Saturday, April 11, 2009

Back from Sunny California

Yep. Sunny. The weather was superb! Jonas and i were there for about 15 days and for the first 12 or 13 we were treated to over 65°F (over 20°C) weather accompanied by real sun. I even have a suntan to prove it. It was also the first time i saw my bare legs, outdoors while not racing, in at least a year. There is nothing like the feeling of sun heating up the quads.

Speaking of quads, mine are finally growing back. After extensive therapy the past month, i followed it up with almost 1000km of hill/mountain riding in California. We stayed in Sausalito (thanks Lips for your generous hospitality), and rode directly north every day. Coach Elmo also joined us for a few rides (thanks E) so we got some speedwork in as well.

I think the most amusing ride of all was the "Marshall Loop" with Elmo. After we descended the backside of Marshall Wall and hit Highway 1 south, Elmo turned to me to ask if i wanted a cookie from Bovine. Of course i could never turn down a cookie, so i said if we make it in time I would want two. With theoretically not enough time to get there unless we drive 50kph over the hilly terrain, we wont make it. But in Elmo fashion, he had us buckle our seatbelts and off we went.

For the next minutes, my body was a bit surprised by the speed but eventually it started to get excited to move. Unfortunately, on the ultimate mini climb - the one that's always given me trouble mentally, if that can make sense - I blew up. Damn, no cookie. Elmo gapped us a little up the climb. And while he was away, Jonas bitched nonstop while on my wheel. "Damn cookie time trial. This cookie better be worth it. No cookie is worth this much pain. Fuckin' cookie. I dont even want a cookie. Fuckin' cookie time trial." His bitching was so amusing that i almost tipped over from laughter. Once i got myself solidly back on track, I picked up the speed again. But a little too late. We pulled up to the Bovine as the "CLOSED" sign swung in the doorway.

We just returned last night from a too-long trip home. And now we are packing to leave for the Ardennes for another week of training. But first we must do the regular swing by the airport to pick up the delayed luggage. Five hours layover should have given the handlers enough time to put a bag on the plane, but then again my bike chains may have given them cause for distress. It could make an effective weapon i suppose. Not sure how i could wield it if its in my check-in luggage though.

Thanks for reading!

14 comments:

Rickie Rainwater said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time. Regardless of where you go, there is no place like home.
rickie

Katie Kelly said...

I know exactly what hill you're talking about. If I had to climb that without a cookie reward, I would quit cycling for good. You are a testament to our sport.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to clarify things. First, what I asked was, "Are you cats planning to stop at the Bovine?" The cookie issue didn't get raised, at least by me, till time was running out with a couple of Ks still to be covered. Second, when — upon our reaching Highway One at Marshall — Jonas remarked that we had twenty minutes to get to the Bovine before they closed, I inferred from this an instruction to lift the pace. So Mr Peanut kind of fucked himself over. In any case, we couldn't have been going all that fast: the leather Harley dood on the bench in front of the bakery snickered to me as I rolled up that we were "one minute late."
:e

mindful mule said...

Tommeke!!!

Anonymous said...

Well there you go, truth be told, once again, :e's perfect recall. And, the leather Harley hog man snikered! How insulting to the human prowess of two men lacking (speed) to hold the door open for Mrs peanut. LOL!!! IF you had climbed a bit faster?????

Anonymous said...

I bet Jonas was unbearable as the closed sign 'swung in the doorway' :)

Oh for some wall to wall sunshine...

Anonymous said...

Have a great time in the Ardennes. A little too early for watching classics?

PEANUT said...

Thanks rickie and katie! Hey Elmo, jonas would die if he read these comments and found out that he was the cause for the cookie time trial! You really didnt have the option to ride faster along the coach since you would have dropped me - the cookie-requester, ending the cookie time trial.
hey chris - ardennes was wonderful. We missed watching much of the spring classics though. but we did watch last two hours of Paris-roubaix - GO Tommeke!!! We were all huddled around the TV for the last 16km biting our nails while Tommeke time trialed to the finish.

Rickie Rainwater said...

Thinking about the Cookie time trial thing. Next time you are in that situation, have someone call ahead and ask nicely for the owner to wait or leave some cookies which you are good for, seeing that you were only a minute late, were from far away ect. It might have been a good idea to have mentioned you came all this way to have one of their wonderful cookies ect. I'm sure they would have waited on you or left some goodies. Just a thought. Jonas is still a hero in my book! Especially since he won the heart of my favorite cyclocrossing woman!
All my best,
rickie

Anonymous said...

Will Tommeke soon be consulting with Johan Museeuw's hair transplant surgeon?
-- E.C. Chamberlaine

Amy said...

I truly love the idea of a cookie time trial!

Anonymous said...

According to your calorie calculator, I would have burned 314 kcal during those twenty minutes. Would that even compensate for the cookie? Seems to me you needed to start your time trial on the east side of the Marshall Wall if you were going to balance the nutrition books. And that way you could have gotten there before they closed, too. Also is Jonas' nickname really "Mr. Peanut"? That's quite a coincidence!
-Cheers, Ivymum

Anonymous said...

Hey All,
If the cookie waiting, were home made, by Ms Peanut, this whole episode would have been much different. Loved your cookies, haha!
Thanks!
Also;
Elmo-jealous? Mr peanut has a full tummy of vegan cookies, whenever. LOL!
Don

PEANUT said...

Rickie
Thanks for the sweet words. I will also pass them onto jonas (aka mr peanut) - not sure if he reads my blog any longer now that he sees my mug every day.
Yep, tommeke seems to be losing his hair but he still has sex appeal.