Tucson –> San Dimas –> Redlands

Posted on by Lindsay
[caption id="attachment_6032" align="alignnone" width="400"] On the drive from Tucson to San Dimas, Courteney realized what I meant when I said the Civic was basic.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6033" align="alignnone" width="600"] Suzanna flew into California to join us in racing San Dimas. We had a lovely evening spin previewing the San Dimas TT course, which would have been my favorite ever if it didn't go uphill for 4.25 miles.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6034" align="alignnone" width="600"] Courteney struggled with the idea of turning 24 last month or, as she put it, getting old. Dude, I have shirts older than that.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6029" align="alignnone" width="600"] This is what really happens when girls go wild.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6028" align="alignnone" width="600"] The three of us had quite a bit of fun at San Dimas. From the racing to the adventures at our Airbnb house, the laughs never stopped. Okay, so there wasn't actually much laughing during the racing. Maybe just some barfing and a few ...continue reading.

Happier than a pig in Redlands.

Posted on by Lindsay
Our host family in Redlands has a pig. A tiny, five-week-old pink pig. Her cuteness is almost too much to bear at times. She waddles around, wags her tail, grunts a lot, and always wants to climb into your lap and fall asleep. She drives us all to distraction: nobody rode bikes yesterday. I tried to do corework but ended up holding the pig for 90 minutes instead. If photographing the pig was a sport, I'd be an Olympian by now. But then Courteney put her in my room this morning and stepped out for a moment, and the pig pooped aggressively under the bed. It was messy and disastrous and required a good bit of clean up. The pig wasn't looking so clean herself and badly needed a rinse to be restored to her glowing pink self. Somehow I found myself holding the tiny pig in the kitchen sink trying to ...continue reading.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Posted on by Lindsay
I'm sitting outside for one last sunset in Tucson before leaving for California tomorrow. From one perspective, this trip has been one long series of goodbyes: I said goodbye to home, goodbye to each new place I discovered along the drive across the country, goodbye to Andrew and many of my teammates at the end of camp, and now I am saying goodbye to Tucson. This place has become home. It's missing a few critical things - Andrew, my parents, the pets - but something about it has stolen my heart in a way that will never be undone. When I am alone on the side of Mt. Lemmon looking at the vastness of the hills and the desert while the wind blows, I feel the happiest and most alive. It's not the coffee shops or the great tortillas or the other cyclists; it's just the desert and the mountains and the way the sky is ...continue reading.

This is how life looks right now

Posted on by Lindsay
Once upon a time, life in Arizona was so lovely and entertaining that I couldn't find the motivation to write a proper post. So here are a lot of photos instead: [caption id="attachment_5982" align="alignnone" width="600"] The Peppers rock. (Ha. HA. Get it?)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5983" align="alignnone" width="600"] COME AT ME, BRO[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5977" align="alignnone" width="600"] Our host here in Tucson shares a last name with Andrew and because I am simple, this is thrilling.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5973" align="alignnone" width="600"] Nothing is more terrifying then a chipmunk darting across the bike path when you're on the aero bars. They're everywhere out here and holy crap, they have huge balls.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5978" align="alignnone" width="600"] Learning to ride my TT bike one anxious grimace at a time. Then I finished 3rd in the Tucson Bicycle Classic TT and now I'm all WATCH ME ROCK THIS, I'M GONNA WIN THE OLYMPICS.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5976" align="alignnone" width="600"] We don't mess around with getting to ...continue reading.

Pepper Palace: Your #1 Source for Awesome Sauce

Posted on by Lindsay
Andrew arrived in Tucson just over a week ago. I was nervously primping (because even though he's stuck with me for life, I don't need to make him regret that decision) when my roommate asked, "Do you have any clothes that aren't for cycling or the gym?" No. I have mascara and sweatpants. When he arrived, it was a whirlwind of activity for three straight days. I wanted to show him my favorite places around town (Stella Java, La Estrella Bakery, Mt. Lemmon, Time Market, Le Buzz...hmm, this list is rather food-heavy) and we also had to get all of the team bikes ready for camp. By "we", I mean "Andrew" while I spectated and offered helpful suggestions like, "How's my TT bike coming along? Will you be done soon? When can we go eat?" And then in no time at all, we were driving with Julie in a caravan towards the Phoenix airport to collect ...continue reading.

PTSD from that time my parents tried to kill me with fish

Posted on by Lindsay
About six weeks ago, my parents invited Andrew and me over for Sunday dinner. "I'm marinating hamburgers and a salmon burger for you," my father said excitedly. Then they cancelled a few hours before, because they do not love their only child. Dinner was rescheduled for the following Sunday. "I'm still marinating those hamburgers," my father said. "They'll be so flavorful!" We gathered for dinner; everybody ate their beef burgers while I had my salmon patty (which had been marinated and cooked separately). It was flavorful: brimming with the delicious flavor of fish. Nobody else tried the salmon. The next evening, I started feeling badly. I crawled into bed early, hoping it would pass, but soon became horribly ill. To briefly and non-graphically summarize the subsequent five hours: I exploded and begged for death to come take me away. Andrew watched sympathetically, because marriage means you cannot run screaming when your spouse is ...continue reading.