Movie of summer.

Somewhere along the way this became my favorite movie of all time.

Pedalterian stroller.

Yes, that's a baby carrier mounted to a piece of plywood attached to the platform of a cargo bike.

Ahhhs and Ouches.

I have lots of updates about my life on and off the cycle. A few weeks ago I went down during a race in PA during a descent at 30+ mph and landed myself in the emergency room at Lancaster General. From the impact I got a massive hematoma in my hip, eight stitches in my elbow and a concussion from getting flung into the guardrail. My helmet was completely destroyed. I was very lucky.



After a night in the hospital full of morphine, with two of my teammates who stayed by my side, I was allowed to go home. I missed a week of school chomping down 12 Vicodin a day just to feel comfortable. I had so many friends and family help me, it was pretty overwhelming. The team even chipped in and bought me a new kit because they had to cut my old one off me in the ER. As of late, I'm still recovering and hobble around with a cane. Fortunately, riding around hurts less than walking so I've modified my bike to get me around.



I also just finished my first year of teaching. I can't really even wrap my head around the experience quite yet, but it might be the greatest thing I've ever accomplished in my entire life next to being born and riding over a mountain in West Virginia. I think it'll hit me when I'm sitting on a patio drinking beers at two in the afternoon and unsure what day of the week it is. Because racing is probably going to be out of the question for a while I'm modeling my free summer after the dude.

Them crazy cycle races.

 

Drying rack dinosaur.

Use your imagination.

Rides & diy wool toe covers.

All it takes is pair of old wool socks and a couple rubber bands for your very own set of seasonally appropriate cycling footwear.

Gone racing.

I did my first real race of the year today. I'm not counting last Saturday because I had just gotten off of a plane from Paris and it was no fun at all (the race that is). This weekend I fared a little better. It was a circuit course but felt more like a crit with a large sweeping downhill and a punchy 200 meter climb to the finish. The first few laps I just sat in while a couple of my teammates went to the front and pulled the group around for a while. I put my nose in the wind helping reel in a break about 3 laps from the finish. On the last lap after the downhill I was sitting fifth wheel going into the climb and no one was doing anything so I tried to jump the pack and go off on my own. I was feeling pretty good and had a small gap on the group until about 50 meters from the finish. My legs became very heavy. I ended up getting picked back up by the pack for a 14th place finish out of 40. Pretty fun way to spend a Saturday, considering I could have been hungover or sleeping.

Up and over.

No excuses. Just laziness. I'm once again forced to admit my blogging follies. It's not been because of a lack of stories for I have many to tell. Let's start with the most recent. I've started to hit my stride a little more in being a teacher which has opened up more time for some other loves in my life.

I spent this past weekend in the mountains of West Virginia at a training camp put together by the president of our bike team. The windy back roads and patches of gravel made excited for the upcoming season. Mostly for the weather. I'm tired of riding around with a snot-covered face and cold feet. Unfortunately, this weekend was no exception.

The first day was supposed to be a chill ride around to scout the terrain. However, one of our teammates got a flat on a rugged decent and I stopped to help him. Because of poor communication we lost the bunch and were left on our own in the back country. After a few miles of trying to play catch-up we ran into members of another team on their own training camp. Fortunately, they knew the surrounding area and we followed them to survey the coursed for an upcoming race. It featured to Pepsi Challenge climbs (Iowa City folks know what I'm talking about) and a host of rollers through the woods. The roads were rough and made for some sketchiness but we had a great time.

Day two was the "epic" day on the books. The morning started with another chill 30 mile ride but once again was plagued by mechanicals. About 15 miles away from the cabins my friend Dan's Speedplay cleat fell off in a million little pieces. Using the wisdom of my many mechanical mentors I harvested screws from his other shoe and was able to reattach the other cleat solidly enough to let him ride out the weekend. After that ride we went back to the cabins and knowing that the afternoon had a little more hurt in store I started stuffing food. I ate a pizza, two cans of Chef Boyardee and a ham sandwich. This was followed promptly by a spandex nap and then we were on the road.


Just as my parents taught me when I was little the difference between friends and strangers, this ride taught me the difference between a hill and a mountain. After a short decent from our cabins to the main road the day started with a 6 mile climb with to the peak of a pain. Some of the gradients on the switch backs were above 10%. Riders quickly gaped each other as each person set into their own rhythm and ascended the first climb. I just tried to follow wheels and not look up. At the top we waited for everyone and descended down about 12 switchbacks going about 40 mph around the wet and gravely corners. Once at the bottom we settled into a pace line and made our way to the base of the next climb. Long story short - it took about 45 minutes to get to the top and once there the sky opened and rain and wind started lashing our small group in the 37 degree West Virginian outback. One more climb left. I stuffed my face with Snickers and energy gels and went for it. Aching and in serious difficulty we made it over the third peak and descended in the cold, pouring rain into the woods to take us back home. I was sitting in on the group, when about 15 miles from camp my rear tire flatted. Dan and Grayson stayed back with me and I watched my fast 23 mph train back home go off into the cold. Fortunately, Brian offered to drive the sag wagon that day and in prime professional style he jumped out and gave me a wheel swap. I couldn't have probably changed the flat anyways. My hands were so cold they were turning white.
Dan, Grayson and I exchanged nervous conversation about the route home and just decided to go by landmarks (dogs chained to polls, burned out trucks, barns). This worked out well for us and after about a half hour we made it to the final decent back home. It was about a five mile decent and the combination of the wind and rain left me shaking and a little delirious. Back at the cabins Dan and Corey (ex-army helicopter pilot) told me my lips were blue and that I should probably put on as much clothing as I could and get in front of the fireplace. In the end, it was about 4 hours in the saddle, 50 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing.



All said and done it was a weekend of riding to remember.

It's me!

It's been too long to expect people to continue to follow my random posting. But in the blog world, "the night is always darkest before the dawn." So for the one or two of you still out there here's a little bit of what I've been up to.

I'm halfway to completing my first year of teaching. It's taken many sleepless nights, lots of beer, many tears and the incredible support of everyone in my life but I did it. The middle schoolers haven't bested me yet. Sure they've stolen my lunch on several occasions, asked me if I "needed a milk shake to go with that ass," and threatened my life and bicycle but they've also told me they like how I teach. They like my shoes. They think I'm weird and sometimes funny. And they enjoy coming to Mr. LaRue's class because they get it when I teach them." That's enough good to keep anyone going I think. Those kids, along with this gal, have become the center of my life.

I haven't been riding much. I've thought about it quite a few times but the fire just fails to light when I look outside at 5 o'clock and it's pitch black. I still commute to work but as for training to do battle in the peloton - this is about it. I shit you not, I play a cycling video game on a regular basis. So much so, Kosi told me I've started to mimick Bjarne Riis facial expressions. I'm currently managing team Healthnet Maxis and am in negotionations with Coralville native, super-domestique Jason McCartney. I'll let you know how it plays out. In the real world cycling front I am signing up for spinning classes so I can sweat furiously for an hour a day and hopefully, just hopefully make that career-boosting upgrade from category 5 to 4 this summer.


My family in D.C. for Christmas!


Kosi, Mary Beth, my lovely Aunts Suzanne and DeEtte and yours truly at Mixtec.


Arty the Christmas Bulldog complete with reindeer antlers and lots of love.

Jingle-Cross Crash!

For all you cat lovers!

Why vote once every four years?

Everything you do counts.

Look who stopped by!

It had been over a year since I had last seen Zach and then out of the blue I got a random gchat message and a call from a restricted number. Next thing I knew there was a black cross-check parked outside my apartment and scraggly fellow in extremely short adidas shorts. We had a few beers at some of my local haunts - the Red Derby and Madam's Organ - and caught up on transient and teacher life. It was great to see him and I am thrilled that he's going to be staying in Baltimore which is just a few miles down the road. When I asked him "why Baltimore?" and he replied "precisely." To each his own.

In other news, Kosi got to hang out with cycling phenom Levi Leipheimer at one of her Lululemon events. She said he's a really nice guy and has a few pet goats. I'm sure there was more but I wasn't really paying attention after she presented me with a poster signed by the guy!

Question of the day/week/month.

"Are you going to make it?" For the past few weeks this seems to be the conversation starter people have chosen to engage me with. I usually don't get too touchy feely with my responses and just fire of a simple "we'll see" or "just taking it one day at a time." That seems to leave most information seekers occupied but stock dialogue has always left me a little doubtful. If I view my current job as a make it or don't make it thing, black and white, win or lose, live or die, I don't think any form of success is possible. If I kept a tally of the moments I felt like walking out of the building and going into a bar, they would far outnumber the moments where I've felt like I was making a difference. Middle-schoolers are vicious, I feel like the leader of my school system is always trying to fire me and everyday is a capricious march into dysfunction. So no. I'm not making it. I'm living it. And I'm trying really damn hard.

Moving forward.

Lately, I've been a little swept away. Sometimes when I'm walking the hallways of my middle school ordering kids to pull their pants up, take their hats off, and get in line I just laugh to myself because I can't believe this is my life. In all honesty, I applied to be a teacher to get my parents off my back about finding a job after graduation, never really thinking I had a huge chance of getting into the program. I knew I loved working with kids and that I had a big heart but I also knew that teaching in the inner-city probably required a more assertive attitude than I was used to displaying while wrenching in a bicycle shop. But I am starting to find my teacher voice and a reason for going back everyday.

Luckily I have so many people in my life to pick me up, or give me a swift kick in the ass when I'm wallowing in self-pity about lesson planning or how cruel middle-schoolers can be. It also helps to have a big sister who has a thing for convertibles and bulldogs.

Because every school should have one.

I snapped this photo on my way home from work. What matters most is what you don't see.
Students can deal with leaky ceilings, glass-covered playgrounds, toxic mold growing in the bathrooms and enough desks and supplies to accommodate half their class - so let's build a brand new football field with artificial turf and stadium seating! This has been one of many paradoxes I've been trying to wrap my head around since entering DC Public Schools. All across the city these ancient public high schools, lacking air-conditioning, a computer post-2002 and adequate security are remodeling their football fields. I understand students and teachers alike need something to rally around but honestly? How can you take your school seriously when they don't provide you with the basic needs for a comfortable, relevant education?

Back on the ground.

Until today I hadn't touched my cross bike since I said farewell to Iowa City gravel on an epic ride with Joe Lazio. Feeling sad for my blaze orange beauty I took it off the wall, pumped up the tires, trued the wheels, lubed the chain and decided I was going to ride on something other than pavement. The only place I could think to go was Rock Creek Park which hosts a network of horse trails and single-track for runners. The park situation reminds me of the Lake Macbride ski trails. They are perfect for cyclocross and mountain-biking but off limits to those activities. It irritates me when people say bicycles cause significant damage to trails. At worst you have someone who rides their rear brake too much and pushes a little bit of dirt around.


Overall it was a great Saturday ride. There were some steep, rooty climbs and fast flat sections. I fell a couple times and was reminded each time how fun riding off road was. Falling into rocks is never fun but it happens. I kept a close eye out for park rangers and the only sentries I happened upon were dog-walkers. They just scowled. I'm sure they were just angry they had to pick up poop. On a good note a nice old man walking his pony congratulated me for making it up a difficult climb strewn about with sketchy log crossings. That's the kind of relationship we need on these trails! I tipped my hat, said thank you and road on and threw up shortly after turning the bend. That could have been because I was hung-over and had just eaten a omelet and french fries a few hours early but I'd rather just chalk it up to effort.

The ride made me very excited for cyclocross season to start. And for those of you interested I have booked my plane ticket home to Iowa City for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll be back for four days, two of which will be spent at Jingle-Cross trying to dishearten as many of these guys as possible.
Disclaimer: Only click on the Jingle-Cross link if you want to have a seizure. It reminds of forwards I used to get from my aunt.

My classroom.

Before.

After.

What was once a textbook storage room is now a tiled land of learning! Since this last picture I've scrubbed the lab tables clean of fucks and phalluses and even found a place for those computers hanging out on my desk. In any case, this is the arrangement for the most part. I've also hung rules on the walls and steps to go through when handling our "feelings." They've come in handy for me as well. In fact, try it out yourself - "I feel ________ when you __________ because ___________. " Don't you feel better?

Break.

It's only been a week since I finished the intensive summer institute but it's felt like months for some reason. What a nice way to have a break last! I've been spending some quality time with this lady and been doing some more bike racing.
The first was another Greenbelt Criterium. I dropped my chain on the first climb and couldn't bridge back up to the group. Bummer. I held off the charging pack for five laps on the mile course before they lapped me. I quickly hopped on the back and sheepishly finished the race. At the end I found that I could have taken lap for a "mechanical." In the end I finished 18th out of 21. In other race news, yesterday was the Hammer Creek Road Race in Lancaster Pennsylvania. The category 4/5 race was on a five mile loop of which we did six laps. I almost got teary eyed on the opening laps because the scenery reminded me so much of Iowa City and the group rides - except for the fact that I didn't get dropped in the opening miles. Here are some pictures I took from my phone after the race.



The pace was pretty good for the first few laps and I tried to make some moves to the front in the closing two laps but the hills stretched the group out causing an accordion effect. A thunderstorm also decided to move in on the last lap and it started down-pouring. It was quite sketchy on the hairpin blacktop turns but luckily no one went down. In the end I finished in the pack, with a member of the team actually winning the race. It was a pretty great day, ending with beers and Thai food with Bonkosi.