Decorating between rides

Home decorating:
Curtains from Ikea, Rug from Target
So classy

I accomplished two things this weekend: I spent nine hours riding my bike for a grand total of 175 miles over the two days, and finally hanging curtains in my living room, pictured above. Unfortunately, I couldn't back up far enough to get a photo that really does the room justice (there was a wall in the way), but I think the rust-colored curtains look pretty good, and do a nice job of warming up what was a cold-feeling, all white room. The curtains also work pretty well with my new area rug and furniture.

To answer the question that burns in your head: Yes, that is a Tour of the Battenkill poster on the wall between the two windows.

I got the hardware for the curtains up a week ago, after borrowing a ladder from a co-worker, but I quickly realized that hanging the curtains without ironing them first would only add credence to the notion that I'm a poorly put together slob, and I'm hoping to avoid that kind of image.

It took me a week to get around to borrowing an ironing board and making the time to iron the large panels (each window is eight feet high). Now that it's done, I don't ever want to iron again. Unfortunately, I still have to hang a curtain in my bedroom, but that project is going to wait for at least a few days.

About 80 riders head out for The Derby on Sunday
I drifted back to snap this photo
I hope to be competitive some day -- once the really fast guys leave town!

On the bike, I linked up with big mile groups on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, putting in five hours Saturday including a trip to the north and west on roads with which I am only marginally familiar. There's still some ice around, but by-and-large, the roads were in good shape.

Sunday was the largest Derby I've yet been on, with crowds drawn out by the relatively warm air. About 80 riders were in the group today, without a doubt the largest group of cyclists I've ever seen assembled outside of a more formally organized event. At one point, after sitting in the middle of the group, I decided to drop back to take the photo above, and realized the enormity of the group when it took me several minutes to reach the back.

As large as the group was, the ride still played out in a fairly predictable manner: It was fast from the turn, then went faster over the smaller rollers, and then went really fast over the Topton Hill, with a cadre of pros driving the pace. Once again, I made the selection, and hung on until about the last mile, when I couldn't get back onto The Animal's wheel, and popped off the back to ride it in on my own. So it goes.

I'm trying to see the bright side: I may have gotten dropped, but I was dropped by pros from Bissell, Kelly Benefits, and United Health Care, along with an Olympian and other assorted really fast guys.

All in all, a pretty solid day on the bike. The forecast for tomorrow is really warm and I, for one, am looking forward getting out for a nice recovery spin.