Another Cat Blog

Yes, there has been a lot of cat blogging going on this week, but it's either this or the weather which it happens to be snowing again anyway.

Budha and Pest have a new favorite hiding spot.

That is because I moved their basket close to the fireplace which finally works after I got it fixed this week. That's a good thing because as I said it's snowing today.

Toothless Wonder

I picked Budha up from the vet tonight. She's fairly groggy, but the first thing she did when she got home was go straight for the food dish. She must be trying to get her girth back. Who's ever seen a skinny Budha? The second thing she did was go straight for my water glass. Somethings never change.

Turns out the vet needed to take out 7 teeth, which in addition to the other 2 she's had pulled before, means she only has her front teeth and canines left. It's kind of sad, but still funny to watch her drink water tonight. It's somewhat similar to how anyone of us drinks water after going to the dentist.

Looks like at least one kitty will be on the soft food from now on.

What did I tell you?

Given up

I have finally given up trying to get the kitties to drink out of my water glass and have fooled them with giving them one of their own. So far it is working.

Kitty Loaf

Some mild drama in the life of the Eastman kitty cats this week. Budha needs to go in for some minor surgery. I took her to the vet today after realizing she had stopped eating and dropped some weight recently. In fact, she's lost 2 lbs, and when you weigh just over 10lbs, 2lbs is a lot. She is a svelt 8.2 lbs now. Anyway, took her to the vet today and turns out she needs to get a couple of teeth pulled, that's why she's not eating. Funny thing is, the vet said she wouldn't be "upset" if Budha stayed at the weight she is.... Is she calling my cat a fattie mcfatterson? To be honest, Budha did not get her name from being the thinnest cat on the block, which just goes to show, you can't even be a fat cat these days and get away with it. There's even peer pressure on my poor kitty cat to be a svelt 8-9 lbs instead of her large and in charge 11-12 lb. I wonder if she'll have any body image issues from this whole ordeal?

The vet also referred to her age several times and said things like "at her age" you can't expect her to bounce back as quickly. Is 13 the new 65 in cat years?

Mom's Visit

Today, for the last day of Mom's visit we went and did some touristy things around town, including going to the top of Pikes Peak. Allow me to illustrate.

We went via the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It takes about an hour to get to the top via the train, and I've actually never taken it up it before.And Mom loves trains. The view ain't bad either.

View from the top of Pikes Peak. 14,000 feet up.

It's a little windy up there.
But she made it.

2009 season review

My 2009 racing season is officially in the books now. I think it was a pretty good season; although, I am at that age now when reminisce about ‘back in the day’ when I used to be fast. Regardless, it was way better than my 2008 season. 2008 was not a good racing year for me. There were no wins for me and no team wins, so I was a little more motivated this year to turn things around.

I had some major life changes in 2009 too. I went back to work ‘for the man’, aka Chris Carmichael, and resumed a full-time position at CTS. That was a major change from working in my pj’s at home on my own time to going back to a full-time job where I had to be somewhere occupying space from 8am-5pm every day Monday through Friday. Really, it’s not that bad. I do work for a cycling company, after all, where office meeting can often involve 3 hour bike rides on the open road. This year also marked another major life change to buy a house (townhome) and embrace the wonderful world of having a mortgage.

Despite all those changes, I really enjoyed the 2009 racing season. I have embraced my role as the old, wily, veteran racer who might not be as fast as the young’ins but has years of experience to carry me through. 2009 also marked the return, after a year hiatus, of my good teammate Beth. With Beth and Lisa back from having their babies, the addition of Maegan to our roster, and Jenna and Carol returning from last year we had a really fun and cohesive team for 2009. The more years I race, the more and more I rely on my teammates to make racing fun and help push me to a higher level.
2009 also marked a return to the track for me. It’s not that I ever really left the track, but this year I raced a full season on the track, and I realize how much that makes me a better rider. Track is great; it’s all the best parts of racing. It cuts out all that b.s. riding around for miles and miles before anything good happens and just gets straight on to the good parts. A long race on the track is about 12 minutes, so it suits my attention span just fine. I had a good year on the track in 2009 as well. By my math, I’ll win CVA rider of the year on points for the season, and I also won a couple of national championships. Masters Nationals was held here in Colorado Springs, and I won the individual 2k pursuit and the team pursuit. No matter what else happens, it’s a good season if you win a stars and bars jersey, even if it is just Masters Natz.

Our team also had a very good season. With Beth back in full-force, she won so many races I lost count. It was somewhere over 10 or 12 races; I’m sure she can correct me. It’s funny how when you’re on a winning team that it elevates the performance of everyone around. So, I think the team as a whole had a much better year in 2009. Everyone on the team raced really well. Maegan had a win in Glenwood Springs, and I finally got a win on the road too. I hadn’t won on the road since 2007, and it meant a lot to me to get one this year. I won the Vic’s crit in August, and I think getting that monkey off my back helped my confidence going in to nationals that was a few weeks later.

So I am satisfied with my 2009 season. I have this imaginary mark of a good season that is winning 3 races. I think that’s a pretty good season for anyone (except Beth). I won 2 by my count with Masters Natz and the crit at Vics. Sure, I could count the team pursuit or any of my other individual races at the track, but I never got the sweep at any nights of the track. At the track, we do 3 races every night. I count it as a win if I win all 3. I had a few nights of winning 2 out of 3, but a young 16-year old, Maddie, nipped me a few times for that 3rd win and the sweep. How’s that for injustice, getting beat by someone less than half your age and that you are totally old enough to be her mother! I feel old. I’m also tired, but a good tired from a good year of racing. So that’s all folks, until the 2010 season where I’m totally going to come back as a climber… (p.s. I say that every year and have yet to make it true ;-))

I have been singing this all afternoon.

Steamboat Springs Wrap Up

Last weekend we (Beth and I) went out to Steamboat Springs to do the last official race of the season.
Steamboat is really pretty, and I've never been, so I was pretty excited to go. It's too bad that my legs were not also excited to race as I pretty much stunk it up in the first two stages of the this race. I finished 11th or 12th in both the opening time trial and the first circuit race. I just chalk it up to bad legs in the first circuit race. Maybe too much track racing this past month? There are no hills on the track you know! I got dropped on the first lap climb of that circuit race and was in no man's land. I made up a little ground by catching a few people along the way, but it just ended up being a bad day for me on the bike. Beth did really great though, she finished 4th and hung on to the lead group of climbers. She was sitting 4th overall after the stage.

I was kind of upset about the circuit race and really didn't know what to expect from myself after 2 bad days on the bike. I joked to Beth the night before about going from the gun in the road race, and her response was an emphatic "No!" We hoped the race would stay together and not be too aggressive because we heard it was a pretty hard course, and as we've said before, we're not a team of climbers.

We started the 3rd stage road race with a neutral roll out on a dirt road for about a mile and then hit the open high way. Then I, in typical fashion, got bored about 1 mile in to the race because I was doing about 90 watts and no one wanted to pull, so I went to the front to to a pull and get the ball rolling, and lo-and-behold, I was off the front. Turns out Beth pulled up when I went to the front and opened up a gap for me. 2 Bike Law women followed with me and when I saw we had a bit of a gap, I just started riding. That was how this epic adventure all got started.

I pull up my SRM file as evidence of the race that unfolded because I am sure as I retell this story that my breakaway will get longer and longer as the years pass. So it was me, Alisabeth, and Sue off the front from mile 1 of the race. We worked very well together. I knew it was an ill-fated move, but I still wanted to gain as much time as possible before we got caught so we could help our teammates in the race. Unfortunately, Alisabeth flatted around mile 15 when we crossed a rail road track. Then it was just me and Sue for another several miles. We still had a pretty big gap because I couldn't see the pack behind us, but our break had more bad luck when Sue dropped her chain around mile 20. I had the choice to go alone or wait for her. I chose to go alone. And so I went...

I went alone to the turn around in the race which was about mile 25. I thought I couldn't be more than a minute or two in front of the pack by then, but when I spotted the pack after the turn I had already been past the turn around for more than 2 minutes. By my powers of dedcution, that meant I had to have about a 5-minute lead on the pack. Holy Crap! I had almost 25 miles to go to the finish, but a pretty big lead. This is the point when I started to have a glimmer of hope of taking this race to the finish. So I grit my teeth and did my best impersonation of Jacky Durand.

Of course, it didn't play out the way I had hoped it would, in epic fashion to start a break on mile one and hold it to the finish. It still was a great adventure. As I ticked the miles away I still couldn't see the pack behind me. When I got to 15 miles to go and still couldn't see the pack, I thought I still had a chance. I did a lot of math in my head that day... I could lose 1 minute every 10 km and still win, but of course, the last 5 miles were mostly uphill. So I was not certain at all that I could hold it. Then with about 10 miles to go the skies opened up and it started to pour down rain and hail. This was turning in to an epic day. I thought and hoped the rain would slow the chasing pack down, but it didn't.

Unfortuatately for me, the moto official started giving me time splits in those last few miles. At 10 miles to go I had 2.5 minutes. I thought... I couldn't lose 2.5 minutes in 10 miles in my worst time trial, right? Oh, but wait, I forgot to factor in the 30 miles preceeding of bascially time trialing. By the time I hit the base of the climb the moto official rides up and tells me I had 1:10 over the chasing pack... I thought to myself, "Crap, I need at least 2 minutes to hold this lead." I kept going as best I could, but was like one of those tour guys who has been in the break all day and getting chased by Lance just weaving my way up the climb. I got within sight of the summit of the penultimate climb when I heard the whir of Susannah's wheels behind me. My epic adventure was over 3 miles from the finish of the race.

It was the best of times and the worst of times. I have always been the rider who isn't afraid to attack, and although my attacks are often ill-timed and ill-advised, I always go with the hope it will work. This time I was in the lead of the race for 45 miles, it's just too bad that the race was 48 miles.

I got popped as soon as the pack caught me and strolled in well after the leaders finished because the last mile was all uphill and I was cooked. The good news of this epic adventure was that it did actually help my teammate Beth who didn't have to do a lick of work all day until the final climb. She did great and finished 3rd on the day and made the final selection up the last climb. The next day was the crit and if she did well she could move up on the overall.

In the crit, I made several attempts to get off the front, but to no avail. We did take both cash primes, and I was able to help Beth with a good the leadout on the final lap. She eneded up taking the win and bumped herself up to 3rd overall with the time bonus, so that at least was some gratification for the weekend.

All in all, I had a good time at Steamboat and we went to the hot springs after the race. I wished I had raced better in the early stages, but we can't always get what we want. I will still count that break-away in the road race in Steamboat as one of my favorite moments of 2009, eventhough it didn't work out in the end. I'll keep trying though, you all know me by now.

New napping spot

I have discovered the reason why all my towels are covered in cat hair

Nationals Wrap Up

Well, nationals finished the way it started, with a win. This time in the 3 kilometer team pursuit. That's when 3 people ride together to get the fastest time over the distance.

We assembled a great team with me and Ingrid Alongi from Boulder who incidentally set the second fastest individual pursuit time. I only nipped her by 0.2 secs in the individual event. We also had Kate Gracheck. I guess I could say that Kate had us on her team since it was 6 months ago when Kate asked me to do the team pursuit with her. Thanks so much guys, it was a great ride and a great way to wrap up nationals.

Master's Nationals Update Part II

Last night was the points race. I've been eagerly anticipating this race since they announced Master's Nationals was moving to Colorado Springs. The points race is by far my favorite event, either road or track, so I was super pumped for the race.
Unfortunately the tactics of the race didn't suite my strengths. I prefer a very fast, aggressive race. Although I did my best to live up to my nickname with several futile, ill-timed attacks, I couldn't get anything going off the front. I ended up 3rd in the points, just barely. I took the 3-way tie for 3rd with my sprint on the last lap, so it was real close.

I do have to give a lot of props to Brooke O'Connor. She raced a fantastic race and it's great to see her win. I couldn't think of anyone nicer to get beat by. She and I used to face off against each other when I was racing nationally. I never beat her back then and I still couldn't last night. To be honest, I think that field last night was one the deepest and most competitive field I've ever raced with. So it's no shame in finishing 3rd with that group.
Of course, I'm still bummed about it, and I did my fair share of pouting last night, but there's more racing tomorrow. I have the team pursuit tomorrow. That's 3 people doing a 3k time trial together. We assembled 3 of Colorado's best pursuiters, so between me, Ingrid, and Kate we hope to put in a good time.
In the most excellent news from the points race last night, Kate Gracheck won her age group. I couldn't be happier for Kate since she's not only a good friend, but someone I've seen get better and better every year on the bike. This year in particular it's great to see Kate doing so well because a year ago this month she was diagnosed with cancer. So, she not only kicked cancer's ass this year but also totally kicked ass on that track last night.

p.s. thanks to random people on facebook for all these photos which I stole.

p.p.s I also want to thank everyone who came out to watch last night. I had friends come down as far as Boulder just to watch me race. I definitely had the home crowd advantage. Thanks everyone!

Master's Nationals Update

This week are Master's National Track Championships. I haven't raced them since 2006, the last time they were here in Colorado Springs.

2006 was also the last time I won a national championship, which I was lucky enough to do again today. That makes a total of 5 for me now. I guess I'm kind of proud of that number now.
Today's race was the pursuit and it was a surprise win as I've only done 3 pursuit workouts all year. I guess those last 7 or 8 years of pursuit training is paying off because I not only won my age group today, but also set the fastest time for all the women. My time was 2:39.5 which I think is a PR. My goal was to go under 2:40, so I guess I did that, just barely!

I do have some people to thank.
I need to thank Swillissa for loaning me her aero helmet. I won the race by 0.25 seconds, and I'm sure her more aero helmet was the difference over my circa 1996 P.O.S aero bucket.
I have to thank Katie Compton for calling my splits during the race, mostly she just yelled at me to go faster, which is all I really needed anyway.
I also have to thank all my fans, aka coworkers, that came out to cheer me on like maniacs. Every time I came through the home stretch there was thunderous cheering, cowbells, and screaming. I am sure I would not have dug as deep without them.

And then the day ended with a beautiful sunset.

Next up, the Points Race on Friday night. I can't wait! The Points Race is what I'm actually good at.

Racing update

Dear Mom,
It's been a while since I've been able to say this, but I won the race on Saturday. Woot! The form seems to be coming good just a couple weeks ahead of nationals. After about a dozen 2nd places over the last 2 years it's kind of a relief.

That's snow, yo!

That's snow y'all. It snowed on the Peak and it's only July, or is it July and still snowing, I'm not sure. All the winter snow hadn't quite melted yet but I still think it's a first for me to see fresh snow on the peak in July.

Mail Call

Budha finds the mail basket quite cozy

New House

Some people (Mom) have asked me to update my blog with some pics of the new house since they are not on the book of faces.

So as of July 2nd, all this is mine.


Kitchen. Just like my good friends, I struggle with fingerprints on the stainless steel appliances.


Living room... I think I'm gunna need a big flat screen TV for this! (hint, hint Mom, I still haven't gotten a housewarming gift).


As a lucky coincidence, the bedroom furniture matches the wood doors and framework.


There's a small back yard so that some day I can think about growing the family, like with a puppy.


But for now, I'll stick with the wild, jungle, tiger cats.
I'm still not sure what this room is... spare room, office, junk room, but if you stay with me, this is where you're sleeping!
Laundry. The new washer and dryer make my clothes seem that much cleaner.
I heart my garage. So nice to have a garage now for all the bikes.

The view ain't bad either.


The view from the other side is of NORAD. http://www.norad.mil/ It reassures me that when the big one comes, we're probably going first.

Side-walk giveaway update

I put the stuff out at 6pm, then went to dinner at a friend's house. By the time I got back everything was gone. We may try some more items tomorrow.

Sidewalk giveaway is back.

I didn't even have time to put the free sign on it before some guy claimed the futon.

Faithfully

Best song ever? You tell me.

La Casita

I think this could mean trouble now because I pass La Casita every evening on my way home from the new office. Yes, I did eat there tonight, but it could, and has, been worse. I used to live across the street from this fine establishment.

Happy Mother's Day

My mom does not "do" Facebook and rarely surfs the internet super highway, so I feel obliged on Mother's Day to do a big, big update since I never update the blog anymore.


The spring has been very tempermental for us so far with some days in the 70's and some days in the 30's and snowing.That does make the Peak extra pretty though with the snow.

I spent early April in the wind tunnel in North Carolina. It was a lot of fun.

In the wind tunnel we test for aerodynamics.

Then in we moved from the old office to the new office.

To the new office.

The new office is in west Colorado. It's real cool.
And then I tested out Kirk's bike. He's 6'4"