November 2011
3 posts
4 tags
A short ode to collegiate cycling
This post will be quick.
I think collegiate cycling is one of the greatest things you can do in college (or in my case, grad school). It’s the most team-focused cycling I think somebody can participate in without being a professional.
I wish I would have been cognizant of the sport when I was in college. I mean, I knew of cycling as a sport. My cousin had raced bikes for years, but there...
BeBe Casserole
There exist several food items that I associate with my grandmother’s cooking. Ground beef with carrots (when I asked her why, she said, “You gotta add some flavor.”), always smooth and thick brown gravy with roast, shredded green beans with onions and bacon smothered beyond belief. I could actually go on for a while.
However, there is one item that sticks out above all the...
2 tags
Switching Gears
So I started NaNoWriMo this year. I truly do think that this is a great thing to do, and I encourage everybody to complete it at least once. Unfortunately, I will not finish.
I just never got truly excited about it this year. However, I still like the idea of using your downtime to do something productive. Not in the sense of checking things off of your todo list, but in the sense of...
August 2011
3 posts
House Update
The house continues to move along. We unfortunately had to push the closing back by 5 days, but in the grand scheme of things that’s not really anything to worry about. I have updated the set of pictures on Flickr as well.
The extended stay hotel where we are staying is interesting, to put it mildly. A bizarre collection of people are the extended stay, some of them I believe make their...
July 2011
2 posts
June 2011
6 posts
1 tag
Catching up with JiBW3
I have posted all of the photos so far over on my flickr stream. Please feel free to leave comments.
I have enjoyed it more this year, and have not been getting the burnt out feeling that has cropped up the past two times. I am hoping the cloud cover will persist today so that I can get some softer light this afternoon. We’ll see.
1 tag
JiBW3 is Ongoing
Don’t fret!
Unfortunately as I had to turn in my laptop back to the state of Texas, all my pictures are stuck on my camera. However, I’ll have plenty of time to process them once I return to Austin next week.
May 2011
12 posts
1 tag
Announcing JiBW3
Yes, yes, I am going to do it again.
You may ask, “But Taylor, the last two years have beat you down by the end where you almost didn’t ever want to take a picture again. Why would you make yourself do it again?”
That is a valid question. But the answer I think makes sense.
For almost all of this June I will be unemployed. I am very excited about this. I am not sure when the...
3 tags
My last week at UT
It is very strange to me that this is my last full week of employment at the University of Texas at Austin. My last day is technically next Tuesday, but since Monday is a University holiday, in my opinion one day does not a week make. So here I am … my last week.
I started graduate school in September of 2001. I am leaving UT in May of 2011. Almost 10 years as a UT employee. When I was...
1 tag
Living in a Half-Empty Condo
Our condo feels very empty and bare. I mean, it’s in no way empty. There’s still furniture in there, there are still clothes, and food, and stuff like that. But it definitely isn’t what it was just a few days ago.
We have purged a lot of stuff. Anything that was halfway useable has been donated. We unfortunately had to throw away a lot of well, trash. But we have organized, and...
1 tag
April 2011
7 posts
1 tag
Fear on the Bike, or, Embracing Gravel
I am not a prolific blogger, by any stretch of the imagination. But this is something I wanted to write about (albeit shortly) that definitely does not fall into the “hey, today we did X” category.
I lined up for the Fayetteville Stage Race back in March. I was really excited as this was the first USAC stage race that I had done in a long time. It even had a time-trial, so I was...
3 tags
Signed, Sealed... well, not delivered
Well the big announcement I talked about yesterday was that today Carrie and I just signed a contract to have a house built for us in the cool neighborhood of Brentwood/Crestview. The house will begin construction in the very near future.
We are really excited. I mean, yes, it is somewhat horrifying. Don’t get me wrong. This all feels very adult. Money, loans, contracts, signatures…...
3 tags
Moving Forward
Last night I headed out the Driveway intent on finishing the 3/4 race for the first time. I actually rode out there, and in the process got in a nice warm up. That’s the nice thing about riding out there. The bad thing about riding out there is that you have to ride back. But, with the south wind one usually has during the Spring and Summer it isn’t so bad.
Back to the racing, I did...
March 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Anniversary at Uchiko
For Carrie and I’s anniversary on Sunday we went to Uchiko, Tyson Cole’s second restaurant here in Austin. It’s right near our place and has been getting rave reviews, so I was very excited about trying it.
Let me say, it did not disappoint. Absolutely fantastic, and honestly, probably the best meal I have ever had in Austin.
We had several rolls, all delicious. We had the...
The State of the Whitebread
I am going to break this up into sections. Overall, I would say that I live a blessed life and I am very thankful for all of the great things, people, and places that I have seen/experienced/known/etc. Now to specifics:
Marriage
Sunday marks our seventh wedding anniversary, and I am thankful for every day. I love Carrie so much, and I feel that we continue to become better friends as the years...
September 2010
8 posts
1 tag
Might as well blog...
I am sitting at the Starbucks as today was a strange sequence of events. The people came to clean our house so I can’t stay there, UT is on lockdown because of some crazy with a gun, and I decided not to bring my laptop home.
I am very glad I wasn’t there for any of the craziness. I am even more glad that nobody got hurt. No university needs multiple massive shooting incidents in...
7 tags
New Fit
So I went see Eric over at Austinbikes for a bike fit this week. Great experience, as usual everybody there is friendly and knowledgeable. I ended up much further forward than I had been (which I expected was going to occur). The fit finished up yesterday, and I decided what better way to try out than to go race a crit? Somewhat kidding.
Regardless, the crit went pretty well, I spent some time up...
3 tags
Dilloman Triathlon Report
First off, I learned an important lesson about pre-race nutrition. The Salt Lick is non-optimal.
But back to the race itself. We got out there with plenty of time, and Carrie and I racked our bikes and got our transition areas set up. It was a small race, only about 170 participants, so it was a very small transition area and one could rack wherever they wanted.
The race started in just two...
5 tags
Time for New Cleats
You know it is time to get new cleats when you unclip twice in a 30 minute race. Yikes.
The first time my right foot hit my front wheel. The second time there was no wheel contact. Unfortunately, both times I dropped back significantly and had to chase back on. That seemed like one of the fastest 4/5 races of the year last night. I unfortunately did not make it back into the top 20, though I feel...
4 tags
Getting Ready for a Triathlon
It has been a little over a year since the last time I did a triathlon. I was out of shape, and it was one of the most pitiful athletic outings of my life.
Well, I decided to sign up for a triathlon this coming Saturday out at Pace Bend park: the Dilloman. It’s a sprint distance, and I am thinking it should be a much better experience. We have gone swim a few times in the lake at the gym,...
Final ToA Race Report
I road up to the Pickle Research Campus on Monday morning to warm up. My stomach was feeling kind of gross, but I figured it would go away once we started racing, and it did. The race started fast. People in front were getting dropped, so I had to go around them and then bridge the gap to the actual group.
I did this several times but when I had to do it into the tail wind I lost contact. I...
3 tags
Saturday recap
The day started out well. Woke up, had some tea and breakfast, got ready, watched a little bit of the vuelta. We packed up the truck and started to head out to the race. But as I was driving out of our parking lot I realized I ran over something. Turns out it was my front wheel. Whoops. I had taken it off and leaned it against the truck, and forgot to put it in the truck. It now had no axle as I...
4 tags
Getting Ready
This weekend (tomorrow, in fact) starts the Tour De Austin. One time trial and three criteriums. I am very excited, as I sort of circled this on the calendar a long time ago. I was very excited when Drew told me that he wanted this to be my big target for the summer. I’ve had a few training interruptions along the way, but I am feeling pretty good. I did my last ride early this...
August 2010
7 posts
3 tags
Progression
Last night at the Driveway I could tell my legs were tired. The previous two days of workouts were still there in my legs. I warmed up and things felt loose, but I could still feel some tiredness.
The race started and I was in great position. The first time around the top corners (both > 90 degrees) I slipped back some (because I was being a scaredy cat), but was still okay. Then I got trapped...
1 tag
Finally finished JiBW2
I had been meaning to do this for a while. While I enjoyed taking all the pictures, it got to feel more like a burden toward the end. I also felt like I was stuck in a rut. Oh well, I got all the shots up, check them out on my flickr sets page. Here are the overall top 5:
2 tags
The Anxious 32-year-old Whisperer
I’m not sure where this show would be popular, but I’m thinking it would have a limited audience, more of a niche thing.
Anyway, the main point is that if you ever have seen an episode of the Dog Whisperer where he has a very anxious dog, he always ask the owners how often they walk and exercise their dog. Most of the time the answer is not many.
I’m like those dogs.
As...
3 tags
Not the Ending I was Looking For
So yeah. Tonight wasn’t going that well. I had moved up at on point, and I felt the effort from that for the next lap. It looked like I was getting dropped but then the pack slowed down. I figured, one good burst of effort and I’ll be back in contact. Okay, let’s do this. So I did. Unfortunately right as I was really getting back to everybody I went around a turn, stood up to...
6 tags
Tahoe Pictures and Assorted Thoughts
So first and foremost, I have posted the pictures from our Lake Tahoe trip. That place is absolutely beautiful:
We really had a great time at Ruth’s wedding, and it was great getting to hang out with people who don’t get to see very often at all.
Two days ago I woke up at 6 AM and went ride my bike. This had several advantages: 1) it was much cooler and 2) I was done with my ride...
2 tags
Back to the Driveway
What a great night out at the Driveway. Yes, I finished with the pack after 4 weeks of not racing (modest comeback goal achieved, woot!). Yes, I felt great cornering and with my handling. But that wasn’t what really made the evening.
A year ago, a man named Kevin Underhill got in a bad wreck at the Driveway, and unfortunately died a few days later. His heart, however, was used in a...
3 tags
In Perpetual Search of Continual Productivity
This is an issue I have had for a while. While I feel over the long term I am productive, I always feel like I could be more productive in the short term. Or more accurately, I could have more guilt-free time if I could consistently be productive ever day. I am always looking for ways to basically force myself into this. Will power is overrated, as Jillian Michaels once said on The Biggest Loser,...