Mollie and Michaela do Boggs 8 hour, March 28, 2009!

We had signed up for the Boggs 8 hour mountain bike race about 6 months ago…and had all kinds of great plans to train and be at our best (or better). A couple sinus infections, a bout of bronchitis, freshly diagnosed asthma, an impromptu trip to New Zealand and, oh yeah, we’re in our last semester of graduate school, all got in the way of Levi-esque performances, yet we had a blast and even podiumed!!!

March 28th came around and we were psyched. I (Mollie) was even so jazzed to get to Boggs, and high on the oatmeal that Michaela had been feeding me like a little driving baby, that I missed a stop sign…well not the sign, just the stop part.


We only bottomed out once in the old volvo on the drive in to the start line, so I declared success!

We've created a race diary so we can keep all of our friends and family up to date on all of our mediocre performances:

Lap 1: Mollie: Fun fun fun! Got used to the altitude by the end of lap one! Michaela tried to tell me jokes on the walkie talkie lap one but I had not turned the volume up high enough, so she stood in the parking lot telling knock knock jokes to the spectators. As I was riding the thought that kept crossing my mind was how stupid I would feel if I wrecked and seriously injured myself on a walkie talkie. 58’52”

Lap 2: Michaela: After a strong lap adrenaline was pumping but it was not meet with complimentary music. As Michaela came around the corner she heard Jack Johnson singing Bubble Toes over the event sound system and almost got off her bike to walk across the finish line to coordinate her heart rate with the beat of the music. 1:13’17”

Lap 3: Mollie: Excuses: Lost chain 3 times, crashed (damn pine needles), worst cramps of my life, stopped to help when some dickwad in a plain white sleeveless jersey and black spandex elbowed a woman off her bike in the first single track section…Total blast! 59’46”

Lap 4: Michaela: Michaela was in the midst of a conversation back at the car when Mollie returned. Somewhere near mile 1 of this lap Michaela lost about 80% of her front brake. Her confidence to descend was even further compromised. As Michaela was "bombing" down the fireroad she happened to miss a singletrack section. Luckily there were some 8 yearolds out on a walk to inform her that she had missed a turn. The sent her well wishes saying "have a safe ride." 1:19’52”

Lap 5: Mollie: This was a hard one. No excuses (thanks to Adam from SBC removing a link from my chain). And I was ready to be done…sent Michaela off to do her 3rd. I drank about 32 ounces of Kombucha we had brewed from Yerba Mate and felt like a new woman. I couldn’t wait for Michaela to get back so I could get another one in! 1:02’08”

Lap 6: Michaela: After Adam "fixed" Michaela's brakes, she was excited to head out for her third lap. She meet Me at the transition area and told me that I would have enough time for a 4th lap. I responded "take your time". As you can see Michaela did just that. One mile into the lap, a very aggressive male racer who was riding like he was sponsored went high (to the left) to pass her but it was too steep so he slipped down and took her out. She braked so hard in an effort to miss the encounter that she again lost my 80% of my front break again. 1:21’43”

Lap 7: Mollie: As mentioned, totally fueled by Mate Kombucha!!! Most fun lap of all, by far!!! This lap I passed quite a few people, especially those who were walking! Had a major rookie move falling over on the hydration people who were passing out Gatorade at mile 6, who proceeded to pour all kinds of sticky stuff on me. Got passed by some guys on singlespeeds going way too fast for hour 8 and some 12 year olds making me wish I was a pre-pubescent male with all those budding hormones. Had a nice long talk with a guy whose wheel I rode for the last single-track climb…nice guy…I thought about posting a missed encounter on craigslist…1:00’10”

Overall finish: 7 laps, 7 hours 55 minutes. PSYCHED to be third…out of 5…that’s right in the middle…average folks! Maybe next year we will train! We enjoyed some brew and called it a day!

What to do Sunday? Mollie spent Sunday coughing up all of the bronchitis remnants, napping and then got to have her first encounter with a dh bike. Woah, fun! Michaela spent Sunday eating Pizza with 80 year olds. For real!

Stuff Green People Like - Goji Berry

How would you be feeling if you were a Goji Berry? The economy is in the shitter. There's all kinds of price competition in the superfruit arena with blueberries, cranberries and black currents. And then the Acai Berry comes along locking up the luxury superfruit market, touting all of its special properties, from detoxification to enhancing sexual performance.

Luckily the Goji Berry is a greenie favorite. The Goji Berry only grows in the high mountains of China and Tibet, but greenies allow for the deviation from their "local only" diets for this special treat. And who wouldn't be willing to sacrifice a little CO2 emission for the laundry list of health benefits, including life extension, spirit brightening and kidney health.

Some Goji options include Goji Juice, Goji Granola (another greenie favorite) and even carob or chocolate covered Goji Berries. But don't be fooled by the beautiful color or expense of this berry; it tastes like shit!

If you have any physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, digestional, etc, etc, etc problems, add Goji to your diet and you will be cured.*

Oprah loves Goji Berries. Don't you want to be more like Oprah?




*this statement has not been evaluated by the FDA and I made it up.

Stuff Green People Like: Acronyms. (Absurdly Contrived Representations Of Names Yielding Mass Stupefication)

You know you're in a crowd of greenies when you CUADWTS (can't understand a damn word they say). Acronyms were cool and useful back when they were used to abbreviate long and difficult things to say, as in light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation (LASER), Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) or Bring Your Own Booze (BYOB).

Today greenies use them in place of sentences. Apparently they don’t realize the history of acronym overuse. If they did I doubt they would want to be associated with some one the greatest offenders, the United States Navy, whose acronyms include "ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC," meaning "Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command" and COMNAVSEACOMBATSYSENGSTA which stands for "Commander, Naval Sea Systems Combat Engineering Station."

Some of my favorite greenie acronyms include EMS – meaning environmental management system OR energy management system, depending on the user. The best way to determine what a colleague is referring to, without sounding like a fool for asking, is to check for a pocket protector. If a pocket protector is present, you're likely dealing with an engineer who is referring to an ENERGY management system. If dressed in Patagonia (for more info on what you're dealing with read post Patagonia), you're dealing with an overpriced hip executive who is likely referring to an ENVIRONMENTAL management system.

CSR – meaning “Corporate Social Responsibility” or more likely meaning Cut Sustainability Resources (but still want to market something).

Greenie Tip of the Day: Try to incorporate “AHOYA,” meaning “asshole of the year award”, into a work related conversation today. If you're dealing with a greenie they won’t know what you're saying but be too afraid ask (Beware, avoid using it with superiors, as a greenie they will likely Google it when they get home.)

Back to work before I get my BPO (business process outsourced)!

Mountain Bike Tour Guide - Santa Cruz

Two super hot chicks looking for a mountain bike tour guide for somewhere around Santa Cruz on Wed. Feb 11, 2009. We are very flexible, in terms of timing and flexible in general. Ideally, this MAN would be able to not only show us the greatest singletrack in SC, but also be willing and able to ride alongside us to feed us Luna moons (pomegranate flavor) and/or Mini Clif bars throughout the ride. The applicant must wear the Mario Chippolini kit, as referenced is this link http://www.deportesadictos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/mario.jpg
Don't bother applying unless you are:
Single
Attractive
Under 35
Not a psycho or stalker/rapist
As a bonus, you should also tell us how impressed you are with our skill and speed and offer to tow us up hills. One more small thing...you should cook us dinner after and offer to drive us back to Sonoma county so we can drink beer.
Please send a photo, why you're interested and you're availability.

Stuff Green People Like: Patagonia

Patagonia, also known as "Patagucci," is the uniform of greenies. For those of you not in the know, Patagonia designs, markets and sells clothing for outdoor adventurists (and yoga). They have recently launched a "carefree sophistication" marketing strategy, which perfectly targets the new age green executives, who have been searching endlessly for a socially acceptable alternative to their traditional staples for Friday casual wear such as J. Crew and L.L. Bean.

"Green and natural" moms can also find their necessities from Patagonia, such as 25 dollar organic cotton low-rise thongs, the hippest yoga tops, or even trail running skirts. If you're a little more adventurous, check out the Women's Finn shoe. This 100% vegan hiking shoe is Greenie dream footwear, having won the 2007 Outside Green Gear Award.

Wanna get risque, while still saving the planet? Try bending over in these:

Patagonia also has almond butter and jelly resistant clothing for the green child, such as the baby synchilla® vest, made from 85% recycled polyester. God knows if you don't buy this vest for little Johny there will be no planet left when he's all grown up.

While you're browsing for cashmere hooded sweaters or $400 waterproof jackets you might check out Patagonia's suggested reading list, which can be found here. This is a great resource for Green People who can't bear the idea of being out read. It includes Greenie classics such as The Omnivores Dilemma, some hardcore enviro fiction in the Monkey Wrench Gang and, for the total longshot, Harvest For Hope by Jane Goodall.

The only thing the Patagonia website is missing for Greenies is a Blog on the latest environmental degradation, but wait, it's got that too!

For the double green whammy, order your Patagoina branded Sigg bottle (as shown top left) at www.patagonia.com

Mollie's first post.

While standing in the not so "express" line this morning at whole foods, submitting to the muffin craving that had conquered Michaela somewhere between Novato and finding a parking spot at DU, we were inspired by something organic to start a blog.  Perhaps it was the mini maple glazed doughnuts.

I had considered starting a blog in the past, but blew it off because I knew no one would ever read it.  But tonight I am moving beyond that.  Now, my apologies if this post seems grammatically effed up or a little comma happy (especially sorry to John Stayton).  It is Friday night at 10pm and my editor is off at a bar, but being the budding entrepreneur that I am, I am staying home to finish a super fun financial model (or to procrastinate by starting a blog).

So here it goes:  The main theme of this blog is to talk about the things green people like - like tote bags and hummus.  Secondarily, we will talk about mountain biking (mostly crashes), kombucha (from brewing to pooping), and loads of personal stuff (so stay tuned - especially all you stalkers out there!).  Some other options include, but are not limited to, Michaela's recipes (stolen from Oprah), my strange relationship with my dog, Quickbooks tips from the Queen of Quickbooks (her book comes out in the fall) and non-linear Green MBA insights.  

This blog is wabi sabi - So tolerate the ambiguity.