New News

The new best album of all time of the universe forever is called Turis Fratyr by a Band called Equilibrium.

After about a year of cultivating my hairs I finally had to get a trim. See photos below.

Before:







After:





If this doesn't make me faster I don't know what will.

Mega-props (10⁶) to Giana for the thoughtful portraits and her dexterous scissor-wielding hands.

In unrelated news, my poster and I placed 3rd in the Institute of Food Technologists' annual meeting graduate student research poster competition in the food chemistry division. To make the award winning poster I just used the microsoft power point 'auto-content wizard'.

Last one

Since my last post I raced in Alabama, and then raced again the following weekend in Virginia. The first race went poorly. I didn't race very well mentally, which is not a surprise. The second weekend I crashed on the last lap, which was a bummer for a few reasons. I knew immediately it was a bummer because when I regained consciousness I knew without having to look that I had broken another helmet with my head. The other reason was that I also broke my saddle and wasn't going to finish the race. I found out later that I was riding in the top three within a minute of the race leader, that was the last bummer.
Oh, and I had to move because one of my neighbors broke a water pipe while I was in Canada. My floors and walls are all having to be replaced and my condo is in shambles. School + moving + crashing = mtb season is over.

No worries, 'cross season is just around the corner. It looks like I'll be a full time student this Fall so I plan to win the ACCC conference champion title again and head to Bend, OR for another run at the national championships. This year I will not be including a 1.5 week stint with swine flu in my training plan. I have a hunch this will help my performance.


Danville, VA race pix:





Bump 'n Grind Race photos courtesy of http://www.samuelgussphotography.com

Devastational

I drove a lot this past week. First to Massachusetts, then Canada; repeat then back south. Mostly I went to race my mountain bike in Canada. My bike is falling apart and dudes who race for UCI points are fast. I promptly had my pride handed to me in a doggy bag. The courses were fun so even when you're losing you still can have fun pedaling. Mix one part devastation with one part motivational and you can sum up my races with devastational.

I started around 70th and finished around 40th. Bonus points for super fun riding in Western Mass between races and super fun riding partner friend Justin (Wolverine: see blog right) who went crazy fast and furious to start in the 70s and finish in the 20s.

Since I won't be able to get a new bike as quickly as I would I'll probably make mtb season end early and start 'cross training.

Mullet-Hawk

I want to do the right thing. When the time comes I want to be sure that my new hair cut will make me faster. I plan to straddle the fine line between mullet and mohawk, which will be henceforth referred to as the mullet-hawk. I can barely contain my excitement. Just thinking about my new haircut is making my legs more vascular, my quads bigger and my tan lines more defined. This could be the competitive edge I need heading to Canada.

A quick google-style image inquiry into the world of the 'euro-mullet' yielded shocking results: cyclists have been using the mullet-hawk as an ergogenic aid for quite some time.

Exhibit A: http://speedtheorycyclingteam.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-train-make-his-winning-move-in.html




Coincidence? I think not.


Exhibit B: http://djones.myncblogs.com/2008/12/02/is-the-euro-mullet-still-in-style/
very coincidental. The mullet featured here is on my NCSU 'cross teammate Brain Sain's head.





Exhibit C: http://goodtimecyclingblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/well-well-well-tim-johnson.html
It apparently works equally as well for cyclocross.

I fell down

I don't usually crash my bike, but last Sunday I fell down. I wasn't paying attention and rode my front wheel off the side of a wooden bridge. The bridge was covered with roofing shingles for added traction which felt less than wonderful against my skin as I face-planted into it.

Considering the fact that my wheel fell out out on the first lap and I crashed on the second lap, the fact that I still won was enough to take the sting away.

Photos and results:

http://documents.clubexpress.com/documents.ashx?key=usxJ6E6EJ0KdUoAmMJIYisao6xqgbNaZK3uNt3JWy3EZW8To8cVBuejNkgqz89y81odOlIUIuuM%3d
http://www.ecvelo.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=984060&module_id=49780














The Euro-mullet makes me faster.