as relevant to the Irish struggle with Britain as the the American struggle that I was celebrating, as relevant today as we see our constitution eroded in the name of a game that is not the will of the people. As I join in the group readings, I wonder if the Bill of Rights was more well read, for example in the weekly paper: would we have even the 28% support for this administration..A jolly good read it was, and I look forward to re-reading it, to better familiarise myself with the great ideas and ideals of the old boys of this nation, and those espousing these ideas today, just imagine, freedom, justice, equality, pursuit of happiness... How radical!

Saturday: 2 and 1/2 hours on the SSPD, alone: (Dennis is varnishing coat #2), I work on turns, particularly my right turns, the not-so -vanilla side.. and minimizing the braking. Definitely a good tactic, taking corners only as fast as I can handle the bike, the terrain, the balance: getting better at this stuff, I only dab once in 25 miles or so.
FIREWORKS: sponsored by Sag Harbor Yacht club: need I say more? This event gets bigger every year: we rode into town then went out in the harbor to watch the spectacle.

30 minutes of beautiful, gaudy, startling sparklers, then the most amazing finale, with a 30 second sinister militaristic component.. phew.. I am sure it was in memory of the young Haerter boy...very impressive, very moving sight..

Sunday, group ride, out east by Amagansett: 3.5 hours, the legs are nearly ridden off me but the hours working on the technical stuff pay off; On the return ride, I have more energy, better climbs, sharper corners, smoother descents. No crashes, oh except when I broke a chain on a nasty climb. Bang, straight into the stem as my chain exploded into the woods, as I hit a root while climbing hard at hour #2. D to the rescue with a new masterlink,nd we are underway in less than 5 minutes. What a hero. I resolve to learn to carry these things, looking ahead to the PA (100 mile MTB) race with a new, non-Wipperman chain. Lessons in life.

La Superica for dinner, belly bomb.. walk the vilage, hang time with Julie and Rick Laspesa from Rotations bike shop, home to write this, then to crash. G'nite, good weekend. Aisling will hit the water this week, and our summer evenings will begin..

totally bummed about work

2008-06-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, today was the last day before the new Medicare provisions go into effect. In their infinite wisdom, our elected officials have, through their inaction, been unable to pass a bill extending continued physical therapy benefits beyind 18 visits annaully, to Medicare patients,.. oh as well as giving us a 10.6 % pay cut.. with another 5.6 % cut to come in January. Jolly. So tomorrow, my patients will either cancel, decide not to go food shopping, or just cross their fingers and pull out the credit card. I am totally bummed looking through the schedule, seeing a full half of todays list of patients are Medicare recipents, the majority of whom are juggling with the cost of driving to PT, never mind having to pay out of pocket for it..

As the 4th of July comes up, and there is a faint hope that the bill will be reeviewed upon the return of the Senate and House after the holiday, I wrote a happy holidays letter to our local rag: and just in case thy don't publish it, I am printing it here, in cyberspace, with maybe a few passers-by to glance through it. If you are the child of a loved parent, or if you are afraid of growing old in this country, pass it on. I moved to this country 12+ years ago, invested my heart and soul in it, and here I am, a few days before we all go out to wave flags, go sailing, eat macaroni from a paper plate, fill our eyes with tears thinking patriotic thoughts, while our older, injured parents and neighbors are worrying about the cost of their next physical therapy visit and how much medication / gas / food / heating oil (insert your own ________ ) can cut out in order to make it. I am totally bummed, not only because these people have welcomed me as their own child in this community, this country, but because this is a sure sign of the things to come, an ecology in peculiar imbalance where our elders are as we speak, being nudged out onto the creaking icefloes. A strange time, as I plan to take the stage in our local church, as an invited member of our broad tribe in Sag Harbor, as a still dripping wet citizen of this country, to read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights (how ironic) with a flag in one sweaty hand and a desperate sinking feeling in my belly.

(to the editor @ the easthampton star)

Dear David,
I am writing to your paper, and to address my adopted community for assistance, both for my profession, but primarily for themselves. As many of your readers have passed through the doors of my business, and literally through my hands, I have had the pleasure of being able to assist many in this town to resume their physical capabilities and return to a full, functional life.

Despite the increasing stresses of annually diminishing reimbursements from the insurance industry, combined with the rising cost of doing business for everyone, my partners and I at Manual + Sports Physical Therapy (MSPT) have been able to continue to provide quality care to many locals and visitors alike. However, with this weeks decision in congress to cut payments to doctors by 10.6% beginning July 1st, and for a future cut in January 2009 of a further 5.6%, our business, and our ability to provide continuing care for our Medicare patients, is in jeopardy.
Our schedule of payments (as PT’s in out-patient non-hospital based clinics) from Medicare is directly liked to the physician pay scale, and thus our physical therapy reimbursements will also be severely cut, beginning this week. Patients receiving Medicare-covered physical therapy will be limited to a maximum of $1810 per annum, which works out to about 18 to 20 visits, per annum. Worse still, linked with this bill HR6331, is the cut to an exemptions process for the more impaired patients, who prior to this bill passing, had been able to qualify for an exemption; for example, someone who might have a knee replacement, and also suffers from a rotator cuff tear, or someone who has had balance difficulties and co-existing knee and back arthritis, an elder who has chronic back pain and also has hand arthritis... To anyone who has had ever seen their parents age, none of these conditions are surprising, but anyone can figure out that few of these complex conditions are manageable with a 6 week coverage of physical therapy. All patients will now be subject to the cap of $1810, regardless of the complexity of their condition. Following this 18 visit maximum, which many of my Medicare patients have already met, these elderly will have to self-pay, or be discharged. Some will be able to manage in a home setting or a local gym with an exercise program, most will not. The majority of our Medicare patients continue to need the skilled delivery of physical therapy care beyond the arbitrary cap, and would continue to benefit from that continued care.
I therefore urge your readers, this week, to call their members of congress and senators, and urge their support for the passage of HR6331. They will resume work following the July 4th recess, on July 7th. There is a chance that pressure from the public, in an election year, will force the reinstatement of the exemptions process, and continue to facilitate the care that I and my staff have been able to offer across the east end, from our Southampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton (East End Physical Therapy) and Montauk offices.
As an aside, I will be participating in the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Whaler’s Church in Sag Harbor on July 4th.. This follows an invitation from the Deacon’s committee, who each year, gather a group of citizens to represent the diversity of the area in celebration of the past with an eye on the future. As a twelve year resident and a six year-citizen, I am honored and delighted to participate in this special event. As someone who cares deeply for this community’s older, injured physical therapy patients, as well as its weekend warriors and athletes, I will be privileged to take to the stage in this event. I hope your readers will attend, and be moved to look, not just back at the dappled, colorful past, but ahead towards a country that values the health and well being of its older citizens. Please make a call to your political representatives right after the glorious fourth.
Yours Sincerely,
Sinéad A. FitzGibbon, P.T., M.S.P.T.

more china news

2008-06-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

oh this is a lazy one: I recently did an interview with Cailin Brophy from the Southampton press about the China Trip: here is the online version of the interview, the paper version will be in the stands next week!

http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?cat=sports&id=151068

turkey trot

2008-06-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, 80+ degrees and sticky, I was fed up of planting the 100 ostrich ferns that I had had delivered, and decided to go for a run in the woods. Following the recent disappearance of the inch-worms, I felt I had only to contend with my wobbly legs and 5 million ticks, so I sprayed up (tick guard, made in Southampton, NY, all natural, no DEET), grabbed a bottle, strapped on a heart rate monitor, scribbled a note for Dennis, and left.

Running from our house onto the newly cut section of the Blue trail, I marvelled at the sudden blossoming of the laurel, house height overnight it seemed, and my pace was stable but slow. I ran 8-or so minute miles enjoying the dramatic changes of the landscape from last week..Where the inch worms had eaten a hole in the canopy, the laurel thrived, exploding into lacy doily-like flowers for a spell. Heading 'round into Dry Gulch, the fescue grasses were deep green, tall and thick, the trail headed downhill and I gathered speed. Picking my way along the sandy singletrack, dodging the baby-head rocks, I was relaxing into the longer strides, not paying too much heed until I heard a squawk and a flap as I almost landed heel-strike on a baby wild-turkey, Mammy flapping off into the brush to my right, while baby, unharmed, ran to my left, under the ferns and disappeared. It took all of about 20 feet for Ma to regain her wherewithal, before turning a 180 degree U-ie, and heading straight for me..

Then it was my turn to squawk, dropping to 5:30 or so for the next 200 metres as I barrelled down the trail. The first thought in my head was of an NPR show from last winter, when some journalist was reporting about how these previously non-aggressive (waist-high) birds were now attacking humans.. My second thought referred to the previous week's mountain bike ride, when I deliberately chased one of these beasts down a trail, just for giggles, to see how fast they could run.. Well, with my fancy schmancy Gary Fisher Rig and its 38 x 19 single speed gear, this turkey outran me.. and those muscley legs were foremost in my mind as I pegged it up a hill, dodging laurel branches, hopping over fallen logs..

I listened for flapping, expecting blood and guts any second, then slowed to a jog when nothing came. Panting, I checked my watch. HR 175.. Jen (my coach, my buddy) would be delighted. I wondered how long I could have kept that up for.

Shelter Island 10k race next weekend. I think it is a road race. I hope so. I don't think my poor heart could stand the excitement of a repeat.

Maybe I should start trail running with more equipment..

(Pistol practice at Maidstone Gun club range this winter..)

back from the ranch

2008-06-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

(a clump of joshua trees, prickly, painful)

Back from the ranch a.k.a "Xantusia" under the hospitable care of Mssrs. Dan Empfield and Mark Montgomery, I am now endowed with the title of certified F.I.S.T. (Fit Institute of Slow Twitch), have a thorn from a joshua tree embedded in my scalp and am jonesing for a dog with a rinkly face on the other side of the country..and it transpired thus..

Susan Roman, one of my trusty PTA's in our Sag Harbor office, had in March brought the course to my attention. Both of us being triathletes, one of us being a total gear head (hint.. not me), and both of us dealing professionally in physical therapy on a daily basis with our injured triathlete and cycling friends, we figured that this course would be a good match for our triathlete -therapist - 3rd decade athlete brains.

Long haul flight to Ontario CA, pleasant drive uphill to the deserts of the San Gabriel mountains and up a bumpy sandy driveway to Xantusia, the coupound of the Empfield and Montgomery duo. Greeted by several of the 8 (rescue /vagrant) dogs that live there, we quickly settled in, aided by a bike ride up the canyon (8% grade), a beer and an early night.

(dan on day one, before he was fed up of our questions)
Day one of the course began after a gruelling uphill ride into a neighboring canyon, stopping only to view the valley or snap a quick photo of the desert views. The first morning, after breakfast #2, was mostly an introduction into the FIST method and philosophy, observation of a triathlete fit process, and much discussion. Four of the course attendees were professional bike fitters from TREK, one of whom was, no joke, a rocket scientist, now in R+D for the Wisconsin company. Another, a yoga therapist from Portland who is a much lauded fitter, specializing in riders with injuries (low back pain, hip arthritis, chronic injuries, neck pain etc.) An olympic medalist from cycling track in the LA games rounded out the group, so needless to say, there was a lot of Q+A time. Comments about fitting, concerns about the details, the equipment, the technical specifications of all and sundry, the aerodynamics of helmets, the pressure testing of nether regions on saddles: all fair game during the couse, lunch and dinner. Rounding out the night was a visit by each of the dogs, in turn, for a scratch, a rub, a paw or a dribble. I fell in love with Punkin', a squishy faces boxer mix with chopped off ears and the most wonderful demeanor, whispering quietly to her, vowing to sneak her into my carry-on for the return to Sag Harbor. Monty must have read my mind, pouring another beer, warning me about how everyone loves Punkin' (and likely growelling in his head.. "don't even try it girlie")

(ooh the downhill makes the climbs worth it..)
Day 2, another early morning ride in yet another canyon , with another gruelling climb, this time with the yoga fitter, who also happens to be a billy goat. Between gasps and splutters, I gave mono-syllabic answers to Michael the billy-goat about questions we had in reference to the fit progess, and how, as health care professionals, we could modify.. and dare I say (!) improve the process. Near the mountain top, I paused to chceck out a coyote (who looks JUST like the cartoon version, all skinny and ribs with pointy ears etc), take a photo.. actually glad for a rest, then continue on to the summit. We came back to the ranch, flying downhill, snarfed breakfast #2, and took up class again, complete with 4 or 5 of the dogs. This day wsa all hands on, or rather, fingers and thumbs.. as we fine tuned our measurement methods, becoming more skilled and confident with each practice. The methodology is interesting, if imprecise, but the outcome is great, smart and helpful. The client goes through the fitting process and on completion, has a set of measurements in a "universal bike language" that can be then applied to EVERY available frame on the market, to get the optimal fit.

(click on play to see me fit at a most aggressive 81 degrees.. and COMFY I might add!)

We did more networking, more comparison measurements, more philosophising about the application of the fit to mere humans (as opposed to the Ironman professional athletes that Dan is used to working with) and then had more beer at the end of the evening, watching the sunset spectacularly from the elevated viewing deck. (valley view from Monty's house)

Rising early but not so bright the next morning, I skipped the group trail run and gathered my thoughts.
How could I apply this in my PT practice? Quite easily actually, having 60 patients a day in the office increases the liklihood that we can get more people happier on their bikes.
Would I have a target market group for this application? Absolutely. Eastern Long island is chock full with weekend warriors, tri-heads and injured patients looking to return to cycling, or take it up as an alternative to pounding the pavement.
Could we improve on the product/ process? Completely. With our evaluation, assessment and analytical skills of PT and yoga combined, we can address the positional and functional issues that prevent optimization of position, and improve tolerance of non-inured athletes to aggressive positioning. This by a system of prescriptive exercises, not unlike what we apply in our PT office lives, coaching bodies to increase the liklihood of sustaining these positions, and activities, for the long haul.

Next blog: problems with the process, how S+S can improve it, and plans to take over the world.. well, not really, just plans to set up a comprehensive medical bike fitting service. Oh yea, and the thorn..dingbat walked straight into a joshua tree while discussing saddle design and women's saddle sores with the rocket scientist from TREK.

(sinead fitting stephanie after dinner)

how I learned to stop cycling and hate ATV's

2008-05-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

As a cyclist, a runner and a member of East Hampton Trails Preservation Society, I represent Team HOPS (yes, will MTB for beer) and East End trail runners, some 200 EH town residents, many of whom, if not most, are registered voters.

I live in thewoods, just outside the village, and my partner and I have cut trails from our front door, into the woods to join the myriad trails in the area. Dennis and I recently donated a section of our property to East Hampton town to facilitate the growth of the trail system, and make it possible to hike uninterrupted from the Merchant’s path / Barcelona neck area to Division Street in Sag Harbor. We regularly ride and run these trails, three to four or more times weekly, sometimes together time permitting, often I run and ride alone. Frequently we note the new damage to the trails from dirt bikes, and mentally make notes of any trails leading into nearby driveways. Occasionally, we photograph these trails, sending the photos of the damage to town hall, indignantly recording our experiences. I have never gotten a follow up call with reference to the damage, the photos or the solutions needed. When we encounter dirt bikes on the trails, we try to intercept them, advise them of their legality, or lack thereof, infrequently getting the message across. Always, we call the police to report the presence of the bikes, indicating their direction of travel, entry point etc.

This winter / late spring, Dennis being particularly busy at work, I had been more often riding alone, around Buckskill loop, up Millers ground, when as on more than one occasion, I heard dirt bikes.
This time, I cut my loop short after Toyland and the S+M trail, turned west onto Townline road and approached the group. A white crew cab Chevy pick up truck was parked on the side of the dirt road, ¼ mile or so east of the intersection with the power lines, and a group of teenagers (old enough to drive by the way) were hanging out:3 of them tearing up the trailside, riding up and down the berm and embankments, and 3 or so others hanging by the truck. I rode my bike up to the 2 males, one female by the truck, and asked them in my most adult, calm voice, if they knew that it was not permitted to ride on the trails. I got little in return so I offered that if they felt they needed somewhere legal to ride, they should be lobbying town hall for a space, getting their parents involved and trying to come up with a place other than the local trails, which are neither suitable for dirtbikes nor legal. One of the bikers began circling closer, yelling at me and spraying “rooster tails” of sand and dirt as he made aggressively sharp turns within 1-2 feet from where I was standing. When he stopped for a moment, I invited him and his friends to a EHTPS (East Hampton Trails Preservation Society) meeting, to present their case for searching out a suitable piece of land for dirt bikes to use: “maybe” I offered, “the EHTPS group might support you if you are seen to be active in repairing trails and communicating with the town in a co-ordinated manner”. He continued to yell, this time, obscenities, and his friends began to counter with comments like “shut-up dude, she’s trying to be nice”.. to no avail. He continued to verbalize louder, more coarse comments, calling me an F****** lesbian, a F******* dyke, and ordering me to “go home and get some more p****” and the like.

Having grown up in an Irish household with two brothers several years older, and their punk friends, I have heard more than my fair share of coarse language. Never did I expect to have it hurled at me from a teenager, and certainly not while I was alone, cycling in the woods. I cautiously turned to go home, passing through the group as I made my way back to the trail, and fully expected something to come through the air at me, glad I was wearing my bike helmet, but annoyed that I didn’t have my phone. When I got home 5 minutes later, I called the police, and returned to the area with a furious Dennis, glad for their sake, that they had left the area. No follow up from the police after a report of verbal assault, nothing..
I know who these kids are; at least, I will recognize them if and when I see them again, in the woods or on the street. Will I to be certain to have my cell phone and camera as I go for a run or ride in the woods in future? Absolutely. Am I to have the EH and SH town police on speed dial? Absolutely. Should this be a normal activity for a single woman to have while running in broad daylight on town property? Absolutely not.

From my perspective, this ugly incident aside, it is a health and safety issue at hand. The use of trails by dirt bikes and cyclists is not mutually compatible. Motorized users cannot hear, see or react in a safe fashion to other, legal, users: this increases the likelihood of injuries, even fatalities. Since these are town owned (and managed) lands that are in question, the town is responsible for provision of safe passage to its residents. Anything less is a failing of the town to adequately safeguard against known dangers. There is a legal as well as a moral obligation to protect EH town citizens against the verbal and possibly, in the future, physical injury resultant from the continued illegal use of local trails by ATV / Dirt bike users.

I am presenting this letter, this post, as a part of an EHTPS committee presentation to the East Hampton town board, to challenge the town regarding the lack of police patrol, lack of accountability for those idiot scofflaws, lack of impounding a single ATV or dirtbike in 2007, and to publicize the growing concern amongst hikers and bikers regarding the total destruction of our habitat. Oh yes, and did I mention that as solo female runners and bikers, we may now be concerned for our safety??

I may have forgotten to mention that Dennis bought me a Marlin rifle for my birthday this month..with the objective of training to compete in winter biathlon in the 2009 season (skate skiing+marksmanship at anaerobic pace): however,if recent developments on the woods are left unmanaged, I may be forced into spring training on a local route..(Reed, are you up to doing a loop after work tomorrow?? :) )

China Girls: arrival in Hong Kong

2008-05-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

So here we are: 15 hours later, no sleep despite the requisite glass or 2 of red wine, 8000 miles later, we land in Hong Kong, minus baggage. Cathay Pacific decided last minute to take on extra fuel instead of baggage, how novel.. but actually, in the light of the information that we were heading into a typhoon, we were happy to be temporarily seperated from our bags and bikes. We were met by Louis Shih, the owner of Champion System clothing http://www.champion-sys.com/ who was to become our translator, our baggage recovery man, our dinner negotiator, our source of clean undies while we waited for our baggage dellivery. Louis has a vision of the business and cycling worlds that intersects in such a way that has placed us 5 ladies on the other side of the world, getting to know each other as we stroll around our HK home dressed in his T-shirts. How bizzare. Somehow, he has arranged for us to stay at a YMCA type camp on the outskirts of the city, waterfront property on an inlet somewhat remniscent of Butlins / Mosney from my childhood.. At least, the vinyl covered bunks and paper thin mattresses were remniscent of Mosney, the air in HK being heavily laden with jasmine and orange blossom was nothing like the air in the farmfields of county Westmeath.. Louis loaded us with windvests, skinsuits, bib shorts, cycling jersies, socks galore, hats, raingear and all the "Pocari Sweat" (strange grapefruit scented Japanese product) electrolyte drinks we could shake a stick at. We pranced about the condo in our new Champion System bike kit, singing the praises of the YKK zippers, the italian chamois, the silky fabric, the non-vice-grip leg grippers, the beautiful naked lady on our bosoms and backsides! We introduce ourselves through cycling stories, shared teammates over the past years and began to settle into the company of the characters that we would live with for the best part of the next 2 weeks.

So here they are:

Sarah Tillotson, social work student, professional cyclist, arrives solo via 2 horrenduous plane rides from the mid-west, gladly adding her pro-cycling experience to our team: Normally riding for team Advil-Chapstick, we are delighted to have such a strong all-rounder and seasoned international cyclist with us in China. She seems calm, collected, witty and relaxed.. so far so good!

Kathryn Bertine, ESPN journalist, Triathlete, US and St. Kitts / Nevis citizen, joins our squad in her pursuit of a slot at the Bejing Olympics. Check out her journey, help her out with a title for her book!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=olympianpart11

Kathryn arrives with her tri-all-3 bike case in tow: this thing is so huge, it looks like you should just throw a saddle over it and ride it to your destination. She is bubbly, full of beans after 36 hours travel, and immediately winds the group's tempo up a notch.

Jennifer Magur, R.N., emergency room nurse, Crit rider, ex-owner of Verge cycling clothing, short and strong looking, recovering from a couple of amazing years and back in the saddle racing for the first time in 18 months.. I am devastated, intrigued and inspired by her personal journey: there is definitely a book in this one, maybe even a screenplay.. Keep your eyes open for a story involving international illicit sex, Kielbasa, bike racing, love, hate, divorce, illness and dead transvestites..

Next up, Lucretia Cavan, head-hunter extraordinaire, sex-in-the-city-type of glamorous business woman from Manhattan, climber, road racing billygoat on the hills, high-heels no bother even on the beaches in Ireland in winter. Lucretia and I know each other from TEAmLipton, Aquafina and EAS: many fun miles on the road together: she is the one who called me in mid-February, signing me up for this adventure while I was choking with snot, coughing and sneezing with a chest / sinus / end-of-winter-infection having not been on my bike for a month or more. Thanks Lucretia!

And me: physical therapist, triathlete, mountain biker, cyclocross racer, roadie, sailor, jack of all trades...

Looks like a fun group: We yak it up for a few more hours in the sultry night air, finish swatting mozzies from our bloody shins, and slide into our respective bunks: it is now 40 hours since leaving Dennis in JFK, and I am still nowhere near sleepy..Lordy..

ideas crystalize while at LT

2008-04-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Velotron is installed but not up and running yet: however, while hitting UNDER OVERS (LT intervals) in the basement this week (at 5.40 am), my mental wheels are spinning, thinking of ways to combine a dissertation, with my own interests in cycling.. I am developing a kernel of an idea for the D.Sc research project that I can carry out at work with my patient population, perfecting the frankensteining before I test our local athletes.. Observation#1: there is little normative data regarding right/ left lower extremity differences in power output / spin scan using Velotron or Computrainer Observation #2: there is no normative data in the scientific literature searched so far, regarding the same data in injured cyclists or injured athletes (some information re: Biodex isokinetic testing: not functional testing using real-world equipment, especially bikes) Observation #3: such data could be helpful in determining a) normative right-left differences in an uninjured population: b) sub-clinical diferences, potential problems: c) observation and analysis of a recuperating athlete post-surgery or post-injury: d) developing rehabilitation guidelines for cyclists or injured athletes using Velotron / Computrainer in conjunction with physiotherapy protocols: e) testing the effect of an intervention strategy (weight training, plyometric training, cycling specific training etc) on a normal and /or injured population.. oh the wheels are spinning indeed.. the first session of school is postponed until Feb 2009, so I have time to dwell on this a little.. oh yea, and to figure out the Velotron! 7 days to departure for China.. Tour of Chongming here we come.. and warm up that sake for me would ye?..

SSWC 2007: one god, one gear (38x16)

2008-03-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

Still bummed that we didn't get into 2008 california race.. despite getting up at 2:45 a.m. to do so..Never mind: beer, kilts and fat tyres in Aviemore have made for some enduring memories Check out the website for the results, youtube for the funnies.. http://www.sswc2007.com/

link from one of my patients: or "how being injured sucks.."

2008-03-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://karlgrossman.blogspot.com/2007/12/empathy-experience.html

velotron

2008-03-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

google it if you don't know what it is.. www.google.com from next week, it will become a part of my office@ MSPT in sag harbor: and will be a wonderful tool for bike-fit (road, CX, MTB, tri-geeks all welcome!), computrainer testing and training, injury assessment and re-assessment following intervetion. Admittedly there will be a steep learning curve, but following a F.I.S.T. certification in June, and a lot of homework, I expect to be able to get up and running (or cycling) to include it in my dissertation and thesis for 2009. www.RMUoHP.edu is steering me towards a D.Sc in Orthopedics and Sports Physical Therapy and I hope to be able to use the VELOTRON for the benefit of cyclists, patients and therapists alike..comments and research ideas are welcome..

belly full of porridge, 4 weeks to china

2008-03-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Loading Mc Cann's steel cut porridge in after 3 hours riding the south fork of Long Island in the wind, musing upon riding solo as the lone ranger along the shore this morning: I spent 60 miles imagining how in the name of god I will manage to do this ride at an intensity that will leave my tongue hanging by my chin, and my quads jiggling like jelly with fatigue: At least I am mentally training for my upcoming 5-day stage race in Chongming Island, off the coast of Shanghai.. I still am not quite sure how I got talked into this race: Lucretia, my old team mate from EAS / Aquafina / Lipton caught me at a weak moment, home with 103 degree temperature, foaming snot and rasping lungs.. she must have thought I was in training, instead of in bed.. 4 weeks later, I have a few long mountain bike rides under my belt, or bum, as it were, and a moderately intense crash course in training courtesy of my good friend and trainer Jen. (http://www.jayasports.com/) I am working on the foaming thing, this time on the bike, mostly in the basement as work days are currently longer than daylight allows, while squishing in a ride or 2 each week to work, though the woods in the early light.. I wish the race was on cyclocross or MTB single speed bikes, I feel so dialed into the RIG right now.. Ah well: I have intermittent daydreams of holding my own as a part of the Kraft Genie / Champion systems team, but mostly, I dream about tucking in behind some big meaty australian chick and hanging on for dear life.. 4 hours tomorrow: I will definitely be taking that one into the woods, with Dennis for good company and whatever other loonies want to wear out their shorts in the early spring, Easter Sunday morning: www.noaa.gov is calling for 45 degrees and should be beautifully sunny, sandy spots are hard packed still, single track is tight, rolling and challenging on the RIG and the beech groves out by the dunes in Amagansett are calling. Should be going to mass: ah well, this is my kinda mass..More porridge in the pot..