Okay, okay. I actually love babies

um...no. but i wanted to clear up a little misunderstanding brought to light by my readership. i do not condone the murder of ivan basso's offspring. or anybody's toddlers, for that matter. except some baby spiders. they creep me out.

i was just trying to point out that ivan and i belong together; not he, me, michaela and whatever the new one's name is. i just can't bring myself to feel maternal. the last time i got maternal was when i hugged adam mcgrath (with his broken clavicle) and tried to be careful not to crush his healing bones. here's the only thing i know about babies: you can't leave them unattended in a hot car. that's it. over and out.

some kinds of babies i do giggle over (plus kitties):

Good morning! Time to cast your vote

who looks better? as if it's even close...














ivan basso, are you blind?

Home again, Home again; Jiggity Jog

i am so excited. i am going home today. my soul is plum wore out from 9 months of travel. i know i do this myself, but i'm tired just the same.
i'll update in a more respectable manner when i have my own 4 walls around me. i've owned my condo over a month and slept in it 6 nights. nice.
peace

Weekend destination: Hadley, Mass.

this past weekend i ventured further northward (resisting the urge to dive south of the mason-dixon line for some much-needed warmth!) to visit part of my east-coast-cross-crew. i have missed them so!
we did some of this:

Updates in chronological order? Whatever...

so my time in berkeley, california was fun fun fun. the vanderkitten krew is rockin. i had such a good time. and i got a kittyfix: ophelia, the queen vanderkitten; and chubby belly kitty, the junior heir to the throne. niiiice.

something else i got my fill of: hybrid cars and people in dansko clogs. i swear to you, on the damn bible, that every single block in berkeley had at least one toyota prius . no joke. trust me. here is a photo of the only non-hybrid car i saw. mark z., vanderkitten higher-up, came up with "pre-i: noun, a collection of toyota prius automobiles, usually seen in the western part of the united states".
he and i even played "slug-prius" on the way to dinner one night. i won. remember "slugbug"? same premise. then it was the endless joking: "betchyabite-a-prius".

oh, you're not laughing. i amuse only myself sometimes.

I stand corrected

i am so guilty of making faces at my buddies from northern climes when they talk about training in the cold. it's preposterous to think of going outside in sub-50 temperatures! but they roll their eyes at me because they used to know something i didn't. but now i do: training in 32-degree weather is awesome! i went for a 3-hour ride yesterday. all by myself. with a ton of warm champion system clothing. on a semi-busy road. and my water bottle froze in 45 minutes. but i loved it! it was amazing! i can't really explain it. i guess it helped that connecticut is gorgeous any time of year. that the reservoir was icing over at the edges. that the trees are bare and dramatic against a grey sky. that i had a great day up until that point and afterward. all those things.
and today, more of the same:

so, i stand corrected, friends from up north. you know who you are:
adam myerson, dan vaillancourt, keith jennings, amy wallace, alie kenzer, pat walsh, mike cody, matt white, steve weller, john hanson, tim johnson, john walrod, richard sachs, lyne bessette, adam bergman, kyle douglas, tara ross, stephan kincaid, mike hebe, jeremy powers, kirstin robbins, jonas & jame carney, cristoph herby (from switzerland, for christ's sake!), smess, garrett peltonen, frank pipp, rebecca wellons

oh, and my team photo. i hate my big chin. see, that's where some of the winter weight resides. yuck. ps: we will have aegis bicycles, not gt. they are sweet!

Cyclo-Cross Nationals Recap!

it's monday. i'm a bit bored. i'm in connecticut, (wo)manning the targetraining tri & cycle shop for the week while jeff is (playing) in boulder. i don't know enough about bikes to really help, but i'll smile and try to blind someone with my pro-ness. ha.
so i thought i'd recap nationals, albeit a month later. it was freakin dope.
i started the weekend (december 15th) by doing my first (and possibly last) master's race. the 30+ master's national championship. yes, i'm technically 30 in the eyes of the uci with cyclocross. sandbagger. anyhoo, it started out hot and anna milkowski (tt teammate this year! see warm fuzzy photo below) owned the hole shot. we were in hot pursuit, and soon it was me, rebecca wellons, dede winfield, kristi berg, and betsy shogren chasing anna.

anna made our jobs easier, however, by crashing herself really hard (i was worried as hell when seeing her laying on the ground, holding her head) on a section running into some dirt/tree roots. she survived but she broke her helmet and that really sucked. soon, dede took off and me and kristi berg chased after her. it was me and kristi for the rest of the race, and i would attack her but 1 lap later she'd claw her way back. dangit! so, on the last lap, i attacked on a steep section, knowing i was powering up those faster than her. i held it for the rest of the race and took 2nd. it was a good lesson for me. i told myself i could do it, took the risk, and it worked, damnit. i rode like the devil himself was chasing me. again, a good lesson: don't piss off the devil or you'll think he's chasing you in a 'cross race.
check the podium. notice the gratuitous cheerwine can in hand. sweet! ps: i am 10 lbs overweight in this photo. but it was 10 lbs of fast so whatever.
cara got top 10 after getting the 'reverse hole shot' (last). girlie can ride a bike.
my master's performance gave me confidence going into sunday's race, and i was happy and relaxed. i got a callup, and gave richard fries (announcer homeboy) a hug before rolling down to the start. i still get chills thinking about it. the cheers, the crowd, the warm weather. aw yeah!
the race went off, and i was about 10th wheel going into the hole shot. we all chased katie compton, as per usual. then, on the backside where there was a paved section, i used my newfound confidence to tell myself: 'damnit, mandy, you don't have to settle for riding 10th wheel! get your ass up there!' so i attacked the group i was with and caught up to ann knapp, national champ of 2002. big deal-yo for me! i rode with ann for a few laps, attacked her a few times, and was stoked to make up ground on her. at one point, i was in 6th place moving in on 5th (rhonda mazza at the time), and killin it (see photo). but, i derailed myself a bit when ann attacked me on a straight stretch, and i couldn't quite claw my way up to her. so, i was sitting 7th. this was good. but then i did the ultimate rookie mistake. i crashed. not because i can't handle my bike (though pendry and storm would argue otherwise), but because i was riding carbon wheels i'd never ridden till 30 minutes before my race. i locked them up going around a tree, fell over, and was passed by christine vardaros shortly thereafter. bummer! i was doing so well!
on the last lap, i was blown (which doesn't usually happen; i get stronger as time goes on), and some girl passed me in the last 500 meters. i was so bummed!
i settled for 9th, but was assured by my buddies that it was an impressive result no less. i guess i agree. i was freakin stoked to hear dave towle and richard fries yelling my name, and to hear people i didn't even know cheer for me.
nationals was amazing. gimme more. fellow charlottesvillian dede winfield got 4th and she is amazing! 1st was katie compton, 2nd georgia gould (who i beat once 2 years ago for my first uci win), 3rd kerry b. from tokyo joes, 4th dede, 5th ann, 6th rhonda mazza, 7th christine, 8th (a girl who's name i forgot), then me...there you have it.
okay, recap over. thanks for readin!

oh, and as always, there was some of this during saturday's men's elite nationals race. thanks, pezcyclingnews.com: