Two Wheels and Other Things

I normally don’t wake up remembering dreams, just vivid emotion.  To be able to revisit the actual content is a rarity and something I can’t shake right now.

And I don’t WANT to shake it…. well kind of.

In 1992, Dad and I did a few training rides for my upcoming solo RAMROD.  The first ride consisted of a super long and hilly ride around Hood Canal starting from Port Orchard which hurt pretty bad.  He and I both barely made it home as we hammered the South Shore pretty hard forgetting the hills coming out of Belfair and the headwind that usually accompanies it.  The second was the Penninsula Metric Century course that winds from Southworth, through Port Orchard, out to Gig Harbor, Ollala and then back to Southworth.  We did the rout twice, once clockwise than counter clockwise.  I remember bonking that day pretty hard coming out of Purdy, stopping for a Coke and a Snickers bar at the gas station.  Dad took the time with me I needed to feel better and then we headed on out.  Our third ride, 1 week before RAMROD, was from the base to the top of Hurricane Ridge (next to the climb to Paradise this is one of my favorite routes) and dad and I planned on not racing to the top but pretty much hitting it as hard as we could.  The stretch to the Ranger station hurt pretty bad and I remember telling him that my legs didn’t feel so good, maybe lack of a decent warm up.  He backed off a little until I found my legs and then we were off.

It was a great tempo.

This is how climbing should be, setting pace for each other, encouraging words, a longer pull to give the other a breather when you can.  I was feeling great.

but then I did something completely stupid.  I surged and dropped my dad.  I looked behind me and didn’t see him around the last corner.  I hesitated for a second but then pressed on.  In my mind it was a training ride for me so I should make the most of it.  Looking back, it was probably more than that for him.  He just wanted to ride with his son.

I got to the top where mom and Evan were waiting for us with food.  Obviously mom was a little worried about where dad went so I turned back around and headed down for him.  He didn’t speak to me for the rest of the ride back up or through lunch.  In fact  He blew my doors off on the way down and I couldn’t even touch his descending skills.

Ive lived with that almost everytime I touch my bike now.  It hurts.  I would give anything to have that day back and finish the climb with him.  Not everything is a race

Well last night, in my dream, dad and I finished together.  Every turn, every pull, until that last corner to the top when he dusted me at the sprint to the RV sign by the picnic tables.

Thanks for the ride dad…  We’ll have to do it again soon

My package of goodies arrived from Excel today and I am super happy.  2 new bars, pedals, stem adapter, front and rear derallieurs, chains, bar tape, cables and a cassette all to build up the tandem for Rosanna and me.

Tandem?  What Tandem?

Back in high school (I won’t put the year down) I worked in a large shop in downtown Port Orchard selling Cannondale and Schwinn.  Over the years I (and my father) amassed a large number of two wheel adventure machines.

Let’s see if I can remember them all-

Schwinn High Sierra (dads first bike)
Schwinn Traveler (my first bike)
Schwinn Tempo (2 of them!)
Cannondale 3.0
Cannondale 2.8
Klein Performance Touring
Terry Womens
Paramount OS 50 mountain

And a Cannondale Tandem, which was ridden way more by my mom and dad as he and I had two completely different ways of riding. Dad was a big gear pusher and I liked to spin. I stood a lot and he always stayed in the saddle. I blew through stop signs and he didn’t :-)

When dad passed away, the tandem hung in the garage for ages. Dad and Mom’s Giro helmets still hung from the captain and stoker bars and it was begging to be used again. I thought it would hang there forever, untouched, that is, until I met Rosanna.

Rosanna is a kick ass cycling chick. She’s raced both road and Tri, she loves spending time on the bike so much that she started her own womens cycling club, Seattle Tailwind. I brought up the idea of riding the tandem together and she was totally stoked.  (pun intended)

So here I am now, the tandem in my shop down to bare frame. The new wheels, drivetrain, bars will be on by the end of the weekend ready to roll.

I’m gonna keep dads bell on it though. I think everyone knows why.

Well, we are home now. We flew in about 10 last night after waking up to a monsoon that woke me up early in the morning. First it was just the wind howling through our room, then the distant flashes of lighting and I knew I had to get out and watch. I sat on the patio for 30-45 minutes and watched the storm come fly down the gulf. It was amazing.

And then the wind shifted.

In the moonlight I saw the clouds roll over the mountain to the north and the flashes wee turning into distant fingers on the water. It was time to go back in the room. As the sky got lighter and the wind stronger I sat by the window and hoped it would skip right by us, boy was I wrong. I looked out over the water and I could see a wall of rain creeping right toward the villa and the lightning was getting even closer. I ran in, grabbed one more cup of coffee and headed back to the room to batten down the hatches.

It was amazing. I had never seen rain like that before. The lightning was hitting the beach out front of our place and water was pouring into our room. I got everything off of the floors and unplugged the fans. Rosanna was having a blast and thought it was a hoot! It poured for about an hour until it started to fade away, the lighting and thunder moved up to the mountains and it was gone. The smells of the flowers came out as well as the birds playing in the puddles. It was beautiful! The rain played havoc with our long drive down the dirt/rock road on our way to the airport. Many places had washed out or been flooded and if it had not been for the Jeep we rented we would have had a really tough time getting back and as we hit the airport, all of the clouds were gone and the sun dried it all out.

The flight was non-eventful, with a quick stop in San Francisco to change planes, we hit Seattle ahead of schedule. Ro And I still had to go pick up the dogs at her parents house so by the time we got home it was about 1:30 in the morning.

What a fantastic trip. I can’t wait to go back down to Cabo and play again. Maybe do some deep sea fishing next time or some sailing but I do know it will be relaxing. Check out the Honeymoon posts below for our entir adventure.

Now I have to get back to the “real” world. Work, training, racing…. Cleaning up dog poop. Feel free to come over and help.

Yesterday was by far the hottest day since we have been out here. I measure by my “Sweat and Breathing” factor, which is, if I am sitting in the shade under a fan and sweat is dripping off my face and I’m having a hard time breathing, it’s damn hot.

Whew.

Rosanna loves it. She sat out on the patio for a lot of the day, while I was restricted to the indoors, trying to catch the breeze off of the water. After a grilled sausage lunch, we threw on our life jackets and grabbed the double kayak. We broke through the first series of waves and we were off, our paddles flailing through the water trying to fight the swells which for some reason did NOT look as big from shore. Suddenly we realized that we picked the WRONG time to kayak! As we turned around, the swells grabbed our beem and pushed us north towards a hard break I told Rosanna to just try and keep the nose straight and to lean back, the waves shot us toward land, launching Rosanna out of the kayak and pulling me back out, then forcing it back over the top of her and missing her head by about a foot. What an adventure. The two of us hiked back - boat, paddles and life vests in hand, with a lesson learned. “Kayak When It’s Flat”.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and putting a puzzle together (Ro did must of the puzzle, I just sat and watched) and then as the sun started to set, we went out and walked the surf, played in the waves and drove the ATV over to the mountain and back.

A relaxing and death defying day all at the same time. Who could ask for anything more?

Saturday morning Rosanna and I woke up for breakfast and a quick room pack up. We had plans to hit Costco for food and water (beer!) before we started the drive to Villa Las Frailes. Check out went smoothly and all of the meals and drinks charged to the room were in order except one. Hint- always always ALWAYS keep your room charge receipts! With the car packed and the AC blasting we scampered away from SolMar, waved to our time share lady and headed north to Costco.

Yes, I said Costco. It looked EXACTLY THE SAME. Same layout, same items, same low prices and same 5 gallon jugs of mustard. It was fantastic. We stocked up on Bottled water, XX beer, diet coke and then headed to Wal-Mart

Again, yes, I said Wal-mart but this time it was different than the ones in the states, this was MUCH better. They had people constantly cleaning the aisles, the workers were friendly and it had a HUGE fresh food section. The only thing that kept us from buying more than we did was the tiny little rental car and Brian’s impatience wanting to hit the road.

With the car full of food, people and gas we headed up Highway 1. A narrow, twisty and fast road with memorials from those who lost there lives on it strewn every 10-15 kilometers. Probably from the truckers as they FLEW down the road passing everyone in their path, turn or not. We made the turn to head east on a road that took us through some small villages, fruit orchards and dessert and then the road ended. It was gone, all that was left was a twisty, hilly dirt path that we had to travel for 30 kilometers. We weren’t alone as we were passed by caravan of off-road vehicles, probably on their way to the mountain for rock driving. It was barren and beautiful, huge cacti and either a shack or a palace around every turn and just as the directions say, just when you think you are truly lost you arrive and so we did.

The door to the Villa was open when we got there, no one was there but I am sure they were expecting us soon. It was amazing! It sits right on the Sea of Cortez with a small mountain on the left and nothing but beach to the right. A small sitting pool joined to a swimming pool on the patio courtyard surrounded by 4 bedrooms and anchored to a large living area and kitchen. All power is supplied by the solar panels on the roof or a generator at night and is so quiet. The Caretaker, Solomon, greeted us an hour later and he is very wonderful. If we needed anything at all.. ANYTHING just ask. ATV, Kayaks, the boat,… it was all up to us. After a quick tour he disappeared and Rosanna and I did what we came here for… Nothing. A dip in the pool, a walk through the water and some shelf hunting followed by a few drinks and dinner. As the sun set on our first day Rosanna set on the patio, scrubbing her shells and I had my feet in the pool, drink in hand listening to the surf.

Sunday Solomon brought us the ATV and after a cooling dip in the pool and a sprint down to the surf, Rosanna and I grabbed the kite , jumped on the ATV and headed down south. After 15-20 minutes of driving we came to a rock formation that was just BEGGING to be climbed on so out came the kite and camera. We did misjudge the power of the waves and a few crashed about the height of Ro’s head, which made for great shots but a little scary for Brian. Heading back we passed the villa and drove around south by the mountain by some small shacks used for surfers and fishermen. When we got back we escaped inside for some lunch and to get away from the heat followed by an intense game of water polo in the pool. Ro scored first but I came back with a vengeance. Little did she know, I put my feet down a couple times to block her shots, I mean, come on… I’m not gonna get beat by a girl! As the sun fell, we grabbed our flashlights and waited for darkness to surround us as we wanted to go see the turtles hatch on the beach. While we didn’t get to see any baby turtles we did see all kinds of crabs, shelled or not, poking their little heads out of their holes and scampering either down to the beach or just away from our flashlights. Fast little critters! It was all fun until one ran straight for Rosanna, over her feet, waved its claws and “plopped” right into the water. Straight out of a damn Disney movie.

Here I sit Monday morning after waking up early to watch the sunrise and making us coffee, realizing that I’m typing away on a laptop when I should be out playing in the water. We plan on taking the kayaks out by the mountain. And cruising around the bay.

Oh- Jack Johnson never made any sense to me,…until now.

It’s hot here, really hot and very humid. My family and friends know that I run really hot to begin with so I’m a little worried that I’ll get what I call “heat grumpy” and I’ll end up pissing Rosanna off. Well thank goodness for a cooling breeze coming straight off the pacific to keep me relatively comfortable as well as a few dips in the pool and the occasional ice cold beverage. I think I really started relaxing Thursday after a stroll through Cabo San Lucas markets and a delicious lunch at Roja (along with a few drinks) we spent the rest of the evening floating in the pool and playing Uno. Rosanna of course won EVERY damn game we played so I stuck to what I did best… drink.

Friday we used our free shuttle pass to head on back to the airport to pick up our rental car. I thought the ride TO the hotel was bad! We shared the shuttle with a family from Texas and Oregon and you could tell everyone was white knuckled. At one point when his cell phone rang you heard everyone mutter “Oh please no, just drive” and when he was having problems opening his Coke (sending us in the other lane in the process) I offered to assist him so he didn’t kill my wife. He gladly accepted and all in the van were appreciative that I probably saved every one of their lives. Our car rental went very smooth, they even upgraded our vehicle which turned out to be a brand new Jeep Patriot, I was it’s first renter and was so happy because I normally end up renting cars that reek of past smokers. We took the long way down highway 1 and I now realize how very lucky we are back in the states. Cleanliness, security, building codes, low poverty rate… It seems so awkward to have shanty towns not 5 miles away from posh gated resorts. I guess I live a fairly sheltered life tucked away on a hill in Seattle.

OK… back to the honeymoon.

Our last night in Cabo San Lucas, Rosanna and I had an amazing Lobster and Filet Mignon with a bottle of champagne and lovely Spanish music. Rosanna was gorgeous and I must say I looked pretty smashing myself (in all the clothes Ro picked out for me) as we enjoyed the evening, watching the sun set and the ships cruise up and down the coast. The long day, the heat, food and drink finally got to us and we scampered back to our (air conditioned) room and passed out.

What a wonderful few days in Cabo San Lucas, it was an eye opener for sure. Though we had a few speed bumps, we will be back.

Our first segment of the flight down to Mexico was pretty uneventful, with the exception of the flight attendants chattering behind me about how much the hated working the MD-80’s and couldn’t wait to get them out of Alaska’s fleet.

“They just don’t feel as safe”, she said, to her co-worker.

Great. Sure sets my mind at ease!

We arrived at LAX a little later than normal and had a few minutes to shift to our next flight and Rosanna’s head cold was starting to get the best of her. Her sinuses wouldn’t decompress and her ears didn’t pop so not only did her head hurt like crazy but she couldn’t hear a thing so either she was yelling or mumbling. Pour girl, but she fought through it like a champ and we landed safely in Cabo.

We made it through security and customs fairly quickly but were caught up in something we weren’t prepared for… the Transportation Gauntlet. Apparently, Cabo is having a little taxi and transportation upheaval right now and the taxi union is in cahoots with the time share folks. So when they asked where we were headed, I told them SolMar Resort and was quickly shuffled to a “Transportation Specialist” who’s REAL goal was to scam me out of as much money as possible for a taxi to the resort with the promise of her personally taking us to breakfast the next day and give us “guaranteed cash back” at the end of our 90 minute breakfast. Our cost for said Taxi? 1500 pesos ($150 usd).

Not only no but HELL NO. We’ll find another way.

That’s the thing… there IS no other way. So as we walked away from that lady we were snatched up by the next “Specialist” who offered us a ride for 800 pesos. Hell, fine, we took it. The 30 minute ride into town was DEATH DEFYING. Our cab driver wanted to push that thing as fast as he could and pretty much did. I told Rosanna that I now know how she feels when I drive… sorry babe. I’ll slow down from now on! Our check in went smoothly and the hospitality clerk was very understanding of the folks at the airport and promised to make up with it by paying for our return shuttle, giving us a 50% discount on all activities we book through the hotel and paying for our breakfast the next day. I felt a little relieved and Ro and I headed off to our room and proceeded to relax and we promptly passed out.

The next morning… Bells started going off in my head when we were shuttled to the Playa Grande for breakfast. We saw lines of folks in front of desks and none of them looked happy. Yup, we were snagged into a timeshare presentation. An uncomfortable breakfast, a crummy tour of the resort, the shuffle between people trained to get as much information out of you as they can before they make the place look too good to be true. You MUST BUY NOW!!!

You will be happy to know the We did NOT buy a time share. Rosanna and I finally had enough and we walked out on them. Straight out the front of the resort to the beach, took a left and shuffled through the surf down to our hotel.

At last… Our Honeymoon had begun.

Friday Night - Rosanna and I headed over to watch Friday night racing at the velodrome. Where else better to watch than the beer garden? We brought a little dinner and the lawn chairs and enjoyed a few hours of racing. I loaded pictures into the Jet City Velo Flickr linked on the side.

Saturday - Ro and I went out for a nice and easy spin on what turned out to be a pretty nice day. it was overcast but warm as we headed out east to Kirkland, stopping there for a few drinks downtown and then turned around. I felt good being back on the bike after being sick. Everytime I pushed myself though my coughing fits came on but I’m sure that was good though because I really need to get this crap out of my lungs. Nice 30 miles, did a few sprints and opened up the legs for my upcoming race on Sunday. When we got home we headed out for Lunch and ice cream at Husky Deli down the road from our house in West Seattle. I had an amazing Grilled chicken Ceaser Pita. On our way back we stopped off at the nursery and looked at the plants as we plan on changing the blah landscaping of our front and back yard. Dinner was at Chandlers Crab House on Lake Union with Evan and Tara. Fantastic time and great food capped off with a surprise visit by Two Buck Chuck (who played at our wedding) and they sang our first dance song for us “Crimson and Clover” It was awesome.

Sunday - Race day. 6 of us drove down to Boston Harbor in Olympia for the State Championship Circuit Race, Greg, Dustin, Tony, Brad, Jeff and myself. I had a great race here last year, Tony Brad and I pretty much owned it so I was looking forward to having a lot more teammates. Unfortunately my lungs just couldn’t take it. after two laps of us shooting off the front and attacking every chance we could get I was overwhelmed by my chest build up and couldnt breathe well. I started feeling dizzy and went from 3 wheel to mid pack to the back at the hill leading to the 1k sign. We had a guy in every break, and it worked netting us a 3rd place from Jeff Dunn in the three man break away with Dustin sprinting in for fourth, Brad 9th and Tony 10th. Fantastic day of racing even though I had to pull out. I knew I wouldn’t feel 100% but I am so happy we did so well as a team.

Wow.

What an amazing and life changing day. To see (almost) all of my family and friends and share such a day as that was beyond anything I can possibly describe. To John, Greg, Jeff, Dustin, Jeff W, Kevin and Jason… to have you standing next to me that night was awesome. You are all true friends and I couldn’t have asked for a better evening. To My Mom, Emery, Anna and Steven your support through this past year was much needed. I promise we will give you all some grandchildren soon (ahem…2 years?) My Brother, Evan… I love you so much. Thank you for everything you are. Dad, as Evan said I know you were there. Thank you for molding me into the man I am today, I love and miss you every day. Allison, you did a fantastic job coordinating the night for us, it was wonderful.

And to Rosanna, you were heart stoppingly beautiful as always. I was speachless from the moment I laid eyes on you, the way you floated down the aisle made my knees week and I don’t think my smile could have gotten any bigger. I am so lucky you chose me to spend the rest of your life with. I love you with all of my heart.

Pictures and video are soon to come, as well as some crazy stories from the evening (greg).

Now from myself and Mrs. Snyder…. G’night! ;-)

You are… Everything.

How can I stand here and not be moved by you?

Happy 06-07-08 eve.