Kansas City, MO CX Nationals 2008

The trip started out on a high note. My teammate Jeff Sobul was able to hook me up with host housing from a friend of his in KC, MO named Mitch Dorris and his wife Kathleen and their daughter Leah. A wonderful host family that made me feel right at home and were unbelievably generous the entire weekend. Mitch drove me to the race on Friday and introduced me to his friend Kyle and other friend who have a wheel renting business. I was able to get pinned by them and use their tent to warm-up for the race.

I took a few laps to check out the course at noon since the course was open from noon to 1pm, and boy was it slippery! I wiped out 3 times and got my B bike covered in mud! And myself for that matter. Mitch was great enough to get in a long line of people waiting to get their bikes sprayed down with a high powered hose while I warmed up on the trainer. At this point I am already thinking I don't know what I would have done without him and his friends helping me. But, my luck ended there.

My race on Friday in the Masters was less than fortunate. I bumped wheels with a girl on the opening sprint and broke two spokes on my wheel. Before we even hit the grass I could see the wheel was warped and I would need to pit as soon as possible. The people I had waiting for me in the pit were not prepared for me to enter so early on in the race and it took a while to get my other bike. By the time I got on the bike and left the pit I had lost the pack by a good 30 seconds. I reeled back in a few people, but was having troubles shifting and dropped my chain and on top of it the temps were starting to drop so my feet were frozen and I was having trouble clipping in as well. I managed to finish the race, but came in 18th out of 23 who finished...we started with 26. It was a big lesson in many ways. I learned that I need toe warmers! And glove warmers! And I should have checked the shifting on my bikes before the race. All good lessons.

The next day I got my bike to a friend of my host family named Brendan who was able to make some adjustments on my bikes, went for a little ride to test the gearing on my A bike and got a good night's sleep. The next day the forecast had the hi at 61 degrees for most of the day, steadily declining to freezing by the late afternoon. We thought I would be in and out with perfect timing before the worst weather would hit. Between the time we left Mitch's house and the time we arrived at Tiffany Springs (only 30 minutes) the temps had already dropped a good 10 degrees. Mitch was resourceful enough to hook me up with a loaner front wheel from his friend Kyle and a heated tent from his friend Dean to warm up in. I got a nice 1 hr 15 min warm-up in before the race and used the warmers I bought on Friday and placed them in my shoes and gloves. The temps had dropped over 20 degrees now from the time we left the house until the time I started racing. It had officially turned into another true CX racing experience. Yeah baby!

They were calling out everyones' names at the start and I found myself in the 2nd to last row! Ouch! I had a lot of ground to make up. There were 93 registered, 81 started the race, and only 73 finished. Now that is some attrition right there. We were off and I was picking my way precariously through the paved section and all the bottlenecks at the beginning of the race so as not to have another mishap with my final nationals race. I slowly but surely was able to make my way through a bunch of ladies on the first lap and keep it upright. The 2nd lap I had a run-in with another girl who knocked me off the course. I got right back up again and the 3 women who passed me during that time I was able to pass again. By the 3rd lap I couldn't feel my face anymore except for the stream of snot I knew was continuing to run out my nose at record pace.
I finished up the 4th lap and heard the bell for final lap. Yay! One more big effort to give it all I had. I was able to keep everyone at bay on the last lap but unfortunately only caught one more girl before it was all over. By the time I finished, my fingers, toes and face were frozen so much so I had trouble walking, talking, etc. Even though I am a MN born girl, I have never had my face so numb that I couldn't talk, but my lips were just not cooperating! Pretty hilarious to witness I tell ya!

I got back into the heated tent and changed as quickly as I could manage and got some hot coffee in me. We got all my stuff packed up and got out to the start/finish line just in time to watch the Elite men take off with Andy Jacques-Maynes in the lead. Surprisingly, the women's elite results were up by the time we walked over to find them and I discovered that I met my goal...I actually finished smack dab in the middle of the pack! 41 out of 81 who started, about 7 minutes off the leaders and 2.5 minutes off the top 20. I was very happy that I was able to finish better than my start position and finish a clean race and all the while have the time of my life.

Here are the results for the women's elite race:

http://cxmagazine.com/compton-digs-spikes-and-kills-full-report-and-results#more-1285

Beverly Chaney also from Roaring Mouse raced and got 58th place. She raced in the master's women 45-49 on Friday as well and got 2nd place! Way to go Beverly!!!

All I can say is this whole trip was quite the learning experience. I certainly couldn't have done it without the help of Mitch and all of his friends and the support of Norcal racers such as Tim Simanski and Paule Bates from Team Roaring Mouse and others I heard cheering me on out on the course. Not to mention the well wishes from all my Team Oakland buds, other friends and family. I should also mention that my brother Tristan and his girlfriend Jen and their two adorable dogs also came down all the way from MN to watch me race. The generosity of everyone and mutual respect of the racers made all the difference in the world. And the deafening sound of cow bells and cheering fans didn't hurt either. It was an amazing feeling that I am afraid I have gotten addicted to. Need more cow bell! Haha.

To shave or not to shave...

A while back I was invited to a friend's house and was told to bring my swimsuit since they had a hot tub cuz we were definitely going to be using it. I'm thinking "Well, if I'm going to wear a swimsuit, I better clean things up down south before I go." So, I took a shower to get ready to go and, even though I never do this because it always results in razor bumps, I exfoliated a bunch and got a fresh razor and my shaving cream and shaved the bikini area. So far so good.

Then, I decide, well, while I'm at it I might as well trim the lawn a little bit and just clean things up for my own sake to my aesthetic standards. I grabbed my shower scissors, which are used for just such a thing, and took a big snip. Uh oh! I know what you're thinking...you're thinking right about now there was probably a stream of blood heading to my feet, but you're wrong. Hehe. Much better in fact.

I cut a bald spot in the center of my previous masterpiece I was trying to sculpt. Dammit! So, now I was going for damage control and decided I better keep trimming to try and even it out. And I kept trimming, and trimming, and trimming...you get the idea. Bald spot was still very apparent. Shit! Then I grabbed the razor thinking if I thin it out a little more it will eventually even out...and pretty soon I am saying to myself "You might as well just shave the whole damn thing at this point, because that bald spot just is not going away, you dumbass!"

So there I go...shaving the whole damn thing off all the while thinking to myself, "Boy, you really did it this time. Hit yourself with the dumb stick...Mel, this is one of the stupidest things you've done in a while...and you don't even have alcohol to blame for it! Do you have any idea how much this is going to suck when it grows out?"

Surprisingly enough, I went back to the basics a former Brazilian waxer told me (Brazilian in both senses, by the way...she was Brazilian and she gives you Brazilians). She said, "All you have to remember is to exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate, and you will get no bumps!" And that's what I did, and I got no bumps, no ingrown hairs, and it didn't even itch that bad. But, I'll tell ya this...I'll never do it again and it's back to waxing regularly for me so I don't get stuck in that situation again. Ever. Never ever. Sure is a fun story to tell though...gotta keep you all entertained somehow.

Halloween, tats and keys

One of my teammates and friends Toby Long and his wife Donna hosted their annual pumpkin carving party. I didn't plan to go at first as I was racing the next day, and I thought I wouldn't have that much fun since I wasn't drinking at the time. But, I got a call from my neighbor Sean wondering if I was coming and with the constant egging on from him, Karla, Beth, Anthony, Marisa, and Toby, I was convinced to at least swing by for a little while and hang out.

I decided in order to get ready for my next race, which was the costume Psychocross race, I would bring my book of fake tattoos and have my comrades help me put them on. Also, to help prepare for the race, I stopped off at a local market to get fixodent for the teeth as was recommended by one of the photographers I talked to at the DFL race earlier this year. He said it would work well to keep them from falling out and that spirit gum would help keep my mustache, armpit hair and chest hair on. Not a bad investment...about $7 for the spirit gum and fixodent combined. And I can use them for many future costumes to come.

I pulled up, ran in, got the fixodent and went to the checkout counter. The guy ringing me up asked for my ID...and I was thinkin since when do you need an ID to get fixodent? The guy told me "Well, I saw you pull up and I didn't think you were old enough to drive." To which I laughed and responded, "Yeah, you might wanna double that...I'll be 30 in a few months." And I was also thinking the guy must be really confused since he thinks I'm 15 and I'm buying fixodent! Can we say meth problem?

So, I get to the party and say hello to everyone and immediately start asking if I can get help putting on the tattoos, to which Toby responded saying he was an expert being as he was a father and all. And boy I tell you, those are a bunch of adults screaming for entertainment, because EVERYONE (kids, parents, and adult bystanders alike) all wanted to put on fake tattoos. They were the hit of the party. Woohoo! I put on about 8 tattoos and called it a night for those things, my favorite being the "Game Over" tattoo right in the tramp stamp area in case any guys were to get any ideas!

Later, Toby gave us a lesson in carving pumpkins and we did a little late night carving of the last of the uncarved ones. So, after a few more drinks (all but me, of course) I decided it was time to hit the hay and headed on out to my car. I went to grab what I thought were my car keys, but grabbed what were in fact my house keys, at which point I realized I had locked the car keys in my car. Doh! Luckily, I had my AAA card on me and called them right away and went back to hang out with the Longs and friends. AAA said they'd be there in 20 minutes...perfect! Well, half and hour later I called them and they say it's going to be another 45 minutes! Jesus criminey! I needed to get home so I could get up to drive all the way down to Santa Cruz area (Soquel) and race for crying out loud!

Finally, they did arrive, and after a bit of chit chat with the AAA guy I made it home around 1:30am. Ouch! I am no longer a night owl, so that's pretty late for me for all you youngsters and party animals. After that, I vowed to do what I had been putting off and go get some copies made of my key and put a hide-a-key under my car. Besides, you can never have enough key copies. Just ask Beth, who I donated my old car to...I had 6, count 'em, SIX spare keys that she got from me since I was notorious for either losing them, locking them up in the car, or leaving them in inaccessible places.

So, that Monday I took off to the hardware store and got myself a couple of keys made and a hide-a-key box so I could put one under the car as soon as I got home. I'm reaching under the car to put the box on the bumper and realize that the bumper's plastic, so I need to get under the car and find another spot. I get down under the car and look for a nice, sturdy metal spot to put the magnetic box and guess what I found? I found that there was ANOTHER hide-a-key on the car that was there the WHOLE time! Damn! If only I had known that Saturday night, I could have been tucked in bed by midnight. *sigh*

But thanks to the Longs for putting up with me for an extra hour and a half and even being so kind as to offer me up their car to drive home and to the race the next day. Truly awesome and generous people. You know I'll be back next year for their annual pumpkin carving extravaganza if I'm in town.

Sedona trip

In the midst of the CX season, I had previously agreed to go on a little 'family trip with my west coast family to Sedona. My friend Michael, who I met when I first moved out to CA over 8 years ago has taken me under his wing and tried to guide me through all of life's harrying decisions. Since he had never had kids of his own, he kind-of adopted myself and another girl April as his 'daughters'. He decided he liked the way we turned out, and if he had kids, he would want them to be like us. Not a bad complement if I don't say so!

He met a lovely woman a few years back named Donna, who ironically is only about a week younger then my real mom (see Brazil trip blog entry). She also has a son names Jeff. April couldn't make it on our trip, but Michael, Donna, Jeff and I headed down to Sedona to Michael's house for some hiking, good food and family fun. The first night back we grabbed a few snacky things in the house to eat, toasted with a glass (or in my case, a sip) of champagne our little family weekend getaway.

The next day we got up bright and early and headed out on a trail for a hike and got in about 7 miles of hiking that day. I haven't been hiking in a while and didn't exactly bring the best shoes for it, but tried my best to keep up. Michael (fondly referred to by April and I as MK) and Donna were more like expert hikers and were off to a sprint within a mile. No lolly gagging in this group! It was a warm day, but in the shade it was still a little brisk. By the time we got to the turnaround point we had gained enough elevation to enjoy some gorgeous views and sunshine while MK climbed around on the rocks above us. As previously mentioned in the Brazil trip, MK is an excellent free climber and has been doing it for most of his adult life...nothing I would recommend anyone new to climbing to try unless you are looking to free fall without a parachute so to speak!

By the time we got back, Donna's mother and aunt who were visiting from Phoenix had already arrived. We got cleaned up and went to lunch and stuffed ourselves with Mexican food. After that I tried to nap, but my stomach was too full, so Donna and I headed out for a walk instead. An hour later we were back starting to prepare a feast for that night's dinner. But, before the sun set we were determined to head up Cathedral rock to watch the sunset and made it just in time. Amazing views and an intense elevation gain in a short amount of time. Yet, surprisingly it's pretty easy to get up this rock even for beginners.

The next day we headed off on another hike up Mt. Wilson and started out on the north side up some pretty loose rocky terrain. It took a little while, but we made it all the way to the top and enjoyed fantastic views of not only Sedona but the greater surrounding area as well and chit chatted with some fellow hikers at the top. Then it was practically a race down the trail back to the entrance to meet Jeff, who had stayed behind because he had injured his ankle the day before. We short-cut across this open grassy area, but I forgot to beware of the Agave cacti and tangled with one of them. I got some nasty cuts on my legs and shredded the front of my pants legs. Alas, that was the last trek for those pants. :-(

The way down was a little more precarious trying not to slip with all the loose rock on the trail, and my feet were killing me as they did not have enough padding in the soles to protect my feet bottoms from the rocks jabbing at my feet from underneath, but we managed to make it back and go get some food and water in us before we died of thirst, heat and exhaustion after 10 miles of hiking in the hot sun all day.


We cleaned ourselves up at the house and packed our things and got ready to head back to the faster-paced reality that is our home in the Bay Area. It was a fun trip overall and I was glad to get away and spend some time with the dear people I call my family on the west coast, not to be confused with my mid-west family that raised me from birth...now I just need to get myself an east coast family and I'll be set! Albeit an amazing trip, it was not quite as relaxing as I thought it would be, with 17 miles of hiking in all! I got acquainted with some muscles I hadn't used in a while, and made a mental note to bring better shoes next time.

CX Whirlwind

I didn't really plan to do a big CX (cyclocross) season this year, but I had gotten some good tips from a friend and was still itchin' to race, so I started in September with the Livermore LARPD series. Not many women showed up and I raced the B's with 1 other girl and won it. Woohoo! Didn't seem like much of a victory really, but it sure was fun to get out there and get in the dirt.

My goal for the season was to win some B races since the year before the best finish I had was 4th place in the B's. At least, that was the goal at the beginning of the season. I did another LARPD race and actually lapped a few of the women I had started with, which was surprising, but again only 4 women showed up, so it didn't seem like much of a victory. Next was the first CCCX race in Fort Ord. I checked out the course, which was mostly sandy single track and was having a lot of fun with it. They started the B group 30 seconds after the A group's start, and within a 1/4 lap I was off the front of the B group. Now, I decided, was my chance to put some time into the A's. I actually passed 5 of the A's and would have finished 5th or maybe even 4th place if I had raced the A group. I beat my nearest competitor in the B group by 4 minutes. At this point I was about to be labeled a sandbagger, so I was convinced by many I better step up my game and report to the A group for the next race.




Next race up was Lion of Fairfax and it was HOT out! I was wiping out all over the place on the warm-up and was pretty nervous. We started with 9 in the A group and I took off, went around the baseball field and in the one and only mud puddle in all of Marin county, I touched wheels with a woman in front of me and went down and got covered in mud! Leave it to me to find mud and be covered in it the whole race, all the while it drying out and making me look a little strange in the rest of the dry, dusty course. I managed the stay up for the rest of the race and got 3rd place! And when I got my first prize money my eyes were big like saucers. First race out and I had already met my next goal, which was to podium in an A race.

The next day I went down to the CCCX #2 in the other side of Fort Ord and again was pretty nervous about performing well with big hitters like Stella Carey, Sarah Mehle and Mary Anne Hunter. I got a good start and was right with those girls on the first lap. We went out fast, but settled into a pace and by lap 3 I had heard mumblings of some of the girls being tired, so I attacked on the hill. I didn't think it would stick, but I actually got a gap and was in 2nd place! I kept trying to attack in the hillier sections of the course, not letting up and was able to hold off the ladies behind me all the way to the end and came within 15 seconds of Stella, our local legend in CX racing. I was on top of the world. Reeling with disbelief and enthusiasm.



At this point was when dear miss Lorri Lee Lown got in touch with me and started encouraging me to check out nationals in Kansas City, MO. I was thinking this was a little premature, but with a little more coaxing I was convinced to register for 2 events and get my plane tix to go out in mid-December. Between the end of September and mid-December I needed to prove that I belonged out there.

I went out to the LARPD series again and decided this time to mix it up in the men's B category since I had seen Sarah Mehle do that the race before. It was sooo much fun! I never get to race in groups that big and found it was great because there always seemed to be someone I could work with throughout the race, and I actually ended up finishing mid-pack. Yay! And the guys were very encouraging the whole time, which I thought was sensational.

Next up was CCCX #3 down at Laguna Seca, and that's where things fell apart a little bit. It was a very steep course, with a lot of loose gravel sections easy to slip on and off-camber turns you really had to keep your eye on. I was doing all right in 5th position, trying to hang on for dear life and a racer came up behind me on the scary section in the course right before you head back down to the start/finish line and made an attempt to pass. I lost my balance and was leaning hard into her to stay upright, but as she passed my momentum kept me going and I crashed. My chain also popped off the ring and I spent the next 5 minutes trying to get it back on as racers were passing me left and right. I finished the race, but got a sad 13th place finish. It was a bit of a demoralizing day for me. :-(

After that I headed off to Sedona on a trip with my west coast family (see blog entry) on the weekend of the Pilarcitos series race #1 in McClaren Park. Had I known I would have a chance to do well in the A group, I wouldn't have planned the trip, but considering the wounds I was nursing from the previous weekend, it was probably good to take a break...if you call 17 miles of hiking a break!

I got back into the mix with the Surf City Velo Bella Physhocross race, and dressed up as a redneck. I think I thoroughly grossed everyone out with my outfit, which the lovely Laura Walpert helped me with since she drove down with me to witness her first ever CX race. The costume was a hit! I had a moustache, billy bob teeth which I secured with fixodent, chest hair, armpit hair, tattoos, a wifebeater, bib overall shorts, tube socks with red stripes markered on them, and a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) box taped all over my helmet. After the costume race, I didn't have time to change for the women's race, so I raced in my costume. I actually confused a few people who thought I was a guy poaching the women's ride, and when they realized I was a girl, I heard a lot of "ew" about the chest hair. It was great! Too bad the race didn't turn out as great. I think I ended up 11th overall, but the results took forever to post, and in the end they missed me in the results altogether. Oh well. Se la vie.



My first taste of mud was at the Santa Rosa race in the beginning of November. It was awesome! Racing in the mud in a downpour of rain, and I had a silly grin on my race the whole time! I also discovered the advantages of having a B bike, because I got mud jammed in my breaks after less than 2 full laps! It was a small field of 4 or 5 racers and I ended up 3rd, but had so much fun! Taking off my clothes at the car (still in a torrential downpour) I STILL could not stop smiling as I discovered more and more places where the mud had settled in on the nooks and crannies of my body. It was a mess, but I still loved it! Thanks to Aron Bonar for coming up to the race with me and helping get my bike and I hosed off afterwards. He was an awesome wingman! The best part was since I drove home in the rain with the bike on top, it was all clean by the time I got home and all I had to do was lube the chain and it was set to go for Sunday's race! Haha.



Sunday was BASP #2 at Candlestick Park. It was warm and the course was tacky instead of a full on mud-fest like the day before. I got an OK start and finished 7th overall. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed talking and socializing after the race and catching up on how everyones' seasons had been going, plans for next year's road and track seasons, etc. Great fun and great people. I felt like I was getting back into the game at that point.

The most exciting race of the year was the Saturday night race at Coyote Point as part of the BASP series. I led my women's ride earlier in the day and got in 40 miles on the road, then hung out in the 80 degree weather at the race (seriously...can you believe the temps in early November?). It was exciting to watch as the sun went down and the dust clouds were everywhere all over the course and the big lights were put up for the night races. I started at 6pm, right after the sun went down. We got a great turn out and the gun was off! It was fast from the get go, but I was hanging on to the lead group, and by the 2nd lap around onto the pavement through the start finish an attack happened and I tried to hang on, but the group split up. I managed to grab onto Stella Carey and Karen Brems and work with them throughout the rest of the race.

By the time bell lap came I decided to punch it and see if I could get a gap. And low and behold I did get a little one. I managed to make it through a series of loop-dee-loos unscathed and heard a scuffle behind me, not knowing Karen and Stella had tangled. I kept going as fast as my little heart could stand and by the time I hit the last straight stretch on the grass before you U-turn to the paved finish, I realized I still had a gap and gave it everything I had. I sprinted for the finish and managed to get 4th place! I was so stoked I couldn't believe what just happened. My first podium in a well attended race against a strong group of ladies. I was on top of the world. I had my whole team cheering for me and was glad I didn't disappoint. It was a night I'll never forget.



Here's a link to Mike Hernandez's race report, which Beth Newell was so kind as to point out to me the next week. It totally made my day and I am so thrilled there just aren't words to describe. Thanks Mike! You're the best! BASP #3 Race Report

Next day was CCCX back at Fort Ord and there was but a small crowd as most people were still recovering from the previous night's race. Again, I was up against Karen Brems and Stella Carey and stayed with them through the first lap. Karen attacked halfway through the 2nd lap and got away. I stayed with Stella for most of the rest of the race, until we were just about to come around for bell lap and I hit a loose sandy burm and went down hard on my right knee. It hurt sooo bad, and it was sooo hot, but I tried to get back on my bike and finish up the race. I had lost Stella at this point, but decided to finish since my knee seemed to be able to take it and try to maintain 3rd position. I finished it up in 3rd place and nursed a sore, swollen knee all the way home. Thankfully, I had carpooled with Lauren Haughey and she was driving, so I was able to prop up and ice my knee all the way home.

The next two races were districts as part of the CCCX series at Manzanita Park and BASP #4 at Golden Gate Park. Both great races and both tons of fun. I had raced the Manzanita Park race last year and loved it! It had rained prior to the race in 2007 and the course was nice and soft. This time it was bone dry though, giving it an entirely different feel and making the turns a little more precarious. Golden Gate Park, on the other hand, was dry the year before and little more soft this year since it had rained earlier in the week. The course set up was great and I had an amazing time out there. It was well attended by racers and fans alike, making the race all the more exciting. I ended up 5th for both races, which wasn't as fabulous as prior results, but nothing to get too upset about either.



The last race before I was to head off to nationals was the BASP #5 at Coyote Point. Right before this I had managed to get another bike together with the help of some great friends, Jon Suzuki for getting me an awesome Ridley X-fire painted in team colors, which was my first carbon frame ever! He also helped me round up all the extra parts I didn't already have and I talked to my friend Josh Snead to do all the switching around to get both of my CX bikes set up and ready to go for the Coyote Point race and more importantly for nationals. So, Coyote Point was the first time out on the new X-Fire and I had a great time. Although, I had a little hiccup in the beginning. I was a complete space cadet and forget to register for the race and pin my number! The first time ever I have done that, and thankfully I realized it about 30 seconds before our race went off so Casey Kerrigan could note my number and tell the officials at the start/finish line.



Here I am racing and I don't even know if it will count. I yelled out to my teammates as I was headed over a log barrier "I forgot to register for my race! Someone register me!" Heading around in lap 2, still a little rattled, they were trying to assure me it was all taken care of, so I could get my head back in the game. I managed to bridge up to a group of girls, and stay with them for the remainder of the race, even though I was having some shifting problems with the new bike. On the final lap I shortcutted on the sidewalk (totally legal) and got ahead of Katrina Baumsteiger, who had also had some great results this year. Stella got a little gap on us, and it was her, Sarah Bamberger and I sprinting for the finish with me in 3rd position. I got around Katrina, but Sarah staved me off, and I ended up 5th for the day. Overall, I finished out the BASP series in 7th place...not bad considering I missed the first race!



And then there were nationals...see blog entry for that one.

All in all, it has been in incredible season for me that I totally did not envision for myself. I guess all those hours in the saddle and a good road racing season under my belt was the right recipe for success. More than all the fun and all the challenge of it though, I really appreciate all the support from all my friends and family. I couldn't have rocked it as much as I did without you! Sorry, but I had to throw in the last little bit. ;-)

Puerto Rico

Like I said before, besides the travel to and from, PR was awesome! I had SUCH a great time! It was a totally worthwhile trip for sure. The weather was wonderful, the people were nice, the food to die for...you get the picture.

After finally getting everything squared away with United concerning my lost luggage, I finally met up with my cousin Lynnea and her husband TJ and we took off for the east side of PR to Luquillo to check into our hotel: OK, no that wasn't the hotel...it was the building next to the hotel. ;-) The hotel was actually pretty clean and nice considering the cost, and it was right off the ocean, which was sweet!

The first thing we did was get some food down the street and it was just was we needed. We got some traditional PR food called mofongo, which is mainly mashed up plantains with sauce on top and some type meat or seafood typically. It fills you up fast! (mofongo)

The next day we visited El Yunque, a rain forest on the east side of the island. It was incredible there. Lots of trails, waterfalls, flora and fauna, and tons and tons of coqui tree frogs that are the size of your pinky and make noises that seem like they are offering you cookies all the time..."cookie! cookie!;" hence the name coqui tree frog. We got to swim in one of the pools of water at the bottom of a waterfall and hiked a TON! It was incredible and exhilarating.

That very same day we also went on a kayak tour of one of the world's few permanent bio bays in Fajardo, short for bioluminescent bay. It's actually and lagoon that we went to through a canal of mangrove trees, which stink to high heaven but are part of what make the bioluminscence possible. If you have never experienced it, it's quite incredible. Any action in the water glows! Only at night of course, but it's really fun and something you'll never forget. We were soaking wet, tired and hungry afterwards, and it was so late that the only place open, sadly, was McD's. Damn! And I had gone so many years without eating that crap, but it's better than starving I guess.

The next day we packed our things and were on our way to Lynnea's grandfather's house down in the south central part of the island, called Coamo. First Lynnea grabbed this fruit from a roadside stand called quenepas, a childhood favorite of hers. They reminded me of lychee, but with a bit more tannins. About halfway down to Coamo after going in and out of rainstorms, I realized I left my phone back at the hotel...you guessed it...we had to turn around and go all the way back! It was somewhat of a blessing in disguise though, because we stopped off at a little strip mall and got some pizza, cash, starbucks (not my favorite, but way better than most coffee you can find on the island), and a spanish/english dictionary. Traveling through the mountains on the way down was beautiful and by the time we got to her grandfather's, we were starting to miss the cooler weather of the northeast.

Lynnea's grandfather has a small farm with horses up in the hilly regions of Coamo and we drove up there to check it out. It was very rustic, but great to see an area that was both underdeveloped and rural amongst a terrain filled with expensive mansions across the way. Both her grandfather, his girlfriend and girlfriend's son were all very generous and offered us a lot of family history. His house down in the flats also had tons of fruit growing on it that we got to eat...mango and soursops, which are these yummy custard-like fruit with a creamy texture and big watermelon-like seeds in them covered in a rough and scaly green shell.


Finally, we were off to the west side of the island to meet Lynnea's parents and nephews in Anasco. After getting to the resort we were going to be staying at, we checked out our digs and discovered that where we would be staying for the next 3 days would be somewhat of a glorified campsite...except we didn't have any camping gear. We got two rooms, one with a queen sized bed and the other with 2 bunk beds, a bathroom, and a kitchen with nothing in it but an electric stove top and a refrigerator. Now, these were pretty small quarters and we were going to cram 5 people into one of them...the bunk bed room. There was just enough space between the beds to put an air mattress and that was about it. Wow! It was a little distressing for the 3 of us that showed up first realizing we needed to get so many supplies for the stay there and would have to leave most of it behind. What a waste!

We headed off to k-mart to find food, supplies, etc. and were pretty exasperated trying to find what we needed at a reasonable price...did I mention we were melting down at this point due to plummeting blood sugar levels, lack of sleep, and mild exhaustion? It makes for a fun shopping trip let me tell you! By the time we got out of there we were steaming and drove back, unpacked our stuff and headed out in search of food before one of us exploded in a ball of fury.

We found a restaurant down the road and got some food and wine and united with my aunt and uncle Debbie and Jose and the boys Anthony and Xavier. It was great to see them again after 2 1/2 years and catch up. That was one of the best parts about my trip to PR honestly...catching up with the Aponte family (including getting to know Lynnea's husband TJ). They are some of my favorite family and I couldn't have asked for better travel companions. We laughed a lot, played a lot of cards and dominoes, spent time on the beach, and made some awesome food! I learned about an all-important ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking called , which is a blend of peppers, herbs and garlic. Yum!



Another cool event that happened besides relaxing, eating great food and swimming in the nice, warm ocean was, well, swimming in the nice, warm, bioluminescent ocean! It was amazing because we had just told Lynnea's family about visiting the bio bay, but as you can imagine, it's hard to describe something like that...you really just have to experience it. And that's what happened! There was a temporary bioluminescence on the west side of the island we the whole gang got to swim in it and splash around in it and leave glowing trails in our midst. I would spread my fingers wide and flow through the water and watch these sparks fly off my hands that looked like diamonds weaving in and out of my fingertips. I'll have that image in my head forever!

Lynnea, TJ and I said farewell and headed back towards Old San Juan for our last night in PR to try and enjoy one night on the town. They snuck me in their room since they were going to charge us double just to have a 3rd person in the room. We did a little site seeing around El Morro, a fortress from colonial times that encompasses a large part of San Juan. The architecture was a beautiful mix of old and new, rich and poor and the sunset amazing. Then we got dolled up to head out and get our drink on! We found this amazing restaurant called Dragonfly, which was an asian/latin fusion. It was some of the best food I have had in my entire life, and I' not exaggerating. I highly recommend it to anyone! After eating such an amazing meal, our hopes were high for finding some grand entertainment in the nearby bars...yet what we discovered fell a little short...at least for me. I was pretty beat and headed back to the hotel to crash while Lynnea and TJ went on to have a great night...it was nice to give them some time alone and catch up on my sleep.

We awoke and headed out for our last meal in PR, which was actually the worst food we had during our stay there, which set the stage for my travels home (see Pure Hell blog). But, the memories from this trip will long outlast the pain of travel to and from and for that I am grateful. I highly recommend going to this amazing place and seeing for yourself was a gem it is. The people were always friendly, helpful and fun. The food amazing! Scenery to die for! And who can top 80 degree water temps. Love it! Would go again in a heartbeat.

Pure Hell

I had the opportunity to go check out Puerto Rico, so I was excited to get away for a week and enjoy some sun and a little r&r. A couple of years ago I had gone to Arizona for my cousin's wedding and had talked with her dad (my uncle) about Puerto Rico. They had been planning to go and bring their grand kids, and I told him that the next time they went I wanted to come too. He said of course I could come and that's how it all got started.

The plan was to meet my cousin and her husband in San Juan and stay on the east side of the island for a few days and then slowly make our way to the west side and meet up with her mom, dad and nephews. Sounded like a sweet plan to me. I booked my ticket and was on my way. Now, the trip itself was awesome, but the travel to and from was PURE HELL! I can't believe we pay money for this. It still amazes me. It seems more like something you would do to punish someone, say instead of community service, you just make them go on a plane trip and be sure to do the following:

1) Make sure to set the flight up to leave late at night after a full day of work. That way the person is nice and relaxed and refreshed before they take off.

2) Delay the flight take-off for an hour or so just to make sure that the person is still enjoying him/herself at 1am.

3) Make the connecting flight less than 45 minutes away in an airport where getting out of the plane, running through the terminal and catching the connector takes 55 minutes.

4) Once you catch the connector, make sure that person has to sit in the plane on the tarmac for 3 hours...at least. And make it for no particular reason whatsoever while you're at it.

5) Place a screaming child in the same row...whose parents don't do anything to calm the child...for the entire 3 hours!!!

6) Then, to top it all off, lose the person's luggage when you get to the final destination. It helps if the people you are reporting your lost luggage to don't speak any English.

7) Finally, make sure the luggage doesn't show up for 2 days into the trip.

Now, if that doesn't torture you enough, why don't you put it in reverse, but throw in a few extras just to make it interesting:

1) Don't feed the person (I mean, NOTHING...not even peanuts or crackers or cookies) unless they are willing to pay $7 for a 'snack' that consists of some crackers and cheese and other mystery things.

2) Don't give the person water either unless they are willing to pay $2 for a little bottle.

3) Make that a 4 hour flight with no food and water and add on expenses for pillow, blanket or headphones.

4) Make sure all the kids are screaming in unison on the descent to your connector.

5) In the final leg of the flight, which brings you back to San Francisco (home sweet home), make sure the only 2 children on the flight are sitting right in front and right in back of you, screaming and kicking for half the flight.

6) And, just when you thought your 'community service' was over, have them lose your luggage for a SECOND time...and make sure it takes them another 2 days to get it back to you.

7) Oh, and have them break your luggage while they're at it, so you have to buy new luggage.

Any recommendations for where to get some new luggage by the way?

Make sure the person not only is forced to do this, but had to PAY for it as well.

Road Racing: Must cat up!

I finally started my road racing season this year after getting settled back into a routine since searching for a new job, getting one, going to Brazil, and then starting the new job. Whew! I'm tired already just thinking about that again let alone the racing!

My goal this year was simple. I needed to cat up from 4 to 3. I had started racing road in 2006 and got 12 points my first year. Not bad considering at the start of the season I was just learning how to draft, corner, ride in a pack, get comfortable using the drops, and hadn't even gotten the hang of sprinting out of the saddle, tactics, etc. etc. You get the idea. I was a mess at first and had no clue what I was doing. It's amazing I never crashed until late July this year.

My 2nd year I did only 4 races...feeling unmotivated and lazy I guess. I had decided to focus on cyclocross and thought sitting on my ass and not racing was somehow going to get me all rested and ready for CX in 2007. Well, not quite. Needless to say, I didn't do well in my races and, according to the USA Cycling rules, all my points expired after 1 year and I had to start all over again. Dammit! All that work for nothing. I figured it was going to be a long ass season.

My first race I got talked into doing my my Metro Minty friend Jes was Cat's Hill. My neighbor Sean thought I was insane to start my season with that race, talking about how it was going to be a humbling experience, I would be lucky to hang with the pack, yadayada. So, I figured, I would just go, try to hang in the pack and just get the first race over with and go for a ride down in Los Gatos afterwards to get back into my routine of accumulating base miles.

Mind you, this course is L-shaped with a 20+% grade hill in it, that you have to climb each lap. That's why Sean figured I would get pummeled. So, I started the race and was actually hanging in there. The hill was a bitch, but doable. I kept telling myself, "well, it's easier than a CX race." Before you know it, the last lap was upon me and from what I had been told, the best place to attack was on the hill. First person to the top generally wins even though you still have half a lap to go. So, I did just that...attacked that hill with everything I had. The surprising part was that I actually passed girls on the downhill part...too gassed from the climb I guess. I turned the final corner in 3rd place and sprinted with everything I had left and actually held it. I couldn't believe it. My first crit back and I got 3rd place! In a 3/4 race no less that wasn't picked separately. I was so stoked. I followed this up with the EB Crit in Pleasanton, which considering it's a simple circular course, you'd think it would be safe as can be. Yet, I find those races to be the most dangerous. It's as if once you don't have to think about anything technical like turning, etc. in a race, people's brains shut off. A bunch of my racing friends did the same crit and all said it was the sketchiest race they had ever done. I was able to get 5th in my category, good for a few points at least. Unfortunately for one of my dear friends, Alice, it was her last race of the season. She got taken out right after lap 1 was done and had her arm broken so bad she had to get surgery. We all felt terrible. She is back to kicking ass form though now and I hope she has an awesome race season next year. ;-)

The next race was the Golden State crit, up near Sac and it was raining on the way to the event. I had always vowed that I would never race in the rain, and as I was sitting on my trainer in the rain watching the juniors race around, I thought "Damn, I'm actually crazy enough to attempt this." So there we were, the Cat 3/4 crew lining up in the rain ready to race. There was a hairpin, and surprisingly only on the first lap was there any trouble in our group. I swear again that once you add a technical element to the race, everyone pays attention and no one gets hurt. I managed to get 2nd place at that race. I was pretty happy considering I had almost bagged that race.

Then I did the Memorial Day crit near San Jose. I took a wrong turn and got there with about 30 minutes to reg, warm up and race. Yet, I managed to get 5th place again. Not the greatest, but still some points. I also went out and did a really pretty loop near there afterward to get some miles in and then hung out the rest of the day with my fellow friends and racers and drank beer while we watched the other races. It was so nice to just kick back and enjoy the day.

I had a bit of bad luck after that. I got sick, so had to skip the ICCC Dash for Cash, then I signed up for the 2 Wheel Crit in Santa Rosa. We had a team BBQ the night before, which in hindsight I probably should not have attended...I ended up carpooling up to the race with another racer, and we ended up in major traffic at the 580/101 interchange due to a detour, that delayed us for an hour! During that time, I kept getting more and more hung over and not feeling to great after by the time we go to Santa Rosa. We got there with 15 minutes to spare to get me registered, suited up and ready to go. While I was getting my number pinned on I was looking at the port-a-potty in front of me and suddenly blurted out "Uh, stop pinning cuz I have to us the bathroom now!" I raced into the port-a-potty just in time to puke my guts out. Pretty damn disgusting I know! Then I did my business, cleaned myself up and went back out to finish getting pinned. I figured at this point what's the worst that can happen? I already puked for crying out loud. So, I headed to the start line with no warm-up and just went for it. I actually managed to eek out a prime and a 6th place. I would have finished better because I was feeling strong enough, but I got boxed in at the last turn. Oh well.

I still planned to do a big ride afterward...my favorite ride called King's Ridge. If you've never done it, it's amazing! Although, it's a LOT of climbing. Check out this link that shows elevation maps and one other person's adventure with this ride: http://www.nd.edu/~cvandenb/KingRidge.htm In hindsight, biking from Santa Rosa all the way to the coast and doing a bunch of climbing on an already hot day after racing and being hung over...not so bright. I guess I removed some brain cells the night before along with the guts I got rid of earlier that day. I ended up putting in 95 miles for the day altogether and suffering for most of it. The views were still amazing, the descents awesome, and the time alone to enjoy it all priceless, so I don't regret that at least. It's so secluded that for a majority of the ride (from 116 along the Russian River along the route all the way until you hit Hwy 1) I only saw about 20 cars. Nothing like have the roads all to yourself.



I then attempted to race Pescadero, thinking I could get points in that race since they run deeper for road races vs. crits and also because they were picking Cat 3 and 4 separately...or so I thought. Again, I went on an adventure of missed turns and again showed up at the race with about 15 minutes to spare. They ended up starting us about 30 min late, so it didn't matter, but as Laura can attest, I was pretty stressed out driving there. Cursing lots, saying lots of other bads things too and all around being a real pain in the ass to be around. Sorry Laura. The race overall was exciting and I worked my ass off. I knew there were mostly Cat 3 racers around me, so I figured I had to at least get in the top 6. The fun thing about this race is that after you finish on a climb, you have to ride another 8 miles back to the start. Really demoralizing if you've had a bad race, which I had the last time I did this. I got back to the start anxiously awaiting the results to find out that I ended up 18/70-ish girls (not bad, I guess) and that they were NOT picking separately. I was so mad. I felt like I had wasted all that energy and stressed out so much for nothing. I was really bummed to say the least, and exhausted. That's what happens when I put way too many expectations on one race.

After that was the Napa Downtown Gran Prix. Now, as many of the guys will tell you, this course was a crash-fest. It was q-shaped and had this crazy hairpin where you had to go around a fountain or something. For the women though, it was actually a pretty fun race because of the smaller field sizes. I managed to get 2nd in the Cat 4 group...1 point shy of upgrade. At this point I had changed my goal from wanting to upgrade by the end of the season to wanting to upgrade by the time Burlingame came around because they didn't have a Cat 4 field, so the only way I could race it was if I was a Cat 3.

Next was the Vacaville crit. I figured this course would suit me since it had a hill in it like Cat's Hill. It was another blistering hot day and I was not feeling the most fresh. I was getting goose bumps from being overheated and was counting down the laps because I felt so shitty. I tried to attack on the hill like at Cat's Hill, but this turned out to be a bad move since you still have to do quite a bit of work before you get to the finish. I blew myself up and finished mid-pack...yet, I was actually the first cat 4 somehow. Too bad they didn't pick separately. I was pretty woozy for at least an hour afterward. Thankfully, I went up there with Anthony and Marisa, so they drove back. Great travel companions, by the way. ;-)

My two favorite crits of the year are Lafayette and Albany. I do them every year because they are so fun and so close I can bike there from my house. This year I did the Lafayette crit hoping for the best. There tend to be crashes, so I was hoping to manage to stay upright and get the 1 point I needed. I managed to get 5th overall but was curious how I ended up in the 4's since they were supposed to pick separately. Then they told us that they weren't going to pick separately because they didn't have a camera to pick out the racers. We were pissed to say the least. Show up to a race that does false advertising. Why not borrow a camera, or get a photographer to take pics of the finish and view each shutter shot to determine the results? But then they changed their mind and picked the top 3 for each category...and I won! I couldn't believe it. And I got some sweet prizes and money to top it off. I even got to go on a nice little ride afterward before heading home. Thankfully, Alice and Brian my neighbors where there and took all my winnings home for me since I rode there on my bike.

Now I could finally upgrade and it was official before the start of my last race of the road season: Albany crit. This was to be my first P123 crit and I was excited. I knew people tended to crash in the first turn, but otherwise it was a fun course and again bikeable from my house. We all lined up and took off...for about 10 feet before some girls tangled bars and went down. We did a neutral lap and restarted at the line. Mary Maroon took off on a flyer and had some back luck taking herself out, stating later that she probably should have raced with different tires. Then, Michiko took turn 1 too hot and took down 3 riders, including myself, Hanan and another girl. It's funny because I had just asked Karla a few weeks earlier how you go about taking a free lap since I never had to do that...never flatted and never crashed in a crit...out of 30 races!!! I was actually excited to take my first free lap and get back in the race and managed to finish 4th in the 3's and 13th overall.

I felt a bit sore from whiplash, but was pretty lucky I only suffered a big bruise on my ass and a stiff neck. Not bad for my first crash. It was ironic though that everyone always tells you the advantage of catting up is that the races are safer in the upper categories...and yet we had 3, count em, 3 crashes in my first P123 race...more than any other race I had ever done, and I had my first crash in this 'safer' category. On that note, I ended my road season and took off for some sun and fun in Puerto Rico. Blog entry to follow on that...

More adventures in Brazil

We did the 1 1/2 hour trek from Rio to Itacoatiara, a neighborhood in Niteroi and unloaded our things into two rental houses..Atlantico and Itacoatiara. They were both gorgeous with amazing views of the beach and all the amenities you could ever imagine you might need on vacation and then some...including lots of raw materials for caipirinhas. The only problem was the 1/4 mile of 15% or so grade hill between one house and the other. I sure got my ass in shape while I was there walking up and down that hill.

One house was set up as the chill house where our one young traveler and her parents were staying, along with Eve, Matt and myself. The other was considered the party house and had the birthday girl (Donna), Michael, Donna's son Jeff, the nanny (for Lali) and any other Brazilian friends of Donna and Michael's. Both places were set up so we could cook grand meals during our time there, which we did a majority of the time. And then there was the breakfast service we got every morning, which was awesome! Nothing like waking up to prepared breakfast every morning.

The other cool thing about our house was that we had lots of monkey friends that visited us every morning, especially since Lali would try to stuff them full of bananas all day long. They were absolutely adorable, but did start to get more aggressive and demanding if Lali wasn't up early enough to tend to their banana diet. They were so tiny though, and pretty harmless really.




































Besides hanging out on the beach, lounging around our houses and drinking caipirinhas, we did some sight seeing. First, a bunch of us headed back into Rio to check out Sugar Loaf mountain in the bay, which has a glass cable car the runs from the base to the top of both peaks. There are amazing views as well as a network of trails. We actually saw lots of wildlife up there, including lots of marmosets (little monkeys) which seemed to run rampant all over the Rio area, lizards and exotic birds too. We could even see the other famous sight way up on the other side of Rio, Cristo (Christ the Redeemer), which is a huge statue of Jesus; however, it was shrouded in fog for a majority of our time there. Jeff tried to check it out, but the best (and kind of creepy) picture he got of it was this:

Otherwise, the rest of us headed back to Ipanema beach to try and catch some sun...which promptly disappeared about 15 minutes after we got settled. Instead, we got to enjoy being the whitest people on the beach, which entails getting constantly bombarded by beach vendors trying to get you to buy their stuff. You start out polite, and by the end you just want to throw sand in every single vendors' face as soon as they get within 5 feet of you. You can't actually just sit there and enjoy the beach because you have to watch your stuff and make sure no one takes it while the vendors are distracting you. This was something we thankfully didn't have to endure when we hung out at the Itacoatiara beach.

We did have some rainy weather there, being that time of year for them, but since it's tropical, we really didn't mind. We hung around indoors, at food, played video games, watched movies, surfed the internet, did some acrobatic yoga...yes, that's right. I said acrobatic. Eve and her sister are both yoga instructors and decided to do some yoga. After all, what better way to spend a rainy day in Brazil, right? I got to try this out and Eve actually go me into a kind of reverse half wheel pose that turned out pretty cool!

We also, ironically, did some shopping in San Francisco, another neighborhood in Niteroi...well, some of us went shopping, while Matt went and got another tattoo. For 3 of us (Eve, Jeff and I), the exciting part of the trip was going hang gliding. We drove over to the northern part of Rio and literally ran off of a platform made of 2x4's off the side of a mountain of our own volition. Yep, we are officially crazy. The little specks on the side of the mountain are the platforms that you jump off of. Once I actually got over the fact that I was literally going to run off the side of a mountain into the air, it was a matter of just trying to enjoy the view, which was amazing! We got to glide around for about 20 minutes before landing on the beach down below. It was awesome! I had been sky diving about a month prior to this, but this was way more fun! The guy who Eve got to go with was the funniest man, who called himself Mosquito. He kept trying to joke and put us at ease before we took off and would tell us all about all the celebrities he had taken hang gliding. He even mentioned that he had been skydiving in the Bay Area. And, he posed in a picture with us afterward:

Our time together was coming to a close, so we had a big BBQ at the Atlantico house. There was lots of food, lots of caipirinhas, and lots of cheesy 90's music to dance to thanks to Matt. It was pretty hilarious watching everyone try to tear it up on the dance floor. I'd say it was the best night down there since everyone was in rare form and good spirits and there was no drama to be had. Just good times, lots of smiles and being silly.

The last full day we spent in Brazil we decided to climb up the rock on the other side of the Itacoatiara beach. Michael had been climbing up the front side for most of the trip free hand...he's crazy, but an experienced climber and does this all the time...still crazy though. I guess we all get our adrenaline rushes in different ways. He had discovered there was a trail on the back side of the rock that the majority of us could climb up and get amazing views of the bay in Rio, downtown, Cristos, Sugar Loaf, Niteroi, etc. It was quite spectacular I have to say. There were a few more adventurous people in our crew that wanted to join Michael on the rock face. Eve and Matt decided to give it a go. As they set off on their climb, the rest of us hung out at the top of the rock taking pictures, taking in the views and sunshine and were waiting for them to appear. First we saw Michael, then we saw the helicopter and the rescue squad. Michael told us that Eve had fallen and that Matt was stuck and needed to be rescued. We were all really freaked out to say the least. As you can see from this pictures, that rock face is about 1000 feet at least, and Eve had fallen somewhere near the top. Eve's sister Lucid, her husband Ronnie and their daughter Lali were the most upset obviously and we all were trying to calm them down and convince them it was best to head back down to the beach and make sure she was all right. She had dropped about 150 feet and suffered some severe "road rash" on both sides of her body, but was otherwise luckily in good shape. No concussion, no broken bones or even sprains. She had a pretty lousy trip home being so beat up and having to have most of her body wrapped up in bandages, but at least she was alive! Matt, was successfully rescued as well. It was a big lesson for everyone and a humbling experience for Eve and Matt for sure! Of course, all the locals were running around talking about the 'idiot Americans' taking the obviously wrong route up the rock face, but at least they were 'idiot Americans' who made it back alive!

Well, we almost made it through the entire trip without any drama. The only other bit of drama was the nanny we brought along to help take care of Lali. She was a big mistake. Not only was she just an odd duck, but she secluded herself from group early on and would just hide in her room when she wasn't taking care of Lali. It was a bit strange to say the least, and after having spent lots of time with Lali, we all concluded that we would have been better off without the nanny since Lali is such a joy to be around and actually pretty mature for her age. She seemed more socially capable than the nanny for sure! You started to wonder who was the adult and who was taking care of who. The nanny was good at entertaining Lali, but otherwise ruffled a lot of feathers. From what I hear of previous trips to Rio, there has always been one person in the group that brings down the fun level a bit, so according to them it was inevitable.

In the end though, I have to say I was amazed at how well we all got along and how much fun it was. It helps when you know your travel companions really well that's for sure. It was such a great experience and I would love to go again if I had the chance. Since Michael and Donna head down there a couple times a year, I am sure that idea is not far from reality. Biejos! ;-)

The Girl from Ipanema

After escaping the clutches of my job, I had the opportunity to head down to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil along with 9 other companions to celebrate my friend Donna's 50th birthday. This is a trip that had been in the works for over year and I was psyched to actually see it happen, especially since I hadn't left the country for 10 years! It was long overdue. Talk about timing too! See my post on Searching for Working. I was a little nervous because it seemed like an awfully large crew and I figured there was bound to be drama of which I wanted no part...just put me on a beach and put a caipirinha in my hand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha) and call it a day.

All 10 of us and our luggage managed to make it down there in one piece and the first thing we did was haul everything to our now dear friend Marta's house in downtown Rio right off the Copacabana beach. Despite the fact that this amazing beach was right in front of us, we were instructed by Donna and Michael our veteran Rio visitors to head straight to Ponte 9 of Ipanema Beach. So, away we went in 3 cabs up to Ipanema to catch some rays and try to acclimate to our new place and time after 14 weary hours of travel. I have to say, it was a perfect first day with sun shining, surf up, and an excited group chillin' and having and good time. The only rain on our parade was a pickpocket who stole Ronnie's iPhone within the 1/2 hour. I was impressed with how well he took it and didn't let it ruin his vacation. I would not have been so accepting I'm sure.

Later we struggled to stay awake long enough to go to a place called Porcao for dinner...which was comprised of a big salad bar and tons of guys running around with slabs of meat on skewers happy to carve hunks off onto our plates. There were actually little coasters with a pig on it, green on one side and red on the other, used to indicate if you wanted more meat or not. They didn't really pay any attention though. Even if you waved your arms frantically signaling "no more, please!" they still tried to stuff you full of more...just like a pig I guess!

I happily climbed into bed that night after having been up for about a day and a half, although I had wished it wasn't so humid. My friend Eve and I shared a room and were dying by morning...when we figured out we had an air conditioner in our room. By then it was of little use since we had to pack our things and head off to our next destination across the Rio-Niterói Bridge in Itacoatiara where our rental houses were awaiting us.

Searching for working

I got my review in late January and it was not good. I was sooo pissed off because it was the topper to a grand week...my boyfriend and I broke up, I found out I had failed the CFA exam I had been studying for in preparation the last 9 months and now this!

I was especially frustrated because I worked my ass off for the previous year trying to keep our department afloat since 2 of our 4 man crew quit within a month of each other. My colleague and I had to put out fires on a daily basis for quite a few months and help the whole business unit with interviewing, hiring and training 7 other people to help us reign in what had to be done and make the workload bearable for all. After all this, cleaning up and reconciling a majority of our most challenging accounts and making all my customers happy, I get told that my work is insufficient, that I have been slacking off and I didn't care about my work.

Now, as many of you mid-westerners know, being told you don't have a good work ethic is like getting told your mama's a ho...you just don't do it because it's insulting. So, I did what any stubborn, highly opinionated woman would do...I wrote a rebuttal, backed everything I said up with evidence and submitted it to my managers (3 at this point in time...kinda ridiculous, right?). Within a few weeks I was brought down to HR and put on probation for being insubordinate. The nerve of those people! Not only is this retaliation, but they did it to someone who won't put up with that crap.

I started immediately looking for a new job, a tiring effort to say the least. Anyone who has worked, trained and tried to search for a new job at the same time can empathize I am sure! You get to where you hate looking at job postings, you get tired of trying to sound fresh in each application and new cover letter you personalize and you just want it over and done with. And then, the miraculous happened...I got my revenge!



One of the great things about my job was that they gave out sweet bonuses...we're talking 20-30% of your salary. I had actually timed things so perfectly that I would get my bonus, give my notice, leave 10 days later, go to Brazil and then start fresh at the new job on my return. Talk about amazing timing! I could not have planned it better if I tried.

Since then I have kept in touch with a few people I worked with and gotten updates. Sad to say for them, things continued down hill and now given the economy, they are laying off 25% of their work force and the stock is not doing well. I feel somewhat glad that our department was never the same after I left, but I feel bad at the same time that the friends I left behind are suffering under a larger workload, some impossible managers and a stressful work environment given the unpredictability of layoffs. I hope things look up for them soon, but I sure am glad I got out when I did.