still funny

Furnace Creek 508 more and more photos

(background on this year's Furnace Creek 508 here)

There are a lot of lessons in 508 miles. No matter how many times I do this race, there's always so much I don't know and so much still to learn about myself. Case in point: hallucinating riding up Salsberry Pass. Some say the desert is empty, I say it is full of plenty of stuff, some real, some not. The rattle snake that sent Dave running? Real. I heard that rattler from 20 feet away! The Golden Retriever with floppy ears on the side of the road panting because of the heat? Not real. I saw it, smiled at it, but knew it wasn't real. Does that make it less of a hallucination?

This climb last year, at about mile 300, came after the insane headwinds. I raced up it. This year it was earlier in the morning, but I was taxed at this point. Yes, it is possible to undertrain. This ride taught me that! Anyway, I was having so much trouble staying awake that the van pulled next to me off and on just to check on my level of awakeness (which ranged from able eyes open and not hallucinating to full-on eyes closed falling asleep while pedaling). A four-person team passed me and not long after I looked up and said to Dave, 'Whoa, what are all of those lights up there?' It was the support vehicle. Again, I knew this, but not until after I said that. Dave was concerned.

At the top of the climb they gave me some potatoes cause I hadn't eaten much on the long climb (everything tasted super duper dry- had trouble swallowing. From all the black tea? Anyone ever experience this?). They also let me in the van to sit and eat, which I would learn later was some drama amongst the crew. On the ride home Monday I was told the conversation went something like this:

Lisa: Why'd you let him in the van? He's not suppose to get in the van for any reason.
Sabrina: He needs to eat! And sit! It's okay.
Lisa: It's not okay! Morgan said to never let him in the van under any circumstances!
Sabrina: He's a human, damnit, he needs some comforts!
Lisa: He's not human, he's a machine and he needs to keep going!!

Meanwhile I had fallen asleep while eating. I woke up with half chewed potatoes in the my mouth and had no idea what they were. At least Dave saw the face I made which can best be described as the face one would make upon waking up with an unidentified substance in his mouth.

Needless to say, they decided it was unsafe for me to ride the fast, long descent into Shoshone, in the dark, while I was unable to stay away on my own accord. I laid down to sleep for 30 minutes, which would be the longest sleep I had ever had on this race.

After waking up and starting the descent my bike had a crazy death wobble. It was so bad I could barely control it in order to slow down. Scary.

What could possibly cause that? Notice I'm running two different Mavic wheels. I'd been having weird noises with my rear and it turned out to be the Patented Mavic Death Squeal. So I was running my old rear wheel, but we never figured it out and it didn't happen again. Lots of flex in my frame though. Getting it checked out this weekend...

The hardest stage of this race: the 56 miles from Shoshone to Baker. False flat, headwinds, expansive, unchanging scenery. Miles 325-381. Misery.

Right after this photo I resorted to wasting time by sorting out my arm and leg warmers/coolers. Very slowly. I didn't realize what I was even doing, but my crew did. After the race they'd tell me, 'We let you do it once. But we weren't about to let you sit and waste time again. Luckily you didn't try to.'

The crew asked if there was anything I needed, still on that painful Shoshone to Baker section. I said, 'Yeah a list of reasons I shouldn't quit.' Was I serious? Yes. I wanted to quit. I won't lie like I've some deeply seated sense of triumph or courage that pushed me on. I wanted to quit because it was hard. The reasons on this list, even before I saw them, did push me on.


Wild Burros 4-person team passed me here and I'd never see them again.

Feeling better. Less hot.

I slept again in Kelso. Unheard of! At this point I just want to finish. Beautiful skies on the second to last big climb. Within 100 miles.

Sheephole Summit and the last leg, on paper, look horrible. But I embrace it. It's cooler. The end is in sight. I love riding in the evening. I push on. Tired, but not falling asleep. It's kind of quiet on the roads. Last year I somehow passed four solo riders on this section. Not this year. I passed a few stopped on the side of the road and wouldn't be passed by any. Though someone threatened at the end and I wouldn't believe my crew. 'We are not fucking with you!! Seriously, someone is coming, ride faster!' is what I heard at like mile 503. Ugh. Okay!

I couldn't think of anything funny to do this year at the finish, like last year. Though Kostman did say, 'Alright, your slowest one yet!' which I took in stride.

I'm posting the crew+rider finish photo again cause it's so important. We stumbled into our hotel 'cottage', I ate, showered, ate again and fell asleep on top of the covers with all of my clothes on...

I bet the Swarm! 4-person team Wild Burros $80 that they couldn't close the two hour gap between the solo and team starts. I lost, this is me paying them at the post-race breakfast. They did great! On a good day I could have fended them off, but not with the ride I had.

This is the post post-race-breakfast breakfast in Joshua Tree with 3 of the 4 Swarm! teams.

Thanks so so much to my crew: Dave, Sabrina and Lisa for being SO awesome and supportive. You took a whole weekend to help me ride my bike 500 miles, not many people would do that. You rule. And special thanks to Lisa for all the photos.


“ Everything that happens to you is your teacher.
The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it."
- Polly Berends
I stole this quote from here, which is a blog I found after BikeSnob posted her VEGAN neck tattoo. I guess there's some learning there. Or something.

Yoga isn't Christian

via Unreasonable Faith. Fundamentalism is a disease.

Beware of fish in your carrot juice

Wtf?

10-10-10 10am CicLAvia details

This is going to be historic. When I first heard about Ciclovia coming to Los Angeles I thought, 'no fucking way. Not here.' I was wrong! It's not only happening, but Mayor Villaraigosa even held a press conference promoting it. More than a cycling and walking event, it's a reclaimation of the the streets. People over cars. End the dictatorship of the personal use automobile!



This LA Streetsblog post has details for the feeder rides heading there and the other events happening in the streets. Get over there if you can and please promote this to other Angelenos! The CicLAvia site has all the details of how to get there, what to do and what to eat.

Furnace Creek 508 some photos

All photos by Lisa Anne Auerbach unless otherwise noted.

This pool was right next to the pre-race meeting and I couldn't resist! Better to swim now than at mile 254 of the race, like I did last year!? Stress reducing.


At the start. I know what I've gotten myself into, but do they?



Obligatory devil-horns. Photo by AdventureCORPS.



The clouds and storms kept the temps low at the expense of the usual first day tailwinds.



The crew had a lot of this. Looking and waiting.


And then lot of this: bottle hand-off.


Trona.



Trona bump. Here I'm wondering why I'm so far behind last year's time. It was the less favorable winds. What a difference! I was getting sore and tired and I hadn't reached 200 miles or Townes Pass yet.



Approaching Townes Pass, elevation 4956ft, the entrance to Death Valley. Mike Sz rode this section for the Wild Burros team and would later say it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

I'll keep posting photos and short stories to break all of this down. I bike commuted yesterday with a heavy bag and it was confirmed that I do indeed have the worst saddle sores I have ever had.

some 2010 Furnace Creek 508

Well I finished! So many experiences out there that words never seem enough. My crew and the other racer/crews are such a huge part of this, too. Wow and thank you is all I can muster right now. This was the hardest one yet. Here are some photos, stories to come. The AdventureCORPS webcast has photos, videos, splits, results, etc and the Swarm! twitter has a rich timeline as does the hash code #fc508.

Furnace Creek 508 all weekend

Tomorrow is the 27th edition of the Furnace Creek 508 aka The Hell of West aka The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport!!


I'm racing solo. Again. Third year in a row. I've written about this race enough that it has its own tag. Check out this post from last week for my history with the race including links to reports, etc. My close friend Morgan 'Goat' Beeby, the first of our crew to race this, wrote a great story about his experience as my Crew Chief on my first solo race which gives an idea of what it's like out there.

I'm so stoked and feel incredibly privileged to have the health, ability and resources to even attempt this race. The days leading into the race are very stressful- the logistics are complicated (and expensive!!) and that feeling of not having trained enough will wake you up at night! But the day before I feel a peace with it all and just can't wait to get to that start line.

Racing fixed gear in 2006. This seems so long ago!

Let's go to my favorite format of all time- FAQ's- to cover what all this is about. Thanks for reading and think of me riding all day on Saturday. And Saturday night when you go to sleep. And Sunday morning when you wake up. And hopefully when you're eating dinner Sunday night I'm crossing the finish line...


Can I follow the race online?
Yes. I'm updating the Swarm! Twitter when we can. My time splits will be posted here as part of the AdventureCORPS webcast. This is the page to follow! Photos, videos and updates will be posted all morning. My pre-race mug shot will be up by tonight!

What's this 'Desert Locust' thing about?
Instead of a number you get an animal totem that is yours for life! I'm Desert Locust, but last year I was Dessert Locust which is the dessert totem of my animal totem. This year I'm a combination of both and the jpeg above is the sign that must be on all four sides of the support van.

Do you ride the whole thing yourself?
Yes. Every mile. You can race team as I did in 2006 where you switch at every time station. About 80 of the 200 racers are solo.

Is it a race or just a long ride?
The fastest folks finish in under 30 hours. That's a 17 MPH average over 508 miles and 35,000 feet of elevation gain! The time limit is 48 hours. National Geographic Adventure (RIP) called it the 8th hardest race in the world.

Do you race it?
Ugh. Sort of? I got tenth last year, only cause faster folks dropped out in the 50+ MPH winds in Death Valley and my crew had the tenacity to push me on. It was actually much uglier than that, but I'll spare you the details of puke and piss.

Do you have a crew?
Yes. Three friends are in a support van with the job of keeping me going with food, water and motivation. This year I have a totally rookie crew! They are in for an adventure as well. Dave Vandermaas, Lisa Auerbach and Sabrina Ovan. Thank you so much!
They 'leapfrog' me all day Saturday and follow me directly over night passing me water and food.

finish line photo with crew and desserts in 2009

What do you eat?
A combination of fruit like bananas and apples, liquid foods like Sustained Energy, bars, gels and mini-burritos. Peanut butter on tortillas, pretzels, and chocolate covered espresso beans are my secret weapon based on my 7-year, $65,000 education in nutrition.

Do you sleep?
In 2008 I slept 15 minutes at daybreak on Sunday. In 2009 not at all.

Does your butt hurt?
Yes. And then it stops hurting. And then it hurts again. But you know what? Anything worth doing involves some pain and suffering.

Is going down hill really fast awesome?
Yes.

Why?
Why is water wet? Why is the sky blue? I'm drawn to the physical and mental ends of this body I live in, I think. And I happen to be good at riding a bicycle for long periods of time, so this is the best way for me to do this! The answer to this question varies depending on my mood too. I love to travel from A to B, I love California and really, because I can.

Specific motivation this year?
5-time RAAM winner Jure Robic was killed while cycling near his home in Slovenia last week and that weighs heavily on my mind. Death is real, folks. RadioLab has a fitting good-bye. Also friends and specifically my girlfriend who are overcoming their own struggles, will motivate me through the night. Considering what lots of people have to deal with every day, having to pedal my bicycle, something I love, can't be that bad. Right?

Any other Swarm! vegan racers?
Yes!
Max and Brian from the 2006 fixed gear team Bonobo are racing as a 2-person team: Emperor Tamarin

Megan (also from Bonobo), Sasha (who made the documentary from the 2006 race), Jacob and Mike Sz are a 4-person team: Wild Burros!

New friends which I met at 508 last year Jeff (pro coach) and Cara (PRO) are a 2-person team: Godwit attempting to beat the 2-person mixed record of 27:34:29!!

What can I do to help?
Ride a bike for trips under 4 miles. Eat vegan when you can. Realize that your actions do matter. And, secondly, you can txt, tweet, email or facebook me with words of support and my crew will pass it on, when they can.

Can you post an awesome Hip Hop video to get me stoked?
Yes.

3 Photos- Mountain City, Tennesse

After racing the Shenandoah 100-mile mountain bike race this year I headed to Boone, North Carolina to see a close friend. Instead of the highway I opted for the through-the-mountains-and-Tennessee route. In Mountain City my obsession with grocery stores beckoned me to take a short stop.

Tea Party Propaganda, not unexpected. Later while listening to a call-in radio show, expecting the worst of fear-mongering conservative politics, I was pleasantly shocked by not one, but two callers. The first talked about the economy and how the blame is on the rich and the working-class need to learn all the DIY skills we used to know. Also that the economy shouldn't return to what it was because that was exploitative. The second talked about hunting deer-with a camera! Seriously. Said it's better cause you don't have to kill the animal. Think of that next time you want to stereotype rural folks.

Tiny bottles of Chubby soda.

All grocery stores should have recipes from employees.

3 Photos- Bay Area

When I was in Philadelphia early this summer I hung out with my college friend, Tara. Tara is a school teacher and I happen to get to her house, which she awesomely opened up to me for the entire weekend, the first night of her summer vacation. We were leaving to go to some fixed/urban/cycling thing and she grabbed her camera on the way out. On the ride over there she told me how she received a picture frame with space for three photos as a gift and her plan was to have it filled with the three photos that best represented her 2010 Summer. She kept saying, 'Will I get one of those photos tonight?' as she snapped away. I thought this was a great idea and since I often take photos wherever I am I had the idea of making it a city project. Three photos from my experience when I'm in a city. I go to Portland and SF often, but each set of three will be specific to that time. You can be assured it will include food and bikes! But also other funny/interesting/odd stuff I find along the way.
Here's the first set, from my first trip to the Bay Area this summer.


Ate dinner at Manzanita which I mentioned previously cause a friend called it 'Food Not Bombs food for $20.' It's one of those stuck in the 70's vegetarian restaurants that's super simple: grain, bean, vegetables, salad. It has that weird new-age/hippy/buddhist vibe strong. But I like food like this. When I saw this sign, I thought, "Really? 'Love'? That's the best you can do? Of course the 'mindful word of the day' is love!!" I wonder how many times it has been. Just seems so obvious.

Cinnaholic peanut butter and jelly cinnamon roll. Nuff said.

Whole Foods vegan pig in a blanket. I only bought it cause I was starved and had already eaten a bunch of donuts, wanted something closer to real food and it was on sale. It was fucking great. Flaky dough, melted daiya cheese, pesto sauce and the Field Roast sausage was grilled before it was wrapped. So good.

Super bike dork status achieved

Last night I was riding home from a friend's place after purchasing his rollers (the bicycle ones, not to be confused with the bird or the photographer) . I was on my bike, with my bike-specific bag hauling a device made for riding my bike in place. I'm not sure if this is ironic, unnecessary, obvious or some combination of all those, but when I passed a cute girl on Fountain Ave (with new sharrows!) I realized how ridiculous it all is. But, I love ridiculousness!

When is summer over?

That is the question, my friends. When school starts up again? Labor Day? The Solstice? It's impossible for me to write anything about 'this past summer' just yet, so in my mind it continues, yet I know Fall is upon us. How? Well, teaching started up so I'm now required to be somewhere at least twice a week. Also, like five of the previous six Septembers, I'm preparing for the Furnace Creek 508.

In 2005, I was Crew Chief for Morgan 'Goat' Beeby as he shattered the What Is Possible glass ceiling and finished what we thought was an impossible race.

In 2006 I was privileged to be on the 4-person fixed gear team- Bonobo with all of 2005's crew. We raised money for Bonobo Conservation Initiative and even had a little film made about it by our good friend Sasha (who, btw, is racing this year on a 4-person team!).

In 2007 I flaked and didn't race, but still wrote about it and even went to the finish. I did a little research project on Brian 'Emperor Moth' Davidson since he was completely raw vegan at the time that ended up being a poster at a conference.

In 2008 I raced solo for the first time as Desert Locust and the only posts on my blog for the whole month are about it! It was hard. Very hard. That's the problem with hanging out with exceptional people: you tend to forget how crazy/hard this stuff can be! I learned though. And apparently didn't have too hard a time because....

In 2009 I raced solo again as Des[s]ert Locust. It was windy. Like 2.5 hours to ride 17 miles windy. Yeah. But I finished and felt good about it. Good enough that....

In 2010 I'm racing solo again. It's crazy, I know. Why? Not sure. I'm not in as good of shape as last year, so that's concerning. I'll write more about my 508 preparation in the next (gulp) 12 days before the race. I have a 100% rookie crew so I may even post some of my prep stuff as I acclimate them and share the info with a few of the rookies that are on the 4-person Swarm! team Wild Burros.

My goal, which is lofty, but do-able, is to write about the forgotten adventures of summer 2010 before the race. I've got the other AdventureCORPS event the Rough Riders Rally, my San Francisco to Los Angeles 3-day bike tour, the Shenandoah 100 mountain bike race and probably some others that at the moment I really did forget! I've a queue of a half a dozen drafts in blogger as I write this! Also have a potential guest post on a blog that is much more popular than my own and an announcement about how this blog will be changing in the future. Wow! I may be busier now than in summer. I can't complain though, can I? Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more adventures with you.

Fastest, most expensive child portage ever

Zipps and a trailer. Wow.

mountain biking in Santa Cruz

My face hurts from smiling so much. That's the best way I can describe mountain biking in Santa Cruz the other day. I told my friend Paul that 'I absolutely have to ride cause I'm not racing the Tahoe-Sierra 100' and he suggested Santa Cruz. Awesome. I'm glad I had said that because when it came time to put my mountain bike together knowing I had to take it apart again in fewer than 24 hours I kind of didn't want to. What a mistake that would have been!

After some freeway time south of SF we're on a tiny ridge road which I thought of as 'behind the mountains' because I've never actually been in them; only ridden by with them on my left and the ocean on my right. Ends up we wouldn't even see the town of Santa Cruz.

Paul only had a fuzzy idea of where to go. Something about a dirt road up to the ridge and trails coming back down to the car. We pick one, bomb it, then repeat on a different. There are lots of people out on bikes. Dozens. Mountain bikers everywhere. This is new to me. In the San Gabriels or Santa Monicas you only see a few people here and there.

First trail down comes up. We roll by. 'That's not it', he says. Next trail- Braille- has an odd bunch of riders at the trail-head. Some regular looking mountain bike dudes- baggy clothes, hydration packs, dual suspension bikes, hairy legs, etc. A few younger dudes on jumping style bikes. A woman on a cross-country bike and a dude on a cross bike. They say, 'you want to do this trail, it's awesome.' Here's the thing though. 'Awesome' is very subjective. I'll be honest and say I don't trust other people's idea of awesomeness. I have high expectations for trails and while most riding is pretty good and some of it is very good- not a whole lot qualifies as awesome. Our Mammoth Bromance Slaycation 2009 qualifies as awesome. I'll never forget this wall-ride!. So I was apprehensive. Stoked, but apprehensive. And then it was possibly the best trail I have ever ridden.

Next thing I know we are flying down smooth, flow-y single track with some drops. And berms. And then jumps. With landings! Then technical built-up ladders and crossings. Man, stuff I don't even know what it's called. Imagine if you could build a skatepark out of stuff you find in the woods and instead of it being in one big area it's laid out along one trail in a redwood forest. That's this trail. Perfectly called Braille as I was hitting this stuff having never seen it before. I figure that they know where to put the landings and I'll just be careful...

This page has some photos and a video, but it really doesn't do it justice. At the bottom of that we had instant new friends. They loved that I was 'a racer' and riding a 29er and hitting this stuff. Fist bumps and high fives everywhere. Ends up they are a regular Sunday ride and next thing you know we're climbing back up the ridge but this time bombing down toward the ocean. They are offered us weed, bbq chicken and to come to their house post-ride to help them finish the beer and food from a party. Oh mountain bike culture how I love thee! And then we were promised 15 miles of single-track and they delivered.

At the end of ________ and _______ Trail

We rode some twisty, curvy technical trails and some good mixed terrain stuff which I enjoyed. Chatting with our new friends and it ends up the main dude had ridden Furnace Creek 508 years ago. Ridiculous.

Not long after we enter yet another trail the dudes on jumping bikes with platform pedals and shin guards stop and pick up their bikes. They ask to follow them into the woods, but not directly behind. 'Tread lightly, don't leave any marks.' We walk about 10 yards and then onto a SECRET TRAIL! [redacted at request of trail builders]. And that's the last coherent thought I had because the next two miles was so exhilarating and dangerous that I couldn't think about anything but keeping the rubber side down. There were sections where I thought the trail ended only to look down and see that what was in front of me was a 180 degree berm at such a steep incline that if it wasn't for tire tracks I wouldn't think was rideable. I had started near the back and slowly I passed other folks just shaking their head saying, 'there's no way this is possible.' There were jumps I went around, but I rode some berms and drops that truly scared me. You'd pop out from between two giant redwoods and then bam! drop into what better resembles a quarter pipe than a mountain bike trail...

I can't thank those locals enough! Back in Soquel, a tiny town south of Santa Cruz that I had ridden through just a few weeks ago on my SF-LA 3-day ride, we said our goodbyes and started the two hour climb back over the mountains to our car. The conversation was mostly about the costs of homes in the area and if there are any jobs...

Such a fun day. Wow. Not sure it counts as 'training' though.

If I believed in a concept of heaven

This would be available every day.

2010 Shenandoah 100 Sunday

I raced the Shenandoah 100 in 2008 as my first mountain bike race ever and it was one of the best races I have ever done! Challenging, technical sections, beautiful area, kick-ass racers and volunteers, great vegan food before and after. It was so fun! (2008 write-up!)

I got my new bike (which made the trip in my Ritchey luggage without incident- no fee on Southwest and nothing broken). I've ridden off-road a lot more since 2008. Can I get in under 10 hours? There's a corral start based on when you think you'll finish and I feel pressure about where to line up! Last year was 10 hours, 55 min. I started in the back cause I didn't want to get in anyone's way...

Stoked to be in 'the south' visiting with friends and riding all day tomorrow. I won't let summer end!!

Ciclavia 10-10-10

The bookshelf of a Buddhist monk

Makes sense to me.

I read Living My Life (Emma Goldman biography) over my 2-day train
ride moving to California in early September 2001. Life changing.
About 9 years ago! Whoa.

Cycles

I've been in SF many times this year, but these last few days have
made me feel closer to it. Less of a visitor and more of a....part-
time resident? No, that's not it. Nowhere ever totally feels like home
for me, but the more time I spend in California all of it feels like
my home. Fuck a stupid north/south CA divide (everyone already knows
Northern CA is overrated), this whole place is my home.
On this trip I rode Paradise Loop, some roads from the Rough Riders
Rally and all around the city. I ate Chicago-style pizza and at a
vegan Mexican place. Visited a Buddhist monestary/farm where we swam
in a pond and played kickball. A sweet life it is.

Tomorrow I head south by bike with Jeff to LA, 450 miles in 3 days.
We're camping, but traveling very light- I've only a big seatbag and a
hydration pack. Laptop I needed here for work but didn't arrange to
mail? Check. Chocolate covered espresso beans? Check. Ready to start
teaching again Monday? Not quite.

Time

I was in a coffee shop in Costa Mesa and saw a kid with a 'vegan
power' tattoo. Made me reminisce on the mid-90's. He was young-ish
too, a nice reminder that the kids are still into it. I forget
sometimes.
Then later we saw this raw vegan donut at Mother's Market in HB.
Remember when vegan donuts were the holy grail?? I'm not saying this
was good, it wasn't worth the $4 to find out, but the fact it exists
kinda blows me away.
I did have chicken taquitos for lunch, also a novelty, and two
interesting snacks from the deli: shrimp cerviche and raw apple pie.
All vegan, of course.
Enjoyed at the beach with fond memories of HB being the first
California city I ever visited (1996) and the city I set off from on
my first bike tour- 3300 miles to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2001).

Time: hard to comprehend.