Lago Vista Primavera

This past weekend was my first road race of the season. Saturday I had a rude awakening. I forgot what road racing was like and I just got really comfortable hanging out in the back and and I was day dreaming instead of paying attention to the race. Before I knew it, a break away had occured and I wasn't in it. Grrrrr. I ended up in a second break away and sprinted for 7th. I was prepared for Sunday's race. I was a part of the race instead of pack fodder and I payed attention to every little detail because I didn't have any teammates to help me out. It ended up being a sprint finish and I sprinted for 3rd! I couldn't believe it because I'm such not a sprinter. The course was down near Austin and there were a few tiny climbs, but overall, it wasn't a technical course. A good one to do your first races at.

Warming up beforehand. It was in the upper 40s when I got there, but warmed up tot he mid-60s during the race. Sean and Ann were there for moral support. By the way, Ann can yell really loud!


Check out the bathroom facilities along the course
That's me!

CANVASERS CONFERENCE

Watch out! The last weekend of February, 250 canvasers from Colorado to New York, from Michigan to Austin ascended upon Paducah, Kentucky for the annual canvasers conference. There was plenty of revelry and fun had by all!!! Question: How many canvasers can you fit inside a burb? 17!!!! Between all the fun, we did have spurts of serious time where we learned about other organization's campaigns and all the details and thought processes behind the campaigns.

The talent show that we won, hands down!

I told you we had serious time. Me, Mitra, Sara, Pippin, Jessica & Jason in a workshop




(Left) Mandi & Meg trying their hands at cooking for 27.
(Left) Josh & Sara practicing their lines. (Above) Kristin, Ashley, and Tony in a workshop

VICTORY!

Hey Everybody!
TXU has given up! Three major companies bought out TXU yesterday, which means 8 of the new coal plants that were planned are now off the table! The companies that are buying TXU met for 17 hours with environmental groups about how to make Texas green and negotiating the coal plant deal. I have insights to the meeting and TXU claimed that their name has too tarnished over the past year that it's becoming difficult for them. This was due to the efforts of community, environmental, church, and social groups from across Texas and the country. Hell Yeah! See what can happen when Democracy is bigger than Apathy! However, the new 3 proposed coal plants are going to be built the old method, meaning tons of pollutants in the air. Keep pressuring them to build them using gassification methods which are much much cleaner.

STARLIGHT THEATRE MAS O MENOS MTB BASH

The morning of Thursday 2/15, I woke up super early to get ready for the 10 and a half hour drive down South to Terlingua, TX. Tony in his usual form was a bit late, so we ended up having to drive through morning rush hour traffic through Dallas and Ft. Worth. I got kind of worried having him as the driver when I realized that once we got South of 190, he had no idea where to go. Luckily, Trevor and I, the more experienced DFW travelers than Tony, knew how to get us West of Ft. Worth on 20. On our first of many stops on the way there, Trevor and I managed to talk Tony out of another coffee. After 2 coffees, 2 Red Bulls and 2 candy bars, he didn't need anything else in his system. (Man, Tony has to stop about every 1.5 hours. He needs to learn what a travel bladder is.) Why were we driving out to the middle of no where? To race the Mas O Menos Mountainbike race, of course!!! I was originally going to race the beginner 30k, but after much berating from several people, I got peer pressured into doing the sport 50k. My excuse for doing the 30k is that I only had about 8 rides on a mountain bike before the race.

Lajitas' famous beer drinking goat. Actually, I think that's all it drinks. Rumors have it that the goat is also the mayor. Believe what you will... (Frankly, I'm surprised that PETA hasn't driven down there to save the goat.)
You thought I was joking, didn't you?
Our fearful border with Mexico, the Rio Grande. Wow, look at all the scary ILLEGALS sneaking across. We definitely need a 2,000 mile razor wire steel fence to save us all! AAAAHHHHH!!!
My brand new fresh off the shelf mountain bike. Don't be jealous!
Tony & Trevor at the race site.
Half-way up the 5 mile mountain climb of the race. Such a beautiful sunset in the desert!
I don't recall the last time I had this much fun at a bike race! The weather turned out beautiful after a freezing 45F start temp. I don't think I made too many friends amongst the Sport women. I forget how much I love the desert!

Hey, much thanks to Rich of Big Pig racing for transporting my bike and to Mad Duck Cycling for getting my bike prepped for the race and saving a beer for me at the end of the race!

COAL IS DIRTY

Hey Everyone, Say NO TO COAL!! Last Sunday, I was down in Austin for the rally against the coal plants here in Texas. TXU is wanting to fast track 11 new coal plants this year. This means, they'll be able to go around EPA standards. We all know how bad pollution in the summer is here. Well, most of the new plants will be along 35, so when that South wind blows, WATCH OUT!! How can TXU get away with this? By lining Perry's pockets with $$$$ of course! So, write to your State Representatives and say NO to the fast tracking of the coal plants!

Snowing!

Hey Everybody! It's snowing in Dallas on February 1st! (That's what the white dots in the photo are.) The heating and air conditioning people are here putting in a whole new system, so we don't have heat right now. I didn't go to work because I'm sick and I'm having to wear hat, gloves and layer up inside.

New Job

So, I got this new job that I absolutely love! I work for the Texas Campaign for the Environment, a non-profit that is based out of Dallas, but works in cities all over North Texas. There's a sister office down 35 in Austin. All the people that I work with are great! I really missed working for non-profits, so it's good to get my feet back into them. What's different about the workers of non-profits compared to other jobs is that because they pay so little, you have to be passionate and enjoy what you're doing. Because of this, it makes the working environment extremely enjoyable. I go to houses all over the DFW area and rally folks into getting involved on the issue that we're working on currently. You just never know what you're going to find behind that front door. One night, this man in his 50's came to the door holding a Carona and wearing spider man pajamas. Needless to say, he was entertaining to talk to and got involved with the issue at hand. Check out their website at www.texasenvironment.org

Happy New Years!

Yesterday, to celebrate 2007, Stephen and I did a 115 mile bike ride from North/Central Austin to Johnson City and back. It was a beautiful day! Sunny, not too windy, in the mid-40s to lower 60s. Very opposite type of riding that I'm used to, lots and lots and lots of rollies. I liked it! Stephen and I definetly took our time. At Johnson City, we stopped at the one of two gas stations in the town and ate donuts, honey buns and oatmeal pies with coffee to wash it down. (Not really a city.) When we got back to Sean & Ann's condo, Ann had dinner on the table for us! Yes! She will make a great sister-in-law. Afterwards, Stephen had to drive back to Dallas, while I got to relax. Sucked for him! I would show a picture of us afterwards, but I just looked too rough.