fantastically cool

(thieved from Unsuck DC Metro)

reason enough to move to nyc

(thieved from Prolly Is Not Probably.)

a new way to start the day

hell yeah. (via Sam Brown at explodingdog.com)


now go listen to every El Ten Eleven song you can find.

DFL is for Didn't Finish Last

First and foremost, big up to R1V/Arrow Bikes for putting on a great race this weekend. They turned a big flat park into a fun course and (cheap) beer garden. Impressive. My favorite part of the course was the circle of death/conch shell/pinwheel out back. Very cool.

Once again, I registered for the B and C races. It went more or less like every other C race I've done--finish in the top half in non MABRA races and just out of it in MABRA races. The sprint for 24th was good fun too. I think I scared a kid who was standing at the finish line. If I hadn't been pushing two gears too small, I think I would've won it, too.

The B race... oooh the B race. I started out DFL, so my first thought is, "I should be drinking a beer while I'm racing." Then I passed someone. Then someone else. Then maybe someone else. I'm not sure, because half way through the race I totally spaced out, eyes sunken into my head and the like. But I finished and I didn't finish last. Hell yeah. That deserved a cold one.

I've only got one more race weekend on my schedule: DCCX. School is going to be relentless for the next two months--five papers to turn in in the next 30 days and six more (longer ones) with two presentations to round out the semester.


All photos courtesy my small hipster pro photog friend. Listening to All Things Considered, cuz it makes me smart.

I'm not an ambiturner.

I can't turn right without crashing. Instead of giving a detailed race report, I'm going to go with a zero-based accounting explanation as to why I finished 35th at Kelley Acres in the C race.

Desired outcome: 1st place

Crash on last lap due to not being an ambiturner: +1 (2nd)

Crash on second to last lap, in the exact same spot, due to not being an ambiturner: +2 (4th)

Crushing my chainguard trying to clear the logs: +2 (6th)

Bouncy rear derailleur due to clump of grass in the pulleys: +3 (9th)

Dismounting at a standstill on three rideable runups, after spinning in the mud: +4 (13th)

Being too fat to be a climber: +4 (17th)

Pedal troubles: +0 (they worked!!!1!!one!!)

Supermanning all of my remounts: +2 (19th)

Nerves on the big descent where I broke my helmet and bloodied my face last year: +2 (21st)

Piss-poor sprint: +5 (26th)

So that just leaves... utter lack of fitness: +9 (35th)

I can fix most of these. I can. I just have to train a lot harder and a lot more effectively. And everyone else needs to take rest weeks before all of the rest of my races.

Also, check out the pictures on my picasa page. Most of them are from the C race, but my pro photog also snapped a few shots of the men's masters race and B race. She got a few extra of this one dude, because she was fascinated/confused by a tattooed vegan straightedge pseudohipster. "Wait, so he doesn't drink? Does he know he doesn't drink?"

Listening to Viz by le Tigre, and only actually paying attention to the lyrics for the first time. Sexy.