I'm THERE.

10 DAYS. And I will be watching the best in the world compete at Fort William, Scotland.

6 DAYS. Until I arrive in Glasgow.

THIS IS SOOOO EXCITING!!!

eatin' haggas and riding bikes...

Two walls to two weeks...

I don't think I've written about this before, but I've been interning for a local gallery called Form & Content for the past several months. The internship has been a great experience. The husband-wife team that I was working for adopted me as their daughter, and not only provided great company and advice, but also fed me lunch every friday. Today I was able to enjoy the culmination of all our work. After hours of researching images, preparing the raw materials and gritting out the tedious citations, the show "Two Walls" (see the link at right) opened at the gallery. Out of everything I have done this summer, this internship has proved to be one of the most fulfilling. I've met some really wonderful people, and managed to keep in contact with my favorite professors from years past.

So now I've got two weeks of work, moving out of my apartment and packing to ship off to Scotland. With my brother shipping off to college in North Carolina, I'm eager leave for my own adventure. I can't say I'm excited (yet) as the concept of leaving for four months seems so abstract. What I'm feeling right now is a huge blank void where the start of my 2nd year at the University of Minnesota should be.

Because of this void, my thoughts skip straight to training and racing during the spring semester at the U. I'm excited to start training again. I'm yearning for those 6:30 am rides before class and hunger because your body is burning calories so fast you can't eat enough to keep up. And to all those who've been wondering why I haven't been posting results - I've been sick the whole fricking summer. Well, if all goes as planned in Scotland, I'll be riding in the highlands and training 15-20 hours a week...

Oh yes, there's a track in Edinburgh. Indoors!

the death of a skinsuit

Thursday night.

I had a bad feeling about it all day long. Some people say that these feelings are self-fulfilling prophecies, but I'm inclined to believe that Thursday had bad karma in a real way.

After work, I suited up in my kit and headed up to the velodrome. The first race of the night, a tempo, went nicely for my first race in four weeks. The Dahlman Sisters steam-rolled around the track with me acting as the caboose. Unfortunately I didn't have enough strength to sprint around them to contest for big points. We rode over 26 mph for the duration, so I was pleased enough.

The miss n out was up next, and I was pretty excited. I lined up on the rail near the back, ready to mark the Sisters, Elena and Gwen when I could. The roll out was fast and I traveled around the outside to catch up. The group began to accelerate as we approached the first elimination lap. Then, around turn 1, I felt someones arm press on my hip, and the next thing I knew I was barrel-rolling down the track sans bicycle. Four people went down, and I think that I got the scrapes the worst. Luckily, the damage was minimal, but I did manage to pick up a strange series of raspberries on my spine...

hey ed, a bear attacked me too...