For Sale: Lion of Flanders stained glass

The framed one is roughly 11-1/2w x 9-1/2" h
The unframed one is 10"w x 8"h


Two Stained Glass "Lion of Flanders"....one framed and one unframed.

Both are going on eBay for more...this will be my fellow 'cross racers pricing.

Pricing to be around $75.00 for the framed and $50.00 for the unframed....higher on eBay.

This is going for my unemployment fund.....
:-)

Ciao,
Rick

on the road again...

finally.....
I got Gary out and we met the Lake Effect gang on my turf at 21 & Valley Pkwy Sat. It was great getting out and riding 41 miles with a group of around 21 in the warm weather.
Gary wasn't feeling the love on the last climb so I dropped off to escort him up; lord knows he's done that a hundred times for me. A great time riding and chatting with everyone....the Maruts and Ernesto....the Srokas; Robert is getting pretty blinged out equipment wise!
Afterward, Brett showed up and we sat around having a malted beverage and talking about the next steps for the Velodrome.
Yes, the Velodrome is still moving forward and Brett D & I should have news within a couple of weeks.

Sunday started out bad...I missed the group ride out of Lock 39....but went out on my own from home...dang the temp dropped big time and it was even more windy than on Sat. I took it easy and brought it home after around 22 miles...with toasted legs.

Dang did I need that....plus I now have the Ritchey Ti step back up as my bad weather road bike.

Time to continue the job search....
Ciao,
Rick

Putting on the Winter Fat

Thanks for this Donny! What does the above got to do with this post....huh, nothing, but I wished I had it earlier!

Actually I am at race weight right now, just a touch under 153 pounds but the title is more how I feel than actual condition. I have done NOTHING since the last 'cross race of this season.

This is going to be the least relevant posting about biking that I've done.

I'm sitting here wondering why my mood is so crappy & D'oh:
- I'm not a big fan of cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy weather
- ex gf got married (11/28) w/in 4-6 weeks of moving to Seattle last month after a 5 yr on/off relationship with me
- my company laid me off after 5 years of never finishing lower than 3rd OA in sales out of 7 on Dec 4th.
- it's the Holidays

Now, after all of that bad Karma crap, I'm thankful for:
- ski season is here (both xc & snowboarding) and I'd like to make the most of it .
- my ex gf moving out of my house and Ohio and getting out of my life (finally).
- I'm not getting into another relationship too fast (not easy for me).
- getting laid off is forcing me to go after a job in an industry where I can be more passionate about work.
- it's the Holidays and I'll be spending them with family & my son this year and it doesn't get any better than that.
- My Dad won his election - nice, moral, good guys do finish first in politics! And that doesn't have anything to do with what party your associated with.
- I'm going to start spin classes and trail running; I'm surprised my head hadn't exploded from not having exercised in what is approaching 2 weeks!
- I'll be stepping down as an officer of SnakeBite Racing (two years of hard but satisfying work) and will be supporting the new "guys". Next year I'll be "just riding/racing my bike(s).
- The Velodrome project is really taking off and Brett has taken it to an even higher level. I've got big expectations for this and this is one reason I'm not going to be an officer on any other board in 2009.

As you can see, not fun but the positives waaaay outweigh the negatives and I'm treating this process as a fresh start where I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

Thanks to Gary, Donny, Billy B and remotely, Steve, Jeff and Alex for being there as fantastic friends during this challenging, but exciting time for me (oh & my UBER cool parents too).

I'm going to make up a couple favorite pictures of 2008 posts (one biking and one non-biking) b/f the first of the year.

Thanks to all for making this 2008 biking season such a great one.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
Rick

Boughton Farm BA Series Last Race for 2008

picture by Robert

Well, time flies when your having fun and the last race was upon me. This is the first season I have raced with the A's in the A Masters and it's been a great learning experience. I'll take the 8th overall behind two buddies; Dr. John & Brett D.

I've had some major league distractions; one was in September and one huge one was just last Thursday. I wasn't real motivated to attend this race and was running down the list of excuses I could use for not racing. Gary wasn't to keen on it either. We ended up deciding to go the morning of the race for two reasons:
- The Bike Authority Series has been fantastic; well run with great courses with nice people helping out and we wanted to support them.
- I talked Gary into racing the As with me (insert evil laugh here).

Getting to the course, I noticed that I was going to go "old school" on data....I had left my Polar 725x at home...no speed/heart rate, nuth'n.

We get there after missing the exit....still on time! Warm up on the snowy/icy course and I take some extra warm up laps and a last second "pit" stop to see the guys have already lined up. I come up to the front and ask if anyone would mind if I got in the front row for the start and got the "stare down" and a quick "no" in unison by all.....:-)

So sweeper position for me and I was just going to let the wipe outs happen and then work hard and see whom I could catch. Ray didn't disappoint by executing a fantastic head over heels flip/bike dismount that would have scored a 9.5 in difficulty (he was OK cause he blew by me a short time later). I went by Chris and was hoping Gary was on my wheel cause I saw a gap develop and I wanted to stay close to the main field if there can be such a thing in 'cross.
The story line for today was I felt pretty good and after a while heard a couple of people shouting that I was closing down the gap that John had on me and I'd love to give him a good battle so I picked it up a bit and at the same time Ryan was having trouble closing the gap down on me; he'd close it down in the woulds and I'd open it up on the straights (he wasn't feeling well that day). 3 to go showed up and I had John firmly in my sights (ya gotta have some motivation for this) and was going to keep him close but save some for the bell lap and see if I could give him a bit of a fight for position. Paul, Tony (way to go!) and Shawn came by us and I must have OD'd cause when we came around I thought we had one more to go and instead of one to go it was over with John in front of me and my legs ready to go one more. Dang it.....gotta get my head on straight. Gary did well and came in shortly behind me - thanks Gary for getting me out!

A great race and series Bike Authority & Team Lake Effect....I'm glad I got beat up in the A's this year. I'll be back for more next season.

A special thanks for the Maruts & Srokas....you guys are the best.
Ciao,
Rick

stupid is as stupid does....

Or, why didn't I take body armor to Ray's tonight?

Met Gary/Sadie and Bill B there and felt great....after about an hour Ray pulls me over and is asking a lot of questions about the Velodrome and isn't real, er, supportive of it. I don't see how it's going to negatively effect what he's doing at his MTB park. I would think it would only compliment what he is doing there.

So I talk with him about that and about the old Executive Director, Anna moving out to Seattle....then excuse myself and go riding. Well, within 5 minutes I go down hard and think it's no big deal, but after I get done about 30 minutes later I can feel my right knee get stiff. I pull up the pants leg and yup....dumb, dumb dumb. Well it's getting iced down now and I hoping that by Sunday it will be good to go for the last cyclocross race of the season/BA series.

I know....shut up and tough'n up mate!

Rick