snow

the snow is finished, maybe the roads will clear a bit and i can get out and whip my legs into shape. if not it's rollers for another hour today. single cross was great yesterday, the brakes need some love but they only slow you down. sunday will be tough, maybe with redlands starting today it won't be that hard. some of the guys who ripped my legs off on sunday will be in california, i hope. either way it's good for the fitness.

more falwell

a great link sent to me about the "reverend" please read it, you'll see how enlightened this mouthpiece of the radical right really is. oh, is it going to be warm where this asshole is going!

jerry falwell may die

let's hope the link that is the title of this post works. maybe one of the american nazis will die this week, we can only hope his pneumonia gets worse and he gets to hell soon. what an idiot this guy has been for a long time. maybe dr. james dobson can get what the reverend has and we can rid ourselves of two cancers on society. see you in hell jerry!

today

the less than stellar ride on sunday has me thinking i may need to redirect some of my energy into shorter days and more intensity. that was really my first ride at the upper end. what made it so hard was all of the faster riders than me. hmmmmm, faster than me in march? oh right, not a whole lot of time in on the bike and now the racing is on. well, more work and less piddling around. somehow it's still fun, as soon as it's not i'll stop racing. saw dubba at the race and he advised getting on the "cross program" does that mean fun rides until july or august? that may be a path to follow in a month or so when i'm ready for a break. the road stuff is really fun and the speed is addictive, one month of it and then i'll sit up until july. i like that. snowing right now pretty hard, maybe a ride on singlespeed cross today.

slow path

i can't really sleep any more than i have been but i'm always tired. every night it seems the moon bathes our bedroom in an inky glow that wakes me up every 90 minutes. not in a panic like i overslept but to appreciate the quiet light in the room. maybe my old age is creeping in on my sleep patterns, i feel better than i did at 21, i'm far from it, more near 50 than 21. i like to see the moon as i ride to work almost more than i like to see the sun. i see the sun a few weeks a year at that hour. the moonset (is that a word?) as i rolled in today (5 degrees fahrenheit) falling behind the peaks was otherworldly, the headlight was for the delivery and garbage trucks not to hit me not to find my way. that same inky glow from the octopus, that was shaking me awake was guiding me in to work. the same way over the fresh snow that fell last night it too turns blue with the octopus' ink, all so peaceful. crunching beneath my tires, quietly letting me pass over. not the ugly black ice of yesterday. the clean, blue inky snow of today.

my wonderful big brother

i think i joined a paraliltary organization, or maybe the organization i work for has become a paramilitary organization. wtf? i get back from vacation and all sorts of new policies are in place, extra punching out now for breaks, like we were abusing the priviledge of a 30 minute lunch in the middle of a ten hour shift. the cameras are fun, i have to make sure i wipe once and wash twice after a pooh, wouldn't want to piss off big brother. it was said in Fast Company magazine and Business Weekly that forward thinking businesses are going away from timeclocks, not us! we get them when others are moving away from it. hooray for giant steps backward!

faces

a long travel day is almost finished, I'm within a few hours of home. florida was great, warm and two days of rain which wasn't bad at all. yesterday on our last day we managed to eat lunch at the best restaurant I've eaten at outside honga's in Telluride. really amazing pacific cuisine, i had sort of a korean/vietnamese pho, unreal. going thru the airports today was a cool experience, after living for 36 years (last week was my birthday) i see people that look alike all over the place, almost like a face on first glance looks like a person i know but then after looking again i realize that it's not. over and over again, it happens, one face style can cover a dozen people i've met over the years. i know i'm sounding old now but it happens all the time. i got to surf on sunday, unreal, pictures to follow. the water felt great, i started off in a wetsuit but shed to just trunks and i actually rode a couple of waves. just being in the water made all the difference. dropping in was just like it was years ago, feeling the energy of the wave pull me down the face and gliding across in front of the curl. hectic family stuff too, but nothing a few hours in the ocean can't fix. omo remember? surfrider foundation

antimagnet.com

I just love canned enthusiasm, i'm sure this will piss off a number of do-gooder dilettantes that feel the need to buy-in to the feelgood corporate mentality. Really what good are you doing by putting a stupid magnet on your car? Are you helping any cause? instead you should be donating your $4.95 + shipping to an aid group who helps whatever cause you want everybody to know you support. amen. now I need to get off my horse, the view from the top sucks.

The fading return of winter hides the ugly brown ice, A way out of the coming mud season for just a few days. Escape to an artificial rest from the cold. Dirty beaches covering toxic waste, glowing fish. Dodging the too big cars of the malevolent drivers. Pay attention just a bit, it's not too hard to realize you're not alone. Not to be covered by your two ton bumper. Look.

Snowed out

Yesterday's training race was snowed out, so it looks like I won't be racing for another two weeks, not the end of the world as we go to the beach Wednesday. Out of the tundra for a week. I'm not worried about it, the legs are coming along really well, a lot more outside rides lately and good work in the cold. Saturday was good, a few hills and the last day before the roads got a fresh coat of snow. Nothing like recharging the batteries with some sand, sun and salt water. The single cross bike might be finished in a week or so, pictures of that to come for sure.

Enjoy riding your bike, whether it's Boulder, Seattle or D.C.

Waiting

I'm waiting patiently for spring to come. Soon the birds won't be singing just at noontime. At some point the snow goes away and the trails clear. Somewhere near there my mind clears and elevates everything. The sky gets a warmth to its blueness, blueness? 2 layers not 5 or 6. Studded tires go in the back of the shed, out come the regular knobbies. Gloves are the warmest thing I need, not mitts and lobster paws. The boredom and unrest fade into long quiet rides on the paths. Choices between dirt and road. Not forced into one. Maybe it will all mellow as my head relaxes, less everything Except time with B and Shaubie.

cr3

A warm afternoon, I had to try the dirt roads, with the snow and warm temps there was a ton of mud on the sunny stretches, dirt roads in late winter are like that. Yesterday it was a mud road, singlespeed was perfect. I took a few pictures, problems with the download last night, I'll get them on tonight. It amazes me how well that bike climbs, even through the thick mud! Saw a couple of very well-fed looking fox, late winter doesn't really matter to them, plenty of cats and garbage to go around.

The Beautiful Game

I wonder why soccer (proper football) isn't more popular in the states, the game has everything, except high scores. If you watch a game and see what happens and really follow what the players are doing it's every bit the game of any american sport (especially football.) Last week I had the pleasure of watching an FA Cup match with Sheffield and Aresenal, Isaw the full 90 minutes of regular time followed by 30 minutes of extra time. 0-0 the whole way. Aresenal won on penalty kicks. It was the most exciting game I'd seen in years, no scoring until PKs. Today it's a Champions League game with Chelsea (who is leading the English Premier League) and FC Barcelona. The Spanish game is so different from the English, I get to see more English teams because of the offering from Fox Soccer Channel but it is impressive to see the footwork and quaility of the teams from other parts of the world. It is a beautiful game.

141k

Long rides feel really good and bad these days, they feel good because I know I'm getting stronger and bad because for a few hours afterward I feel like shite. Green Mountain loop 5 hours without much shade, the sun is pretty bright at 9000 feet. Nice stiff wind both ways, head out and 3/4 tailwind back. Oddly very low redneck factor, a few inconsiderate idiots but not bad. I only stopped once, slice of pizza from Gp's just before going home. had some company along the way, always helps to have a wheel to follow or chase you. Amazing scenery out there too, so different just 40 kilometers up the road. Lots of snow but dry roads until the dam on the way home, that was a wet/cold and gritty wind right across my face, ouch! Today I feel ok, not like I did what I did yesterday, we'll see what happens on today's ride, could be gold or could be pooh.

xo-1

gwadzilla has a great link on his site today about bridgestone bicycles. the xo-1 is one of my favorite all time bikes. maybe someday i'll find one, deck it out in all it's orange glory. i guess if you were to classify it you would call it a cross bike or perhaps a hybrid. but it's so much more than that. it's perfect for most riding, road, dirt road, and most singletrack. i just love the way it flows, moustache bars, barcons, mmmmm perfect. maybe i'll set up one of the cross bikes with a set for spring/summer expeditions. single.

gwadzilla has a great link on his site today about bridgestone bicycles. the xo-1 is one of my favorite all time bikes. maybe someday i'll find one, deck it out in all it's orange glory. i guess if you were to classify it you would call it a cross bike or perhaps a hybrid. but it's so much more than that. it's perfect for most riding, road, dirt road, and most singletrack. i just love the way it flows, moustache bars, barcons, mmmmm perfect. maybe i'll set up one of the cross bikes with a set for spring/summer expeditions. single.

Water

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11.30 am blue water. quiet day in here. I wonder why so late? plenty of room.

pre-dawn patrol

I want to get in the water. It's been a really long time, I don't get to surf the powder or skate the ramps. I'm not dissapointed about this, more that I want to be in the water on a surfboard, catch a few waves, well, you get the idea. Today was my own version of the dawn patrol. A little bit of fresh snow to cover the dirty snow. Warm body cold outside, a tribe called quest bringing me in. The half moon was all the light I needed, no cars the whole way, it was amazing how peaceful the ride was. I'm thinking about taking a different track in life. return to school short term in favor of a better job for a bit more money, but more importantly more challenge, I would probably take a pay cut for a challenge at this point. Ennui leads to complacency, that's bad! Maybe getting away from the current situation for a bit will recharge and help me get along down that road. It's kind of like not wanting to get out of a warm bed, you have this super comfy easy space, why leave? At some point you realise that you need that new space to grow. Shame I can't just hang with B all the time. He's got it all figured out. Sleep, play, watch "bugs" (A Bug's Life) and drink juice. Life is good.