Wednesday, April 28, 2010

BACHELOR AUCTION & AUTUMN WILL PAY

OMG. Those pictures. Those sunglasses. That jacket. I am having a identity crisis. Thank you, Autumn for documenting. Thank you for sharing these images with the world of the Internet. The only part of those photos I recognize is the shave ice...and the American Apparel. Who is that blond girl with "gear" on and who has "muscles" and who think riding from Santa Monica to Malibu is "a quick ride"????? I don't understand.
Don't get me wrong. It is kind of exciting. And I never get bored of people saying "YOU are doing WHAT???" or "you rode HOW FAR this weekend" and more importantly "I WILL give you money because that is such an important cause." It's not all bad...just very strange. I would say I have done a 180 in life, except my bike and shoes are pink. You can take the girl out of the Juicy, you can't take the Juicy out of the girl.
ANYWAY...the REAL reason for this blog is that Team Cray Cray is having a FAB fundraiser this weekend at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood. There will be drinks, food, and a man auction. Yes, you read that correctly...a MAN AUCTION. I, personally, cannot think of anything better. Please see below for selection. Could they be any cuter???
All of the Crays will be there with bells (and tee shirts) on, so come see us and raise money and buy yourself a man. I might bid on one to be my new boyfriend. Yes, I know they are gay...it would not be the first time...see you Saturday!!!
Hot men AND that girl from KTLA. What more could you need?
-Caitlin

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sometimes When You're a Pro Cyclist....





Sometimes Pro Cyclists have to stop for shaved ice. Even when its cold. And even when its 11am.





Sometimes Pro Cyclists pout when they buy "athleticky" sunglasses.



If you look really close, you can see the athletic vents on the sides. They let Pro Cyclist eye balls breathe. We hear its important.

Sometimes Pro Cyclists get distracted and find themselves shopping. Never fear, it was for a good Pro Cycling Cause; stay tuned for pictures from Day 5/Red Dress Day. You may see this Pro Cycling purchase again.






Monday, April 26, 2010

Scared Spandex-less

I'm currently sitting in/near San Francisco for work. The next time I am here, I will be going home to LA on my BIKE. Such a crazy thought!

So, the weekend was great! 2 very beautiful rides, no bike pain, a little weird knee thing happening, and only 2 scrapes with death.....yeah, about that. I wasn't going to blog about this, knowing that my mother is out there reading and probably going to call me and then tell me how this California place is too dangerous and full of crazies. However, Caitlin reminded me that many of you out there are not pro kit wearing cyclists (OMG, Caitlin was sooo pro yesterday; you can't even believe the pictures that I'll post tomorrow.) and need to be taught the dos and don'ts and the importance of always paying attention to the road while you're driving.

Our entire weekend plans changed and we did rides other than I talked about on Thursday. Saturday we drove to Palos Verdes to participate in an unsantioned ALC ride with some of our ALC buddies and the Whisperer. The BW "claimed" and tricked me (she's good at trickery) into believing that there are only "rolling hills" in PV. However, PV is a beautiful town on the coast of CA. When something is on the coast, it is often on cliffs and mountains or something. This is true of PV. "Rolling hills" was actually 15 miles of uphill and 7 miles of downhill. Sweet. I was so emotional after the ride that I started crying. Honestly, there were times in the past 2 months when I was unable to stand upright that I really didn't believe I would be able to ride hills again. But I did and I didn't die!! Whoo!

The first brush with death came on Saturday at a stop light in PV. The truck rolling next to me decided that it was too busy to stop (likely staring at how amazing I look in spandex shorts) and rear ended the car in front of it. This was on a 1 lane street without a shoulder. As I watched the truck rear end the car, I realized that Caitlin was next to the car and watched and waited, hoping that the car would not jerk to the right and into Caitlin. I was terrified from the watching and Caitlin panicked from the sound. Cars crashing next to you is loud. In case you were wondering. We rode through the intersection and then stopped to stop the shaking and regroup. We were safe, but it was pretty scary. So, let's not rear end people, ok?

Sunday we headed out on our own up PCH as Caitlin couldn't live any longer without shave ice. Also, after the hills on Saturday, we needed something a little less intense. PCH is actually rolling and has no climbs. Pretty smooth sailing, except for the whole traffic/cliffs/debris combo. Early on in the ride, an ugle person driving a beat up small truck refused to acknowledge our presence and sent us far into the shoulder as we were trying to manuever into a different non-turning lane. This was not that scary but made me really really mad (see earlier post re: road rage), so I proceeded to chase down the truck to cuss the guy out, but he was too quick and luckily got away. Caitlin was pretty sure there was going to be a brawl.

The really scary, close to death experience of the weekend went down in Malibu. Please please please be aware of bikes on the road. I understand that sometimes it appears that we are not paying attention and are trying to be cars, but really we're just trying to be safe. So....

We're riding along PCH, watching the traffic and attempting to make a left turn at a stop light so that we can get shaved ice and other good things. I'm waving to the cars behind me to get their attention and make sure I see them slowing before heading into the lanes from the shoulder. (I'm getting really nervous as I type this) We noticed that a motorcyclist was clearly not slowing so we waited for him/her to pass and then headed into the far right lane as the other cars were slowing. As I was veering and continuing to watch traffic behind me, a small ugly old brown car 2 cars back swerved (clearly impatient) and sped up quickly.....right towards us. I knew that there was no way he/she was stopping or slowing and I needed to bail. Unfortunately, Caitlin was right next to me and I swerved into her. Thank God that her balancing skills have improved so much -- she was able to stay upright and not fall in front of the cars. As I turned into Caitlin trying to get out of the path of the speeding car, I heard breaks screech and closed my eyes........thankfully THANKFULLY at that moment there was a left turn lane and the car finally decided to pay attention and swerve, just missing us.

It was terrifying.

I'm still shaking as I think about it.

We will, from now on, be taking the cross walk to get to our shaved ice. However, please please pay attention to bikers and pedestrians! I (and Caitlin) have yelled road rage at bikers before, not understanding their need to take up "our" road. But, there are very few roads with bike lanes and we're just trying to be healthy, enjoy the day and do something good. Please focus. Drive safe, and if someone slows in front of you, please be aware there may be a legitimate reason.

When I get back to LA, I'll post amazing pictures of Caitlin's pro kit/sunglasses and half of our Day 5 Red Dress wear!

~~Autumn

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Spandex Preparations

Well fans, its Thursday and not much exciting has happened this week. The mid-week riding has really slowed for various reasons (maybe I should take up spinning), and unfortunately for you, that means the hilarious stories have slowed during the week. But never fear, I am in Los Angeles and officially back on my bike. I've basically decided to throw all caution to the wind and just hit the road.

We're planning a ride up PCH to Malibu this weekend -- if you see us, kindly wave but don't honk -- it will be a good test of how my neck/back muscles are doing. With the thought of shave ice on one end and Souplantation on the other, I'm sure I'll be motivated and it will be fine. Sunday we'll probably do an official ALC 3-in-1 ride; this is a ride that allows riders to "choose their own adventure" by riding 18, 32 or 40 miles. Obviously, we'll be shooting for 40. Again, I'm sure we'll both be fine and after last weekend, 40 miles seems like some kind of nothing to Caits. Also, in timely spandex preparation, I'll have an appointment with the Pain Gang on Monday bright and early and they can put me back together should certain parts of me decide to revolt.

Along with planning our weekend ride, we continue to email and plan our trip. I cannot wait for vacation/the ride! Today Caitlin bought the shirt that she will be sporting at Closing Ceremonies in Brentwood on June 12; you should come so you can see it! Aren't we so cool? Planning these things out so far in advance. We've also come up with a list of items that we still need to buy in order to comfortably (as possible) survive 7 days in the elements. I need things like a sleeping bag, inflatable pillow and socks. We are also both still shy of our $3,000 fundraising minimum. Many of you have donated generously already and we really appreciate it! Between finishing the fundraising requirement and accumulating gear, we are in for a busy month, but it should be exciting!

~~Autumn

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I RODE 75 MILES AND DID NOT EVEN DIE!!!!

So if you have been keeping up with the all important blog (which, I mean what else could you possibly be doing?) you know that it is getting dangerously close to the big start day. You also know that clips and I were in the midst of a contentious relationship and that I went to Vegas last weekend, which is essentially ANTI-training.
Well THIS weekend was Day on the Ride, which is a day long ride that simulates the big ride with pit stops/lunch/sweep vehicles etc. We rode from Santa Monica to San Pedro (which for those who are not locals, is like real far away) and back. Instead of giving you a long recap, here is an itemized list of events from Sunday, aka: That Really Really Long Ride I Did That One Time.
-number of miles completed: 75
-number of falls: 2.5 (I ran into a Prius once, so that is only half a fall)
-number of near death experiences: 1 (My head almost got run over by a car once. I think only 1 near death experience per 75 miles is pretty good, actually)
-number of times I successfully unclipped and stopped without eating it: a freaking lot
-number of massive hills climbed: seemingly infinite
-number of massive hills walked up: 1 (out of spite for all hills, not inability to climb hill)
-number of people I owe my ride and probably sanity to: 3, Ivy, Chris, and Doreen!
-number of roadies that I kept trying to secretly get in car with at every pit stop, but would not let me: 3, Kerry, Gin, Ana
-number of wristband tan lines: 1, sweet.
-number of flavors of Powerade in my water bottle at any given time: at least 3
-number of bs, illegitimate, wtf "vegetarian" aka lettuce sandwiches consumed: 1
-number of actual turkey sandwiches consumed: 1
-number of cheese crackers consumed: 1,000
-number of non-ride provided chicken nuggets consumed: 4 (thanks Gin!)
-number of bruises now on my body: 45
-number of excited people cheering me in at the finish: at least 25
-number of times Autumn's family prayed for me in South Dakota: at least 10 (thank you!)
-number of times Autumn cried when I told her I finished all 75 miles: 3
-number of beef patties consumed immediately following ride completion: 2
-number of people proud of me: everyone I talk to. I love you! Thank you for all of your support!

So thats was my DOTR experience. So glad I did it! Still tired!

Just to put this all in perspetive, lets do a comparison: this weekend vs. last weekend:

last weekend: vegas caitlin.

this weekend: bike caitlin. i mean, this is just straight sexy.


Some pictures from this weekend courtesy of the amazingly positive and endlessly patient Chris:

this was like mile 65. i kind of remember it.

chris: my own personal bike guardian angel. and bunnii.

completion! delirious with two of my favorite people ever.

-Caitlin

Friday, April 16, 2010

CLIPS ARE MY B****

...kind of. I may not be graceful, but my butt no longer meets pavement every time I look at them. Hallelujah!
(sorry for swearing, Autumn's mom)
-Caitlin

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Weekend Spandex Schedule

I am OFF to South Dakota for reals this time people. Last time was a false alarm, not by choice, but United decided to be awesome in March, but this time I am flying Delta (not much of a better choice, but still...) and I WILL MAKE IT THERE. Do you sense the anger? So, there will be no bike riding for me; it didn't really seem appropriate or necessary to ship my bike to South Dakota for an entire 48 hour trip, considering the entire 48 hours will invovle holding babies, seeing Cole's new tricks (he's 5 and awesome) and seeing what new words Kiki/Jack says (fyi, we never refer to the kids in our family by their actual names; for some reason my sister refers to her middle child as "Kiki," so I do too because it is very cute).

The clipping in and out for Caitlin took a giant step forward yesterday -- only one "almost" fall and NO puncture wounds. Whoo!! And, if any of our fans happen to be in Santa Monica on Sunday, near Helen's Bike Shop at 6/7am, you may spot the following (awesome) pro kit: In case you don't recognize her, this is Caitlin. This is Caitlin sporting a SERIOUSLY pro kit. And, this is actually a "kit" whereas normally what we wear is semi-fashionable and not logo-d out spandex apparel. To answer the question on everyone's mind: no, we have not picked up a sponsor for our pro cycling activities. We're still looking (seriously, we take sponors -- one donation of $3,000 gets you advertising on a jersey that we, and all of Team Cray Cray, will sport during one day of the ride. That's advertising to a lot of fabulous gay men). In the meantime, Caitlin is practicing her logo-wearing skills by sporting this lovely number.

So, if you happen to be in/near Santa Monica this weekend and see about 300 bikers coming at you, you have had the fortune of coming across Day on the Ride for AIDS/Lifecycle. This fantastic event helps all of us first time riders see what our life on the route will be like. I have to miss it, but hopefully Caitlin can partake and tell me all about it.

And if you happen to see this pro kit wearing cyclist, don't honk, that's scary, just wave and give her a thumbs up! Because, at the end of the day, despite all of the ridiculous fun that we have making fun of ourselves and the outfits that we could potentially wear, we thrive off of the support of our fans. If I was winning a Grammy tonight, I would thank you. In fact, go ahead and consider this blog my Grammy platform and consider yourself thanked in front of millions.

~~Autumn

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Non-Pro Kit.

In case you were wondering, I would never wear this:

Terry Flare Skort Padded - $94.95

Posted using ShareThis

~~Autumn

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sunday Spandex Snapshots.


Me. Santa Monica. And my iPod (shhh, don't tell). Hope you had a great and relaxing Sunday.

~~Autumn

Friday, April 9, 2010

SPANDEX PACKING. ITS ALL A GIRL CAN THINK ABOUT.

I visited the Pain Gang this morning. And let me tell you, there was PAIN involved. Gross. And even though every single one of THEM, including the Pro Kit Wearing Danno, is very skeptical of my ability to ride 600 miles 58 days from today (AHHHH), I'm still excited and ready for some weekend training (I REALLY REALLY want to ride to Malibu this weekend for shave ice (or AHYES, as Mrs. Dr. Texas would say), but it is about 20 miles longer than I am currently/supposed to be riding....thoughts?). Also I'm taking to the blog to confirm that (i) I don't care what you think, I'm doing this, (ii) if I can only ride some kind of half day mileage, I'm still doing this and (iii) I'm more stubborn than I look so I'm doing this.

Yes, my longest ride to date was 44 hilly miles up and over the Valley and down into the beach. And yes that ride occurred over 6 weeks ago, pre-annoying/terrible back. And yes, 44 miles is half of the mileage per day. But I made a comittment and I'm sticking with it. So there.

And to prove my point, I wanted to show you the brand new super fantastic gear bags that Caitlin and I picked up last weekend!! I mean, who buys a gear bag for a specific event if they're not going to do it?? Please note the following awesomeness of the gear bag: It has a special helmet compartment; there is a removable laundry/shower bag, perfect for hauling stuff from the tent to the shower trucks; the wheels aren't your normal airport luggage wheels -- they go off roading; and it is big, very very big, big enough that after ALC we can haul about 30 pairs of shoes each to Vegas for our after ride party extravaganza.

While Caitlin is heading to Vegas this weekend (boots in tow to cover all of the clipping bruises/puncture wounds) I will be doing some more strengthening exercises, cleaning my apartment/room and perhaps riding to Malibu.....or doing another Soul Food Sunday Ride (see previous post...once I figure out how to link previous posts, I will). Hope all of the FANS out there have a fantastic weekend!

~~Autumn

PS I meant to include this in my post yesterday, but got all kinds of excited about everything and forgot (maybe I should lay off the coffee): If you live in the LA area or surrounding areas and need some physical therapy/a good laugh, check out http://www.vargopt.com Dr. Name on the Door has about a million locations and, I'm sure, staffs them with only the best.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

And......I'm back in spandex.

Can I get an AMEN from my fans?!? (in case you were wondering, if you read this blog, you're a FAN)

Back on my bike THREE separate times in the past week.

It is like starting from scratch and still very very painful (back-wise), but the cold morning air, combined with the "clicking in and out noises" (YES! You read right! I now have fancy pedals to match Caitlin's.) and the fact that ALC starts in 59 FREAKING DAYS has got me very excited and typing in all caps more than I probably should. But, I'm loud and excited and ready to pack my intense gear bag with....oh wait, I have a lot of clothes I need to purchase....so I will type in all caps.

I have been very silent about ALC and biking and such lately because, as Caitlin said, its been a rough month and a half. When I got sick at the beginning of March I never imagined that I would be off of my bike for 6 weeks. Seriously. But, its what happened and I, along with a team of awesomeness that I'm about to introduce you to, have been working very hard to get back to the starting gate.

3 weeks ago I was unable to walk without holding onto the wall, leaning forward at a 30 degree angle and cringing in pain. Now, because of the help of Jeff (aka Dr. Name on the Door), Sam (Mrs. Doctor Texas), Kyle (or "Kahlye" as Mrs. Dr. Texas calls him...) and Danno, and my other friends known as steroids, pain killers and muscle relaxants, I am standing up straight, walking to and fro and back on my bike. Dr. Name on the Door and Danno are also pro kit wearing cyclists and have been VERY supportive of me getting back on my bike in time to ride some kind of 600 miles. Mrs. Dr. Texas is skeptical of the biking, but she's a ball player, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get back on the court some day too. Hereinafter, Dr. Name on the Door, Mrs. Dr. Texas, Kahyle and Danno will be referred to as the "Pain Gang." (I'm a lawyer, so what can I say? I really like defined terms....)

So the Pain Gang cleared me for short bursts of riding at the end of last week and I have been trying to take advantage of it. It is definitely challenging to get back in the habit, and my muscles feel like they did when we started this whole thing, but the good news is that I've been getting up 3 times a week really early before work to see the Pain Gang, so getting up at 5:30 am has almost become a habit (which is probably the most disgusting sentence I've ever written).

So, just get ready to be entertained anew by the next 59 days of training hilarity from Caitlin and me. Aren't you excited??

Also, I would like to once again THANK EVERYONE who has so generously donated to AIDS/Lifecyle. You ARE making a difference! Caitlin and I are both less than 1k away from our minimum fundraising requirement of $3k, but we are shooting for $5k each. THANK YOU FOR HELPING US GET THERE! You are awesome.

Now, back to lawyering and such; I have an appointment with the Pain Gang at 11am and I think I'm required to get some work done before going. One more sidenote before I go: I love my new shoes. Love them. You know why? Well, you see, my feet and ankles are arguably my best features and the envy of everyone (hmm hmm, Caitlin) and these shoes make them look bad ass and skinny. PLUS, apparently, when I get back to riding a disgusting amount of miles and hills, having my shoes attached to my pedals is supposed to help with the struggle. We'll see about that, but in the mean time I love them because they are slimming. And, I will add an emoticon here just to bug Caitlin :-)

~~Autumn

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

"ATHLETE"

This athlete word has been tossed around a lot lately in my life in sentences such as "I never thought I would see the day Caitlin would be an athlete." or "You are an athlete now, whether you like it or not." or "I HATE athletic sunglasses. Hate." (OK that last one was me...) My point is this: I am NOT an athlete. I am not an innately athletic person. I hate sweating, I hate discomfort when it does not come in the form of high heels and "athletics" do not come easy to me. You can bet that if it takes the average person a day to get the hang of something, it will take me a week.
Case in point: clips. I have watch people learn how to use them, fall twice and then ride off into the sunset and go home and make out with their bikes (or whatever). Not the case with me. I don't know if it's that I am the most nervous person on earth, or am the least athletic person on earth or both, but clips + me = disaster. My first day attempting to ride with clips ended in several bloody wounds and not getting out of the parking lot. That was the case several times...until finally I decided to put the freaking bike away until someone could help me before I permanently maimed myself.
The Bike Whisperer gave me a little clip tutorial this weekend and I think that helped a lot. I rode up and down the drive way like a 4 year old, but I kind of got it more than I had before.
Today I went out and rode up and down a quiet street in my neighborhood. I did not want tons of people watching me and trying to call all kinds of ambulances every five minutes. I did better today then I have thus far, so I consider it a triumph. I was even able to get my non-clipped foot far away from the ground enough to pedal. I have not clipped in both feet yet, but whatever. As far as I'm concerned I will just ride 600 miles with one foot clipped in. It's better than falling all the time. I did fall twice today pretty hard and have a pretty scary looking bruise that will most likely be with me for some time. To wrap up...I am not an athlete because as I was going down all I could think about was "I am going to have to wear boots this weekend in Vegas to cover up all these bruises, or maybe I still have time to get spray taaaaaaan." boom. I rest my case.
-Caitlin

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

...yet. Autumn and I are both back on our bikes...kind of. We have both taken quasi-hiatuses from riding. Autumn was sick and then injured and I was in some kind of abusive relationship with my clips that I eventually just walked away from. However, starting this week we are both back on track and ready to ride again.
OK, well to be fair, I am going to Vegas this weekend for my awesome friend Tyler's birthday. And then Autumn is going home the following weekend to see her family. But other than that, we are totally back on track. We bought gear bags! They match! What more could we need!?
Anyway, just thought I would give everyone an update. We have not given up on this whole "cycling" thing, or fallen off the face of the blogging world. We have just hit some road bumps that were a little harder to get over than anticipated.
But watch your back. We are coming to a bike path near you...unless you live in Iowa or some such state, in which case we will be no where near you, sorry.
-Caitlin