coasting around the high desert

Man, bike racing has fallen off a cliff. The good road races are all over and I had to miss Salem Fairview this weekend to go to Bend. I lined up for the northwest crossing crit and pretty much just rode around in circles doing not a lot of anything for an hour. Fun, but nothing doing in the results department. I think the brain is not in bike racing mode any more.

Classes suddenly ended and summer rolled up along with a part-time job through the b-school, and the lack of work overload hit me in a slight panic - what the hell am I supposed to do now with all this time?

And yet... there's never enough. The to-do list keep growing with all the crap I put off during the school year - building a fence, cleaning the roof, changing that leaky faucet - and to top it off we're in the middle of summer harvest on berries and other goodies that I intend to stock up on for the next 12 months' worth of jam, pie, and other eats while the getting is good and cheap.

I went out this morning with Lisa and picked approximately one butt-load of strawberries, the last pick of the season for the place out on Seavy Loop. We got half over-ripe and half firm berries, but more than good enough for frozen stock and low sugar jam. Talk about some sweet fruit - the stuff is like a wet candy. That should brighten up a few dark evenings in January.

Soon I'll be walking around the woods with a rifle looking to fill the freezer with meat, cursing the school work load and wondering how I pissed away my summer without either sufficient beer drinking or bike riding.

Time to get a little of each done...

Damn summer is short.

how to stay entertained during b-school final presentations

TTT #2

Took home the gold on Sunday. That felt good after the yellow squad kept showing up to our little OBRA races and dominating. 11 seconds is as good as 11 minutes for the ability to stand on top of a plywood podium out in Tangent, Oregon. I'll take it.

This year we went substantially faster than last, due to having Rob English to pull us around. Homie can TT like no other, and that was a good thing since Paul, Nick and I had raced the road race on Saturday and beaten up the legs a little bit. We went flying around the TTT course wondering if it was all going to hold together or if we were going to detonate completely. Luckily it worked out, and I don't think we could have gone much faster.

It did make me think, though... I really should get a real TT frame. I just don't fit so well on the converted steel frame.

The week has been a bust for riding. Wrapping up too many projects, and evening thunderstorms get in the way. Next week, though... 4oo miles, 6 pastries, 21 cups of coffee, 3 fishing trips, 4 naps. Mark my word. I might actually be fast by July.