On a Windy Day in Chico...

Janeen and bike took flight. The landing wasn't pretty.

Get well soon Janeen. We'll miss you.

Shot Out

To Chistine Vardaros and Shelley Olds for representing at CX Nationals-7th and 8th places. Fantastic results, well done!

Chilling with the Little Llamas

Pet(s) of the Week…

Goes to the Little Llamas of Berkeley, CA-tethered to a lamppost outside of Peets Coffee last Saturday afteroon.

Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of a new pet trend-out with the pocket dogs and in with the farmyard animals? Hmmmm…
Anyhow, congratulations Little Llamas.

Recover With Port

On the chilly, damp Saturday morning in Tiburon, CA, Penny, Wayne, Kelly, Steve, Pat, and Holly met for the Angel Island 12km trail run. The Envirosports race had a fun and casual environment—nobody taking themselves too seriously here, but nonetheless a lot of fit men and women.

As the race started, we quickly ascended into steep, neverending, uphill singletrack. Although we all professed our thoughts of “taking it easy” on this run, our competitive natures came out as soon as we began. Positioning was key—the first 20 min consisted of a series of sprints each time the trail widened enough to move farther forward in the field. Penny and Wayne were both strong and skilled—they quickly found their way into great position.

Finally, after looping around the island amidst tree lined trails and beautiful views of the bay bridge, we descended the same steep singletrack we’d originally climbed, made slick and muddy by hundreds of pounding feet. Obviously more comfortable on our bikes than on our feet, the crazy descent presented a challenge—staying upright yet fast enough to fulfill our competitive natures was impossible for Holly and Pat. Holly’s wound was impressive looking yet minor, but Pat’s was enough to bring her limping across the finish line (still managing to post a great time)…and through the rest of the day. Thank goodness for the smuggled blackberry port and its pain-numbing capabilities…Pat certainly took advantage. Best wishes for a fast recovery!

After some impressive finishes for the bike racing crowd (especially Penny, the 2nd place woman on the day), we finished with the usual—food and socializing in a nice Tiburon restaurant. Next episode: December 16th ride and holiday party…

Chasing Mrs. B'

Penny last one standing, literally, at Angel Island Envirosports Run. After destroying rest of team she has requested that we call her 'the trotter' from now on. Whatever. Race report/injury tally to follow...

East Bay etc. by Holly

12/02/06: The Touchstone women (plus a few privileged men) met bright and early this Saturday morning in Walnut Creek for another beautiful ride. The route began with a climb into Morgan Territory (?), a loop around Diablo, and then finished with the famed climb up the mountain.
As the group rode through strong wind and tackled the day’s climbing, the serious climbers in the group quickly showed themselves, zooming off to become tiny specks in the distance to the photographer. Actually, one climber was so fast that she didn’t even make the picture (I’ll give you one guess at who this superb climber was)! Although the group separated a bit on the climbs, we spent plenty of quality time together chatting away on the flats. What a great ride!
As we rolled back to Walnut Creek, culminating in Kelly and Holly’s longest of the season so far (but just another day for Pat and Maria J ), we were all thinking about the real reason we ride…food!! Maria had made some delicious honey-almond-cherry bread we all looked forward to…and quickly devoured as fast as she could slice it! Thoroughly satisfied with the great day of riding and eating among friends and teammates, we all scattered in our opposite directions, looking forward to our next team adventure.