Asheville Mission #1

Before moving to my new job in Connecticut, there are some things I've missed that I want to experience (or maybe just feel I should) before I move from Asheville and the South in general.

Objective:
Do an Asheville alley cat. (Usually not based on speed. Props given for costumes).



Notes:
I'm not sure to deduct or add points for the fact that 4/5ths of the way through this alley cat, Jon and I decided to go and get dinner instead of finishing the ride. It was a poker ride, where you draw a card at each stop and compete for the best hand at the end. Ours were dismal, and we decided to go to Early Girl and get some breakfast for dinner there.



Suck it, poker ride.

Southern Mission #1

Before moving to my new job in Connecticut, there are some things I've missed that I want to experience (or maybe just feel I should) before I move from Asheville and the South in general.

Objective:
Have some Cheerwine, which as far as I can tell is the Dr. Pepper of the South?



Notes:
A very enjoyable and refreshing mission.

Climbing Adventure

So, this happened a number of weeks ago: I went climbing, and it was pretty legit. We did four pitches at The Nose at Looking Glass for a total of about 600 ft. Robb led and placed gear and I seconded and swept the route. Basically that means Robb did all the work of finding the route, and that I was on top-rope the whole time, which is less risk, and easier, than what Robb was doing. But it was still definitely difficult enough for me. A lot of the time it felt like I was supposed to be able to stick to smooth rock and climb right on up there. I mean, how many hand holds can you spot on this?



Here, I believe I'm hanging out on a ledge at the top of the first pitch.



Robb took this picture for scale.



Here's a close-up of doing a push/pull with either hand, which helps you stick your feet to the rock when there's not much of a foothold to be found.



Here I am, very happy to be on the top at last. While climbing was never strictly 'frightening', it was nerve wracking. I think we were on the rock for four hours, and just about every minute of that was spent emotionally and physically ON. The few moments I did have to rest on the odd ledge or two, I nearly fell asleep in a shut-down mode. But suffering through the climb and getting to the top sounded a lot better than giving up and turning around.

This was the payoff:



On an interesting note, shortly after I moved here last year in the fall, I hiked to the top of Looking Glass to almost the same exact spot.



Blog post about it here.

Change is Afoot

As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I recently accepted a position at Cycling Sports Group, aka the collection of Schwinn, Mongoose, GT, Sugoi and Cannondale. The story is this:

On June 11, CSG's recruitment company contacted me after they found my online portfolio. A few days later I had a short phone interview with the recruitment company, and was then set up with a morning phone interview with the Graphic Design Manager of Cannondale and GT. That afternoon I got a call asking me to fly up and interview in person. Well, ok!

On the 20th, a mere 9 days after the initial phone call (for those counting along), I was in Bethel, Connecticut, visiting the office and slaying interviews :) A few days later I was offered a position that was too good to pass up - I'll be doing On-Product graphics for Cannondale mountain bikes.

As you might guess, this means I'll be moving to Connecticut soon. Very soon! I'm striking out for the north on Sunday, June 22nd. Until then, I'll be fitting in all the Asheville-type things that I haven't gotten to do yet, and blogging them, of course!

'Round the House

Ikea said that this bed took two people to assemble. GAME ON. I put it together in a few hours with the help of some pillows to support things the second person would have held. No more sleeping on a mattress on the floor for me! It wasn't that bad, but I do really like having a bed again.





See how skinny this cat is now? He's dropped about three or four pounds since becoming an outdoor cat.



The vet said he could still stand to lose a few ounces but I said to him, I said, "Don't you listen to her".



Who would want this cat to change? In other news, he's taken to this chair so much that my roommate (who's only going to be living here for two months, as an in-between place) offered to leave it here when he moves out.

Memorial Day MTB

I went a on a mountain bike ride, and it went something like this:
South Mills River > Squirrel Gap > Laurel Creek > Bradley Creek

Then part of the group went and did the Pilot somethingoranother loop, but I went back to the cars with a couple of people because I was a big crankypants that day. I had taken a spill at a pretty high speed (for me) on a long, flat, sliiiightly off-camber rock on South Mills River that is apparently notorious for sliding front wheels out from under riders. Would that I had known. I was also on a demo bike that I didn't particularly like, in part because the knobbies on the (Specialized Renegade) tires were infinitely frustrating in their wimpiness, and also in part because the fork had 'burped' and let some air out of the negative air chamber, leaving me with a lot less travel. It was no good, my friends.

You know what they say, though. A bad day on the bike is still better than a blah blah blah.







I did see my first rattlesnake ever on my pouty ride back to the car!





Distain for the bike aside, it was a decent day. I didn't get hurt too badly, and I got to ride and hang out with some new people. I definitely reached my monthly quota of creek crossings on the Bradley Creek trail! We started counting a few crossings in, so we weren't sure how many exactly that there are, but it's somewhere around seven or maybe even nine. Craziness.

Citizen Snips: LapCat+

Let me tell you about this cat, here. This cat believes he is a lap cat, when in fact he's a lap cat and a half. There's not a stable lap : cat ratio.





See also: