Finishing the Race

My friend Mariely, who is recovering from surgery on a completely torn Achilles tendon, took this video of me finishing the race.

La Segunda Fecha del Campeonato XC DF, Chiluca

Yesterday was the second race in the DF mountain bike race series. After pre-riding the course the day before, I knew it would be a tough race. The climb was 3km long and extremely difficult followed by a 1km decent that was ridiculous and the 5.5km loop finished with a fun rolly single track section. The races here start at noon and yesterday was HOT (low 80's). Three times up that climb about killed me, especially when I became extremely dehydrated and my bottle was empty. The climb had these steep short sections and I was mentally able to ride them when I focused on TTT practices way back when on the CU Cycling team. The hardest part about the TTT is after you have done your turn pulling, you have to "get back on." So, on these sections I would just yell at myself to get back on. The results you ask.
Yes, I am continuing to do a great job of defending my jersey. But Ari, the 16 year old who got second, made me work for my win.
I also got a special number for my bike for the races because I am the defending champion. I am just glad that if you win your category they don't make you upgrade because the women in the next category race the world cup and stuff. I don't think I would stand a chance against them riding just once a week for training.

What Would You Do?

Last Saturday, Lenny and I were on our way to pre-ride the course for the second race in the DF mountain bike series when the police motioned for me to pull over. I knew the only reason that they were pulling me over was because my car has Colorado plates on it and I am a gringa. In any case, they started to give me a hard time because the date on my importation document is expired even though that date means nothing as long as my visa is valid. Like most encounters I have had with the police, I am more familiar with the laws than they are. I showed them copies of my visa and that it is still valid and told them the federal law states my car can circulate anywhere in Mexico as long as my visa is valid. They then tried to pull the classic Mexican police move and told me, "well, in the state of Mexico that is not the case." I then said, "fine, lets go to the local police station so I can talk with your boss and explain to him the law." Lets just say they didn't like that idea. I of course knew what they were after, a bribe. But I hadn't done anything wrong. The police then offered to call someone who would give them a "code" that would allow me to circulate in the state of Mexico for the day, but that it would cost me 300 pesos. I asked them if I could speak with the person that would give them the code, they said no. My choices were I could pay them 300 pesos, which I knew they would just pocket, and get on with my day or I could spend the next hour or more arguing with them. I was leaning towards the later but Lenny has a young daughter and had to get back home as soon as possible for farther duty. So, the police wrote a silly code on a piece of paper and took my 300 pesos. The code said X Plata Total 28/3/2009. I believe it essentially meant that if another policeman pulled me over in the state of Mexico that I could show them the code and they would let me go because I had already paid my bribe for the day.

Two things really upset me about the incident:
1) It was racial profiling. They wanted money and they knew they could get it from a gringo even though I had done nothing wrong. I would argue it is no different than racial profiling similar to what happens in the US with the Mexicans.

2) I love Mexico but I get so frustrated by the corruption here. I wanted to fight with the police until the end because I knew I was right. But does that bring about change and as a foreigner is it my place to try to change things? After all, the monthly salary for police is ~5,000 pesos or $350. No wonder they are corrupt.

Mexico and the War on Drugs

I am sure many of you have been hearing about Mexico and its war on drugs. Some of you have even expressed concern for my safety. The truth is, the majority of people living in Mexico are not affected by the violence being reported in the press. In addition, I think Mexico is receiving a very bad reputation for a problem whose roots are in fact in the US. The editor of a great magazine called Letras Libres (its the Mexican version of The New Yorker I think) wrote an editorial about Mexico and its current state of affairs. I think you should all read it, especially the second to last paragraph.

Uh O Spaghetti O

Look what happened to my brand new tubeless tire today : (
Looks like my tubeless tire will have to become a tube tire because tubeless tires are super expensive here. Now say that 10 times fast!

Lots to Celebrate

On Tuesday evening we celebrated Wolfgang's birthday.
The following morning, Wolfgang signed on the dotted line
and then Sarai signed on the dotted line
and then they were pronounced husband and wife. Although the civil marriage is official, the real wedding is on April 4th. Good times.

Vuelta a México

The Vuelta México finished in Mexico City on Sunday March 8th. I went to watch of course!!!
The race started and finished right in front of the Angél de la Independencia.The race was a 6.4km circuit along Reforma, one of the most well known avenues in Mexico because it connects the center of Mexico City with Chapultepec Park. There is a lot of history along Reforma.
I also got to see some friends from Boulder, Chris Baldwin and Ian MacGregor (not pictured, but check out his web page). It was nice to see familiar faces in Mexico City, especially those from the cycling community.

Who Is That?

Its me in D.C. in front of the White House wearing a suit.