You, Ms. Ballanti, have been selected...

for a once in a lifetime opportunity to push your body to the threshold of pain, challenge your sanity, and hurt like you've never hurt before!!!! For only $100 fee, hours of training time, and a small piece of your soul, you too, can ride in the California Death Ride ( or as I like to call it, the Laurel Have You Lost Your Mind Ride).

A few weeks ago I was in the office and the guys were talking about centuries that they were hoping to do during the season. Brett, my boss, turned to me and told me that I should apply for the Death Ride Tour of the California Alps, a horrendously difficult ride 139 miles long, covering 5 Sierra mountain passes and climbing over 15,000 ft. at high elevation. The ride is aptly named, in fact, a few years back some riders did not make it. http://www.deathride.com/

Anyway, back to the office. Brett said that with enough training, I could definitely do the ride (not all five passes, of course). I don't know if it my stubbornness or being around those competitive guys, but I when online right then and there and signed up to be put in the lottery.

Thousands of people try to get on this ride, but it is limited to 2,500. This week I checked the rider list of successful applicants and what do you know, there was my name.

Now I must decide what to do. I will need to spend practically all my waking hours training for this ride if I want to be in good enough shape to attempt this ride. Of course what better time than now. I am leaving for Italy for 3 weeks and will be unemployed, giving me quite a bit of free time to train when I return. I guess the big question is whether I am willing to take on the challenge and put in the time. I am not one to follow through on something when I'm doing it half-heartedly. The last thing I would want to have happen is for me to say I will do it, not train enough, and then struggle on the ride. I actually expect that I will struggle quite a bit on the ride, but the difference of a good struggle is knowing that I put in my time, tried my best, and have actually earned my spot on the ride.

We'll see how my time in Italy goes, but at this point I think I've decide it will just be time to TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN!!! Oh, and maybe look for a job : )

A Great Ride

I just got back from a wonderful bike ride over in Marin. The ride starts in San Rafael, takes Lucas Valley Road out to Pt. Reyes Station and returns back through the little town of Nicasio. The best thing about this ride is how you start near the freeway, weave up through farmland, cruising in the cool shade of Redwoods and end up near the ocean.

Today I started thinking about what makes a ride really great, and came up with a few things.

1. When you make it back to the car/home. It is always a great feeling to complete a ride, especially after some tough climbing or strong headwinds. On a day where I really have to push myself, I could care less about how quickly I got up the hill or my overall time. I'm just thankful I made it. On the other hand, nothing ruins a ride for me more than having to bail out early. Back when I was having knee trouble, nothing was more frustrating than stopping when I knew I should be able to finish.

2. The feeling of complete exhaustion at the end of a killer ride. Whether I'm riding, hiking or rafting, I love the feeling when I get home and barely have the energy to stand up. The fatigued muscles, sweat crystals caked on my face and knowledge that I've earned my sleep (and maybe even a sweet treat) is reward enough for me. I sometimes think I don't feel this way enough.. sure, I feel tired every now and then, but that is usually from inactivity, not from busting my butt.

3. Accomplishing something challenging, exploring a new place, or learning something new. Every time I ride I get a tad more daring, whether pushing myself to take a different road with a bigger hill, trying to break my downhill speed record or just seeing how many potholes I can jump. Heck, yesterday I changed my first flat tire on my own... next time I get a flat I'll really know what I'm doing.

4,5,6... There are just so many things that can make a ride great. The sights, sounds, and smells....the interesting things you find (like the time I found a 200lb dead pig tossed off the side of the road.. talk about smells) ... the places and people you see (I always lookout for George when I'm riding Lucas Valley Rd.) ... and of course the post-ride coffee all make a ride great.

Here are so photos from my ride today!

I Too Can Blog

In honor of finally getting internet, I've decided to join the blogging craze and start one of my own. Here are some pics from the last month.

CATERING
Brett (far left), my friend and boss, likes to take on catering gigs, so sometimes I help him out. Strangely enough, this lunch was at my old work for one of my former bosses (center).

We had a Mediterranean theme going. Here is some hummus glammed up with sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, toasted sesame seed and lemon!

84th Birthday Party!
My best friends (Katie and Erica) and I all have birthdays in February, so this year we had a collective 84th birthday party. The theme was 'Around the World'. Here I am with my cousin Rachel.

Here are some pics from a few hikes and random adventures I went on during the past few weeks. The first is a from a hike looking south from Mt. Tamalpais with San Francisco off in the distance. Next is sunset at the Sutro baths. Last is from a bike ride my dad and I did with river friends over in Tiburon.