The Big Announcement

Things have been in the works for me. Graduate school and career seeking is just around the corner. In the meantime, I've relied on my equestrian skills to get me through school and to pay the bills. I love it. Horses are a passion for me. I'm lucky to have two passions in my life; horses and bikes. Horses however, have gotten me through life, whether it's companionship, competition, leisure, and financially while bikes have been more fun (and a money leach; not that I mind!).

Road racing season is coming to an end, which means that weekends will be freed up a bit. Sad but good at the same time, because this opens up a lot of time for work.

I've been a traveling trainer for a few months. I'm happy to announce, however, that it has changed, and I'm now the trainer at Coulson Ranch in Granite Bay, CA! We're offering English, Western, Trail, and Dressage lessons, boarding, and training packages for your horse (and you!). It's a nice, fun place. Come out, check us out, feel free to call or e-mail me and ask any question or to make your next lesson appointment!

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Spread the word! For those of you who wanted my blog to include more of my horsey adventures, you're in luck! 

Fast and Furious: The Love Triangle

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Upcoming Events: Sacramento Cyclocross

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Okay, this is pretty much the time of the year we all look forward to. Whether you're a roadie or mountain biker, everyone loves cyclocross; it's the best of both worlds! For some, road and mountain bike season is used to prepare for cyclocross. For others, like myself, cyclocross is the off season, a time when we can still "race bikes" but it's simply for good fun, laughs, and beer. Yes, beer.

A lot of people ask me if I'm racing 'cross this season. My response is always, "if by racing you mean beer laps, then yes, I'm racing 'cross."

Cyclocross is all over, with some pretty big races in the Bay Area. Fear not, though, Bicycling Events puts on the Sac CX Series, a grass roots type races with technical courses (set up by Asa), timing by Gene at Time Your Race (yup, chips and all, people!), and a bunch of fun with different local teams and bike shops sponsoring different races.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Kids, adults, beginners, seasoned riders, professional riders... everyone is welcome to join in on the fun. We keep it in a fun, family-type atmosphere (whether your family consists of you, a spouse, and kids or just you and your pet pony). Everything out there is for smiles, laughs, and fun, and come on! Who can't have fun while riding a bike?

The race courses have a little bit of everything. Barriers, stairs, sand, grass, and most importantly, a lot of heckling. What's a cyclocross race without the heckling? And cowbell. We can never have enough cowbell.

Okay, so let's get into the real deal here. The Sac CX series schedule is up, so check it out and see how many races you can attend. You don't want to miss out on any of the fun, so come to at least a few, if not all of them. On the schedule page, you'll see the date of the race, the shop/team that sponsors that specific race, the location of the place (duh), and the times that the waves of riders start their race.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Let's add a bit more to the fun. The Men's A and Women's A have a cash payout. While it won't make you rich, it will make you a little more famous and will give you some bragging rights.

Registration is now open for this series. For those of you who are too lazy to click the link, prices are:

Adults (this means 18 and over): $35 for the first race and $25 for each race after. Season passes are available at $180 online or $190 on race day.

Juniors (this means 17 and under): $20 for the first race and $15 for each race after. Season passes are available at $110 online or $120 on race day.

If you're a total bad ass and want to race two races, the second race is $10 for adults and $5 for juniors.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

Please bring your helmet to registration every single race. The price includes a bib number and a timing chip, which we put on your helmet. We need your helmet with the chip so we can register you for races. And, for the love of all the bike gods out there, keep your bib number and the chip on your helmet for the whole series. We can replace it, but it will cost you. Not much... but it will!

Okay it's like $5.

And maybe some beer for me, since, you know, I have to replace your stuff.

Photo by Jeff Namba.

The only issue we've had with chips is that other races use different companies to time their races. Gene at Time Your Race has his shit together, so his program filters other timing systems. If another series asks you to remove our chip, then tell them to get their crap together, too, and to at least help you out with the cost. It's 2012, people!

I mentioned this is a grass roots race, so a USA Cycling license is not required. Yay! It makes our life easier and your race cheaper.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

We encourage goofiness and fun people.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

We also encourage your own stunts for our amusement.

Photo by Alex Chiu. 

Photo by Jeff Namba.

So come out and race! You won't regret it, I promise. If you say that you didn't have fun at one of these races, then that just tells me that you don't have a soul.

A shout out to our local photographers for going out there and taking some of the best pictures you could ever see while you're out racing your bike. Alex Chiu, Jeff Namba, Dale Tapley, and Tim Westmore, to name a few!

Once again, if you're a Twitter user, follow our account @TimedRaces for quick updates.