caloso

Good for him. I did a really good job of avoiding the Freshman 15 until spring semester and then somehow manage to gain 20lbs in a month. Thanks, Blondies Pizza and Top Dog!

topflightpro

I went for the Freshman 40.

As for old music, I'm watching MTV Classic. They're having an Unplugged marathon tonight. Nirvana and now Alice in Chains - both bands whose lead singers are now dead.

hubcyclist

i know for AIC that was the last layne staley performance, nirvana may have toured a little after unplugged, but i kinda see it as kurt's swan song. so there's always a sense of melancholy when i hear those shows.

Wylde06

Im doing 2 crits tomorrow, with ~3.5 hours between the two. I dont know that ive ever had that big of a gap between races..any ideas/advice on how to prep for the second race of the day, which will likely be the harder of the 2?

canuckbelle

Immediately change out of your kit. Have a recovery drink and do what you can to stay off your feet and stay cool. Also, eat something (but not a full meal).

Ygduf

Gary's kid has lost 40lbs, mine have just about gained that much.

canuckbelle

Cat 1 upgrade approved ^_^

This was one of our big season goals. I started as a 3, finished as a 1. Took 18mo to go from 4 to 1 ^_^ The other big goal was to win the Crossroads Classic, which I also accomplished. A few races left, but they're all gravy at this point.

tetonrider

noice!


still remember being int he car when the first few chords of 'enter sandman' came on for the first time. i missed whatever lead-in to it and just knew it HAD to be metallica. sends shivers down my spine thinking about it.

TMonk

nice upgrade @canuckbelle! I figured you were already a 1 given the content of your posts over the last 6-12 mo .

revchuck 

TheKillerPenguin

That vest! So jelly!

caloso

Cobain and I were the same age. I remember how weird it was to see "1967-1994" on a magazine cover.

tetonrider

man....seeing AIC was one of my best live-music experiences. i'm sure they had tons of crappy shows, though.

still really dig that unplugged session.

big john

Today on the club ride a guy I don't know sprinted past me and promptly crashed. I heard him coming around and I looked up to see if it was a friend who is a noisey sprinter and as soon as I looked over he went cartwheeling down the road.
I don't know why he fell, maybe he unclipped, (I didn't Cinzano him). I helped him out of the road and another guy offered to stay with him, so I went on. Weird.

Homebrew01

I streamed British Olympic coverage through Eurosport somehow (via steephill).
Initially I was watching the men's RR live, then later it reverted to whatever sports they were covering.

Homebrew01

Yup.
On vacation now in Scotland, so Olympics are just a vague awareness at this point.

Heathpack 

Where in Scotland? We are going next month and so far I haven't planned anything beyond a 4 day MTB rental.

What's the highlights of what you have seen/done?

We have eight days Edinburgh (part of the is a work conference for me), 5 days Ballater (highlands, near Balmoral), 2 days Aryshire.

Homebrew01

We've been in Edinburgh for 5 days. Leaving tomorrow after going to a few "Fringe Festival" shows, touring the castle, Scottish museum, strolling about.

Then up north for sea kayaking, Ben Nevis, the canoeing Loch Ness.

Then drive down to Oxford to visit my father & brother, then to London to fly back.

Doge

I rather enjoy hearing about the kids.

rideaz

Nice! I know you weren't asking me but I'll chime in because I grew up over there, lived 20 years just south of Edinburgh. We were there in June for a month and rented mtn bikes, went to a really great park called Glentress near my parents house. We rode 2 days but could have done more. The weather was a mix of everything so be prepared for that.
Edinburgh has lots of touristy stuff, try to find some locals to direct you to the less expensive pubs/restaurants (stay away from the royal mile prices). There are several museums on the Royal Mile, some of them are free and the castle is definitely worth a visit. A heads up: they fire a cannon at 1pm every day, it scares the ***** out of visitors! Walking through the gardens by the castle and visiting the old cemeteries is really cool.
The highlands are beautiful, if you have a car there is lots of scenic driving but the roads are primitive and twisty. There's really great hiking (or hill walking as the locals call it) If you like Whisky check out some of the distilleries. I went to college in Aberdeen, it's a beautiful city as is Inverness.
I'm a little bias but I think you will find the Scottish people to be very friendly! :-)

Heathpack 

I'm sure I will have more questions but I have a few right off:
1. Is it realistic to think I could get some road biking in while in Edinburgh? I have a map of their bike paths and I am used to getting up very early. My thinking is to try to rent a road bike for 4-5 days and get out for maybe 2ish hours each morning I have the rental. My husband doesn't ride (it will be just the two of us on this trip), which is why I would get up early and just ride. We are staying 7 nights at Edinburgh Residence, which is a timeshare just to the west of old town.
2. Any ideas of where I could rent a decent road bike? I have an inquiry in to Evans Cycles, which seems to have some nice bikes but I'm not sure if they do demos. Haven't heard back from them yet. If I can't get a decent bike, I'll probably skip the idea of riding at all while in Edinburgh, which wouldn't be the end of the world. Although I'd be much happier to have a bike than not.


The mtb rental is in Ballater, which is where we head after Edinburgh. I actually don't know how to mountain bike yet, I literally just got a MTB two weeks ago. I have only ridden a total of 130 miles so far, most of that on various road surfaces. But I'm doing a skills thing on it later today and have a 2-day women's clinic at Mammoth in 2 weeks, so hopefully will be a little less clueless by the time I'm in Scotland. The shop that I'm renting the MTB from also runs classes and offers guide services. So my game plan there is two half days of guided riding/instruction and then two short rides on my own. I might pick your brain on the best things to see in this area, since you went to school nearby. I don't yet know what my questions are though.


After Ballater, we head to Troon because we have two free hotel nights at a fancy hotel down there. I'm trying to organize another half-day of MTB down there, again with a guide/instructor (still hashing out details).



From there, we fly home from Edinburgh. We do have one day unplanned before we check in to our place in Edinburgh. But since we weren't planning on renting a car until we leave Edinburgh, the most practical thing I think is going to be for us to head in to the city, it will be just too logistically difficult from a transportation perspective to do much else. So I'm not sure I could get to Glentress, although it does look appealing.

Homebrew01

If you just want to get a bit of a workout, consider a mtn bike or hybrid. Your legs won't know the difference, and that style might be more versatile in a city setting, and give you options to explore more off-the-beaten-path routes.
You can bring your own pedals, or don't focus on equipment, and wear sneakers.

Some bike rentals are booked ahead of time
We rented through Scotland Bikes, which is basically a couple of guys who keep bikes locked in the bike rack at the train station, and you meet them there after making a reservation. Definately no-frills, but cheaper, friendly. I had given them my drivers license as deposit, then realized I needed it to get the car rental. The guy drove to our house 45 minutes later so we could get it back, and gave him my wife's instead. ... If you want to swap pedals, make sure to mention it ahead of time.

Homebrew01

My father taught there many, many years ago, until he lugged us all over to the new world.

Homebrew01

Although many British roads and lanes are pretty, the left hand side driving and narrowness can be difficult for some to adapt to. Out of the city there's less traffic, but still prepare for cars & busses to pass closely because many roads can barely fit modern traffic.

Heathpack 

Yes, the typical tourist bike options are pretty easy to find via google search, I've seen the various options. I would prefer a road bike if the bike paths are nice wide smooth things like we have at home. Despite the horror with which many BF posters will view this, I can in fact get a great workout in on a bike path if I head out early:



Obviously I don't expect Edinburgh's bike paths to be like this. But wondering what they're like? I'm not opposed to a MTB rental if the bike paths are lumpy and narrow, I'm already bringing MTB shoes & pedals and it would save me the trouble of bringing road shoes & pedals.