May was the most marvelous month
And I have never had jet-lag so bad in all my life. That's the thing about life, the ups are up and the downs are down. But I am home now and I seriously need to write something on this blog just to get the ball rolling again.
In the month of May I went to the Giro d'Italia, I saw my first Grand Tour team time trial, I visited Northern Ireland for the first time ever (and loved it!), I met all sorts of really cool people, I secured my taste for real draft Guinness beer, and then I came home to see Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish at the Tour of California. I really like Brad and Mark.
All this fun and I haven't written a word on my trusty blog. I could wax poetic and say some things are just too good to share or too hard to put to words, or I could be totally honest and explain -
I'm just so tired. Yup, too tired from having so much fun. That's the truth!
Fun and darn jet-lag, which inhibited me from staying up until 2am (as I usually do at stage races) to write up posts, kept me from sharing my incredible journeys with you. I haven't even posted the amazing photos Willie Richenstein (my friend and co-photographer) took at the Amgen Tour of California! Gees.
I should note that I have also been 'speaking with' (via email) a number of individuals, helping them with vacation planning and other questions. I wouldn't trade these interactions for the world, meeting fellow cycling travelers brings me great joy but also takes away from my time posting out into the realms of the www.
I did post some photos on
Twitter. Huge accomplishment on my part. Want to see those iphone photos of what I have been doing the past month?
(All photos below by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®)
New York City - Colorado - Utah - California - Ireland - California - Utah - Colorado
I started out in Manhattan for 6 days
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| Manhattan at night |
Then I drove from Colorado to Utah to California
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| The middle of nowhere Utah |
Then I got on a plane to Dublin and drove into Northern Ireland where I was blown away by the beauty.
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| Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland |
I drove the route of Stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia where I was so impressed with the community spirit on display.
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| Cushendall in pink |
I visited some tourist sites including Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, Giant's Causeway, and Bushmills Distillery.
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| Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge |
Even the whiskey ran pink for the Giro. Rule #1 buy OLD whiskey - it's worth the money.
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| At Bushmills Distillery |
I went for a super fun bike ride in Belfast city to tour the route of the Stage 1 Team Time Trial with
Belfast City Bike Tours. I loved the guys who ran this tour, and Michael the owner of The Hudson Bar where we had a pint after our ride. Michael tried to spray paint me pink for the Giro.
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| Michael of The Hudson Bar, me and Gary of Belfast City Bike Tours |
I went to the Team Presentation the night before the Giro started in downtown Belfast outside City Hall.
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| Team Garmin-Sharp enters |
I had fun in the team area at the Titanic Quarter (which is a great tourist site btw) before Stage 1.
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| Cadel Evans arrives before the TTT |
I was able to watch the warm-up in the morning near city hall, plus watch the teams start and take the first two corners of the real TTT of the Giro. Here team Garmin-Sharp took the start line shortly before Dan Martin would later crash and end his 2014 Giro.
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| Team Garmin-Sharp when hopes were still high |
Attending the Giro d'Italia in Northern Ireland will stand as one of the all-time favorite races I have ever attended (next to the Tour of Flanders and the Amgen Tour of California in Solvang). Attending the Giro in Ireland was a blast, the people had more fun than I have ever witnessed at a race (a close tie with the Paris-Roubaix).
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| Everything was pink for the Giro in Northern Ireland! |
For Stage 2, I walked 300 meters from my Bed & Breakfast to watch the race go by at a place called the Bla Hole.
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| Stage 2 of the 2014 Giro d'Italia passes the Bla Hole. |
Then I drove down to the city of Armagh (my grandfather Peter is from nearby Newry) to watch the start of Stage 3 of the Giro.
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| St Patricks Cathedral in Armagh and the 2014 Giro d'Italia |
My four days at the Giro Start in Ireland were truly incredible!
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| Driving on the other side of the road was exciting |
But it was time to get serious about some good Irish beer and Irish music!
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| Gus O'Connors Pub in Doolin, County Clare |
Appreciate a real draft Guinness and a good Irish Stew
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| pure deliciousness |
Stay at a lovely Bed & Breakfast
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| Daly House in Doolin Ireland |
And enjoy a relaxing long morning breakfast with fine Irish hospitality.
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| A peaceful start to the morning |
And then a highly recommended 8km walk from Doolin to the Cliff of Moher with Pat Sweeney.
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| Local guide and farmer Pat Sweeney |
A long flight back to San Francisco and LAX then found me once again in Laguna Beach, California waiting for the last three stages of the Amgen Tour of California.
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| The beautiful beaches of Orange County California |
And this guy - Sir Bradley Wiggins. Cool!
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| Funny and honest |
And Mark Cavendish. Did I mention, I like Mark.
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| This was a tough Stage 6 for him, but he won Stage 8! |
And it looks like Bradley and Mark like each other as well.
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| Brad and Mark at Tour of California 2014 |
Bradley Wiggins won the 2014 Amgen Tour of California
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| Classification winners ATOC 2014 |
And thank goodness this squad of Garmin-Sharp teammates in California had reason to celebrate Best Team.
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| Celebration |
I enjoyed a few more days with family along the beautiful beaches of southern California.
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| Newport Beach, CA |
And drove myself and my labradoodle dog Jack Denny back to Colorado through Utah once again.
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| Salt Flats, Utah |
And that is it for iphone photos from May 2014. Someday I will download my real photos. But for now, what a variety of sights I saw in May 2014, and such beauty. And super great people! I am so very grateful. And so very tired.
Home in Colorado
Last Sunday I went to a local bike race and took even more photographs which I have yet to edit and post, and this weekend is the Colorado Master Criterium Championships which I plan to attend. I think I will just carry my camera and not take any photos because god knows when I will get around to posting those as well.
This was my favorite photo from last week. A superman by Michael Gibson.
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| Don't try this at home. Photo by Karen Rakestraw |
Send me some good vibes to get going again because now that I have returned to Colorado and it is fully summer, all I really want to do is ride my own bike outside in the sunshine.
Don't we all.
