# GO to Hell Catzilla!



## Impy (Jan 6, 2004)

Kristen, hoping you are having a hell of a ride! Good luck, and can't wait to hear your stories.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

*Picture of Catzilla suffering in Hell*

here you go


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## catzilla (Jan 31, 2004)

Thanks for the well wishes, Ms. Impster. I did indeed have a fantastic time, even if the rollercoaster of life threw me a curveball just before the event.

Exactly 2 weeks before the Hellride, I'd managed to pull off a 100 mile, 8000ft gain ride on my singlespeed commuter. My dakine pack was filled to the gills and included a heavy bike lock just for good measure. For the first time since I started this silly adventure, I felt mentally and physically ready to BRING IT ON! Or, you know, just finish.

The very next day, I saw the extra line on the pregnancy test that let me know life was a-changin' - starting now! The man-stallion and I were planning on spawning, just not necessarily this month. So it goes. There is only so much of life that can be scheduled, planned, and put into a calendar before you realize you've spent more time planning than living, eh?

After copious amounts of research on the internets, in books, and through friends, I was overwhelmed with evidence that exercising while pregnant was a-okay. However, extremely intense exercise, like red-lining for 12 hours on a 65 mile 14K technical ride, should be avoided. As much as I wanted to ignore this little tidbit, I knew that if anything went wrong, even if it was totally coincidental, I'd blame myself. Forever.

I sent an email to the powers that be at Santa Cruz letting them know my new and improved and somewhat frustrating situation. Seeing as my ticket was already booked, they said I should come out anyway, ride what I could ride, or just join in the festivities.

The folks at Santa Cruz are nothing short of awesome.

So, I participated. I competed in the feats of strength. I rode with a heart rate monitor, and battled my ego as I realized I needed to slow down less than a mile into the ride to keep my HR under 158. I faced my fears and embraced failure. I had the ride of my life. It would end up being one of the most difficult rides of my life, not because of the ride itself, but because sometimes it's harder to ride with restraint than to ride to your limits.

After 5500 feet of climbing, I DNF'd. It was one of the most proud finishes of my life. It's hard not to try to sway life's coaster off the tracks, especially when you have no idea where it's going. I managed to hold my hands up high, and enjoy the ride.

It turns out that Hell was about determination, testing one's limits, and enduring. For each of us, the context in which we would test ourselves would be a little different. At the end of the day, all 8 of us journeyed through Hell, and came out on the other side. A little dirtier, and a little more content.


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## chuky (Apr 3, 2005)

Cat's out of the bag, eh? Good. Now we can start planning your baby shower. 





Strippers are standard at baby showers right? There are going to be a lot of cute, out of work bike racers next season, and I know you have a bowl full of nickels to throw at them...


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## athalliah (Dec 9, 2005)

Congrats.

A fine read, that.


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## sheclimbs (Oct 27, 2004)

Congratulations on acheiving your own goals and for the little life lesson too...


> It turns out that Hell was about determination, testing one's limits, and enduring. For each of us, the context in which we would test ourselves would be a little different.


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## creseis (Apr 4, 2008)

Catzilla, you are my hero!


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## verslowrdr (Mar 22, 2004)

Congrats! And just so you know, this is only the very first curveball kid will throw at you.... stay tuned for years of strange, terrifying, and wonderful randomness ahead. 

FWIW some kind of amber warning light blinked on that I was pregnant while XC skiing in a howling blizzard up on a mountain. I have NO way of telling you how or why this premonition occurred, but the pink line the next morning confirmed it. Welcome to The Non-Knitting-Circle Pregnancy Club.


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## badjenny (Mar 13, 2006)

Congrats on the hell ride and the little bacon in the oven. I saw the news leak on the Nor Cal board but didn't want to say congrats until you confirmed it... so congrats!!!


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## MtbRN (Jun 8, 2006)

Congratulations! And you definitely did the right thing. I suffered a miscarriage almost 15 years ago and _still_ wonder if I did something that caused it. A free bike (not that it really would have been free after that ride!) would never compensate you for something like that.

Now that you have a new addtion to the family on the way, you might need to rethink your diet. Less bacon, more folic acid


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## catzilla (Jan 31, 2004)

MtbRN said:


> Now that you have a new addtion to the family on the way, you might need to rethink your diet. Less bacon, more folic acid


One word:

Bacon-wrapped pre-natal vitamins.


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

Wow.
Congrats on everything. This puts the new arrival somewhere around March of next year?

formica


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## screampint (Dec 10, 2001)

Bacon wrapped broccoli (hmmm... that sounds strangley yummy) and spinach and bacon salads.


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## screampint (Dec 10, 2001)

Congratulations! The kid thing is a completely different sort of "race."


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## brianthebiker (Nov 1, 2005)

Congratulations on the pregnanacy, and the judgement you showed.

That was an excellent post and a life lesson.


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## namrita (Jun 1, 2005)

wow, congrats all around!


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## jewels (Mar 17, 2004)

Great write up and congrats catzilla! It's gonna be a great story to tell the munchkin someday.


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## IttyBittyBetty (Aug 11, 2005)

*Congratulations*

Congratulations!!! You showed most excellent restraint. I don't think I could have done that, which is why I have chosen NOT to spawn. Perhaps you can still bring Boodro out for nice easy rides with me and Strelka at Marshall Mesa. There's no way that'll get your heart rate up too high.


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## Brodiegrrl (Jan 12, 2004)

wow, what a great story! 

But, did you get the bike!?


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## catzilla (Jan 31, 2004)

Brodiegrrl said:


> wow, what a great story!
> 
> But, did you get the bike!?


Nah. Bikes only go to the male and female winners, of which I was neither.

But, I'll be damned if it wasn't a sweet little bike, surprisingly nimble for how good it felt at speed. If I didn't have a tyke on the way, I'd probably be setting my heart on buying one.

For anyone who's interested, I'm writing the entire story of this story for Bike, which should be out in a few months.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

stripes said:


> Woo hoo! More publishing! :thumbsup:
> 
> Any chance they'll be photos of you and bacon?


Even more bacon?


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## screampint (Dec 10, 2001)

That man behind you is dangerous! Never allow him to drink tequila in your garage...


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## Trigger (Mar 14, 2005)

Awesome on so many fronts...glad I caught this update. Many congratulations to you and Ryan, you'll make great parents. Funny, my wife was getting all into the bike scene and trail work when you guys came to Ithaca for our TCC event...and we found out less than a week before the event that we had a little one on the way. Kinda hip-checks your priorities, but in a super sweet way. I'm sure you'll have a great support group around you, but Jen read every book out there on baby stuff, has a MS in exercise physiology, and would be happy to chat if you ever have questions. Dude, we're eating local, organic bacon these days. :thumbsup: 

Love reading your contributions to Bike Mag...and will look forward to this next write-up for sure!

Our little one is 16 months old now...and she loves bike rides


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## TwistedCrank (Aug 6, 2004)

I'm not sure why noone has recognized this before but does this mean that....


...Catzilla is going to have kittens?


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## catzilla (Jan 31, 2004)

Trigger said:


> Our little one is 16 months old now...and she loves bike rides


Holy carp! I can't believe it's been 16...err..plus 7...carry the one...err...that long since we stayed with y'all. It still seems like yesterday and remains one of our most fun visits on the road.

Of course, having stacks and stacks and stacks of Red Bulls (my lifeblood at the time) kinda guaranteed that.

And, yeah, I'm already sensing the frighteningly awesome, or perhaps awesomely frightening, rollercoaster we've landed ourselves on. Right now, I seem to be oscillating between, "AHHH! No beer or sushi for another 7 months!" and "Damn, it'll be rad to haul a trailer all around town."


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## catzilla (Jan 31, 2004)

TwistedCrank said:


> I'm not sure why noone has recognized this before but does this mean that....
> 
> ...Catzilla is going to have kittens?


Kitten. Just one. After being enveloped in fears about the prevalence of twins in my family and inundated with images of birthing two 12lb behemoth babies (the actual birth weight of my gigantor husband), the doc just confirmed that there's just one kitten in this litter.

Phew.


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## LWright (Jan 29, 2006)

Bear cub


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## [email protected] (Aug 24, 2005)

*Awesome!*

Great write Catzilla. Can't wait to read it in Bike. There is nothing great then children, beats biking any day of the week. Congrats on your little one and here is my contribution to Bacon my boys must beloved food! Me make it ourselves, enjoy!


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