aftermath of an afterparty

I woke up uncharacteristically late this morning, half fully dressed.
I do remember what happened last night, despite the fact that I finished off a whole beer [even chugging the last quarter of it]. But that's mostly because I haven't really slept.
But sleep is for the weak when Cambridge Bikes puts on an alleycat and throws an after party at a super secret location, complete with free beers, boldsprints, and great company.

As usual, I didn't race, but cheering on friends while meeting new ones is always a good time. Add to that getting to see friends that I hadn't in a while, and I didn't really need that quickly-turning-warm-because-I've-been-nursing-it-for-over-an-hour PBR to get my fun on.

So much fun, in fact, that I chose to shirk my blog duties and didn't take many pictures. I even stumbled out of the party not even knowing who won my hat. Irresponsible, I know...but hey, Natalya will definitely be posting some amazing photos soon [I even got to take a picture with her super cool camera!]. In all, a successful party/race/start to the weekend.
Now if only this coffee stuff will actually start working and get my brain functioning again...
[Also, some more pictures up on Flickr]

rollercoaster ride

I was in tip top temper tantrum form yesterday. And although I knew I didn't have any right to be, I was angry at myself for sounding so lame in my apology.
I was biting back a cocktail of anger, stress, and general exhaustion combined with a knee that felt like it was splitting in half as I rode back home. UPS told me my pink, front rim was waiting for me at home and I managed to drag it into my apartment, totally beat. I wasn't even that excited about it.
And just for shits and giggles, I decided to check my normally-empty-save-for-the-rent-check mailbox. And found this:

Sent from Georgia from an old college boyfriend, just when I was starting to despair that the only person who gave a shit about my day was the homeless disabled guy that calls me sweetheart and hangs out outside the liquor store, it made me sit on the floor and cry. The card told me it was for White Day, a holiday totally made up by a bunch of Asian people who figured out that they could sell twice as much chocolate if, on March 14th, they instituted a reverse Valentine's Day where the men have to give the women chocolate/presents/whatever [in Japan, only women are supposed to give stuff to the men on Valentine's Day]. Unexpected and utterly sweet, it lifted most of the black vortex of depressing that was swirling over my head.
A few hours later, I got an email from Erich at IBC and my jaw dropped. And then I almost screamed:

It's so fucking pretty. The decals were coming off from the start but Erich found out that they were over the clear coat but under the matte. He managed to peel them off, sand it down, then spray on a layer of matte to even out the ugliness left by the decals. Vinyl transfer were made, stuck on, and now...just look at her!!!
I knew Erich was awesome but now he is super-duper-omg-are-you-serious?! AWESOME. Looking at that picture nearly made me start panting in anticipation. I got flushed and my heart started beating faster. It got me giggling at my screen.
Sure, she won't be done in time for the Freddy v. Jason alleycat tonight, but in a way, that's for the best. If I'm going to ride a bike this hot, I'm going to have to do some catching up...[but I'll see you all at the afterparty!]
[Good luck to all of those racing!!!]

FMK[nees]

I'm sure most of you know of fmylife.com. First sent to me by a friend a few weeks ago, it's had me hunched over my laptop, giggling in the library for those first 20 minutes or so after I roll into school. Creepy? Yes. Worth it? Totally.
I really should be stretching though, because my knees are falling apart. Well, not both, yet, but the right one's been feeling like someone's throwing darts at it.

It's also had me constantly thinking of that South Park episode where Mr. Garrison gets a sex change and Kyle gets a pair of extended legs. You know the one. That scene where Kyle jumps to make a shot and his knees/Mr. Garrison's testicles explode? Yeah, that.
I know, I should probably stop braking so much with my legs [I have more than enough other brakes], but the fun of it always seems to outweigh common sense. So I end up with knees that are looking ugly both inside and out. And with my new tarck bike bleeding me of funds, I really can't afford a new pair of knees.
I have heard, though, that massive amounts of ice cream might help. I think I might give that a try.

bike[s] boy[s] birthday[s]

Facebook tells me three of my friends are turning a year older today. Oddly enough [because I wasn't into bikes at all until a little over a year ago], all of them ride bikes.
There's the OCR 2, the Schwinn [plus wrecked road bike], and a fixed conversion...I mean Mark, Dan, and Jones.
And presents/hats/cookies to be given/sent/made. I know, I'm slacking...I've only been able to give presents to two out of the three; and I've known the one that's not getting anything [yet!] the longest.
And he reads this blog! But there will be a hat coming your way, Jones, this summer, and maybe even those Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies [still bookmarked for when you, Lauren, and I are running our bike shop/vintage store/bakery/cafe...or when we hang out again...or when you guys get married (!!!), whichever happens first]. I also sent Lauren a good amount of Herrell's hot fudge, so don't let her tell you any different. I'm sure I'll hear you guys fighting over exactly who finished the last of it, too.

I'm also delivering a giant cookie to Mark - one of the smartest and nicest kids I know. He's just become the Managing Editor of the Boston College Law Review [congrats!!!], and [voluntarily] sits next to me in Con Law, despite the fact that he's probably afraid my stupid is going to rub off on him. Get that brake fixed, dude, so we can go on rides. And by "go on rides" I mean we can start off together but you'll drop me faster than Britney got rid of her kids.
Dan already got cookies. But his band's playing a show tonight at O'Brien's. You should go.
Happy Birthday, guys...and I just realized...why haven't I gone on rides with any of you yet?!

red light means go

A predicted high of 45F today - yay for warm weather!
Yeah, I never thought I'd think 45F = "warm" but I'm so ready to peel off my Underarmour and fold it away until November. Snow isn't even pretty anymore, just slightly annoying. The gross brown heaps that it eventually turns into [and then gross brown water that cars like to splatter at me] doesn't really help make Boston winters any more appealing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for deferred gratification...just only when it applies to a goal that I can actually see. Desperately hoping for nicer weather that doesn't involve shards of ice flying in my face, enough layers to make me feel like I'm in a fat suit, and that embarrassing fogging up of my glasses whenever I enter a warmer room...is getting old.

I'm trying to be optimistic though; and even with all the snow yesterday, by early evening it was clear out. The lights strung up on the trees along Comm Ave were cute and pretty enough for even my beer soaked self to appreciate. I didn't get a picture though [I know, I really should have!], probably because I had no idea what I was doing at that point.
I ended up praying for a red light on my way home, hoping for an excuse to stop. I only hit one, and by the time I stumbled into my apartment, my face looked like a tiki torch.
I think I might have to train a little more for the beers + bikes shenanigans I'm mentally planning for the summer...

longing for yesterday

Biking through snow today after a day in the high 50s, getting splattered by a good number of cars on my way in, with only the promise of [bad] coffee at the end of my commute to make me feel sort of better...I'm seriously missing yesterday.
It was my first semi-lazy Sunday in a while, where I got to blow off everything for at least half the day. I even managed to blow off my own plans! Lazy won out over Sense of Obligation to go to the Bike Swap and Not Be an Anti-Social Hermit, resulting in me not getting any farther than Cambridge Bikes. And staying there for...over three hours...

In my defense, a lot of things got in the way. First, I met the spectacular RMM. Then, we got on the subject of ice cream cakes. And as everyone knows, you cannot peace out on a conversation involving ice cream cakes. It's just not allowed.
Okay, said conversation also involved strip clubs, butt acne, and cookies. Which is, you know, enough to keep me interested...but combine that with shiny, pretty, [pink] bike things, and it's a wonder I wasn't blatantly drooling.

I did get close though. All this talk of Bartley's in Harvard Square [which I keep saying I'll go to but never do because Veggie Planet always seems to win out], and watching Tom devour a burger a friend of his brought for him actually had me craving cow meat [despite not having eaten red meat in ages]. Right now, the thought of ground-up, masticated cow on a bun has my stomach audibly growling in the library [and it's not even close to lunch time yet].
Maybe hanging out [for hours] at Cambridge Bikes is not such a great idea always a good idea.