Ryder did a 360!
The little dude rolled from his back to his stomach & back to his stomach again. Sala still can't roll over.
When It Rains We’re Poor
It appears as if I made the right choice to skip Snowshoe. West Virginia rain & bad weather made for long, slow race that required lots of running. Then there’s the financial impact of pre-riding & then racing in those type of horrible conditions. Might as well go down to the bike shop, buy new cables, new housing, a new chain & new brake pads, then start a blaze in the fire place at home & burn them beyond recognition. Then go back to the bike shop & buy them all over again. That’s the joy of racing outside of the western U.S.
At the Texas opener, which was also rain-plagued, there was a nightly ritual that occurred at our modest motel: Come back from the venue, muddy, wet & grumpy. Slop your dirty riding clothes over to the laundry area & wait for an open washing machine. If you were lucky, you’d get there around the same time as some other filthy soul & share a washer. Then walk back to your room & begin the tedious process of cleaning your bike, stopping several times throughout to check on the status in the laundry room. Maybe you get to bed before 10. Three days of this. On the fourth day (Sunday) after a 2.5 hour mud race, everyone switches their focus from laundry to tearing apart their bike & getting it into a bike case as quickly as possible so you don’t miss your flight out of San Antonio Int’l Airport. Actually, most nationals I’ve gone to are like this. Some are just muddier than others. Good times.
We’ll see how Mount Snow treats James, Sean & everyone else from the dry west who’s heading to Vermont this week. Good luck guys. May Mother Nature have mercy on you.
I Was So Much Older Then…
I’m not sure how I feel about this L.A. Times article. For someone who was so politically influenced in my youth by the Dead Kennedys & old Bad Religion, I sure do have a strong distaste for new bands with a distinct political stance. Any band actually, whether it be the political opinions of that waste of human flesh, Toby Keith or the political opinions of that other waste of human flesh, Michael Stipe. Those two are as qualified to make political decisions as Congress is qualified to make religious decisions. Catch my drift? I think that’s why the bands with real staying power, in my book, are outfits like Minor Threat, Texas Is the Reason, 7 Seconds, The Avengers, Descendents & The Ramones. Their lyrics are more of a social commentary than a political commentary. Then there are two of my favorites, Bob Dylan & The Pogues & while they have made strong political statements over the years, their real talents lie in story telling (and drinking). How does all this yada yada yada relate to the L.A. Times article that The Real James Williams was nice enough to forward me? It doesn’t, except for the fact that Pat Smear & Henry Rollins speak out of both sides of their mouths & thus are horrible references for an article about the spirit of punk.
Tuesday Night
The Tuesday night report is starting to get old, but several people ask, so I’m going to keep it up since there are only a few more to go before the time change. As it is, I almost needed lights to get home last night after the ride. Sadly, the summer is coming to an end. It has come to an end for Todd Parks, who claimed he’d no longer be making the drive from Palm Springs to Redlands, so I felt it my duty to make his last ride a memorable one. I confess, after he had been sitting on the front for quite a while, I attacked the hell out of him as we approached the top of Sunset on the first lap. Josh came with me, but so did Parks, so maybe I only attacked the heck out of him. Of course he had to scold me afterward for attacking him in the first place, especially after sitting on his wheel prior. And of course he tried to return the favor on the second lap, just moments after he had told me to keep a steady pace going up the wall. When it was all said (and a lot is said when Parks is around) Turner, Zuke, Josh, Parks & I all put the wood to each other. I was glad to finish without getting popped because I wasn’t feeling too hot.
Random…
It finally happened. I dropped the digital camera last night while riding. To ad insult to injury I ran over it with my rear wheel after it bounced off the tarmac. It works intermittently now & the view screen on back of the camera is totaled. I guess that’s what I get for riding around & taking pictures at the same time.
Josh saw a dude catch on fire at the Tom Petty concert in San Diego last weekend when the Kettle Corn concession stand turned into a flame thrower. According to Josh, the guy was totally engulfed in flames & it took several people to snuff him out. Afterward, Josh ordered two beers instead of just one.
Speaking of Josh, he is Carina Home-less. The owner of Carina Homes sold the company, thus putting an end to the cycling team. Too bad because it was a sweet deal.
My parents got campground reservations on New Year’s Eve for San Elijo State Beach. Finally a fun way to bring in the New Year…
Quote: “Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity” – Lord Charles Beresford, British Admiral & Member of Parliament
The little dude rolled from his back to his stomach & back to his stomach again. Sala still can't roll over.
When It Rains We’re Poor
It appears as if I made the right choice to skip Snowshoe. West Virginia rain & bad weather made for long, slow race that required lots of running. Then there’s the financial impact of pre-riding & then racing in those type of horrible conditions. Might as well go down to the bike shop, buy new cables, new housing, a new chain & new brake pads, then start a blaze in the fire place at home & burn them beyond recognition. Then go back to the bike shop & buy them all over again. That’s the joy of racing outside of the western U.S.
At the Texas opener, which was also rain-plagued, there was a nightly ritual that occurred at our modest motel: Come back from the venue, muddy, wet & grumpy. Slop your dirty riding clothes over to the laundry area & wait for an open washing machine. If you were lucky, you’d get there around the same time as some other filthy soul & share a washer. Then walk back to your room & begin the tedious process of cleaning your bike, stopping several times throughout to check on the status in the laundry room. Maybe you get to bed before 10. Three days of this. On the fourth day (Sunday) after a 2.5 hour mud race, everyone switches their focus from laundry to tearing apart their bike & getting it into a bike case as quickly as possible so you don’t miss your flight out of San Antonio Int’l Airport. Actually, most nationals I’ve gone to are like this. Some are just muddier than others. Good times.
We’ll see how Mount Snow treats James, Sean & everyone else from the dry west who’s heading to Vermont this week. Good luck guys. May Mother Nature have mercy on you.
I Was So Much Older Then…
I’m not sure how I feel about this L.A. Times article. For someone who was so politically influenced in my youth by the Dead Kennedys & old Bad Religion, I sure do have a strong distaste for new bands with a distinct political stance. Any band actually, whether it be the political opinions of that waste of human flesh, Toby Keith or the political opinions of that other waste of human flesh, Michael Stipe. Those two are as qualified to make political decisions as Congress is qualified to make religious decisions. Catch my drift? I think that’s why the bands with real staying power, in my book, are outfits like Minor Threat, Texas Is the Reason, 7 Seconds, The Avengers, Descendents & The Ramones. Their lyrics are more of a social commentary than a political commentary. Then there are two of my favorites, Bob Dylan & The Pogues & while they have made strong political statements over the years, their real talents lie in story telling (and drinking). How does all this yada yada yada relate to the L.A. Times article that The Real James Williams was nice enough to forward me? It doesn’t, except for the fact that Pat Smear & Henry Rollins speak out of both sides of their mouths & thus are horrible references for an article about the spirit of punk.
Tuesday Night
The Tuesday night report is starting to get old, but several people ask, so I’m going to keep it up since there are only a few more to go before the time change. As it is, I almost needed lights to get home last night after the ride. Sadly, the summer is coming to an end. It has come to an end for Todd Parks, who claimed he’d no longer be making the drive from Palm Springs to Redlands, so I felt it my duty to make his last ride a memorable one. I confess, after he had been sitting on the front for quite a while, I attacked the hell out of him as we approached the top of Sunset on the first lap. Josh came with me, but so did Parks, so maybe I only attacked the heck out of him. Of course he had to scold me afterward for attacking him in the first place, especially after sitting on his wheel prior. And of course he tried to return the favor on the second lap, just moments after he had told me to keep a steady pace going up the wall. When it was all said (and a lot is said when Parks is around) Turner, Zuke, Josh, Parks & I all put the wood to each other. I was glad to finish without getting popped because I wasn’t feeling too hot.
Random…
It finally happened. I dropped the digital camera last night while riding. To ad insult to injury I ran over it with my rear wheel after it bounced off the tarmac. It works intermittently now & the view screen on back of the camera is totaled. I guess that’s what I get for riding around & taking pictures at the same time.
Josh saw a dude catch on fire at the Tom Petty concert in San Diego last weekend when the Kettle Corn concession stand turned into a flame thrower. According to Josh, the guy was totally engulfed in flames & it took several people to snuff him out. Afterward, Josh ordered two beers instead of just one.
Speaking of Josh, he is Carina Home-less. The owner of Carina Homes sold the company, thus putting an end to the cycling team. Too bad because it was a sweet deal.
My parents got campground reservations on New Year’s Eve for San Elijo State Beach. Finally a fun way to bring in the New Year…
Quote: “Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity” – Lord Charles Beresford, British Admiral & Member of Parliament
We have them fooled.
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