This big, fuzzy spider was hanging out in the bathroom the other day. I like spiders, so after taking some photos, I relocated her to the back yard…

Looks like I made it to Top 5 status! Please vote! http://lovingthebike.com/crank/

Update, as of 5.12.10

Sadly, Collin passed on this afternoon. The video contest was won by someone else, but it’s somewhat of a moot point now.

Some of you have asked what the “Team Collin” stickers are about on my mountain bike’s fork. Here’s a link to a short video explaining who Collin is and part of what the amazing crowd in the Road Bike Review “Lounge” have done to help him and his family out: http://video.bicycling.com/contests/win_any_bike_contest_2010/vote/8YWJHC2JJFSGCVG6

You can also see the rest of Collin’s story and frequent updates on his CaringBridge Site

If you want to help out, vote for this video. Get your friends to vote for this video. Tell everyone you know, and post a link on your own blog, website, or social networking venue of choice. If you want to help out financially, email me (andrea @ brickhouseracing.com), and I’ll direct you to where you can donate. Thanks!

These don’t necessarily warrant their own separate posts, but they’re fun to look at.

Friday night, Ryan and Matt tried to reenact that famous scene from “Lady and the Tramp.” Their plan was foiled when they realized that it won’t work with ravioli.

Saturday after the race, I was walking the dogs when I saw an odd looking stick. A closer look revealed that it wasn’t a stick, but a mass of black, spikey caterpillars on the end of a stick.

Finally, Sunday morning, Matt and I combined the powers of ADHD and OCD and built a fire pit. Then we built a path. Then we cleaned out from under all of the surrounding rocks so that my mom would actually go down there without being afraid of lurking swarms of snakes coiled and ready to strike at her from every direction. Most of what we cleaned out was poison ivy. Don’t ask how I know.

I love this place.

Last night I went to the RB’s group ride (which, BTW, is covered up in noobsauce and triathletes now). I rode there, into a slight headwind, and my legs felt as if they’d finally relented to not taking a break following the MSGP weekend. I was also feeling a bit loopy, which resulted in my having a conversation with my legs in LOL-speak

At first I was like, ” Ok, legs, let’s get up this hill, we need to get to the group ride!” and my legs were all like, “ROFLCHOPTER!!!”

Then I arrived at RB’s. The ride started, and I wasn’t sure what to expect…

At first I was like, “I can haz triathlete hill attack?” and my legs were like, “Oh, Hai! We were JK!” Then I was all like, “OMG! K THX!!”

Then I stayed off the front for a few miles, got bored and sat up, then attacked the triathletes again when they got bitchy and wanted me to pull 30 seconds after they’d just caught me. Luckily Yoshi was there to play, too.

In other news, I thought of a Haiku while I was driving yesterday:

Windows are rolled down
Three 6 Mafia turned up
Summer in Memphis.

Maybe it’s time to take a rest day.

This semester at U of M, part of my teaching duties is to supervise several student interns. One of them happens to be a badass sponsored Kayaker who is doing her internship at a local community center where she and her boyfriend (also a badass) teach a kayaking class. So, as part of my supervisory duties, I participated in a class.

I’m sure I made a wonderful first impression- she gave me her spray skirt to use, couldn’t get it on over my butt, and had to have help to pull it on over my head. Then, when I went to sit in the boat (also hers), we had to remove the padding from the hip area.

Hey- life’s not always easy when you’ve got one of these:

Once I was in the water, the first thing I learned was how to bail out if I got turned upside down and couldn’t right myself. I thought it was pretty easy, though I can see how it’d freak some people out. Next, I started learning the basic roll- tipping upside down then using my paddle/hips to roll rightside-up.

After a little practice and a couple of failed attempts at doing it on my own, one of the instructors noticed that I wasn’t actually getting my paddle out of the water once I was upside-down, so I wasn’t really getting the “push” from it that I needed. So, next attempt, I fixed that, and BAM! Up I went! (which also elicited few cheers from some of the other people in the pool)

I managed a couple more successful rolls before moving on to how to paddle and turn. By the end of the class, I was actually a bit worn out. It was a lot of fun, and a useful skill to add to my repertoire.

I read this article about a month ago. I was immediately inspired to try something different. What can I say- I’m just a rebel like that. So, with the exception of my hands, I stopped using soap. Altogether… no soap for about a month now. I know what you’re thinking.

“EWWW, YOU DIRTY HIPPY! I BET YOU STINK!”

I never said I stopped showering, I just said I don’t use soap when I do it. I won’t go in to every detail, but it involves a washcloth and the usual warm water shower. I didn’t tell anyone at first, because I figured I’d see if anyone noticed, though Ryan didn’t even know until I informed him two weeks in to the experiment. (I also just use deodorant instead of antiperspirant… but that’s been for a couple of years now)

The result? My skin is obviously not dry. It isn’t greasy, either. It just feels nice. The texture of my hair is different as well. It’s naturally curly, and, even though I keep it really short, it is less frizzy and the curls seem to form more naturally (I still use a touch of some sort of styling product in it, and as far as I can tell, it all rinses out when I shower). If you’ve got curly hair, I highly recommend NOT using shampoo. Even if you don’t take the full plunge into soap-free-ness, the reduction in frizz is pretty awesome.

I’m still considering this to be an “experiment” since I haven’t been out in the real heat yet, but I have made it through a couple of races (road and MTB) as well as some 70+ degree rides, and, as far as I (and any honest friends I’ve asked) can tell, I smell normal.

Anyone else care to try?