On the other side of the pass....

I started writing this post over the weekend, so thought I better just publish it... Makes it look like I am SORT of keeping up with blogging. Ya right! This post doens't even include anything about weekend rides, but oh well! My next post will include more bike-related updates.

Greg, Murphy and I are enjoying our weekend getaway to sunny Palm Springs. I can see the clouds packed into Banning pass and from what Kelly told me yesterday, Redlands is/was socked in. Not sure if that means rain or just clouds, but it's a different story here in the desert. Even though we are only 45 min away from Redlands, it feels worlds apart. The news channels are even different here!

We are doggie sitting for Chris and Steve until Monday and Murphy is in heaven. Two other dogs to play with, nice weather, a pool to sit by and sun himself, rocks to eat, other dogs toys to destroy. We headed up to the wash behind Chris and Steve's house yesterday to do some hiking (essentially the east side of San Jacinto wilderness) and will do so again here in a little while. It's a great hike (and totally screams for a mountain bike to be ridden on it). The dogs go off-leash and the cutest thing is to see all three dogs in a row hiking up the trail. Pix to come soon!

The other great part about being in the desert right now is The Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is the 17th year of the fest and it keeps getting bigger and more prestgious every year. This is our 2nd year attending some portion of it and I highly recommend it to all of you! Typically the director and/or actors of the films attending the screenings and conduct Q/A after the movie. As of this afternoon we have seen three movies and have at least one more scheduled for tonight. Chris & Steve let us use their passes so we get priority seating and don't have to pay! A pretty sweet deal. Chris & Steve were at the awards gala last week for opening night along with the likes of Charlize Theron, Jake Gyllenhal and Shirley MacClaine. Not bad! Last year, Chris rubbed shoulders with Nicole Kidman! It's fun living vicariously through them. :o)

We have seen:
Hard Candy (the director and lead actress were in the audience for this one!)
Bal-Can-Can (very good from what I recall, but I dozed off! Director of the film was present)
a.k.a Tommy Chong (excellent!!!!!!!!!!!! Director of the film was present. had we gone to yesterday's screening, Chong himself was there!)
Days of Santiago (very disturbing realizations....)

In any event! It was a nice weekend, but taking care of three dogs is alot of work. I don't know how Chris & Steve did it for 10 days over Christmas!

Citrus Frenzy!

Another great thing about winter in Southern California (especially Redlands!) is the mass amounts of citrus fruit! Our orange trees have provided us with mucho fruit this winter. Could it possibly be due to the fact that we actually fertilized and watered them? The grapefruit tree is seeing less output than last year, but that’s ok with me. I prefer oranges anyways! In my efforts to prevent scurvy and other illnesses, I ate three oranges already today. My office smells like oranges (someone commented on it today). I also have some lemons as provided by Nicole and Chris’ lemon tree. We did a little bartering with oranges and lemons the other day. I also sent Teri and Joy home with some fruit over the weekend. Gotta keep everyone healthy! Plus we have so much fruit I don’t know what to do with it! Greg will only eat oranges if I peel them for him (just like mom) or make OJ with our juicer.

This past weekend was excellent in terms of training rides. Had a great 5 hour road ride with Joy, Teri and Jill. We capped off the ride with a nice lunch at Stell Coffee and Tea downtown. Our coffee sponsor for Team K&N. I am quite excited about it!

Sunday’s ride brought both Teri AND Jay to town all the way from Glendizzle. Joy came down from the woods and Toni drove up from Riverside. We met up with Matt, Josh, Jeremy and Trevor for a Crafton/Mentone Wash run. Greg did the intial part of the ride with us and then did some more riding on his own (said he had a great time!). Matt was representin' on his new Trek cross bike. He rocked the singletrack descent of Crafton on that thing! Only had to dismount once as far as I could tell.

After much discussion of food during the initial climb to Crafton, I knew where some of us would be retreating for lunch: my favorite post-ride lunch spot: Chipotle (chip-oh-top-lay, as some like to call it). Ok ok.. so it’s my favorite anytime lunch (or sometimes dinner) spot. We grubbed after and induced some pleasant food comas. Also need to add that the line was insane!! I have never seen such a large crowd at Chipotle (and I am truly a regular).

All in all it was a great weekend! It was fun to get most of the Team K&N gang out together for a ride! Also fun to have 2 days in a row of riding with my premiere chix training pals.

My favorite So Cal Season!

Ahhhhhhh... today's weather was perfect! So perfect that I decided to head out to do my road ride during the day (rather than early AM or on the trainer at night) and take an extra long lunch. I could have stayed out there all day! I think I actually got some color on my face. I am looking forward to riding in the sun this weekend and building up my 2006 tan lines. I love the perfect temps and clean air that come along with Southern California winters! The rainy days are ok too, especially on rest days. The skate ramp is taking a beating with all the rain though. (even with a tarp covering the base).. Greg is not pleased!

We had a nice holiday, but of course both Greg and I ended up sick from all the travelling! I am feeling alot better now and that is good!I will post some pix from our holiday trip, including me on some antique bicycles at a Norman Rockwell exhibit back in Indianapolis.

Did you hear that the So Cal NORBA race is now slated for FONTUCKY? EEEK! I am not sure which is worse, Smelly Bonelli or Southridge!!!!!!!! At least Southridge has actual downhill trails for the DH racers and a challenging XC course. However, the venue location leaves much to be desired for spectators. Lots of dust and trash flying through the air on windy days. Ahhh, how lovely.

Walking through the frozen food section at Albertson's last night, I spotted some Jose Ole products. It make me smile/chuckle and think of the product/team shots Joy had to take last year for her team.

BTW, the Tartan has now been upgraded to an A.