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Saturday last (not yesterday, yo) was the annual Pines to the Mines ride, as alluded to by Jonny. i was there. weather was beautiful. blah blah.
Jonny was right. JR won with a worthy ride. i’ve seen roadies ride mtb’s hard. never have i seen a roadie ride a borrowed bike a handful of times, then proceed to handle some really nasty singletrack in the midst of the wilderness. actually, i didn’t SEE it: i flatted as we hit the singletrack and JR and Adam rolled on. More specifically, what i DIDN’T see was JR flailing around on the singletrack, despite my best effort to catch back. Many miles later, when i hit the verde river, i found no aid station. no water. no food. 97 degrees. I was ~60 miles in with 14 miles of climbing ahead. 4 miles into the climb, i was out of water. 5 miles in i was hiding under trees, begging water off passing cars and bikes. At mile 6 my kidneys started to seize. i leaned over my bars and walked, using my bars to support my body, which didn’t want to hold itself up. i turned dry and clammy. 2 miles from the top, i found an ‘aide’ station. no water, but they had tequila in the car. great. this was, after all, a pay ‘n’ take event. a nice gal dug around in a cooler and found me a Sunkist soda under all the beer. i put ice in the vents of my helmet, sat in the shade of the car, sucked on more ice and drank. and i didn’t have the worst of it. yeah, it was one of those days. good thing there was a whole lot of water, food, and beer at the finish, plus some good company, music, Mexican food in Jerome, etc.
Tomorrow I’m taking the last step of my comprehensive examinations to become a phd candidate. 3 hrs in front of 4 super-bright dons of ecology who will be making me squirm by asking any questions they want. yeehaw.
link dump:
what i’ve been listening to:
what i’ve been thinking about:
Stoichiometrically balanced equation for nitrification
what i’d rather be doing:
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Comp Exams: Been there, man, good luck and believe in yourself. That will take you far. Remember that “I don’t know” is a legit answer, most likey they don’t either. I get to give these exams now and as much as I (and many others) want to see what you know, we also want to see how you think when asked something you don’t know. Nothing they ask can possibly hurt as much as that ride. Good on ya.
Good luck on the comps. Just remember, only answer exactly what you’re asked. If they want details make them work for them. Also, forget the words “I think”. You either know it or you don’t, either of which is alright, but nobody is there to hear you guess.
Good luck! I’ll be there next year…
no DOUBT. stay tuff for those exams, buddy. when those bastards are hammering you with the tuff stuff, just remember: they don’t have much else going for them in the way of interpersonal relations. give them what they need and bail! the bottle will be waiting for you when you’re done.
Stoichiometry is the shit. Once i learned it all of my test problems were easy. Math, chemistry, biology; it works in all of them.
They were, although they would never admit it, only as brillirant as you are. In the words of the Emminent one Eminem- yo man, hit that shit raw dog and bail…..
BEST of luck to ya