August Adventure #1: Marin Century

I knew after Vineman things were going to get a little nutty around here. August is going to be rather exciting/crazy, so I won't promise much blogging, but I should have plenty to blog about when I finally DO get to writing!

I went to Rainmaker's blog yesterday and realized I'm 3 4 (I just checked...as of today, it's 4...sigh) posts behind...and his posts are often rather, um, lengthy (but so chock-full of GREAT STUFF!), so then I was like "oh wow I am sooooooo behind" and I instantly kind of felt bad and realized that not only was I behind on his blog, but a few other folks' as well. Maybe I'll catch up on Sunday - before I get any FURTHER behind!

So this weekend's adventure is the Marin Century on Saturday. It's 100 miles and 6,250 feet of climbing, and covers some of the most beautiful area through Marin & Sonoma County along the coast and just inland. The weather should be awesome - some morning fog that should burn off as we climb the Marshall Wall and (hopefully) get some stellar views of the coast.

(This is a poster from last year - but it's the same route every year)

I did this ride two years ago with my friend Megan from Berkeley and Michael M. from Lombardi Tri. What a ride that was! First Michael's bike broke...I think he broke a spoke, but I honestly can't remember what happened. Basically he was out of commission, so Megan and I rode on.

Then, very tragically, we came upon a scene of cyclists gathered on the side of the road trying to administer first aid to another cyclist who had apparently had a seizure and then a heart attack (I think, if I remember correctly). We continued to ride because paramedics had been called and we didn't want to add to any mayhem. But we later found out the young woman (she was about 29) had died. It was so sad!

THEN about 3 miles down the road, another cyclist had hit a pothole and was on the side of the road, thankfully not hurt too badly.

This was all in the first 40 miles or so. UGH! Megan and I were pretty spooked at that point, but we pressed on and ended up enjoying the day. Still, I was pretty shocked and saddened by everything and knew that I wanted to do the ride again and hopefully create some new memories on the course.

Last year I was gone during the Marin Century.

And here we are, 2008! So at 7 a.m. tomorrow, I'm meeting up with Megan and her friend Brian from Berkeley, and Kelly is going to ride with us for like, 35 miles or something until she has to go home. I'll be bringing my camera and hopefully will catch some great shots! I've promised myself that I am NOT going for time, that I will stop at the top of climbs and take pictures, and that I just want to go out and have a great day and enjoy the climbs and the scenery.

Oh yes, I'm pretty sure by mile 80 my legs are going to be killing me, but it will be worth it. :)

Finally, I thought I'd announce 3 new blogs to my blog roll and 3 new songs of the week!!!

As for blogs:

1: You've GOT to check out Tawny's blog, http://lookingforabetterhobby.blogspot.com/. She is a super fab swimmer, SUPER funny woman, and if you met her in person, you couldn't help but smile because she is cute as a button and just radiates so much GREAT energy! So Tawny is not a tri geek - she's an open water swimming person who is doing the Catalina Channel swim (from Catalina to San Pedro - 21 miles). GO TAWNY!

2: Beth's Blog - California Training. I met Beth at Vineman in person finally. I had found her & James' food blog (Vo2 maxxed) awhile back and their recipes are always so good. It turns out Beth's blog is pretty cool, too. Just like Beth! But watch out, she's going to be a force in the field, I'm pretty sure - she can run like WIND (she passed me at mile 7 at Vineman and pulled off an AMAZING time WHILE being SICK!).

3: Tri-Geek's Pursuit of an Ironman. Tri Geek is on Fitness Journal, and we met on the discussion boards there. Yay, he started a blog! Everybody welcome him to tri-blog world!

Songs of the Week
(not 'new' songs by any means, but newly added to my spinning song collection)

1. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - MONTY PYTHON! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! This will be next week's cool down song at the end. Ha. ;) (This is from Life of Brian...god i love monty python)

2. That's All - Genesis (I know, so old school but a good climbing song! I heard it the other day and was like OMG! I HAVEN'T HEARD THIS IN FOREVER!) (btw the video is super dumb.)

3. The Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News (btw, I put the video with all the clips from Back to the Future because that is one of my most favorite movies of all time and I get all happy watching this video. GO MARTY MCFLY!)

Poll
Okay, so there was a serious dispute about the movie "Dark City". I just need to know who liked it and who didn't. I, personally think it's an AWESOME movie. That's all I have to say about that.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYBODY!