Thursday, September 25, 2008

Getting it started....

What a way to get it started right. Platinum passes to a special Blues Traveler concert. Tickets courtesy of none other than the one and only Lance Armstrong! It's going to be a good weekend. :)

ACL time!

I am finishing up some last minute packing (ok so all of the packing was last minute....but that's how it goes), and then I am off to the airport to head to Texas. First to San Antonio and then a quick drive to Austin. (it was a lot cheaper that way) I'm excited to have a couple days of chilling with some amazing people and listening to some amazing music. I think it's time, I really need this. I'm sure Colleen will provide great recaps of the musical experience of the weekend if you're interested. She's much better at that, so I'll leave it up to her. She is my musical tour guide this weekend.

Have a good day at work everyone....I'm out of here!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My new Blue....

Ok, so again not really, but I really wish that was true. I will however, be keeping the Blue RC8 for another week. So you better believe I will be out in Barrington Hills seeing what she (he?) can do next weekend! :)

All I have to say is....Ride Blue!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Am I a bike slut?

So yesterday, as I was rolling the beautiful Blue RC8 out of the shop, Dave made the comment that I ride other people's bikes more than I ride mine.... Hmm, I wonder if there is any truth to that? So far this year I have ridden:
  • A couple of rental bikes from Bicycle Sport Shop (including a shiny new '08 Madone)
  • Ron's Cannondale
  • Kristi's Spook
  • Jason's Orbea (twice)
  • The absolutely amazing Storck Absolutist 9.0
  • My dream bike, the Blue RC8 with Sram Red
  • and this weekend I will add Colleen's bike to the list

Hmmm....that's a pretty impressive line-up!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

New bike!

Ok, so not really, but it is my new bike for the next 3 days! :) It's a sweet Blue RC8 outfitted in Sram Red. Our Blue rep at the shop is letting me borrow it while he's out in Vegas at Interbike. Yea! Unfortunately though I am heading out of town in a few days so I won't get to take it out for a nice long ride out in Barrington Hills. I did get to ride it for a solid 24 miles around the forest preserve after work today, and it is definitely all I had hoped it would be. :) Sram Red is sweet, I can't wait until I can get a bike of my own with it! :)

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Waiting for things to be easy....

One of these days things will get easy...unfortunately now is not that time. Yesterday I had to make a decision that I'm still not so happy about. Unfortunately there is no longer a BF. He's still a great guy but unfortunately we are not at the same place in life. So while it was a really tough decision and one that will take a while to get used to, it was still my decision, and one I know is right for now. We didn't call it a break up, that sounds too final, we just stopped our relationship for now. Maybe if somehow things line up in the future, then we'll see. But for now, it's better.

In other news, I bought a new couch and a giant chair today!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Home sweet home...

So I finally made it out of Denver! We were able to get on a flight to Lincoln, NE....then spent a few hours in the tiny airport there (they only have 4 gates!!) Then got the last 2 seats on the 2:48 flight to Chicago so we didn't have to hang out until the 6pm flight. Yea!! So after 27 hours of traveling (well mostly waiting and not traveling) I finally made it home. I never thought I would be so happy to see O'Hare airport.

But I did learn something....sleeping in the airport is no fun!
1. The floor is really hard
2. They don't turn off the stupid "please keep your luggage with you at all times" announcements at night
3. They like to polish and vacuum all of the floors at about 2am

So if you've never had to sleep at the airport....please don't look at it as something you must try sometime. It's really not that fun.

Monday, September 15, 2008

My new home...

So the trip to Colorado with the bf was great.....until we tried to get home that is. We are currently entering the 18th hour of being in the Denver airport. Yes. 18 hours straight, meaning I slept on the floor at gate B38 last night. It was awesome. All flights out of here to Chicago today are still completely booked and/or oversold (way to go United - great idea cutting capacity from here), so we are going to be hopping on a flight to Lincoln, Nebraska soon to try our luck getting out of there instead. Hopefully we will be home by 8:00 tonight. I can't wait to see my bed!!

Friday, September 12, 2008

The Most Serious Sports News Network....Ever

So I have found a new source for a few laughs: Serious Sports News Network. Their take on why Lance is "unretiring" is that he felt bad that they canceled the Tour after he left, so he's coming back so the new young cyclists can ride in it. How could you not get a few giggles from the article? Here's a sneak peak:
"SSNN’s cycling expert also emerged from his office in the crawlspace beneath the sink to confirm that the Tour had not been cancelled, but simply has been ignored by American media outlets since Armstrong’s retirement. He was promptly expelled from the building and had his Eddy Mercx jersey confiscated."

Enjoy!

Rocky Mountain High....

So the new bf has never seen mountains....I believe there is something seriously wrong with that. So since I still have my United benefits through the end of this month I decided it's time to fix it. So we are flying out to Denver tomorrow for a 24 hour trip. Yes, it's short, but definitely better than nothing. I'm still figuring out the trip details, but I'm thinking of just driving into Rocky Mountain National Park and hiking around. Sounds like a good way to spend the day. :)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

I'm back....

Ok, I fully admit it, I have been a terrible blog owner as of late. It's funny how you go through phases with these things: at times feeling the need to share every single event that happens exciting or not, and at other times, not feeling the need to share anything at all. But it does happen, and hopefully there are a few of you out there that are patient enough to ride it out and keep checking for the day when I do post again. So here it is.

Lots has been happening lately actually. The biggest update is that there is a new man in my life. What's funny is that so many people (mostly guy friends) find this incredibly hard to believe. Yes I know it had been a while, but yes guys, I was able to find someone who will put up with me. I think that is the extent of the details I will share on the blog for now. If you would like more info and you know how to reach me, then feel free to do so. :)

I was sent out to California for work last week. The work part of the trip wasn't terribly exciting, but I did get to visit my grandparents while I was out there. I hadn't seen them in a while and they are definitely getting older, their current situation is kind of sad, so it was rough for me. But the good news was that I did get some In-N-Out Burger while I was there..... Gotta love a cheeseburger protein style and fries. Mmmmm.....

The traveling has put the riding on hold for a little bit, but Carrie came out to visit this past weekend and we had perfect weather. So I grabbed a bike for her from the shop (note to others: putting Carrie on a Cervelo RS is a bad idea if you want to try and keep up!) and we headed out for a ride through Barrington Hills. She kicked my butt as usual, but it was good. I needed it. Hopefully the weather will hold out so I can make it out to intervals this week.

It looks like summer is officially over here in Illinois. We had our final nice weekend with temps in the high 70's and then yesterday turned to about 55 and raining. It was so cold!!! Today is a little nicer with sun and temps in the mid 60's, but it's expected to get down into the mid 40's overnight. Brrr.....

That's all for my weather report, and I think it's about all for this post, as I am at work and should probably be doing something more productive than blogging. :)