Thursday, July 17, 2008
Done!
On Tuesday, I passed my final oral exam, so I'm pretty much done being a grad student. I had a hard time yesterday (day 1 of being pretty much done) because I didn't have a "cause" anymore. I wandered around a lot. That didn't last long- after I came home from school, I ate some supper and realized that it was 5:30 and I had NOTHING TO DO! It was sweet. I decided a good thing to do was to go for a bike ride. The Crosscheck is the only functioning "fast bike" in the stable right now, so I loaded up my pannier and headed to the Gateway trail. 2 hours and a broken fender later, I returned happy as could be. Bikes are fun. During my ride, I found my old cause from last year... bike racing. This morning I endured intervals on my trainer in the backyard because bike racing is my replacement cause. Less than 2 months until race day!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Almost done!
I printed the first nearly complete draft of my dissertation- 183 pages not including Appendix A, which is still at Purdue University. I'm expecting Appendix A to arrive by this weekend. Maybe I'll top 200 pages of smartness once Appendix A is added.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The bionic arm is a sometimes treat AND another degree of nerdiness
Saw the Dr this week. I guess my diligent PT has paid off and I can ride my bike without my bionic arm at my discretion. Rad. I really don't mind wearing it all that much... but I will mind a lot when its 75 degrees and warmer.
However, after the badminton showdown at Jay Cooke State Park last weekend, I know that the bionic arm is absolutely necessary for badminton. F-steve was talking a lot of smack about being a great badminton player. He was good, no doubt, but it took him 2 overtimes to beat me in our head-to-head match.
And now for the nerdiness...
Sideburnz and I have reached a new level of nerdiness.
Geocaching
I don't consider tromping through the woods to be nerdy, but the techy GPS part is sort of nerdy. I've been exposed to a strange world of people who look for ammo boxes, fiberglass mushrooms, and cement rocks in the woods. When you find the cache you sign the "log" in side the container you found in the woods. You can also sign the online log to let the www know that you found the cache. I figure its for gamers who need outside time. I even got a personal welcome from "King Boreas," another local geocacher.
Next up- tearing apart my legs in mtb race (s). No, I really haven't been mtbing this year. No, I'm not riding my geared bike because my fork is still broken. Yes, I have an advanced degree in science. No, I'm not smart.
However, after the badminton showdown at Jay Cooke State Park last weekend, I know that the bionic arm is absolutely necessary for badminton. F-steve was talking a lot of smack about being a great badminton player. He was good, no doubt, but it took him 2 overtimes to beat me in our head-to-head match.
And now for the nerdiness...
Sideburnz and I have reached a new level of nerdiness.
Geocaching
I don't consider tromping through the woods to be nerdy, but the techy GPS part is sort of nerdy. I've been exposed to a strange world of people who look for ammo boxes, fiberglass mushrooms, and cement rocks in the woods. When you find the cache you sign the "log" in side the container you found in the woods. You can also sign the online log to let the www know that you found the cache. I figure its for gamers who need outside time. I even got a personal welcome from "King Boreas," another local geocacher.
Next up- tearing apart my legs in mtb race (s). No, I really haven't been mtbing this year. No, I'm not riding my geared bike because my fork is still broken. Yes, I have an advanced degree in science. No, I'm not smart.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The bionic woman (aka wraptastic)
Yesterday was the debut of my fashion accessory for the cycling season- a sully brace.
This is the trade off for not having shoulder surgery now. Surgery would take me out of competition for 4 months. The doc thought I could be on a bike 2 months after surgery, but it would have to be a recumbent. Delaying surgery until winter was an easy choice.
The sully brace has lots of neat qualities. Not only do I need a friend to wrap all the velcro straps around my shoulder, but it instantly turns a comfortable 70 degree evening into a sweatfest. I suspect in a few days, the odor produced by my brace will keep any competitors far away from me (hopefully behind me). I also had the pleasure of accidentally folding over the elastic on my jersey sleeve when I put on the brace. The end result was a nasty elastic burn on my upper arm. It makes me look tough.
On the up side, this neoprene-fuzzy velcro device did what it was supposed to- keep my shoulder where it belongs. I would have had a rough time at Buck Hill with out it, I think. PT starts on Monday. Hopefully after some serious PT, I can retire the brace. Until then, keep an eye out for other people wearing the sully brace. I'm sure everyone will want to look as fast as me.
This is the trade off for not having shoulder surgery now. Surgery would take me out of competition for 4 months. The doc thought I could be on a bike 2 months after surgery, but it would have to be a recumbent. Delaying surgery until winter was an easy choice.
The sully brace has lots of neat qualities. Not only do I need a friend to wrap all the velcro straps around my shoulder, but it instantly turns a comfortable 70 degree evening into a sweatfest. I suspect in a few days, the odor produced by my brace will keep any competitors far away from me (hopefully behind me). I also had the pleasure of accidentally folding over the elastic on my jersey sleeve when I put on the brace. The end result was a nasty elastic burn on my upper arm. It makes me look tough.
On the up side, this neoprene-fuzzy velcro device did what it was supposed to- keep my shoulder where it belongs. I would have had a rough time at Buck Hill with out it, I think. PT starts on Monday. Hopefully after some serious PT, I can retire the brace. Until then, keep an eye out for other people wearing the sully brace. I'm sure everyone will want to look as fast as me.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Avoiding the sweat
Today I decided to wear a skirt to work- I will name my outfit the Tootsie Roll outfit, thanks to Paul. Its not terribly warm out (local TV stations reported ~20 degrees F at departure time), so in an effort not to freeze my legs, I wore my ski warm-up pants over my fashionable tights- not to be confused with the running/skiing tights I frequently wear. I usually get sweaty when I ride to work, so in an effort not to get sweaty in my nice clothes, I decided to ride my bike to the bus stop, take the bus as close to school as possible, then ride up the hill to my office.
Everything was going as planned- panniers were off my bike as the bus was approaching, UPass was in my hand. I boarded the bus and rode ~10 minutes to my stop near school. Now remember, the goal was not to freeze and not to get sweaty. Well, I didn't freeze on the bus, but I sure got sweaty. I neglected to prepare for the 85 degree bus ride. So, instead of sweating on my bike, I sweat on the bus. I deboarded the bus at my stop, snapped the panniers on to my bike and started riding up the hill. Then it dawned on me. I rarely get sweaty during the 2 mile ride down Como. Its the ~0.5 mile hill that gets me. I continued to sweat until I unlocked my office and frantically tore off as many layers as possible. Unfortunately none of the kids were around to watch this ordeal. They would have been amused.
So the lesson learned today is "if you don't want to get sweaty going to work, ride a bus UP the hill, not a bus TO the hill."
Everything was going as planned- panniers were off my bike as the bus was approaching, UPass was in my hand. I boarded the bus and rode ~10 minutes to my stop near school. Now remember, the goal was not to freeze and not to get sweaty. Well, I didn't freeze on the bus, but I sure got sweaty. I neglected to prepare for the 85 degree bus ride. So, instead of sweating on my bike, I sweat on the bus. I deboarded the bus at my stop, snapped the panniers on to my bike and started riding up the hill. Then it dawned on me. I rarely get sweaty during the 2 mile ride down Como. Its the ~0.5 mile hill that gets me. I continued to sweat until I unlocked my office and frantically tore off as many layers as possible. Unfortunately none of the kids were around to watch this ordeal. They would have been amused.
So the lesson learned today is "if you don't want to get sweaty going to work, ride a bus UP the hill, not a bus TO the hill."
Monday, December 17, 2007
More epic conditions
Cyclocross National Championships, Kansas City, KS
December 16, 2007
Course description: frozen ruts with greasy mud-snow on top. Intense.
Outcome: 1 bruised knee, 100+ knots in my arms and shoulders, 37th place
Photo courtesy of Matt Kriegler
Sunday, December 2, 2007
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