Closed for the season?

After our epic hike last weekend, I went to fill up our water bottles at the drinking fountain.   "Aww nuts," I thought, "Its closed for the season."  

I pushed the "on" button in anger.  My anger paid off.

This must be some sort of drinking fountain safety device.  First time I ever saw one.

A new feature!

I've needed to realign my web browsing since I don't live in the Midwest anymore- sorry skinnyski, bikethrow, mcf and the like. So you can have a glimpse into my life, I've started the "Where I go when my brain is fried" list to the right. As my brain gets more crispy from being so academic at work, I'm sure my list will get longer. Here's a start at least.

High Wind Day?

I'm used to Snow Days in MN, where there's so much snow that everyone stays at home. School is canceled, activities are canceled, traffic is a mess. Here in Hawaii, I experienced the seemingly equivalent to a Snow Day. I'm calling it a High Wind Day (due to the high wind warning). Today school was canceled all across the island and neighboring islands because 60 mph winds were predicted. Sideburnz and I spent quite a bit of time researching this on the internet before venturing out this morning to make sure we'd be safe. So far so good... well... Sideburnz hasn't returned from his safari to the mall yet... Everything in Honolulu is 'go' as usual- people are out and about, stores and coffee shops are open- I just don't have to teach today. In fact, I'm probably not supposed to be here because the email said "Only essential personnel should report to work." Alas, the demands of a new faculty member make me essential personnel.

I think this is awfully ironic, because yesterday in MN, it was terribly cold with the high temp well below zero. Minnesotans had to go to school. I had no trouble riding my bike around town today. The wind didn't make me fall over or anything. Unfortunately, my hopes of reading at the Waikiki Library were dashed because, like the public schools, it too is closed due to the winds. I had to settle for Starbucks and eventually my office. Drat. The weather is not particularly nice with intermittent sun and full-on downpours, so I'm content enough to work (and blog).

I'm hoping for good weather tomorrow so I can give the local canoing club a try. I have been pretty much hobbiless for the past 2 weeks and my pacing around the house is starting to drive me (and Sideburnz) nuts. One of my issues is the length of daylight. My brain is still programmed on Northern Climate temperature-day length relationships. When its warm and sunny, it should be light 14 hours a day. Now, I'm not complaining, because I'd gladly take 11 hours of warm daylight than 8 hours of bitter cold daylight, but at 6pm its dark here. Then what do I do. I'm still too daylight dependent for activities, so at 6pm I eat dinner and sit in my tiny apartment listening to podcasts of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me or Car Talk. Hopefully an active hobby like canoing will at least wear me out!

Well, I'm proud to say that I've made it through my first week of being an assistant professor. One week down, fifteen more to go until Summer!

We made it!

We've officially been here for 5 days.  I haven't blogged because I had to make sure we weren't going to run away screaming from the get-go.  We're adjusting to our new roles well: I'm going back to my "work until you can't see straight" mentality and Sideburnz is becoming a house husband.

So far, we've both made some rookie mistakes.  Probably the most notably was the great chicken stirfry dinner Sideburnz made last night.  He went to the local farmers market and bought some delicious fresh veggies.  Every thing was great, especially if we wanted to follow the Atkins' diet.  Somehow rice was left off of the grocery list.  I can't be upset,  because Sideburnz remembered everything else: oil, soy sauce, chicken...  The duplex cookies he bought for treat definitely made up for it.

My rookie mistake was part laziness.  We went to the beach on Tuesday when I was done with work.  Sideburnz brought my swim suit (and he even remembered all of the pieces!) and I changed at the restrooms.  After we were finished swimming, I rinsed off, and feeling slightly lazy, I decided that I would just put my tank top and skirt on OVER my wet swim suit.  Well, it took about 4 seconds for me to realize it was not the best idea.   I had developed 2 very noticable wet spots on my tank top where my boobs were.  No worries, I had another shirt to wear, so I put the other shirt on over top.  Things seemed ok until we were almost home (a 30 minute ride that's mostly up hill).  I developed a nasty chaffe mark on my leg from my saddle and was really wanting some chammy butter for my underside.  I got home and laughed at how foolish I looked wearing soaking wet semiprofessional attire- a new suit and some board shorts are definitely in order.  My current suit (circa 2004) has a neat function called "lets flash maria's boobs when she's swimming."

Today was a record day for sleep- we stayed up until 9:30 and I slept until 6.  Sideburnz is still sleeping (tired panda).  This weekend will hopefully afford us some fun time and probably a few more stories.  

The lesser of two evils

I woke up to 34F and 2 inches of slush on the ground this morning. My morning activity options were 1) ride for 2+ hours or 2) grade 24.5 poorly written research papers. I rode. I don't mind riding in the snow, but slush is different. Cars put slush all over me when the pass me. My front tire put slush all over me because I only have a rear fender on my mtn bike. The Gateway trail put slush all over me because no one wanted to use it this morning (probably on account of the slush). My feet froze despite wool socks and my beloved Lake boots. The rest of me was toasty. Nothing like standing in the shower without feeling the bathtub under your feet.

You can tell I'm really motivated to grade these papers since I'm blogging (24 papers left to go).

Yeah, I'm still racing cross. Lots of other weird stuff is going on too, so I don't have much time to keep you updated on my race results. State champs is Sat. That will probably warrant a post.

Two "Races of My Life" in Two Days

CX season started Sept 21 in Moorhead, MN. I forgot how much CX hurts. The hurt is exactly why I love it and want to do it more- I guess that's sort of sick. This weekend I drove to Madison, WI to race with the Big Girls (UCI race). I didn't have any expectations. Alex from VB was there for support and Kathy Sherwin (VB pro CXer) flew in from Utah to race. I knew I just had to "do my best." Since I became a veteran of racing with the big girls last year, I was pretty stoked and not too nervous for the race on Saturday. The heat and humidity were a major barrier for me, sweaty girl. After the whistle, I had a slow start, but caught on to the lead group of women right away. "Wow, I'm racing WITH the Big Girls." For the first 2 laps, I was racing with the big girls! Then I tried to bridge up to the next group. Hmm... body thought differently... panicked, I went into recovery mode. 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th...11th I slowly was passed. 11th. Bummer. I still won money, and I was still proud to have lasted 2 laps with the Big Girls.

Saturday night was early bed time at Tink's house. I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 9. Sunday I was feeling peppy and a little more nervous. I didn't want a repeat of Saturday. Sunday proved to be a very different day- Twenty degrees cooler for starters. I did my usual warm up with a few extra laps on the course to get the technical sections figured out. Off the line, I was in almost the same place as Saturday- near the front. I dropped my chain after the barriers which dropped me into 10th or so. Yikes! Lap 1 and I'm already hanging on to 10th place! I wasn't having any of that, so I picked my way through the riders and latched on to Kathy's wheel. She didn't seem comfortable in the corners (recovering from hand surgery makes it tough). I could barely hang on during the flat sections, but in every corner I was right on her wheel. Catherine from Trek was not far ahead, but Kathy wasn't making up the ground. Finally, with 3 to go, I went around Kathy to bridge the gap. I knew she'd follow and maybe she could pick up even more places. The closer. Catherine was caught. At the end of the lap Kathy attacked and gapped Catherine. I wanted to go super bad, but I knew that would just pull Catherine back up to Kathy. I don't usually have teammates, so I'm surprised I even remembered to stay back! For 2 laps, I just rode my bike. No, not leisurely sitting behind Catherine, I rode my bike as if that was the only thing I knew how to do. My brain was so oxygen deprived that if you asked me a basic question, like my name, I'm sure I couldn't answer it. I wanted to pass Catherine, but I was so maxxed out that I didn't even know how muster more effort. I crossed the line in 7th. What a day! The podium is only 2 spots away! UCI race goal now upgraded... formerly, just hang on.... presently, kick ass, take names, find the podium. Maybe I'm meant to do this.

Special thanks to the Rosch's for their hospitality and Alex for putting my with my dirty bikes.

The Post Script.
I hate I-94 between Mpls and Madison. What makes it worse is when you still can't handle solid food, and you're driving on I-94 between Mpls and Madison in the dark. My GI system is still recovering (its 4:30pm on Monday).

CX is in the air

Knee warmers, not warm enough
Leg warmers, check
Arm warmers, not warm enough
Long underwear, check
Gloves (full fingers), check
Hat, ch...wait, if I wear a hat now, how will I stay warm this winter? not cold enough outside yet.
Thermal coat, check
Wool socks, check
Lake winter boots, thought about it, probably would have been happier with them on.
I hate it when my feet feel like stumps, especially when I can't feel the bottom of the bathtub when I'm showering.

Its fall in Minnesota! 50 degrees at ride time Wed-Fri this week, yowzers!