teaser

logic: If all mountain bikers are masochists and Arkonbey is a mountain biker, then Arkonbey is a masochist.

It has been rain-free all week and my favorite trail was open. I called friends today and nobody was available, so I decided to hit the trail and do a training ride (ride the whole course at race-pace) rather than a tooling-around day. I was about 3/4 of the way through the loop, about a half-hour in when I met a fellow member of the Fellowship of the Wheel . Having only built trails with him, never having ridden with him, I asked if I could tag along. I hate riding alone and he said he was going to take it easy (I was already a leetle bit tired).

Over two hours, three long climbs, many short climbs, many fast descents ( and one super-fast descent (where I scared myself I was going so fast) later, I was beat. I was hydrated, but bonking (A breakfast consisting only of of four slices of peanut butter toast and two cups of good, strong free-trade coffee may have aided in the bonking.)and my skinny little backside hurt so much that I couldn't sit on the saddle. All tolled, it was over two and a half hours with 30 minutes of it at race pace.

I came home and ate for a half hour. Not fast, just steady. One (homemade!) hummus/cheese sandwich, 1/2 cheese sandwich. many tortilla chips and hummus, two local-made chocolate bon-bon things, one slice of cheap and tasty grocery store chocolate coffee cake and one Wolaver's organic whit bier later, I showered, then slept for an hour.

It has been so wet and the afternoon was cloudy I decided that I needed to pack in as much riding today as possible for two reasons: it's been so long and it might rain tomorrow. Ah, happy idiocy.

Ah, the teaser. I did a color study for the Obscure Tales Issue Four. It sort of sucks, but I'm posting it anyway. Bolstered by an early success with watercolors on an art trade with Becca , I thought I do the cover fully hand-done (save type, of course).

Man! Watercolor is hard. So, it's, literally, back to the drawing board.

listening to while posting: "Ronnie's Racing School" by Glitter Mini 9 (not on speakers, but in my HEAD! It won't leave!)