Coffee lovers will get a chuckle....

Read this NY Times article on brewing coffee - it's hilarious!

De Gustibus: Loving Coffee Without Being a Drip

It is especially funny to me since I was in Seattle last week, and while there visited a local Seattle coffee company where my mom & I were caught looking at brewing devices for too long and were subsequently sidelined for 15 minutes while an employee expounded on the virtues of the Chemex (he was very friendly, but all I wanted was my Americano...I could see it standing on the counter, ready for me, but couldn't figure out how to politely break away to go get my drink!)

Only in Portland...

Thor and I came across this great tree house on our walk yesterday - it's actually quite close to the dog park we take Laea to. If you look up at the left hand corner of the roof you'll see a little black box sticking off the roof - a solar panel. Only in Portland.

2010 OBRA State Champs

Well - I've lost our camera again. BUT - I was able to find a couple pictures from my last cx race of the 2010 season - so I'm finally able to get this post up. The race was the OBRA Cyclocross State Championships - and for the first time ever they ran a women's single speed category! Perfect!!!
I checked out the race flyer, confirmed my start time, and committed to carpooling with pals Margie & Abby down to Salem. My race started at 2PM - so we agreed to roll out of Abby's at 11:15. As we were closing in to the race site Margi looked over the back seat and me and said "aren't you going to start changing?" and I was like "no - why?" - and she said, "well, your race starts at 1." WHAT!??!?!! Sure enough - I had totally read the race flyer incorrectly, and my race did, in fact, start at 1. Ooops. We pulled into the parking lot at about 12:35 - barely enough time to register, get my kit on and roll up to the start line. Eeep! Anyhow - everything went well, and I started the race on time with a solid field of about 20 women - it was a great turn out. The amazing Anna Christiansen came out and killed the field - she is so incredibly strong! I managed to see her about once a lap when there was a clear stretch, but I really had no chance of catching her. I ended up second - and my teammate, Jenn Levo, came in third!

Anna - leading the field out at the start (I'm behind in the orange).

On the podium after the race - I'm on the left!

Clearing a barrier on the backside of the course. Photo by David Roth

Way Back Home

Danny MacAskill's new video - Way Back Home - came out today! This riding is absolutely amazing.



And for those of you who missed his 2009 debut - 'Inspired' - it's equally impressive!

Pics From Cross Crusade #4 - PIR

We found the camera! Here are the pictures from Cross Crusade #4 back in October. There are a pile of other photos on the camera as well - so I may actually get caught up on some of the posting I've been dragging my heels on due to lack of pictures (we all know my stellar writing is not why anyone visits this blog!)

Thor - lap 1 - before the rains started. I think this is my favorite pic from the race.

Thor headed up over the concrete barrier.

Clearing the barriers on the only hill on the course. You can see here how deep the mud is.

By mid-way through Thor's race it was pouring - you can see this a bit in this picture.

This picture was taken about 15 seconds before I flatted my rear wheel at the beginning of the second lap. LAME. But look at my legs - I was out there long enough to start getting muddy at least!

Joanna at Bellydancing Uncorked!

A couple of weeks ago I was really lucky and got to see Joanna dance at Bellydance Uncorked, a once a month bellydancing showcase at Vino Vixens in Portland. Joanna just posted this video of her first solo set from the evening - and I wanted to post it so those of you who know Jo can see how great she is! It was really fun to see her dance - we were such awkward, clutzy runners in high school - it's so amazing to see how graceful & coordinated she is now! (maybe I should wise up and give up on the running!)

Sarah Makes the Rainier Cx video!

This is video from the Rainier race three weeks ago - I haven't watched it (home computer is waaaaay too slow for that!), BUT - I have heard I am in the film for about 10 seconds starting around 1:50 - so check it out!

Cross Crusade Race #2 Rainier High School from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

Cross Crusade #5 & #6: Halloween Cx in Astoria!!

A couple of weeks ago Thor and I went to Astoria to race in the Halloween Cx races. I'm so behind on posting that I feel like I just need to get these picks up there! I don't have any of Thor racing (this race overlapped the period where the camera was MIA) - but some friends sent me some pictures from my race - and I'm off the bike running in all of them. There was some really sticky mud!

Eating a nutella/whipped cream waffle post-race on Saturday.

Sunday the 31st was the costume race. Thor decked himself out in his camo turkey hunting shirt, and I went as a figure skater (it's hard to see my costume, but it has a little skirt on it and everything!). Fun times - AND - it was the first time I ever swapped out the gearing on my single speed (thanks to Anna Christensen for showing me how to change my rear cog!). I ran a 36x19 both days - and was quite thankful for the easier gear on the hills and in all the mud.

Racing with the guys in the men's SS category.

Photo by Dave Roth

Thor and I left right after my race so we could get home in time for the trick or treaters - I had barely enough time to carve our pumpkin before they showed up!

AND - you'll get a big chuckle out of the video I'm including. One of the guys on Thor's team dressed up as a gorilla - and someone caught this video. The best part is that he's not actually drunk - he just has absolutely zero peripheral vision out of the monkey suit - so it's impossible to steer his bike!