Max Power Data

So, my friend Missy is doing her graduate work in the Physiology department and she needed subjects for one of her studies recently. She was testing max power output both seated and standing in a "preferred" gear and the two gears above and below that. I have never ridden with a power tap, so I really had no idea what sort of power output I have. I was pretty pleased when she told me that my max power is up there with National level track racers (not world cup track racers, but hey, I don't want to go to Worlds for track, just 4x). :) Also, she was able to assess the differences in my pedaling efficiencies for my right and left legs. I thought for sure my right leg would have issues just because I compensate for my right hip hurting a lot and have developed some bad habits from the many years of dealing with that, but apparently they are only about 2.5% different, which is pretty standard. She also gave me some good tips on how to improve my first 20 feet out of the start gate. I'm excited to try out some new things in the gate and see if my time in the weight room pays off on the power end of things.

Max Power Output Standing: ~1100 Watts

Power Output for Right and Left Pedals, Not Too Far Off of Each Other

Huge Bummer!

My dad works for a construction contractor in Corvalis, OR. Last Thursday he was using a table saw (with no safety guard) to do a job that required a jig saw (it was broken and has been for a month). I don't know the exact details of how it happened, but he cut off his pinkie finger and badly damaged his 3rd and 4th fingers as well. They were able to pin the broken fingers, but they weren't able to reattach his pinkie. He's pretty bummed out and still in a lot of pain from the accident. I feel really bad for him. I can't imagine what it would be like to loose a limb, even a little one. :(

Past Present and Future

This week has been full of all three of these in mass proportions! I've gotten emails (including funny pictures of good times) from best friends from high school and my college ex-boyfriend, all of whom I haven't talked to in a long, long time. Between people finding me on myspace and finding out stuff about me by googling me, it's sort of nice to know that you can loose touch with people and still catch up with them without too much effort.

Sandboarding at White Sands, NM

I got a call from my friend Molly today. As it turns out we've both been going through a lot of the same things lately. It's almost humorous how we can both see solutions for each other, but being able to see the solutions for ourselves is much too difficult! :)

I'm not much for forwarding cheesy emails and such, but when I read this poem thing, it really struck a cord with me.

Love is not about what you can get
But how much you can give
Its not about giving up
But holding on
Not about how you say I love you
But, how you should show that it's true
A sad thing about life is that sometimes you meet
Someone who means a lot to you, only to find out
In the end, that it was never bound to be, and
You simply have to let go...

Anonymous

Sometimes the timing of things is curious. Emails from long lost friends, teary phone calls from very dear friends, and random poems to pull the past, present, and future together.

Sorry about the sappy touchy feely post, but it's a dreary crappy rainy day here in Boulder, and this is the mood I am in. Hope for sun and bike riding for tomorrow! :)

Let the Games Begin

Okay, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I spent the better part of today putting my stem cells into polymer gels to be able to start my experiment tomorrow (the one I've been trying to do since last November!!) Anyway, with any luck, next week I'll be able to have some idea about whether this whole proposed research for my thesis will be worth a darn!

:)

Long But Good Week

It seems like it was Sunday afternoon just yesterday, not a week ago! This week was jam packed with school, workouts, and great riding. Sea Otter is only 3.5 weeks away, and it feels like things are finally coming together for it with my training and riding. I'm pretty psyched (and proud of myself), I haven't missed a scheduled workout for 3.5 weeks now. Considering I lift at the gym three mornings a week and I am NOT a morning person, this is a pretty big accomplishment for me. I am seeing the benefits of spending time in the gym over the winter, though. It's definitely made my riding better!

Last Sunday, I started hitting one of the bigger lines at the Fix, A-. I've always only hit Knee Cap there (well and One Hit Wonder, R.I.P.). :) I'd been feeling pretty good riding that day, and then I looked up and saw my roommate Kevin on the roll-in, so I decided to give it a look. Kevin did the first jump in the line (his first time, too) and came back up and informed me that I was up. He is a really good motivator for me, so I went for it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it, and I've hit it almost every day since then. I'm getting more confident and hitting it smoother and smoother! I've definitely had a dirt jumping breakthrough in the past 3 weeks or so. It's awesome!

School has been crazy, too! I'm finally done writing grant proposals and teaching outreach workshops, so I finally got to start an experiment! I did my first "real" experiment with my stem cells and my polymer gels in our loading apparatus last week. I got some preliminary results that look good, but I have a bunch of work to do to see exactly what the results of the experiment are. It's pretty exciting. I am starting a big study on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, so we'll see how it goes. It's so hard to want to be at school when it's 70º out!! It seems like I always get stuck working way too late on Friday evenings, but luckily there is a very cute guy who has the misfortune of having to stay late on Fridays, too, so it's not so bad! ;)

2 Weeks Early

The arrival of day light savings time 2 weeks early this weekend was a much needed change. Things have been a bit tough lately so that is at least one thing that really makes me smile. :)

I did have an amazing weekend of riding, though. I put in a couple of hours at the Fix dirt jumping yesterday and then hit up an awesome turning session with my roommate Kevin in the afternoon. All of that was followed up by a solid early evening nap! Ahhhhh....

Today, my parents rolled through town so I showed them my research lab and then we had brunch. I felt a little bad when they asked what I wanted to do this afternoon and I told them , "Ride my bike." It was such a beautiful, not windy, day that I just wanted to be outside riding on my bike! I got home from hanging out with them and convinced Kevin to go dirt jumping with me. Dirt jumping doesn't get him psyched up like it does me, but the promise of a solid cornering sesh afterwards bought my ticket with him. We had an awesome time at the Fix where I've had some breakthough jumping moments the past couple of days, until...Kevin crashed pretty hard working on some new stuff, and then he was done for for sure! He did inspire me to hit some stuff I've never hit before today. It was good to push each other for sure (at least I thought so). I hope that he heals up quickly!!

Working on cornering. It's getting better, but I still need lots of work!!
(Photo: Kevin Shiramizu)

3.5 hours vs. 4

I just woke up from a 3.5 hour nap!! I think I was tired. :) I only slept for 4 hours two NIGHTs ago, so it was definitely much needed sleep! Unfortunately it means that I missed out on a good afternoon of riding. Sometime you gotta make sacrifices, I guess. haha

So, yesterday morning, Lisa, Tammy, Emily, and Nick (he was pretty psyched to be riding with 4 girls all by himself!) had an awesome morning ride session. Lisa, Emily, and Tammy were working on 270s. Nick was doing some crazy no footed can can kick off the butte something or others. I was just psyched to learn to hip both ways and ride this burly steel ramp that the boys brought out there. Here are some pics from the morning. Awesome way to start the day for sure!!

Lisa learning 270s

Nick getting the front tire tap on his 270

Tammy with sick hipping form

Emily reminding us all that she lived in Whistler all summer last year!

Me learning the hip basics

Words of Wisdom

I was in one of the women's bathrooms in the engineering center yesterday and this was written on one of the bathroom stall walls: "Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them." I think this girl might be on to something! haha Lucky for me, I work in the engineering center and there are lots of easy targets! :)

On a different note, I was running late to meet my workout partner this morning and totally forgot to put my contacts in (also forgot to grab my glasses). My eyes aren't so so bad that I can't see anything without them in, so I decided to just go with it for the day. I've thought this before when this has happened, sometimes there are details that you miss when you have too much clarity. It seems counter intuitive to think that, but when things are just a little blurry, I notice things that I don't notice when they are all crisp and clear. If you wear glasses/contacts, try not wearing them for a little bit and see what the world looks like, it's sort of a nice change.

Happy Tuesday during Sleep Awareness Week!! (I think that should mean mandatory sleep in week!)