Sunday, November 29, 2009

Good news and bad news

Funny how they always seem to come together...

Good news: I got accepted into the Isle Royale Wolf & Moose Expedition in August!
Bad news: It's the same time as Ore to Shore.

Decisions, decisions...

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Who needs luck?

un•luck•y
adj. un·luck·i·er, un·luck·i·est
  1. Subjected to or marked by misfortune.
  2. Resulting or likely to result in misfortune; inauspicious.
  3. Not producing the desired outcome; disappointing.

Sometimes, it would be nice to be a lucky person, but I'm not, and I deal with that. It doesn't help that I'm also clumsy and have a very high pain tolerance (which leads to recklessness and/or not noticing I've been injured). In the last two weeks, I succumbed to a series of falls that have left me bloody, bruised, and now scabby. But my misadventures don't always leave me broken, sometimes they have ill effects on my bike instead. Today, a mere 5-6 miles out my door, my chain broke during a sprint. No, that's not right, it didn't break: it was eaten. Chewed up and spit out by my chainring.


So tomorrow (Black Friday) after my 3:30am shift at a big box retail store, I will hoof it to the bike shop. Hopefully the answer will be as simple as a defective chain and I'll be good to go. But in the mean time, seeing as it is Thanksgiving, I think I should list what I'm thankful for.
  1. My mom. Without her, I would've had to hike it back to the house in 38°F misty rain today. Instead, she came and picked me up in her SUV. [Plus, it was sort of like having a team car, which was kind of cool.] Oh—she's also the best mom ever. I should probably point that out, too.
  2. My cycling friends. I owe a lot of how far I've come this year to you guys. Seriously.
  3. My coworkers. You make working in a retail toilet tolerable. Thank you.
  4. My legs. I love them, and somehow no matter how much I cut/scrape/bruise/otherwise maim them, they are always ready for more pedaling.
  5. Having a trainer instead of rollers. Seriously, I don't even want to think about how much trouble I'd be on rollers.

I may or may not think of more things I'm thankful for (there are many), but this is all my mind can come up with at the moment in its turkey-induced coma.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Rocks? Fuck rocks.

I'm not a huge fan of rocks. I'm sure one day I'll master them, and who knows, maybe even learn to love them. But for now, I'm cool with us being arch enemies.


I know I'll never get better unless I try things I can't yet handle, and I know I'm bound to fall a little (okay, a lot) in the process. But rocks? They are just so unfriendly. And hard. There's no good way to fall on a rock (or a pile of rocks) except to avoid hitting your head. Today I didn't get too bloody, but come morning I'm going to have quite a few bruises on my bottom. And my legs. And my side.

Ouch. The good news though? I'm getting better—I cleared one pile of rocks before wiping out on the second.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Whether the weather be fine

Today marked the fourth day in a row of amazing riding weather here in Michigan. It has been unseasonably sunny, warm, and dry, which meant I didn't have to break out the gore-tex, nor full-fingered gloves, nor tights. It is a welcome change from riding in the 40-45ºF rain and mud. Along with the change in weather, I also got to take in a change of scenery. In Lansing there are barely any dents in the flat topography, but in the Hadley/Oxford area there are lots of rolling hills and long, winding dirt roads. On Saturday and Sunday I hit the aptly-named Hadley Hills, which was a great change of pace. Along the way I discovered two things: a new 19-mile dirt road loop near my parents' place, and that nothing beats a 29er on dirt roads. Also, my legs turned to mush. I'm not accustomed to hills...at all.

On Monday, I rode the river trail in Lansing with a friend. We were a little overdressed for the weather—I was in a merino wool jersey and he had on leg warmers. Looking at us, you wouldn't have guessed it was almost 70ºF out. In my defense, I was preparing for a chilly night ride home. Can't speak for the other guy. June was the last time I rode the river trail, and I forgot how annoying (loud) all the bridges are. But it was a really fun ride, I played tourist and saw some cool sights in downtown Lansing I hadn't seen before.

Today I was able to squeeze in a couple laps around Burchfield before heading off to class. I finally managed to pry myself off the pedals long enough to take a picture of Sybil. Normally I'll stop about twenty times on a ride to take pictures of random things—the fact that it has taken me almost two weeks to take one photo says volumes about how much I hate getting off this bike.

Beautiful view, huh?

Those pink bottle cages aren't permanent, they're getting replaced by white ones soon. I robbed them off the road bike (Alice, who has been more or less out of commission since Sybil's arrival), where they belong with the pink bar tape. And pedals.

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Sunday, November 1, 2009

Her name is Sybil.

Christened the Paragon today with mud and a new name: Sybil.

And it was amazing. I was nervous about riding clipless offroad, but my worries were completely unfounded. I think I'm going to love this mountain biking stuff. Unfortunately I came back sans photos—sorry, but I was too busy actually riding to bust out the camera. Maybe next time.

Then again, maybe if I rode with other people more I wouldn't have to take my own pictures. Unfortunately I tend to go on rides as early as possible, which apparently isn't all too popular. I missed out on one potential riding partner this morning due to my morning habits, and got declined twice (in advance!) for a ride tomorrow for the same reasons. Is 9:00 AM really that early? Be thankful it's not the summer anymore, for my morning rides in June and July tend to depart at 6:00 AM or earlier when the sun is up. All I can say is, AYHSMB. Morning rides rock.

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