Texas, Arrowhead and Betas - oh my!

At last, here it is. Your window to my world. My outlet for the random things I do and the even more random things that go through my head. Not only is this a great way to keep up with where I've been and where I'm bouncing off to next, but it's also going to be a good way for me to remember what I did last week. Sometimes even I can't keep up with my own schedule!

Last week is a prime example of how much running around I do. On June 4th I headed to Texas to cover the AMA Motocross National (big pro race) in Freestone which is about an hour south of Dallas. It was over 100 degrees and reeeeally humid. (I heard some people saying it was 108 but I don't know if I believe that.) I'd been hearing the horror stories leading up to the race so I made sure I was ready. Bathing suit, shorts, flip flops and I didn't even bother to dry my hair; I just put it up in a clip. Call me crazy but it felt kinda nice to me. Of course, I love the heat and when you're ready for it, it's not that bad. If I had to be racing in that, well... that's a totally different story. But I was sitting in the shade sipping my cold water so I didn't have anything to complain about.
Anyhoo, the next day I had plenty to complain about. Long story short, I missed my flight which was at 6:15 A.M. I know what you're thinking - sleepy Jean was running late and missed the flight - but that wasn't even the case! True, it was my responsibility, but for once, I wasn't just running late. I got a little lost on the way to the airport and then had a fiasco at the rental car drop off, got on the wrong shuttle to the terminal. Not only did the bus take forever to close the damn doors and get going, but I mistakenly thought the buses all went to the same place. Turns out only one goes to each terminal and I was headed to C when I needed to be at E.
"Okay, no problem," I thought. "I'll just take that handy little train thingy that goes terminal to terminal." Wrong. You have to be checked in to use that and I needed to be at my terminal to check in! So I sat out on the curb waiting for the airport shuttle that takes you around. The wait time said, "10 min." I was biting my nails as it counted down and relieved when it got to 2 min., but it stayed on 2 min for about 10 more minutes!
Finally the damn thing comes and I get on. If you've been to DFW you know it's about the size of Delaware and takes forever to get around. You seriously have to get on a freeway to get to the next terminal, so it took some time, as well. I had originally arrived at the airport about an hour early and with no bags to check I thought I would be fine. Well I missed check in by about 5 minutes.
Yet again, I thought, "No problem. I'll just get on standby for the next flight." Well, I didn't get on that one. Nor the next one, the one after that, nor the one after that. Stuck in Dallas, I was! This story goes on and on and I just don't even want to remember that misery. Actually the only miserable part was that we were going to print the next morning and I had a five-page story due and we're required to be in the office at 7 A.M. on Monday. I didn't end up getting home until 2 P.M. on Monday after going through Vegas to LAX and having to take a $70 cab ride to Long Beach Airport to get my truck. Ugh!
So my week started off with a staggering sleep deficit and it didn't get much better for the rest of the week. But that's the way it goes when you live life by the seat of your pants!

On Tuesday we headed up to Arrowhead to do some riding up in the mountains. It was a gorgeous day and the trails were amazing. It's always fun to get out during the week because you can ride all day and not see any other riders. We stopped at this creek crossing that looked like a movie set. The creek opens up and it's deep enough to climb on the rocks and jump in. And the water was surprisingly warm. So yeah... we had to take a break and go for a swim!!! I've never done that before but I've always wanted to! I thought my jersey would be wet and dirty for the rest of the ride, but to my pleasant surprise it was not. In fact, I even felt kinda clean at the end of the ride! haha
Tuesday night we met up with our photographer and piled in my truck to head up to San Luis Obispo. We had plans to meet up with Beta and ride the new 400 RR at a private ranch in Arroyo Grande the next morning so to make the most out of our day we went up Tuesday night and got a hotel. We didn't get in until midnight so it was another short night.


Wednesday morning we all met up for breakfast and headed out to the ranch. I had been there once before in December for some riding and photos and we had such a blast. Our only complaint was that it was on the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year! Well this time was much different. We had plenty of daylight and we were done before the sun was.
The shoot went well thanks to the lovely and talented Kato (our photographer's name is Mark Kariya but I've always called him Kato). We got some great action shots with some pretty incredible scenery. As planned, we hurried up and whipped through photos so we could get plenty of riding time in. There was one really nice creek bed shot that was working out pretty beautifully. I can tell when Kato is on to something because he gets that funny look in his eye. He had me doing pass after pass through this rocky creek bed, then I'd climb out, go back around and drop back in. Again and again and since I knew he was really getting something good, I kept plugging along as tired as I was. Each time I went through I was tracking water and dirt onto the river rocks so it was getting really slippery and tricky so I had a couple small crashes in there. Not the end of the world, but getting up, lifting up the bike and getting going again really saps your energy. So I was whupped and that was only our first shot!
We had several more angles to shoot from after that so I was effectively worn out. The photos turned out great (thank goodness) but underneath my shiny new helmet and sharp-looking gear, I was dripping in sweat and fighting to hold my little noodle arms up (gotta have those elbows up for the photos)! In the end, it was a great day at the office. Yes, I'm spoiled rotten and I thank God for it every day of my life!
After two full days of trail riding in the mountains, I was seriously beat - both figuratively and literally as I had several tip-overs on Wednesday. We sat down to a nice big dinner at Chili's in Arroyo Grande - there's nothing quite like a big steak and a brownie ala mode after a full day of riding.
By the time we got home, unloaded, showered and into bed it was 2 A.M. And of course, I had to be up and in the office at 9 A.M. Thursday morning. It sounds grueling but at that point, I hadn't been in the office since the previous Thursday so I couldn't exactly ask for it off. It's alright, though. Like the saying goes - you can sleep when you're dead!

On Friday night we got ready to head back up to Arrowhead for a second helping. We had such a great time and wanted to do more exploring on Saturday. Well, after my little "accident" on the beach cruiser, our plans fell through. I was trying to hop up onto a curb - like I've done 1,000 times on a bicycle - but the front wheel never came up, I guess! I hit the curb and went completely over the bars, landed on my head (fortunately on the grass) and busted my knee open on the curb! It wasn't until I was looking up at my friend next to me and wearing the bicycle as a hat that I realized what happened. Yeah, I'm an idiot. That will probably make this year's "top-five stupidest things I've done" list. And I wasn't even drunk! Granted, I wasn't sober either... but I for sure wasn't drunk enough to make a mistake like that. Maybe I just had too much motorcycles on the brain. My friend Jerry swears he saw me try to blip the throttle. I really hate crashing. I swear, I don't do it that often, but for how much I ride, it seems like I always have bruises and scrapes all over me (many of which aren't even actually from crashing - just from riding). I've definitely had my share of crashes and at this point, I've gone over the bars more times than a pole-vaulter.
Our change of plans on Saturday took us down to Kurt and Laurette's house, which is always fun... and then painful the next morning. It was an indulgent night of wine, cheesecake and the best pizza I think I've ever had. The next morning we raced from Laurette's house (in Temecula wine country) all the way back to Orange County to get Jerry to the airport by 10 A.M. (made it!) and I continued on to my mom's house in L.A. for Vicki's baby shower and then dinner at Jim and Alice's.
I was totally zonked by this point - and starting to feel that beach cruiser crash - but I had to stay for dinner to spend some quality time with my babies! Matt and Erin and the kids came up, which is always a treat.
Ten o'clock Sunday night I finally crawled into bed at the end of my marathon week. It was a blast - like they always are - and now I think I'll spend the next two days sleeping. I need to get all caught up by Friday when I start all over again. Friday morning I head to Budds Creek, Maryland for another AMA National Motocross race and then I'm staying the week for a Kawasaki new bike intro (more riding and more photo shoots). I'll have a few extra days in between events out there, so perhaps I'll go spend some time at the Capitol and in the Smithsonian!