Over Thanksgiving one of my favorite teachers died, the Senor aka Senor Pizzuto. The International Community School (my school for grades 7-12) is a special, special place and I was lucky enough to get to spend 5 days a week with El Senor over the course of 4 years. I can still hear him.

The Senor is a legend- such an awesome fun, loving guy who had such a passion for teaching! The stories, the mannerisms, the one liners will live on forever. I see the Senor every time I hang out with my friends from high school…even some of my bike friends which is pretty crazy to think about. These people have never met the Senor but the one liners and mannerisms have been passed on from me. Strange but very cool. This guy had it. So much charisma!

The last time I saw/talked to the Senor was when I was home back in June, Jack Attack and I were out for a run and we crossed paths with him at an intersection. I had been meaning to calling him and check in on him for a long time because he had been struggling after having a stroke but I missed the chance and he is gone. Make me sad. :( Just another reminder to take the time for the people you care about…you never know.

You will be missed Senor!

Carne y Papas forever! :)

Practices have started up for the NICA team and I am having such a great time with it. We have 11 athletes plus us coaches. Kids range from grades 9-12 and they sure do have a lot of energy! The thing I love most about it is that these kids want to ride downhill, dirt jump, huck everything but downhill isn’t part of the NICA program (yet) so these kids have been getting their pedal on and loving in. They were dying in the beginning but every day they love it more and more. The improvement over the past month has been awesome. They are fitter, stronger and more confident on their bikes and we are only just getting started.

It is pretty cool that these kids can just pedal from/school to singletrack for practice, not a lot of places you can do that. Since the days are short we have also been busting out the night lights which adds another element of fun. Whenever I ride with a light I feel like a kid again…there is something so freaking cool about it. LOVE it. And one more thing…I get to coach with lover boy (aka my boyfriend). Pretty cool to get to share this experience with him!

Check out the article on Pinkbike from my trip to Jamaica last February!

Photos by: Ian Hylands

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After the NYC Marathon I made my way down to Mexico for a little girls R&R with my mom and sis. Love the mother daughter bonding! :)

I was so flattered to be invited to speak at the ROMP Christmas Dinner last week. The people that make up ROMP are awesome…tons of people from all different backgrounds just totally stoked on bikes. They make riding in the Bay Area a reality for many of us…our trails don’t just appear. :) Thank you ROMP!

This was my first real speaking engagement but I would love to do more in the future. It was definetly a bit nerve racking but once I started talking and got into the groove I felt pretty good- I think that is how most things are in life. Starting out is always the hardest…