Christmas In July

I first heard the music at the Sam Goody store at the corner of National and Sepulveda when Maura and I were still living in West LA.  That was 1990, a year after we got married.  Ottmar Liebert's CD "Poets & Angels" had been an annual Christmas favorite of ours for the last 20 years.  She liked this CD so much that she would play it in July, a good 5 months before the holiday season.  Hearing Ottmar's flamenco guitar brought her so much joy anytime of the year.  This Christmas, as in every one for the past 20 years, this music fills our house.  (The last 3 years, I do find myself playing a couple songs occasionally throughout the year just when I need a lift.)

A Week In The Life, 1995

This is a snapshot week from Maura's 1995 training log.  This week is typical during the early-to-mid part of the racing season.  I cannot imagine doing these kind of miles back then and certainly not now.  Back in 1995, I think I was putting in about 150 a week and Maura doing 250 on a random week.  This week from April 3rd-9th was a 260 mile-week.  The next several weeks were at 245, 122, 204, 319, 212, 245 miles per week!  If I remember right, the intent is to build up the miles and most of these were racing miles.  The 319 was a monster week at the stage race in Bisbee, Arizona and her average speed for that week was 19.4 mph!  For anyone who knew her, when she set out to go after a goal, she certainly does not mess around.

Beloved Toonses

Toonses as the cat who can drive.  Toonces was a standard Saturday Night Live sketch in the late 80s/early 90s so she named the tabby after the character (with a slightly different spelling).  We all thought Toonses was dumber than a doorknob but Maura loved her anyway.  Toonses was Maura's cat.  Maura wrote the poem above when Toona Kat (as she would call her) passed away after a full 15 years of life.  In a eulogy for Toonses that Maura wrote, she finished by saying "I do not doubt that many...too many to count...years from now when our season has ended, Toonses will be there to greet us once again."  I, for one, am sure that Maura and Toonses found each other again.  Miss you both.

Sam and Maura, 2006

Mother and son.  This was taken in the living room in Duarte at my parents' house.  I asked both of them to look my way as I was about to snap the photo.  Maura obliged but obviously, Sam didn't.  What most likely happened is that Sam's eyes are glued on the TV, given the angle from the couch, he's not gonna turn his head.

El Capitan State Beach, 2004

Maura watching over JJ, Sam, Joe and Kaydee in the cold waters in El Capitan State Beach in July 2004.  She loved the ocean.  Hawaii, Santa Barbara, Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach, Moonstone Beach, San Diego beaches.  No matter what she's doing, mention going to the beach and she'll drop whatever she's doing and drive anywhere to get to the ocean.

Between Trees

I had forgotten about this picture that I took during a visit to Yosemite in February 2007.  We played in a snow-packed meadow for most of the day freezing our buns off just outside the park, a few minutes from Fish Camp.

Eaton Canyon Falls, 2008

Since moving to Rancho Cucamonga, we've discovered the North Etiwanda Preserve about a mile away from the house, just up Day Creek Blvd.  We've been fortunate enough to alway live within a mile of a decent hike.  This photo is at the end of the hike up to Eaton Canyon falls, where we used to live in Pasadena.  In January 2008, we all took off to this hike one Saturday morning.  The kids were just beginning appreciate what Pasadena had to offer around our neighborhood.  On the way up, we each got these hiking sticks that we proudly displayed in the photo.  I setup the camera on a timer sitting on top of a rock, so I had 10 seconds to get to my pose.  It was a great day I've re-lived in my mind over several times.  

Los Angeles Zoo, 2004

At Los Angeles Zoo in November 2004.  We did get an annual zoo pass since Maura took the kids there quite a bit.  JJ is shown here eating a corn dog and a soda.  Kid's been loving fried food ever since.

Somewhere In The 80s...

Maura in a playful mood.  Picture is sometime in the 80s given the hairstyle and the style of the pants she was wearing.  I believe this was taken at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

At A Pumpkin Patch in Santa Barbara, 2004

These pictures were taken during a visit to Santa Barbara in October 2004.  This used to be an empty field for most of the year but is usually a pumpkin patch for the month of October.  Our good friends Paul and Cheryl live just a couple blocks away.  The bottom picture shows Maura and JJ inside the corn maze that we all navigated.

Goose Birthday Playlist

1. Shake The Disease - Depeche Mode
2. Anything, Anything - Dramarama
3. Little Star - Madonna
4. Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
5. True Faith - New Order
6. Nowhere Girl - B-Movie
7. Story Of My Life - Social D
8. Bad - U2
9. A Forest - The Cure
10. White Shadows - Coldplay
11. Heaven - Psychedelic Furs
12. Ring Of Fire - Social D
13. Molly - Sponge
14. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
15. All The Same - Sick Puppies
(16. Resistance - Muse)


The years I knew her, she played these songs a lot.  I mean a lot.  On the 16th track.  She wasn't around when the British band Muse released The Resistance album containing the title track in 2009.  But I'm pretty confident, in fact as sure as I'll ever be, that she would have liked this song.  It has all the elements of a song that Maura likes - a catchy beat, about the right bpm and punchy guitars.  I made her several mix tapes and CDs over the year.  And I miss doing that.  So to celebrate her birthday tomorrow, October 19th, an updated playlist.  Happy birthday, Goose.

Trucker Maura, 1986

Maura inside the cab of a truck. The date stamp is September 1986, a few months after we started dating in May of that year.  I borrowed this photo from her sister Jennifer, who told me it's somewhere near Fresno.

Maura and Jennifer, 1986

This photo was taken at the Andersen's Pea Soup restaurant in Beulton, just outside of Solvang.  From the look of it, the sisters were riding their bikes.  From the helmets and cycling gloves they were wearing, most cycling types can probably date this to the mid 80s, when those Bell helmets were popular.  This is obviously before Maura got serious into bike racing.  Photo is stamped Feb 1986 in the back, a couple months after I first met her.

Family Portrait, 1985

Maura is shown sitting next to her grandmother, Dorothy and father, Joe.  Sister and mother are standing.  This is the living room at the West Covina house.  I like that oversized kitty-graphic shirt Maura is wearing in this pic.  Photo stamped June 1985 in the back, courtesy of Jennifer.

Found Picture

Found this in the garage in Pasadena where we kept all the bikes.  Me and Goose, sometime around 1990.

Maura's Ipod

She listened to a lot of Sick Puppies, Nelly Furtado, Social D, Alter Bridge and She Wants Revenge.  136 plays for Sick Puppies' "Dressed Up As Life".

Twin Palms Restaurant, 2006

This was at the Twin Palms restaurant in Pasadena, just off Green St.  Taken in 2006.

Valentine's Ball, 1982

Writing on the back "Maura and Scott Bacon, Valentine's Ball, February 1982".

1993 Race Results

I found this after going through an old stack of cycling stuff.  This is part of a proposal for a women's team that she put together in 1994.  I don't remember her winning those 5 races in 1993 but she obviously advanced to a Category 3 racer after 2 years of racing.  I do remember Race #11, the Mt Hamilton Road Race in San Jose.  We drove up to the Bay Area for this race using my dad's Astrovan that we borrowed for the weekend.  Mt Hamilton Road Race started in San Jose and ended up near Livermore after over 25 miles of climbing.  I followed the race in the Astrovan and she finished 4th riding against very good climbers from the San Francisco/San Jose area.  After this race, she pretty much decided that road races that have a lot of climbing are more suited for her skills (as opposed to those fast, hairy criteriums).

Wheeeeee

Backyard at her mom's house in West Covina, 1981.

Driving A Big Red Tractor

This was on our second trip to visit her Uncle Don in Fenwick, Michigan.  She drove the tractor during each of her 3 visits to his farm.  Of course, he would always ride shotgun just in case...

Maura's Kachina Charms

I cannot quite remember when she got this but out of all her "stuff", this one is definitely my favorite.  She was not much into gold or expensive jewelry but more into unique and original pieces like this set of silver Kachina doll charms.  I'm pretty sure we got this during one of those road trips in the Southwest.

Mele Kalikimaka, 1984

I can't help but think Maura must have been feeding these pigeons in this balcony in Hawaii.  Second thought is she must have just woken up given the Santa Claus pajamas and the hair.

Solvang Century, 1992

This is the one and only time we did the Solvang Century.  We started in Santa Maria to Santa Ynez, Solvang, Vandenberg and back.  I remember getting together with 3 other people I worked with at Hughes and we just pacelined the 100 miles in a little under 5 hours.  We were racing for the South Bay Wheelmen at the time so the century was a good training ride this early in the cycling season.  For some reason, I ended up with a pink water bottle (which probably belonged to Maura) when this picture was taken.  In order to finish the century in 5 hours, I specifically put in aerodynamic bars on my bike for a more streamlined position.  In 1992, it was the cycling fad --  considering Greg Lemond won the Tour de France on the last day because he used these bars.

At Goleta Beach, 2004

This is at Goleta with our friend Cheryl in 2004.  Maura liked the Santa Barbara area and when our friends Paul and Cheryl moved there, it gave us more reason to do the 2-hr drive to visit and just hang out at the beach.  Maura has a couple pink visors that she always wore everytime she went out in the sun.

Like Mother, Like Son

This photo was taken on Maura's birthday, Oct 19, 2001 in the kitchen in the Pasadena house.  Guess where Sam got his hair color and wave from?

Senior High School Photo, 1982

Wailua River, 1984

The Wailua River boat ride to the Fern Grotto is a must-see for anyone visiting the Garden Isle.  Maura first visited Kauai in 1984 and when the kids and I made the trip in 2005, she was our tour guide based on her first time.  When we returned in 2007, we skipped a lot of the tourist sites and just opted to swim in the ocean a lot.  This photo is scanned from Jennifer's photo album (many thanks).

High School Graduation Photo, 1982

Maura's high school graduation photo with grandmother taken in backyard of West Covina home in 1982.

Maura and Jennifer, 1984

During a visit to Hawaii, December 1984.

Waimea Canyon in Kauai, 21 Years Apart

Waimea Canyon (1984)

Waimea Canyon (2005)

Doing The Chicken Dance

Maura doing the chicken dance in Kauai in December 1984.  This was on her first trip to the islands with her sister, Jennifer and co-worker Shirley.  I knew she went to Hawaii before I met her but did not really see any of the pictures until last week, when I borrowed Jennifer's photo album of their trip.  I scanned a few of the highlights for this blog.

4-Person Breakaway, Long Beach Criterium, 1994

I believe this was one of the many Long Beach Criteriums that Maura raced.   What I remember on this particular day was she got in a breakaway with two sponsored racers from the LA Sheriff's Team and Saturn and a national champion.  Early March brought a lot of strong women to Southern California, in preparation for the Redlands Stage Race, the first big race in the national calendar.

At Traveltown, 2000

Tori, Sam and Maura at Traveltown in Griffith Park.  This is during Sam's second birthday celebration in the famous train museum in LA called Traveltown.  The gift is a Thomas The Tank Engine playset.

Familiar Sight

At the end of every race, I would normally just go back the car waiting for her.  This sight, where she stops, unclip her shoes off the right pedal and walk towards the car for her cold drink is a routine we did just about every time I went with her.  The maroon bike is her Cannondale aluminum frame with she raced between the Look and the Trek carbon bikes.  She never liked the ride of the aluminum frame for road races is the reason she went back to racing carbon fiber frames.

Altitude 9000 Race, Mammoth, California 1993

Guess why they call this the Altitude 9000 race?  The 48 miles race has over 5000 feet of climbing that starts from the town of Bishop and finishes at the Mammoth Ski Resort.  Altitude 9000 is only one of 5 races in the 4-day Mammoth Stage Race.  Most of the races were at altitude and for some reason, Maura was never bothered by the altitude at all.  In the picture above, guess who was leading the women's pack in that pink helmet up Sherman Grade to Mammoth?

Tour Of The Gila Race Number

Maura saved just some of the dozens of race numbers over the years.  She saved this one from the multi-day stage race in Silver City, New Mexico called "Tour Of The Gila".

23.72 MPH

This is actually not a straight course so the corners are a little tricky but she managed to average 23.72 miles per hour for 10 miles.  Telo is a course in Torrance that was a club time trial venue when we belonged to the South Bay Wheelmen.

Yosemite, 2005

The kids' first time seeing El Capitan and Half Dome just after the tunnel heading into Yosemite Valley.  This photo was taken on JJ's birthday, February 11, 2005.  The beauty of Yosemite in the wintertime is beyond compare and there are absolutely no crowds at all.

JJ's Birthday, 2007

Maura baked this birthday cake in Pasadena and we dragged it all the way to Yosemite in Feb 2007 to celebrate JJ's birthday.  Paul and Cheryl met us up there that year. Below are the kids in the room at the Tenaya Lodge in Fishcamp, just outside of Yosemite.

The Other Pink

So if she cannot get it in pink, she usually will settle for the next best color.  Purple.  The other pink.  This was taken after eating lunch at Captain Kid's in Redondo Beach in 2005.

USC Office

I had never been inside Maura's USC office until the kids and I had to pick up her personal items in December 2008.  I had framed several of my photographs and had not really noticed that she took them to her office and hang on her wall.  So I was somewhat surprised when we arrived and the office had a very familiar feel from the desk to the walls to the pink sweater hanging on the chair.

Maui, 2003

Maura and JJ relaxing at the condo in Kaanapali, 2003.

At Outback in Kailua-Kona, 2004

My best buddies, Maura and Samuel (Adams).  This is at the Outback in Kailua-Kona.  We ate at the Outback a lot at home and on the road.   Maura always ordered grilled salmon over a bed of rice pilaf.  Why someone would order salmon in a steakhouse, who knows but after a while, I started ordering the same thing.  Sam (the real kid) took this photo while we were eating dinner.

At Home, 2004

Maura with mom, Judith during Sam's 6th birthday party in Pasadena.