The Cheerwine Women’s Cycling Team gathered together in Pineville, NC this weekend to test out new equipment, see old friends and familiar faces, meet new teammates, and enjoy some training together between photo shoots and meetings.

“Anne did an amazing job getting all this together,” Lion commented on the weekend.

The talent and work ethic of the Cheerwine girls was only strengthened by the cohesion the group experienced by spending only a few short days together. “I was amazed at how quickly we all gelled. I am so excited for the upcoming season because I know we all respect each other. I feel very honored to be a part of such an amazing group of women.”

The weekend was capped off by a presentation night with sponsors and family present to “meet and greet” the girls who will proudly represent Cheerwine this season, both on the bike and off the bike.

“As a Southerner and North Carolinian it really means a lot to ride for a brand like Cheerwine that has so much meaning to our State,” Lion said. Cheerwine continues to be family-owned since 1917 and has its roots in Salisbury, NC.

Yeah I know this is random. But this makes me laugh, I don’t know why, don’t bother asking because I can’t explain it. You have to check out the new and improved hamster dance website.

So I was looking on google and there are all sorts of hamsterdance sites. There’s even a Wikipedia page for the hamster dance, complete with history, origin, and more links. CRAZY!

Alright, its time for me to go get started for the day… enough wasting time. At least it makes me smile!

Seems like everyone is talkin about the freaky deaky weather we’ve been having, and it’s no surprise. Usually the weather patterns yo-yo between mild and cold throughout the winter in Raleigh, but in general it stays about the same climate. You know, enough that you are used to 40 degrees.

Not this year. We’ve been yo-yoing between 70s on the weekend and then hitting the 40s by midweek… then warming back up again on the weekend. It’s nice for those long training blocks on the weekends, but JEEZ!!!

So this was me enjoying the weather this weekend:

And this will be me on my ride tomorrow:

Hehehehe… and then I’ll eat some carrots afterwards. But I’ll steam them or something first so they’ll be warm and all to help heat myself back up from the cold.

And I’m counting how long it takes me to dress as part of my training time. I mean, it will be at least a half hour before I get all my clothes on before heading out the door tomorrow morning. Then another half hour to peel it all off when I get home. That’s a whole extra HOUR. YAY! I’ve got a long day tomorrow, all that dressing is going to completely book me up.

This is the question I got today from the kids waiting on the schoolbus during my morning run.

“…oh, only about a half hour more,” I replied as I ran by.

I only heard, “WOW!!!” as I kept moving in the distance and some more excited chatter. Man, if that’s all I need to impress people with my training… I AM SET.

Then I started thinking, “dang, I won’t tell them what else I’m doing today, they’d faint. And that wouldn’t be good because then they’d miss school and I’d have to explain to their parents I was just telling them my daily routine and it was crazy… they just fell over thinking about how tired I must get.” … and the scenerios just kept on coming.

At least it kept me entertained the rest of my run. I can entertain myself pretty easily. Just ask those hunters in Fort Davis. They’ll tell you. Or Alicia and Gary. Or the people at Inside Out. Hmm. Or anyone who knows me.

Song for today, “Ohio (Come Back to Texas), Bowling for Soup.” I heard it in the locker room before I went for my swim. And I totally agree… there’s nothin wrong with Ohio, but Texas just ain’t the same without me… I better go back to the Lone Star State before I loose my accent and all the Mexican food here sucks anyways. TexMex is the best, nothin beats it.

Yeap, that’s right. On my morning run a guy in his car pulled up next to me and said, “Do you know you’re being followed?”

Well, one might think that’d be cause for alarm, but I took one look over my shoulder and just smiled. “Oh that’s just my dog, Symba.” To that, the guy says… “Well that’s kinda cute!” And smiled and drove off.

I must say he’s right. Symba is quite possibly most definitely the cutest dog ever. See for yourself.

Except for Scott and Amanda’s dog, Daisy… she’s dangerously close on the cuteness scale. Here’s Symba’s competition. Argh, I can’t decide who’s cuter??!!

I didn’t have enough of the headwind in Fort Davis, so I decided to head to Austin and get in some more wind, but this time simulated wind in a tunnel. Yeap, wind tunnel that is, at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Here are pictures of my exploits. The Cowgirl adventures just keep rollin. I have some more pictures being emailed to me that should be added in the next couple days.

An interesting fact about this low speed tunnel is that it’s powered by one of the props from the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Kinda eerie, but interesting at the same time. Since the tunnel is prop powered, it also very loud. You had to wear ear plugs the entire time you were in the control area, not just when you were in the tunnel.

After the tunnel testing, we had a couple of good nights out on the town in Austin and College Station. Nothin like good Tex Mex and bars to keep the fun times coming. I’m now happily recouperating back home in North Cackalacky.