GA Southern and other stuff

So we the first race of road season was last weekend, hosted by Georgia Southern. It was a fun weekend, it's always great to travel with the team. Race wise this weekend was not great for me, however the team did great! The weekend started off with an early TTT. It was cold and windy but we are used to that... However it has been almost 2 weeks since I've gotten to ride on an actual road. Eric helped me build my road bike earlier the week before and it was the first time that I rode that bike outside this year.

So the TTT was ruff since I did not get a good warm up in and like I said earlier hadn't ridden on the road much let alone in a pace line. Jake and Lucas had to do most of the work, sorry guys. I figured that the TTT would open my legs up for the crit later on that night. The crit was flat and in a parking lot but it had 8 turns... Ya, I know right? The evening was very windy but I fellt good on the line even though I was in a horrible starting position. The line basically went straight for 50 feet or so then there was a sharp left, I was at the back into the turn and went to shift into my big ring, well the chain jumped the ring and went around my foot... by the time I got it on I was off the back and the field was a good ways ahead. This all happened in a matter of 6 secs. The wind was so strong that once you were alone you stayed alone... I spent 3-4 laps trying best I could to catch them but with no luck and was pulled. I felt like a retard and went and rode around some since I only got to race a grand total of 15 mins.

The women dominated as Rachel lapped the field like 10 times or something and they got like 1,2,3,4,5. The A men did really well. Zac beat Chris Butler who now races for BMC, he totally kicked butt. The RR was a little better fitness wise, but organizational wise the race was a mess. The C riders caught us then merged. We would get up to speed then stop, then get back up and stop. Then our pace car missed a turn, the whole field had to turn around. The women got totally lost and kind of rode around for a while. Carla and Rachel were on like a 50 minute breakaway.

Other than that the weather has been horrible, it has snowed everyday since Feb. and wont stop. We had a weekend of sunshine and 40-50 degree weather which was amazing! Most of the roads were clear and it was a big morale booster. I have watched about 100 movies since riding the trainer everyday for almost 2 months.
Well that's what has been happening lately. No race this weekend but we are supposed to have decent weather so I plan to ride outside both days as long as possible to enjoy the sun cause who know when it will be back. Here are some recent pics. Later!

So I need to keep my promise...

Sorry to my loyal fans, I know I keep promising that I will keep posting adventures and then don't, I apologize. Now that I am in a journalism class I figured this would be good practice for my wealthy future as a journalist... not!
So It's been snowing like crazy here, it wasn't so bad during J-term but February has been the month of blizzards... I haven't got to ride outside for like 2 weeks! I have been watching movies on netflix and riding the rollers, I'm running out of movies to watch! Other than that I am just getting settled into this semester and getting ready for road season to start, hopefully I have a good season.
Well now that school has started back up I will be posting and I plan to post from races and such. Here are so pictures of some recent stuff. Later...

Engaged???

Yes it is true, we are engaged, as of around 6 p.m. last night. So this is how the events unfolded... A while back I told Rebecca that I had gotten her a present. I know how much she loves reading, she's a nerd, and that I found a rare book finder and they were tracking down a rare 1st edition manuscript of some great love story. Well when I told her that I had gone to the jewelers and picked out the ring and placed my order, they said it would take 2-3 weeks for it to be ready for me to see and for it to be set and such. So 2-3 weeks passes and no word from them, so I call and they have been backed up because their son plays soccer for Avery High and they keep winning and keep going to more playoff games. I was fine with that since they are friends and I know that this is their sons last year and it's great that Avery got as far as they did. So like I said I didn't have a problem. So I made up some story that the rare book finders where Agoraphobics and operated out of their house and only through phone or email, but they didn't have a phone because they didn't believe in them. So they used the phone at the gas station when the wife goes out to by her can of dip. Yes I know, it was a great cover. I am actually very proud of this one seeing as how it's so outrageous and I pulled it off so well.

So the ring was finished and I went to go pick it up and it looked great! If you ever need a jeweler go to Mountain Jewelers in Newland, they are the best! So my plan on giving it to her was to get a really skanky love novel that you get at the grocery store. The one with the Fabio type dude on the cover, with his shirt ripped open and his hair flowing in the wind, all while he drives a pirate ship or rides some horse, you know the kind. So all I could find was a book called "Heart Dance" It had a bare male chest on the front so it fit the general description of what I wanted. So I went to cut out a little nook for where the ring would go and I started to read the book. This was a book that was made to cut up is all I can say about the content... If you ever see it I suggest checking it out for a good laugh.

So I cut out the nook and put the ring in it and wrapped the book with construction paper, it was all I had. I figured it would add to the beauty of the book. So we get to her place after picking up some stuff for dinner and I go "I have your present!" and I hand her the construction paper cover book, Needless to say the look on her face was not one you would think of someone who was about to get engaged, but she didn't know that was happening. So she rips off the paper, which wasn't hard, and looks at the bare chest of the man fairy on the cover and goes "What is this?". She flips it over and reads the back and is like "What is this?". She was about to throw it at me when I told her to read it. She flips it open right to the ring and then out of shock she slams it closed. Then I tell her to read it again and she opens it and I take the ring out and pop the question! She said yes of course and the rest is history as they'd say. We then proceeded to make our calzone and eat the whole thing and half a pumpkin pie. It was a good night!

So that is the story of how we got engaged! I hope you all like it and thanks for all the congratulations, we are happy to have great friends and family! I will post more shinanagins, since I'm engaged I think I could have fun with this in pulling some great shinanagins. Well until we have more, later...

Cross Weekend!!!

So I finally got my cross bike built up and race ready! This was my first race back, I missed last weeks cause I was sick/had to work. I didn't do anything special result wise except finish, but I had a lot of fun! The weather resembled that of euro cross races, conditions that you see of races on youtube. The fog was thick and the mud was thicker! It was really cold but once you got racing it wasn't that bad. Rebecca came to support and take pictures, she said it wasn't that horribly cold.
Eric destroyed the Pro 1/2 race, he had like a 3 min gap, maybe more! Nic got 3rd which was awesome! I can't race this weekend cause I am on duty :( But I plan on riding and training hard so I can DOMINATE the next weekends race!

Great riding and a pumpkin...

So on Thursday it was mine and Rebecca's 2 year anniversary. We had a great day, well she had to work during the day, but our evening events where great. I got her a massage, which she really needed, we went and got sushi, watched the new Office, and ate the wonderful pumpkin pie that she made. It was so good, no pics because we ate it too fast...
Since she was working during the day I figured I would go out and ride, it was too nice not to. I did the blueberry loop but the edited version since I was on a road bike and didn't feel like getting stranded... I ended up getting some great pictures, but they don't do the colors or view justice. You had to be up there to get the full affect, I tried to bring back proof to prove that my story was true...

Fizik the Woolly Worm.

I found this little guy on the road, he was looking for his friends but sadly they have all been run over or eaten by birds. So I picked him up and put him on my bars to see how long he would stay with me. He hung in there for a good while, I named him Fizik. But sadly a big gust of wind took him from me. It was like in "Cast Away" when Tom Hanks lost Wilson, I grew so attached to that little worm, we spent a whole 5 minutes of climbing together, we really bonded, he will be greatly missed. NOT!!!

I was surprised that there where so many leaves out still, we have had some really windy, rainy days. Plus I don't think 2 days of snow helped either. But they are still here and beautiful.

This is the pumpkin we carved!

We got this guy yesterday and carved him up. We also baked the seeds, they are so good. I forgot how nasty the inside of a pumpkin is, and the guts where soo cold. Hopefully pumpkins last more that 2 days in the mountains. In Florida they last for like 2-3 days before they rot, because it is so hot and nasty. I think since it's nice an col that this little guy will last for a while, I think we will sacrifice him when we have our bond fire this weekend or next. It shall be epic, more info on that to come later... Till then, stay groovy...

Once again it is long time no post...

Sorry to my loyal fans, I have been busy and have not updated in a while, I apologize. So here is what has been happening lately... School has started, I am RA for 3rd floor Tennessee. Rebecca has been enjoying her new job in admissions, except the traveling does get old after a while. Nimbus has gotten very big, and is still growing! I am still working for the B&B which is great! I am pretty busy with class work and being on duty a lot. It seems like I am on duty every night of the week... I love my classes, lots of work, but fun none the less.
One of my fun classes is printmaking, we take slabs of linoleum and carve out designs or pictures on it and then roll ink on the carving and then print it on paper from there. It takes a while to make sure the carving is right but it is really cool! Here are a few examples of what I've done so far. They might not be the best but I'm learning...


I also am taking web design, we got new macs in the mac lab now! They are so sweet, we now have Adobe CS4 and we can burn cd/dvds on the computers, were as before none of them worked... Eric is in that class with me and we have some fun. Cept he isn't very smart and doesn't know how to turn on the computer or use a mouse... It's ok, he's kind of... special...

Like I said Nimbus is getting much bigger! He is so cute and sweet and will be getting even bigger as time goes on! I can't wait till he is all big and fat.
Well that's pretty much a small recap, I don't really have anything funny to report but I am sure I will in the future. When I do I will post it ASAP. I will be better at my postings and will update weekly, at the least. Thanks and get ready for some stories!

Kitty

So Rebecca got a kitten! He is a scottish fold and we got him from Kristi's mom. His name is Nimbus, but I call him turd. He is a little turd, always running around and jumping on my computer when I use it. He tries to eat my food when I am and he is always under my feet when I walk. But he is sweet and cute! Now I am packing to go home, it has been a while since I've been there, it will be nice to see a few old friends and see what new stupid people have moved to Florida... I will post pics and stories from home when I get a chance!