It’s Not About the Bike (written Wednesday)
Just got done reading Sager’s blog about the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s (LAF) Ride for the Roses in Austin last weekend. Denise has wanted to take part in the charity ride for as long as I can remember. Sounds like we missed out, yet again. Sager summed the cause up pretty well. Maybe next year…

Speaking of charities, I talked to Mark Foist today, who just got back from the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco. The event supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, had 15,000 contestants & raised more than 14 million bucks. There was a time when Denise was heavily involved with Team in Training, a NPO that supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She plans on getting involved again when Ryder gets old enough to ride in the jogger stroller, which will be soon.




Charity Begins at Home
Coincidentally, the charity theme carried into my evening last night. Ryder & I found Get Up Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest on PBS last night. A portion of the documentary was about Live Aid & the benefit concerts in ’85 to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. So, we’re sitting there watching archive clips from Live Aid of acts like U2, Santana, Madonna, The Who (who I hate), Black Sabbath, Run DMC, etc. & for the first time in 20 years, something occurred to me. While it’s a worthy cause, each one of these acts comes from a country where they have their own huge social problems: Ireland, Mexico, the U.S., etc. “Something doesn’t seem right here,” I said to Ryder. He answered with, “Blah dah dah blah ahh!” Moments later, like a voice from above, Willie Nelson comes on screen & addresses nearly the exact same thing I was thinking. Actually, even better Willie said something like, “I was sitting at home watching Live Aid & thinking to myself, something isn’t right here and then Bob Dylan came on stage at Live Aid & said, ‘It would be nice if some of the money raised here could go toward some of the starving people of America.’” At that moment the idea of Farm Aid popped into Willie’s head. Bob gets it done again. I love Bob.

Anyway, the documentary was entertaining, although when it came to the punk rock movement they concentrated on what I have just dubbed The Overrated 3: The Clash, Sex Pistols & the Ramones. Never mind the New York Dolls, Television, the Stooges & the MC5. The high-point was the Jello Biafra & a small snippet on his race for the office of San Francisco city mayor. I’m not denouncing The Overrated 3, I’m just saying they get a whole lot of undue credit, especially the Sex Pistols, who started out as Malcolm McLaren’s boy band, established to help clothing sales at his London boutique. McLaren modeled the Pistols after the band Television & even more revealing is that Johnny Rotten’s character in the Pistols was modeled after New York punk rocker Richard Hell. Sorry kids. I hate to ruin your anarchist vision of the Pistols with comparisons to NSYNC & 98 Degrees. In the end, the Pistols stuck it to McLaren & saved a little face by designing their own costumes & writing their own music. I could go on about this stuff forever…

Random…
Got an email from Jeff Fulford regarding his ACL rehab. He’s already able to ride the trainer & thinks he’ll be back on the road soon. Hang in there dude. I’ve been there & it sucks, but if you’re patient things will turn out as good as new.

Dodson won the Cat 4 crit in downtown Austin last weekend on a two-man break. Apparently Sager won the Pro1, 2 crit too, making it a good day for mountain bikers on the road.

Country James Williams will be leaving Big Bear for Bend next week. He plans on spending the winter in Bend & returning to CA in March. On his way north James is going to stay with Soul Craft Yuri & Nigel Hill for a while.

The sick list includes Denise, Jeannie, Josh, Mer & my Mom. They’re all suffering through head colds right now & I’m suffering through the thought of catching their ailment.

I’ve been away from bike racing for about a month & last night I found myself searching the internet for something to race. Something other than a mountain bike or cyclocross race. Something like an Xterra, adventure race or Duathlon. No dice & probably better that I didn’t find anything. There are grown-up things to do instead.

I’m selling the 5900. It’s a 2003, 9-speed Dura Ace-equipped 58cm U.S. Postal edition. Spread the word.

Wednesday Night (written Thursday)
We were 9 strong last night. In order of arrival; Bielaszka, Aaron, Templeman, Trevor, Johnson, Country James, Dodson, Johnny B. & I did Crafton again, but this time instead of doing an out & back we dropped down the back side in to the Yucaipa & then hit up the wash trail back to my place. We were in my garage by about 8:30 & then some of us went to Jersey’s for chicken pesto pizza & Drop Top. Next Wednesday, I’ll be in Vegas (with all the suckers), but everyone is still welcome to ride from my place.

Parting Shot: Shane MacGowan is proof positive that beauty is skin deep.