Friday Night Angelique and I went to Middletown for the first cross race of the year. It was a two stage race. First was a time trial and second a normal cross race. It was a blast. Only about 30 people raced but everyone where diehard cross racers and had a great time. It was at the Ohio Hot Air Balloon Challenge and there where tons of spectators but most of them just watched for a second as they walked to their car. The course was great, very fast with one set of barriers a little sand/beach area, tons of 180 degree turns and a long off camber section. Fun course and super fast.
I got third in the B race, best cross result I’ve ever gotten and although there wasn’t many racers I felt proud because 2nd was Joe from Echelon and he destroyed me last year in cross. He destroyed me at this race also but by a lot less. So I feel good about my chances this year, not that I’m going to win or even place but maybe I’ll get a top ten or something in the competitive Ohio Valley Cross series.
So now I’m 100% hooked on cross again. 6 months off and that raced completely transfixed my biking attention on cross again. Still can’t figure out why it’s the best thing in the world though! It really is the most painful form of bike racing I have found but still you must be so graceful and smooth. This ying-yang thing.
I bought Pure Sweet Hell, its AWESOME! The footage and interviews truly capture the DIY/punk ethos that I love about cyclocross. The footage is awesome. If you’re wondering what cyclocross is, watch it.
Other news: I just stumbled upon DZs weblog, have you seen it? All audio. Hilarious stuff.
http://www.davezabriskie.missingsaddle.com/
Congratulations Floyd! That was amazing. Best Tour I’ve witnessed. Thanks.
while andy is watching ‘cross videos and the tour de france, i was on the internets.* andy heard me gasping and saying -oh my god- over amy butler’s place in granville, ohio. amy butler is one of my favorites for fabrics, and it’s neat that she’s here, so close to columbus, with such a gorgeous space.
granville is a cute little town, so it seems, as andy had a race there not too long ago. here he was, in blue! go get ‘em honey!
i saw this in a window in granville, in the window of the campus cinema. kinda neat.
*remember when bush said that during the second presidential debate? he’s a complete ass.
Oh, man. I built up the cross bike with the campy and the race lites for Friday nights race.
Looks like a super fun way to run a race and having it with the Ohio Challenge Hot Air Balloon Contest should insure tons of people laughing at us! Can’t wait. I’m crazy excited, like the little boy in line jumping up and down for a candy bar. No, more excited then that. Like George Bush when he did the ‘we got em’ speech about Saddam. Yeah. That excited!
In other news, trying my first mountain bike race on Sunday at Alum Creek. I should get destroyed on my single speed. enjoy.
Looking for tons of cross links?
http://members.aol.com/napavelo/cross.htm
so my daily
design*sponge check led me to this:
todd oldham for la-z boy. i have been wanting to get one of mr. oldham’s sofas for years. one of these days we will! and there’s never been a better time than now, since he has a line of fabrics inspired by the artist
charles harper. i didn’t know and realize the genius beauty of charley harper’s
work until i heard todd oldham cite him as an inspiration. well, it goes without saying that i absolutely
love his art.
when andy and i went to the mid century modern furniture show in cincinnati this year, charley harper’s son (i think it was his son) was there selling his father’s work since they live in cincinnati and everything, and his father is an icon. it was awe-inspiring for me, to see all those prints in one place. they’re so, so great. i just can’t afford to spend $300 on a print.
i do however, want to buy this poster. it’s for the
cornell lab of ornithology, which is such a beautiful place. so the poster combines two wonderful things for the price of one. looks like andy and i are going through a little
ithaca withdrawl, aye?
How far is to far? This is nuts. I just don’t understand, can’t comprehend at all. Out of my thought process.
I miss the ecovillage, it was like you pull up get out of the car and belong. I’ve never really felt that before. It’s hard to describe, this feeling of peace just comes. So why aren’t there ecovillages in every town?
ecovillage ithaca photos
no pictures yet. but I think we finally put enough dirt in the front flower bed area. Sounds like a boring picture, I know. but there’s actually plants and flowers growing to, so it wouldn’t be that bad. maybe we can get angoriff to show us a few views of it. I don’t know how the original plants grew, given the minimal amount of dirt that Dominion Homes gave us. It’s an act of god anything grew. But now I hope we’re good. I added about 1200 pounds of top soil! It sounds like so much but you’d be amazed, and then I found a great mix at meijer’s. It’s like half soil half mulch with a little cow manure thrown in. I’ve been topping it off with that and I think todays four bags did it. I can’t wait to see it all grow in. I guess I’m getting old! ha! I enjoy ‘yard work’! funny.
Have you seen this? the funniest commercial ever! It is so perfectly American, nothing like hitting the nail on the head.
Here’s another nice site I found. Nothing funny, but very helpful. The age of the friendly local car mechanic is over, right? so who do you trust. the internet! ha. debunks many of the BS crap Jiffy Lube and the like try to sell you…
trustmymechanic.com
Wow, this weekend was great. Chilling with Angelique. We didn’t do much. I raced on Saturday. It was a crit in downtown Granville. We’ve never been there, seems nice. Learned a few lessons. 1. Men will lie and cheat to save there precious egos. 2. A little luck plays a role in racing crits.
Sunday we invited the mom’s and sisters over for a little grilling and scatagories. Monday and today has been spent CHILLING, exactly what I wanted to do this four day weekend. Chill.
My favorite sandwich right now:
Lettuce, vegan mayo and peanut butter. Back in the day, I’d eat a ton of these but for some reason I haven’t made one in some time. But I had one for lunch, and it was awesome.
A few links:
Angelique was playing the BUSH GAME this morning! Looked awesome. she was liking it.
Anyone see this! Cyclocross in July!!! The Ohio Challenge Cyclocross Race
