Nationals and finally getting sponsored

So I"m off to Colliegate bike racing nationals, held in my hometown of Kansas City http://www.glue.umd.edu/~neilg/kansascity.mp3 So it's actually a few hours away from kc, but whatever, not letting that slow me down. So in preparation, I've gotten myself a bike travel box, retail 200 dollars, for 20 dollars, thanks to the good friend of it's deceased previous owner.

In addition I've also been sponsored by Rudy Project, which means free sunglasses and helmet this year. In addition, I must not wear my ray ban's on the bike. I don't really wear glasses anyway. So yeah, me and Jan have something else in common now.

Pig Roast Pictures

Here are some pictures from the pig roast that Mary sent me. Thanks! Wow the fire was bigger than I remembered.

	This is right after we flipped it the second time. Looking good so far - we probably had another half-hour of cooking to go at this point.
	Oops. I think we added a little too much charcoal.
	Apparently grease fires burn at 2200 degrees F. Maybe that's why the welds on my grate failed. I think this picture is just after my dad poured his beer on the fire.
	The Knights carving the slightly charred pig. Tasted fine as long as you didn't get the part that fell in the mud. Sorry, Deacon Woods!

I have bigger copies of these pictures and more. Eventually they will be posted on my computer . That means this link is broken whenever my computer is turned off, or not online, sorry.

Pig Roast! A Case Study in Fire-Protection Engineering

Okay, so the Knights of Columbus Pig Roast was yesterday, and like so many spectacularly over-ambitious projects we take on, it was very nearly a disaster. This time we came especially close. With only about 20 minutes of cooking to go, the pig ignited entirely, the wood cover of the barbeque nearly did so, and without much imagination, one could see all of the CSC forest going up in flames. After a day of welding, cooking, barbequeing, and fire fighting, I am minus quite a bit of hair on my right arm, my eyebrows and eyelashes are singed and I have first-degree and some areas of second-degree burns on my arms and hands.

But it was worth it.

In the hopes that the pig roast can continue as a tradition of Sedes Sapientiae Council and that the mistakes of this year are not repeated, I will eventually post here an analysis of the day.

gross

okay, I went racing this weekend, and i even bought a special set of lower gears for this mountain climb we were doing saturday. The race was going well, and in the 45 miles before the final 5 of climbing I was really riding smart, keeping in the front but out of the wind, following breaks, and generally keeping with smart tactics. After 40 miles of riding though, I'm going through this turn in second position, tucked in very close to the fellow in front of me, when the fellow in front of me stops turning an rides off the road. I maintained my turning radius and as a result found that there was a huge patch of gravel on the road where he had stopped turning. I lost control of the front wheel and slid out right through the gravel. As a result of popular demand (a request/taunt from reader hlfblkcalicojack= Sierra Correa), I have posted some pics of the wounds below for your amusement.


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The photos were taken after multiple amature cleanings, including soaks with hydrogen peroxide, 15 minutes of irrigation, iodine wiping, etc. As you can see it was little avail. No worries though I got a professional cleaning from the tender hands at the help center.

Lest you think my weekend was ruined, I should point out that sunday I rode another race and placed second, so I did have some decent results despite the crash.

Novemdiales

Novemdiales, the nine days of mourning for the Holy Father begin today, April 3rd. Remember to wear your Catholic Terps t-shirt on the day of the Pope's funeral. The birthday party we had been planning for April babies is probably going to be postponed, I'll let you know when we decide on a new date.