A Good Thing Comes to an End....

After I came home and washed off all the dirt and poison oak juice, a twinge of sadness set in...the Grasshoppers are OVER! How depressing! Now what am I going to do every Saturday? This years series was the most challenging so far, in my opinion. Six races instead of 5, and a grand finale single speed race at Lake Sonoma. After Katrina dug her heels in last year, I became intensely motivated to ride every race in this years series and win the overall. I think two of my most deeply rooted characteristics helped me to achieve this goal: loyalty and stubbornness. Never again, Dear Sweet Grasshopper, will I forsake you for some over-rated central valley stage race! And Kids, an ounce of stubbornness is worth a pound of talent (for a cyclist, anyway).

This last race was really tough. I borrowed Dan OKeefes Kelly single speed and rode it once down the Camp Meeker railroad grade and once in Annadel. Annadel wasnt too bad...Penny and I rode just about everything in the park and I had to get off and walk just once at the top of Lawndale. Okay, I can do this! the thing is, even after this brief introduction I fell in love with it. Annadel rules on a single speed. It makes you pick the right lines every time. And you cant cheat: you have to pedal fluidly and maintain momentum in every technical section. And its quiet. And Im a gear-mosher anyway!!!

But I had the shop change the cog from a 17 to an 18, since the word was that the Lake Sonoma loop is challenging, even on a geared bike.

When the day arrived, the starting line-up had dwindled to about 20 riders. Sarah Miller had made a great decision to skip Cats Hill and haul out her single speed for the day. The only other woman to race was Abby, the super-human. Look at the finishing times!!! She beat Sarah and me by an hour!!! Abby, do you have a team for next year??? :)

Sarah and I rode most of the day together, navigating the trails as best we could. The trails were actually really fun! The climbing (in our case, hiking) was repaid with some great descending and beautiful views of the lake. I had Napoleon Dynamite on the iPod, the day went by lickety-split. A few wrong turns and a couple flats later...the finish!

When I got back to my car, look what I found:

Leo made this and it really means a lot to me. Its kinda like the cobblestone that they give to the winner of Paris Roubaix, except this wasnt Parix Roubaix and its a railroad spike, not a cobblestone. Its from the Old Caz railroad grade. A real one! I won it. Roger got one too.

AND, I now have a new favorite necklace. I never used to wear jewelry at all, but Katrina keeps busting out one beautiful necklace after another, and I had to go buy a jewely box. This one is especially nice, and I won it:

Im looking forward to next year. I will set the goal of actually being the fastest woman, instead of just the most stubborn. Thank you to all the NorCal girls who participated in this years series. I still have to draw names to see who wins the aromatherapy facial from Osmosis. :)

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004