I've been busy as hell lately, so posts have been scarce. I wrote the following on Tuesday, but never got around to posting it, so here goes the OLD NEWS:

Sunday
Instead of getting up to ride on Sunday morning Denise, Ryder & I went out to breakfast at McDuffs. I had a spinach omelet & Denise had a waffle. Ryder had the usual. The food was good, but beware: McDuffs only takes cash. What’s up with that? Are we not in the 21st century? I own, a computer, a cell phone, a digital camera, an iPod & I recently purchased the Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS on EBay (which is yet to arrive) & an eating establishment in downtown Redlands can’t process a debit or credit card. So, I took the walk of shame over to the nearest bank & left Denise & Ryder as collateral.

Later that morning I wanted to spend some money & not on paying a lawn guy, so I went to Lowe’s & bought an electric lawnmower & edger. I know what you’re thinking, “An electric lawn mower? Who buys an electric lawn mower?” I felt the same way until recently. In fact, when I was a kid, the German people next door to us, Gerta & Walter, had an electric lawn mower & I thought it the most bizarre thing I’d ever witnessed. Somewhere between grade school adolescence & teenage adolescence I realized a number of things when it came to mowing the lawn: 1. I hate mowing the lawn; 2. I hate when I go to mow the lawn with a gas mower & I realize I’m out of gas & then an hour chore turns into an even bigger pain in the ass because now I have to drive to the gas station and pay $3.00 a gallon; 3. Half the time, a gas mower won’t start on the first or 9th pull & an hour chore turns into a two hour chore shaking out the air filter, checking the spark plug, draining out the old gas and/or cleaning the gunk from the carburetor; 4. I hate changing the oil in anything, much less something as primitive as a gas mower. By purchasing an electric mower I only have to deal with one of these problems & that is the fact that I hate to mow the lawn. Now I drag an extension chord behind me when I mow. So what. Does that make me weird? Does that make me less of a man? Maybe, but until Ryder is old enough to mow the lawn, I’m sticking with an electric mower. In its first use, my electric lawn mower did the trick because on Monday as my ride mates pulled into my driveway Lauren said something like, “Look at that lawn. I just wanna lay in it.”

Ride to Idyllwild
6 Hours
110 Miles
7,500 ft. of Climbing
100-degree weather
Conclusion: Too little, too late. I’m skipping Everest Challenge. I should have been doing rides like this for the last month in preparation instead of collecting junk miles riding to & from work. Maybe I’ll go to the Tucson Bicycle Classic instead.

The ride itself was fun & the company was good. About a dozen of us did the whole deal. Some of the band of idiots that went included Josh Underwood, James Williams, Chris Hoyt, Lauren Dodson, Craig Turner, Andy Padila, Eric Riser, Richard Barnes, Tom Gardner, Rick (his last name escapes me) & some Citrus Valley Velo dude. So, if you see any of these guys out on the road, tip your hat because it was a death march & they all made it. We made it back, hosed off on my front lawn (apparently Mentone pulls water from the Rockies because that water is ice cold) & went to Charles Jewel’s (Chuck’s Nuts) for a late lunch. Ryder joined me, James, Turner, Lauren & Hoyt at the bar as we sucked down a few well-deserved drinks & a $10 cheese burger.

And still, some how I mustered up enough energy to make a fine dinner Sunday night.

New News:

Tuesday Night
"Maybe today will make for a more laid back Sunset ride." That's what Turner said over post-ride beers at Chuck's Nuts on Labor Day after the Idyllwild slog. He must have been dilapidated from dehydration or something when he said it because when Tuesday night rolled around it was Turner who was stickin' it to us. Josh rebounded nicely from a bought of near heat exhaustion to come out & partake in getting an ass-kicking from Turner. I made a last-ditch effort at the end of the third lap & attacked the punisher, but it was symbolic of Custard's attack at Little Big Horn. It ended in my own peronsal disaster as he covered my feable effort & soloed to the top. No doubt, he was returning the favor from last week. After the ride, we parted ways & Turner asked, "You coming to crit on Thursday night." I said, "Yes."
I'm such a sucker.

Random…

The quality of my last two mountain bike rides have been nothing to blog about, but I did have an encounter with a bobcat while riding up Old Hwy 38 on Sunday

How’s this for news just one week after the occurance of this country’s biggest natural disasteer? The Transporter 2 debuted in theaters over Labor Day weekend & made more money in three days than the original Transporter’s entire stint in the theater, which just proves my theory that Americans are getting dumber.

Check out the Cycling News photo of nice guy Longo with his polar opposite.

Brett & I are having a contest to see who can find the cheapest hair cut. I got an $8 cut yesterday at Denny's Barber Shop in Grand Terrace, but then he found a $6 bargin somewhere in Canyon Crest. Rumor is that there's a $5 trim somewhere around State St.

Josh & James take a load off in Idyllwild.


Before towing us from the top of Idyllwild to Banning, Turner rests his legs.


Proof.

Crit practice is tonight (and the Raiders are on TV tonight).