Happy Halloween

Exercise time: 43min- 30jog/13walk

no pic of the jack-o'lantern like pete, but we did do a three-eyed monster alien. Oct has mostly been a dud as far as riding. 135miles total, and most of those in first week. i have no one to blame but myself, but i will say there have been more trips, events, and bar visits than in recent memory.

i took a jog this afternoon just to keep the legs moving. i think i'm ready to get going and lose a few lbs. for the holidays...and for pants comfort. the first, no second b/c i already jogged today, is not engorge myself on all the reese cups the boys will get trickortreating. i gotta be like that one guy, Large Fella on a Bike, who is down something like 150lbs. that's a lotta weight and alot of willpower. good for him. 'course, if i lost 150lbs, i would weigh less than a Romanian gymnast, but something between that and 5lbs. would be great. how 'bout staying away from the softball beer and staying on the bike, no?

R&B

i have this deep-seated proclivity for R&B, especially all forms of what i-and others-term Soul Music.

Classic artists include:
Otis Redding
Aretha Franklin
Al Green
Marvin Gaye
the entire Stax-Volt catalog

Middle era artists:
Donnie Hathaway
Stevie Wonder!!
Terence Trent D'Arby
Curtis Mayfield
all kinds of fly ass 70s funk
James Brown
Parliament/Funkadelic (not the super spacedout shit)

Neo-Soul folks:
John Legend
Anthony David
Lauryn Hill
Jill Scott
Amp Fiddler

There's a big neo-soul thing out there, i think, as a response to all that nasty bobbybrown/n'sync bullshit the 'industry' put out not long ago. i find the whole soul scene very earthy and honest. yes, it's product like anything else, but are usually people who LOVE music, even if they're making jack doing it. in concert with this interest in sould is the interest in rap that isn't poontang, 'Ho rap. that's to say intelligent, musical, non-hateful stuff.

real rap includes:
De La Soul
The Roots
A Tribe Called Quest

Dr. Dre's "The Chronic"-- **you can't deny the dopeass power of , even there's nothing "intelligent" about it other that its staying power.

Outkast- that's great modern stuff. i think the Atlanta, southern thing plays an important part there, b/c they grew up in the land of Otis Redding. classic southern soul, now imbued in modern rap.

If i had to take one of these artists to the "deserted island", it would have to be Stevie (Wonder). he's the man. all good stuff though.

and i did walk 2m this a.m., but the yard work/leaf duty has extricated whateve kind of desire to ride out of me. we'll see. (wink wink as i watch the sun go down here at 4.35.

Ugghh II

man, what a bizarro day, with respects to food, exercise and the physical being. ate like shit for breakfast. then around 4.00 i grilled burgers and the good wife made veggies and a fruit salad. later, we went to see "How to eat Fried Worms" with the boys. i rather liked it for a kids' movie. we (and mostly i) had the perfunctory palomitas at the movie, but by movie end i felt sort of "icky". i'd decided to walk a bit of the way home to make up for no ride earlier, and so i jump out of the car (not moving. i'm not that butch) about 2ish miles away and had a nice, refreshing, brisk walk home, stopping along the way to quickly answer nature's call. once home, i fell asleep almost immediately. THEN, about 3.00a.m. i woke up feeling like total crap, i guess from a combo of wine, popcorn and hell i don't know what else. i'm trying to reconcile those days when i eat like shit and feel fine, and yesterday, when i didn't eat that badly but felt like barfing at 3 in the morning. frustrating. so i ended the night in the chair upstairs for fear of waking anyone.

maybe it was the worms. :-)

Me encuentro de mal humor

i think my ridinglessness is making me cranky. i got such good miles in during Aug/Sept, and Oct has been a wash. weather, events, late nights. it's mierda, that's what it is. i can ride to work/school in the rain, buti don't relish it and it makes for clothing difficulties. and so far, it's been one of the wetest Octobers on record. all excuses. so only 2 commutes this week, none last week and one the week before. jodida mierda, to be impolite. the winter greys are descending, and i don't like them.

Commuter dude and bonus Flame

Date: Oct 25
Mileage: 13
Ride type: commute
Bike: LHT
Temp: 35/48 p.m.
October mileage: 135
Year to date: 1813

on the bike today for no-nonsense ride. sorta cold in a.m., but feet did well. base sock covered by Assos windsock covered by plastic baggie covered by wool sock inside of Lake sandal. toes movable and comfy. pretty good system. stayed late grading papers and on ride, ran across fit-looking dude commuting home. sorta interesting in that i could tell he upped the pace and maybe was trying to leave me, don't know. it's a weired psychological thing. me, if i see a commuter, i wanna be social. this guy instead tries to leave me. i'm really surprised he didn't put it on me on the hill, but we eventually met at a light. he apparently commutes very regularly to downtown and back to the Highlands, giving him abt 14m round trip. drives here-n-there to take clothing. his commuter mount was a Schwinn or Trek hybrid with a tinsy weensy rack trunk. he's never heard of Surly before, which is fine.

good to know other folks are out. we had some monster Dodge truck rev the engine to get around us. sorta funny. "damn, these damn pansy bikers tryin' to take up the damn road. oughtta run their pansy asses over.." no, he didn't say that but i'm play acting just for fun.

the "bonus Flame" involves the following exchange. it's found on the kycyclist listserve. the background is that someone last week had their bike run over when a local car dealership employee drove wrong way down a street, and the cyclist had to Abort/Abandon ship to not get hit. ran his cool Dutch city bike over. then, a lady riding on River Rd. admitedly a busy road not suitable for bikes anymore- doesn't take away her right- was run off the road by a moving truck. both times, the cops made NO effort to do ANYTHING. made me rant and rave on the listserve about this BS, and this douchebag (sorry talking like the teenyboppers) instead rails at me. maybe i'm on the wrong side of this "discussion", but in reading this further, i think this 'Tom' should grow some stones.

Does anyone have any, ANY, example of late of a helpful policeman/woman/cop
with respects to local cyclists? It seems every time there is an issue
between cyclists and cars, the local police are either indifferent or
entirely unsupportive. If a person tries to run you over, that's assault
and I thought we employed the police to protect us from assault. If a woman
claims her husband assaulted her, does the policeperson say "didn't see it.
can't do anything about it...". Do we ride packing in case we need to
employ "self-defense"? I'm certainly empathetic to the person who was
assaulted on RiverRd., and I wonder what it will take in this town to be
anything more than a lawless, redneck cowtown. Maybe hizzhonorforlife isn't
getting the job done and we need a change to something substantive instead
of promos and PR. Do I have to move to Minneapolis to ride in a
less-menacing town? I was in NYC last Thursday, and admist the chaos, cars
seemed more accustomed and less agressive to cyclists. There were ALL
agressive, but not menacing.

Tim
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:33:44 -0400
From: "Tom Recktenwald"
Subject: Re: [kycyclist] Police support
To: "Kentucky Cycling List"
Message-ID:
<2368ad380610231533x1ddc0a41i1b1deefb867beccd@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

Chill, Tim,
Go ahead and vote for Kelly Downard if you choose to. It sounds to me like
that is what your ranting is really all about. However, if you want to see
change come about, it won't happen by spewing venom. Those with authority
to make changes are human, too, and you won't put them in a frame of mind to
effect change by putting them on the defensive right off the bat. And as
for Minneapolis, if that's where you'd rather be than in this lawless,
redneck, cowtown, then by all means go...I doubt that you'll be missed all
that much. I can't help but wonder why you're still here.

Tom

Change happens when people take a stand and let their actions speak. They TAKE ACTION!, and don't sit around and hand-wring. I love the line "I doubt you'll be missed all that much. I can't help but wonder why you're still here." the fuck, and this guy's some kinda asset to the community? he's fucking Mr. Rudolph Guliani?

in some ways, i wish i'd been taking good stats over the last 2-3 yrs in Louisville about cycling conditions here. i've accused myself of being too touchy, but appearences point to more altercations, more bad press, less police presence, more strife. actually, on my own commute i have few problems, but on 'road rides' in the parks or elsewhere the populace is nasty, and these flop-artist roadies like 'Tom' don't seem to be doing shit...and he doubts i'll "be missed".

and in the creepy world of the 'Net, i found a couple links to Mr. Recktenwald. he seems to be the voice of a generation. Mr. Prudence.

http://www.fox41.com/article/view/4708/?tf=wdrbview.tpl
http://www.louisvillebicycleclub.org/may06/spotlight.htm
http://www.ceridian.com/corp/article/0,2868,12452-59356,00.html

Apparently, he must of made buck selling gift cards. i won't be missed even though i've taught Spanish, and taught damn well, to maybe 2000 kids in the course of my career- Ivy League kids, scholarship kids, future Spanish teachers, appreciative and compeltely non-appreciative kids, and he mastered the gift card. good for him.

"The international gift card market is about where the U.S. marketplace was five years ago, with one exception: they have the advantage of learning from the 'best practices' SVS developed in implementing gift card programs over the past nine years in North America," Tom Recktenwald, SVS International's executive vice president and general manager, said.

SVS and Recktenwald were pioneers in the launching of gift cards in the U.S. almost a decade ago.

i wish i'd known so i could've been nicer to the guy and not ruined his sensibilities. then he could've sent me a gift card and made my world a better place.

OK, time to drop it. tomorrow looking for big rain, so decisions to be had. i can't deny that 45 and raining is NOT the best cycling weather. i don't know the $250 gore-tex suit, and won't any time soon.

Beer Strikes Again!!

there is no ride date today, because; it was the beer that did it. i sort of knew we had a softball game last night, but was trying to avoid it b/c the temps were in the low 40s and it didn't sound like much fun. lo, they got ahold of me and i played (much to our delight, defeating a team of burly men!). after softball, one must drink beer. i planned to only have 1, but that became several, all the while watching the crappy Dallas/NY game (lifelong Cowboys fan).

i wasn't hung over or anything, but a late night made for a lame excuse to not ride. and this afternoon's sun and 50s temps further remind me of my poor decision-making and will. tomorrow, tomorrow, manyana...and no softball!

Back on the horse-ish

Date: Oct 23
Mileage: 15
Ride type: commute
Bike: LHT
Temp: 38/44p.m.
October mileage: 122
Year to date: 1800

the "ish" only b/c i really didn't do much mileage, but after a 2-week break (save 2 minute rides), i commuted in. in years previous, i would experience a break in the action if A) i was sick or B) i became lazy and disinterested. this time, it was the combo of several extraneous factors, including work, travel, schedule, sleep, rain etc. i know, i KNOW, that i could've fought through some of it, but in the end i don't want to Dread the ride, but rather Relish it. i wouldn't call today This is "Relishing", but it was nice to again limit my carbon footprint.

if i had broadband or DSL, i would load lots of pics of baseball games and NYC. instead, i can merely report that i did those things. with respects to NYC, the site "This is the way we walk in New York" does a much better job than i at capturing some of the NYC ethos with respects to bikes. there were bikes and cyclists of every appreciable type found there: messengers on fixies, grannies on townies, dudes on mtnbikes, mexicans on beatarounds, etc. etc. it seems that so many have taken to the streets. and i really liked the blatant disregard for traffic lights. and i liked the EddyMerckx city roadie. and don't forget the rickshaws. isn't it ironic that people of all types can ride on some of the busiest streets in the world and here in the good ol' Midwest we can't seem to do anything more than take country rides starting at the exurbs.

nothing too special about the ride today. a.m. was 38 or so, so my gear had to get a little more 'winterish'. i know that those MN types LOVE their cold, but i say chingate hijo de puta madre. i hate the stuff. it only warmed 5 degrees through the course of the day, so i wore the same exact layers home. let's see:
smartwool base, patagonia longsleeve, rei jacket
shorts, thickish tights
expensive Assos socks, toe warmers (under 2nd layer), thick wool socks, Lake sandals
skull cap
Swix gloves.

Lots of room to go warmer in this combo.

Big Time Action

my lack of entries is indicative of my total lack of riding of late. i didn't mean to do so, but things just sort of fell in to place. 2 weekends ago was big-time party time, so no riding. then more late nights. then i ran a fall doubles tournament. i could've ridden, but really it was a better time to drive with tennis crap. then this past weekend in Detroit Rock City watching the Tigers game. now back and more rain, but i'm going to NY city tomorrow night for more festivizing. SOOO, maybe next week back on the horse.

Date: Oct 17
Mileage: 3
Ride type: commute
Bike: LHT
Temp: 68
October mileage: 107
Year to date: 1786.5

yes, a 3-mile round trip to Kinko's and the barber shop. what's pathetic is that i actually felt a loss of fitness, even after 1.5 week. Man!

too much

Date: Oct 10
Mileage: 13.5
Ride type: commute
Bike: 9.2.5.fixie
Temp: ??, 70? fine
October mileage: 104
Year to date: 1783.5

i think the last few days of festivities have worn me down. i fixied this a.m. and took it easy. this afternoon, i had no gas whatsoever. it's too bad b/c the last few days have been nice and the weather is turning tonight and tomorrow. Late Fall is here, with temps in the 40s and wet junk. oh well. time to get nasty weather game face on.

WILCO!!!!!!!!!

Courtesy of Wilcoworld.net

just got back from an infuckingcredible Wilco show. it's my 6th overall, and the good wife's 7th. let's see, '95 Lexington Kentucky Theater, '99 Louisville Headliners, '02 Bloomington, IN Axis, '03 Lexington UK, '05 Cincinnati Taft, '06 Louisville Iroquois Ampitheater. of these, the '99 show and this '06 were easily the best. in fact, this might have been good enough to put in my top-5 shows of allfreakintime. just AMAZING!!!!! above all, sonically they were at a peak. Nels Cline was just going OFF on the damn axe, just OFF! the rest of the band was tight, loud and playful. i also like the 3 or so new songs they played. in a day or two i'll download a setlist and update the highlights. WOW! was a great experience. and Iroquois Ampitheater really stood out as a great venue. it was renovated a couple years ago and serves almost exclusively as a home for musical theater productions. its big, wood-hewn roof and woodwork provided a really rich and comfortable atmosphere for a show, and the outdoor nature allowed for A- smokers to smoke elsewhere and B- cool air to keep everything fresh. check out the pics page for I.A. for a feel.

too bad i have to go to bed, don't have a setlist, and can't quite put into words what a fun experience that was. wish i could do it again tomorrow!! instead, i get to sit in a tile room for 7 hrs. and talk to pissy parents. oh well. gotta pay the bills somehow. BUT an excellent way to spend a weekend.

**picked this up tonight (Monday @ 11.11)
1. A Shot In The Arm ST
2. Handshake Drugs GIB
3. new song (Impossible Germany)
4. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart YHF
5. Muzzle Of Bees GIB
6. At Least That's What You Said YHF
7. Jesus, Etc. MA
8. Airline To Heaven MA
9. Christ For President MA
11. Theologians GIB
12. I'm The Man Who Loves You YHF
13. Poor Places YHF
14. Reservations YHF
15. Hummingbird GIB

Encore 1:
16. The Late Greats GIB
17. Ashes Of American Flags YHF
18. War On War YHF

Encore 2:
19. Heavy Metal Drummer YHF
20. new song (Let's Not Get Carried Away)
21. Kingpin BT

BT- BEING THERE
ST- SUMMER TEETH
MA- MERMAID AVENUE (i'm too lazy to figure out I or II)
YHF- YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT
GIB- GHOST IS BORN

puta madre, it's 12.30 and i gotta get up tomorrow a.m. early. gonna suck no?

((sic) added 11.15 on Monday)

this pic is indicative of my inability to take pics, but i like the colors the best. jeff is singing up front.

Perryville

no riding on Saturday, but the fam used the beeooteeful weather well in having a couple new and interesting experiences. i had had an opportunity to drive up for the Tigers/Yanks game (my old man has tix), but instead we took in our first experience of a re-enactment of the Civil War Battle of Perryville in Perryville, Boyle Co., Ky. this was KY's only large battle, with the Greys winning the battle and the Blues winning the war. i don't feel like getting into details, but apparently, Perryville is one of the best preserved battlefields in the country, so it's a re-enactment opportunity sought after. one of the participants told us that the federal battlefields won't allow reenacments, so they have to do them on adjacent fields, but Perryville actually takes place on the exact locations of the original skirmish. this year was a "national reenactment", so the crowds were MUCH larger than previous years. i'm going to load some pics and update our time there. it was rather more fun than expected- lot's of horses, smoke, noise and KY rednecks cheering for the "Stars-n-Bars" and the "Rebel Flag". the fact it was 68 or so under a perfect fall, sunny sky made the day quite pleasant.

the 2nd portion of the day (i just remembered that, duh, i DID ride yesterday morning), so my 3rd portion of the day entailed a reenactment/Chinese Harvest Moon party at the farm of my school friend Julie's. i cycled through this area in July and posted some pics (the ride kicked my ass-July21st to be specific). he husband in a Hong Kong-born art professor. the farm is 6 miles from the battle site, so they've thrown a farm/field party for several years. we went there afterwards for brats, ribs, dogs, beer (only 2, aren't you proud) and such. the culmination of the evening was the "Moon" portion of the evening. evidently, the Chinese celebrate the fall moon, with this year's being the closest to the earth and Spectacular! we went to the top of the hill, with a fire and tiki torches and such. Yin Kit flew Moon Cakes in from SanFran. these are world-reknowned, with the original baker found in Hong Kong. b/c we're basically southern, julie more so b/c her folks are from Eastern KY, she also had some Moon Pies. don't know if my many readers out there know what a Moon Pie is, but you have to be southern i think. so, Moon Cakes from China via Cali, and Moon Pies found only in the American South, Green Tea and the fullest moon of the year, all found on a desolate KY hilltop with a perfect, cloudless sky above us. VERY cool.

**i just read something of the history of the Moon Pie. they were/are baked in Chattanooga, TN, but were marketed initially throughout TN, KY, and WV to miners (or maybe that's where the inpiration comes from). you can read, but MoonPies must be something of a Southern Appalachian tradition. my dad, who now lives in Detroit, loves the things even though he grew up in Louisville and in Shelby Co. KY.


and the ride, i know realize, happened in the early a.m. before the boys' soccer game (L scored twice!! and Z scored once!! even though his team is really bad- he certainly being one of the better few), i got out on the Blueridge. it's interesting in that i hadn't been on the Blueridge since my 50-miler in the summer. obviously, i have so many bikes to choose from that i just forgot to ride the most expensive one. it's also the case that i've put alot of miles in on more comfortable bikes of late. the LHT and the fixie are both set up for shorter, more upright reach, and the Crosscheck isn't far behind. even though the Blueridge is marketed as a "touring bike", it still lays you out much longer and more forward than the others. yes, i could put a little stubby stem on it, but alas, i don't. i remember getting the Blueridge (grad school graduation gift from dad) as the ultimate "do everything" bike. it DOES have lots of clearance, cantis, and rear hardware for fenders but not front) now, i have a stronger sneaking suspicion that the Rivendell Atlantis would be that bike, or even a Kogswell or something else along those lines. or even the LHT a little more gussied up. or maybe i shouldn't be such a greedy bastard and be very happy with my bike garage. or maybe i'm like so many others who like bikes.

Date: Oct 7
Mileage: 18.5
Ride type: road
Bike: Blueridge
Temp: 50
October mileage: 91.5
Year to date: 1710

killing time

it's Friday a.m. we're off from school today, mostly b/c of the size of the St. James Art Fair, which is located in the "Old Louisville" portion of town, and an area quite close to work (is that a terrible sentence?). the good wife has headed off to view some arts-n-crafts, so i'm home with the boys doing NOTHING of any positive note. in fact, i'm sitting here wasting time on the pinche computer. so far, the themes of the day include fixies (basic stupidity's very nice "Orange"), wool armwarmers (Ibex and Kucharik), and wacked-out religious leaders (Scientology and Mormonism). Slate has posted a briefbutinformative review of L. Ron Hubbard. and not long ago, i saw the "Mormon" episode of South Park, which I fear is closer to the truth than the casual viewer must think.

i think it's really quite fascinating to consider how people buy in to these systems. religion's importance throughout history and culture tells me that:

A) it exists on a macro-level and has become or just IS, integral to the human experience, one that is the ultimate Meme. i may be able to accept this position, one that is somewhat Deist, lest i be mistaken. this is the one that attracts me to Buddhism's rational perspective. further study of cultural Buddhism reveals strong means of superstition found throughout Asian traditions, but W.B. seems to avoid that

B) it perhaps exists on a micro-level, and that one faith group- Christian salvation, Muslim salvation, Hindu positive karmic reincarnation, etc.- will, in fact, persevere over the others, how much bullshit does that position emanate?. it's nothing more than an extension of the notion of the Jews' "chosen people" syndrome- though that may be the wrong or impolite word to use. the Jews are "chosen". the various Christian sects are "chosen". Evangelical Christians are really "chosen". Fundamentalist Muslims are "chosen". you get the picture. and God has "chosen" one group over another, even if the component of Faith is stronger in an individual found in another faith group? i had a good friend at another job, a devout Christian. i challenged her to explain this irrational notion, that an ultra-faithful Hindhu could burn in the fiery depths whilts a johnny-come-lately Christian could have eternal salvation, perhaps due to a deathbed conversion. she tendered no response b/c there really isn't one other than, "i believe. therefore i'm right and you're not".

C) Humanity has always been really jodido and needs something, no matter what it is, to fill the gulf, but that God and Religion are just artifices. Beginning and End Times are a function of our lack of ability to grasp what scientific Space/Time presents us. Linear Time is merely a construct of our lack of understanding of the fundamental physics involved, just as our lack of ability to understand bacteria killed lots and lots of people pre-19th century. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism et. al. are just millenia-old versions of Scientology. they have the advantage of being old, but no more correct or valid. it still brings me to the question of how can a person in the 20th century really believe that pile of shit Hubbard was serving up. for that matter, how have they belived Reverend Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, or David Koresh? How? i understand a belief in one of the old religions only because tradition and consistency (sort of) must account for something. and then i think to the more recent systems. sometimes my manic-depressive states leaves me feeling a little wonky, but i've not ever once felt the need to be taken in by some wackedout, fromouterspace "religion", yet millions still do. why?

as much as modern, Western philosophy and science has tried to present the physical world, and later the psychological world, as rational and scientific, i have a hard time believing that based on human behaviors. byinlarge, our behaviors are insane with intermitten periods of peace. often times, religion makes us even more insane- medieval Crusades, modern Crusades, Jihad, Pakistan/India, on and on and on.

1.02p.m.- in the continuance of doing nothing productive today, i lighted upon this site of one of the most fucked-up people i've ever encountered. he has a commentary on Mormonism, which where i first found it. he (canNOT be a she the way this chingon is carrying one) reveals himself as a just-as-wack pentacostal. man, people are really screwed up! entertaining if i knew he and his ilk, which is the overwhelming number of mutants out there, would get anywhere near my children.

Not Commute

Date: Oct 5
Mileage: 3
Ride type: quickie
Bike: 9.2.5. fixie
Temp: 58
October mileage: 73
Year to date: 1692

didn't ride today, mostly b/c i got to bed at 11.30 for 2nd day in a row and pussied out. tired. we're off tomorrow, mostly b/c of St.JamesArtFair, so maybe some miles.

Gravy Davy and Mikey called me to go out this p.m. we were to meet at Asiatique, froo froo joint pretty close to home. i jumped on fixie and headed there. to my surprise, joint was COMPLETELY full of "ladies", "not that there is anything wrong with that". i giggled actually, all those missy thangs. Davy and Mikey didn't show, so i jetted. somehow, they were at Mikey's, closer starting out than i, but i beat them there. went home, called and bowed out. did get 3 lame miles in from that trip though. with me, every mile counts, thanks.

Fixies III

Date: Oct 4
Mileage: 15
Ride type: Commute
Bike: 9.2.5. fixie
Temp: 86!!! Wow, that's hot for October!!
October mileage: 70
Year to date: 1689

really nothing to report. with the LHT experience bag problems (don't you hate those in a variety of contexts), i jumped on the fixie this a.m. for the commuting experience. i've been so keyed up and pissed off about other stuff- mostly humanity-, that i've basically commuted there-n-back without too much adventure. i couldn't ride the fixie all the time, but it sure is fun about once a week or so. i certainly couldn't ride mine 60 miles through the hills, but it's a great machine for a city commute, and i assume Redline titled it the 9.2.5 for a reason...and it works for me. after a long rest, it may be time to pump some life back into the Blueridge and get a mileage ride in this weekend. we'll see, but i'm feeling a longer ride coming on. mind you, no "longish" from the perspective of doug @ MnBicycleCommuter.

Commute

Date: Oct 3
Mileage: 12
Ride type: Commute
Bike: LHT
Temp: 82p.m.
October mileage: 55
Year to date: 1664

I commuted today. there truly is nothing more to say than that. i went the shortest way possible in the a.m. and in the p.m. i went south towards Audabon Park, but that yields almost the same exact mileage. 6 there, 6 home. haven't tackled the Bagman issue, but i sure do like it on the bike more than my leg rubbing the Carradice. weekend project perhaps.

if you want some intelligent dialogue by people who disagree but respect opinions, check out Jim's further discussion of gun policy, circa the Oct 1 entry More laws the answer?. i'm impressed by the intelligent arguments but lack of vitriol. too bad it doesn't happen in other avenues of our public discourse.

@#$ Mondays

Date: Oct 2
Mileage: 16
Ride type: Commute
Bike: LHT
Temp: 82p.m.
October mileage: 43
Year to date: 1652

ordinary morning trip. first mile of afternoon trip was sort of a doozy. within first quartermile form work, a college thang managed to almost pin me against a parked car. she had room on her left, but BOY, i was looked at her sidemirror a bit more closely than i would've liked. sometimes i want to mount little metal spikes on the side just to scratch those that come too close. then, maybe 50ft futher, a car passes me with an ugly black chick yelling "BOO" at me. i mostly laughed, but wished to myself that she die of a stroke sometime tonight. then, maybe a quartermile further, i took a quick left into a parking lot and sortof slammed across the lip of the curb. it was taller than usual, and low and behold part of the backend of the LHT fell off.

ends up the Carradice bag bracket i have mounted managed to pop off, well the wire portion that extends from the base, popped off (in this pic, that means the 2-prong wire support came out of the black base towards the left) and was sent scurrying across the parking lot. the bag stayed on b/c it's attached to the seat. it (the support) also managed to wriggle free from the support strap around it. don't know, it was all quite loud. i can obviously still ride with the bag hanging freely (afixed to the seatpost like originally-designed) but that's annoying. the support shouldn't have broken. i never carry more than workclothes, lunch and school papers, with nothing heavier. might have to call PeterWhite and get his 2cents, but he's not much of a talker, so i'm not looking forward to that.

i'm also pissed at humanity today. we're really no better than warring Chimpanzees. Jim gave a thought-provoking-but-depressing account of gun control today. guns are for the sole purpose of either killing people or animals, and neither is particularly cool. we can kill animals in a more humane way, and killing people is generally considered wrong unless it's for religious (Muslims, Jews, or Crusading Christians) or economic (Bush, Chaney, et.al.) reasons. and i hate my students at school too. they're bright, diligent and successful. they also have no souls or any greater sense of purpose other than making $$ and stepping on those that get in their way to do that, i.e. getting into name schools with other bright-but-souless teenies. i teach at a great school, from a "testing" perspective. i have the brighest of the best. BUT they're users. in fact, they're selfish users just like their yuppie, babyboomer parents. we're are at the crux of 25 years of the Republican Revolution, a selfish, narcissistic, vapid, greedy and morally-corrupt nation. sounds like Classic Rome or the great British Empire, hell like imperial Spain for that matter, doesn't it? our time has waned and we are on the decline. the babyboomers, through their greed and vapidity, will take us economically down the tubes with their "entitlements" and necessary penis enlargements and breast augmentations, while their own personal selfishness will allow us to NOT fund Social Security et.al. and THEIR president, the Imposter Shrub II, will-and has-made the entire world hate us more than ever. and i teach the offspring of these bastards.

happy Monday folks. it only gets better. Whew!

(not) 'Crossing

Date: Oct 1
Mileage: 27
Ride type: Roadish
Bike: Surly CrossCheck
Temp: 70ish
October mileage: 27
Year to date: 1609

'Tour de Louisville Cyclocross Race' Day. I didn't race, b/c frankly my fitness sucks ass compared to barreling full steam ahead on a 'cross course, but i rode to Shawnee Pk to take in the Louisville area's first 'cross race of the season. it's painful, and i couldn't really do it very well even when i was in better shape, but i love to watch 'cross action. this a.m. my dad was in town, and it's 'Z's bday, so we all met downtown at the Marriot for brunch. i left from there abt 10a.m. and toodled through Portland on the way to ShawneePk. Portland is as it sounds, the original Louisville area along the 'Falls of the Ohio', where the boats had to portage. it's ripe with dirty old river history. today i passed a Catholic Church started by the first bishop west of the Alleghanies, and had in its service the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. Now the area is poor and dirty for the most part, much like the entire West End of Louisville. there are many working-class neighborhoods that were empties during the '50s race riots and difficulties, and now are inhabited by societies leftovers. to their credit, the city has tried to make some improvements to Shawnee to help the standard of living in that part of town.

today's cross course was #1 a little tougher than i thought it would be and #2 made even tougher by the recent rains. the park is almost table-top flat, so the designers found what small hills there are and made the most of them, with the dismounts and run-ups in that area. following is a series of some of the more interesting portions of the course:





This is a big-ass log dismount.














This next pic is the C-Race crew in mid-lap. the mountain bike guy you can barely see in the green jersey bunny-hopped it. More of a man than I.









This is one is the best pic of the day, a good barrier jump at the bottom of a quick hill, then this barrier, and then a sprint right back the same hill, a vicious little 'U' found here during the B-Race.










This is along what I guess is the floodwall. Both run-ups went up this embankment. It made for some nice full-field views. This is during the middle of the B-Race, I think.









This was the second run-up, and 3rd barrier. This is a somewhat crappy pic, not really capturing much in the way of action. It was very bright, so hard to see what was going on in the small digital camera. This include a downish/leftish offcamber portion, an immediate barrier, and a steep but very short run-up. I tried to get a pic of "Gansaari Man" here. Gansaari of OH went out of business recently, but seemed to build attractive elegant bikes in the Rivbike mold. This dude was throwin' it in SS mold style, but admitted later that he had partaken of too much of the brown liquor last night to make an impression. He was infinitely cooler than so many of the lycra crowd.





This pic is of a petite little ditch. It's only noteworthy in that on the warm-up lap I missed this turn entirely. The front rider won the B-Race; i would venture to say he's 18??

Now that I just looked at it again, I notice the big dude on the right in orange- bad day-glo 80s orange if you ask me, was the other dude on the day on a Surly, an ugly green one just like mine, but with chi-chi blue hubs unlike mine. The




i have a few more pics, but they suck even more than these. maybe if i had DSL i could upload them without guilt.

fun time. too bad i'm not 145 fighting lbs of 'cross kick-ass, but i'll get over it!