Panda saves the day

Last week you saw his hand providing the big assist for mission ears on Lance...hope that didn't steal too much thunder. Go Roman, long-overdue Panda of the Week!

PotW: the one that got away

This is the one that got away:

Admittedly, my timing was bad; weaseling my way in with the other media (you know, the ones with TV cameras and legitimate news reports? Yeah, that other media.) and handing him the ears on the start line was not the best setup. Something about a game face.*

It all came down to one sentence: "I am 100% sure that I don't want to do it." You take your chances and some days you take your lumps.

Truth be told, I'm a little embarrassed...I've never had to fake it before.**

Update: Ken Conley got a much better shot of this -- click here for his Flickr page! Thanks, Ken!

* I'd definitely pose in animal ears on a start line...I wonder what that says about my game face.

** It really helps to have friends in the field, though. See that hand holding the ears? Check back next week for the real panda I got at Nevada City.

overheard

The scene: Happy hour. A young guy missing his right hand sits at the bar with a beer; he's the right age to be an Iraq war veteran. Another man walks across the bar with two drinks & sits down next to him.

Drinker: (Gives the handless man one of the drinks.) "Hey, man -- Iraq?"

Handless man: "Naw, nothing exciting like a war. A lot of people think that, though."
HM: "I lost it at my job."

Drinker: "Your job? Really?? What do you do?"

HM: "Oh, you know...sales."

this Panda of the Week makes your life easier

Both of the crits this weekend were bring your own wheels. A couple years ago I might not have thought anything of that, but lately something has been spoiling me rotten (and presumably a lot of you, too): Williams Wheels neutral support.

Think about it; when did you last have to schlep a spare pair of wheels to a crit? I know that it's been a while for me...so let's all make sure to thank this PotW, who works hard behind the scenes to make our lives and races a little easier.

Thanks, Keith!

Panda of the Week: local boy makes good

Congrats to Jackson Stewart, who's been to Paris Roubaix but still makes it out for the local races, and who is by massive request the latest Panda of the Week!Jackson, you've got some really loyal fans out there...

It took a little panda persuasion

...(I guess when racing in Europe you don't have too many people chasing you around begging you to wear animal ears) but Levi Leipheimer is the latest big shot to don the ears for Panda of the Week!

on a roll

This morning I made it a whole half block from the carpool drop-off before I took a header off the sidewalk.

By 8:30 I had spilled coffee all over myself.

It's not even 10am yet and I've also managed to dump protein powder and the subsequent shake all over my skirt. Which is red, so very eye-catching to begin with, and wool, so very hard to clean.

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

The results are in

...and my white-trash credentials are safe and sound. Phew! Momma, you can keep on skinnin' that big possum for supper.

Personally I thought barefoot was way more WT, but that's probably just how I justified the wearing of slippers in public to myself.

Hey, in my defense I was in Ione. When in Rome...

quick poll

What is more white trash: being barefoot in public or wearing slippers in public?

all your base are belong to pandas

More pandas in the "news" -- check out Google's new search wiz, CADIE.

Make sure you poke the panda!