life, lyfe, lie_f

Here are some pics for your viewing pleazure..off to Paris for the weekend, visiting the spooky side of  Paris-catacombs, cemeteries, gargoyles of Notre Dame, so planning on taking a crapload of photos, check back soon!

 This is my village, Im on one of the many hills that overlook the area, my house is one of the very last in the back:

 Now you have NO reason not to train outside in the winter:

 The best reason I wake up every morning:

the season that matters most: cross season

I think that of all the four seasons, I like cross best.  I really like to watch it.  I need to participate in this next year(when I've actually had a full on race season!), but this year, I will enjoy the sport of spectatin' and enjoy watching boys play in the mud (what girl wouldnt?).

Last weekend we moseye'd ourselves over to Hochspeyer for a cross race put on by an American guy living over here in Deutschland.  It was the perfect day, as the prior night, it was raining and cold.  That morning the course looked the way it should (muddy, cold and wet).  I was excited to watch Justin suffer, especially since he was in a grouchy mood that morning.  Just kidding, but really, it was fun to watch him push it beyond his normal limits and although he wasnt feeling at full form, he slowly watched his second place slip down a few notches finishing a very respectable 5th.  The course looked really fun and it was great to have the race close to home.  Promoter did a super job, so thanks Ken Bloomer!  

We didnt stick around too long, as our 4yr old was in protest mode, she wasnt too keen on being that cold, and I DID forget her gloves (Isuck), so found out later that Justin even got a prize!  Wow, so cool.  So next up is most likely Karlsruhe, on Halloween.  I wonder what Justin will dress up as?  I wonder if the German racers will dress up??  I wonder if I should wear something scary or sexy?  Just kidding, but seriously, Its fun to watch this stuff and if you havent you definately should!!

It was cool to see some other Americans there as well, and they live in our vicinity so its always great to meet up with like minded peeps.

Anyways...I am really amazed that people still take the time to read this blog.  Im sorry if its boring, but its been fun and I am trying to post more,,see, this post comes only a week'ish from the last, not to bad!!

imagine im contributing to this blog

Everyday I think about things I am going to write about on this blog.  I come up with some awesome thoughts, and then I get home from my walks or whatever and I immediately get sucked back into my life, kids needing something, husband requesting my attention...it often gets tucked away in my brain, so far that I often forget the cool, awesome things I want to share with the world.

We have been continually busy people since moving to our new place here in Germany.  Its been great to say the least.  We have been traveling, enjoying the company of good friends visiting from the states, and just enjoying our new digs. 

The house is amazing.  We go back and forth on deciding if we want to buy this place.  Right now, we are just enjoying having so much open space all around and the amount of riding in close proximity.  A great thing is that the highest point here, where all the cyclists go to train for climbs is pretty much right behind our house.  Its a good few miles, but the climb is a paved sufferfest and Im sure I will get to initiate my vomit once or twice on this mountain come spring (sorry for that ; )))..Our village is super small, not even a bakery, but its an amazingly beautiful location, surrounded by huge rolling green hills.  I love all the cows, and sheep that dot the countryside.

On top of Germay, at the Zugspitz:

Last weekend we went to Oberammergau and Garmisch for a Ritchey mountain bike marathon.  It was Justin's race and he did great!  He was somewhere midpack, after three hours in the saddle and over 5000 ft of climbing, he was spent!!  No pain, No gain!!  He was amazing...oh and we climbed the zugspitz, the highest peak in Deustchland, it was so beautiful up there, if you ever can take the train up, do it!!  Then take the cable car down, AWESOME!  I am planning on actually climbing to the summit next summer, no train, no cablecar.  I love to climb mountains!!  

Cyclocross season is starting up and we will head to a local cross race and support local racing next weekend.  Im excited to watch, yes, watch this year, and get some good action shots.

Im still getting used to my new slr, Im really, really knew to the digital slr world, the nikkon is not too hard to figure out, but it is a lot of trial and error on my part.  Im diggin' it though.  I just ordered a backpack style camera bag, so I can take it on rides and travel, it will be so much better.

Im looking forward to heading to the states in a few months for a good long vacation.  It will be two years since I've been in the USA, and Im excited.  I miss family and just being around my fellow countrymen.  My parents just bought a house in beach in Florida, so I am also excited to go visit them and soak up the sun in the future.

I will post some great pics later, my connection has been crappy lately.

I am excited for the possibilities for the next race season.  Just planning to rack up an assload of miles over the next 3-4 months and then get ready for the races again.  I am excited, because this is the time to enjoy the bike, to sit back and watch the colors change in the trees, breathe easily and watch the arrival of fall, all from the top of my handlebars...

remembering to stop and smell the roses

Well, this is ridicuolous!!!  I mean really!  Who takes this long to update their blog?!?!!!  I mean, if you are going to even plunge in and do this, you should not wait an ETERNITY to update it! 

I see my numbers dwindiling, people are fed up with me and I am losing my beloved blog readers.  Well, hopefully you will try to follow more.  I have so much new stuff going on. 

First, not only will this be a blog about pedal girl, but it will also showcase photography, which I have been doing for years, but now my sweet husband has bought me the ultimate camera, and two nikkor lenses, so it is time I do this right.

Anyway, not to make this a super long post, let me start from where I started off from..oh, bu the way, sorry for the spelling mistakes, but I just got back from a brauhaus, and one to many beers may affect the readout...

Soooo...3..or maybe more weeks ago, I had the honor of watching my husband complete an XTERRA.  I think this may be much harder than a century mountain bike race.  Watching the men and women complete a swim in the Neckar river, a mountain bike ride in the mountains outside of Heidelberg and a run in the same mountains, it made me re-think the definition of suffering.
the village where it all took place place
Justin was amazing.  He first started with the swim.  When I saw it start, it looked like..crazy.  It was a whole bunch of swimmers and it seemed like everyone was getting kicked in the face..Then I saw him. 
He even saw me! 
Thats him with his face out of the water!

There was this direct look between us, like "what the f&*k did I sign up for?!", then I saw his head go down and continue on into the great blue yonder.  I was super impressed, but even more unsure of this new task he had taken on.  Then he transitioned into the mtn bike portion.  Me and my kids did a mad dash towards the transition area, but when you are running with a 3 year old, it feels like you are lugging a ton of mollasses, so we eventually found a spot and luckily we were able to see Justin ride by, he looked like a fire was put under his booty, so he was hauling on by, we ran back to the transition area (by this time, the 3 year old was in "turtle mode"), but we barely caught him coming out for the run.
 finishing up the bike portion

Seeing him go by in the run and acknowledging his "crew"--us, was awesome.  He went by and had to go under this overpass, that went directly into the river, but there were ropes and cute fireman to catch him if he fell in, so he seemed ok (he later mentioned to me that he started to cramp as he went down under). 


After that, we ran to the finish and cheered him on to the end. In the end, he finished midpack, to seasoned pro's.  He was not even fully trained for it, so I see some podiums in the future!!
I was really proud of him and excited for the future XTERRA's we will get to particpate in. 
Coming in for the finish!
Recovering..

He has made mad improvements in his run and swim...next year he should dominate!!
and we really like living here by the way : )
the view outside my kitchen window

brace urselves..this is kinda long...

Life is beyond a bit crazy and hectic, but what am I doing...at this point, just chillin', soaking it up, actually enjoying it.  We've moved 3 times now in the last four years, and we will move once more when we go back to the states.  Hopefully back to Colorado, I left a little tiny piece of my heart there and I want it back.  So moving back would be the only natural thing to do.  We have thought about buying a house there while we live here, but still in the 'thinking about' phase....

So, we are living in an apartment until we move into our house in a few weeks.  Apartment life has been cool.  A cleaning lady comes every week to clean up after us, which, I have found I thoroughly enjoy.  Im not a pig, well, maybe I am, I am kinda a messy person, that likes to clean though.  But having someone else do it is suuper cool.  She is so nice and only speaks Russian, so I cant understand her and she cant understand me, which makes a very zenful and harmonious situation if you ask me!

So is it different in the Pflatz than in Bavaria???....YES, it is!  Where we lived in Bavaria, it was remote, like living in the country.  None of the locals spoke English, and people were very to themselves.  Everything was very by the book, very, very tidy, and cookie cutter like.  I did enjoy the solitude and the ENDLESS riding possibilities.  The skiing, the riding, the beer, the fact that it felt like you were living in a foreign land...
which brings me to living in Ramstien/Kaiserslautern.  First off.  I live in a little village near K-town as they call it.  It is VERY hilly, which I know is going to make me an amazing climber come next season.  Hills that definitely would remind you of a scene out of the Sound of Music, with cows, sheep, and wildflowers, green as the far as the eye can see...
Anyway..back to the original thought, well, here in the "big" city, I have found, pretty much everyone speaks English!  When going to ikea to buy a bunch of furniture, we did not have to speak German, because to our surprise, the elderly German woman who ordered our stuff for us spoke English, almost perfect.  We go out, we use our Deutsch, but are always replied to in English.  I figure, we are just being returned the favor, and of course we know our Deutsch is not, well far from, perfect.  People also dont look all the same.  People are very individualistic which is nice change.  It just is way more people here, some places look kinda dirty with trash, but not everywhere.  K-town is pretty cool, enjoy just going shopping, walking around and finding a nice cafe to sit at and people watch whilst drinking a wiezenbier.  Its absolutely beautiful here too.  Bavaria, I thought took the cake, and there are places that cannot even compare, but I think they are both beautiful.  The landscape is a bit diff here, but they both are equally scenic in my book.

I just dont want to EVER, ever sound like I dont appreciate this experience!  I know how lucky we are.  My husband has "paid his dues", through education, other jobs and graduate school to be able to have a very good and secure job.  Im sooo happy and grateful we get this opportunity!

There are just so many more people, ALOT of Americans and much more to do.  There is a surprisingly amazing amount of riding, I will be hopping off the mountain bike and start getting on the cross bike, I think I will partake of a few cyclocross races if possible, but not before I do a 13 mile off road running, yes, I said running race in October!  I have started running and building up to this distance.  Justin does 20 miles the day before mine, then I do 13.  It is supposed to be over crazy terrain.  You are required to wear a backpack, carry first aid, etc.  Im EXCITED>  .  My racing season is pretty much kaput with the move.  Although Justin has been racing. He raced marathon WORLDS< yes!  But had some mechanicals that forced him to abandon ship.  This past weekend, he raced a U. S. Forces race in Spangdahlem.  I was not able to go watch (it was raining, and I didnt feel like going), but he won and used it as some training.  He is racing an XTERRA in two weeks.  It is basically a hardcore off road triathlon.  He swims in a lake, runs off road and then mountain bikes.  It sounds so much fun, and watching him train for it has been insightful.  Im actually kinda interested in triathlon myself.  I have done a few in the past, but I really have an itch, but its just a little itch at this point..

We drove over to France and bought a bunch of wine, cheese, baguettes, etc because a friend told us about this store right across the border, so had to go.  Driving on the autobahn, it took us 24 minutes to get home.

I just have a lot of thoughts and excitement for the future.  Im VERY excited to move into our house.  It is HUGE!  It has an amazing yard.  It is on a bike path.  We only have a few neighbors, which is nice.

It will be nice to just get back in the swing and start training for next season.  We do have a trip to the states in December, but aside from that, my focus will be on season 2011!!  Heck Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!

We are ready to move into the house and we have friends from the states coming in Sept.  My husband loves his job and the bike path goes straight from our house to his work, so he's happy for commuting.  Im toying with starting back up my massage business, and other stuff...my son starts 3rd grade in two weeks, my little 3yr old is going to go to daycare, giving me some extra time to train.  Justin and I have a plan, I train days, he gets evenings, the life of married with kids....lots going on...

All I know is...Life is good.

where have i not been?!!?!!

This past month has taken me on many adventures.  We have been to two different countries and have had numerous adventures.  I dont have time to post any pics right this sec, but I will in the coming days.

The first part of the month, we headed over to Cesky Krumlov for a fun rafting trip with friends on the Vltava river.  It was amazing!!  If you have the chance to go the the Czech Republic, GO TO CESKY KRUMLOV!  By far, this was the best place I have been in Europe thus far.  It is a small city situated on the Vltava River, the same one that runs through Prague.  It has a beautiful castle, and the city streets are all cobble and the buildings old with medieval history brimming your historical flavor..I actually found out that Hostel the first movie was filmed here.  It has this amazing warm, friendly ambiance that cannot be replaced by the big city.

We took our raft for 5 hours and made pit stops along the many little side bars/restaurants, much good Czech beer was had!  My favorite was Eggenberg.  sp?  But sooo good!

Then we moved out of our house in Bavaria, and headed for the alps.  Garmisch, another amazingly beautiful alpine town was fun, then through Austria, back to Deutschland to our new home, Ramstein/Kaiserslautern.  We have been here almost three weeks, living in a temp apartment looking for houses.  It has been an exhausting experience, as there are at least hundred of other people in the same boat.  It has become cuttthroat for this way too mellow, laid back family, but of course we have adapted, which got us into our new home.  We offered thousand euro down as a deposit on the spot to rent what is basically our German dream home.  We move in Sept 1!  We have a huge yard, a brand new, yes BRand NEW 5 bedroom large home, in the country, unlimited Bike access/trails, we live in a very HILLY region, so climbing should be an asset and not a weakness next season.

On the downside to all the traveling and moving, my riding has gone to the wayside.  I am very dissapointed, but next year will be better, and Im not giving up on my season, I just know that its not going to be at my highest level.  Justin is racing marathon WORLDS next weekend, so that will be good.

Anway...pics to come...peace, Angie

2nd place is better than I hoped for!

Well, the 12 hour race was brutal.  Not that it was hard physically, but it was the mental focus that started to wear on us.  The biggest part of this was the heat.  It was 90 degrees out there and it was really humid, with no wind.  Some of the course was in the trees, but it felt like we were in an oven most the time.  Physically we could manage, but the heat started to wear us down, had to be strong and just push past that.  Justin and I had our strategy set in place prior to the race, but realized as we started that things would need to be tweaked and a new plan put in place. 
settin' up the koppa pit:
When I wasnt riding, I was feed zone girl, and it was great because the race passed right next to our setup, as did for everyone, so it was a matter of just seeing Justin come through and handing off his feed.  It was necessary to have COLD and fresh water every other lap because it was so hot.  The race had a great organized food area and lots of beverages. 
There were 5 mixed duo teams.  At one point, our team was in 5th place.  But we managed to keep the pace consistent and snagged 2nd place!  I am very happy with our results!!!
first lap freshness:
On the complaints end, I felt bad from the get-go.  My legs never fired up and I just didnt have any giddy'up.  I could ride a consistent pace, but I just didnt have any fire and that was a little disappointing.  It really bothered me that I couldnt just punch it on some spots, and I would see guys pass me that were on on the 4 man teams on basically huffy bikes, tearing it up.  I do know what happened and why, and I have learned from my mistakes.  I use this race as a platform to build on and learn from for the next one.  As far as my team mate, Justin is a fast and super talented cyclist.  Ask anyone that knows him.  But he was sick.  It was a situation that could have bad consequences.  We didnt want to not try, but he didnt want to run himself into the ground and gamble his future fitness away, so he played very conservative.  His conservative makes me look molasses, but he still rode amazing and that is why he is one of my heroes.
sleepytime:
Our kids...that is another factor.  We took our little ones, because we always do this, they go everywhere with us.  But, this was a new situation for us, as far as us both racing this long of a race and alternating between recovery and racing.  My kids are pretty awesome.  They played and when they got bored, they found rocks and sticks and grass to play with.  They didnt even fight that much, so I was real proud of them.  I know they can handle it.  And today they are getting rewarded for being good, by going to Playmobil Land.
Yes, I am that kind of parent.  I reward for good behaviour, and if you think thats wrong, I dont really care what you think.

dusk, and almost finished!
at the end of 12hours 9am-9pm, teammates:

The awards ceremony started at 10pm, we ate some great german food and got our podium, along with some Marmot, Crankbrothers and Deuter gear.  We also got a pretty sweet trophy made from marble.  I was suprised to get anything actually.  Thanks so much!!!  It was great!
some german puttinsteak and spagel/potatoes, it hit the spot
So, next week the movers come, then the following weekend we have another 12 hour race.  We are on the fence if we will be able to do it.  Its a sketchy situation.  We will be livng in a hotel by then, and JK will be about to start a new job.  Might be too much, but that's how we roll, so probably will do it anyway. 

I will post more pics soon,, Angie