Little Red Corvette...

I realize it has been a while since I last posted... So, if anyone reads this, I apologize for not updating. I suppose with this synced with Facebook, people will read it there. I'm not sure anyone knows this blogger site exists though... Oh well, maybe someone will stumble upon it one day. Things kinda died there for a little while, so I didn't have much to write, and we haven't been able to login to our website for almost two months now, awaiting the completion of a completely awesome facelift to the entire site, thanks to our webmaster. Unfortunately, his progress was a bit hindered by the infamous bird flu. Ack. By the way, I got my first ever flu shot last week, and didn't pass out! that makes I think three consecutive shots, plus a blood test that I have successfully endured without passing out! Yay me! Yeah, I'm a wimp, whatever.

Speaking of blogs, if you want to see a really cool article on Texas 4000, pick up a copy of the Alcalde, the Texas Exes magazine. You can find it at the alumni center on campus. It has a bunch of excerpts from Patrick Caldwell's Texas 4000 journal for the 2006 ride. He was a member of the Sierra (better) team last year, and a journalism major here at UT. His journal entries were quite impressive and gave great insight to the life of a T4k rider. I remember reading his blog last summer when I was starting to seriously consider applying for the team and just being amazed at the stuff he talked about. But anyway, the Alcalde put together a nice compilation of his articles with some good pictures to compliment them, and it's something like 8 or 10 pages long I believe. And the cover itself is just a beautiful photo. So, if you're interested, you can pick one up, or if you're not in Austin, or just lazy, let me know and I can get one for you.

But enough about the team and last year, let's talk about me. Where do I stand since you last heard from me? Well, I'm over $2,000 in fundraising. Yay! I've passed the halfway mark early, when two months ago the $1,000 deadline was looking like it would be the bane of my summer plans. (My high school English teacher would be so proud of me for using one of my vocab words. I just hoped I used it correctly. I am an engineering major after all, so I should get some credit for trying, and not just typing in binary, right?) But back to the fundraising, or FUN-draising as some like to call it. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for all the amazing donations I have received. I never thought it would be quite so easy. I am so impressed by the generosity people have shown in helping me raise the money. I just sent out another batch of letters too, so hopefully the response to those will be similar to the first batch of letters. Almost everyone who has donated $50 or more has received their shirts by now. Those who haven’t should be receiving them soon (sorry Alison). Hopefully my mom won’t find out that it’s been almost two weeks since Alison donated and she still hasn’t received a shirt. Gasp! Haha

Ah yes, and in case you were wondering about the title of this entry, I saved the most exciting news for last. So for those who stopped reading before now, you’re missing out. But, I got my bike this past Friday! She's a red, Trek 1500. Mmmm, yeah. I named her Vanessa. I’m not sure why, it just seemed a fitting name for her. Ok, so maybe this isn’t news to everyone, most know this already, but it is still extremely exciting! She is sooo beautiful and all shiny and red and fast. Every time I see her, I think of the Prince song “Little Red Corvette”.

“Little red corvette, Baby you’re much too fast…”

I found it pretty cool that I got my bike Friday, and then two days later, Prince performed for the Super Bowl halftime show. I did not even know Prince would be performing until the day of the game. I digress for a moment…

We had a Super Bowl party at our apartment (might I say it was super?), and I made chicken wings for the first time. I didn’t make just a few though, it was 10 pounds of wings! 5 pounds were teriyaki, 2.5 pounds were hot wings, and the other 2.5 pounds were a different variation on hot wings, which I think turned out the best. But anyway, if I may toot my own horn momentarily, they turned out surprisingly well. I was very impressed, and will have to make those again. Digressing further, I made chili for the first time ever this past Thursday. All from scratch, mind you, no canned ingredients or mixes. Cooking is almost therapeutic in a way. I enjoy it, and it gives me time to think and just relax for the most part. Yeesh, I'm getting in touch with my feminine side...don't judge me... But now back to the real topic at hand...

Was anyone else in a fabulous mood today due to the amazing weather? And yesterday as well for that matter! I love this weather, I wish there were more days in the year like it. I woke up grumpy after getting only four hours of sleep last night. But, as soon as I walked out the door, my mood was completely changed. I did not even read the paper this morning because I did not want news of the war and other depressing issues to put a damper on my day. In fact, after my second class got out at noon, I decided to return to my apartment, skipping my last class, and take a spin with Vanessa. It was like joyriding in a car, without the guilt of wasting gas. I officially have the most fuel efficient, green little red corvette ever.

I was in such a good mood, in fact, that I rode all the way down to campus and back to my apartment. I was enjoying the ride so much that I missed where I was supposed to turn to return to my apartment and ended up biking about eight blocks further north than needed. It only took me about 35 minutes each way, including stopping and trying to figure out the bike routes since it was my first time. Austin has done an excellent job at being bike friendly. There are many bike routes to take you just about anywhere you want to go in this beautiful city. It kind of makes me wonder why you would even want to drive and put up with the hassle of traffic.

When I got back to my apartment, I used a nifty Google pedestrian map and found that the route I had just ridden was about 6 miles and some change, to make just over 12 miles for the day. I was pretty excited. I plan on riding to campus Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays beginning Wednesday, and hopefully every day of the week once I get the new job I should be getting soon. That will put me at around 60miles per week, just commuting. When you factor in waiting at the bus stop and sitting in traffic, biking to campus takes about as much time as riding the bus, and it is much more enjoyable, less stressful, and refreshing way to start the day. This is very exciting! I can kill two, wait, three birds with one stone. Er, scratch that, I don’t want to kill any birds, they’re pretty. Except maybe that Canadian goose who bit me when I was like three. Son of a bitch. Come to think of it, I would not even kill him. So, I will be compiling three tasks into one. There we go, a much more peaceful, nature friendly, nerdy statement.

With all this new excitement Vanessa has created, I had to sit down and have a long talk with my baby (My Specialized mountain bike) and assure her that she would not get neglected, and I would do my best not to play favourites, but that it will be difficult as I will be required to spend much time with Vanessa in these coming months, and I will do my best to still ride the trails when possible. I think she understood, but there were a few tears shed, and we had a touching moment. But, I think things will continue to go well between us. She will always be my baby, she was the first, and a parent never lets go of their first, as I have found out from my mom. Although, I think she wants a name now, with Vanessa around. So, I am in the process of thinking up a proper name for her, and if you have any ideas, please let me know!

So, here comes my conclusion. I was always terrible at these when writing essays. We shall see if I can wrap this all up somehow. I suppose the easiest way would be to hit the main points. As far as fundraising and training for the ride are concerned, everything is starting to fall into place quite nicely and those two factors of the ride should become easier and easier with time, so long as I keep up my current pace. I think the hardest part about this semester will be focusing on my studies and keeping my grades up and fighting the urge to go biking whenever I have a spare moment. Grades, they aren’t really that important, are they? Hopefully my dad has not discovered this site yet, or he would kill me for that statement... I have been thinking about the future too much lately, it just causes way too much stress. So, I'm determined not to think about anything that comes later than August 10 of this year. That ought to ease the stress and heartburn. Yeah right... Again, my dad would be all over me for that one too.

"You know, I'm sick of following my dreams, man. I'm just going to find out where they're going and hook up with 'em later."
-Words to live by if I ever heard them...

Peace, Love, and Bike Friendly Driving,
Trek Tito