Midsummer Night

wow that moon was awesome. I rode tonight then driving home saw this GIANT orange orb in the sky. GORgeous!!!! I was watering my plants tonight and a pure white moth settled on me and just sat there. It made me think of the mystery of midsummer's night. THey say the veil is thin now between the worlds. Be careful of strangers you meet during the solstice. You never know who they might really be.

**Its the longest day of the year!!!!!! ****

Well. Midsummer and its celebration is interesting to me.
According to the opinion of Wikipedia: We have a connection of the christian version of the Summer Soltice celebrations which they renamed "St. John's Day' . That explains a lot to me regarding the naming of my St. John's Wort, it is totally blooming right now. (very pretty yellow flowers btw). Hence the name..St. John's Wort. It all makes sense now. It's Cute that a plant that blooms during the happy summer solstice will also make a tea that helps with depression. :)


Oh and 'Swedish Day'' is now. Hey. Why not? I dont think the people celebrating right now really care if its pagan or not...they just want to celebrate summer. :) YAY summer!

That reminds me that I should send a prayer to those suffering from the flood.

We got pretty close to flooding last year when the power went out and our sump pump turned off. SCARY. We had a generator fortunately to help. But you know what? The neighbors that had their power all offered out extension cords to the neighbors that didn't. The long cords were crossing the street all up and down the neighborhood. Everyone stayed dry. THAT just makes me smile and you know, RIGHT NOW there are Very good people helping each other out down there even as we speak. Even as we sit here thinking about them.

SO stop worrying about the nasty hostile posters on that site regarding the 'cars vs. bikes' of Barrington Hills. Just ride sensibly and SHARE the road. I know I get mad too but when I spend my days riding inches away from a disaster all the time, it makes me a bit testy and short fused at times. I do apologize for the occassional outbursts. :)ha!

Oh.......Why am I posting this?? ...sorry I am off topic again....haha!
CAUSE SOME OF THE PEOPLE CELEBRATING the SOLSTICE WILL BIKE NAKED IN A PARADE!!!! PAINTED!!!!
COol.
.......there are those crazy painted NAKED cyclists again!!!!! heee.

Summer Solstice Celebrations:

Geneva, Illinois, hosts a Swedish Day (Svenskarnas Dag) festival on the third Sunday of June. The event, featuring maypole-raising, dancing, and presentation of an authentic Viking ship, dates back to 1911.
The Seattle, Washington neighborhood of Fremont puts on a large Summer Solstice Parade & Pageant, which for many years has controversially included painted naked cyclists. In St. Edwards Park in Kenmore, Washington, the Skandia Folkdance Society hosts Midsommarfest, which includes a Scandinavian solstice pole.

grrrrrrr

aaaaaah pain relief

EMPI
Not a new drug. This device works on low grade chronic muscle pain and swelling. YES it works! I have tried it at a demo and a doc there said he used it for his shoulder injury and one of the nurses at work used it for her knee pain. They both liked it a lot. I want one! Older models have been around for a while but this one is a newer version.
If you had an accident or injury and want to heal up pain free and with as little medication as possible, Or if that nagging shoulder or back won't let you sleep at nite, definitely ask your doctor about this
device.

http://www.empi.com/empi_products/detail.aspx?id=642

Most insurance companies cover it including Medicare. The numbing effect feels like someone gave you a shot of anesthetic. As soon as you turn it off, that feeling goes away. The pain is milder for a time after this is turned off.
If you are having difficulty sleeping with that nagging shoulder or back injury..this device will help! You will probably go "aaaaaaaaaah' as soon as you hook it on.
I think its a great invention especially for recovering athletes, or if you hate taking any pain medications.
If you need something like this, you should ask your doctor about it. We have a version of this I have used in the dental office before. Its just electrodes and a mild current that transmits a certain frequency that ...well..its sort of like acupuncture. It blocks the nerves from sending messages and ..wow ..it really works well.
You can buy this for home use!
You can't overdose on this. It won't hurt your stomach lining like some people get with Nsaids or aspirin type drugs. You can't get high with it so there is no potential for a 'street value'. It won't make you drowsy or dizzy so you can set it up and then drive with it. (just don't let it distract you ..I mean ..doh)

The pads sit on two areas surrounding the pain and your doctor can show you where to place them. You turn the device on and slowly raise the intensity until you feel the pain dissappear. Its awesome. No needles!

http://www.empi.com/empi_products/detail.aspx?id=256


The backstrap (image) with electrodes.

Cost to build a Velodrome

OK if I win the lotto. I will help to build a Velodrome in Barrington area. It would have to be an indoor one. Make it public, of course. It really doesn't have to be heated though. Just out of the elements is good enough.

This is the one in Australia.



I am daydreaming here. Maybe off Sutton somewhere, near the highway. Wouldnt that be sweet?
We need this. Wow. It would get us nasty cyclists off the road. (haha) well...a few at least. I know I"d workout there a LOT. Look at that. wow.
It has to be open to the public though.
I read that the cost to build this is about 5 million. I thought it would cost a lot more. But then again just raising 300 grand is a challenge. Still . 5 is not bad. I"d give to the cause.

Ok it is ''cheaper'' to bild an outdoor one like at Northbrook. 3 million to build an outdoor one, 5 million to build an indoor one. My figures are according to this article which discusses the costs and is being built presently in Colorado.

http://www.fcvelodrome.org/news/24april06.html
http://fcvelodrome.org/info/index.html
Hmmmm.

oh yeah?

I was cleaning up my old ancient bin of races past, all kept neatly in a Fizik saddle box.

I found this.... from 2000....

Hank nearly fell over laughing.

yeah ...hmmm...well.....(he is just jealous he do'nt have one 'cause it is harder for men to get a medal in DORC since there is more of them to race against..... )

Famous Woman Tribute

OK its raining out and super cold..threatens to snow ! I am not riding with the Harper this morning. Its actually April 12th but I started this blog post a couple weeks ago so it posted that date.
My trainer is fine with me but I wish we could ride outside again soon . Heck last week, Just to keep up on the hills, I had to remove the power tap wheel last week to give me back the 5 pounds I gained over the winter. .... ...eh, it's probably muscle, right? haha.
I was looking for some motivation and I found it. I hope this does the same for you. Hank gave me a list of 'Best Women Cyclists in the World" which he rattled off the top of his head like it was common knowledge. If I want to say I am a fan of women's racing, I better know all these top athletes!!! Here is just one of many. I"ll try to do more sometime.

If anyone ever asked me who the greatest cyclist is in the world. I would not hesitate the answer.
This name would definitely be acceptable as a response: Jeannie Longo. She has won more races than any other cyclist in the world. More than Lance, more than Merckx..... yup.

Jeannie Longo: The Greatest Cyclist In History
Best hour performance women
48.159 km/h Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) Oct 1996
47.411 km/h Yvonne McGregor (GBR) Jun 1995
47.112 km/h Cathérine Marsal (FRA)Apr 1995
46.352 km/h Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) Oct 1989
44.933 km/h Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) Sep 1987
44.770 km/h Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) Sep 1986
43.082 km/h Keetie Van Oosten-Hage (NED)Sep 1978
41.471 km/h Maria Cressari (ITA) Nov 1972
41.347 km/h Elsy Jacobs (LUX) Nov 1958



Jeannie Longo has more than 900 career victories, the most of any cyclist in history.
I hijacked the pic from Cervelo's site...that is one mighty fine machine!!http://www.cervelo.com/content.aspx?m=Athletes&i=Road
This picture was taken just last year.




Her list of titles include: an Olympic gold medal, three Tour de France titles, 38 world records, 52 national titles and 13 world titles.
Longo was born Oct. 31, 1958 in Annecy, France. She's competed throughout the world in her more than two-decade career, including many victories in the United States. I read that Longo often trains during off-season months near a home she and her husband own in New Mexico. She also has distinguished herself academically. She has degrees in Mathematics (B.S.), an MBA, and a doctorate in Sports Management.
She's competed in every Olympics since 1984 .
......and by the way...that was the FIRST time ANY woman competed in a raod racing event in the Olympics. Bike racing was one of the original events in the first Olympics, but up until 1984 there were no women cycle racing events allowed. (Hank said 'who cares') Smack Hank in the head when you see him . ha! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Well... OK he is just being cranky at me because I need to get off the computer and on my bike. He does too care.
Kinda.
I think.

OK ..hurry hurry ....let me finish my tribute...
Will we see her again in 2008 for a seventh appearance? Here she is highlighted on the 2008 Beijing website! http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/l/n214046069.shtml

However as I investigated more articles about her past, I discovered that she has a reputation of being a bit of a snot. In her past she has been labled as being haughty and arrogant, rude to the reporters even after winning a gold medal...Generally her attitude has given her a reputation of being a poor sport.
I think she is just being French. :)

An article written by Dana Thomas about her in Outdoor magazine in 1997 highlights her and we discover she has a unique and ultra-infamous temperment that goes along with her ultra -incredible palmeras. This article is very interesting and well written about Jeannie. http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0597/9705longo.html

here is an excerpt:
Running parallel to Longo's string of successes is a string of prima donna antics, tantrums, and scandals that have alienated most of her cycling peers. Even Samuel Abt, the International Herald Tribune's venerated cycling correspondent, abandons objectivity when it comes to Longo. "She's selfish and arrogant," he recently told me. "She has antagonized officials and cost some of them their jobs. She has said nasty things about coaches and teammates. When she competed for the French team at the world championships in 1989, the other women on the team were so fed up with her behavior that they came up with a rule: Anytime someone mentioned her name, that person had to pay a fine. Jeannie Longo is an extremely turbulent person who happens to be a very good cyclist."

But I pressed her once again: "Why do people say you're difficult?"
Glaring, she said curtly, "Because I don't like hypocrisy and I don't like superficiality. To me it makes no sense to say 'Hi!' and be friendly to everyone when there are some you don't like. It doesn't interest me at all."

JEANNIE LONGO'S RECENT HIGHLIGHTS (wikipedia)

2007
World Time Trial Championship - 7th

2006
* French Road Race Championships - 1st place
* French Time Trial Championships - 1st place

2005
* Chrono Champenois - 2nd place

2004
* Olympic Games Road Race - 10th place
* French Road Race Championships - 1st place

2003
* World Time Trial Championships - 6th place
* World Road Race Championships - 6th place

2002
* World Time Trial Championships - 7th place
* Chrono Champenois-Trophee European (cat. 2) - 3rd place

2001
* UCI Points List - 11th place
* World Championships
* Time Trial - 1st place
* Road Race - 3rd place
* Grande Boucle Féminine (cat. 1) - 9th place GC
* Women's Challenge - 5th place GC, Mtn. jersey, stage victory
* Montréal (Can) World Cup - 6th place
* Grand prix de Haute-Garonne - 6th place

1998
* UCI Points list - 10th place
* World Championships
* Time Trial - 5th place
* Road Race - 9th place
* French Road CCT - 3rd Place
* Trophee d'Or - 3rd place GC, stage victory
* French Track Pursuit Championships - 1st place
* French Road Race Championship - 1st place
* Women's Challenge (cat. 1) - 4th place GC
* Montreal (Can) World Cup - 2nd place
* Trois Jours de Vendee - stage victory
* Canberra Classic (Tour de Snowy) - 3rd place GC, stage victory
* Tour of Aquitaine - 3rd place GC, stage victory

1997
* UCI Points list - 7th place
* World Time Trial Championships - 1st place
* GP des Nations Time Trial - 1st place
* Trophee d'Or - 1st place GC, 2 stage victories
* Interreg-Dreilaender Damen Tour - 3rd place GC
* Tour du Canton de Conques - 1st place GC, 2 stage victories
* Vuelta a Majorca - 2nd place GC, stage victory
* Trois Jours de Vendee - 3rd place GC

Never underestimate a thin fit woman with an elementally-weathered face. http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2007/mar07/gpbrissago07/longo1

video interview: last year. (in french) she looks great!!!!! She doesnt seem haughty to me! Here she is laughing and being amiable. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x33b5y_jeannie-longo

Mont Ventoux hillclimb fast

OK. THIS is the way to CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!!!

cycle fight

OMG.