Month: June 2008

Andrea

Edgar Soto- Friday

Last night was a lot of fun. The races, a kilo time trial and short, sprint criteriums, were held at the Old Nashville Speedway- a short, NASCAR-style track with high, banked turns.

The kilo was an insane race. It was a hard acceleration followed by an all-out effort. I rode hard enough that my vision blurred and I felt as though I was on the verge of passing out. My time was 1:26.45- good enough for 2nd place (1st was 1:24.39 and 3rd was 1:26.87).

Afterwards, racers were all called to the infield of the track to start the preliminary heats of the sprint criteriums. The official was great- though the race flyer billed us for one, 8-lap race, she ran the women’s races in a similar way to the men’s races. We had a 3/4 prelim and a 1/2 prelim, with the top 5 finishers of each group advancing to the final race. I made it to the final and finished in 4th place.

Though we were racing for fun (no prizes), it was a great time. It was also a great opportunity to size up the competition. I knew that Debbie Milne (ProBike) and Leigh Valletti (Vanderkitten) would be strong, but a few others made good showings as well.

A couple of Kilo photos:

Andrea

Bluebird Drama!

I was watering the plants on my porch this morning and noticed that the nearby birds sounded upset. Then, I noticed that a brown finch was sitting on the birdhouse near my porch- the same birdhouse that I’ve noticed a couple of bluebirds habitating for the past few weeks.

Some Photos (click to see larger versions):
#1: The culprit
#2: Ms. Bluebird, in the tree across from the birdhouse, chirping up a storm at the finch (she’s the little brownish-blue bird on the far right)
#3 & 4: Closeups of Ms. Bluebird
#4 & 5:Mr. Bluebird didn’t seem too concerned, though he did stay in the area.
#6: Not sure what type of birds these guys are, but they were observing from another branch

Andrea

Next saddle (again)

So, after a couple of weeks on the Fizik Vitesse, I’m not much more comfortable. This time, it’s mainly an issue with the saddle’s lack of a cutout or channel of any type. So, I just ordered a Koobi Xenon. They have a 30 day unconditional return policy, so I don’t mind shelling out the $$ to give it a shot.

This got me thinking… how many saddles have I actually tried in the last two years? Well, here’s a list of all the ones I can think of off the top of my head-

Fizik Arione
Terry Zero
Terry Butterfly
Terry Falcon X
Specialized Toupe 143
Selle Anatomica Titanico (kept it for a while, but it stretched too much and looked absolutely horrible)
Brooks B17 champion special
WTB Speed She
Specialized Jett 155
Selle San Marco Glamour Aspide
Fizik Vitesse
Koobi?

If the Koobi gets returned, I plan on trying a Selle SMP. The shop Cbike.com has a demo program where you pay $20 and get to “rent” one for a week. I have put in to have one sent to me, but according to the site, it can take 4-8 weeks.

Andrea

Proof that I’m Actually a Redhead

I’ve been needing a haircut for a while, and I couldn’t get an appointment until sometime around the 17th, so I decided last night while Ryan was giving himself a haircut with the clippers that I’d shorten it up a bit…

First, I used the #8 (1 inch) clipper blade guard, but it only took a little off the top. So, I went for a #5. This looked short enough, but I ended up with patchy black/red spots. So, I decided to go all in with the #3. I’ve been threatening for a while that I was just going to shave it some day, and I figured that now would be the perfect time since I won’t be working again until next month sometime. It’s nice & breezy under my helmet, and I really like not having to worry about messing it up. It’s not the most attractive cut in the world, but I pull it off.

Andrea

Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana

I have driven past Deli Mexicana on Germantown Parkway just south of the Wolf River bridge for a long time and always wondered what a Mexican deli was. I finally checked it out today and I was highly impressed. Everything is fresh, handmade, and authentically Mexican.

If you’re looking for a place to gorge yourself on queso dip, fajitas, and a #35 combo-Â this place isn’t for you. It’s apparent that this pisses some people off, because a note posted next to the register lets customers know that if you’re rude to the staff, they will refuse to serve you. After working in Germantown in the past, I can probably name a few of the residents that would go in with their inflated sense of entitlement and get belligerent when they can’t have an overflowing bowl of melted cheese to eat before their main course. I digress…

This place is to Mexican food what Green Bamboo is to Vietnamese food. Check the website for a menu & directions: Las Tortugas

Andrea

Tulsa Tough Day 3 (Sort of)

When we woke up this morning and flipped on the local news, the weather radar showed some pretty bad storms headed our way. Sure enough, by 9:30, Tulsa was being ravaged by hail and sustained winds of 50-60mph. After the storms let off, we went to drive down to the course & find out what the race schedule would be like. When we arrived, the place looked like a war zone- tents had been blown over/apart, limbs and debris were everywhere, and a powerline was strewn across the road on one part of the course. An official told us that everything was canceled, and that it would take far too long to get the course cleaned up enough to ride on, and it was possible that more storms were headed our way.

Bummer! The course looked tough- it featured a long, somewhat steep climb as well as a decent that led into a hairpin turn to the start/finish stretch. I was really looking forward to testing my climbing legs up against the sprinters who had outrun me the last two races!

Even bigger bummer- I just looked at the website, and they actually had the mens/womens pro races as scheduled… WTF?!?!?! Only 28 finished the race- I guess a lot of other racers talked to the same mis-informing official as we did.

On the way back to Memphis, Ryan and I stopped at Nick’s BBQ and Catfish in Carlisle, AR. It’s quickly becoming a staple part of our road trips to/from races further west. If you’re ever driving through the area, check it out!