Various stuff

Skills Clinic

Well, the Skills Clinic was mildly helpful, but didn’t produce any major revelations (not that I expected it to). I did learn some interesting things about steering and countersteering, as well as some ascending and descending skills, but most of it I’d been doing instinctively already. Put in 8000 miles on a bike and you learn a *few* things…although, I still want to improve my skills on a bike. I may do some one-on-one work either with my coach or with the woman who taught the clinic.

We did have a crash at the end of the clinic, though–one of the women slid out on a turn and nearly ended up in a ravine. We waited for the ambulance to arrive, then went home–turns out she’s fine except for some road rash and some nasty bruises. I’m relieved.

Unfortunately, this didn’t do much to build my confidence in going around turns at high speed…the main reason I signed up for the clinic. So I guess I’ll continue being conservative until I’ve had a chance to practice the skills I’ve learned. Not a bad plan, I guess.

I did find out that Velo Girls (the local women’s cycling club) is having a Markleeville Death Ride training program! It starts in December (another starts in March), and I’m considering training with them instead of on my own.

Book

Heard back from my writing coach, who made some suggestions for the marketing section of my proposal. I did some preliminary market research yesterday night and this morning, and discovered the astonishing fact that 200,000+ people participate in AIDS Walks every year! The number participating in cycling fundraisers, though, appears to be considerably smaller–AIDS Lifecycle seems to be as big as all the others put together.

Tutus

Prewashed my 18 yards of silk today, and will start working with it tonight. I’ve decided that for stamping, it’s better to start with a single color fabric, so will pick a color and dye it tonight. I’m thinking a deep hunter green or a teal blue; haven’t decided yet. I’m reading through more of my dye books for inspiration.