Velo Angels - Ride, Girls. Ride.

Heartbroken

Only one more stage left for Paris-Nice...  but I simply can't focus on cycling right now.  I know.  Crazy.  Andy's brother Frank was riding, yet I haven't been able to pay attention to the race for the past 2 days. (Frank withdrew today, too.  So even less reason for me to watch.) 

It's the damn earthquake.  
I really haven't slept much.  I've been glued to my TV for 2 days. 
I am grateful that all my family and friends are safe in Japan.  But hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive in this catastrophe. 

I was in Kobe when the great earthquake hit my city in 1995.  It killed over 6,000 people.  My high school turned into a refugee camp.  I still remember vividly how the sky was black from the raging fire and how disorienting it was to see the city all burned down.  I lived in the area where there was little damage.  I was lucky nobody in my family was hurt in the earthquake.  But I know some people who lost everything in the disaster.  It was a very sad time in my life.  And now, by seeing the faces of the people on TV who are affected by this earthquake, all the memories that I tried to forget because they are too sad have come back. 

My heart breaks and breaks for those who are affected by this horrible disaster.  And, I'm frustrated and wonder what I can do for them.  What can I do while I'm here thousands of miles away? 

I do have this blog.  So I have a voice. 

Please help my people by making a $10 donation.  Text REDCROSS to 90999.

Thank you.

 

 

Back in the Saddle

While most of the country is freezing, we are blessed with this gorgeous weather lately.  So, I have been riding.  Nothing extra exciting to write about...  but just to get back into some sort of riding shape.  A lot of base training. 

And, I'm thinking about doing a 5K/10K this summer.  Start from 5K and maybe move up to 10K.  Turns out I can run 5K slowly now (with some cursing in the middle), so my goal is to finish a 5K strong in a few months and maybe do a 10K later in the summer.

Stay tuned for my report on how much I hate running.  Yes.  I hate running. 

 

LA Marathon Tomorrow!

Some of my friends are running the LA Marathon tomorrow! 

They all have their reasons why they want to run the excruciating 26.2 mile...  I can say this as a non-runner.  It's all pretty inspiring. 

Good luck to you all. 

See you on San Vicente!!!  

Watching Too Much Olympics Makes Mai a Lazy Blogger - Crushing on Hot Olympians

Did you see Shaun White fly? 

He defies gravity.  I tuned in just as he was riding, and everyone after him looked, well, normal.  The way he rides is not normal.  So amazing. Although, I'm not sure if he's "HOT"...  Well, the way he rides is. 

I just wish he would cut his hair.

And, I love USA snowboarding team gear.  Gore-Tex denim and red, white and blue plaid jacket.  Sweet.  Whoever designed them gets A+ from me. 

 

Oh, and who knew Nordic Combined was so interesting? 
When I say interesting, there's a cute guy in the US team... 
 

I must say this is the first time I paid attention to this sport, thanks to Johnny Spillane (photo above).  (Just kidding about the cute guy comment, btw.  Well, half kidding.) 

And, speaking of cute guys...  Seriously.  Crushing on him hard currently.  

He's half my peeps. 

 

This is a person with 2.5% of body fat.  Unreal.  (Although this shot was taken a while back, so I doubt this is his "Olymipcs" body.)  

And the way he skates is so smart.  Wow.  He's an artist.

Yes, I'm aware that I'm taking a break from writing about cycling. 
But, if you insist...

The aforementioned handsome skier Johnny Spillane rides a bike as cross training. 

See?  (Him on the right with his buddies.)  

So there.  This is my cycling blog. 

 

Cheating on My Lover

I'm so sorry.  It was just a day.  It didn't mean anything.  It is just a seasonal, occasional, on-again-off-again fling. 

I cheat on my bike with my snowboard. 

Before cycling, there was snowboarding. I started riding about 7 years ago.

Honestly, I love the sport as much as I love cycling.  It's just a little hard to snowboard with the same intensity and frequency as cycling if you can only do it 4 months out of a year.  But I still go when I can.  During the peak of the season, my weekend consists of snowboarding on Saturdays and cycling on Sundays.  And, this makes me a very happy person (with big thighs and no boyfriend.)  

I went to Mt. Baldy for the first time with my snowboarding lover (soon to be a cyclist, too!) Ko. 

I'm not sure how beneficial for a cyclist to cross train by snowboarding...  Seems like I use a lot of quads and core while snowboarding.  Oh, I don't know!  It can't be bad to work my thighs out, use core muscles and work on my balance and focus, right?  I can tell you this though.  I get into the "zone" a lot while snowboarding.  While I glide down the hill, it gets super quiet and everything moves very slowly.  It's almost like I get a crystal clear tunnel vision of where I'm going and blurry peripheral vision of what's out side of my focus.  Time slows down and it's very zen.  Things make sense and the movement is effortless.  Enlightenment!  This is as close as I get to a religion.  

In the zone or not, I love snowboarding.  It's a good way to get out of the city and enjoy being a bit closer to the blue sky like this. 

My Deepest Apologies and Some Excuses As To Why I Have Been MIA

Fellow Angels! 

I'm sorry I have been MIA.  I was in Miami working on a little thing called Super Bowl Half Time Show.  When I'm not blogging about cycling, I'm what people call an "Art Director" and my job requires me to go on site sometimes.  It's a challenging but truly satisfying and exciting job.  I love it!  That being said...  I also love writing for my blog, and I really wanted to post something while I was in Miami, but the hotel had some crazy firewall and couldn't post anything!  So.  That's my excuse.  My deepest apologies. 

Well.  I got back yesterday.  My flight was all screwed up, and it took me 19 hours to travel from Miami to LA.  I was exhausted.  I was so exhausted but there was one thing that kept me going.  My bike.  No...  not my Ruby.  While I was in Miami, I had ordered an urban bike.  Just a toy bike.  Something I can roll around on...  

I went to Cynergy first thing after work to pick him up.  He came home with me tonight. 
Thank you, Cynergy, for your excellent service.  As usual. 

Sporty Dating

I have nightmares, in which I'm faced with a blank computer screen with a blinking cursor begging for that first word of a wonderfully thrilling blog post.  I've completely run out of ideas for the blog.  Put on the spot, I panic quietly with my jaws clenching.  That's when I always wake up.  Cold sweat. 

Actually, I don't have those nightmares.  Was hoping for some drama though.  But, seriously, I think I'll have those nightmares soon.  I mean, how much can I talk about cycling, right? 

Anyway. 

In my desperate attempt to come up with something even remotely funny or interesting, at this point, I'd do anything.  And, that "anything" is to reveal my darkest secret.  (Not that dark actually.  And, it's not even a secret.  Sean and John hear about this every day at the office.)

A couple of months ago, I didn't have this blog, so I was bored and had all the free time in the world.  I figured it would be a good thing to find some boy/man online to hang out with.  Oh, I dunno.  Maybe someone I can go cycling with.  (Besides, I felt bad that I was seeing Olivia like everyday and sensed that Ben was getting jealous of me.)

There's always Match.  I've done it.  Went on a few dates, including one mistake Republican.  Dated one that was, well, marginal.  So, no.  No go on Match.  There's eHarmony...  Um.  I have time to date, but not THAT much time to fill out 58 million pages of questionnaire.  So no go on eHarmony either.  Chemistry.  A dating site with the name of a subject I hated in highschool.  No.   

And then, I heard that there are sporty kind of dating sites for athletic minds.  I googled and saw that there were many.  I picked this one, which will remain nameless, and signed up.  And, when I say singed up, I mean, I wrote up a very minimal profile and put up like 2 pictures.  One of me cycling and another one snowboarding.  I didn't want to be a paying member unless I see someone cute interesting enough for my $$$.  You can choose to sign up and not pay so you can browse, but cannot open any emails if anybody writes you.  When someone writes you, you get a notice saying, you have a new mail, if you want to read it, pay up!  (Not phrased exactly like that, but close enough.)  

So, with my brand-new, shining dating site account, I waited.  For like 4 minutes.  Then emails started to pour in.  I had 7 in the first hour.  I guess there's a shortage of sporty girls in Los Angels. 

Encouraged by the amount of attention I was getting, I started to browse through these potential gentleman-callers.  (Read too much Tennessee Williams in college.) 

First one, 52 year old who is, well, in shape for his age, but I mean...  still looked 52.  Mind you, I put 35-39 as my ideal age group for the potential boy-friend.  Obviously he doesn't know how to read.  I'm all for literacy.  So, no. 

Second one.  49 years old.  No.  What is up with people who don't know how to count?  Age limit is strictly enforced! 

Third one.  Cat 3 rider.  Totally hot.  42 years old.  Damn.  Really close.  Nice legs.  (shaved, of course.) I wish he was younger.  Damn.  Damn. 

Fourth through six.  No.  (No particular reason.  But just no.)

Seventh. 37 years old.  In shape.  Lots of pictures.  Definitely a cyclist.  Aww, a dog lover.  More pictures of him cycling, running, kayaking, rock climbing, playing tennis, mountain biking, skiing...  God, so many pictures.  He must love himself.  Still more pictures of him holding up his cellphone camera in front of a mirror.  Half naked.  God, I hate those people who do that!  Finally the last picture of him in his cycling shorts.  No head.  No torso.  No legs.  Just the lycra shorts.  And, all you see is the contour of ever so flaccid...  Well.  

I just don't know why he would have that picture in his profile.  I mean.  All I could think of was a flat.  You know that feeling of having an inner tube in your hand after having a flat, and it just hangs there lifelessly?  That.  That was the picture. 

Suffice to say, I quickly canceled my membership and took down my profile.  So, that was my stint as a sporty online dater.  #epicfail. 

Disillusioned by the harsh reality, I decided to live a life of service.  I thought my time would be better spent writing blogs than online dating. 

Besides, if you build it, they (he) will come.  Right? 
He must be reading this blog.  Heeeey!  My prince on a white bike, where are you?