Floatin' Down a River

That's exactly what I did yesterday.

Ged and I drove to Ichetucknee Springs just 45 minutes North of Gainesville to go "tubing," or, floating down a calm river on big plastic tubes.

We rented the tubes from an old man down the road for $5 each, drove into the park and set off on the trail leading us to the little launching dock.

It was probably the most relaxing thing I've done in a long time.  From start to finish, we were in the river for an hour and a half.

There was no crowd, so we had the river pretty much to ourselves.  The sun was warm but not too strong, the water was cool on our skin and the current was gentle.

I can't wait to go back.

~Amanda

In The News

Today is September 11, 2010, nine years since the attacks on the World Trade Center.

And as some of you may already know, I'm a Gainesville resident.  You know, the city where the crazy religious bigot threatened to burn the Koran today to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 and slander the Muslim faith...

Needless to say, I'm a little embarrassed to call myself a Gainesville citizen because of all this nonsense.

Yesterday morning, however, Ged and I felt obligated to see what all the commotion was about and to see just how much the media was hyping it up.

The church is about 8.5 miles from my apartment, so we hopped on our bikes.

We weren't sure what to expect and we were both a bit apprehensive and confused about the whole thing...

As we approached the church on our bikes, the first two thoughts in my head were:

1. Damn, that's a lot of news vans.
2. The church building looks like a large barn.

Honestly, the whole thing felt like a circus.  There were photographers whizzing around everywhere and newspeople just sitting and waiting for the freak show to start.  Lame.  Can't these news stations devote their time to real stories instead of some crazed Gainesville pastor?

A lot of news stations were actually getting angry with me because I was "blocking their shot."  I was told to get out of the way...

I really hope the media can get past this story and move on to more important things like genocide in Africa or the failing ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico...

Off to St.Augustine for the weekend.  Have a good one!

~Amanda

Introducing, My New Bike

The day has come.

I got a new bike.


Yesterday I test rode the 2011 Scott CR1 Comp (full carbon and 105) I had been eyeing, and it was great.  I could really feel a difference in the stiffness of the frame and the smoothness in shifting.

This is my I'm-so-excited-to-test-ride face:

We headed to Chain Reaction Bicycles across the street from campus and the process began...

The guys at the shop fit me on the trainer to make sure everything was perfect for my 20-mile test ride.

Ged and I cruised along some country roads surrounding Gainesville for a while.  Then he hopped on and rode the Scott to find possible flaws lurking in the frame, gears or wheels.

The only negative things Ged had to say about the bike were:

• The geometry could be a little more aggressive, meaning the bike's shape should be crafted more for speed.  
• I disagreed, however, because I'm not a pro rider who's looking to go 70 mph downhill.  No thanks.  I'm interested in longer circuit rides more than anything else, and this frame will ensure comfort more so than a racier build.
• The rims shouldn't be white because that color shows wear and tear much more quickly than any other.
• With this point I must agree, but it wasn't enough to deter me from purchasing the bike.

So there you have it.  I'm back in the game and with a stronger machine.  Now where're those damn hills?

~Amanda

I Wanna Be Like CAV

Yep.  I said it.  I want to be like Mark Cavendish.  Not in the sense that I want to be born from the Isle of Man, ride for HTC-Columbia or have jacked up teeth.

Very classy, Mark.  (source)

I'm talkin' more along the lines of:  I want to ride a badass SCOTT bike like Cav.


And, my friends, I'm pretty sure that is a possibility.  While it won't exactly be like his, it'll still be a solid machine.


IT'S TIME
I've been riding for about a year now and it's safe to say I love the sport.  I like the downhill, the flat and, yes, even the climbing sometimes.  With that in mind, I think I'm ready to move up a notch.

The good ol' Trek 1.2 I have now in Gainesville has served me well and done a great job as an entry level bike.

(source)

But I think it's time for TWO great changes:

1. Going full carbon and
2. Changing the crankset from a triple to a double

And the bike I've been looking at fits both of those requirements.  It's a 2010 Scott CR1 Comp.  Let me introduce you:

(source)

Beautiful, no?  And I'm pretty sure I can get a decent price for it.

I still have yet to test ride the bike but that will be remedied sometime next week once I get my suitcase back from Dusseldorf Airport...All of the cycling shorts I own are in that one piece of luggage.  Very valuable suitcase.

Until then, I'm going to dream about the stiff carbon frame and the smooth shifting.

~Amanda 

What Am I Gonna Write About Now?

Now that I'm not in Europe anymore traveling all over the place and climbing mountains, I need to figure out what I want to write about...

And what I decided is that I'm going to share all the same things but on a smaller scale.

1. I'm still going write about my rides as much as I can, even though the flat roads here aren't too exciting.
2. I'm going to hop in my car on the weekends and travel to other places in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc.  (Instead of jumping from country to country).
3. And I'm going to be showcasing A LOT more of the pictures I take around Gainesville.  After all, I am taking two photo classes and interning for the city paper.  I promise to only put up ones I think are good.  As always.

So without further delay, here are some shots of the interesting people in Gainesville...

This picture was taken Monday night on campus.  A group of Islamic UF students were breaking the fast for Ramadan.  (This photo was published in today's Gainesville Sun newspaper.)

The next few pictures were taken for an assignment that required me to shoot in different kinds of lighting (direct sunlight, shade, overcast).  Basically, I walked around and asked strangers who I thought looked visually interesting if I could take pictures of them for practice.

This is Rob, a senior engineering student.  The tattoos on his chest were in memory of his mother who died when he was 14 years old.  "She taught me a lot about life," he said to me.

I took these at the bus stop and then got on when it came.  Two stops later, I saw the most amazing old man with the most amazing wrinkles...

This is Jimmy Stallings from Smithfield, NC.  He was sitting outside Shands Hospital smoking a cigarette.  He came down to Florida to see the birth of his first grandchild who was born last night.

And just across the street were these rough looking biker dudes.

Meet John:

And Steve:

Two guys from Dixie County who were waiting outside the hospital for John's brother.


Sometimes it is hard for me to approach strangers and ask if I can stick a lens in their face.  Most of the time it's not.  Yesterday was the latter.

I hope you all still enjoy my blog even though it's changing slightly.  I would appreciate any feedback.  :)

~Amanda