Dude, I'm an elite bike racer...

Can't stop watching this...



Link

Thanks to Jennifer for the find.

Giving Thanks (and alternately complaining)

This time last year was a cynical one for P&W. The Pedal was hanging over a toilet between slices of pie and I was ripping on the foul temptations of consumerism.

This year, I dare not take a the pie for granted. Some consideration to be taken for the fact that grad student income is less-than-generous and pie is generally free, I'm a lot more appreciative of our country's little Puritan gorge-fest this year--mainly because it's two extra days off. The whole "grad school is great because you get to get paid to work on whatever you want" pitch has been a big fat lie so far. There's more than a couple of things in the queue that need getting to (like all the research I was supposed to be doing but haven't gotten around to until, uh, tomorrow), and there's nothing like extra days with no class and no problem sets to get them done...

Let's face it, all I want to do is go out and ride.

In that vein, here's a few things I'm thankful for this year:

1. Tall socks. No, they're not cool, but they keep you from having to roll your pants up and down all the time.
2. Reasonable November weather. I seriously thought this was a record warm year, but apparently it's not that unusual. My perspective is probably skewed by the fact we have yet to turn on the heat in my house, w brings me to:
3. Wool. Freakin'. Blankets. When you don't heat your house, a nice Afghan patu goes a long way
4. A crew of friends that want to ride on turkey day. See y'all in the morning!
   

Eat. Drink. Be merry.

~The Wrench

"My bike is like a high maintenance girlfriend"

"Everything I buy her needs to be 'special' and there's always something wrong that she needs me to fix." ~Seth

There it is -- being into cycling is like having a high maintenance girlfriend. You spend all your money and time on her; you stop hanging out with anyone that doesn't like her; and despite her destructive influence on your life, breaking up with her sends you spiraling into a depression that makes you fat and melancholy. As you may have noticed, cycling and I have been forced to "have a little space" from each other lately. Following the metaphor, I've grown a little more normal in the waist (about 13lbs) and generally have been abusing my body to the tune of all-nighters and habitual coffee swilling for a couple of months, but like any breakup you get over it eventually and move on. Hence, I think it's time to start dating again: This weekend featured two rides for FUN , and there are definitely more on the horizon. With Captain Big-Wheel (pictured above) as wingman, it's time to go pimp some bitchin' singletrack again...