Saturday, June 28, 2008

Mike Bennet once said... Redux

..., not long after he threw Roger Hickoff out of 12th grade English. Yes, physically lifted him and threw him out of the room and touching down into the lockers across the hall, ahh the good ole days of education. Sorry, I digress. Mick said after the incident "You just need to know when to BOG." "Hickoff did not know when to BOG, so I threw him out." Something to that affect as it was 1985 and shit gets a tad hazy.
I was a bit afraid to ask what BOG meant, being that he just threw one of my best friends about eight feet threw the air, but I pressed on. "BOG?"
"Yes, BOG. Bow Out Gracefully." "Know when you are down and leave."
Well, today I BOG'd my ride. Totally felt like death. Maybe it is the 8 hard days out of 15 since NOLA trip? Maybe the head cold i can not seem to shake? Maybe it was the two concerts thrown in the middle? Maybe it was the copious amounts of beer from last night? Maybe it is Global warming? Maybe I suck ass?
Who knows, but 20 minutes in I was thinking about escape routes. Shit of it is, they are all climbs. So I decided the longer gradual climbing route home was the deal. Eff it. I went home and proceeded to nap for twice as long as I rode. Maybe I was/am tired?
If the bike is not fun, then there is no point.
I hope it rains like hell tomorrow so I can lay around and be a sloth, and not feel guilty about it.
If the Crowes would have played for 90 minutes last night their set would have kicked the shit out of DMB's set.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tour of PA

For those who are unintiated, this is the real deal. Four hundred plus miles and some top notch young talent. Not young talent like a 25 year old minx wearing Daisy Duke's, but talented U25 cyclists. I was able to check out the finish today, over lunch. It was awesome. Carlisle totally did it right. Volunteers, vendors, the finish, all was top-notch. I got to see my Mom who was a sponsor/vendor and met up with my old road teammates, and saw some friends along the way.
It was cool to see the guys after the race and random people just asking them about the race. Kids were getting autographs and people were enjoying themselves. What a great scene.
Caught up w/ DS Keckley and rent-a-wrench Jonesy for a while. I invited the guys over for dinner and a chance to get away from the race hubbub.
It was fun making dinner, shooting the breeze and hosting the guys for a few hours. They are top notch kids and super talented. Hopefully they will all get to experience the pleasure that cycling can bring to them.
Take a minute and follow the race, who knows maybe one of the names that you see will be the next big thing. Maybe one of the names that you see will keep making cycling their passion and give a little back. Maybe one of those guys will turn a friend or spectator on to cycling and show them how much fun it can be.
Long live the long ride.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Poor Hammy

Young lad was the center of such abuse at the shop yesterday. Some young hottie was into the little bugger for reasons unknown to all. That only fueled the abuse potential from the shop crew. Definitely not a place for the thin skinned people to hang.
The best thing to come out of the abuse was a possible boxing match. Hammy vs. The Legend. We can bill it as "The Harm at the Farm". If anyone can get their hands on some boxing gloves and headgear let me know. I am calling Diggler's bluff for a match right after the STXC at THE WORLD'S COOLEST BIKE GAME
This will be reminiscent of the great Hoovis v Albright match from years gone by. Maybe we could video the fight and sell it to benefit a good cause?
Time to go, need to hit the speedbag for a while.

Monday, June 16, 2008

A healthy dose of...

perspective
patience
frustration
pride
goodwill
friendship
laughter
heartache
apathy
anticipation
disdain
loathing
happiness
tiredness

That was a pretty full weekend. Positives eek out a win, 8-6, over the negatives.

Seeing REM Wed night with Thotise. As an FYI, he will no longer be linked until he uses spellcheck. Misspelling your title?!?!? Hay friggin' Zues!
Been a looong time since seeing those guys. Mostly because they have sucked ass, figuratively, the past ten years. Good memories with some good friends at all the REM shows that we have seen.
If you have not purchased, downloaded, pirated, taped, etc... Accelerate, do uourself a musical favor and hop to it. Good stuff, as in the real REM, 15-20 years ago.

Friday, June 13, 2008

So sorry to keep you waiting

Stuff, lots of it, and more to come.
NOLA work meeting
drink, drank, drunk (not me)
Young 'uns w/ risque clothes
good discussion w/ a local about Katrina and skeevy tourism
Debauchery on Bourbon St
Trying waaaay too hard for love (again, not me)
Legs like poopy
Legs like supermodels
Butterworth ACTING like an EFFTARD. Notice I said acting. No slander involved if the act is "critiqued" vs. the person.
Stoopid 50. I hope four days in a hotel room is good training
REM & Modest Mouse next Wed at the Mann. Hoo freakin' Ha
I bet the chicks at PSU tonight are more tame than some I witnessed at the Colonel's pain gala in NOLA this week
What might have been the biggest four day waste of time in my work career
Major city and no wireless? WTF?
I saw Tom Dempsey's shoe
I drank Absinthe
I, with the help of Milla da Killa, may have come up with an alternate energy source
My boy seems to have found his Stars and Stripes legs
Gots ta run. I have some Bid Ness about me to take care of, and get a massage and a ride in.
I wonder what all of my ex-Colonel training colleagues are doing right now?

Thursday, June 05, 2008

In the ongoing spirit...

...of preparing less and less for each successive National meeting that I attend, I tried to set a new low bar today. I tried, but i did prepare, and I probably prepped a bit more than last time. Damn. Mostyly due to online testing and content I had to listen to for four hours. Just when I thought I had the bar lowered.
Did manage a wicked cool little workout on the bike today. A little STXC/cross practice. Accelerate for 15 seconds, then spin 15 seconds. Repeat for twenty minutes. Spin easy for 15 minutes and do again. Basically race a couple STXC's in a ride. The cool thing about a Power Tap, Sez & Hoovis can flame away, is you can see your efforts. I set the parameters and voila, there were the fruits of my labor. Eighty 15 second efforts at 430-500ish watt avgs.
Enough geekdom.
A little more news on my friend about the upcoming procedure, diagnosis, treatment alternatives left me a teary eyed. In two weeks there will be a definitive plan. If you are religious, say a prayer. If not, like myself, keep my friend in your thoughts. I can not even fathom the amount of stress and anxiety the next two weeks will bring. Good thing they are strong.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Tongue tied & twisted

The absolute beauty of today was wiped away in one quick feel swoop.
I spoke with an old friend today, who I was very close to some time ago. They had just received some not so positive news. We spoke for a while and, between each of us being pretty emotional, I tried to ask about old friends, their family, anything to ignore the reason for the call.
I was so taken aback I could barely think straight about why we speaking in the first place.
It has been quite some time since we have seen or spoken to each other, yet with some of my old friends they mean enough that there will always be that bond. This person is one of those people.
I will be thinking of you.