Weekend in Review - #3

-So even though my Lady Vols didn't make it to the Final Four, it's good to have the local team, Lady Terps from University of Maryland in the finals. George Mason didn't fare as well on the men's side, but they still had a great run. I jumped on the bandwagon for a bit, but you won't catch me buying any Tshirts or other gear from either school.

-Today was the dog and pony.. er, fashion show, put on by local bike store Capitol Hill Bikes. I was a participant in the event which was held at Finn MacCool's bar next door to the shop. I was 3rd in line to strut my stuff the length of the bar (not ON the bar!) and walk a bike back down the aisle while showing off what I was wearing. I use the work "strut" loosely as I was wearing carbon soled shoes with no cleats. Here's the thing.. bike shoes aren't meant to be walked in. Some mountain bike shoes are, but road shoes have a harder sole.. mine were carbon.. which is supposed to help transfer power better or something like that. Here's what it looked like.. I heard someone say "Watch your step on the ice, Bambi," as I was walking on the hardwood floors. I almost went ass over tea kettle a few times, but I wasn't the only one who almost bit it.

-The gear I was modeling included a black/titanium colored Giro Eclipse helmet, Castelli PY2 Donna shorts (these are the newer version), a Hincapie sleeveless jersey, Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses, Nike Altea road shoes, and some fun beaver themed Sock Guy socks. I stopped in at the shop on Wednesday to pick out what I was going to wear and each person had a 'theme'. There were commuters, mountain bikers, road cyclists, and triathletes present, so the fashion show tries to touch on all genres... I guess you could call it that. I was in 'road wear'. When I went to the shop to try on what I might be wearing, I wanted to not only find something for that genre, but something I would normally wear. I think of when actors/actresses or athletes hawk some product.. like Kobe Bryant and Nutella. You can't tell me he actually eats it. That's me.. if I'm gonna promote something, it's gonna be because I like it and it's something I actually use.

The thing about being a model is that we could buy what we modeled at a really good discount. That's another reason to find something I'd normally wear as I had the option to buy it. I wasn't in need of a helmet, so I nixed getting that; the glasses were bitchin, so I bought those; and don't give me shit about the flower print jersey, because I bought it. I was standing around for so long I was sweating so much, I figured I just as well buy it since I pretty much owed it by then and they probably couldn't sell it again anyway. I bought the shorts since I went sans undies at the fashion show, as shorts are supposed to be worn, and.. well, it's like trying on swim suits as your 'parts' aren't supposed to touch the suit. A bit like "if you break it, you buy it" and I pretty much 'broke it' by having my parts on the chamois (pronounced like "shammy"). It was a nice fit, though, as chamois are supposed to be right on your skin. At least with those shorts I didn't feel like I was wearing a jumbo maxi pad because of the diaper-like padding, which is the main reason for buying them. As bad as my current shoes are and as nice as the shoes felt, there's no way I was buying them. Why? Because they were Nike. I was getting enough shit, as I should of course, for wearing my pink watch today. It didn't match my outfit, so I switched watches with a chick in a pink inspired get-up, and wore her blue Nike watch. Even that was tough. And I had to buy the socks. That was a given. It's a beaver.. c'mon.. the majestic beaver! Okay, and it's one of my favorite euphemisms.

-Aside from the gear, I came home with a Serfas mini tool kit, a container of HEED nutrition, yellow Giordana cycling gloves, and a pair of regular Sock Guy socks.. and a few other goodies. Here's the deal.. you stick around long enough and you're bound to come home with SOMETHING. Last year I was the lucky winner of some waterbottles, socks, and baseball hat that says "Mavic" on it that I never wear. Not a bad day.

-Even with the discount, I spent a lot of money. Not just today, but the past few weeks. I've had to rent a car the past couple weekends, so when I'm out I go shopping. I had the 50K March 25th, so we had to stop at REI on the way back from Northern Maryland.. and they we had to go to the REI in Virginia, plus Performance Bike, and Trader Joe's. I got a car this weekend so I could head down to Prince William Park, which is the site of the 24-hour ATR at the end of this month. I also ordered some nutrition and salt tabs to use race day as I don't know wtf I'll need to be eating or what my body will be craving, so I want to make sure I have some options. I'm also not sure how my feet will hold up, so I bought stuff for taping my feet and dealing with blisters. I'm hoping to avoid them, but bought stuff to treat blisters just in case. I needed new shoes, too, and had a 20% discount coupon to use before Sunday. This is the deal with races like this. I'm paying all this money - entry, lodging, transporation, food, supplies - so I can.. well, basically torture myself for 24 hours. And I'm going to enjoy it. There's no pot of gold at the end.. there's no camera crew following us.. there's not a lot of exposure.. and that's what makes it fun. Because when I finish, I'll maybe get a pat on the back, a handshake, and I'll thank the race director for putting on the event as they are the ones that deserve the credit. I hope to have a beer in my hand at 7am, too. Pics or it didn't happen.. I know.

-I've been listening to a lot of Kathleen Edwards and Sarah Harmer. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

-The reason behind wearing my pink watch, which I highlighted in a previous post, is that my usual trusty Timex finally stopped ticking. The battery finally died a couple weeks ago, so it has temporarily stopped ticking until I get a new battery. Here's the deal.. a new battery won't save it. I've been hanging on to this watch for over 6 months for nostalgic and somewhat selfish reasons. This was the first Timex watch I ever owned. It was a Christmas present from 'Santa' back in 1993. It has been through 3 batteries and 5 watchbands over the years. The Indiglo light hasn't worked for year and there are no longer words on the buttons, so I sort of guess as to what their function is.. or was. Last September or so, the buttons stopped working. I can switch from the current time to chrono, alarm, and timer, but I can't run the stopwatch, keep lap splits, or change the time. The watch died a few weeks too soon as the time would've been right with Daylight Savings since it's been an hour ahead since last October. Even if I did replace the battery I wouldn't be able to set the time. Alas, poor Yorick.. I must part with part with my dear friend. So on top of getting a new cell phone, I'm search for a new watch. I just can't deal with the pink one even if the chick at GNC said she liked it. And it's pink. And we're talking about me here...

-I'm ready for school to be over with.