The only baby I like

that is, until my sister has one...awwww.....such a beautiful couple, i know!

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but back to my original point:

first you have this

then you get thissecond "awwww...." of the day
raycer is vanderiffic!

Though the parents don't have a TV or electricity

sometimes i can get on the izzanet. i'm back in the blogging world.
hope everyone is dandy. i'll post updates as i can. and pics. lotsa pics. oregon is spectacular. the jrl ranch is one of the most beautiful places on the earth.
some pics for your thursday:
me and erinne willock during the montreal stage race. this was a dirty, dirty crit. i looked like a coal miner when all was said and done. but such fun! i even had to dodge a soccer ball that someone threw out on the course. last year at athens twilight a black cat ran across the course in front of me. this year; a soccer ball in canada. what does next year hold? yikes!
oh wait, next year holds very little in terms of bike racing. darden owns my soul, and i love it.
me climbing manayunk at philly. so fierce.

It's about time

thanks to the efforts of my stellar team, i finally won a bike race.

yeehaw!

now, off to the nature valley grand prix

how long IS this tunnel?

and when will the end be nigh?

sheesh.

amid my accounting maelstrom (homework due today...like every other day. what is this crap?), i need to update my dear reader(s?):

1. when hauling ass up philly's manayunk wall, mandy needs to make two trips.

2. it's amazing how when you are injured, suddenly everyone has an md.

3. my parents rock for coming all the way to philly to watch their daughter get dropped every trip up manayunk. i convinced them that this was the last year i'd race at such a high level, and they took the brief hiatus from the ranch and the cows and flew out. too bad i didn't end up racing at a very high level that day...but i think they had fun and saw a day in the life of the mandykins. i even got my number drawn as one of the randoms for the usada drug testing, so that was double-fun.

4. i've never drank as much water/gatorade as i did before my drug test. it was so painful i was crying. it sucks when you can't pee in a 200mL cup. i am still bloated from all that liquid in my system.

5. the cheat is the targetraining team mascot. his name is troublesome, but that's his name. jake's grandmother's name was helen keller. no joke. so i'm sure we can live with "the cheat" being our mascot. it's on his birth certificate and everything.

6. roman candles needle their way into your psyche.

this one's for the boys

so, you menfolk missed out yesterday.

here's the scenario: after every stage, there are showers available before the evening banquet. after yesterday's race in the pouring rain (during which anna was off the front for 3 of the 11 laps!!!!!), we were all quite dirty.

being un-shy cyclist types used to peeling off spandex in parking lots, we all pile into the provided locker room to shower. the showers had stalls, meant to be utilized by one woman at a time.

but that doesn't stop the (hot) italians.

i see one go into a shower. then another joins them. then 4 more. suddenly, it's every guy's dream right there in the locker room in granby, quebec; during the middle of le tour du grand montreal.

i, being captain obvious, feel the need to point that out. out loud. most of those assembled laughed. i think that they understood i was complimenting the lovely ladies of safi pasta/zara/manhattan. they are such hot chicks.

oh, and remember how i said that monday's circuit race had 30 turns per lap? i was wrong. helen kelly, webcor builders pro cycling's resident cpa, counted 32. multiply that by the number of laps (8) and you have: high math.

that, or 256.

tomorrow, tomorrow, i love you, tomorrow

it's only a day away

and i am so screwed.

perhaps it was silly of me to think that i could shove 15 (yes, 15) chapters of managerial accounting into my noggin in the past 36 hours. did i mention that i have a bachelor's degree in studio art? the only math-like class i took was math 107. and i got a "c" in economics (worst grade in college...ironically jake is getting his phd in that subject. i never helped him study).

so i have two major assignments due tomorrow at 11 p.m., and believe me that i will use every hour between now and then to do them. excluding the times when i'll be throwing down with the world's best at the uci tour of montreal. a little 107k circuit race with 30 turns (no joke) per lap. cakewalk.

remember how i said that the world cup start list read like the freakin world championships?! well, the tour of montreal will, too. except the fact that the actual world champion (holland's marrianne vos, who is so cute and sweet!) went home to do a "hard" race. i wish i was that badass. did i mention that she was 2006 cyclo-cross world champ, too? hot dutch hot damn!

i have no current pics of moi. so i will leave you with a few andrea-isms. gotta love my witty teammate:

1. "i wasn't getting dropped, i was just recovering"

2. "50 years from now, children will learn how a world cup bike race started the war between the united states and canada". said as our beloved d.s. greg was being uber-obnoxious (in french) to an unwitting canadian in a camry while driving our targetraining-emblazoned team volvo.

andrea is so hot

Why be scared?

it's just a world cup.
there are only a few dozen world champions lining up. the start list only reads like a who's who of women's pro cycling. start list at world's, start list today...what's the difference?
holy crap, i'm doing a world cup.
11 times up mont royal in beautiful montreal, quebexico (thanks, jonny sundt for the wordsmithing). awesome!!!!!!!
holy crap i'm doing a world cup.