Day one of 365 in 2013

So I'm starting of the New Year right, I'm trying to produce a metric ton of snot.  Yeah you heard me right, sounds funny, but it's snot.  I have been fighting a sinus infection for about a week and a half.  Two doctors visits, two prescriptions, a shot in the arse and I still feel not so bueno.  Enough about me.  Seriously, how much mucus can your body produce?  This is crazy, in the last couple of weeks I'm sure I have pound for pound equaled my body weight.  At least once or twice.  So, it can only get better from here, Right?  That's right... Positive.

I am not making any resolutions or changes for this coming year.  I'm just going to take it as it comes, and make the best of it.  That being said, I would like to be a little more consistent with things (writing).  Don't want to jinx things, just trying to get off on the right foot.

I haven't been on the bike much, one because of the weather and two because of being under said weather.  I really want to ride the MTB more this year, and I want to do it in other states.  I want to use my car even less this year.  Wow, this really sounds like resolutions.  Na, it's not, just being hopeful for the New Year.

Well so stay tuned, and see where this goes... I could possibly talk about cycling, life, funny stuff, gossip, dirty laundry, jokes, secrets, history, chemistry, algebra -I'm not so good at math.  Anyway keep tuned in and we will see if I can stay on a roll and continue making letters into words and stuff.

See you out there on the trail, road, and in the shop.

Lies

How many people are going to tell lies tonight.  Lies to themselves.  Here is a PSA for all of you who are planning to LIE.  Don't do it.  I know it sounds so simple to just not lie, but it is not... It is a night of lies.  For exhibit A:  I'm going to _______ next year.  That is the biggest lie that will be told tonight, it is usually made under good intentions, but mostly made under social/peer/traditional pressure.

1. be true to yourself and don't say something that you are not

2. shoot low, I know this sounds wrong, but seriously... lower your expectations

3. don't change anything, slightly modify something... stop smoking crack -switch to cigarettes

The worst thing you can do to yourself is to lie... it's ok to lie to your friends and family, but don't lie to yourself.  Someone said that "change is the only permanent thing in life" this is truth.  You can resist change you can try to change, or do nothing.  It will happen no matter what forces you apply.  So you might as well pull up a chair pour a nice beverage and sit back and enjoy the show.

I had a weird year last year.  Some of it was really good, some not so good, but none of it was a product of me trying to resolve to do something different.  I did not change my life on 12/31/11, it changed in the subsequent 365 days, no matter the influences I practiced.  So on this eve of the New Year I wonder what the next days have in store for me.  I will resolve to not be resolute in this newest of years, 'cause time will continue no matter the piles and piles of lies that are spoken tonight.

One last final suggestion if you decide to not follow my anti-resolution stance.  Drink so much that you forget anything and everything that you resolved to do... world peace, stop drinking, stop smoking, getting a real life, stealing cable, pirating movies, stealing lunch money, other bad things.

No really, have fun, be safe, live to fight another day... year or two.

Stuff to read

This is going to be all over the place, and I'm not handing out maps.  So stick with me and we will get lost together.

A happy little story lives here

First off, I would like to give a posthumous Happy Birthday to Bob Ross.  What an awesome afro. There is no debate as to the perfectness of Bob's afro.  Legendary.  Oh yeah, and he had the craziest show on PBS.  "Let's put a happy little cloud over the mountain, where these happy trees live..."  Bob would be on my short list of people I want to party with, if he were still around making "pretty little rivers where happy fish  live."  I always wondered, laying on the couch, if there was at least one person sitting in front of their easel, in front of their TV painting with Bob?  That would be a show to watch.  Some old dude trying to go brush-stroke for brush-stroke with Bob and getting all frustrated because Bob is super awesome.  The frustration would be hilarious... Somebody work on that, a show where people watch re-runs of Bob and try and paint with him.  It would be primetime.

Doping and the Dopes

I think it is starting to become the "in" thing to do theses days, you know to come out of the "doping closet".  It's getting so bad that everyone is saying that they cheated in some way or another.  I'm just waiting for someone to come out and say they used a time machine to win.  "When I perfected time travel, I no longer needed to work on form or stay in shape..." "It was easy to win even when I smoked heavily and was drunk most of the time."  Now that is a story, please please please let me be the one to break it to the world.  It is almost to the point that guys need to come forward (all ten of them) and come clean about being clean.  "Yes, I am ashamed to say... I raced clean."  I mean really, who of who did not do something in the "grey area" to enhance their performance?  That is what I want to know.

More on Doping.... moron doping  -see what I did there?

Rabobank announced it will cease sponsorship of cycling.  What a sad day.  One of the longest and largest supporters of cycling, from the cycling mad Dutch, are turning their back on cycling when it needs it most.  Sponsorship of sports in general is crazy if they think they are putting their money into a "clean" sport.  There is not a sport on this planet that can claim it is clean.  The human condition requires that winning at all cost is the name of the game.  Cheating is and always will be an underlying factor, as long as humans are involved.  End of story.

The Good

Cyclocross is alive and kicking.  The World is coming to the U.S. in Feb.  Real CX.  The World's best will be jumping barriers, navigating sandpits, and slogging it up in the mud.  Right here.  Here in America.  How cool is that?  I tentatively have a date to see the "greats" of this sport.  I am super excited to witness the speed, the grace, and the brutality that is Cyclocross, live and in person.  More to come on that.  Fingers crossed.

over n out, good buddy, keep the rubber side down.

Devil is in the details

I've looked at "details" and there is no "v" in details so how do you get the devil?  Do you trade the "a" and "t" and throw in the "s" for good measure?  I think there is something to the saying, but making sure you get the small steps done in a process is the devil.  If something is worth doing, do it right.  The right way.  Enough, about that.  I think the Devil is in the Drink.  Lately my life has been crazy and turned all kinds of sideways, not upside down like everyone says.  But, Sideways.  Like any good red-blooded male I like to self-medicate and hyphenate.

Details, details, details.  You drink enough and you will find the devil, he might not be in the bottom of the first or last bottle, but he is in there waiting to come out and infest your soul.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to demonize alcohol, it is, on it's own a beautiful thing.  It's when one is not a professional in prescribing the right dosage that one will succumb the the wily powers that are inherent to the bowels of Hades.  The problem lies in the fact that the proper prescribed amount changes due to the ailment.  This becomes a problem when you reach the Over rather than the Under.

So, in my finite wisdom, I being of unsound mind am going to try sobriety.  If only for a couple of days, just to see if the world in which I am living in currently looks any different from the outside looking in, rather than from the inside (of a bottle) looking out. What does this have to do with cycling?  I'm working on that as I type and hypothesize, and to be honest it's not going well.  So I am going to keep this up until something hits me and I can try and tie this all together, or I could just leave it up in the air and just leave you with a hypothetical.

Yeah, I've got nothing.  I guess what I should come away with this, is -make the best of the situation that I am in and not eff   mess it up by going crazy.  Like getting too much rope to play with and accidentally hanging myself.  Here you go... It's like a descent that is supper fast and twisty, one that you have never been on, you want to let it out, but you don't know what is around the next curve.  Sometimes you have to apply a little brake just before the apex, but not too much or you are on the ground losing flesh at 30+mph, don't slow down and the consequences are worse, once you see the other side you can get back on it an apply some power.  My advice to myself it to take it one twisty tight curve at a time and see where this takes me.  If you are not careful the Devil could be in that corner waiting like a oil-slick or a patch of gravel.  If it wasn't for the twisty downhills the uphills would not be worth climbing.

Cheers Al

Seems like I am always getting on here and apologizing for not writing.  I really am sorry that I don't write more, or have something to say.  As if I have something to say in the first place.  This finds me at a pretty strange place in my life right now, and with everything going on I should have a ton to write about, which scares me a little.  Because, I might be internalizing and that would make me a ticking time bomb.  Boom!  Boom is not good when dealing with a stockpile of emotional dynamite.

Anyway thanks for commenting and goading me into tapping at the keys and making some words, if they work together or not they are here for you to read.  Thank you Oprah, Tom Cruise, and the Jewish God for giving me my bikes to ride.  If it were not for putting on miles and riding with good people, I would be a wreck.  Oh, and an honorable mention goes to Al Cohol, he and I have become good friends -maybe too good?  We have always been good friends, but he is around a lot more these days.

I really would like to go on a rant for about 5k worth of words about ambition, money, and relationships, but I just don't have it in me right now.  Plus, I have to be at work in 45mins, so you are just going to have to deal with the complaining in short form this morning.  Maybe one of these evenings when I get home before the morning I will crank up the netbook and blast out some drunken rants.  Yeah, that will be fun and I won't look too much like an arse, right?

Short sweet, and super vague.  Stay tuned it might be another week or it could be a few hours that you hear from me.

Excuse me, Do you have the...

Up late today, the wife loves the snooze button.  I don't see the point in it whatsoever.  It is useless and dead to me.  In fact I use a watch as my alarm, for two reasons. 1) battery powered. 2) no snooze.  I know what time I need to be up to get ready to be where I need to be.  Snooze just angers me.  I'm just about asleep again and WHAM! Time to wake up, again, and again, and again, and again.  Pointless, unless you want a bad mood version of me walking around half-dead.

I am uninspired to write anything worth reading, so if you want to stop now I understand and don't want to waste anymore of your time.  Otherwise, if you need to kill a little time...by all means please continue.  Be my guest.

Time, it's a funny thing, we invented it, and we are obsessed with it.  Age is a unit of measure that explains how many trips one has made around the big glowing orb.  I believe that the Native Americans used the Moon, or is this just history provided by Hollywood?  Look that up for me, I'm currently lazy with facts.  Society places worth to these trips, we categorize each other with this measurement and place social restrictions.  We constructed what we call Time, everything correlates to some measure of time.  Man created this?  The Romans changed the calendar, the Mayans stopped it in 2012.  Of course they disappeared, has to be the Aliens who have no concept of Time.  Saw it on TV and read it on the interweb...has to be true.

For a people so obsessed with time, we sure waste it as if it were endless.  Time is a construct of man so it is a linear thought, but time or whatever one wants to call it is not linear.  There is no start and there is no finish, time is not point A to point B.  It is for man because we have a birth and a death, but time is not born nor does it die.  We are born we live our lives and then we are no more.  The debate, a debate I will not get into, is what happens after?  What happens after depends on what flavor of cool-aid you drink.

Life is short.  I love Fox Riders Co. saying that they put on some of their clothing.  Live Fast Ride Hard.  I interpret it as life is short, live it to the fullest.  Don't waste your time, enjoy life, love what you do and do what you love.  No matter what you find yourself doing do it to your fullest.

Live Fast Ride Hard -Fox

What do you want?

I have recently found myself in a recession, not unlike the one the world economy has found itself mired.  A little background info on my situation:  I am a horrible money manager, if I have it I spend it, if I don't have it I spend it.  The latter is not a good combo I hear, I hear from my wife all the time.  I try, but I have a problem similar to drinking or drugs or sex or food or yes please!  OK, enough time on the couch talking about my problems.  I, like many of you, am a consumer, I want I want and then again I want.  I want so much that they eventually become need.  ADDICTION -when your wants become needs.  I no longer want I need, Give it to me yesterday.  When FedEx comes up with time-travel shipping I'm in, I'll pay for it.

Bikes are an obsession, which is a fancied-up word for addiction.  I subscribe to the n+1 theory, whereas n is equal to the number of bikes owned.  So no matter how many owned you always need +1.  I recently +1ed with the addition of a new Cross bike, everyone was doing it.  So, I needed to do it.  (see what I did there NEEDED, not wanted)  I did not want to be left out of the cool kid group.  So, here is where the train comes off the tracks.  I had the money for the +1, but in my money spending stupor, I failed to recognize that I did not have the funds to race, drink man sodas, sushi happy-hour, more man sodas, frozen pizza, brewing man sodas, and everything else not related to the +1 or everything related to the +1.

I am a consumer, I consume.  I am not a generator, I am not an earner.

I am in the process of a mid-life transitional period.  A big part of me just wants to "walk the Earth".  I realize that something has to change so that I can do the things that I want to do, but yet still fulfill the need to do.  I have been adding up the need column and it is pretty small compared to the ginormous want column.  What is important to me and what is necessary are so far from each other that I have a lot of work ahead of me to get things right.

Right now what I really want, is to go ride a bike.  Or, do I need to go ride a bike?

Talk show

Hope this doesn't turn out to sound like some forced BS, because this is exactly what I am doing.  I am forcing myself to write something in the smallest of hopes that I will actually generate a thought that I just might be able to share, well, I am going to share it good or bad.  You are just going to have to live with whatever I decide to put out there, which is kind of a free flow of me just thinking and typing.  Lucky you.  I had better not unlock any of the closets for fear of skeletons coming out and appearing in print.  Yeah it would probably make for good reading, like watching a train wreck, but then I most likely would not be able to look some of you in the eye.

What's new with you?  Work did not totally suck the life out of me today, or did it?  I had no motivation to do anything other than watch a replay of an English Premier League match.  My motivation had to work late so my mtb ride went out the window, as if it were going to materialize in the first place.  Got "stood up" yesterday, but had the motivation to get in a ride none the less.  Did not feel it today.  Would really like to get in a ride tomorrow, or is it I really need to get in a ride tomorrow?  Not talking about need to for my fitness or training plan -cause I don't have either.  I'm talking about getting in a ride so that I don't fall further down the rabbit hole, the one where TV is life support and the couch is the next best thing since, oh...sliced bread.

Did I mention that I baked a loaf of fresh bread?  I have a bread machine and it totally rocks, that is when I use it.  Not like it is hard, just put the ingredients in and press a few buttons, wait a few hours and viola, Fresh Baked Bread.  Butter Baby.  French toast kills with homemade bread, oh now you want to sleep over.  That ship has sailed.

Yeah, that pretty much went where I thought it would...nowhere.  OK, I've got to look at the positive...I am practicing my typing skills.  Speaking of skills, thank Bill Gates and Steve Jobs for instant spell check, is that not like the coolest thing ever?  Predictive typing or whatever you industry people call it is pretty darn annoying, yeah turn that crap off.  I have swype on my phone and it works pretty good, except when I have no idea how to spell the word in the first place, then it is I who sucks.

P.S.  I just thought of an excellent gadget for my blog... I need to put a little indicator of how many beers that I consumed for the post down at the bottom of said post.  Just for the record, 0 beers were harmed during the making of this post.  If anyone knows how to make gadgets, that would be super cool. 

Whats Love got to do...

Love is so overused, I am guilty as charged.  I love cheese, I love beer, I love bacon, I Really love bacon.  I love to ride bikes, I love mtb, I love road, and I hope to love cx.  Man, I'm a lover not a fighter.

Love
-noun. tender, passionate affection
    strong personal liking
    person toward whom love is felt
-verb. to have love (for)

The Julie always says that she loves me, and I feel that it is a little much, I know she loves me because she puts up with me putting the ice cream in the refrigerator, leaving empty boxes in the pantry, and several idiosyncrasies, way too many to list.  Snoring.  I think that she should limit it to maybe every other phone call, I feel that just saying it, like an end to a conversation degrades the meaning.  I love my new shoes.  When I say I Love You -I mean it -when I say it.  I love lasagna.  The love that I have for my family and the love that I have for bacon is on two different planets, nowhere near the same ballpark.  I love you man.

Passion for things is easily expressed with the big L-word, but using it for strong personal liking drops it down a notch.  I love fall.  We like things strongly, but we don't love them.  If you love it why don't you marry it?  Really, I would need to become a Mormon and practice polygamy with all the loves in my life. I love tacos.

I love to ride bikes, is it the same love that I have for the Julie?  No, of course not, but is it the same love that I share for beer?  How about the love that I have for my new shirt?  No.  The passion level, if there is a level is very high for bikes, and the Julie would probably argue that it sometimes eclipses her stature on the Love list.  Sometimes I love the bike because it does not argue with me, or ask me to do the dishes.  OK, Really I do love the Julie, because I put up with her and her ability to put up with me.  I do have the better "deal", she puts up with a great deal of my crap.  I know this, and I love her for it.

I for the most part I will probably not be able to break myself of the habit of saying that I love things.  Saying that I like things strongly sounds a little on the stupid side of dialog, but maybe I can just LIKE things or I can  Really Like things.

Fragile

Have you ever held a 39 tooth chain ring in your hand?  It weighs next to nothing, and feels like you might bend it by accident.  It's small.  Ones brain cannot comprehend the importance such a frail piece of machined metal has on the locomotion of the bike.  How much force can this actually handle?  How many miles have I used this ring to propel me up hills or the occasional mountain pass.  How many chains has this dainty ring stretched to the point of replacement?

Only weighing a few grams, this chain ring is the life blood of a bicycle's drivetrain.  Taken by itself this small circular bit of metal is insignificant, but as a part of the drivetrain it is invaluable.  When it comes to the small chain ring, dynamite is packaged small.  Think of your favorite cruz gear, is it a 39 X 17?  This is where the chain is almost in a perfect straight line.  Your cadence is high, but almost effortless. Oh, the little 39 tooth chain ring.  On your next ride pay homage to little guy when the road gets steep or you just feel like a cruz.

Silly Season

Seriously, it's starting to get crazy and it is only going to get worse or is it better?  It is Transfer season, no not that kind of transfer where you have to drive to the start of a race.  I am talking about teams merging, riders changing teams and the all around hysterics that follow.  Rumors Rumors Rumors.

Cavendish says he has a team, but he is not talking.  What are the odds on favorite that it is Sky?  Not like that is a stab in the dark.  $$$$$$$.  HTC is hemorrhaging riders, come on Bob get a sponsor before it is just you and some old kits hanging in the bus.  The brothers Velits jumped ship to QuickStep or the entity that it will become once the marriage with Omega is consummated.  This holiest of unions of Belgian Superpowers has a very large question mark hanging over it like the sword of Damocles.  Where is Gilbert going to go?  Lotto, after it's divorce with Omega Pharma is hooking up with Ridley Bikes to form a new team or something like that.  I could not get the translator to work, so I have no idea other than the hook-up?  Is there a possible three way with Vacansoleil?  Hard to tell at this point.

How can Bob Stapleton just watch his empire that was the glorious T-Mobile-HighRoad-Columbia-HTC crumble at his feet?  This makes no sense to me whatsoever, Stapleton has to be one of the best in the business of cycling and it looks as though it is over for the superpower.  What a dark day for US cycling and the Euro peloton.  OK, I know it's not a done deal but it looks bad, real bad.  I'm talking ICU call in the Priest, bad.  Pull it together man, get a new sponsor and continue to dominate, with or without Cav.

That is one of the awesome aspects of this sport, riders are motivated by money, but they are also motivated by the desire to win.  Of course winning does equal money, so it is kind of a win win.  Or would that be a Win $?

Meanderings

So what if I get some spare time to write?  Should I?  Should I go ride my bike? Drink some man sodas?  What to do, what to do?  Check, Check and Check.  Well, I'm working on the writing part...

I got home late today and scrapped my ride in favor for the couch, good trade off -right?  Anyway, the wife came home and changed into running clothes, so not to be outdone by a runner I quickly kitted up and headed out the garage for a raging recovery ride.  Whatever that is.  Recovery sounds like you have a mission to accomplish rather than saying "slow and easy".  Potato - patatoe.  Plus, recovery sounds like you've been working hard and need some rest or something.  Whatever it is, or was mine ended in a few adult beverages and banter with a teammate -completely unscheduled.  Who would have thought?

I just about quit my job today out of frustration with not knowing how to do my job.  It's like I care or something.  I mean, I'm selling coffee to people who want coffee and all I have to do is drive my truck to them and give them what they need.  Really? Who does not need COFFEE?  Seems like an easy proposition, but leave it to people to screw up the simple.  Oh, well I have to hang in there and give it some time, but I despise not knowing what the heck I am doing or supposed to do.  Is that a control issue?  I'm not a controller, I do like attention, but control is a different animal from "life of the party" status.  Right?  I will take life of the party for $200 Alex.

How is it, Why is it, What is it, that riding a bike makes everything bearable?  Livable?  I honestly don't know what I would do without a bike.  I know I should use it more for transportation, but let's be realistic I use it as a toy.  After all it is a toy.  But.  If you read your history, one of the first iterations of the bike was made by some lazy dude working in his garden.  I can identify with laziness, I don't like to work.  I just want to play, and if play involves two wheels and a cold one afterwards...count me in.

I know I can say with out a doubt that I know people because of the bike.  There is noway I would ever cross paths with some of my friends if it were not for this simple machine of locomotion.  I know that to keep my sanity it requires consumption of miles via bike, and if I did not regularly ride -I would not enjoy life in the capacity that I am able.

Thank you to everyone that I know because of the bike, I know it sounds silly to think that the link that brought us together is as simple as a bike. 

Juicyfruit?

What is it like losing touch with reality?  I guess that would depend on your version of sanity or your view of reality.  Who is to say crazy is not the new black?  Or is it white, pink?  What's the whole deal with shoes and labor day?  Does that apply to nurses?  Tangent.  My wife went skydiving today and most 9-5er couch dwellers would probably view the activity as fringe, or I hate to use it -extreme.  Shall we, for all intense purposes just say crazy?  Is that crazy?  These tattooed cigarette and Redbull inhaling adrenalin addicted individuals probably look at the bean-counter chained to a desk and think that is crazy.  Who wants that?  Fluorescent tan, watercooler talk and a boss that needs a cover sheet on the TPS reports.  Did you get the memo?

It's easy for us to point a finger at someone who is different and pass judgment as if we know what the score is.  We all have things that we subscribe that might raise the eyebrow of our neighbors.  You paid how much for your bicycle?  Oh yeah, well how much did your putter cost?  Touche.  I can't cast the first stone, because of all the crazy skelotons hanging in my closet.  Skateboard  Snowboard  Kayak  MTB  Road Bike Climbing Gear

Today in the hangar the jump instructor asked if I wanted to jump and I said that, and I quote "I don't have the desire".  He looked back and said "it's not for everyone" -what is that supposed to mean?  It's not that I am scared to jump out of an airplane, I just don't want to jump out of an airplane.  I don't want tattoo's, does that mean I'm scared to get a tattoo?  Not my cup of tea.  Now, here is the weird thing -I would be more apt to jump off a cliff or bridge in a BASE jump, given the choice.  Now that's crazy.  Bungee just looks stupid to me, again not my cup of tea.  Of course I'm not a tea drinker.  Coffee -black.

My reality is not your reality, we might share some space in the padded room, but straight jackets come in all sizes.  Is it crazy to dress oneself in a micro-thin petroleum fiber, swing a leg over a carbon-fiber human-powered machine, and proceed to do battle with the narrow-minded cell phone-texting road-raging populace in their ginormous SUVs?  To do such a thing would be admittable. 

Where did I put that power of Attorney?

loss

I don't know where to begin.  First of all I have been busy with a new job, racing, and... well that's about it.  So I apologize for not keeping up with what is going on.  I could probably do about three or four posts on Gilbert, who couldn't?  I was a fan before, and I am just beside myself impressed with his Classics season.  That is what cycling needs, a rider who can dominate and does it with style -a lot of style.  If only I could borrow just a little???

The Giro is ongoing and was struck with tragedy when Wouter Weylandt crashed on a descent in Stage 3 and was killed.  Everyday life is mostly taken for granted, go to work, eat, sleep, and rinse and repeat.  Does one ever know that this day will be their last?  Wouter got out of bed for the last time to race his bike in one of the most prestigious races...did he know?  Last year he woke up for Stage 3 of the Giro and went to bed that nigh with a stage win.  I believe that you never know, it is a part of life and as we all know it is unpredictable.

Losing someone in a sport that you follow or that you partake in, hits home, it's as if you know the person because you have a connection.  It also forces you to remember or relive a loss in your own life.  It is coming up on two years ago that we lost Matt Edmonds and Christa Voss.  I was not close to either one of them, but I knew them from racing and riding bikes.  They are an example of two people I would have never had touch my life if it were not for the common thread of the bicycle.  Christa, Matt, and Wouter all leave a void in the lives of the people that knew them.  They leave family and friends behind.  Like I said I did not know them very well, but I am left with an emptiness, if only because they are no longer part of my life.

I wish I had some words of wisdom or some insight that I could share with you, but all I can think about are the people that are close to me and those who are just acquaintances, and how I do not want to lose any them.  Give your people a hug and tell them how you feel about them.  Tell them that you love them. 

I hope that I can get my life back in order here with the job, riding, life, etc... so that I can crank out some Giro recaps and maybe tell a few stories every now and then.  Thank you for reading, I do appreciate it -it makes me feel kinda' important.

Sure, I'll try it...

Life is a strange and interesting thing.  It starts at point A and ends at B, yes you can get into deep philosophical, religious, and abstract conversations about A and B and what happened before and after or if there is a before or if there is an after.  None of that really matters when you break it down to the most simple aspects that we forget to enjoy.  Not that I'm saying that I "enjoy" breathing, but that is a very important process that one does or should do on a daily basis.  Breathing is very over-looked in everyday life... unless you happen to have asthma, or you are currently choking on a baby fist sized piece of steak that you shoved into your mouth and is now lodged somewhere in the neck-chest region.

Where am I going with this?  Not sure yet, but hang on...maybe we will get a laugh out of this.  Do you like Beer?  I like beer, I have been known to drop the L-word when it comes to the hopped beverage.  Will Rogers said "I never met a man that I didn't like", with the advent of Face Book that takes on a whole different meaning.  Anyway, unlike Will I have met beers that I did not like, but I have not met a beer that I would not drink.  I have met several that I would not buy.  Did you like the first beer that you drank?  I did.  I will admit that it did take me some trial and error to become an aficionado of dark beers.  My first beer was a Bud Light, I know it is hard for me to admit that -kinda like the first girl that you kissed was the village bicycle, or something like that.  Must have gotten lost in translation.

Ok, let's bring this all back around to the point, or just near enough that I have a post.  My first bike was a Stu Thomson Huffy.  Red.  It was probably purchased at SEARS, we got everything from the SEARS catalog back in the day.  I rode that bike until I found skateboarding...and then I got my first mountain bike.  A Trek, because Lance Armstrong rode a Trek and he was from Texas.  No lie.  Did I like my first bike?  Yes, but I did eventually get a taste for the finer things in life?  Yes.  Some of the best things in life require an acquired taste.  You have to learn the love, it does not always come from instinct.

Life can be an acquired taste, you have to learn to enjoy what you have.  We have a limited time on this spinning rock in slot #3, so while you are here -you better try and make the best of what you have.  If you think it is not all that great, give it some time and see where it goes.  It might be an acquired taste, or just say "screw it" throw it in the garbage and try something new.

Better check yourself

What the heck is going on in the world?  People are getting up and turning on the TV at 4-5am to watch a wedding of people they don't even know or will ever meet.  There is total devastation in the South and the MidWest with people dead and people who have lost all of their worldly possessions and we are tuning in to the NFL draft -as if they are even going to have the NFL this year????  There is flooding and tornadoes and good grief we are more concerned about who lost out on Dancing with Idols or what ever the heck it is??

I'll be honest, I don't watch much media and I rarely pick up a paper, I get most of my news second hand or by interweb.  -cause it's all true, read it on the computer today.  Seriously, Japan is one shake away from being a glow-stick and we are done with that because some football players are not getting paid enough money.  Yeah I can see that you need to have priorities.  "....better get Japan up and running so that they can make parts for my car, and them there footballer players better get things ironed out so I will have something to watch on TV come Sunday."

I don't like going to weddings of people I know, why would I want to watch an out-of-date-monarchy-figure-head mix blood with a commoner on world wide live TV?  I'm not even going to get cake, much less open bar.  I know I am not the sharpest bulb in the shed and this is not rocket surgery, but would someone please explain why this has any relevance to my life?  Or yours?  Watching paint dry would be more relevant -at least I would know that it was safe to touch.

Take away whatever you want from this, but think of all the people who have lost loved-ones, possessions, and homes.  Think of our fellow countrymen, and those in Japan who are suffering hardships that I pray that we never have to face.  Nancy Regan said NO to drugs, I'm asking you to say NO to stupidity.  Stop the madness, vote by turning off that glowing mind-numbing 1080p HD piece of furniture. 

Trivial cycling news



Riccardo Ricco's new team kit



Oh yeah, Riccardo Ricco is back in the news denying that he transfused his own blood and almost died.  I don't think he is denying that he almost died, but I think he already forgot his near death experience.  Is this guy a goldfish?  I had sympathy for him when he was in the hospital dying, but now he is trying my brotherly love.  I'm pretty much done with this guy.  I wish him the best of luck, any team out there looking for a unstable rider with the memory capacity of a...hey check out that shiny sparkly...wanna go ride bikes.



I thought that we lived in the belt buckle of cyclist hateland, but apparently it is alive and well even in the most bike friendly parts of the world.  Authorities are looking into the "appearance of tacks" on the course of the Amstel Gold Race in Maastricht, Netherlands. Some local residents have been protesting against the "nuisance" of cyclists and the impact on their community.  A bunch of guys on bikes, is it the noise?  The pollution?  What's the deal with people on bikes?  If it were a marathon it's OK, put 'em on bikes and now it is unacceptable.  I'm pretty much done with cyclist hate.  Give it a rest people, hate something else like poverty, hunger, or cancer.  Use your hate for good not evil.

Photo: © James Huang/Future Publishing

Frederic Guesdon.  Doesn't ring a bell?  It did in the velodrome at Paris-Roubaix 1997 on the last lap before he won.  Did you google him yet?  What's that?  He rode in the 2011 edition of Roubaix with FDJ, and he was eleventh crossing the line.  How is this all relevant?  Frederic is 39yrs old, previous winner and he rode on a 2006 TIG-welded aluminum cyclo-cross frame that weighed in around 19.05lb.  Luddite to the core, and he must have a very impressive core to manage that kind of race on that kind of bike.  I'm going to have to give Guesdon 5 stars for being a badass.  Who in their right mind would line up a 39yr old as your go-to guy in arguably the greatest Classic?  Marc Madiot (Roubaix 1991) he must have seen something in Frederic, and if anyone would know Madiot would.  I'll give Marc 4 stars for having a set of brass ones.

Underneath

There is always an underlying truth in everything beautiful.  Cycling is no different from anything out there.  Put manure on flowers and they will grow bigger and more beautiful.  Peel back the skin and we are all grotesque monsters that ooze and bleed.


I almost share a birthday with one of what could have been one of the most prolific cycling greats.  The next great hope of Belgian cycling.  Frank Vandenbroucke.  You might have heard of him, but probably not, and if you did it was probably for all the wrong reasons.  Frank was a shining star that shone brightly but briefly and then burnt out.  He had the weight of a whole cycling nation on his shoulders and the notoriety of a rock star, futballer, and movie star all wrapped up into one.  Frank was legend and scourge all in one sentence.

Cycling in the '80-'90s was a dirty place and one could succumb to the filth or rise above.  Frank was pulled into the mire by teammates, coaches, and a nation.  Yes, he had choice -but did he?  His people touted him as the next Museeuw or Merckx, and treated him as such.  Frank had the talent to fill those shoes, and had successes 51times in his first six years as a Pro.  In '98 he bagged Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Nice.  He added Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Omloop Het Volk, and a hand full of Vuelta stages in 1999 and took home the points classification.

After the 1999 season the train derailed and Frank would ride for several teams have problems with drugs and never win another race.  This is the underbelly of cycling that we don't want to see or know about, we want heroes that win in the Alps, over the cobbled Classics, and are super human on and off the bike.  Frank was super human on the bike but off the bike is where he failed, or did the sport fail him?  Was it the pressure?  Was it the fact that he had everything handed to him?  Too much too soon?  Did we love and admire a star to the point that we are responsible for its implosion?

If Frank were alive today he would be 36.  Would he be racing in the Ronde, or would he be in a car following the race as a highly decorated retired cyclist?  What would have been if Vandenbroucke could have survived the dark dirty underbelly that we turn a blind eye.  51 wins in six years and then nothing but a black hole where there was once a bright shining star.

Razor Burned

Why do cyclist shave their legs?

This is the question that everyone asks or wants to ask.  It is a great question, one that has no real answer.  I can tell you why I shave my legs, but that only answers the question: why do you shave your legs?  The Pros shave because of the pre/post-race massage.  Having hair on your legs and getting a vigorous deep tissue massage kills if you have hair on your legs.  There you have it.  Sort of. 

What you say, aerodynamics?  There is no aeor-advantage to having silky smooth legs.  Look up aerodynamics on a smooth surface and you will find that the boundary layer gets sucked down and sticks onto a smooth surface and causes drag.  If you knew the exact place where the leading edge of your leg comes into contact with the wind, you would not shave in this area and allow a little hair growth to act as vortex generators and this might actually increase the airflow and the aerodynamics.  This is all probably negated do to the fact that your legs are in constant motion and the leading edge is forever changing.  Shaving for aero advantages ---- BUSTED.

I shave my legs...wait for it...wait for it... to belong.  It is a badge that I wear to "prove" that I am indeed a cyclist.  I will admit that I actually like to have shaved legs, I don't like to shave my legs.  It is a peer pressure, join the club initiation.  It is merely not enough to don spandex, a funny helmet and shoes to be seen as a cyclist, or should I say "racer"?

When I started riding mtbikes years ago I swore I would never wear spandex.  I broke that one first.  I also swore I would never shave my legs.  That came later, and now without fail I shave my legs, not just for races -but all the time.  Here it is mid-winter and I have not been on an outdoor ride in weeks, but I still reach for the razor.  Does it take time, yes...but this time of year it is nice to spend just a little extra time in a nice hot shower.  Now that we have solved that mystery.  The next question that is more a thought than a verbalization.

How far do you shave up? 

Personal preference, if you must know...I stop just above the tan-line.  You naughty little cheeky monkey.

Apples and Orange



By the looks of things coming out of Italy, Orange is making a debut onto the pallets of some of the sexy Italian bike makers.  I wonder if it will make a splash on the big 3?  I guess we will have to wait until 2012.  So until then you will just have to look to Italy for the fashionable step-child color Orange.  I would be happy to throw a leg over either one of these, if anyone is feeling generous I ride a 54cm, I'm a Colnago man -but would make an exception with the Wilier.

That is orange, not red

Red and Orange together?  I never thought it would go...never say never