Bawk

today in agricultural ecology we processed chickens. by processed i mean this: to this. it was the most hands-on i've ever gotten with a critter, besides bashing brook trout to death and tearing the legs off grasshoppers.

we were at busy bee farms where a teacher from my high school and his wife raise cows and chickens for eatin'. today happened to be chicken-processing day. happily i discovered that i don't get queasy when watching the blood pump out of a still-kicking chicken's trachea.

it was kind of an amazing experience. the stuff i did: catching, scalding, plucking, eviscerating. i never got around to cutting anyone's throat but i think i could've with more time. luke, the only manly member of our class, went to town on some poultry. but then, he attended west henderson high. what else would you expect? everyone was kind of quiet and reverent as they went about their work and nothing smelled bad. it felt intimate and respectful.

god i'm such a suburban dork sometimes.

dunc and i bought one of the chickens and named her maude. maude will be joining us for dinner on friday night. probably roasted.

The Nastynasty

Evidence of the nastynasty

At this point my soul is water-logged. But drying out fast.
Brevard held a fabulous* race this weekend over at the AV. Coach Squirrel pulled out all the stops and managed on a tight budget to run a tight ship. And ship is actually an apt choice of words...there was not a moment on Saturday when I didn't feel I was adrift in a muddy sea. Due to BC's propensity toward utter dominance in epic conditions (disregard the North Georgia road race please), we swept the fields:
1st, 3rd: women's DH
1st, 4th, 5th, 10th: men's DH
2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th: women's ST
1st, 10th: men's ST
1st, 3rd, 7th: women's DS
1st: men's DS
2nd, 3rd: women's XC
2nd, 7th: men's XC
And I don't want you thinking these are weak fields. This is the SECCC, after all. The Dirty Dirty South is the strongest mtb conference in the country.

My point? BC is awesome!

I myself am also feeling awesome. For the first time in my academic life I'm resisting the siren song of procrastination. Starting a paper three days before it's due? Reading ahead in the assigned text? WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME, JT!? I'm juggling work, babysitting, housesitting, classes, thesis, cycling, dishes (mostly thanks to the Saint), and an internship at the Outdoor Academy. Granted, I'm not taking freakin 19 hours like...someone...(can't remember who) or working at 7 each morning like Dunc, or getting both knees operated on like Liz/Mom, or actually training to be a fast bike rider like T. Cowie, but it still feels like something of an accomplishment. How long will this over-achievement last? Meh...another week?






*in this case synonymous with: painful, sadistic, 36% grade climbs and 45% descents, good times had by all

I Freaking Love BC Cycling

This weekend up at LMC was pretty awesome. In so many ways.

Before, our guys' gravity team made up for its shallowness with skillz, but now we have both depth AND fantabulousness--four guys in the top ten in a heavily stacked DH race!!?? MAN ALIVE. Real Tall surprised no one with a 2nd, and Park surprised everyone with a 3rd!

And can I just say that Tristan Cowie is amazing? Is that weird? I cannot even express how freaking fast he is, yet he is so positive and so team-oriented.This kid doesn't even race slalom

And, well, I am not afraid to say that Joh and I are the one-two punch of BC. Bang bang, we'll trip you up then kick you when you're down. Oh yeah, and then Tina and Dunc will come leave tire tread ON YO FACE. This year we've got each weekend covered like a wet blanket.

Tuttle doing what she does best

Yeah, talk about everybody loving everybody. Sarah sang to me on the last downhill and gave me the final gumption to GO. All the DH guys helped out, gave feeds, and cheered ears off at the rock garden, and the XC guys were pushing slalom bikes up the hill all day long. I can't imagine there's another team in the southeast where everyone takes such good care of each other. And such hilarity! T Bag and Irby especially--these boys get props for keeping me laughing all day long.

My races? My bike and I were on point the whole weekend. I took 1st in the mere mortals category (i.e. 2nd behind Carla) in the XC and short track, 3rd in downill, and (sour grapes...) 6th in slalom. All on the same plucky little Epic. It was just what I needed to bolster my waning confidence. Despite all the pressure and nerves, I do sure love to ride my bike.




Pics ganked from Hannah Trimble

Oh, You Shouldn't Have

First of all, this will surely become something of an e-artifact: BSNYC's recorded voice. Disregard the silly interviews, just listen to his voice. Is it what I expected? I...don't...know...

Now that I've shared that historical relic, on to the important stuff.
Tuesday, September 15th. Here's the schedule:
4:00pm. Meet at Sycamore Cycles for a fat tire ride. Guesses are it'll be Pinnett. We're not terribly creative people. But it will be fun. And I will win the forest gate sprint, by dint of it being my birthday.
7:00pm. Meet at Pescado's. Enjoy a fish taco and a cold beer.
8:00pm. The varsity athletes among us must scurry over to the college for a brief meeting. But never fear, we shall return for...
8:43pm. Begin the bar-hopping!
Come one, come all.

"But Julia," you query, "what do you want for your birthday?? You, who seems to have everything a girl could ever wish for!" Well, loyal and curious reader, I shall tell you. I want:

-a perfectly made macchiato. When I was in Boone I had the best one ever. Now I am forever seeking to recreate the experience.

-a trip to Natz for BC Cycling. We are freaking awesome and another rider joins the team every day. We deserve the opportunity to show everyone else how awesome we are...without financially crippling the team for the next two years.

-the ability and desire to cook meat. I am an expert on eggplant but neither poultry nor pork has entered my repertoire.

-a new riding style. a new perspective. I think this sexy mamba jamba of a bike will do the trick.-a senior thesis. 15-20 pages, typed, double-spaced, hefty bibliography, historical topic of your choosing.

-a new phone. My old one is a bit clapped. Too much butt-pocket to bike-seat contact. I've finally found the perfect upgrade.

-a good race this weekend at LMC. Feeling a wee bit slow.

-love, life, and the pursuit of happiness! And I really want someone to explain to me why happiness is spelled "happyness" in that movie title. WTF?

That is all. Feel free to get started.

Retraction

that was so negative nancy. before i'm written off as a pessimistic polly or even a dour diane, let me set the record straight. self doubt aside, there's recently been a grocery list of awesome-ity.
-delicious food with lots of fresh produce
-thought-provoking discussions in and out of class
-beautiful weather to recreate in and nasty weather to make us appreciate the beautiful
-action packed weekend up in Boone, full of DH spectating and parties
-laughter-filled first race of the season
-all my incredible teammates back in town
what more could i wish for?

In the Words of Hold Steady

Lord I'm Discouraged*

i've strapped on my uzis and entered the fray of school, guns blazing. been writing papers every day and eating my words about how lame BC is. all this academic activity leaves me drained of inspiration, drenched in perspiration (my post-race jersey is now a thing of legend...i'm not usually stinky, honest!) but might as well keep talking.

re: collegiate season. entering in with a troubling mix of apathy, annoyance, and trepidation. ETSU served to somewhat fortify my courage, what with a short track win and decent-ish results in the other events. also a chance to see how UNSTOPPABLE (said in "energy legs" voice) the BC team can be this year. rimmer and all of the gravity guys especially had very exciting performances. wow look how legit i am

unfortunately, still feeling unmotivated and a wee bit stressed about future races. BUT: and this is a big but: there is no correlation between how i'm feeling about racing and how i'm feeling about riding. i can't wait to get out my door and onto two wheels. i mean, do you KNOW where i live?
re: life. the end of a: 20 years of "sobriety" and b: 16 years of school has got me awful antsy. please make 2010 get here soon.

re: boyfriend. lord knows i don't treat him good but he is very nice and i don't give him near enough credit.
the little blinking cursor button has just stopped working on this entry and i have come to realize how much i depend on that little blinking cursor. feeling a hair annoyed with all this right now, as you might could tell.

*and i'm not all that discouraged, just had this song stuck in my head for days