GI Jane, Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim, Gerbode Valley - Pelican Inn Ride

Yes, thank you all, my patient followers and not-so-patient followers.  I am now busy with work.  Needless to say, life goes on, and so should the Jib Jab.  There has been lots going on.  It's not that.  I just haven't had the luxury of so much blogging time.  It may even mean, Jib Jab gets more concise.  Heaven forbid.

Jib Jab and Swimming
So, getting to it, GI Jane.  One of my swim buddies, (starts with a D, ends with amon) sent an email to us, Zola swimmers, saying his inspiration for us is GI Jane.  Remember when she pulls master chief out of harm's way?  Remember her one-arm push-ups?  So, that's our inspiration for the Trans-Tahoe swim, coming up this summer.  I swam with this tight-knit group, as the new kid on the block, which is an oxy-moron because I am about 15 or more years older than everyone else on our team...  Anyways, there is a legendary battle with 'the girls' team.  I forget their name.  They always seem to win.  Last year, it seemed like the tide was turning.  As we were about 10 miles into the swim, we were gaining on them, about 100 meters every 30 minutes or so.  We were virtually neck and neck at 11 miles, and in the last mile, they disappeared.   I hoped it was behind us, but alas.  They beat us again.  We are sure they are cheating.

Jib Jab - continued - The Grand Canyon
On another note, my best buddy, and friend since college was out last week for work.  We got together, and did a little hike around my house, which is actually, a pretty amazing hike [note to self.  add pix]  You can see San Francisco, Stanford, east bay, the San Francisco bay, and bay trees.  Lots of them.  It's both wooded, and open fields, and very hilly.  It's an awesome trail, anyways, Mike is my favorite adventurer.  Just a super short list of some of our adventures, on the top of my mind; camping, fly fishing, Wind River, Wyoming.  Heli-skiing, Banff, Canada, Grand Canyon, rim to rim to rim, twice.  Numerous ski trips, and other fun stuff.  So, always wanting to take it one more level, Mike has been talking about rim to rim to rim, all in one day.  He has said it before, so this time he says, so, are you in?  I can't help myself.  I smile, and start laughing.  I know I can't say no, even though it's ridiculous.   So, I am like, okay, so, it's 50 miles, which, on a flat surface is probably a 15 hour hike at a fast pace.  The Grand Canyon adds about 35,000 feet of elevation change, both up and down, just guesstimating (nice word!).  So, yeah, all said, maybe a 20-22 hour hike, if all goes well.  With any hiccups.  Well, disaster.  So, he says, we better start training.  I love him. [i will add some pics]

Jib Jab -extreme - Mountain Biking
I think last section is the extreme, and this is continued, don't you think?  :-)
So, a new arena I have thrown myself into, and am loving is mountain biking.  I have some great new friends, and re-acquaintances, who I have been totally enjoying riding with, and getting educated on riding and trails to ride.  So, another friend and brother in law[starts with P and ends with ete] has been graciously and generously including me into his circle of life-long buddies he has been riding with, well, his whole life.  I have missed a couple of the rides, and especially missed going on the last one, as it sounded like a real adventure into areas uncharted by me [Tennessee valley].  So, he also sent, or forwarded another ride of another of his good friends, who lives by me.  I need to study it, but it's within 15 minutes of my house.  All these other rides are across the Golden Gate bridge, and beyond.  About an hour plus from my house.  So, that is good news, and it doesn't stop there.  The newest ride, I think is a long one.  Maybe 4 hours?  Gerbode Valley to Pelican Inn.  You may remember Pelican Inn from a previous post.  Awesome spot.

Good beer.  Super beautiful area.  Can't wait.  [another note, Matt essentially called me a sissy, until I do something called Alpine mtn, or something...more later....apparently, a long ride, 4 hours, and some hard hard sections...]

Jib Jab - PS Happy Birthday Sis!  [That's mom and Kathy].  We had my family, including Sarah's room mate and boyfriend, mom, Kathy and Mark down to Kabul's in San Carlos.  This is our local family Afgan restaurant.   We regularly get the same waiter, who we love, and who showers us with wisdom, sometimes at awkward lengths.  It's a great place.  Very good kabobs, of every meat, and always get the Kadu (is that how you say it?  - it's this amazing, delicious pumpkin with yogurt and meat sauce.  It's great with or without the meat sauce).  They have a whole veggie section of the menu too.

I guess it has been a while since I posted!!  We have been celebrating my sister's birthday.  Mom's in town.  Sarah's in town, her dear friend, Ann and Michael were in.   We went to one of my sister and Mark's favorite hang outs in San Francisco.  It's great food, super people, very cute place, newly spruced up.  It's called Ideale, at the corner of Columbus and Broadway- basically in the thick of North Beach, San Francisco.  [That's Kathy and Ann in the picture at Ideale.  Ann is Kathy's friend from Cherry Hills, going back to probably elementary school.]

What's next?  I am going to ABQ/ Santa Fe in April, next Friday.  I get to see some cliff dwellings, my sister and brother, and their families.  So, to all who have read to here, thanks!  Come back, I will post pictures.  Thanks for hanging in.  I am hoping to keep this up, even as my work schedule tightens...
That's mom and my sis.