50?? No way!

Just posting a few photos for those who are asking.  I'll come back and edit later.

"Hey, you want to do this ride?"

Says Andre. "I don't want to do it without my people.  Um. . . sure.  I'm game.
Keep in mind, Andre is the mastermind behind the 2011.5 party.  How could I say no?

He did not mention, however, that the ride was ALL uphill.  Both ways.  In the fog and mist and whatnot.  No, actually, it was foggy and misty and wet and SO SO hilly.  BUT -- fun and a great opportunity to train, work hard, and find a sense of accomplishment.
We camped for two nights at the KOA in Petaluma.  Which means, after riding for several hours, we could come back and splash around in the pool.  Sadly, the food was not made with gluten free vegetarians in mind, but I had lots of bars and fruit in my pockets.

Only trick was I had to join Team Kaiser for the weekend! 

I didn't take a ton of photos, but here are a few.  So -- what do you say?  3 days of uphill riding next September?  Maybe you could be on Team Kaiser too!

Bonus: André takes off his shirt after riding.  Everybody wins.

Top of the legendary "Marshall Wall" -- that smile was only for the camera, I assure you.

Finishing strong on the Second Day.  Loving those Kaiser jerseys so much, we just didn't take them off.

I kinda sorta lost it on this day -- we got to a hill and I stopped at the bottom and declared I was not climbing one more #$%(% hill.  André went on ahead.  The people who passed me as I was throwing my fit informed André when they saw him at the top that I was okay, just "collecting myself."  I think there's a euphemism in there.
I felt a little better when André kinda sorta lost it on the following day -- when they had us go up and over Sonoma Mountain, turn around, and go up and over it again.  

NCAC infiltrates ETBT!  André, Larry and Val Belnap, and yours truly. 

André is already scheming for next year.  I can see it in his eyes.

ewwww. what IS that stuff?

 My ionic foot bath did not have as dramatic results as I've seen before, but it was kind of cool to watch.  I know lots of folks think it's a scam, but I rather like it.  I used to have a lot of 'yeast' come out in the baths, but haven't seen it since I stopped eating gluten.  Now it looks like joint inflammation and some lymph node detox.

Happy 2011.5!

 So I'm just going to put this out there.  2011 sucked.  Then it got worse.  Then after that, the worse choked on the suck and ran into a dog while riding a bike.  BUT -- we still have 6 months to go.  So what are you going to do?  Draw yourself a clean slate, that's what!  Andre (shown below), declared June 14 (flag day) the day we would surrender to 2011, raise the white flag, and declare the beginning of 2011.5.  Complete with gluten free cake, champagne, and amazing friends.  I think 2011.5 is going to be a good year.

 boys being boys.  i love ron and andre.  if you have to be a guy and you have to be straight, this is the best way to be both those things.

 larae rubbing jana's shoulders.  also a photo i couldn't rotate.  i will work on it.

 

Round 2 of the party was outside (once the wind died down)- grilling, chatting, eating cupcakes

 clapping.  . . i suspect the clapping was either in response to the amazing salad i made or emily's singing.  i'll just leave it at that.

 jana telling a story.  crazy! 

 emily entertaining the crowd

 oh -- look what showed up.  i took this photo because of the way the  (useless, as it turns out) citronella candle was reflecting through the glass table and onto the iPad.  in other words, about 1/17 of this photo is cool and artistic. 

 me and jane ann dancing to a song (we were dancing straight up and down -- turn your head) that i can't remember, but it was very fun.  until julie started telling us that neither of us could dance.  psh.  it's not like there was a prize.

 too cute.

 see how happy people are in 2011.5?

julie and emily singing from fiddler on the roof.  and yes, you do have to hold your hands like that when you sing fiddler on the roof.

how often does this happen in YOUR living room?

Untitled from H M R on Vimeo.

yeah.  that's what i thought.

i can't thank all these amazing people enough.  but i'll try a little more here and there.