22/365: The Remnants

This is all that's left at home of the Halloween candy I bought. There are so many Kit Kats because Klucker picked them out of the candy bag and held them back until the end. I've gotten better and buying the appropriate amount of candy over the last few years. When we lived in the city, I bought a bunch because you'd have to give candy to the kids, their mamas and everyone else. And they'd come back multiple times. Small town trick or treating is much more civilized and polite. While the vast majority of my ghoulish visitors didn't say "Trick or Treat," they did say "Thank You."

I do have one bag of candy in my desk at the office. It was unopened so I should have returned it because my usually strong will power was weakened today by the Reese's. Damn peanut butter covered chocolate. It does demonstrate why I do not keep such sugar filled debauchery in stock...or at least not the kind I like.

The Boo-Ba Halloween Race Report

The re-added up & over. Photo cred: E'ville Mike D.

Today was a mentally tough race for me. I'm assuming it was because I was tired still. My legs felt the run and the power I had to use on the flats. I also changed my pre-race nutrition. I will be sticking with GU and not doing blocks pre race anymore.

The course was similar to last night, minus the sand, add in more cornering and leaves and a little uphill on straw. I was great off the start and was riding strong for the first two laps. I got to the barriers and didn't turn my left foot enough to get out of the pedal easily. I took a knee but recovered quickly. Still, I lost ground.

The next two laps I swapped place with Cindi and Lo. I made up ground on them in barriers. (no perfect remounts, but still showing forward motion) but lost ground in the corners with leaves. Lap four I got a little too aggressive in the leaves and went down. I got up pretty quickly, but the ladies gapped me. I kept pushing and riding hard and enjoying myself. I had a guy comment that I obviously wasn't going strong enough because I was smiling too big...he must not know how much I like cx. I ended up in last for the A race. We had 29 women start the race, 8 in the A race, two DNFs in the A race...I was 6th overall.

21/365: CX isn't just tough on the racers. It wears out my cheering section too. Is it any wonder people ask me if they're twins?

My fan club recovered and re-emerged as a butterfly princess and Batman. Off they go for some sugary loot.

The Sprints of Darkness Night Race Report

First lap on the beach. *Photo cred: Mike D.

Ah, the Bubba costume race . . . anyone in costume, or in the top 10 overall standings, got a call up. I fit both so I was in good shape off the start. The course was very flat, not technical, and included the beach at the lake. There were 31 women at the line. That in and of itself is pretty amazing.

We got our start and went off in the dark. We hit the sand still bunched up. I'm assuming when I shouldered my bike, I hit my speed/cadence sensor because when I remounted, I heard and felt something on my back wheel. The barriers were next up, so I stopped to see what was going on. It took me a couple of minutes and some deductive reasoning before I figured it out. By that time, I was DFL. UGH! I hopped on and took off with the intention of seeing how many girls I could pass.



I did pretty well. I ended up 17th overall, probably still DFL for the A race. There were a couple of highlights for the evening for me. My running was great. Everytime we hit the sand, I was able to shoulder the bike and make up good ground--no walking whatsoever. It was my strong point in the evening. I was also a crowd favorite in the sand. I had filled out the front of my costume with Whoppers. Everytime I hit the sand, I tossed a handful to the crowd and yelled "trick or treat." By the third lap, they were asking for candy.



The best part for me though was the perfect, or at least felt perfect, remount on the last lap. I didn't rush myself, I ran with the bike until I was ready to throw my leg and did it without a hop! I was beaming the entire last lap...all as a French maid.

My photo for the day is a pre-race shot. I chose it because it shows how amazingly creative my friends are. As a kid, I made most of my costumes. As an adult, I've only dressed up the last two years. I have to give huge kudos to both Steph and Cindy (as well as many others) for their creativity and originality. I'm hoping that some of it wears off on me.

20/365: The bee getting her stripes from the trainer park debutante.

18/365: Pumpkin Princess

We began our Halloween festivities on Friday. Boo didn't have kindergarten, so he hung out with me while I worked from home. This arrangement was sweet because he then got to go to the Halloween party at CP. Two parties in two days . . . I'd say the boy did all right.

After the party it was pumpkin carving time. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say I've been a less-than-stellar parent at past Halloweens. I spent Boo's first Halloween in DC for work. I spent Bella's first Halloween in Atlanta. Two years ago, I forgot to get pumpkins until Halloween Day--they were pretty miserable looking. So I've made a concerted effort to be more festive for the kids' sake. I bought pumpkins on Tuesday. I even managed to acquire two additional ones on Thursday.

We got home from CP and changed out of costumes. I spread out a drop cloth and brought out the pumpkin carving kit. (Yes, I even bought one of those as well.) Bella couldn't wait to get inside the mess. She spent a good 20 minutes with her hand inside the pumpkin, pulling out seeds and membranes. Boo, as was the case last year, wanted nothing to do with the goo. I kept sending him on other errands so he didn't get into mischief. Even after the seeds and such were in a bowl, Bella was still intrigued with them. I put her to work seperating out the seeds so we could roast them.

Here are the finished results. Each of us had a pumpkin to design. Boo's is on the far left with the "spiky teeth." Bella's is next. It's supposed to be a cat on a fence. I have determined those stencils that come with the pumpkin carving kits are off limits next year. Klucker's is sitting on the little table, eating a tiny pumpkin with seeds and "guts" hanging out. Mine is the one below. It's very simple, no intricate details, because I just wanted to put down the little orange knife.

16/365: Beware of Giving Bikes & Lights to the Ladies

Since high school, I have not been big on Halloween. I went to a few parties in college, but the dressing up stopped around my sophomore year. As an adult, the most I've done is handed out candy or dressed up my wee-ones--until last year. Leave it to the biking community to pull me out of my Halloween duldrums.

Two things happened last in October 2009 to remove me from the Halloween Humbug category: CycloX and Team Rev. See, I had to come up with a costume to wear to the Halloween Bubba race because those in costume got a call-up and I could use every advantage I could get. And then Team Rev had a costume ride. I figured that since I already had masterminded my $10 costume (the cost of my knee socks and scarf!) I should be frugal and get as much use out of it as possible. In the course of those two evenings, something changed. Maybe it was the looks we got as we cruised through the streets of Webster. Maybe it was trying to figure out how to keep my pirate sword on my back as I jumped barriers. Whatever it was, I felt like a kid again.

This year my Halloween preparation started early. (Last year I waited until the Monday before the Wednesday ride to decide on what to wear). As I brainstormed ideas with Steph, it seemed that the Nadeau basement would become my Halloween headquarters, and that I would have different costumes for each event. What could be better!

Tonight was our first big event. This year Team Rev is leading a weekly night ride from the Bottleworks. We decided to pair our costume ride with the night ride and a happy hour all in one. No one can say we don't take full advantage of opportunities. At 6:45, eleven women clicked in and began to pedal. Our evening's itineray was: Maplewood Bicycles, Maplewood Firehouse, The Hub, and Straub's. (If only Big Shark was on that side of Hwy 40!)

We attracted quite a few looks as we pedaled along. After all, it isn't everyday you see a teen mom and a USAC official spinning down Manchester or Big Bend. We were slowed a bit as our soon-to-be mommy had to retrieve her smokes that kept falling from her bra strap. One of the best comments of the night came early as we hopped off our bikes at Maplewood, "Must be a Team Rev ride." Hmmm, wonder what gave us away? Stewart was quite amused by the whole scene and snapped more photos than we did. The firemen didn't quite know how to take us. Ron at the Hub traded beer for candy and the manager at Straub's didn't seem to mind being surround by 11 ladies for a quick photo op.

I couldn't decide on what photo to pick, so I thought I'd share several.

Our trailer trash mommy-to-be on her bike. I'm impressed Steph could ride with her belly. It's even more amusing when you learn that her eyes kept wanting to stick together because I used a little too much glue when putting on her lashes.

Our USAC official. We learned multiple times through the night that we could not cut the course to get to the pit and that hand ups were not allowed during this Halloween ride.

I think Ron was trying to get us DQ'd during our Hub visit. Evidence of the hand ups he handed out--Lucky Buddy-Kate took her own hand up!

Obviously I didn't take this last one, but wanted to include evidence of my costume. As Steph and I talked about what to wear for the cycloX race, I commented that I wished my mtb shoes were red like my race shoes, I would go as Dorothy. The Rev ride gave me the perfect opportunity. And with as windy as it was, I felt like we might end up in Kansas.