Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Thats the principle I was sticking to when I neglected to post to this thing for the past few days. Did it work? Have you missed me? Is your heart fond? Is that proper English? Fond sounds like frond and I'm struggling a bit as I picture your heart as a big palm frond. Its kind of romantic.

So I haven't been sleeping a ton. Is that a bit obvious?

Anyway, Nationals happened, but it didn't quite unfold like I had dreamed. I don't know how I expected to kill it in a hilly 100 mile race when I've spent the whole summer doing 90 minute flat crits, but I still feel a bit let down. I did not do nearly as well as I would have liked (and almost twice as bad as last year), but todays a brand new day and there's still a bunch of racing to do. I'm going to hold off on an official race report b/c I'm on a borrowed computer in a friends house and I need to help her pack for Europe (YAY!!!!), but I'll get some real reports down soon enough.

For the time being, I'm just going to relay a little anecdote about my triumphant return to California. After leaving Bend I was planning on kicking it in Hood River for a day or two of R&R, but someone (you know who you are) decided to screen my phone calls. I ended up driving a big 6 hour loop out of my way through Oregon. There were two good things that came of it: I got to see more of Oregon, which is beautiful, and I got to have a drink with an old friend of mine in Portland. She's figured out that she wants to work in the field of public health and she's taking classes, doing volunteer work and basically kicking butt and making it happen. Its really nice to see someone driven and dedicated and proactively chasing down their dream. Plus, she's awesome so it was great to just sit and chat.

I stayed at a friend of a friends place in Eugene that night and I can only describe the status of the apartment as utter squalor. It was like a crack-house without the crack, but hey, its better than sleeping upright in the van and worrying about the bikes getting stolen off the top while I half dozed. A brief, fitful night of sleep and I was back on the road. I cruised all the way back to the bay area, but apparently the bay was not as happy to see me as I was to see it. It was cloudy and cold (well, cold compared to the boiling heat of every other destination on the trip) and as I rolled down the window to pay the Dumbarton toll the putrid stench of the bay soured an otherwise scenic vista. I wrote it off and rolled up the window. Then, while navigating the streets of Menlo Park I was nearly rear ended...twice. But thats nothing. As I was taking the bikes off of the van an elderly woman starts screaming for help in a thick German accent. "Pleeez! Pleez! You muhst call ze Poliz!!!!" She kept screaming so naturally I called 911. I was trying to explain where I was and what was happening, but the lady pretty much grabbed the phone out of my hands. She was yelling that there were "crazy people" inside. I looked inside the building of what looked like a retirement living center and all I could see were some people singing karaoke in the lounge. Then a woman came out with a whistle or something official looking and I asked what was going on. She asked me and I told her the woman was calling the police and she got really angry. "NO NO!" and grabbed the phone back, hung up and returned it to me.

Turns out there were crazy people inside, but they belonged there. Yep, it was some manner of mental institution and the woman had somehow wandered outside and I was the first poor sucker she could yell to. The elderly German became very angry when the staff lady took the phone and actually started shoving her around. Luckily I didn't have to intervene as I was busy explaining to the 911 operator what the hell was going on. I was more than a little embarrassed to tell the lady that I had called 911 for a deranged lady because there were crazy people in a mental institution. Hopefully she had a good laugh about that. I for one was a bit shaken up. Its not everyday that a lady on the street screams for help and it sure does kick up the adrenalin. Plus, that was more or less the first contact with people after hours alone in the car so... yep, it was a bit jarring. Welcome back to California, Ryan.

I had a wonderful dinner with my dear friends and now I'm going to put my life in order and then take a little ride through my old stomping grounds. I'm really excited to be back here with my friends and my team and my favorite rides and I can't wait to get crazy in some local norcal races. Plus, the idea that I can stay in one place for more than a few days is actually sounding really nice right about now.

Pics and reports to come. Thats a promise.