Diamond…  

Today was the third race in the tmbra race series. This week the venue was Warda; a place I’ve ridden plenty of times, and a place I felt I’d do really well. How did the race go, you ask? Let’s see…..

Yeah, that good. I think it was the combination of lack of sleep, lack of pre-riding, and lack of talent that hurt me here. The course was slightly different than before, and it really played to my weakness. What’s my weakness? Anything flat and wide open. Skinny people don’t do well on flat terrain. We need hills, we need topography, we need something to slow down the man-hammer! Speaking of man-hammer, let’s see what Wade thought about the race:

Yep…that was fun.

I’m going to start having a moonwalking bear behind me everywhere I ride:  

Anyone know of any moonwalking bears?!

Courtesy of abductedcow.com

Lake Peigneur was a 10.2 square mile lake near New Iberia, Louisiana. This was until a fourteen inch drill bit cut through the wall of a salt mine underneath and created the worlds largest whirlpool.

Via damninteresting.com
Early in the morning on November 21, 1980, twelve men decided to abandon their oil drilling rig on the suspicion that it was beginning to collapse beneath them. They had been probing for oil under the floor of Lake Peigneur when their drill suddenly seized up at about 1,230 feet below the muddy surface, and they were unable free it. In their attempts to work the drill loose, which is normally fairly easy at that shallow depth, the men heard a series of loud pops, just before the rig tilted precariously towards the water.

For two days following the mishap, the gulf (for the first and only time) flowed to the north and filled in the rapidly shrinking lake; with it came species of fish and wildlife that had never been there before.

Yep…

I was blessed with a ten day trip to England for some work training. Although I was flying in to London, I was actually going to be working a little north of the city in Watford. If you know anyone from London, ask them what they think of Watford, I dare ya.
I found it to be surprisingly beautiful, rolling hills that remind you of the English country-side. It was quite charming. The office location also happened to be right next to Leavesden Studios, where most of the Harry Potters had been filmed. On the drive to the train station I saw they had a huge panel of lights lifted to mimic a daytime shot at night. It was quite cool.
Anyway, I did get a chance to spend a day in London proper seeing the sights and playing the tourist roll. I did all the normal things, went to see Parliament and Big Ben, saw the Tower Bridge and took a picture of a telephone booth. It was cold and wet, but so fun to be able to see where the history comes from. I’d suggest a visit if you ever get a chance.

More pics here

Turkey day rolled by with tons of fan-fare and excitement this year. I got to meet my niece for the first time. Isn’t she the cutest thing in the world?! Us Ridges know how to make cute babies. er….

I’m still editing the London pics, but should have them up shortly. Until then, feast your eyes on the beauty that is Thanksgiving with the Ridges!

Who would think that the Brits had such cool adverts:

Aside from it being ass-cold, this is a pretty cool place..

Ze Frank is my hero.  Here’s his take on the Writers Guild strike:
 

This past weekend was spent riding bikes in a circle for 24 hours. Five racers, two full-time support crew, three and a half visitors, and 126 lbs of spaghetti. I couldn’t have asked for a better thing for my birthday.

Here are some stats:
- 190 combines miles
- Roughly 20,000 calories burnt
- 10 butt cheeks chaffed
- 1 bottle of Jaegarmeister emptied

We are the most serious racers ever:

Pics here