Poison Oak Attacks Woman's Face - Change of Course for Memorial Day Weekend Plans

"Karen, where are you?" my friend called.

"Over here," I said, laughing at the ridiculous predicament I was in - stuck in a bush.

On a group mountain bike ride this past Tuesday evening, I made a classic cycling error: I looked precisely where I did not want to go. In this case, I was rounding a sharp corner of a narrow, dirt trail. As I entered the turn, I panicked seeing a steep drop-off. Sure enough, I started to steer off the trail. At the last second, I realized the impending disaster and leaped off my bike. My bike fell onto the trail, but the momentum from the turn propelled me right over the edge of the cliff. I rolled several feet down the hill until I was stuck, up to my neck, in a big thicket of brambles. The rider ahead of me, Jec, heard me yell as I fell. She rode back to check on me

"Where are you?" she called from the trail above. "Oh, wait! I can see your red helmet sticking out of the top of the bush," Jec said. "Let me give you a hand."

She reached down the steep slope and helped haul back onto the trail. When she confirmed I was ok, we shared a laugh about it.

But I am not laughing now. As a result of that tumble, I have poison oak on my face for the first time! I look like a sci-fi character with my crusty lips, bright red nose, and spotted neck. Ick. Not to mention my arms, legs, torso also sport big patches of this miserable stuff - which is caused by my skin coming in contact with the oil in the leaf.. With my itchy, oozing blisters, I decided not to go out of town to Paso Robles for the Great Western Bike Rally.

I am confident that if there were a video of my mountain bike crash this past Tuesday, it would soar to the top of You Tube's most-watched list.

Another reason to skip the road trip: the raging wildfires in Santa Cruz County! Governor Terminator was here earlier this week and declared it an emergency zone. Another good reason to stay home - a lot of smoke in the air! Luckily, no bodily injuries have been reported, though homes have been lost.

Memorial Day weekend - reflections on Santa Cruz and plans for Great Western Bike Rally 2008

Memorial Day weekend 2008 marks my 15-year anniversary living in Santa Cruz, California. I never expected to make this my long-term home: as a native of Washington, D.C., I always imagined I would migrate to a bigger city, like San Francisco.

After a solo tour of the Pacific coast from San Deigo in southern California to Skagway, Alaska, the northern-most ferry stop in the Southwest Passage, I arrived in Santa Cruz in May 1993. I stayed at the local youth hostel, located a few blocks from the beach. During my stay, I walked along scenic West Cliff Drive and watched the surfers and seagulls play in the Monterey Bay. I fell in love with the independent bookstore called Bookshop Santa Cruz and had also had a fun night on the town at a live music club called the Catalyst. After one week at the youth hostel, I took my sleeping bag and backpack and signed a lease for a room in a 6-bedroom house on Grant Street. I did not know a soul in Santa Cruz, but I was an optimistic 23-year-old and had a good feeling about the town.

Through the years here, most of my 20s and 30s, I have established deep roots in my community personally and profesionally and treasure my enduring frienships. I love the size of this coastal city with its majestic redwoods and university atop the hill (UC Santa Cruz).

For this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, my plans are to attend the Great Western Bike Rally in Paso Robles! Should be fun. It will be road riding!

And in June, I will go on an organized bike tour in Montana with the Adventure Cycling Assocation - more road riding!

I have plans for mountain biking in Peru in the fall.

National Dance Week 2008 Kick-off in Santa Cruz, Thursday, May 1

Tru School Hip Hop, above, and Raizes do Brazil demonstrate capoeira. 

National Dance Week Santa Cruz -

was off to a brilliant start on Thursday, May 1, with free performances at three outdoor locations on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. I attended four solid hours of shows (5 p.m.-9 p.m.) and was amazed by the caliber of dancing and captivated by the topnotch choreography. SLIDESHOW! I saw a sampling of dance from:

• Gravity Girls
• Marsea Marquis and Tropicalismo
• Contact Improvisation
• John and Nancy Lingemann
• Tru School Hip Hop
• Mir & A Company

Here are free dances classes May 1-8!

The events are sponsored by the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz.

Nocturnal Sunshine Fire Performance Troupe, above, and Te Hau Nui Dance.

Visit my PHOTO GALLERY for more dance photos from this event.

Women's Yoga Retreat at Mount Madonna, Watsonville, CA - April 25-27

I arrived Friday afternoon at Mount Madonna Center, apprehensive about camping - even in the glorious redwoods - because I was so fatigued. But two nights and six yoga classes later, I returned to Santa Cruz refreshed and relaxed on Sunday afternoon. The powerful combination of yoga asanas, a glorious sunny hilltop setting, and wonderful Santa Cruz-based teachers, Laurie Broderick Burr and Kelly Blaser was just the rejuvenation I needed. I shared some very special times with many of the 25 other women on the retreat. Namaste!

Thank you, Kelly Blaser, for the photo above.

Cycle Montana with Adventure Cycling Association this June

I took the plunge today and signed up for Cycle Montana, a week-long road bike tour starting in Missoula, Montana. The trip is a guided tour organized by the Adventure Cycling Association,

Here is the trip summary and a photo from their website:

Trip Dates: Jun 21 - Jun 27
Start and End Locations: Missoula
Days: 7 Rest Days: 0
Miles: 326
Average Miles Per Day: 54
Surface: Road
Riders: 120
Type: Supported
Meals: Catered meals
Physical Difficulty: Intermediate
Technical Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Elevation: up to 7400'

Sea Otter Classic 2008 in Monterey, California - The highlight for me was BMX Olympic hopeful Jill Kintner's Women's Skills Clinic

Sunday, April 20 - I was thrilled to attend a 2-hour mountain bike skills clinic taught by Jill Kintner, a top Olympic hopeful for competing in BMX bike racing in Beijing this August. The 26-year-old from Seattle, Washington, is a member of the GT Bicycles Team and is living and preparing for the Summer Games at the Olympic training center in southern California. She has two more major races this spring, in Denmark and China, to determine if she will have enough points to represent the United States in BMX. Thanks to Beverly Garrity, founder of SLaB, who organized this clinic.

For more Jill Kintner clinic photos and shots of trials rider Ryan Leech, visit my photo gallery.




Making its debut at the Olympics, BMX, stands for bicycle moto-cross (an "X' denotes the "cross.") No motorcycle invovled - just modified bicycles that allow racers to achieve top speeds racing over and down uneven terrain on special courses.







Here I feel the love from the Sea Otter mascot. I have been coming to Sea Otter Classic for nearly 15 years.




Here is a BIO of Jill I received in advance of the clinic:

Jill Kintner
Date of Birth: October 24, 1981
Hometown: Seattle, WA

When you are the best at what you do, what do you do next?
This is a dilemma that GT team rider and top female Olympic hopeful Jill
Kintner knows well. After literally growing up on the BMX track her
father owned in Washington State, it seemed Jill was destined for 20
inch greatness. Pushed by a neighborhood full of boys as well as her
brother, pro Freestyle BMX rider Paul, Jill rapidly developed into a
fierce competitor. Beginning at the age of 14, Jill dominated race
after race until she presided over an empire that included more than
70 race wins, the NBL National Series pro title and the 2002 ABA
World Championship crown.

At the height of her BMX dominance, however, Jill discovered the
sport of Mountaincross and abruptly abandoned BMX to race mountain
bikes, a move that was anything but safe. But after a brief
acclimation process, Jill was back to a familiar spot: on top. She
signed to GT in 2005 on her way to three consecutive UCI 4X World
Championship titles. With nothing but green pastures in front of her,
Jill made another risky decision upon learning that the Olympic
Committee had approved BMX Race for the 2008 Games in Beijing – she
switched back to BMX.

Jill is now living and training at the Olympic Training Center in
Chula Vista, California and is currently the frontrunner for a place
on the Olympic team. Having just captured the 2008 USA Cycling BMX
National Championship title it seems almost certain that Jill will be
representing the US in Beijing.

A win in Beijing will have special significance for Jill as she is
racing for the memory of her father who passed away before she made
the switch back to BMX.

Karen's April-May '08 Event Schedule - Sea Otter Classic, Yoga and more biking!

FUN STUFF COMING UP:

Sat.-Sun. April 19-20
Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, CA
Held Thursday, April 17- Sunday, April 20 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey, California (an hour's drive south from Santa Cruz), the Sea Otter Classic is the ultimate festival of bicycles - for road, mountain bike and BMX riders. I am going Saturday to ride a recreational, cross-country mountain bike event - not ready for racing at the moment.
Sunday at Sea Otter, I will attend a women's mountain bike skills clinic and ride hosted by Olympic BMX hopeful Jill Kintner.

Fri.-Sun., April 25-27
Women's Yoga Retreat - Mount Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA
Led by Laurie Broderick-Burr and Kelly Blaser, retreat highlights inclue: Asana classes and group meditation, delicious vegetarian food, and gorgeous vistas from the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Sat.-Sun., May 3-4
Mountain bike clinic: Dirt Series presented by Rocky Mountain Bicycles
In April, North America's premier traveling mountain bike skills instruction program takes to the road for its eighth season. This year, the Dirt Series by Rocky Mountain Bicycles offers an
unprecedented 19 women's-only and co-ed mountain bike camps in destinations like Sun Valley, Southern California, Park City, North Vancouver, and the Dirt Series home base of Whistler.

Memorial Day Weekend: Fri.-Mon. May 23-26:
Great Western Bike Rally
Paso Robles, CA
From their website:
The Great Western Bicycle Rally is a large, friendly, family-oriented bike event extravaganza dedicated to recreational cycling that transforms the Paso Robles fairgrounds and the surrounding countryside into a pedaler's paradise.

Though I did not make it downtown to the Mall in Washington, D.C. to see the National Cherry Blossom Festival, I joined my mom for a bike ride in Kenwood, Maryland, where the cherry blossoms were gorgeous.