I reserve the right to pull the ripcord at any time...

and i did just that. during the tour de 'toona criterium, i decided that i was 100% over my pro career, and pulled the pin. i skedaddled back to layla (my car), and drove to the sheetz to finish my accounting homework.
i don't even know (or care) who won the race; there were 8 laps left when i drove away. pic above is of me mailing it in.

leading up to the end of my pro career, however, was fun at times.

there was drunkenness.

there was creative photography of peopleand of the beautiful pa countryside.there was crashing.there was studying of managerial accounting (entirely too much).

there were cushy red discoteque couches.

there was lang in front of a gigantic tank of manure at their host housing in the pa boonies. oh wait: all of pa is boonies.
but about the crashing. i know that not a lot of pros admit to causing crashes. it's always someone else's fault. i managed to only crash 5 times in my race career. 4 of those incidents were in the last few months. three were not my doing. and the 4th and last (hopefully) one was at the tour de 'toona. i dropped myself by taking a corner waaaaaay too fast on stage 5. 100% my fault. stupid move. i took out laura van gilder, too. i have been given strict instructions by those who love me to stop falling on the ground. aye aye.
ps: taking an accounting final on one's birthday (yesterday) is no way to ring in a new year. faaaaaa.

All that...

and a bag of chipsour ski chalet at the tour de 'toona was very swank

Math

mandy + ridiculous amounts of accounting homework + north america's hardest stage race + tired + (almost my birthday + final on my birthday) (squared)= not so good.
okay, i'm surviving, but something has to be trimmed from the above equation. today, upon getting popped off the back of one of the fastest races i've ever done, i quoted jo dee messina: "my give-a-damn's busted".
is it time to move on?

Speaking of accounting...and counting candles

my b.f.f. and favorite accountantvanderkitten, cara, is having a birthday. same age as moi. we are leos and soul sistahs.i love (and miss) you cawa!!!!!!!

Charlottesville, you have been Man(dy)wrecked

i'm not home for 5 minutes and i'm already wreaking havoc. the story unfolds like this:

friday night, come hell or high water or basso racing in le tour de france; i have to get home to charlottesville. i want to sleep in MY bed in MY condo that I own. is it too much to ask?

peace out, connecticut.

i arrive at the wee hour of 3 a.m., after subcontracting the "keep mandy awake" duties to various friends in other time zones.

i'm a bit hungry, so i heat up a snack in the microwave. it isn't on for 20 seconds before all the lights go out.

then they go back on

not to be deterred, i press "start" again.

and they go off again.

i notice that it got awfully quiet at barracks west.

i go outside.

to my right there is a bright explosion. must have been a transformer. either that, or the guinea pigs that generate our power were pissed that someone would need a few extra watts at 3 a.m. during the middle of their friday night party. well, assumptions are dangerous, little buddies.

so, all of barracks west went dark. all 300+ units. plus the neighborhood across the road. as far as i could see, everything was black.

nice work, mandy. you come home and instantly revoke electrical privileges from everybody in the 22901 zip code.

all i wanted was a snack.

see? they are too busy rooting for molly (whoever that is) and partying to properly generate the power i need for snacking at 3 a.m.

though the list of things i loathe is short...it does exist

at the top we have managerial accounting. will this ever end? i mean, will this ever end with my sanity and self-confidence intact?

in other news, more lozano butts spotted. this one of my dad at a big loop rodeo near silverton, oregon. the man throws a pretty loop.

Superweek Races 1-3

also titled: "my aegis is bombproof but my skin is not"
superweek race #1. lame lame lame but in a good part of chicago (blue island) and a great neighborhood. i got 13th in a sprint finish. some girl decided to ride into my front wheel while i was minding my own business at the front of the pack (sound familiar?). in my groundward trajectory, i had to use the girl next to me like a garbage-can lid on a sledding hill. i think she got the worst of it. my aegis was just fine (needed some adjustments by jose the sram genie in the pit), and my injuries look much much worse than they feel. cases in point (sorry that my naked hiney is in one, but there was no other way to illustrate the fact that my left hip looks like a supernova):

superweek race #2. fun crit in bensenville, near o'hare. different course than last year. i decided with 19 laps to go that this pack riding was lame and went solo for about 6 laps. i was joined by a very very nice girl named ambre from florida, and we tried to make the race interesting. in the end, it was brought back and i sprinted to a shameful 17th place.
superweek race #3. one of my favorites. alpine valley near east troy, wisconsin. an 80k (such lame shortness!) circuit race with a few punchy hills. much much fun! i helped kelly benjamin win the field sprint last year for 2nd. this year i was only helping myself. after doing my part to shatter the field on the repeated climbs, i ended up 7th in a bunch finish. very very fun race. i will definitely do it again every chance i get!
and here is bear. my favorite host dog. we stayed in a chic suburb of chicago (barrington hills) with a very very nice family (cathy and bill bishop). they rocked. bear was freakin awesome. see? he loves me.