8th Annual Kelley Maylor All Girl Ride

I am happy to say that we had another wonderful year. This ride is a labor of love. I feel great when I see a bunch of women riders with smiles on their faces. It's a bunch of work, but the day of the event makes it all worth it. I am happy to say that there was an article written about the ride. Here are some links to what people have posted. All you need to know is in the links. Enjoy and keep on riding.

http://my.sportbikeclub.com/_8th-Annual-Kelley-Maylor-Memorial-Ride/BLOG/519348/46089.html?widgetId=160456

http://animoto.com/play/EEpft4ps0ZEyb5iMvznkiA?autostart=true#share?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=one_click_share

http://www.cyclenews.com/regional_events/read/charity-event/2009/08/15/090815-Kelley-Maylor-All-Girl-Charity-Ride

More pictures taken by a friend. Click HERE

Thanks for checking it out. Cheers.

Kauai

One week in Kauai is not long enough. :-)

Wild pigs on our tain ride.The baby was one week old and cute as could be.
Miles feeing the birds.

My buddy. I miss my little bird.

A rainbow.

The Hartes.

Since I can’t go to Egypt, this was the next best thing. lol

Queen's Bath.

It was this great pool of water with fish in it. I finally got to swim that day, but my incision still got wet. I was worried.

Relaxing at the Condo.

Hummmmmm........What's going on here?

Jen setting the pace.

Miles wondering what we are all doing.

Go Stevie Go!

My first time in a helicopter.

What a view!

It was so much fun to see everything.

Have you ever seen Jurassic Park? Remember the waterfall they fly over to and land? Yep, that’s the one.

Having a blast.

Everything is so pretty.

What's a morning without sharing breakfast with friends?

Blow hole.

One 5 gallon bucket of this dirt will dye 500 shirts red. "Red Dirt Shirt Company"

Why did the chicken cross the road? So Stevie wont run it over.

Chickens are all over the island. They don't know when to crow. They do it all the time. Good luck sleeping past 6:00AM.

Just us ladies.

A hug of support after limping all over the island.

You should see it in person. It's wonderful!

It was so pretty there.

Oh come on. You can't be suprised. Yes, bikes!

Just one of the many falls that are all over the island. I loved the birds that were flying all around it.

There were rowing races taking place that day.

Dave having some fun.

Wet cave.

I could look at that view all day.

View from the condo.

We are lucky to have such wonderful friends as Dave and Stevie Harte. They own a time share condo in Kauai and asked if we wanted to join them on their trip. How could we pass that up? Kauai and good friends, you bet!

(We met Dave through our riding club. He is an amazingly fast and smooth rider. I think he was born with riding gloves on. I don't know why he even owns a car. Then I met his wife and knew she was one of a kind and would be a good friend. )
I have been to Maui once so this was going to be my second time to the islands and first time to Kauai. I loved it. I loved all the waterfalls. Did you know that Kauai is the wettest place on earth? Well, the top of a mountain is. It rains an average of 340 days a year up there. This makes for a lush jungle and lots of waterfalls. There was only one down side. My foot is not healed yet and I was banded from the water p/doctors orders. He said it could get infected. That’s all I need. I tried water proof band-aids, but they did not work. I did go in Queen’s Bath for a swim. How could I go all that way and not go in the water? I was really sad I could not snorkel. I wanted to, but I struggled with the thought of messing up my foot and delaying the healing process even longer. Dave and Stevie were great about taking that into consideration. They gave us a great tour of the island. It was really nice. Miles thought it would be great to take a helicopter tour as well. I have always wanted to go in a helicopter. I was amazing. The pilot said it was one of the best days all year to fly. We went into a volcano that they never get to go into due to rain and turbulence. I smile just thinking about the flight. I want to do that again.
It was fun to spend time with Dave and Stevie. They are a great couple to go on a trip with. Their daughter Jen was there also. She was nice, and a pleasure to meet. The trip consisted of tours, good food, games, beaches, waterfalls, shopping, feeding birds, a helicopter ride, a train ride, and lots of Mai Ties. There was one day that it rained and rained. We all braved the elements and drove all over. We even got stuck for over 2 hours waiting for a flooded road to open back up so we could get home. I can’t wait to go back so I can snorkel. It looked like a great place. Tunnels Beach is calling my name.

-----------------> More pictures of the trip.

My Thoughts Today.

Italy on my mind.

I put this picture as my desk top for my computer. It's so pretty.
I wish people made things like that still.

Always amazing to look at. Takes my breath away.

I find that my mind wonders back to Italy often. I find that I think not only of my trip, but of all the things that have taken place there in the past. What were the Romans like? How did they build the things they did? Aqueducts alone blow me away. To be able to master building one that is on the slightest slope to send water perfectly to the people and fountains of a great community. It’s staggering. I am making dinner for myself tonight and I thought I would get some basil from my garden to put in my pasta. I understand now why I like to garden. It’s in my blood. I saw garden after garden as I went train to train traveling around Italy. This also got me thinking about the great food of Italy. I liked every meal I had. Why does it taste so much better there? Is it the cooks that prepared it, the water, or the soil the ingredients are grown in? Why on earth do we not have the pastries that they make, here in the US? Why oh why don’t we have gelato. Oh sure, I have been to one here in the LA area, but really, it’s not the same.
I long to go back and see more. Not only what I have yet to see, but the things that I have already seen. I hate that I rushed through Lucca. I would like to stay there a little longer to see more things. I have two memorial cards from family members that are buried in Bagni Di Lucca, Monti Di Villa. I would like to find them and also go back to Riolo to see if I can find my family members. I wish I could find them. I know I have many out there. Maybe one day.
Italy has become part of my soul.

Stitches and Seca (AKA MotoGP)

Let’s start with stitches. I believe it was June 18th that I had a second surgery to try to correct my big toe tendon. It was stuck in scar tissue so my big toe would not move. I was told I needed it done right away so off I went once again for surgery on my foot. I was not happy about it since I had just gone to Italy and walked around all over. I was feeling a little like my old self. I had also waited about a month to get my Aprilia SXV supermoto and it came in two days before surgery. That only gave me one day to try to ride it before I was down and out again. My one day ride was very short, rusty and slow, but nice. Surgery was a little more than I thought. My doctor cut open my foot where one of my original scars were. He also cut open my big toe joint to cut into some capsule. That left me in a cast for a week.
I got my stitches out just in time to go to Laguna Seca for the races. I was going to be able to ride to the track and bike night. I was really happy. That is until I got on the bike and went all of a mile to Cannery Row. The incision on the ball of the big toe is right were you shift. Yep…… I shifted and ripped that one inch incision open to the tendon. There it was moving back and forth. I spent the rest of the weekend riding in and out of the track and walking around all day with my foot open in that area. I tried to cover it, but it was not working. The pain of shifting was less than fun. It would distract with me with the pain. Not a good thing since I have been off a bike for 7 months, on a new bike that feels different and only thinking about how bad my foot must be in my shoe. I will go to my doctors tomorrow to get it looked at. It just finally closed a little today, almost a week after it was split open. Dang foot it really making me unhappy. I hope this is the last of it and I can work on getting better. (To make it that much better I am going to Hawaii in a week and will go nuts if I can’t snorkel)
Seca!
I love going to Monterey. I look forward to it each year. This year even more since I have been so distant from bikes and fun. I love the bike night for all the bikes and people. It’s cool to see so many people on bikes and the plated ones that no one sees on the street. I was also looking forward to riding finally. The open incision was a big bummer but the rest was very nice. Pebble Beach for lunch and 17 mile drive was very nice. Seeing the riders, and the races were fun. I also like the landscape. I saw some hill sides that reminded me of Italy. It was cool. Enjoy the pictures of my trip.

Click here for all my pictures from the trip.

Italy And My Family Village

Let me start by saying thanks for checking out my Blog. Only a small hand full of people have my blog address. I only share it with people that I care deeply about and love. Thanks for being one of those people.
Thank you for shaing this life changing event with me. Enjoy my Blog about my trip to Italy.

Wall of Lucca Italy

You know there was going to be something with bikes in this post. :-)

How can that be carved out of stone? David is perfect.

Italian trees.... it's like they "know".

Florence

Florence. I loved the river. It's so pretty.

Looking up at Riolo. My family's village. Artiemo and Severina Lucchesi.

Riolo

Riolo

You know I just had to take this picture. I know, everyone does it, but it's still funny.

Miles did a gret job of driving, and got us to Riolo.

Could this be the best place on earth?

Don't you just love Venice?

Our first day in Rome.

I have always wanted to see this. I feel lucky to have been right there touching it.

I have always wanted to go to Italy and I was not going to let my injured foot get in my way. I booked the flights and our apartment and off we went. We landed in Rome after the longest flight I have ever been on. I have also never been to Europe. I was excited and nervous. We took the train into Rome and found our little hotel room. It was very nice and the owners were very sweet. We had dinner right away and walked around a little.
The next day, Sunday, we explored Rome. We took the double-decker bus tour. It was really nice. Since walking was going to be a problem it was nice to be dropped off at most of the major sights in Rome. We also explored as the say went on. We saw the Colosseo. We went to the Vatican. We went to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. The bus tour was enjoyable and explained a good deal. Later that day we were off to Florence to check into our apartment that I rented. It was really nice. We used it as a home base as we did day adventures all over Italy.
Monday we took the train to Venice. It was a long ride, but worth it. We just got lost in Venice. We walked for about 5 hours with no agenda and no place to be. It was wonderful. Each night we would return to Florence and would walk around Florence as much as we could. My goal was to eat Galato each night as we walked and enjoyed the people of Italy all around us. It was great.
On Tuesday we took a very long train ride to Cinque Terre. It was beautiful. It reminds me of Catalina in a way. I loved the coast town we visited. It was too bad that we did not stay there to enjoy the rest of the towns. Just not enough time in a day or days in our trip. Of course I had to get Galato there.
On Wednesday we had plans for the Lucca area. When going through my family history I copied an old letter than my great grandfather Artiemo Lucchesi sent to his bride to be Severina Lucchesi. It was a letter telling her how to meet him in America to start their lives together. It was sent from his statuary shop in Denver Colorado. This letter was stamped 1910. Just shy of 100 years later I had that copy of the letter and the will to find this town on m y trip to Italy. My plan was to rent a car in Italy and find this town somehow. There was no clear map on how to get there, but we were going to figure it out. Miles and I read in a book that we needed some papers that we did not have to drive. Also that there was very poor insurance coverage on a rental car and that it was going to cost way too much. We decided to take a train to Lucca from Florence for the day and see what would come of it. I hated to be so close yet so far away. Who knows when I will come back. We made it to Lucca which was wonderful. After a day of walking around Lucca we went across the street and rented a car. We had a poor map, but thought we would give it a try. The letter we had said, “ Severina Lucchesi. Bagni Di Lucca, Monti Di Villa, Riolo. Off we went. We found Bagni Di Lucca and kept going. It was beautiful. A wonderful river and trees were a sight to see. Then onto the small town of Monti Di Villa. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. Then we saw the sign pointing to Riolo! We were almost there. Then we noticed the road was blocked. There were no other signs. There happened to be a little lady in her yard watering flowers. I jumped out of the car and tried my very limited Italian. I said in Italian,” Mi scusi. Riolo?” She pointed and I said with excitement,” Grazie, grazie!!” Off we went. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We climb our way up the mountain side on this tiny little sharp twisty road. There it was, Riolo. We parked in the church parking lot where my Great grandmother said she met my great grandfather. I started to get teary eyed. I did not think we were going to be able to make the drive out to the village. Then I did not think we would find it with the poor map we had. I was wrong. There we were in a small village that seemed to be sitting with the Gods up upon the hill side. I feel so blessed to have had this life changing experience. A 100 year old letter that was written in Italian that was passed down from one generation to another led me here. The sounds, smells, and the view were amazing. Two little old ladies walked down to the bench in front of the church and talked for a while. I did not want to leave. I felt at peace. I can’t describe it. It was truly amazing. I will never forget it. I hope to go back there again.
Thursday Miles had book a reservation to take a tour of the Ducati factory. We headed to the factory for an hour and a half tour. It was really nice. Our tour guide was very nice and we exchanged info with her in case she wants to come out to California again and visit. The rest of the day we spent walking around Florence were we met this young leather shop owner. We sat and talked to him, Lucca, and his co-worker, Ana for hours. It was so much fun. We had wine and talked to them and the English speaking customers that would come it. It was like a little party. We finally left the shop and walked around Florence some more. I liked just walking around looking at everything. It’s so much fun. I even found a farmers market that was wonderful.
Friday was our reservations for the museums in Florence. We spent half the day going to the Galleria Dell’ Accademia and Uffizi. The rest of the day we walked and ate. We also took the double-decker bus tour in Florence. I liked that tour since it was good for 24 hours and it had two different bus lines to take. We went up the hill side to a small town. Wonderful views of homes and the hill side. The second line took us on the other side of Florence to the Michaelangelo Plaza for a wonderful view of Florence. Another nice dinner and more time spent walking around Florence ended our day.
Saturday we took the bus tour again since our tickets were still good and it was such a pretty drive. We shopped for our family members and walked all over Florence. We tried to soak in every last little bit we could. I did not want to leave. I loved that it was so easy to come back from a long day, get cleaned up and go out again. No one really sit at home. Everyone is just out and about. I really enjoyed that. Being my last day there I made sure to have two gelatos. I had to get my fix before coming home. I am not much for ice cream here in the US, so the gelato was a treat. Sunday was the long trip home. I hated to come back. I miss it.
The best parts of the trip…
I loved seeing things that were so old. How did they build that stuff? I know I always watch TV shows on how Rome was built and so on, but when you see it in person, I just don’t know how. I loved the food. I am a picky eater, but it was all good. I liked how everyone was nice. The people made the trip that much better. I liked that the trains can take you to so many great places. I loved the Colosseo. Amazing. I always know I am in a new place when I hear the birds sing. I liked the sounds of the birds there. I loved the smell of the pastries in the morning. I just had to get them for breakfast. I don’t drink coffee, but I did have two cappuccinos when I was there. I liked the smell of water in Venice. No, it did not stink. It reminded me of being on the dock at Bass Lake. I liked how Florence, Lucca, and Venice were all towns with narrow streets with one shop after another. I liked looking in the windows and see what’s going on inside. I liked that it looked like everyone in the restaurants were having a good time. I love how amazing the jewelry there is. All the wine I had taste better than I have had here. I loved hearing the bells of the churches ringing in the morning. Oh, how could I not mention the fact that I loved seeing so many people on scooters. I also liked all the little cars. I want one. I liked going out each night sitting on steps in a plaza enjoying everything around me. I can’t find words to say how wonderful it was to find my family village. The views were breath taking, with tons of trees and a giant river. Just wonderful. The gelato was great. Trying to speak Italian was fun, and makes me want to keep working on learning it. I just loved the whole trip. I am sure I will think of more things, but I will end for now. Enjoy some of the pictures from my trip.
For more pictures click here. Part two of my pictures added 7/7/09