Top 10 of 2010

2010 had it's lows, and by lows I mean ass-kicking, gut-wrenching, super-duper-sucking lows, but it also had it's highs. It's true that what goes down must come back up, er, however that cliche saying goes.

But before I look to 2011 and share my thoughts and goals for the new year, I thought I should post the obligatory Top 10 of 2010 post. If not for your perusal and enjoyment, than to remind myself that 2010 wasn't too shabby.

Without further ado, in chronological order.....the Top 10 of 2010!

10. On March 15th 2010 we brought home all 10lbs of furry, tail-wagging, butt-wiggling joy, Ladybug! She's been part of our family for almost a year now, and despite the time or 10 that Wyatt threaten to give her back, she has been a love!

9. The beginning of April took me to DC for work, which in itself is nothing to write home about. But when your BFF takes the bus down from NYC to meet you for the afternoon, attention must paid! Not only did the BFF make a cameo appearance, but we had the chance to hang out with a few college friends and see the sites with locals.

8. June brought surgery for me, and mountain bike racing for the guys. Not even crutches could keep me from tagging along as the official "in case of emergency" contact and cheering section.

7. Once off crutches Wyatt and I embraced the mini-break, and took long weekends to the Twin Cities and the Windy City. 4-star hotels, restaurants, shows like the Blue Man Group, and leisurely strolls along the lakefront and river, it was fabulous to break up the summer with a trip here and there.

6. Biking! The few months of nice weather we have here in Madison would not be complete without biking. We are now the proud owners of an Xtracycle Free Radical (awesome!!). It served as my chariot while I was on crutches, and later in the season it was out grocery-getting, picinic-going, farmer's market-going station wagon.

Did I mention the Pinglespeed got some mileage too?!? Woot!

5. Arguably the most memorable moment of the year, and number 1 in my heart for 2010, on September 11th 2010 Wyatt closed down an entire state park to propose to me.

September 2011 we will be Mr & Mrs!!

Sigh.

Tear.

Squeeee!!

4. Later in September we headed down to Vegas for Interbike for work, followed by a few days of vacation and debauchery. And the cherry on top? My BFF joined us! Wyatt had his hands full keep track of not one, but two Vegas virgins.

The Palm, Cirque du Soliel, Peep Show, 3 Tiffany's locations, Ceaser's Palace, craps, the Playboy Club, and oh so much more!

3. Early November had me heading to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater...and as it was Wyatt's birthday, I brought him along. While I worked the event (booo), Wyatt's days were filled with sleeping in, long walks on the beach, seashell collecting, and general relaxation. In the evenings we did have the chance to meet up with another coworker of ours, see some friends and eat some delicious food. All in all, not a bad lil work trip.

2. November 20th we celebrated our engagement with our closest friends by throwing a little shindig at the local brew pub. Wings, cupcakes, beer, wonderful company, and an embarrassing toast made for a memorable and wonderful evening.

1. Every year we make it our mission to make it to at least one Badger game. Being a UW alum, these games are very near and dear to me. This year we were at the season closer, where the Badgers officially tied as Big 10 Champs and sealed the deal on a trip to Pasedena.

Storming the field was a must!

So there you have it, the Top 10 of 2010. Now that it's been posted I can officially close the 2010 chapter and focus on 2011.

The Pinglespeed!!

Unlike the dishes, the Pinlglespeed is finally DONE!!

Ain't she pretty???

It's been an almost 2-year labor of love. 2 years? Ok, mainly it took that long because I have been lazy...but there's also been some OCS in the mix driving my to have everything just perfect and matching and what not.

The chain tension has been the latest disaster. It's not quite where I want it, but I have been trying to avoid using a chain tensioner or spending more $$ for something like White Industries Eccentric hub. I've tried a few different gear ratio's, and this is the best I could get. But, FYI, for those not in the know, the KMC Half link is a sanity-saver. Oh, and I LOVE Sheldon Brown's website.

I was so excited to have it all together in bike form and ride-able that I decided to temporarily overlook the saggy chain...but if anyone out there in the blog-o-sphere or world wide inter-web has a tried and true method for my droopy-drawers chain let me know!!

And wouldn't you know that right about the time I finish the Pinglespeed I end up with two more bikes to build (more details on that later)?!? I've got a geared 29'er and commuter to get together. Seriously people, I stopped working in a shop because I hated having dirty hands all the time....and yet here I am every night in the poorly lit basement, working on bikes, and living with dirty hands. Grrr!

All for hte love of bikes.

Sweatin' it out at lunch.

The new wheels have arrived! Pretty sassy, eh? :)

PINK + KATIE = HAPPY!!

That's right people, SRAM has a new PINK groupo.....and I am REALLY excited about it.

Combine it with a little Chris King...

and Sweet Jeebus! It's like MY Holy Grail in bike form. I can't handle it. Granted this is a way super pricey project I am lusting after, but oh yes, it WILL be mine.

As for the frame...well I am kind of in love with the geared GF Superfly frame, but that would be a little over the top I think. And the red on the paint would kind of clash with my pink theme, but I would ride shiznit out of it just the same. The GF Paragon might also work.

Our trip to NYC over Thanksgiving is my birthday present....maybe the PINK geared 29'er will be Christmas??? Something to think about Wyatt. :)

Fat Tire Festival start

Good luck Wyatt!

I quit.

All I wanted to do was get on a bike, go for a ride, and have fun. Seriously. No training goal, no pace, no hill repeats, just fun.

Wednesday I decided to head out with a coworker of mine, Julie, for a post work ride. She's speedy lady who takes her riding pretty seriously, but as the plan was to do a loop on the Cap City Trail (a paved ~30m bike path) I was feeling relaxed and excited. That relaxed, excited, fun feeling lasted all of 2m....maybe that.

Coming around a slight bend in the path keeping a nice pace and KA-BLOOEY! Like pistol shot I( suspect the elderly lady up the path thought she was getting shot at) ,my rear tube flatted, exploding the tire off the rim, kicking out the read end of my bike and careening me directly into the pavement. I slide on the top of my helmet a bit, snapped my left cleat in half (I can only assume it happened sometime between my flails to unclip and my foot hitting the pavement), took a healthy gash out my elbow, and road rashed myself up nicely. F*ck that hurt.

Almost in one continuous motion I was back up and pulling my bike off the path. After I realized nothing on me or my bike was broken, my next thought was I cannot change my tire here, there are too many mosquitoes. Seriously, those buggers were vicious. So I schlepped my non-rolling bike probably a 1/4m to the nearest street and proceeded to pace, slap, and scratch while changing my tire. All while blood was running down my arm an leg. Probably my fastest tire change ever.

Tube changed, tire back on, CO2'd up, back on the bike...ish. This is the point I realize I'm not going anywhere. The wheel would sort of go into the dropouts, but not quite. I look down to realize it is bent to the point of hitting the chainstay. AH*&(^#O(*!!!! My hopes of limping my bike back to work and calling it a day where going to be more complicated than anticipated. So now I am left to stand, nay pace, up and down the mosquito infested sidewalk while Julie makes the couple mile trek back to the office to pick up a car.

As soon as I was alone and the adrenaline stopped pumping, I realized not only was I in pain but I had demolished a wheel. And so began the tears. I left Wyatt (who's RAGBRAI'ing it up this week and generally incommunicado) a tearful message which I realized after leaving was a poor decision. Seriously, what good, other than inspiring panic, would my tearful message do? So I followed up that voicemail with a flurry of text messages. Note: there are some times that my phone privileges should be revoked.

The aftermath....I hurt. Kind of a lot. As my usual protest of the medical field goes, I opted out of a trip to the ER. I don't think anything's seriously damaged. Except for the dizzy nauseous headache that won't go away... Oh and there is that bruise in the shape of my PT CPU (which was in my jersey pocket when I landed). I am in need of a new helmet (and am sooo glad I was wearing one), new cleats (somehow in my tumble I snapped one in half, strange) and a new wheel. My poor wheel....

Here's where the bike and I slid on our side.

Here's one of the distinct creases in the rim.

And here is the noticeable S-bend in the rim.

I don't know if I in the PT and the CPU when I went down. I didn't even check that out before boxing up the wheel. Only time will tell.

I'm not able to sleep because every time I move/roll/breath it hurts. I brought myself to tears yesterday when I sneezed. And please do not make me laugh, because, well, that hurts too.

Just another day in paradise...

I am not meant to ride a bike...
There are various other bloody apendages and sore parts to go with the knee. Not to mention a rear wheel that is no more, a snapped cleat (wtf?) and a helmet that should prolly not be used any more.
This is just NOT my season. :(

Senor Queso Strikes AGAIN!!!

***Staring Señor Queso***

(names have been changed to protect the not so innocent)

So let me tell you a little story about my road trip to get my bike fixed....

I seem to have the WORST luck with bike mechanics. This could be in part to my overly picky nature. Ok, I'm sure that's part of it. Since moving to Madison I have had nothing but bad luck with my bikes. If you had encountered some of the janky work I have you'd be picky too. But I digress...

I sort of luck out that one of my favorite people (and good friend) happens to be a ROCKSTAR bike mechanic. Only unlucky part is that now that I am in Madison he is close to an hour and a half away. Sacrifices must be made for quality, so it's totally worth the drive.

After yet another bike mishap or two, it was off to Milwaukee I go. Admittedly one of the issues was no one's fault. Spokes break. But the other was definitely much more questionable.

I made plans to meet my mechanic of choice at 7pm at the shop. I roll in a few minutes late (how was I to know there was a Brewer's game???) to find out he's not there. Hmmm. I call. I text. No answer. A fellow employee of his and friend of mine, Matt, calls. He texts. I chat and hang out to pass the time. I pace the store. I clean up displays and straighten clothes.... Señor Queso is MIA! Just shy of 8pm Matt decides to try calling the house line. Wouldn't you know, Señor Queso he fallen asleep!! Matt had grandma wake up him so that he could get his butt in gear. HE HAD FALLEN ASLEEP!!! WTF!?! Strike 1 Señor Queso!

Meanwhile, the poor store manager, who I know well enough I suppose, is now dealing with a panic-y starting to cry girl in his shop. He volunteers one of the other guys to take a look at my bike for me while we continue to wait for Señor Queso...

Almost 8:30 now and who strolls in? Señor Queso. Finally. Yeah, the other tech got things taken care of on the wheel front, but there was still the matter of my jacked up drivetrain. That's right Sleeping Beauty, get to work! Lucky for him, Señor Queso has some MAD bike skillz and my bike up and shifting soooo much better pretty darn quick.

After the bike drama was repaired and behind us, we headed out for a quick bite to eat to before I drove home. It was spose to me Matt and his lady friend, Señor Queso and I. Or so I thought. We get to the restaurant to discover that I am, in fact, the 5th wheel on Matt and Señor Queso's double friggin date. Really boys? REALLY? In addition to this little awkward suprise, our quick bite to eat turned into a really loooooong meal. And it's not like there were multiple courses, those 4 just took their sweet time doing everything. By the time dinner was done and Señor Queso drove me back to my car it was after midnight!! And I still had almost an hour and half drive home! Strike 2 Señor Queso!

One more strike and YOU'RE OUT Señor Queso!!

You may remember Señor Queso from past posts such as The Biking Debacle Part I and The Biking Debacle Part II.

He did it!