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

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.

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

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

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

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

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