I'm gonna need a bigger box...

I apologize for my recent leave of absence from the blog. I've been wearing many hats lately; this is the most recent addition -->
I spent my Valentine's Day with Mike Hanley, and a faction of the Purdue men's cycling squad, making myself official - or an official, rather. Stay tuned for an appearance in powder blue near you.

<-- I've also been wearing this one. Yes, the hat really looks like that. It's my manager hat. Aaron and I have really been pouring ourselves into the shop as of late. We've been working on spring orders and that sort of stuff, but we've been devoting more of our time to community building and advocacy projects like this one: http://cxmagazine.com/kentucky-ice-storm-cyclocross-party, as well as our Ladies' Night Series. We came up with a list of issues that affect us as cyclists, and then we narrowed it down to those that could be heavily offset with a bit of bike education. We then found some experts in each field to come and chat about their topics. The program takes place on Monday evenings at 5:30, and it will continue to run until the end of May. You can find the schedule here: Ladies' Night Series at Mountain Bike Depot & 'Cross Supply. We've got some really great speakers slated to come in, including some local legends as well as PRO imports. The really cool part is that we are partnering with Westport Whiskey and Wine for beverages and snacks, and we've gotten a lot of great support from our vendors for a free raffle at each event. We've also got a few other things in the works, so keep your ears to the ground, but be sure to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. OH! AND! I made a suuuper sweet new bulletin board for the shop - sort of like Home of the Innocents for tubes... you'll have to check it out for yourself.

I've been trying to wear this cap for at least an hour every day-->

Alec has been awesome; I'm pretty sure that he cares much, much more than I am paying him for, which - I'm still new to this game - but, I am pretty sure that is a rarity in the coaching world. I am excited to see what this 'cross season will hold.

And for my final trick...

In my defense, I don't really look like this until Friday, and - even then - my hair is blonder. My largest, approximately derby-sized, hat is my teacher hat, and that needs to continue to be my primary focus right now. The second semester is running much, much more smoothly than the last; I feel that I've won the trust of many of my students, which is honestly an incredibly rewarding feeling that I can't quite explain. So many of my kids come from such broken homes that it is truly awesome to know that they feel like they can come to me, and I will consistently be there to cradle them and their best interests. If nothing else, this year has cemented my love for kids; it's been an amazing opportunity to meet hundreds of new, really cool people, and then have the chance to get to know almost all of them and find out just how strong, intelligent, and witty each one truly is.

Over and out.