Team Salty Dawgs Did It!!!!!!

Wow! In one of the most amazing experiences of my life, I completed over 100 miles with my fabulous teammates in the American Lung Association's Breathe Easy Ride. I raised $4300 and the team raised $7656 (before any corporate matching) to help make lung disease walk the plank!

Since January, I had ridden over 1600 miles on my road bike, but still nothing could've prepared me for this. It was intense, exhilarating, heart breaking, exhausting, difficult and full of joy, laughter and unexpected camaraderie. My team was my pack. I could not have done it without their physical and emotional support, and the amazing support of all of you who donated to my ride and sent me inspiring letters.



A misfit team of current Oracle and former Sun employees, all with different abilities and skills, started leaving the parking lot at the Sonoma Mountain Village about 5:40AM on June 26th onto the foggy and desolate roads of Rhonert Park. I left first, as I am the slowest rider on the team, and found myself riding amazingly fast accompanied only by horses and cows, trying to get as many miles under my belt before my team caught up with me. The air was thick with fog and quite cool, and I quickly warmed up as I was maintaining speeds over 15 mph.

Mark, Richard & John caught up with me after nearly a half an hour, apparently wondering where I'd gotten off to as they were not expecting that sort of speed from me... and warned me not to spend all my energy too soon. :-) Mike & Bryn were the last group to leave the parking lot, and inadvertently followed some 66 mile riders and started off on the wrong path - bypassing the rest of the team completely...until later.

As per my plan, I spent only the minimal amount of time at the first two rest stops - just stuffing my face with potatoes (YUM! roasted with rosemary!) and fruit, reloading my Cytomax and topping up my water. At the third rest stop, we had a surprise: Mike! Poor Mike was getting over a bad cold and just couldn't keep Bryn's pace, but this was good for us as we now had 5 people in our pack!

The weather stayed on our side, remaining cool, foggy and overcast until about 10 AM when the Sun just started to peak through. The five of us maintained time trial positions (single file line, each rider right on the back wheel of the one in front), taking turns at the front. While I am used to drafting with one or two people, the formation with this group of 5 riders had us moving like the wind! At our 4th rest stop (55 miles in), we were still maintaining an average speed over 15mph, even with several moderate climbs past us. We were cool, fresh and all felt great!

Then came Coleman Road. As we started the climb, John & Mike got out ahead of us, missed a turn and went 5 miles out of the way before realizing their mistake. Richard, Mark and I slowly climbed up this steep and soul crushing road, when lo-and-behold, down came Bryn! Curious as to why he was going the wrong way, we stopped only to discover that when he finished his descent to the coast and reached HWY1, it was so impassible with fog, his only option was to turn around and climb back up Coleman Road.

Bryn regaled us with tales of rough road and cattle grates before continuing onto his own personal journey, but not even his warnings could prepare us for what lay ahead. I could've used my mountain bike, the roads were so rough and twisty (and why on earth were there so many cattle grates?!?! WHY!?!)... heck, I could've used a car. It was brutal, desolate, frightening and beautiful.

When we reached HWY1 about 70 miles in, it was foggy, but we had at least a quarter mile of visibility, so Mark, Richard and I persevered ahead - little did we know poor John was back on track and doing that terrible climb alone, even though he'd already done an extra 500 feet/10 miles on his detour. It was noon, and I foolishly thought that I could do 30 miles in just under 2 more hours....

The climb out of the coast and back to the valley was unbearable. My legs were tired. I was hungry & thirsty. Fortunately, Mark had been carrying around extra food & water all day - as there were more than 30 miles of intense climbing and scary descents between rest stops! Mark was happy to lose the extra weight, and Richard & I were happy to have food and water :-)

For those of you who are curious, we were following (in reverse) the Tour de California route - yes, serious climbs for professional riders. The pavement was graffiti'd with ALLEZ, ALLEZ, ALLEZ and various rider's names.

After finishing our descent into the valley, we found Mike, who had backtracked on the route in order to skip the Coleman climb (since he'd done that bonus 10 miles with John), yet still get 100 miles in.

When we arrived at the 5th rest stop at mile 82 a bedraggled mess, happily greeted by volunteers from the Salvation Army with warm roasted potatoes, nuts, and ice cold water. The sun was out by then and we were all getting tired. As the four of us pulled out of the rest stop, we spotted John pulling in. Knowing he'd catch up, we continued on. At this point, every little hill just killed me. I'd have to immediately drop into granny gear and just use every ounce of energy I had just to keep spinning my legs. My quadriceps were burning. My IT-bands were on fire. I could only think of all the support I had and I knew I had to finish. Mark, knowing how important this was to me, literally pushed me up the remaining hills, even though he was beyond exhausted himself.

Terrified of being removed by SAG for taking so long, as the ALA said would happen, I just kept spinning, making it to the 93 mile rest stop just as they were closing. They gave us some fig bars and cold water and we were on our way again - this time with John!

Somewhere on those last 10 miles, Mark, Richard and I got separated from the group when we had to wait an insanely long time to turn left at a T-intersection. As the three of us were on final approach, Richard ran over a small drill bit that managed to pierce the wheel and slide *into* the spoke. Mark & Richard weren't sure if they were going to get that drill bit out, so I pushed on ahead.... and missed a turn, getting lost with 103 miles completed.

In the end, I rode 105.5 miles, Average speed 13.2mph, 8 hours of riding, 10 hours total door-to-door, burned 4544 calories and climbed about 6500 feet.



The most difficult thing I've ever done. I'm still recovering. Thank you everyone! Thank you!

Professional Business Women of California Conference: Opening Session!

Last month, I was fortunate enough to attend the Professional Business Women of California's annual conference in San Francisco! This conference is both inspirational and educational, a real treat to be able to attend. Oracle, my new employer, is a sponsor of this conference as well, so I got to meet many Oracle "classic" employees and got to learn more about the company and the new corporate culture.

The day started with a wonderful suggestion from PBWC Board President Ann Barlow: "Put the Blackberry down and tune in!" This is important, particularly in today's culture - most of us do not multi-task as well as we think we do (I know I don't!) and it's nearly impossible to be reading email and fully paying attention to people in the room. Personally, I was glad to give this day my undivided attention (though I did wish they had wireless access so I could live blog... which would've gotten this entry up a lot sooner!)

Ms Barlow noted that while women have many strides as professionals, the layers over middle management are still dominated by men! While it's clear this is a problem, it's not so clear what we, as women, can do to fix this.

Our morning keynoted was from Sheryl WuDunn, a Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist, author of Half the Sky, and world traveler. Ms WuDunn told us about some of her travels - including a trip to China, where she met Dai Man Chu, a little girl who's parents were going to take her out of school in the 6th grade because $13/year in tuition was unaffordable and she was only a girl. When WuDunn wrote about this, readers from the New York Times came through with enough in donations that not only Dai Man Chu could attend school, but so could other girls in the village!

In her travels, WuDunn has learned that in many countries all resources, including food, go first to boys. In India, for example, 1-5 year old girls have a 50% higher mortality rate. In places where people make less than $1 a day, only 2% of that income goes towards educating their children, while 20% goes towards tobacco, alcohol, festivals and prostitution!

WuDunn feels the best way to end poverty and terrorism is to educate women and allow them to enter the workplace - but in order to do that, somehow a shift has to happen in spending priorities in impoverished countries. She feels that groups performing micro-loans, as well as places like Heifer International that gives livestock are some of the ways that can help make women more independent in these countries and hopefully make positive strides towards education and entering the workplace.

What an inspiring way to start the morning!

Training Continues for next week's 100 mile ride!

First, thank you to all of the advice I got from this blog and on facebook, particularly to WillO, @kleen, Bryn and Mark, my training has been progressing very well!

With more frequent snacking, Cytomax in my bottle, and shorter but more frequent breaks, I have gotten away from the mysterious gassy stomach and massive headaches on my long rides. My speed has really improved as well, though I am still the slowest rider in my group rides.

So far my big rides have included 65 miles in the East Bay for the Primavera (which was so amazingly beautiful! We got to race against a steam powered train!), 82 miles in Gilroy's Tiera Bella (the 100 mile route with the big climb up to Henry Coe and back cut out... :-), and 83 miles from our house to the ocean and back (big climbs included Arastedero, Alpine, Old La Honda Road, Stage Road, Pescadero and Tunitas Creek). I'm still riding after all that!

I've even done three mountain bike rides this year - and haven't cried on any of them (even though I fell down once and ran into a post another time.... :-)




Look at that awesome speed! It's a good thing you can't hear whining in a photo ;-)

While training has been going well, I am still far short of my goal. Can you please help support the fight against lung disease? As a reminder, I am riding because my mother is a lung cancer survivor, my step grandmother just died from lung disease and many other members of my family have lung disease - including me! Doing all this riding with asthma is tough, but it is such a worthy cause. Please help me out by supporting my ride today! Your donation is tax deductible.

Monk's Kettle does it again - and cabs?!

A full write up will come later, but suffice it to say that Monk's Kettle pulled out all the stops last night for their Lagunitas Beer Pairing dinner. The hops were ever present and well balanced by the delicious food.

Dinner was a bit slower paced than normal, which meant we had to rush out to catch a cab. It took us forever to find one that wasn't occupied, but then the driver we got DIDN'T KNOW WHERE CALTRAIN WAS! How can you be a cab driver in San Francisco and not know where the Caltrain stations are? There are only two....by the time we got out of that cab, it was no longer possible for us to make our 10:45PM train, so we had to wait it out 'til the midnight train.

Sayer made sure our wait was bearable, though, by bringing us out some of the leftover dessert chocolate and some beer - YUM!

So, is there a good way to find a cabbie in SF that actually knows where the train stations are? Any recommendations? Or do I just need to print out a directions and take them with me?

Now Appearing in Gypsy!

Sorry for the long delay since my last post - I've been busy rehearsing for my opening of Gypsy at Hillbarn Theater in Foster City!

I'm playing the role of Miss Cratchitt in Act I and Renee in Act II, and having a blast! I haven't been on stage at Hillbarn since I appeared as Minnie Fae in Hello Dolly several years ago. It's a great production with an amazing cast and crew!

Annmarie Martin is amazing as Mama Rose and inspiring to me as an actress. When I have my scenes with her, I feel a passion and character connection that forces me to be perfectly on my game and in the scene. She's a total pro - literally! Not to mention an incredibly nice person who does some amazing knitting and crochette. Oh, and she's an avid Sharks fan - check her out singing the Canadian and American national anthems in the Shark tank!

Every actor I'm sharing the Hillbarn stage with are taking the production very seriously - always in character, hair & makeup always done as designed, costumes kept nice, and engaged in the scene - even if they don't even have any lines.

And the crew.... first of all, it's the first time I've ever been on a show with an entirely female run crew! [1] Yay, women techies! They are super organized - everything just runs smoothly. Sets are where they need to be and props are always in the right place. Thank you, Joey, Rosie, Haley, Aya, and Andrea!

Beyond the run crew, the orchestra is spot on; the sound guy, Steven, monitors the levels perfectly throughout the show; sets are repaired as needed by our fantastic set designer/builder, Lee Basham; gorgeous costumes from Shannon & Mae; lovely hair-dos from Dee & Kathleen; and things run smoothly thanks to producer Lee Foster!

If you get a chance, please come see the show - we've been selling out nearly every night, so buy your tickets sooner than later! Let them know you're coming to see me. It's a wonderful production - you won't be disappointed!

[1] Nick, our fill-in techie, is not a woman and still really awesome!

First Firkin Friday at the Tied House!

I was given the very cool honor of getting to tap the firkin (a small barrel of Real Ale) this past Friday at the Tied House, for being such an avid Tied House fan on Twitter, Facebook and my blog. I was very nervous when I discovered this was a good ol' fashioned type of tapping - with a pointy tap and a mallet! I'd heard the last person to do this got sprayed in beer - and I did *not* want to waste fine beer!

Carolyn and the gang walked me through it, and with one (okay... two) swift swings, the firkin was tapped!



This month's beer was a fine Mai Bock from Peter Licht and Ron Manabe. While I've complained in the past that the firkins can suffer from too much yeast (most likely from not sitting long enough before being tapped), this Mai Bock had no issues there. The *imperial* sized pints were filled nearly to the brim by the happy bartenders, and the beer went down smooth. At one point I heard the ABV was 7%, so we all tried to be careful with the quantities, but the beer was so yummy that I think there were a lot of hang overs on Saturday (don't worry, most of us walked there!)

I don't have much experience with Mai Bocks, but this one reminded me of all the things I love about a hefeweisen, and none of the things I don't. It was light and crisp, with a slight citrus flavor. It was a bit cloudy, but like I noted before, was not yeasty.

I think our group made a pretty good dent on the firkin :-)

I don't know what the special beer for next Month will be, but I can tell you this: if you go to the Tied House in Mountain View on the first Friday of every month about 5PM, you won't be disappointed.


(in interest of full disclosure, I did get a free pint for my tapping efforts, but if this wasn't a good beer, I wouldn't have bothered discussing the taste :-)

Sweet Charity at West Valley Light Opera

We were lucky enough to catch the great production of Sweet Charity at West Valley Light Opera down in Saratoga CA this Saturday. While I'm familiar with most of the songs (like, Hey Big Spender!), I'd never managed to see the show before.

One thing that really stood out to me in this show was the ensemble! Each and every one of them were able to dance, sing and act! When they were on stage, they were in the scene - never just standing there.

Katie O'Bryon was amazing as Charity, getting you immediately on her side, no matter how bad her choices were. She was hysterical - especially in the Vittorio Vidal's Apartment scene - the portions where she was in the closet (which, very cooly, we could see into through a scrim) had me laughing myself silly.

My friend, Michael Carey, was charming, sweet and endearing as Charity's first "sensible" love interest, Oscar. His chemistry with O'Bryon, particularly in the Coney Island and Barney's Chile Hacienda scenes, was delightful.

Other standout performances were seen from ensemble members Ian Teter (loved him as door man for Club Pompei & in Rhythm of Life Church) and Valerie Valenzuela (fantastic dancer & super cute Fairy), Marcie Marshall (Ursula), Patty Reinhart (Nickie), and Brittany Blankenship (Helene).

This only runs for one more weekend, so please be sure to check it out!