Halloween Costume, #3

I think this is the earliest Halloween photo I have. My mom made me a .. what would you call that? Mask? Helmet? out of a paper bag. Yes, I literally I had a bag over my head. I can still remember it, it had glitter eyes and yarn hair.



Night three of costume making. I cooked up another batch of goo. Add this to the short list of things I can cook! Jeremy taped some features on his balloon form head and went over them...



and I finished another Hound (the other one I put a primer on the other day).



I started on the horse this evening, too. Gotta hit it hard tomorrow! Here's how I figured out how large to make the horse.

Step 1) I printed out a picture of a Breyer model horse on transparent sticker paper that looked just about right, then I cut it up and stuck it back together to modify it, drawing where I needed to. Then I stuck it to an overhead projector.



Step 2) I projected it over the bike, so I could size it.



Step 3) Out with the bike, in with the cardboard. Trace.



That's what I got done tonight, after working on signage for the Pegasus race this weekend. I tell you, I'm super busy but I love it. All these fun and interesting things to do after work. MAKING things!

To Do:
1) cut out horse(s)
2) attach them to bike
3) find a way to attach front legs to fork/possible front fender (any ideas?)
4) paper mache horse
5) make 'saddle', bridle and half-chaps (to cover calves and look like boots) from leather jacket already purchased
6) switch out thread in sewing machine, sew up jacket
7) sew velvet collar onto jacket
8) paint horse and dogs
9) attach dogs to pedals
10) find/buy breeches, riding crop
11) make more numbered lists, because I clearly have a thing for them

Uhhh, phwew. And a little over a week left 'til the race. But I WILL get it done, and it WILL look superb.

Badger Prairie

Traditionally I've really disliked this race (nothing personal, Badger Prairie), so it was a shocker when it turned out to be a great race.

Inexplicably, I got the hole shot... what was up with that? I never try for it, preferring to sit a few back and then ramp up throughout the race. I think I got clipped in before anyone else, or maybe nobody wanted the hole shot? It was seriously strange. When I realized what was going on I went with it, though. Through the first loop (before the first lap) I led- preliminary feedback suggests I should have gone faster, but what do I know about leading a race?

At the end of the first loop, Abby and Elicia flew past me and I stepped it up to get on Elicia's wheel. (This is starting to sound like a real race report, isn't it?) We went from the road and onto the grass, where the course snaked around a bit before coming to the first set of barriers. In the first turn Abby went down, followed by Elicia. Lucky for me, I hadn't quite caught up to them, so there was a second or two to slow down and wait to see if I could get through- and I could! I knew Abby was probably the big threat of the day, so I kicked it in to try to get a gap on her. Amanda was right behind me- I forget when she passed me up, but I figured I could catch her later on so I let her go. Dun dun dun!

Abby caught up and we raced for a little over half of the race together, near as I could tell. I'm not actually out there taking notes on each lap for the blog... Anyway, we were racing together for a longer time than I thought I could go. I began to dream of slowly but surely racing Abby into the ground (oh glorious racer, me!) and then catching Amanda for my first win over a horde (OK, six) of excellent, top shelf cyclocross racers.

Was that foolish? Sure was. I think they call it counting chicks before they hatch. BUT it's the first time I've ever thought I could actually achieve that. I think they call that daring to dream. For a few years I've been sweeping up the 3rd through 7th place finishes, resigned to it. There are some top shelf ladies in WI, ladies I thought I could never actually race with. Now, whether or not I was having a great day and Abby was recovering from the Bubonic Plague, we're going to count this race as actually hanging with the upper crust for a good chunk of the race; something I haven't done before.

No doubt dreaming of top spot on the podium. (By djonn)


Back to the race, where things were playing out a bit differently that I had imagined. During one of the laps, Abby led for a while. She was fast on the straights, I was a little bit faster on the steep climbs (but not the run up), and I was blessedly faster on the long descent. I noted that as I put on my brakes not to run into her, and the next lap I was sure to keep the lead until that hill, so I could make her work to keep up. I led for about two laps, but then she dropped me on the run up. So long. That was pretty much the end of my race. I was tired from racing head to head, so I sat back a little, while still keeping in mind that the rest of the race behind me was still going on.

That sounds pretty discouraging, but like I said, I was just kind of tickled to have been in the game for so long. The race ended with Abby catching Amanda, and me not catching Amanda. Hm. Oh well. Glory, perhaps we will meet again at a later date.

Season so far: Last year I was usually 5th or 7th or so. However, this year I've had people come up to me and comment on what a great season I'm having. It's true! I'm consistently placing 3rd or 4th, with even a 1st thrown in there (when almost everyone was gone to a mtb race and the woman in first got a flat, yaaay!). Sure, some of the very fast women in the 1/2s race have moved away. Or gotten pregnant. Or are racing other races instead.

Long story short, I think it's obvious that we're seeing my strict training regimen of racing once a week starting to pay off.

Halloween Costume, #2

Today's photo, a photo of Abbie, my best friend growing up, and I out on the town. Apparently I didn't find it all that important to tuck my hair up under the wig. And that blue fabric draped around my neck? It was shiny and pretty, darnit! So what if it didn't go with the costume.



Last night I tried my hand at making paper mache goo out of water and flour, the easiest and cheapest option. It goes like this: 5 parts water, 1 part flour, boil for 3 minutes. Let me tell you, it works great. I'll have to have a look at the projects once they dry, but they look pretty good to me.

Looks comical, works quite well, thank you.


I projected a hound using a tiny projector, cut it out, built up a low relief for it, then pasted away.








Jeremy's working on a big head- he's not sure what it's going to look like yet, so he just put down a base coat on the balloon.


Erick came over and did laundry and doodled, too, while Cale pretended not to be interested in helping me make my costume ;) I'll suck him into it, yet.

Halloween Costume, #1

Here's how this is gonna go. First off, Halloween approaches, so I'm working on my most complicated costume yet. Second, I've been uploading family pictures to archive them, and running into costumes from years past that my mom made. So I figure, this is decent blog content. I'm going to do a few posts of different parts of the costume coming together, and post a different old photo each time, too.



"What's this?" you ask. "You said you were going to post photos of yourself- you said nothing of Jane Seymour, star of Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, a series about the trials and adventures of a female doctor in a small wild west town." Well look closer! That is in fact me, 'riding' a paper mache horse w/o legs that was suspended from me using... suspenders! I loved watching Dr. Quinn with my parents.

This year's costume is just starting to take form. I'm going as an equestrian on a fox hunt. I went to a thrift store and raided the blazer section, and I found two likely candidates. I couldn't really decide, since they both had some good points. I agonized over the decision, before buying both for $2.95 apiece. This way I figure, I can ruin one altering it and still have a backup.

First victim is the one on the right.


As always, the cat is helping.


More later!

Way Back

I'm so behind on blogging cross races... It'll have to wait for a little longer, but until then can I interest you in a picture of my mom and I, back when I was just the cutest little flowergirl?



Or most stunned looking, I guess you could also say.

The Ambulators

I opted out of biking today and went for a walk today over lunch. I picked all the flowers I could find, so no one but me can enjoy them.



That's not really how it went. I collected one or two from each patch and built up a nice little bouquet over the hour I was out and about. Lovely! As an aside, remind me to donate to World Bicycle Relief again this Christmas. Walking places takes for-ev-ver.

Interbike, 2010

More like Interbike, two thousand wow. It was a fantastic time. How can you tell? I've got a huge grin in almost every photo I'm in.

First off was the Outdoor Dirt Demo. I tried a 26" carbon hardtail Stevens (it was hard to get used to the sound of rocks hitting the carbon) and talked to the Stevens guys. I mentioned that Cale had gotten a pair of cross bikes, and they immediately said "Oh, the guy who painted them pink?" They saw my kit and guessed. Apparently Cale's photos have been making the rounds. They sent them on to their European office, too.

Then I switched to a 26" dual suspension Specialized Safire. No lines for Women's Specific bikes, what-what. The Safire was like cruising around on a couch, and it was incredibly hard to steer. Like runaway-stagecoach hard to steer. The fork was raked out (for better performance on descents), and I wasn't used to it. The guys at the Specialized tent did a great job setting up the shocks, though, and eventually I got used to the handling.



After that, I grabbed a Trek Gary Fisher Collection Women's Specific HiFi. Mouthful, eh? Not much to report, because it's similar to what I'm used to riding, and I'm still no good at feeling out the subtle nuances.



Yay, bikes! Aprés Dirt Demo:


That night, we ate $7 steak dinners with old friends who have been scattered across the country, then went to check out the Lazer party at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was super swanky, they had rented out the whole pool area and flown in a DJ from Belgium, word has it.



Wednesday brought the first day of the show, and of course Cross Vegas! The team order from Champion Systems was due to be delivered, so Cale called them up and had them delivered to our hotel instead of back home. Since I was working the booth, it was up to him to wrangle the delivery, pick out my skinsuit, put my bike together and then pick me up to catch a cab to the race. It was then I found myself being wrangled. We got there early and I changed to get ready.

Sometimes you design something and it comes out looking differently than you had planned. Luckily, that was not the case here! I was so excited to find it was all I had hoped and dreamed it could be.





At the start line, I was so very, very nervous. It was pretty well publicized (what, you didn't hear?) that I was a returning champ, and there seemed to be an awful lot of women signed up. I was getting nervous. And I swing between supreme confidence and crippling anxiety when I get stressed (which was the whole day)... a real treat.

The race started out with a snappy pace. I saw several women pass me, but didn't get too upset. I always start slowly and then pick it up. A lap or two in, I was still in third or so. Over the next lap, I worked hard to get up to second, but then it seemed I was out of luck. I was fading. It was then that my coworker, Luke Musselman (yeah, pronounced muscle man!), dropped back to find me. He verbally abused me into keeping up the pace. I would whine/wheeze/slaver, "I can't! I'm done!" and he would reply "No you're not, she's right there, you can get her. Come on!"

In this fashion, I crawled my way to the front of the women's field just before the beginning of the last lap, and managed to keep the lead by four seconds. Relief, relief.



That makes three in a row. I think I'll retire now. (p.s. I love these cowbells. They're beautiful and spectacularly noisy.)



The next couple of days were a repeat of the first day at the tradeshow, getting up early, working the booth, then running around. Thursday, I ran into a guy I had met a few years ago at Superweek. We didn't even recognize each other at first! We spent an hour or so walking around- I was on a mission to find and photograph the coolest booths while I was out and about. We did happen across a pretty cool booth... a PHOTO BOOTH! Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever been in one.



Thursday night we hit the Peppermill to hang out with Ritte and the gen-i-us behind All Hail the Black Market. The moment I stepped out of the cab, this very same handsome man hailed me over. It's been a long time since high school, but I finally understand what it's like to be a popular kid! VIP, man. The Peppermill was really cool- it reminded Cale and I of At Random... stuck in the past, and awesome for it. While we were there we got a complimentary postcard. Aw, yeah. First time on a postcard photo, too.



Friday it was some more fun and games...



...and then packing up the booth, packing in some dinner, and heading home. I caught an 11:30PM plane back and Cale picked me up at the airport around 4... or 5. I'm not sure, it was all a little foggy. We got home and started unpacking and repacking... Vegas vacation morphed into USGP weekend right before our very eyes. We headed out the same morning to Madison, but that's another story for another post.