Marshall Marshall Marshall

For the first time in a few weeks I won’t be working on Saturday, so I’ll be heading out to do the Marshall Ride with a few team mates. Last time I was out, in August, I was either ogling the impressive houses with features like private runways or totally hypoxic, so it may not be the absolute best that I’m the ride navigator. We’ll see what we get. You drop me in the middle of an ocean and tell me to get to a specific place, I’ll head right there. Cue sheets? I’m pretty useless with those. Must be all the landmarks that get in the way. Anyhow, Mt. Weather has thrown down the gauntlet and I have picked it up. See you on Saturday, mf’er!

I wound up riding the rollers last night for the second time this “winter.” Despite the 70 degree temps, my plans for riding outside were dashed when I tried to make the clamp for my light fit my 31.8mm bars (it only fits 26.8 bars) and broke it. Tonight I’ll try to cobble it together with a tongue depressor, a hose clamp and some 5 minute epoxy. If that doesn’t work, it’s zip ties, a spork and some double stick tape. Riding on rollers is okay, because at least you are engaged to the degree that if you completely space out you’ll wipe, but you’re still pretty conscious of how long you are riding them. But practicing riding no hands and standing up and stuff is interesting. At this point in the year, though, you can’t use up too many of the very finite number of times you’ll be able to tolerate riding indoors.

The FPG is off to compete in the US Sailing National Team Race Championship this weekend. She makes me look like I sail all the freaking time (it’s like 3 years since her last real regatta) so hopefully she doesn’t have the train wreck of a first day that I recently had. Crewing in small boats (the boats they use for this are 15 foot long “Vanguard 15s,” for which I used to be the product manager) is pretty brutal. Everyone who sailed in college has a story about the time their crew was asked if she gets beaten by her boyfriend – you wind up all banged up and bruised all the time. So for the next month or so I’ll be drinking Miller High Life from a bottle and wearing a wife beater shirt around. If you’re going to do the time anyway…