Officially OFF THE GRID!

The Pelican has landed. Yup, it's true, I have found a new home, and my address is:

UN-GOOGLE-ABLE!

I can't tell you how much chuckling pleasure this little fact gives me. You can enter the address all you want and Google remains mute. The satellite map shows the area but not the road! Tee hee hee hee... I didn't think it was possible. It's high in the hills above Santa Barbara not someplace like... the Appalachians for heaven's sake! But I am reveling in the anonymity. It reminds me of the movie where Dudley Moore tells a friend: "I'm incommunicado." and the woman on the phone asks: "Where is that?" Dudley says: "Next to Cognito".

If you look closely you will see the road on the top of the ridge that is now my home training ground.

"Cognito" is at the top of a well worn epic hill climb. Santa Barbara cycling pals will easily guess where it is (expect summit brunch party soon). The house itself is rather cabin-like but contains all the modern conveniences. There is a pot bellied stove and fireplace to lessen dependence on the electric heaters for warmth. However, no cable, so satellite is necessary for TV, and radio reception depends on tricky antenna placement. God bless Blue Tooth!

One thing there is plenty of here: QUIET and lots of stars. We also have something called "sundowners", high gusting winds that come up as the sun sets. They routinely blow the plastic deck chairs over the railing where they fall to the ground two stories below. There are lots of welcome animal sounds day and night, nice neighbors with beautiful gardens, a babbling creek and swimming holes. Yeah, I said swimming holes! I'll be starting my own veggie garden too.

Once again, in more pictures than words:

The view from the top

Alarm clock

Pest control

If the phone cuts out I'm blaming this guy

In the gardens

Poppies at the roadside

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams...

Maybe this is the Appalachians!
(actually a former director of the Botanical Gardens lives here, go figure.)

Top of the creek bed

Creek

"I have made fire! I... have made fire!
(Tom Hanks ain't got nothin' on me)

Those close to me know that this relocation (after 12 years in Del Mar) has been a long journey indeed. As a special bonus that is evidence that the Great Spirit is watching over me after all my new house mate is a partner in a local winery: "Help yourself to all the wine you can drink. Plenty of wine!"

It's going to be a cozy year.

WHIRLWIND

Jennifer Wilson brings the proper attitude

I made it to the Redlands Classic for the criterium on April 5th, day three of the annual jamboree. What follows are a few words and a slew of pictures.

Mara Abbott - the one to beat in yellow, and Katharine Carroll called up to the front.

Michael Engleman (the salt of the earth), and Rebecca Much having a good day.

My primary mission was to meet with Michael Engleman of US Women's Cycling Development Program and Dave Varrechia of Vanderkitten Racing, as, in addition to racing myself, I am seriously considering the notion of working to promote women's cycling in various capacities.

Leah Guloien and Jenny Trew

Goal #2 was to meet as many of my cycling sisters as possible...and watch a really good race. For all the women I met I will say this: they are really warm, open people, FUN, dedicated and SMART. I found myself in a sea of EXTREME multi-taskers. Nearly all of them have very complicated lives that include husbands and children, college degrees to finish, careers to maintain. They count the bruises and scars on their bodies with a shrug as just part of the journey. Almost all are surprisingly under compensated for what they do and sacrifice far more than time and energy to be part of the sport. Each would make a wonderful role model for young women any day of the week! It makes a girl feel privileged to be in the midst of such dynamic women and they are all so welcoming to newcomers like me.

Jenny Trew and Melissa Sanborn

Waiting for the shot.

Some of the girls were having a hard start to the season. Some were getting over the flu. Some were just beginning to feel symptoms of the flu. Others were still not quite recovered from injuries sustained in the races of recent weeks. A few were all smiles and at the top of their game. Liz Hatch who was still recovering from that nasty spill in Visalia was "...just happy to be back on the bike" but DNF the first stage. My USWCDP girl Kris Keim (Kenda) who had mechanical issues early on never quite got in the groove and said 'enough' during the crit. Heather Sborz seemed to be struggling through the last laps and no wonder, she got sick soon after reaching home. It's early yet.

One thing is certain, the season has just begun to ramp up and anywhere the ladies are on the course it's guaranteed to be a great show!

Emilia Fahlin's moment in the sun.

One thing I discovered on this trip: I love to get out to a part of the course where there aren't a lot of spectators cheering. I love that sound of the peloton, 100 or more wheels all whirring together at 25mph or more. I love that whirring sound!

Some photos from the course - imagine the whirring sound for yourself...

Getting underway a few laps in.

Mara taking care of business.

Taking the Sixth Street turn.

Little Millie already a champ and the future of women's racing!

Spring has sprung - a wild rose from the trailside

If I get names wrong or leave anyone out please leave a comment and I'll correct it immediately.

And Suddenly... BIKE ART!!

"1 km"
© Kathleen King 2008

While the memory of exactly when Crayola's Big Box of 64 entered my world is lost in the fuzzy recollections of the toddler brain, the day I savored my first taste of freedom is clear as an early spring day.

On my fourth birthday I received a grape purple Schwinn 'big kid' BIKE! It came with training wheels... I tooled around on the driveway for about 20 minutes, marched into the kitchen and demanded they be taken off. My mother all flustered, my dad with a knowing grin stood 20 feet apart on the blacktop and pushed me back and forth standing farther and farther apart with each pass. After about 15 minutes of that I circled the drive a few times and rolled off down he hill. I was FREE. I yelled to my mom that I'd be back before dark.

I went to explore the canyons and visit all my little friends. To her credit, Mom, instead of freaking out and shrieking at me to come back ( I was only four) simply got on the phone to all my little friend's moms and proceeded to track my progress through the neighborhood with the accuracy of NORAD, as I flew by kitchen window after kitchen window. It was 1968.

I became a professional artist at 19 when I sold my first painting, quit my day job and later dropped out of school (oops). But it's taken 25 years of painting and 40 years on two wheels for the love of cycling to make the trip from my heart to my brain where it finally trickled down my right arm and hit the canvas.

So here it is, my first ever bike painting. It does have a precedent in my body of work, for those of you who are serious art enthusiasts. It follows from a series called "Scribbles" (for obvious reasons). You can see more Scribbles on my website if you like.

I'm serving it up here for 'my people', my bike people, like my first born. But don't feel you have to tell me the baby is pretty. Please express whatever you'd like. The point of ART is neither to be 'good' nor 'bad', 'right' or 'wrong', but to make you think and ultimately feel in a way that you hadn't thought or felt before you looked at it. If you happen to enjoy it, well heck, that's gravy!

Yes, there will be more joining this one soon, pedaling hard on his heels about to catch...

Ringside at the ToC

Two brave and handsome warriors having a chat after the battle.

When the warriors of cycling barrel toward the line at a major tour, standing in the crushing throng of fans who squish against the barricades is no different than a second row floor seat at an Aerosmith concert - "I'm certain I had a chair... " Double that when you're hanging out amidst the media. Those people are armed with heavy metal, Blue Tooth and LUGGAGE.

My one LUCKY shot!

My many thanks to Len Basobas of Triple Crankset for letting me shadow him around Solvang, tethered to his media-cred strings.

Exuberant young Cavendish in the bliss of ignorance before the...er, disqualification...

I got to see and smell the stars up close and my one overarching comment is this: Holy Bejeebers these boys are FAST!!!!! Catch-your-breath thrilling really. They'll show you the true meaning of "Zoom Zoom". All you want to do after witnessing something like the Tour of California is jump on the nearest bike and ride to the sun at mach 2 'til you burn up in a blaze of supersonic joy.

Quikstep outside the Solvang start on the TT route out of town.

A blur of High Road.

The cutesy-quaint theme park of a town that is Solvang was thoroughly overrun with bike nuts. Ah my people! Like crack heads on carbon drooling over the slick components and every shred of statistical info. I watched the Time Trial from every possible vantage point in town. Accidentally brushed right by Levi Leipheimer's shoulder as he entered the press room while I was exiting, surprised to find we are the same height - 5' 6". Levi has such a gentle presence, especially considering he has to have a cougar in his soul to ride like he does.

Body by: a bazillion hours on the bike, thank you very much.

Saw Tom Boonen outside the team trailer - yup, heavy sigh. He's really that pretty up close. Global warming from carbon emissions? Nope, it's just Boonie taking off his jacket. Paolo Bettini was on the trainer next to him, all business. Everything about Paolo says PROFESSIONAL. He's going to WORK.

Paolo at work work work.

Paolo working while his teammate checks out girls.

Kept trying to catch a glimpse of Cipo but he was like a vapor; suddenly there and just as quickly gone. I used to think he was a little too over-the-top to take but the comeback at 41 has all my respect. Hammer 'em Mario! Hammer 'em 'til they squeal.

Rock racing in all it's Pop Neo-Consumerist glory.

Prophecy?

A new kind of 'blue man'.

Look! Facial hair on a cyclist!

Burns and 'stache. I'm seeing Fashion Trend folks...

A super fast femme Vanderkitten flier and a crazed Triple Crankset camera man.

Two of cycling's angels.

In a serendipitous twist of fate I happened to be staying with a friend in Montecito whose house turned out to be three whole blocks from the official time start of stage 6. I had the fun of riding my bike down to the intersection in my new "LET LEVI RIDE!" T-shirt.

A new cycling fan is born - shoulda seen this tyke jump up and down when the riders came through! Cute!

At the official time start of stage 6 in Montecito (just south of Santa Barbara proper).

How Montecito welcomes the peleton (with mimosas). Of course it's Cristal!

The last time I saw Valencia/Santa Clarita the only significant buildings there were the California Institute of the Arts and Magic Mountain. Now it's one never-ending mega-mall/auto park. On February 23 most of it was blocked off for the sea of fans at ToC! The parking lots were total anarchy. So glad the sun came out (mostly) to give the riders and the sponsors the promised California postcard of a day. And I'm most pleased to report that cycling is not hurting for fans, people. There are MILLIONS of us and our numbers are GROWING.

Media alert.

Spandex rush.

I got to meet Bob Roll after stage 6 in Santa Clarita. What a sweet man! And fit as that proverbial fiddle, I might add. Soon as he was outside the barricades he got MOBBED by fans, yet was gracious to all.

Eli the cat is so happy I'm home that he just brought me a freshly killed baby mouse. Oh joy. I'll spare you the picture of the carnage.

All photos by Kathleen King.