SSWC 09

Thrown abruptly back into the workplace after a fantastic extra long weekend, thus I lack time to write an update on the Single Speed World Championships in Durango this past weekend. So in the meantime check out Will's post & photos:


http://1speedmindset.blogspot.com/

Larmie Enduro

We drove up Friday to partake in the Laramie Enduro. Camped out and got rained on all night. Thankfully the tent held up considering it was brand new. Having the larger tent this year made for a more pleasant sleeping experience. I failed to seam seal the tent and it leaked a bit, but we stayed dry. The morning was crazy, it always goes by so fast at that event. I get so anxious there I think because someone is constantly announcing the count down time to the start. I started boiling some water on the ol' Coleman 2 burner, fortunately it did pound rain last night, because I thought I was going to start a forest fire as the flame on the stove reached to 2 feet high, sometimes higher, but eventually it petered out and the blue flame finally boiled water for the morning coffee. "30 minutes until start time..."

Laramie Enduro was kind of a last minute decision. I did it last year, but when Will asked me if I had registered back in late Feb. or March, I turned my nose down on the event and racing all together. Funny how my attitude changes when summer comes on and ski season is over, I am ready to be on the bike. Luckily I got in a couple weeks ago. I had to go to Houston the 2nd week before the event, when I would normally log on the miles and intensify the rides, but oh well, Houston was great and still overwhelmed about the opportunity to show art out of state.


"15 minutes until start time." Rushed to put on my bike gear get everything sorted, I am not a good morning person. Headed over to the line up and ended up at the very back of the start, which sucked because it was a bike traffic jam into the single track, great track standing practice, but jeez could it go any slower.

I tried hard to get out in front, but my legs were so cold and stiff, my back hurt 45 minutes into the race. Not feeling so great, but thought maybe when it starts to warm up I'll feel better. The Aleve and Sport Legs kicked in and made me feel a bit more energized. I had no idea where I was in the pack of single speed riders, my main goal was to beat my time from last year. There was a larger than normal and strong group single speed women riders this year. The first place woman got 3rd overall, she switched categories from Pro Open to single speed last minute I guess. She has a nice life, from El Paso, she and her husband travel around all summer racing in the Rockies.

The water crossings were epic, waist deep in some sections. Luckily I did not get off course, like last year. The last 10 miles seemed to go on for an eternity. So ready to be done, I could hear the drone of I-80 and knew the finish line and beer was close! I saw Will at the finish all clean and changed. I asked if he won, and he laughed with a beer in hand and told me he got lost, spent about 10 miles off course, bummer. He got 3rd last year and I bet he would have had a podium finish if he didn't get off course.

I ended up getting 4th place in single speed and 2nd in the 40-49 State Ultra Marathon Championships, and I beat my time last year by 20 minutes.


finish photo by WFS 2

Hot Art in Houston

The week finally arrived for Angela Beloian and I to fly out to Houston to install our "Detritus" show at the Art League of Houston. My first out of state show. I have been super excited about the opportunity and nervous at the same time. We had to ship all our work and I decided to omit a few pieces to save money as the shipping costs added up quickly and the space is a bit smaller than the Dairy Center, where our Detritus show exhibited a few months earlier.

Houston surprised me, it has quite the art scene and a quaint historic district, where we stayed, which is in the Heights district. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, the largest city within the state of Texas, and "the energy capital of the world." My energy levels were low, I attributed this to the constant humid air vs. air conditioning contrasts. People in Houston spend the majority of the summer living in A/C.






















Day 1: we pick up the rental car, drive to the Art League to see if our art survived the journey via UPS. I took 2 rubber rabbits with me on the plane and added those to the pile at Houston Art League. Two of my packages were damaged, the only 2 which I did not insure, don't think I'll use UPS to send art again. Luckily my art is not too fragile since it's mostly made of rubber and plastic bags, but the blower for my inflatables broke, which was easily repaired. We headed back to Angela's friends' home to find a branch for her 1,000 crane installation piece. She lucks out and finds a dead fig tree branch in their backyard.




Day 2: installation scheduled to begin, but repairs needed to happen first. Madame X was set up to be installed but the hanging wire broke immediately before we even hung it. Thank god for Sarah, she rigged up a chain to hang it up, it weighs about 80 + pounds, so I figured 100lb test picture hooks should work just fine. We got Madame X up, the inflatable rabbit as well as Angela's album cover piece. We needed to head out to give an artist talk at Artist SPEAKeasy in Houston. Heard some fabulous stories read by two different authors. Diggin' the art scene in Houston it's pretty hot!


(madame X is the long rubber piece left, on the wall)

Day 3: hit up Inversion coffee house for a double espresso. Inversion Coffee House is a pretty hip spot attached to the Art League. It draws its name from the now infamous Inversion house that once stood in the location of the original Art League of Houston building. In 2005, the Art League was preparing to begin construction of a new facility to house its art classes and the new coffee house. But first, two 1930's bungalows that stood on the site needed to be demolished and cleared. The director of Art League, decided it might be interesting to utilize the abandoned spaces for a temporary art project. She contacted artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, a collaborative team that had created installations using condemned buildings. Lacking any budget, Havel and Ruck erected the work with the materials at hand, an exercise in architectonic excavation. After about 400 hours of work over a month of nights and weekends, Havel and Ruck opened the piece ( literally ) to the public in mid April 2005 by cutting a 30 ft. opening in the west facade facing Montrose Boulevard, exposing what appeared to be a vertical tornado of whitewashed wooden siding. The funnel bore through the two houses, dropping back 80 ft. and shrinking in size until it reached a 4 ft. opening onto the east sculpture garden.



After the java stop we walked into the art league, I was shocked to see Madame X lying on the floor, guess she ripped out of the wall last night. Maybe I should have named it the Beast of Burden or better yet, Pain in the Ass. Sarah came to the rescue again beefing up the wall mounts using huge screws placed into the studs. We finally got the show up and headed to Angela's friends for dinner.


(notice above madame X on the ground)






Day 4: The day of the opening. Angela has great connections in Houston and she really knows the art scene there even after 3 years of not living there. We hit up some galleries dropped off some portfolios in hopes that a gallery will want to represent us and take all our work so we won't need to ship it back, fingers crossed. We stopped by the Rothko Chapel to relax and meditate before the opening, I was so tired.




A large number of people showed up for the opening, we gave an artist talk and then mingled with the crowd. Met some really amazing artists doing incredible work. Hopefully this will fire up some inspiration for creating new work. We received wonderful feedback, so thankful for this opportunity.





Day 5: last day in Houston. Stopped into Apama Mackey Gallery to drop off a portfolio and veiw the current exhibit. We visited the museum district. Visited the houston contemporary art museum and the fine arts museum. Definitely more to see than time allowed. Thanks to Angela for being such a great tour guide! Looking forward to the next opportunity to show Detritus.

Hopefully I'll become a better blogger. Perhaps I'll get a post up of previous events, maybe. Stay tuned.

Flintstone bikes hit bedrock

Finally made it out to the desert. We had been planning this trip the past 2 weeks but were denied by various factors. Drove out Friday evening stopped in GJ around midnight, headed out early to hit up Moab. Last time I road in Moab was probably in 2003 when a group of us crazy tripped out Ned Heads ventured out to do White Rim in a day, would like to do that again or Kokopelli. Found some vacant trails luckily as town was packed tight like a can of sardines. Amazing overlooks and crazy winds.





Sunday we rode up from town to ride Porcupine Rim, damn think I rode that trail back in the late 90's. The whole experience seemed so green to me and it was a maiden voyage for the ss black sheep. The descent mighty fun and technical. I appreciated the curved seat stay James welded on my bike during the downhill. Encountered some folks outfitted in DH apparel. Some guys, aka. "steaks" trying their hardest to bomb down sections, tryin' to look all tough and buff but crashing and bleeding.



After PR ride we cruised out of town towards Fruita, made it in time to ride some trails on 18 rd. Great way to end the day riding on the backs of dinosaurs on our Fred Flintstone bikes. Verdant trail abound in Fruita, the greenest I have ever seen. Would be nice to hit it up in May to see the cactus flowers in their bloom.




Monday was our Sunday and we road all morning and afternoon in the sun in Fruita. We descending back to Boulder into the fog and clouds after a weekend of sunshine! Ah glorious weekend and perfect timing! Gracias Guierllmo por un fin de semana fantastica!


photo credits WFS II

Now back to a rainy weekend. Worked in the garden most of the afternoon digging trenches for papas and getting intimate with the mattox.

Time Warp

Feel like I have been in a time machine since we got back from Mexico. Which by the way was fantastic! Warm humid air, long left point break, and loads of fresh lobster. Surfed everyday by lats were good and sore. I think I will need to spend my old age days on the water. Surfing so simple all you need is a board and some lycra to cover you privates and a wave and off you go. Saw a whale and a sea turtle out on the water. Hope to get out on the water at least one more time before 2010 arrives.

So came back from Mexico to my dad having major brain surgery, scary. Can't imagine having someone open up my skull and expose my brain to clip an aneurysm. He is recovering at home finally after 4 weeks in the hospital. He finally started to swallow, something I take for granted and don't really think about, and is eating food! Yea Papa!! 3 weeks in ICU, not a fun place, hope that kid who was hit by a car on his bike off 30th and Colorado recovers, he wasn't looking so good, hooked up to every machine possible. No helmet, not sure if that would have helped him, but it sure got me to wear my helmet when I ride around town or ski.



Ski? Damn I have hardly been out this year pretty pathetic but I spending the time in the hospital and trying to get ready for my art show at the Dairy Center for the Arts has me might busy.



Wondering how I found time to write on my blog after nearly 6 months? It's called procrastination and coffee.

Looking forward to getting the show up and skiing as much as I possibly can. Gots to get ready for the ENDURO baby! yikes