Resolutely Reviewing & Reissuing Resolutions

Posted on by lindsay
At the beginning of 2007, I made five resolutions for the upcoming year, with the following mixed results: 1. Curb my rampant road rage. Have you ever had a great idea in theory, but in practice it turned out to be challenging and difficult to implement, so you instead scrapped it and settled for something much easier? Me too, with law school, my career plans, and this pointless resolution. Instead of getting control of my anger towards incompetent, slow drivers who crawl in the left lane and gawk at accidents and don't use their turn signals and leave their turn signals on while exiting because THEY'RE MAKING A RIGHT INTO THE TREES OF COURSE AND CUT PEOPLE OFF AND WAIT TOO LONG AT TURNS AND DON'T GO WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGES. Instead of dealing with these people more productively, I just stopped going to work and started working from home. ...continue reading.

Dream Big

Posted on by lindsay
This is the story of how I came to be riding my bicycle up and down a six-story parking garage the other night in thirty-five degree weather. As I have mentioned in several posts over the last few months, I got really involved in mountain biking this past summer. It started casually enough - I bought a bike, did a few local races, bought a nicer bike, raced some more - and now it has become an obsession. I'm a board member of my regional bike club, I own two bikes, I have raced in seven races, I ride with half a dozen different riding buddies, I subscribe to a biking magazine and own eight different bike-related books, and I am currently in possession of three separate bike store gift certificates. This has all happened in just under six months, which means if I continue at this rate, two years ...continue reading.

Oops, I Did It Again

Posted on by lindsay
I was riding my bike on the W&OD Railroad Trail the other day and out of nowhere, a bird flew into my wheel. Because I am a bad person (and I was doing endurance training at twenty miles per hour), I didn't stop. Shortly thereafter, I came upon a boy (probably about ten years old) kicking a rock around in the middle of the trail. He hopped over to the left as I rapidly approached, allowing me sufficient space to pass him, but then at the last second he stepped directly back into my path. Apparently he didn't see me because he was preoccupied with his stone. I slammed on my brakes, but only managed to slow enough to skid into him. Because I am a very bad person (and he was a rubbery, obnoxious child), I not only didn't stop but yelled, "Damnit, kid!" And because I am me, ...continue reading.

That Time We Swore To Never Volunteer Again

Posted on by lindsay
As part of my newfound addiction to mountain biking, Bobby and I have become very active in volunteering for various biking events, including trail maintenance days and races. We had volunteered for an all-day adventure race yesterday and were scheduled to arrive at Fountainhead Regional Park at 5:30am. Do you know how early that is for a Sunday morning? Yeah, neither do I. After oversleeping, we arrived a little after 6:30am.Our first task of the day was to manage the parking lot and help arriving racers determine where to go. This turned out to be a piece of cake, especially because people drove straight past me as I tried to wave them down to stop. One nice person even waved back as he flew by. I thought that was very friendly.After working the parking lot, Bobby and I hiked through the woods to Shock-A-Billy Hill, a particularly steep, rutted descent ...continue reading.

Quitting Pose

Posted on by lindsay
Up until this past weekend, I maintained an incredibly skeptical view of yoga, pilates, and other similar exercise/meditation routines. I saw exercise as something that required panting and sweating and bruising, none of which could be provided while listening to peaceful music and standing in a downward dog pose. However, I have been hearing such positive reviews of yoga lately that I decided to include it as part of my new training program for mountain biking. I purchased a video entitled "Yoga for Athletes" on Saturday and tried it out for the first time tonight.If you are not familiar with yoga and are seeking a way to relax and meditate, allow me to suggest a few activites that you may find more relaxing than yoga:1. Sprinting uphill while carrying cinderblocks2. Cagefighting3. Vaccinating feral catsThe program I selected to try tonight was called "Basic - 20 minutes" and included poses such ...continue reading.

Another time I should have stayed home.

Posted on by lindsay
My latest search for high-quality cycling shoes took me to the Performance Bike store by my house the other night. I hate this particular store; after a series of very bad experiences with the employees earlier this summer, I complained at length to management and swore openly to never return. The problem is that this store is conveniently located, often filled with excellent sales, and possessing of a rather decent supply of bike products. When all else fails, I often creep shamefully back into the store, ignoring the gloating employees entirely, and regretfully buy what I need. Which is how I ended up there the other night - it was the only local store where I knew I could find the shoes I wanted to try on. I dragged Bobby into the store with me ("Don't leave my side for one second while we're in there!") and went straight to ...continue reading.