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.

Patio Cover Adventures & a Weekend Spent Off the Bike

Ryder & I spent Friday evening on the couch sharing a drink. Cheers mate!

My Dad & I spent Saturday morning at Lowe's & Saturday afternoon building The World's Best Patio Cover.

Denise, Ryder, Mer, Joey, Josh, Jeannie & Ms. Bell spent Saturday night trick-or-treaten' at California Adventure.

Do not attempt this at home. Speaking of homes, Mer & Joey got the keys to their new house on Friday. Now the painting begins.

Ryder's first merry-go-round ride was from the cockpit of a bench.

Silly Boy, books are for brain washing people: Not for eating.

Zoinks! Josh, Jeannie & Ms. Bell dressed as Shaggy, Vilma & Scooby. The Freemans were supposed to fill out the gang as Fred, Daphne & Scrappy, but we had some wardrobe malfunctions before leaving home.

Patio cover construction continued on Sunday.

The foreman.

A Friendly Rivalry Gone Bad

I was hoping I'd never have to do this, but I guess this is partially why blogs exist. I'm about to stir the sh%# on my own behalf.

First of all, I'd like to think we (the cycling community in the Redlands area) are a tight-nit group. When someone cracks, we console he or she. When someone excels, we congratulate. When someone is struggling, we encourage. When someone succeeds, we celebrate. At the same time, on particular training rides, a friendly rivalry exists. Once the ride is over, the guns are put away, or at least they should be. Sure, occasionally a situation arises where tension causes a spat, but in my experience, they're normally short-lived & if they need to be settled, they're settled on the bike.

With all that said, I received a phone call from a close friend yesterday reporting that a certain individual in our midst is, for lack of a better term, dissing yours truly. If an outsider wants to diss me; fine. If someone who can actually ride me into the ground wants to sing, let him sing all he wants. But when someone who I have repeatedly sat up for, someone who I have conquered in all but one single road race in the last three years, someone who has difficulty riding me off their wheel on Tuesday nights even when I show up on my mountain bike - decides they want to mouth off behind my back; he deserves recognition. Nevermind the fact that I nearly always leave him in my wake when I'm mounted on my road bike; nevermind that I'm constantly defending his whack choice of gears (I probably just gave it away right there) to everyone who comments on its ridiculousness; and nevermind that I've sat side-by-side with said person chatting up life & bike racing in general on many many training rides & slow-moving races. Unfortunately, it's come to this.

No more riding up to the front to relieve you of an unusually long pull.
No more including you in a potential race strategy.
No more friendly banter.
No more defending your name.
And especially no more sitting up for you.

Basically, no more mercy. Next summer will be your worst yet...

I Am Now a White Sox Fan

The Tossers may be too much for baseball fans to handle...

...but not too much for Ryder
Today, Ryder is 6 months old & to celebrate we bought him 4 shots, because all good Tosser fans take shots on special occassions. Actually, we took him to the doctor yesterday so he could get the rest of his vaccinations. The poor dude got 4 shots, two in each thigh, & a blood sample taken from his big toe. He was none too happy. The doctor says his motor skills are advanced for his age. It shan’t be long before he’s crawling. I long for the day when we can wrestle.

Wednesday Night
The rain on Monday & Tuesday made the traction for Wednesday night ride perfect. Tom Bielaszka, Jeremy Templeman, Chris Hoyt, Trevor, Johnson, Steelman Steve, Bike Shop Matt & I left my garage at 6:30 & headed toward Crafton Hills. Going up was typical of Crafton; long & gradual. Since we opted to do an out & back, ripping down from the top was pretty sweet. You couldn’t ask for better conditions & if I wasn’t so lazy, I’d have photos as proof. On the way up, Johnson, Bielaszka and Trevor kicked the hell out of each other; however the rest of us chose to ride at winter-speed. We were all back in my garage just before 8:30 & Trevor, Johnson, Bike Shop Matt & Steelman Steve even went Casa Maya afterwards for dinner. I’m thinking Lower or Upper Workout next Wednesday & if we can, let’s roll closer to 6:15.

This is what my ride to work looked like this morning, only worse. I don't care what the calendar says. My freezing body tells me winter is here.

Road or Mountain?
Despite the fact that I had iceberg lettuce, two pumpkin beers & mint/cream Oreos for dinner last night, I’ve been pining over next year’s Sea Otter Classic for some reason. Maybe it’s because the weather around here lately reminds me of riding in Monterey or maybe it’s because I had a dream about the epic event. Nevertheless, I’m already trying to decide whether I’ll contest the road or mountain bike events. Last year I chose road & entered Sunday’s MTB race just for fun. Next year won’t be as easy of a decision. I won’t be able to do both because the MTB stage race starts on the same day as the road racing. If I race the dirt, it will probably be my one & only chance to race with an actual knight, Sir Bart Brentjens. Of course, they seem to knight everyone these days, so the prestige of being knighted is beginning to dwindle. Hell, they even knighted Elton John, Michael Caine & Bill Gates a few years ago. I knew a dude who worked at a golf course & he caddied for Sir Bill once. He said Gates only tipped him a couple of bucks after 18 holes. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Sea Otter. For now, (today) let’s say I’ll race the mountain bike & leave the road bike at home.

Finally, a worthy cause...

"New sh%# has come to light."

Dear Matthew Freeman,

The following request to change your NORBA category has been approved and processed by USA Cycling.
Member: Matthew Freeman
License: Cross Country Racer
Request to change category from Semipro to Pro

Anyone got an EPO hook up? Kidding, of course. Although I won’t be so far off the back of the Pro field if I had a few extra red blood cells. Still kidding. I guess my near top 10 finishes at Schweitzer & Brian Head & my 7th STXC at Mammoth convinced someone at USA Cycling. That & James tells me that they called Longo as a character witness. Thanks Larry. I owe you drinks.

Frankly, until last night, I didn’t know how I felt about this upgrade. Ironically, it’s a humbling turn of events. I mean, at least as a Semi-pro, I had a chance, but now I have no chance in hell. Then I talked to James last night & he shot some adrenaline into me with his words of encouragement. “Dude, you’re a professional athlete now! That’s awesome. You should be happy.” If anything at all, at least Ryder will be able to say that his Dad competed against Olympians, World Champions, Tour contenders & maybe even Armstrong, who I’d be willing to bet will show his face at a NORBA Nat’l when the boredom of retirement sets in. Possibly the best part of this whole deal is that at the NCS races, I won’t have to race on Fridays anymore. That alone is incentive enough to upgrade.

I guess now I should start weighing all my food, sleeping in an altitude tent, (or at the very least sleeping up in Big Bear for a week leading up to an event), riding the trainer for 5-hour stint, hire a massage therapist & invest in some syringes. Still kidding.


Random…
Nathan bought a condo in Grand Terrace, but instead of taking up residence in GT, he’s decided to take on the role of a slumlord. He’ll stay in Muscoy & rent the condo out. Consider it an investment.

Warning: If you consider yourself moderately intelligent, don’t even bother reading this: My coworkers go crazy over this dude. I can’t figure out if he is serious or if it’s all a fruity European joke. Anyway, here it is and you didn’t read about Gunther here, if you know what I mean.

No Warning needed here. Although you may not see this atrocity in our area much, that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening all over the United States. It kind of makes you wonder just how “Free” the “Land of the Free” really is. Help!


Things I See On the Way to Work


Cage Park is on Main Street in Highgrove. At one time the once flourishing park was home to singing birds, bunny rabbits & squirrels. Legend has it that contaminants from the K&N Chrome Shop & local power plant forced its closure. Now the only birds at Cage Park are crows, the bunny rabbits have 2 heads & the squirrels carry rabies instead of acorns. Yet, as I pedal by the barricaded grounds on my way to work, my obsession with what now resides on the other side of the fence grows stronger every day. I'm haunted by Cage Park, but like a teenage girl in a Friday the 13th horror flick, I am undaunted by its threatening state & may soon go explore.

The ridiculousness that is vanity license plates entertain me (with disgust) while on my way to work. Here's one to be proud of.

Hey, Hey, Hey!

Save the Oranges

My million dollar patio cover project went nowhere this weekend. Actually, it wasn’t until this weekend that we discovered it was going to be a million dollar patio cover project. Instead, I planted 4 dwarf Washington Navel orange tress at $19.99 a pop. While I was at Lowe’s, buying the trees, some old dude commended me for buying orange trees. He said, “We have to keep our orange trees in Redlands.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that my house was built on a recently destroyed orange grove.

Meanwhile, I was single-handedly trying to save the citrus heritage of Redlands/Mentone from land developers, Sean Donovan, Chris Heinrich, the Stephenson brothers & a couple of other dudes parked at my place & did a morning shuttle run of the Santa Ana River Trail from Poop Out back to my place. Once I was over the sticker shock of the patio cover, I went out & did Lower Workout, plus some, with Templeman. The recent fire through the Mill Creek area has made the upper wash trail look & feel like you’re riding on the moon. I recommend we roll Crafton this Wednesday night.

Ryder got invited to his first birthday party this Sunday. Alison Zercher’s daughter, Avery, turned a year old. According to Denise, Ryder fell asleep toward the end of the birthday bash. Yep, I’d say he’s my kid: Cheery & vibrant in the morn & sleepy & grumpy as the day wares on.

Steelman Steve McKovich made his return to riding on Sunday, after recently getting his contractor’s license. It was a short-lived comeback because it began raining about 20 miles in. Lucky for me, we were nearly complete with Green Spot when it started to drizzle so I wasn’t far from the dry comfort of my house. A couple hours later when I was out running errands, I saw Turner off the bike & out for a run even though it was raining. Sicko.

It has continued to rain off & on ever since. Denise still managed to take Sala out for a run this morning. They came back a wet mess; mostly from sweat.

Random…
Apparently, the weekend road rides won’t be leaving from GFE starting next Saturday. Little known fact: GFE isn’t GFE anymore & it hasn’t been for a while. I never noticed. As long as they were pouring me an occasional free cup of hot coffee, I was happy. Now we’ll be leaving from Stell Coffee on Barton Rd. & Alabama. Don’t ask why. Just be there.

Childhood alcoholism. Don't take it lightly. The billboard near work that used to read, “Childhood Obesity. Don’t take it lightly” is now a Miller Light billboard.

Speaking of the decadence that is alcohol, I took a trip to BevMo yesterday & walked away with a Shipyard Chamberlain Pale Ale named after great Union Civil War General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Excellent. I drank it last night while using the electric circular saw to build my awesome new sawhorse bike stand. I know what you’re thinking: Electric tools, alcohol – not a good idea. Relax, it was only 22 oz. Unlike Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, whose men often exchanged gunfire with Chamberlain's in the early part of the war, I still have two hands. Too bad Shipyard doesn't brew a William Tecumseh Sherman beer; one sip & it would knock you on your ass, burn down your house, tear up your railroads & leave you naked in the streets. I could go on about Sherman forever...

Can we get a NORBA NCS schedule please? A tentative schedule was rumored to be floating around Mammoth last month, but nothing official yet. Come on! I got family vactions to plan.

All dressed up & ready to party.

Eye Eye, Captain!

No respect.

The Forgotten Child

Sala hasn't been gettin' the love she once got. On the other hand (paw), she's got a California King to sleep on now, so who's complaining.

Holy crap! says Ryder. Have you heard the newest Explosions in the Sky CD? It'll blow your mind! (Thanks Loren). During lunch I took a trip to Mad Platter & took possesion of The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, by Explosions in the Sky & The Valley of the Shadow of Death by The Tossers. Holy crap! They're both mind-blowing. Explosions... is all insturmental, kind of like Mogwai. I first heard them on the Friday Night Lights movie & most recently on Loren's iPod. I'm convinced. The Tossers, who have been one of my favorites for the last 3 years are a 7-piece from Chicago of Irish descent; as rowdy & raw as ever. So, of course I had to stop by the liquor store on the way home to celebrate my new Tossers LP.

TGIF

Tomorrow at 7:30 AM, I've got a bunch of lads from Orange County coming over to ride Santa Ana River Trail from South Fork & I don't think I'll be joining them. Gotta get some stuff done around the house & the planned ride is at least a 3.5 hour expedition. I've only got 2.5 to spare & for some reason I've been craving Oak Glen. Maybe it's because I want to sleep in for a change. Maybe it's because apple season is in swing. Maybe it's because Oak Glen represents everything good in life. Or maybe it's just because I can hammer it out in 2.5 hours. Regardless, tomorrow I'm destined for Los Rios Ranch.

What a Difference a Week Makes

The MTB season has been over less than 7 days & already everthing has changed. James has been riding the trainer up in Big Bear (already?). However, currently he's in Atlanta hanging out with Maigh & he'll soon be headed to one of the Carolina's for his Grandfather's 90th. I imagine Loren is holding down the fort on Silvertip. Meanwhile, Josh is MIA, although that's not uncommon for the Great Northwesterner during football season. Johnson has been on vacation, but I think he's back in action because he sent me an email tonight. And I'm tied up with SEMA until the second week of November. About the only thing normal is that Sean has arranged a SART ride tomorrow, hence the onslaught of dudes I'm expecting at my house tomorrow morning. Watch out for the Motor City Madman

Email from Joey regarding the Wednesday Night MTB Rides

"Are bicycles provided or is it BYOB? Your answer determines if I show. Love, Uncle Joey
PS: I don't have your Minor Threat CD."

Dear Joey,

First of all, do I look like a bike shop? Of course it's Bring Your Own Bike. Why would I be supplying everyone with bikes? Secondly, you're not my Uncle Joey. You're Ryder's Uncle Joey. You're my Brother-in-law. I think all this Uncle stuff has gone to your head. And finally, I don't actually think you took my Minor Threat CD. I'm pretty sure I know who took it. I'm just trying to give them, yet another chance to come clean. Anyway, see you Wednesday. Love, Brother-in-law Matt.

P.S. How was the walk-through? Meredith said you left a lot of blue masking tape.

There's always room for another Brian Head photo.

Did I mention how bad-ass this Explosions in the Sky CD is?

Quote: "I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway

Bob is Beautiful

Just when I was about to throw the remote at the TV last night, Ryder & I ran across Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, A Martin Scorsese Picture on PBS’ American Masters. Holy crap! Marty Scorsese gets it done. There was a grip of previously unreleased film footage & interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez & Pete Seeger. The film focuses on Dylan up to 1966, but spends a lot of time detailing the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when the man went electric. Holy crap! I don’t care what anyone says about the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, the MC5 or the New York Dolls; punk rock started in ’65 when Bob went electric. It was hilarious, all those folkies are at this festival to celebrate peace & love, but when Dylan came out with a band, sans an acoustic guitar, they booed him. Freaking hypocrites. Meanwhile, back stage Seeger is threatening to take an axe to the electrical equipment because Dylan’s set wasn’t folkie enough. Bob only played a few songs that night, but in his shows that followed he kept playing electric despite much criticism from everyone. And the entire time he’s loving it. That my friends is punk rock. Holy crap!

It will always puzzle me how so musicians can hear someone as genius as Dylan & still produce the crap that they do. Have they no pride? One of the coolest stories I’ve ever heard was about the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson & the first time he heard Sgt. Pepper’s. I’ve probably told this story before. Wilson thought Sgt. Pepper’s was so good & so ahead of its time & so much better than anything that the Beach Boys had produced that for an entire year, Wilson went into a deep depression & seclusion. He finally came out of it & the Beach Boys produced Pet Sounds, which is regarded as one of the best rock & roll albums of all time. The point is, Wilson had enough integrity to not just put out something crappy after hearing Sgt. Pepper’s.

I heard a similar story about the drummer of A Perfect Circle after he heard the newest Tool album. He thought the percussion was so good & so much better than his own work that he went into a depression. I sometimes used to feel that way when I wrote for a living. I’d read one of Scott Rousseau’s Cycle News pieces & get frustrated & depressed because I felt it was so much better than what I was currently writing. Not only was he good, he was fast. No one could whip out a print-day editorial with substance like Rousseau. He is by far the best moto-journalist in the business. When that guy goes, generations from now, the dirt track (and motorcycle world for that matter), is going to mourn like Laker fans did the passing of Chick Hearn. Anyway, I digress. If more musicians, writers, directors & artists in general had a little more pride like Brian Wilson & weren’t just trying to get richer, then I wouldn’t be tempted to throw my remote at the TV in the first place. And regardless of his dwindling voice, Bob is bad-ass. After that comes Shane MacGowan. No one else can hold a candle to either of them except for maybe Paul Simon (hey, The Only Living Boy in New York is full of classic angst). I could go on forever about Bob & Shane…

Wednesday It Is!
The popular consensus for the weekly mountain bike night ride seems to be hump day. Here’s what I’m thinking; we roll from my warm & well-lit garage in Mentone between 6:15 & 6:30 pm. You can park in the street, use the hose for water & the more hygienic of the group can even use the bathroom if require. From there we have a choice of about 5 rides like Crafton, Upper Workout, Lower Workout, up the Wash & the Dam Ride. The pace should be casual & stopping & breaks should be at a minimum so we’re not out past my bedtime. Starting next Wednesday, October 19. If you want to go & need directions to my house email at freemanrace@sbcglobal.net


Random…

I’m officially pack-fill. I’ve been granted my Category 2 license.

My Dane Cook CD isn’t going to return itself.

...neither is my long-lost Minor Threat CD

Jeremy Templeman was kind enough to find me a mascot for the blog. Here he is:

That's what I'm saying.

Quote: “A bicycle ride is a flight from sadness.” – James E. Starrs, The Noiseless Tenor

That's a Wrap

My long season finally came to an end on Sunday at the completion of the Fall Classic. Whew! It all started way back in January at the Nelson’s Landing Road Race, which I won by the way. Nearly 9 months of racing later & I’m ready to watch football on the weekends; at least until November rolls around & then it’s again time for long base miles. Back to the Fall Classic: I managed a 7th regardless of coming home from work early on Friday because I felt like I was going to vomit. Not sure what that was all about, but 4 hours spent in bed that day fixed me up. I’m not saying I didn’t feel like throwing up again during the race, because I felt horrible, but I am saying that the rest fixed me up good enough to mow the lawn & walk all over Point Loma on Saturday (more on that later). Back to the Fall Classic: I started slow & began coming on about 10 minutes into it until I got stuck behind some slower guys going down 1E01. I got complacent instead of trying to get around them on the treacherous single track & by the time we had dropped down onto the road heading back up the mountain to the 5 Bitches, it was too late. I let the race play itself out without getting involved.

Loren got involved in a big way. He & Paul Friewald traded the lead toward the end, but Paul made it to the mouth of Fall Line first, which pretty much decided that contest. Still, Loren should be proud of a close second. James ended up 6th with contact lense/chain/suspension problems. The Pro class was a barn burner. The top 5 finishers crossed the line within a minute of one another (so I was told).

I owe Denise, Ryder, Greg Johnson, Cyclery USA, Denise’s dad (Steve) for watching Sala and K&N; 9 months of thanks for helping out, putting up with me & for days off this year. Congrats & thanks to travel partners Josh, James, Loren & Sean for good company, good racing & money saved. And I can’t say enough about the van…

Year 5
Denise & I celebrated 5 years of matrimony on Saturday. Instead of spending massive amounts of cash on a weekend away, we chose to take Ryder down to Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma so he could get yet another stamp in his National Parks Passport. The little dude is less than 6 months old & he’s already been to Cedar Breaks, Zion, Saguaro & now Cabrillo. After checking out the lighthouse & some of the other stuff in the park we had dinner in SeaPort Village. Although the Salmon was top-notch, it probably didn’t help my cause at the Fall Classic; something more carb-filled would have been a better option. Ryder appeared to enjoy himself all day.

Posing for pictures is serious business.

Ryder & I tandem sky diving over the Pacific Ocean.

Packers 52, Saints 3 – Days of yore are back.

What’s Next?
Now that the season is finally over, I can finally build a patio cover, plant some trees, alphabetize the CD’s, put new music on the iPOD, put up some shelves in the garage, construct a climbing wall & paint the fence. I feel like I’m forgetting something.

Random…

In conjunction with K&N’s IndyCar® sponsorship, the IRL brought out their Fan Experience circus to K&N last Thursday. They cooked us tri-tip, chicken, corn on the cob & a ton of other stuff. As usual, I ate too much.

If he read my blog, Nigel Hill would probably hate it. Apparently he likes James’ blog because it’s usually filled with photos & no ramblings. I, on the other hand ramble.

Here's something you don't see every day.

Things got a little out of hand at the IRL Fan Experience. An unnamed co-worker broke a chair. Not World Wrestling Federation style. More like I ate too much tri-tip & chicken style.

Quote: “Sometimes I wish my brain didn’t think so much.” – Julie Wofford, explaining why the thought of hot dogs being made prevents her from eating them.

What Ryder Won't Be Dressed As For Halloween

This is why kids are so screwed up these days; because their parents dress them in get-ups like this.

Remember...

Days of Yore

More Days of Yore

Two Score Ago Yore

Oh and four? The Horror!

Tucson Bicycle Classic

$80 a tank!

Ryder got a new hat at the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center. He'll have to grow into it.


Some of the park's Cholla Cactus brought back painful memories of Laughlin Hare Scrambles.

Ryder continues to be an awesome traveler. He just goes with the flow. Wherever Denise & I take him, he doesn't seem to care. Six-plus hours in the van on the way out there didn't phase him a bit. He even sat through a 15-minute slide show at the Saguaro Nat'l Park Visitor's Center without causing a fuss. In 3 days, the only time he came undone was during Saturday night's dinner at Bennigan's, which leads me to this observation: Where are all the Tex Mex Restaurants in Tucson? I thought we'd be eatting good when we were there, but fine food was slim pickin's. We even went looking around U of A & only found a little Italian place called Magpie's. It turned out to be good food, but Denise & I couldn't help but think we were definately missing part of Tucson. We left unimpressed.

Quote: “Don’t sit there. There are ants.” – A girl to her friends at the Waffle House in Tucson. Upon hearing that, I looked down to check our booth for ants. To my horror, I saw a cockroach instead of ants. We immediately got up & left without eating, thus ending Denise’s first Waffle House experience.

Stage 1: 4-mile Time Trial

At the San Diego Omnium TT, earlier this year, I went out way too hard & blew apart toward the end, so in Tucson, I decided to start conservative. Bad idea, especially in a short 4-mile TT. My obvious lack of TT'ing practice & experience lent itself to a 50-second deficit on General Classification when it was all over. "Okay," I thought. I still have two days of racing to make that up.

Stage 2: 84-mile Road Race

Confidence that I could make up 50 seconds on the race leader dwindled a bit when I hit a massive Tucson pot hole & punctured my rear tubular just 4 miles into the road race. Luckily we had a follow vehicle & I got a quick wheel change thanks to race personel. The decisive climb of the race was in Saguaro Nat'l Park through Gate's Pass. The road tilted up to 12% near the summit & we were to complete the climb four times. On the first 21 mile lap we blew the field apart on the climb, so I knew the race would be decided at Gate's Pass even though there was still about a 4 mile rolling decsent to the finish.

I got in a 9-man break on the third trip up Gate's Pass. The only problem, the race leader was also in the break, so the chances of gaining time on him began to look slim. Suprisingly, the break worked well together & we quickly gained about a 4-minute gap on the rest of the field. Just as we were heading toward the climb on the final lap, someone in the break clipped one of a handful of cones on the course & I ran over its base giving me yet another rear flat. I couldn't believe my bad luck; 5 miles from the finish. I got another wheel from the support vehicle, but the damage was already done. In the 30 seconds that it took me to get a wheel change, I had taken myself out of a possible stage win. I tried like hell to catch back on, but because we were nearing the finsih, the pace was high. It's amazing how much time you can loose & how much slower you travel when you're out on your own. I ended up loosing over 2 minutes in just 5 miles. I still finished the stage in 9th & kept the rest of the field about 2 minutes behind me, but it was apparent that gaining the time time I needed to move higher than 8th in GC was going to be tough.

Stage 3: 39-mile Circuit Race

This will be quick. On Sunday it was hot & windy, so we did 7 laps around the 5.5-mile course as a small group. A lot of dudes had dropped out on Saturday so we were down to about 20 riders. There was nothing inside me that wanted or could try & move higher than 8th in GC. Due to Saturday's puncture, I was over 2 minutes out of 7th, so I just swallowed my pride & kept it together for the final sprint (which I didn't contest).

I'm pretty disappointed in how the weekend played out & even though the flat tire ruined my chances of a higher GC finish, the bad TT was probably a bigger blow. My body is tired. The highlight of the weekend was spending time with Ryder & Denise, who were troopers. Sitting around the heat of the Arizona desert for 3 days isn't my idea of a swinging time.

Fall Classic this weekend...