Ski to Sea 2010!!

TEAM WE LOOK BETTER NAKED FINISHED THE RACE WITH NO INCIDENT!!

Ski to Sea is an annual race in Whatcom County comprising of seven legs and eight team members. It starts up on Mount Baker--four miles of cross-country skiing, a hike up a mountainside just to go downhill skiing, then the runner begins the descent down the snow-capped mountain towards the road biker eight miles away. The road biker then travels nearly forty miles to the town of Everson, speeding off the mountain and through the foothills. From there, the two canoeists wind down the Nooksack River (the hardest leg, in my opinion). The mountain biker has a short trip to Bellingham where the kayaker takes off in the bay. Finally, at Marine Park in Fairhaven, the race ends with a bell to ring at the finish line.

We Look Better Naked didn't place in the top ten, nor in the top one hundred or two hundred, but I'm still very proud of us. Those of us who began on the mountain (two skiiers, runner and road biker) began our day at 4 o'clock in the morning of race day, driving up snuggled close in the car. I waited hours for my leg to begin, sleeping on cement and wandering throughout the hundreds of bikers and bicyclists. Luckily, my boyfriend was there with me. Look, a Bellingham Herald photographer snapped a shot of us:

Bikers around here are intense. I placed 334 our of 462... Not that great. I could have done better; My biggest mistake was not drafting anybody else. However, the amount of fun I had... When I first started the leg, there was a big cheesy grin on my face. I was riding with the elite, the big dogs, and I was finally part of this big race that seemed to impossible only a year ago. The weather cleared up, the road dried out, and the route was perfect. So scenic and gorgeous. I'd like to give a shout out to 330 for being very thoughtful and entertaining for a good chunk of the ride. "The boys have fallen asleep!" apparently. Next year I'll know what I'm doing and will kick some butt! I can't wait. I really cannot wait.


TEAM 426:
Cross Country Skiier: Alana Thelan
Downhill Skiier: Danica Yates
Runner: Annelise Nielsen
Road Biker: Me
Canoers: Mariah Brown-Pounds & Sabrina Lorgen
Mountain Biker: Chaya Dupree
Kayaker: Mary Ann Dupree

Bike-to-Work-and-School Day 2010

Success! This was the first year I didn't actually have school or work to attend on what has become one of my favorite days of the year, so I joined four of my friends on my Novara Divano to hit as many stations as possible. The morning began at 5:30 AM, as I live a distance away from town and my cronies; Biking started at 6:00 AM.* Can I just say, I love bike pods? Biking solitary is great**, but mounting your metal steed and peddling with your friends makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Anyways, we met up and visited about twelve or thirteen stations, traveling about 25 miles.

Bike to School and Work Day is kind of like Halloween, except that it is far superior. ONE: You can be as old as your Great Aunt Mildred and still be excited about the day without being scorned for being "too old" to trick-or-treat. TWO: The free goods are considerably better than a bagfull of candy***. Food includes organic apples, bananas, and oranges, handfuls of Clif Bars and breakfast cookies, 100% juice, fresh bread from the local bakeries, and also coffee, pastries, donuts, etc. if you like that kind of stuff. To boot, they hand out bike maps, patch kits, reflectors, and the REI booth was giving tire levers away to those who biked. THREE: Nothing says springtime like a long bike ride, and nothing says friendship like a strong bike-pod. FOUR: Everyone participating is so friendly and thrilled that you're biking!

Our adventures lasted up until the booths began closing shop around 10 AM, but we got around. From there, we headed to a basement with a bed and a couch and a beanbag and all crashed**** (after one episode of the beloved Red Dwarf). Glorious.

Finally, the after-party: A local brewery hosts the Bike to School and Work Day celebrations, where a local band provides live music and the raffles are chosen. Unfortunately, none from my party won anything this year, but I did get an authentic Mount Baker Bike Club biking jersey. The lady raffling things off told the audience to come up to the stage if he or she is participating in Ski-to-Sea this year doing the road bike leg. That was me! And I was the only one, or the only one brave enough to approach. I had to answer one question: "Is this your first time doing the race?" which I answered with enthusiastic nods of the head. Check it out--


Cool, huh?

What a day, what a day. The important thing is to spread the word about alternative modes of transportation. Bicycling rather than driving everywhere affords a method of having fun and working out, with the added benefit of saving money on gas, and more crucial, being conscious of the world around you.

According to this website that I log all of my "smart trips" on, in the past several months I have:

Eliminated 3676 miles from being driven.

Prevented:

•2987.76 pounds of carbon dioxide (contributes to global warming)
•11.01 pounds of hydrocarbons (contributes to smog)
•100.4 pounds of carbon monoxide (poisonous gas)
from being emitted into the environment.

Saved 153.29 gallons of gasoline and $461.40 dollars.

So go out and bike to work! The more you do it the more you'll love it, and you'll wonder how you could have spent so much time in your Toyota!*****


*I haven't been that up and lively so early in the morning for a considerable amount of time. It was beautiful. And I was amazed how light out it was.
**Especially at 2 AM when the roads are completely abandoned!
***I, for one, am not much of a fan of candy and spent my childhood (and adolescence...and even last year when I went trick-or-treating in my gypsy costume) giving away my candy to my father or my sisters or my friend.
****Well, four out of five of us did. We all suffered from late late nights and early early mornings. The fifth (poor thing) actually did have school and work to do.
*****This is just a short little blip. More about this later, I hope.

Peddle On Your Old Bike!

It's that time of the year again, when spring is in full bloom and the sun's warming up our little toes. Middle of May means BIKE-TO-SCHOOL-AND-WORK WEEK is here. One of the [many] things I love about northwest Washington is the bike craze that's going on here: people endorsing bicycle commuting and riding in general. Dozens and dozens of folk cruise down my county road everyday, a purr of tires kissing cement and chains revolving in their own happy merry-go-round. Beautiful.

So dust off your bike and go for a ride! Bike-to-school-and-work week starts Monday, so join us bicyclists and save some gas while enjoying the springtime and your functioning joints.