How I Spent My Summer Vacation

i used to make a list at the beginning of each summer of stuff i wanted to get done before school resumed. you know, get a six pack, earn lots of money, travel somewhere interesting, make at least seventeen new friends. but at the start of each school year i would reexamine the list, notice my paucity of stomach muscles, and sigh wistfully. so how about a post-summer list of what i have accomplished? ok.
1: make new friends and keep the old
as my dad says, brevard is slowly shaping itself into a boulder-of-the-east. there is an influx of badass outdoor recreationalists coming to enjoy this little heaven on earth. fabulous! at the same time, i've managed to maintain and even improve standing relationships (and i discovered that "girl time" is rare and highly valued for others too)
2: excel AND decompress
i had a very laidback summer racing-wise, which leaves me jonesing for collegiate to start. i still pulled off a couple of wins and what felt like a real accomplishment--finishing ORAMM (and not breaking down. and not dying. and getting back on my bike within the week.)
3: earn money
i have to face the truth: money is very important to me. it's both my security blanket and something i'm terrified of. fortunately, by deferring travel and adventures until next summer, i built up a nice cushion to tide me over through the school year.
4: not get dumb
lots of books. and courses on tape. and giving people change, that always keeps me sharp as a tack! "hmm ok you owe me $8.45 and you gave me $10.50 soooooo...here's $2.05!! great success!!"
5: cook
the saint says my small-but-growing repertoire of meals all taste the same but i beg to differ! yes, perhaps they all involve a big mess of fresh veggies, no meat to speak of, lots of chili powder, and some southern flair (grits, okra, black-eyed peas...) but there are NUANCES, st marie. nuances. meanwhile he's in hog heaven eating cereal once an hour or so.
6: be satisfied with life
because this is the way it'll always be after this year, in the grown-up world. instead of focusing on the quiet or the tedium, i want to enjoy the interesting, fun, and fabulous stuff, although sometimes it takes some finding.

by golly i think this has been a good summer.

It's Like That Joni Mitchell Song

due to my aversion to travel, i need a lot of planning and/or pressure to get me moving in any direction besides homeward. but after an entire summer spent in our fine state of cakalacky, flipping through everyone's pictures of colorado and listening to breathless narratives about europe, i've got a hankering to go somewhere. next summer will be the season of travel (maybe. if i'm not constrained by money, an internship, my various jobs, or any unforeseen circumstances.)
i am considering:

-wwoofing. i have some friends who've done it and they all thought it was the jam.
-taking advantage of tasha's hospitality on the 49th parallel. northwestern usa/british columbia sounds like awesome squared. maybe visit my family in the bay area and mount shasta for awhile. the west coast is my oyster.
-road trip? map out the best mtb rides across the country? that would be so fab.

post-grad life scares me a little. fortunately i'm in no hurry to get a grown-up job and i have another year of school drudgery to distract me. not to mention another season of collegiate. go BC!

p.s. many condolences to fat cyclist.

It Could Have Gone Better

Overall it's been a good weekend. I made it out to Adventure Village for some preparatory earth-moving...the BC labor train has finally gotten on track out there and we're all dedicated to making significant improvements on the courses. I was on point for Saturday morning work, slingin' bread with the best of them. At some point I ate a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on multi-grain sourdough with pepper jack, fresh tomatoes, baby spinach, and lots of Theros olive oil...that was kind of the highlight of the weekend. I went to Jimy's wedding and I got the warm fuzzies being around a bunch of cyclists and friends that love each other. It was almost as good as this:
Then Zac, Katie and I watched a movie with the dubious honor of being the worst ever made.


By reciting some weekend tidbits I'm trying to forget those three little letters I earned next to my name at Fontana: DNF.
Ouch. Second time in my mountain biking career.
It was reallyreallyreally muddy. And I was riding reallyreallyreally sketchy. And I was wrecking a lot. When I lost sight of 3rd place, after the final wreck that left me hanging off the hill tangled in prickly bushes (my legs look like I had a run-in with CatFace, it's AWESOME!), I decided it wasn't worth it. I didn't want a rock-to-face incident during a meaningless regional race to take me off the bike right before collegiate starts. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. On the plus side: I was climbing like a she-demon. So that's cool.
The Saint and Geoff and NewTeammateCory had great races. It's really fun watching Pisgah boys (and soon-to-be Pisgah boys) dominate on home-style courses.
And go Kabush! And Lene Byberg, who won her first WC race at Bromont...on a Specialized! Super cool because she's apparently the first woman to ever win a WC on a full suspension. Get some!