Roses are red, poison ivy is stupid

Kind of a lot has happened since my last post, all of it being great. Well, I did catch my first minor rash from brushing up against some poison ivy while on a ride last week with Ryan in El Moro which wasn't great. But luckily, I got it taken care of before it got too crazy. That stuff is sneaky though! It acts like it's a mosquito bite or something at first, tries to be all incognito.. then all of a sudden it spreads into this gross, bumpy and red formation. I had to laugh when I found out it was poison ivy because it was the first time Ryan ever told me not to worry about something and that I needed to get over it. haha so great.

I'm sure he'll talk about this in his next post (hopefully he will anyway) but one of the awesome things that happened this past week was Ryan moving up to Cat 1!!! He is officially a stud. well, an even bigger one now. :) Seriously, I am really really proud of him. I think it will only be a matter of time before he gets a feel for a new pace and a new level of competition, and before he gets back up to that podium again! It's just awesome seeing him constantly push himself to get better and to go faster, and I know he's gonna tear it up.

This week was also kind of a milestone week for me, although not all of it is as related to mountain biking as Ryan's accomplishment... But a couple days ago I decided to take the dive into full-time freelance as a graphic designer and web developer. This probably won't seem like a big deal to anyone reading this besides Ryan, which is totally understandable but it's huge to me for a few main reasons: 1 being that it's gonna be an all-new challenge for me to build a solid client base on my own rather than working through agencies and other companies to find myself work. The second reason is that I can finally just run on my own schedule instead of on someone else's, at some company that's in LA (where most of the good design jobs are) or somewhere else that would take years off my life just driving to... I basically run on my own schedule now since I've been freelancing mostly. But now that I'm officially done looking for work through another company, I can put more time into mountain biking and just getting outside or to the gym. And I'll have that time because I'll be able to make that time for it, because I won't have to drive to work everyday or stress about having enough time for the people and things that mean the most to me. I know it's going to be a huge challenge, to do everything on my own. But I'm definitely ready to take it on and to break free from having another 9-5 job that would just force me to make sacrifices I don't want to make! So I'm excited and extremely optimistic that I'll make it out to be a successful decision.

Today I decided to celebrate my new situation by starting my work day around noon instead of 7am to go on my first solo mountain bike ride. It was pretty sweet... Well actually, not at first to be honest. At first it sucked- I was all paranoid by the unfamiliar, awkward silence and I totally had my moments of feeling lost and lonely. It really was kinda depressing not having Ryan there! I mean, who else is going to show me where to ride, or laugh at my dumb jokes (or entertain me with his own) or surprise me with caffeinated jelly beans after a good climb? haha I sound like a freakin baby... but what can I say? It's loooooove. :) Anyway I eventually warmed up to the feeling of riding, sans cat-1 fiance, and actually had a LOT of fun riding a mellow version of what the 2 of us typically do at El Moro. I felt strong for once.. I think because I did 2 road rides this week- Monday and Wednesday mornings, the days I also go to pilates for my lunch break. So I think that all got me pumped for this morning. It just felt good and really made me want to stick to some kind of routine for weeks to come. Pilates twice a week + 3 rides... Yeah. That would be good!

This weekend should be a great one with the fourth of July alone, but Ryan and I will be heading out with Beth and James to race on Saturday too at Racers and Chasers, which will be even more fun for the day! Always good times with those 2. This will be my second mtb race and my plan is to do what I did at the first race, but obviously a lot better. :) I had a lot of fun the first time around and that's all I want to do this time again, except I need to be better about coming up to the more technical descents. Instead of going fast on them and then slowing down when I start to loose control, I want to try and gain speed as I go so that I don't loose as much momentum. (Read that pointer from Shonny Vanlandingham in some magazine- so thanks Shonny! We'll see if it pays off... And hey if it doesn't, it's the 4th of July!!! Yay-yeah.