Tale of Two Bikes

the baby dinosaur has been talking to me.
it says things like, "stop braking. i got this."
and "look how much higher i can jump!"
and "let's session that."
and "quit climbing like a pansy. put it in the middle ring."
and "wash me. make me beautiful again."
it kind of scares me with its insistence.

road conference was this weekend. on saturday i pulled a hindenburg but got some redemption on sunday. and now BC is goin' to nationals. i anticipate much pain.

apparently the crit is circling the capitol building. that's pretty durn cool.

New Bike New Bike New Bike

Ok, so, the Alabama race weekend: rode kind of slow, climbed big hill, finished nestled in the bosom of Lees-McRae's formidable machine team both days...netted a 4th and a 3rd. No big shakes. My results are so consistent. And boring.

Now the good stuff. Having taken the NEW BICYCLE on its maiden voyage, I can present to you an utterly scientific and objective review of the 2010 Era Expert. I took it on ____(can't tell because it was kind of closed as of today...) with the Saint and T. Cowie because it's a darn good test of tech climbing and Pisgah descending. After adjusting the Era within an inch of its life, I was pretty much pleased with the position and we started the dirt climb. Out of the saddle, I felt exactly like I was riding a baby dinosaur.

That comment elicited some puzzled expressions from my companions. Basically, I would imagine a baby dinosaur has big muscular legs but feels a little clumsy, being fresh from the shell, so he treads very carefully. So: delicate but muscular. Which is definitely a good thing.

Then on the descents the Era demanded I ride totally out of control. I could not acquiesce because I was riding like a newbie hack, but soon, little Era. Soon.

Now I understand all those nancy words magazines use in reviews, words like "responsive" and "balanced" and "stable". Here's another one: "perfect". The new (as of '09) suspension design is absolutely delicious. It will require that I accumulate some Tristan-like knowledge of suspension so that I don't bop around with it totally set the wrong way. While experimenting I turned the Brain off and commented to the Saint that it felt very nice, but of course he was appalled and said that defeated the purpose of owning it. I've got some learning to do.

Also: it is the first new mountain bike I've ever owned. Even better: it's sub-25 pounds. Most importantly: it is shockingly beautiful. I cannot take my eyes off it. It is my pristine little baby dinosaur that sparkles in the sunshine.

Let's go ride tomorrow afternoon. Everyone.

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Dear Epic,


Imagine me and you
I do
I think about you day and night
It's only right
To think about the bike you love
And hold her tight
So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you
And you and me
No matter how they toss the dice
It had to be
The only one for me is you
And you for me
So happy together...





Oops. I lied.

A Couple of Important Points

I forgot to mention that Dr. Crotts also had a great weekend. He's been doing a whole lotta work, including racing the A men's TTT whenever possible, and has grabbed two top fives so far. Well done, sir.

Also forgot, mad props to Furman for a really well-run race. It was a marked contrast to the usual collegiate weekend.

I finally got an article on the BC athletics page. Wow! Despite being DII conference champ for each season so far! Sour grapes...I'll waste no more time complaining.

Rich Mountain, Becky Mountain's twin brother, is totally totally awesome.

This weather is totally totally awesome.

Riding alone can actually once in a while be totally totally awesome. I saw this guy up close and personal. That was totally totally awesome.

Stellar Times in SC

for once the collegiate road racing gods smiled down upon me and delivered up a win. albeit a pretty lackluster one.

the cards were in place. all the fast LMC girls were jet-setting in europe or out west, riding against other fast girls. the course had some hills. i felt good, and my bike was stuck in the big dawg (right where it belongs, one might argue). so i laid down what one might call a blistering attack (if one was so inclined) on one of the hills and rode away, bringing with me a lone LMC girl. she was hurting, but we maintained a decent clip for the rest of the "race". by the 1k sign i was antsy and frustrated, knowing that no matter how the finish went down, i would be relegated to second. because that's what always happens.

and then (and this is where i lose any chance at respect or any claim to a legitimate win) she didn't sprint me.

so we casually rolled through the finish, eying each other the whole time, and i had to explain to the saint, who was spectating (although he still SHOULD have been racing at that point) that i had won.

as thad puts it, "the first RR win in Brevard's history". i just wish it hadn't been so ho-hum. the crit was a lot of fun too, although i continued the grand julia tradition of chasing point(less) primes in place of impressive wins and netted a mediocre 3rd place.

the guys are earning their meals so far. elk killer and captain america finished top ten two days in a row. tristan had a fab break away but, as the announcer loved reminding us, "he really was racing, but it just wasn't good enough. he got gobbled up by them lees mcrae boys in the end...pothoes...been racing 25 years and officiating 15...something something..."

my favorite part of the weekend: when all the boys forgot their game of Yellow Car just long enough to bust out singing along with miley to "party in the usa".

chilling with the good doctor pre-race

i-n-e-x-o-r-a-b-l-y

yesterday the founding fathers of the pisgah beard society led a caravan down to spa'burg and we rolled out the fat tires, with the sunshine cheering us on. croft's twisting trails stumped me at first but after an hour of frustration i remember how to ride the bike and started having fun, hanging on CB's wheel. we are all a bit out of shape but going slow means you can look at the scenery.

two really good songs i heard today: peter gabriel's cover of "the boy in the bubble" and "inexorably" by zoe boekbinder. go listen.

today the saint and i opted out of a road ride and instead built a little jump and a little berm in his pasture. i love playing with shovels.

i just made my first omelet. not perfect, definitely delicious. kiddie stuff, i know, but it's the small things in life...

only four or five more hours of work on the thesis and i'll have a rough draft.

spring break has been damn good so far.

Spectacular Spectacular

Another awesome day. The Saint and I rode Macedonia Church this morning, which is such a great ride but lamentably a bit off the beaten path. The sunshine was lovely enough to make me forget the sub-freezing windchill. Having burned sufficient calories, I'm now packing them back on with brownies and espresso. Eventually I will start writing a paper but for now I'm just relishing the caffeinated, post-exercise glow. And then maybe some P&B (Pappas and Beer) with B&P (Baman and Piderman) tonight. Can life get any better?

Champagne Supernova

Yes yes, this is how I feel today. Bubbly. It is good. I think part of this comes from the looming prospect of college-free life. I am going to pass on being a grown-up for right now (thanks for asking, all ye denizens of the bakery) and just putter around, earning just enough to pay for house/car/occasional adventures.

Because I don't think I will be applying for real-people jobs until next spring, fall will be fab. How could it not be?

-world champs that are driving distance away

-the Shut-In

-Lydia's super awesome-looking Hickory Mountain run

-BC mtb season, which I can now observe in a relaxed fashion

-a long-awaited visit to my shoe twin!

I write a lot of boring posts about my future, but you know why? Because it's so bright I gotta wear shades.