I got a new rig! My fisher steel hardtail is sicko-sweet.
I got wrangled into this whole bike riding thing as a 14 year old back in Roanoke, VA. It was all because of mountain bikes. Carvin's Cove has 30 or 40 miles of gorgeous trails just outside RoVa. That was my world back in the day. Launching myself down gnarly descents on my no-suspension Schwinn, dumping hard, and showing off my scabs to the cute blonde in my world geography class.
I'm making my public mountain bike debut this afternoon in the Giro de 'Ville. 4 days of point-to-point mountain biking and camping. 4 nights of barbecues 'n beer.
After an exciting weekend in INDIANA, things are getting back to normal in C'Ville.
Just riding bikes, having important rickshaw meetings, searching for apartments, and otherwise enjoying some pleasant weather.
E11even has prepared pot pie this evening, and I hope to woo a prospective roommate in joining the Ayers camp come August.
I have been drinking a lot of Pedialyte lately. Have you tried their bubble-gum flavour? Incredible. Tastes like that old liquid amoxicillin with the bubble-gum flavour we used to get as kids. mmmmmmmmmm
Had one of those weeks where it seems that nothing has been accomplished. I've had the good ol' Aztec two-step since Saturday (total 6+ days), which is longer than I've ever had a GI tract malfunction for. Awful. This meant riding with an on-and-off terrible stomachache for most of the week. Ultimately, it wore me out, and today's hard ride got cancelled. Twas not a rest week, nor was it a week of training progress, just crappy. Poopy.
Also, I'm getting kicked out of my apartment on June 30. Perfect timing for Fitchburg. The owner of my building sold it so it could be turned into offices. Great. This means that poor little Ian won't have his perfect little place a block from Downtown C-Vegas. So, I have spent the week checking out and visiting places in the vicinity, and have discovered that 1) I can't afford my current place, and 2) I won't be able to afford my next place. One of my favourite things to do is browse the apartment photos online...
Will I live here?
Or maybe here?
Or maybe hereeeeeee?
There's nothing quite like the disappointment of actually going to visit an apartment posted on craigslist. My criteria are so basic. All I really want is high ceilings. There can be cracks in the walls, but I really just want high ceilings and central air. Yea, central air, high ceilings, and a nice kitchen would do it. I mean, is it really that much to ask for central air, high ceilings, a nice kitchen, and a clean bathroom?
Going out to my sister's graduation at Purdue University this weekend. Very proud of her. She's got a great job already lined up teaching AP English at a fantastic school in Florida, and even was awarded 'English student of the year' for her department. Mega-proud of her. She made progress.
Twas a highly enjoyable weekend for a multitude of reasons:
1) My birthday. E11even raised the bar on what an awesome birthday is. She left clever clues around town in different stores an I rode my bike from store to store to pick up gifts- Hot Dog! She then blindfolded me and took me to a BBQ in a magical forest, where my friends were already high-as-a-kite and engaged in free love. Then, a piñata appeared, and the fruits of Hershey rained down upon us:
2) I won the Wintergreen Hillclimb. Yea, well, so what, the competition wasn't very stiff- but still. I was gracious to receive a nice crisp check and a Golf Weekend at Wintergreen for breaking the course record. (which happened to be set by me back in 2004) Conveniently, the hillclimb was also the Virginia State Hillclimb Championship, so that makes me the Virginia State Hillclimb Champion. I even got a well-designed jersey with polka-dots to prove it. CRC did a bang-up job of promoting the race. Spank you, Eric, Jim, & numerous volunteers.
Even got a front-page plug by the Daily Progress. I'll take it. Article. Check out Cat 2 Ayers back in 2004. I was even skinny back then! (note Guru bike)
3) Rite Aid PCT has been winning all over. Alejandro & the critty squad have been killing the SE Crit series, with Alejandro taking 2 wins, a silver and a bronze. Also, Geronimo won Turkey hill this weekend, with the help of the PA crew. Geronimo and I have the same birthday. Awwwww. Speedy won a 40km TT at Three Mile Island. Jake raced the Cone Azalia race. Don't know if he won. I'm just gonna say this he did. Update: Jake did not win, he got 2nd. But read this, from Jake: "[the guy driving the wheel truck came up to me] and said i was clearly the strongest. so that was nifty." Breeze on, homey.
4) Happy Rickshaw was very successful this weekend- shuttling drunk people all around UVA and Charlottesville. We have some truly fabulous drivers. Quotes from Cooper Swift: "On Cinco de Mayo, Don Juan rides for libertad!- Hiiiya!" & "So I made $102 for the night, which comes out to 22.66/hr. That's better than whoring!" Christoph didn't set any rickshaws on fire this weekend... but a sorority girl did YAK in one of the 'shaws. It was Happy Rickshaw's first barfing- sorta like the breaking of a bottle champagne on a new boat.
5) I bunnyhopped a suicide black cat on my training ride yesterday and did not crash. My smokin'-hot girlfriend prepared a delishhhh post-ride din, and then I got a devastating muscle-ripping charlie-horse in my leg. A truly fabulous end to a great weekend.
p.s. Thank you everyone for your constructive comments regarding the Hardman/Carney/Delong brawl. It seems that the comments have brought closure to the highly-sketchy and conspiracy-like handling of the event.
