hillary dixon rust

Rode up to Irwindale to check out the Santa Fe Damn and stuff.


http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3307508weeblylink_new_window



Sara's brother camped out here when he was here fighting fires and saving us all. Thank you Evan for everything. Seriously. You will probably never get the credit you deserve...


San Gabriel River Valley trail is cool. It's one of the few places in LA you can actually see water and see it moving. It's cool. The bike path goes a lot further than I went today and the whole thing is awesome. Check it out.


Also, thanks to Ryan at IMartin Cycles for being radness and spreading the word and being the best bike mechanic I've ever met. His customer service skills are out of control as well and he has kept me riding almost everyday for two plus years now. 


Oh crap! I almost forgot. Schwalbe tires likes our idea and we're trying to get them on board even though I'm dumb and missed the sponsorship deadline...whamp whamp!


Chirp,
hillary

Beware! I've got business cards and they are awesome and I will force one on you and you will then feel compelled to find an ingenious way to help! AHAHAHAHAH!


Chirp,
hillary

It's been brought to my attention that no one likes to scroll down through album after album of photos. So in an effort to keep the viewers happy I will forever be placing all new pics at the top of the page. If you want to see my cat as a beer coaster you'll just have to search for her.


I bought 3 maps on Saturday and taped them up on the walls. the are all the same size so I now have Arizona, New Mexico and Texas really big plastered up in the living room. I highlighted our route and I stare at them all the time. I just stare. I wonder if I'm doing too much. I wonder if its worth wondering about. Will the whole thing unfold as we go into some amazing adventure or will we really have to dig to find a "story"?


Well what does this have to so with remembering anything you may ask? I don't know.


Chirp,
hillary 

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3294658weeblylink_new_window

This is not the longest ride ever but the drastic changes in elevation made it fun.

On our last "ride" Dan Illescas asked me if I felt like I was getting more conditioned from all the riding I've been doing. I couldn't answer him one way or the other until today. I don't think  getting to the top of Baldwin Hills Overlook would have been possible a few months ago. 

Riding down really does make the climbing worth it. I cracked 40 mph in Kenneth Hahn park. I always like to mention when I break the Quattro Barrier because it happens so rarely.

Anyway, Sara is making pancakes so I gotta get cleaned up and ready to eat!

Chirp,
hillary

Okay, well maybe it does. For lack of a better word we got lucky last night.

We had our usual Thursday meeting but due to my lovely wife's eating habits we ended up skipping Coach and Horses and heading to a little bar called Little Bar. 
 
You see, my dearest sweetest Sara is a vegetarian and so when she found out that there was going to be a vegan hot dog stand posted up outside Little Bar right by our house she asked if we could swing by. Everyone agreed to switch the meeting place and that was that. 

The meeting was going as planned and everyone is on the same page and drinking some beers and a guy walks up and says something about the beer we chose and asks if we want some buttons and of course we do so I notice that the one I grab has a bike on it and says "ride your bike" and Emerson says "Hey, mine says "I love (but with a heart) bikes)"." 

The guy explains that the company he works for was born on the seat of a bike. I immediately tell him about the doc and he says it sounds awesome and the rest is history.
 
Dallas is what they call a "Beer Ranger" over at New Belgium Brewing which is the wind powered, employee owned company that's based in Fort Collins CO and makes the very tasty and popular Fat Tire beer.

There's nothing official yet but just the idea of having a beer sponsor makes me happy. I can't imagine a better fit for the crew we have assembled. And if it wasn't for Sara wanting to buy a hot (veggie) dog off a street cart we would have never had the chance.

I'm finally off work tomorrow so stay tuned for some new pics and maybe a surprise. Yeah, I have been planning something special for you. 

Chirp,
hillary  

First let me apologize (to the two of you) for the fact that I've been slacking on the posting and pictures. 


I've been working with Emerson which is good but it makes it so that my riding is just commuting. Not that I'm upset about it. I love to ride regardless.


I rode with my good friend Dan Illescas on Sunday and it was extremely good in all respects. Dan made up his mind that he needs a cross bike and took the first step to making that happen which was to sell his old trek.


Okay, I can't contain it and I swear I'm not counting chickens before we even get the eggs but I sent an email this morning to American Classic http://www.amclassic.com/weeblylink_new_window 
and I actually got a response! They like the idea. The only thing I had to agree to was to wear a helmet the whole time. Which is a no brainer. There was concern because in the video we didn't wear them but I wear one all the time since march and ha ha ha.


I care what happens!


Thank you.


Chirp,
hillary

But Rapha has apparently been making the most badass road biking videos for like the last year with the help of the amazing Dave Christenson (http://www.vimeo.com/user387659weeblylink_new_window) behind the camera. 


All I can really say is HOLY CRAP PLEASE let our doc look as good as this. 


Some people might get discouraged when faced with such awe inspiring work and think "I should give up because I cannot compete with that.", but not me. This gives me hope and makes me know even more that we are headed in the right/best direction with the vision we are trying to create and and and...I'm just really pumped on Rapha and ther clothes and the videos right now and I hope that we can be as good as them. 


Here's a lil' taste - http://www.rapha.cc/short-films-from-the-roadweeblylink_new_window


Just go seek out their Vimeo.com page to get more blown away.


Chirp,
hillary

I must say that riding in Griffith offers some of the best of all worlds. It's almost car free, there's very very few reasons to stop riding, the hills go up & down and uhm...well that's it really. 

T'was another pleasant day in the park. The up parts of all the hills are getting easier which I think is a good thing. I'm sure once I'm out on the road I'll find something worse but hopefully by then I'll be soooper tough.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3278204weeblylink_new_window

Chirp,
hillary

the less I post the less people look at the site. So I guess I need to ride more.


I finally snapped to the realization that the business cards I ordered really weren't coming and promptly reordered them. The whole thing is dumb but I did unearth some really cool photos of my old bike and so I cropped them up into what I believe to be some wicked cool abstracty type things and made more cards that I'm actually happier with. As my wife says, "Everything happens for a reason."


Which explains a lot really.


Last night Emerson and I had our weekly "doc meeting" at what I believe to be the best bar in Hollywood the Coach & Horses. The reason I think it's the best is that they sell 24oz PBR's for $3 during happy hour. The other reason is that I swear I saw Guy Ritchie there last night Nick Moran and whatever. Also, there is a DJ on thursdays that plays awful music and he has a shaved head with tattoos all over it. 


The point is that Brent McCracken came along and he wants to be a camera guy for us which is awesome cuz he is awesome and it will make it a zilly times better. He's got a ton of experience and good ideas. 


Time for a quick ride and then I'll post some pictures.


Chirp,
hillary