Attack of myspace man.

By now you should be well aquainted with my female roommate, Liz. and if not, you should because her blog is awesome (see link on the side) and her witty yet sarcastic comments.

Enter Brent, my male roommate. aka the entertainment of the house. I call him myspace man. Why do I call him myspace man do you ask? Well, when I first moved in he was sitting at the kitchen table. Suddenly he pulls out this huge binder. "What's that?" I ask. I open it and it is pages of printouts...specifically print-outs of myspace profiles of these somewhat skanky girls along with pages of conversations he has had with them, and their phone numbers written in hilighter. These are all girls/women that he has either slept with or plans to sleep with, ranging from ages 17-40.

He got a girlfriend for awhile, see

Liz's blog

for the story with this. All this happened right outside my door. I felt like I was at an episode of Jerry Springer.

but now they are broken up, he is out on the prowl again, so ladies, if interested, feel free to contact me. So here is the story..I had to give you a background. (oh, and his

myspace profile

I have heavily been procrastinating doing my homework today including 2 hours of guitar, obvious blogging, and making cookies. I came out to the kitchen. On the table I saw printouts and knew myspace man was about to strike again. For example:




Anyway, meet my roommate Brent, 35, single, likes to snowboard.




Note the pages he is clutching with pleasure...those are some of the pages from above. Brent showed how he was back in the game by showing Liz and I a video on his phone...of 2 18 year old girls in bras wrestling or something. All you can hear is his boisterous cackle in the background and some talk about taking it. Pimp, right?

Followed by his phone going crazy with text messages asking what he's doing tonight. He said, "riding you." but I had to correct him and say, "you mean, riding me." On the line-up for tonight is an 18 year old, 32 yr old JoJo, 36 yr old, and some other one I can't remember. He even talked on the phone with speaker on for our pure entertainment..and it was. Add in sexual comments every day. Intermittently Then he mentioned how he wants a tattoo on his thing-a-ma-bob. And moments later, he started throwing magazines very ecstatically saying he's gotta get his shit ready for tonight, then he retired downstairs to his quarters.

And now he just came upstairs, took one look at me, and went "yeaaah. and then asks for advice on what casual dress is."


Yeah! GIT IT!!

photoz...

First off, stout month at my favorite brew pub is coming to a close, so I had to make sure to get some heavy sampling in... I everyone enjoys pics of me looking all bleary eyed and dumb, so here you go! :)





Neven, Lisa, and the boys. I love downhillers. :)

Next, here are some pics from the bike fit I promised... I don't know where the rest went...




Mr. Nat, me, and my sexy bike.



And now some ride photos. It hasn't snowed in like a week, so stuff is starting to melt. Hopefully spring is here to stay! :)

me and the Jung.

These are from a pretty epic ride Chris, me, and Brian did last weekend.



sexy cycling boys




Gold Hill Convience store. We ran into Kerry B and her buds.

a ride later in the week



I love the view... this is why I do this.

more soon

Hi! Well, I have had a super busy week, lots of riding, lots of school, lots of work. I have done a lot of climbing the past 2 weeks and will post some pics soon. I also learned guitar this week thanks to my friend Dylan. So now I have sore legs AND fingers. ;)

We've had 60 deg. weather all week. yeeha

Pro Bike Center, check it out!

I got my bike fit with Nat Ross on Monday night. I will have some photos soon, but man, a bike fit makes a world of difference. Parterning with wobble-naught, meaning wobble-zero for you non math nerds, it's a very precise bike fit. It beats Boulder Center for Sports Medicine both in cost, technique, and methodology. It's laser precise. Nat effectively measures your bones of the feet, legs, hips, spine, shoulders, and arms(from insertion points), and then your bike in free space. With these measurements, you get a total body fit. Conventional bike fits take you on the bike, and make measurements from there. It is not nearly as precise (take it from me, I'm an electrical engineer and a soon to be PhD student in Physiology). You get everything from handlebar position to seat angle, to mathematically placing your cleats in the perfect spot. It's not a scam. I can see a HUGE difference in my power and riding this year, as much as 30%. All of the other Tough Girls can actually feel the difference.

Pro Bike Center

Wobble-Naught

Here are some quick team pics.



This photo is actually an ad on Velonews.com and cyclingnews.com. Hey, we're famous. Thank you Borah Clothing! :)




Team photo from our meeting the other night.

maiden voyage of my hot new hardtail.

Hottie.

... too bad it was on the road!

Oh so happy to loose AT LEAST 7 lbs off my old bike. Gonna FLY uphill this year :)

Brian and I went to Lakewood yesterday and met Ryan and Del. Props to Del, the Australian national champion! :) There's a lot of things I need to get dialed, but it's a SWEET bike. It's gorgeous and super light. If I decide to built my hardtail up with all my new, light SRAM stuff coming in, I think I could build it to be close to 18 lbs....which is NINE pounds lighter than my bike from last year. That's a hell of a lot of weight to lose up the climb. I'm not sure which bike I want to build as my race bike- the hard tail or the dualie. The dualie is coming early April. It'll be a hottie too!! :)

Me, Del, Ryan....all wishing to actually ride on some trails.


Brian and I. I love the Waltworks/fuentesdesign kits. I'll get my tough girl clothing in a month or two.



will the snow ever melt?


Riser bars aren't for me. Control Tech is our handlebar sponsor, so I'll be getting a NICE flatbar soon. and I'm taking off the grips and putting pink bar tape for extra flare!

skiing at breck

I am enjoying the snow too. I had never been to Breck to ski before, so when my friend Dylan mentioned it, I was ready and raring to go. It's funny, I've been to all these ski areas, but for bike races in the middle of the summer. It's kind of weird to see these places covered with snow.

I just took a few pics, but it was a blast. I think I finally learned how to ski aggressively instead of being super cautious. Dylan even forced me to go down some double blacks. Were were going up the lift to the highest peak (seen below, at 12,800 ft). I said, "These are blacks, right?" And Dylan said, "nope, they are double blacks." "DOUBLE BLACKS!! I CAN'T DO THAT!" I had to, but it really wasn't too bad. In fact, it was so fun, that we went down it like 5 more times!

Dylan. That's high up!



More views from up high.




I get to go skiing three more times this year! :)

Weather.

Seriously. I feel like a high school boy at the prom. The weather is a tease. It won't make up its mind. So snow, all week last week. You've seen the pictures. Tuesday... 63 degrees(not that I'm complaining) and 40s the rest of the week. next week... MORE snow. and yes, I'm obsessed with the forecast. I check the weather many times a day. My roommate IMs me to ask me the weather ;)

I was really happy the day it was 63. I started climbing for the year. Obviously due to the weather, it won't happen very often until probably next month (which is good anyway). However, I put that 42-25 on my cross bike (and I'm used to climbing with my road bike which is 39-27). I felt really strong. The first climbs of the year always cripple me, and for probably many reasons, I'm feeling really good. I think I finally am getting my "cycling legs," the bike fit is HUGE (it has made an incredible difference), and other reasons unknown to me.

If you are a competitive cyclist, I STRONGLY recommend a bike fit. My riding has changed a lot... my pedal stroke is way more efficient (from the EMG at veloswap), and my power has increased quite a bit. I can't wait to race.

Another realization- endorphins (if you get enough from any sport) can be analogous to the feeling of being in love. I could never pinpoint exacty what the feeling was I got when climbing a hill on a sunny day, or running some sweet trails, but that is it!

You know you're in an engineering class when...

1) the front row fills up first

2) there is common talk about star trek, star wars, and video games

3) the sight of a girl is a rarity

4) the sight of an attractive girl is even more rare

5) the sight of an attractive male is EVEN MORE rare (sorry guys)

6) There's a multitude of engineering glasses

7) everyone is looking lovingly at their calculator

I love to play in the woods.

Ok, I'm behind, so I'll start with last weekend. Last weekend, surprise! It snowed again. It really snowed all week last week. It was my rest week, so the snow was acceptable, but still didn't make me happy. Saturday, (after a big night of partying Friday), I decided that I wanted to go for a run. After all, I miss my runner days. I live by Shanahan Ridge and after 2 hours or being semi-lost, I ended up at Chataqua. It was really fun and beautiful, and lucky you! I brought my camera. The running was fun. I was obliged to go uphill when in doubt and then go as hard as I could. :) There were a lot of people in snowshoes and XC skis. They were the smart ones. And there were the dorks like me in running shoes. After 2 months of snow, there's a significant amount of snow on the ground. I figured it would all be hard packed, and the surface was crusty. However, I would randomly sink in to my thigh without warning, so had to step lightly and run on my toes.

I was running along and suddenly I saw Santa. You'll see what I mean below. I pointed at him and yelled, "Santa!" He was a nice old man, and he was really dressed as Santa!! He said, "you're a brave lady coming out here by yourself." Aw shucks Santa. I told him he was far off from the north pole.





Santa, I know it looks like it, but this AIN'T the north pole!
The Flatirons from close to my house.



Looks are deceiving. You can be running along and suddenly sink in up to your thigh. The top was crusty so it seemed to be hard packed. At least it doesn't hurt when you fall down in the snow. This was the first time I sunk in, it was only up to my calf. Little did I know it could get worse!!

treees.

If he's lying...

I tell you. The groundhog didn't see his shadow THANK GOD. However, if that little rodent is wrong.... if his intuition is slightly off, so help me, I am going to have a groundhog steak for dinner. Look at those chompers.


I mentioned that I went to downtown denver with my girls last weekend, so as promised, here are the incriminating evidence. Man I'm lucky to have such hotties for friends! :) My rest week with all the crazy snow has consequently become party week...but party week is coming to a close.

These are all at Vinyl in Denver where DJ Gabriel and DJ Isaac were playing some sweet techno- you all know how I like that stuff! :) It was fun to do something other than ride my bike to techno.

The fun gang...it's trouble I tell ya!

Niki-poo. I wonder if this is the kind of guy who wears a beanie in the gym. I hate those guys.

Niki and I. Kim helped me with my attire for the evening. The shirt is all her.

Niki and I with some random guy?

Me n Speaker. Laure was definitely catching my attention in the background there.

Hot girl group hug!!!!!!

The Knack

Bahahaha!! Watch it all the way through, the punchline is at the end!! I laughed, whole-heartedly at this.

Trust in cow poo. It's the only way.

That's right dear friends... the cow poo prediction never fails. That's why it's been snowing here the last 2 days and the high tomorrow is FOUR!!!!!!!!! Epic, it's the apocalypse.

I'm a little mortified today. My friend Jack, who was come to some of my races over the past couple of years knows my suffer face well. He's seen me in ripe form making "the face." We were having sushi the other day, and he said, "you know sonya, I think there is a picture of you in the rec center. The suffer face looks like you, but the girl doesn't really look like you. " Immediately that struck fear in my heart because I knew which picture it could be. Today I went to the gym (gonna be sooorrre tomorrow, started my power phase in the weightroom),and took a gander at the bulletin boards by the weight room. Much to my horror, it was the bad picture. There are so many cooler ones of me riding my bike. But this...an 8x10 full color shot of my head smack center of the bulletin board was there. At least I was lucky enough that my name isn't underneath. Here it is...

For the record, this was collegiate Nationals in 05 in Seven Springs, PA. It was freeeeezing, probably below 20, super muddy, and there was snow everywhere. I usually at least am wearing sunglasses to cover the pain in my eyes, but I have to say, I look freakin scary in this picture. so there it is boys. That's right. A full size sheet of paper with my mug. SCARY SCARY!!!!!!


I think I'm allergic to this cold. I've had some crazy sinuses today, a bad headache since I got up this morning, AND I took my nasal steroid AND an antibiotic decongestant. See! The snow is making me sick. Thank you mother nature, for snowing on my rest week. I start up the next training block next week and the weather is supposed to shape up on Sunday. Aren't I a lucky gal?

nooo

Another reason I hate the smell of cow poo is because I smell it around in the air at night. That smell, that pungent smell, means one thing. It's gonna snow. I know that sounds crazy. When my roommmate said that's what the smell means, I looked at her like she belonged in a looney bin(oh wait, she already lives in one). The pressure system apparently pushes air from greeley(yeehaw cow town) and circulates it to the Front Range when it's going to snow. Hasn't been wrong yet. BOOOO.

A few ride photos

I haven't been posting ride photos because when I'm doing pretty flat, base miles, it all looks the same. It was really nice for several days, and I managed to get in 15 hours of training since Tuesday before the snow today. I only have to ride the trainer tomorrow. yaaaay!


It'll be nice to be IN the mountains instead of them in the background. The photo of the hoofed animals is so I can complain. They really STINK right now. I'm trying to ride my bike, my breathing is faster than normal, and it just is unbearable. It is like driving through Texas. PPPeeeww cows and horses, you stink, you stink, you stink.



As you can see, still lots of snow... and more every week.





aaa

Reminder

If you ride bikes, be sure to check your bolts periodically. I'm the queen of stuff coming loose on my bike. I just checked my crank bolts and they were completely loose.

Let the sun SHINE!

It topped 50 today. That meant a wonderful day to ride. The roads in this area were back to their normal character, full of cyclists wearing every color of the rainbow. I blew off my afternoon class so i could go big this afternoon, and that I did! :) It was much more appealing to do a 4 hour ride in the sun, rather than sit in a classroom and learn about action potentials for the bijillionth time!!!

So I have 2 stories for you today.

The first. I was sitting in class this morning, and I like the class. We are talking about design of an artificial heart. The prof was discussing the A&P of the heart, and drew a diagram of the left and right heart on the board. The left heart has a lot of different arteries coming out the top, particularly in the aortic arch. An engineer(or enginerd) said ecstaticly, "OH! IT LOOKS LIKE A CHARACTER FROM STAR WARS!" I'll pause to let that sink in.......... I leaned over to my friend and said, "You know we are definitely in an engineering class with THAT comment." The only thing I can think of that is worse is saying it looks like something from Star Trek. Man am I in the wrong field...or maybe I'm in the right field b/c I can make fun of people.

Next. Not as good. In the small town of Hygeine today I saw a strange site. A rasta-man on the side of the road (in the bike lane). That's not so strange in these parts...however, he was not only in the bike lane. He was RIDING A HORSE in the bike lane. Nice.

The deep freeze is over.... till Saturday!

Just a quick update...having a busy week, but I don't want to leave my friends in the dark!! :) The weather has finally decided to throw me a bone. It's been in the mid forties all week, and they are forecasting 55 tomorrow! I know the weatherman is just a big tease and will probably leave me with blue..... lips.... but, here's to hoping breaking 50 tomorrow. Unfortunately, (insert sound of doom), it is suppose to snow Saturday and various days next week. Fortunately, next week is my rest week(and consequently an epic work week) so I don't really care if it snows. Do your worst! (okay, I take it back...)

Training is going really well, I'm coming into my base fitness quite nicely. Some of the rides are painful since I'm weight training and riding on the same day at times. Sore legs + going uphill = baaad news and me hoping I don't see anyone I know. :) I'm hoping to finish up this week with 18 hours under my belt, one of the biggest weeks of the year. I have one more month of base, and then I get to crank it up a notch and start doing intervals and climbing. I can't wait!! That's my favorite. Nothing like getting agro up a canyon.

OH yeah, I almost forgot. I'm going to Hawaii in August. booooyaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! :)

I miss playing in a wind ensemble.

Yes, for those of you who met me in my college days, you may not know that I used to be pretty serious about playing the flute in high school. (and I will be embarassed to admit that I played piccolo in marching band, if someone has anything to say about band camp, it IS like in the movies. muwahaha) Believe it or not, I still manage to play every now and then. I get on kicks and will practice (although I get embarassed if my roommate hears considering she is a professional viola-ist). Then I find myself whistling songs from high school wind ensemble in the shower and the nostalgia begins.



I talked to my friend Diana and got a list of some songs we played in HS although I'm looking to complete it and download all of them. These songs are just so great. :) It makes me really miss playing in a group. So if you any of you know of "fun" bands or symphonies that get together once a week or so to play, I'd definitely be looking into adding that to my repetoire (being school, 2 jobs, training, getting better at french, trying to have a social life.... but I can fit it in somewhere :)... ) It would force me to play more, which I really do enjoy. It is a little disheartening when I play now though. It's half decent, but I can do nowhere NEAR what I used to do. It makes me sad.

Here's a short list of some of the classical endeavors from high school if you are interested...and those of you who were there, help me remember if you know any more! Itunes has some of these, so if you're looking for some good classical, here you go.

-various Holst Suites(not sure which ones)
-Italian in Algiers by Rossini (a fav)
-Children's March by Grainger
-Lincolnshire Posy by Grainger
-American Guernica by Adolphus Hailstork
-Polka and Fuge from Schwanter the Bagpiper
-Elsa's Processional to the Cathedral by Wagner
-Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna by Franz Von Suppe
-Shepherd's Hey and County Derry by Grainger
-Procession of the Nobles by Rimsy Korsokov
-Pas Redouble(one of my fav) by Saint Saens
-Candide Overture by Bernstein (another fav)

Thanks Diana! :)

Still snowing..... :(

Fortunately for you, the snow means I have extra time to work on my blog. I'm still working on it, but this will satiate you for awhile. :) Well... it is STILL snowing here in Boulder, CO. This is pretty much the worst winter Boulder has seen in a very long time. Which means.... MORE trainer time. YES! It's better than freezing and being miserable outside. At least if I'm miserable inside, I don't have to be bundled up, my core temperature is actually warm, and I can take breaks if need be.

My friend Lara sent me this book to read- The Alchemist. I'm about halfway through. It's a great book if anyone is looking for a winter read.

Meanwhile, I'll be dreaming of the sun and summer, and riding on singletrack in the mountains. That's what I daydream about while on the trainer....that and trying to hammer some bitches at the races :)

Someone please...make it stop.

Sorry for my lack of posts. Blogger has been temperamental and hasn't been letting me upgrade my template or post pictures. Boooo. I'm still trying to customize the colors on the this blasted template but it still won't let me.

I started school this past week. Looks like another good semester ahead of me with 2 biomedical engineering courses (1 about implantable devices focusing on the cardiovascular system and the other is a neural systems/physiological control course--liquid state ionics). It'll be a good taste for my palate. I also started my new research assistantship in the Neurophysiology of Movement lab in the integrated physiology department. I'm really excited about this job. The lab has a great vibe about it and I've already learned a great deal. I think this is where I'm supposed to be! I'm starting to appreciate having my engineering degree because it's a great key to unluck doors to many awesome opportunities I didn't think I had access to.

I have had some Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yes... there is still tons of snow on the ground and it's STILL freezing here. It has snowed the past 5 weekends in a row. When I try to go outside and ride my bike, I freeze since it really isn't getting much warmer than the upper 20s(For you Euros, that's Farenheit...we're talking a high of -6C) . Hence, I've been riding the trainer for several hours on end. It's mid-late January and I want to have some fitness by Nova Norba National at the very end of March. As you'll see below, I've been trying to find other means to amusing myself besides the trainer. I went skiing last week as well, but you know... I'm a warm weather person. I like hiking, camping, running, and biking. Yes, you can do all these when it's cold, but it's just not as pleasant. I like cool rushing streams, green and lush forests, sunshine, churping birds, and clear blue skies. The time will come...I just wish it would hurry up.

And now Blogger is finally letting me post some photographia:


Trainer set up #1. Ride with a friend. Brian has been riding the trainer as well. Gotta stay motivated. I'm being careful not to burn out, so don't worry! :) The blue bike is a Waltworks, custom made steel frame. Made by my friend and NM native, Walt Wehner. www.waltworks.com


This book is THE spawn of satan, the bane of my existence, and hopefully I will never have to open it again. I took 2/3 power electronics courses and am happy to say that I am bailing on the certificate. There is one class left offered this semester, but I want to enjoy my life, not curse it every morning I wake up. 20 hours of homework a week and 30-40 hour take home exams is NOT my bag... SO I am putting this book to good use.

The usual trainer set-up, me riding solo with my ipod, gazing out at the terrible weather....dreaming of feeling the warm sun on my face.



And at the epidomy of my desire to be outside having fun, I am rollerblading in the house. I am afraid to do it outside anyway since I can't stop, so this works juuuust fine, thank you.

I got a wireless mouse for my laptop....it's phenomenal. I'm trying to get psyched to ride the trainer all weekend, wish me luck.... or send some sweet techno my way.