And a good time was had by all

Ames & I went to a nice quaint gathering @ Scott & Earl's house last night. Scott has a great place on second street. 1800's house w/ exposed brick walls walnut wainscoting for the ceilings and textured paints & papers. Really sweet place. Thanks for opening your house and making some great food. Danny & Libby were there as were Steve & Steph. Danny & Steve are two of the funniest guys I have ever met. I need to tie on a Hubert J Ass buzz with those guys some night. Good food, drink, friends and fun. I'll take that anyday.
Today was the first cross event of the season & Kris, Bernie & the C3 crew kicked ass. Great show everyone. It was hot today, and I do not do well in hot cross races. I decided it was bottle & cage day, wise choice. I drank a full bottle during the race. Forty guys started the Elite race. After some sorting out I settled in with a group from 6-12. I did most of thje work chasing my old FORT mates, and ended up 10th. I am happy with that. My poor MidAtlanticcross.com sticker bike was squealing like Ned Beatty in Deliverance. Avid front brakes stink, too grabby and always squeal. I saw a lot of my cross friends again, that was good for the mind.
The vibe was great. I heard a lot of people cheering for me, so that felt good. That is what is so cool with cross., everyone supports everyone else. Cross really is king.
Oh yeah. Leech kicked ass. HOWEVER, HE ROLLED A FREAKIN' TUBIE. Five minutes into the season & HE ROLLED A FREAKIN' TUBIE.

Do you ever ride to just enjoy it?

Those were the prophetic words once uttered by my mother. I had to really think about it when she said that. I have been racing since '87. At first it started in Triathlons, almost as a challenge from my old high school principal, who raced triathlons. For me it was all about being better than that hard-ass. Racing was an experiment in '87, a progression in '88 a full throttle lifestyle choice by '89. In '90 I moved to Boulder to train for Ironman. What an experience, what a beautiful area. Back to PA to race the road for a few years. Then the switch to Mtb's for a few years. That was fun. People were fun, riding was fun. I took it all for granted. Then my buddy Rod Myers got me back to the road scene in 2000. Man that was hard to get rolling again. Since then I have worked very hard to be the best racer & teammate that I can possibly be. Along the way I forgot that the lowest common denominator of racing harkens all the way back to Mark Twain. Twain once said, paraphrased, "there is nothing so pure as a boy and his bicycle."
Last night I set out to pay hommage to Mr Twain. I took my cross steed to Pinchot Park to ride the horse, hiker, bike trails. Most are banned to bikes (shhh), most are very underused. A great mix of roots, some rocks, but mostly twisty turny single-track that makes you want to smile and make motorcycle cycle throttle sounds. It was so much fun to rip around back there. I actually found a great section of Lakeside trail that is marked for bikes. This may be my new weekly gig.
Last night I enjoyed being on a bike more than ever. Nothing could spoil the mood, not flat #1, 10 minutes in, or flat #2 20 minutes later. It was so much fun. No stress about work, racing or Ames being away. It was just a boy and his bicycle, simple & pure.

In the blink of an eye

A man's life was taken from him last night.
http://spokepost.com/news/story/1535/?PHPSESSID=c282b42b53e9e5531a6736010b6c3601

How many cars pass you when you are out on a ride? How many times is that taken for granted? I know I never give it a second thought. Jon Dechau probably never did either. I met Jon once or twice, and do not profess to know him. I friend of mine knows Jon very well, and I am sure he is pretty upset as I write this. I could drone on and on about cars and drivers who do not pay attention. Riding a bike on a public road is an inherent risk, just not one that I see as a bad risk. Every day it seems to get a little worse. It is getting to be like a Hill Street Blues send-off, "Let's be careful out there."
Enjoy what you do, do what you enjoy. Just be careful out there.

Been a while

A little chronology.
8/25 Who knows, who cares
8/26 Ames & I went to Cape May for a few days
8/27 Beautiful day at the beach
8/28 See above
8/29 AC for some Pai Gow. Flummoxed at first then the flow came back.
8/30 Came home as it was to be a rainout due to Ernsto & we needed to get stuff done at home
8/31 Mowed the yard. First time since July 4th weekend
9/1 see 8/25. Started to rain
9/2 Rain and more rain
9/3 B-day brunch at Mom's w/ Eric & Julie. The to the Kessels for more b-day food & fun
9/4 39 baby
9/5 Work again, blah. Possible good news on the career front
9/6 see 9/5
9/7 Very good lunch with manager looking to hire for the job that I want
9/8 see 9/5 & 6. Notice how rewarding my present job is
9/9 TT. 30 seconds off what I should have ridden. Beat person I needed to beat. Did cross clinic, that was very fun. YBR group is great and very thoughtful.
9/10 Decent ride today w/ DK. Middle hour was low-end tempo. Did not eat at all during ride and small breakfast haunted me. KABLOOIE, ZING, POW, BANG, CRASH. Yes I bonked as in 8 mph on a 14 mph climb. Just dying and shaking. Sucked down a Pepsi & hit Newberry diner with Ames. Slept on couch for two hours.
All caught up. Three weeks in 10 minutes. How uneventful.