The Germans Are Coming

Last evening I was riding home at my own leisurely pace. I did the Great America noon ride and was pretty pooped by chasing Keith on his TT bike for 45 minutes in the heat of the day. I won't even go there. Another Keith Experience. Anyway, two guys come flying by me like they are attacking in a criterium. You know, leaving just enough room to fit a dollar bill. Anyway, my instincts made me jump the move. Hey, at least I found myself a free ride down San Tomas. These two guys were obvious weekend warriors though one had an Ironman sticker on his bike. Speaking of this guy, he was on his Kestrel TT bike. The funky one with no seat tube and a funny thing to hold the front derailleur. I have a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering and I still cannot figure out a rational for this design, other than a bad crash. Anyway, he must have been about 210 and hammering away. At least hammering in his own way. I was leisurely sitting 3rd wheel when the big guy looks back and says "We have a wheel sucker" in a German accent. "Wheel Sucker? Well you wanna be Jan Ullrich in the winter pudgy rider. I will show you how much you really suck. " I know I am finally in race shape when I want to race anyone and anything for any reason. By the way he just plain pissed me off. I waited until after the Stevens Creek light to go to the front. I gently raised the pace a quarter mile per hour at a time until I was hitting about 34 mph coming into the Campbell city limit sign. I looked back and they were no were in sight. FRIGGIN WEEKEND WARRIORS! Don't look at you, don't say "Hi", talk a lot of crap but bow out when it is time to have fun. Or maybe it is just because the Germans are use to getting their ass kicked by an American. Go Lance.

Billions and Billions

Riding Home Last Thursday

60¢

3 titanium tipped drill bits (new in package)

1 mechanical pencil

This is non-cycling realted but I just had to post it in my blog.
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I have no words to explain this video.
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Judge #2's Comments:
Miss South Carolina, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Filip Vanacht

"Operation San Ardo"

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After the Operation Puerto fiasco I am not saying a word. I was there, I know the truth but we all know that sometimes it just doesn't matter. "Even if you are right, you are still wrong." Someone got hurt so we have to punish someone. Get ready for the fallout. Blame it all on Alto Velo.

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http://www.ncncaracing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=967

Get them anyway you can. Save you recyclable cans, mow lawns, "Lie, cheat or steal" to get them. I borrowed a pair for San Ardo and I need to get them.

Clicks and Creeks

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What is up with set post collars this year? My Specialized had a click in the seat post and it was because the POS seat post collar was cracking. That's right cracking right out of the box. I hate when bike companies are so weight consciencous that they put crap on the bike so they can advertise lighness just to have it break and make you replace it with a heavier but stronger piece. This was the same for my Bianchi Titanium. My 2001 frame was creaking / clicking and broke at the down tube. My replacement frame was clicking at the seat post. I must have disassembled and reassembled the bike 3 times without fixing the problem. Well, the seat post collar broke. Arrrrrrrrrggggggggggg......... You may say I overtightened it but the stupid carbon seat post kept on sliding down. I just cannot win.

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My point? If something is clicking / creaking and you cannot fix it then something is going to break.

Zimbabwe's inflation -- already the highest in the world -- hit 7,634.8 percent in July

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This is non-cycling related, but Oh My God that is crazy.

"Because Lance wants to get out of the sport he is going to unemploy half of his team? Personal opinion again, but that has to be the biggest bullshit story I have ever read!"
-Chris Horner doesn't mince words - ever

Report (Click Here)

Redwood Gulch

Heavy bike, heavy rider with a backpack. For some reason I live for challenges like Redwood Gulch. One day I will lose those lingering 15 to 20 pounds and actually be able to climb. Watch out if that ever happens, though I don't think anyone need to be concerned.

The Keith Experience

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It cannot be explained with words. It can only be experienced.
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BTW: The definition of irony. "Click Here"

Some people just have too much time on their hands.

http://bethbikes.blogspot.com/2007/08/q-quads.html

I was checking out my ride log database this morning.

March 7, 2000 - Great America noon ride.

Over 7 years of going round in circles every Tuesday / Thursday.

Before Great America there was a short bit at 237 and 1st street. Mission College before that.

WOW!

50¢

Lately I've been finding silver change on the road. I have been finding about 50¢ a day so I guess the economy is not that bad if I am finding about $2.50 a week. Put that in a Roth IRA and I'll be a rich man when I retire. Thanks to all you lazy motorists. So much of a zombie that somehow change flies out of your car.

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Laughing all the way to the bank.

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One note. The change is pretty chewed up and trashed. Don't even try to use it at a mini-mart.

Don't deny it. This has crossed all of our minds.

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National Science Foundation: Science Hard
June 5, 2002 Issue 38•21
INDIANAPOLIS—The National Science Foundation's annual symposium concluded Monday, with the 1,500 scientists in attendance reaching the consensus that science is hard.

Farian explains the NSF findings.
"For centuries, we have embraced the pursuit of scientific knowledge as one of the noblest and worthiest of human endeavors, one leading to the enrichment of mankind both today and for future generations," said keynote speaker and NSF chairman Louis Farian. "However, a breakthrough discovery is challenging our long-held perceptions about our discipline—the discovery that science is really, really hard."
"My area of expertise is the totally impossible science of particle physics," Farian continued, "but, indeed, this newly discovered 'Law of Difficulty' holds true for all branches of science, from astronomy to molecular biology and everything in between."
The science-is-hard theorem, first posited by a team of MIT professors in 1990, was slow to gain acceptance within the science community. It gathered momentum following the 1997 publication of physicist Stephen Hawking's breakthrough paper, "Lorentz Variation And Gravitation Is Just About The Hardest Friggin' Thing In The Known Universe."
This weekend's conference, featuring symposia on how hard the Earth sciences are, how confusing medical science is, and how ridiculously un-gettable quantum physics is, represented a major step forward for the science-is-hard theorem.
"We now believe that the theorem is 99.999% likely to be true, after applying these incredibly complex statistical techniques that gave me a splitting headache," Farian said. "A theorem is like a theory, but, I don't know, it's different."
Members of the scientific establishment were quick to affirm the NSF discovery.

The scientists' assessment of a recent MIT paper on quantum physics.
"To be a scientist, you have to learn all this weird stuff, like how many molecules are in a proton," University of Chicago physicist Dr. Erno Heidegger said. "While it is true that I have become an acclaimed physicist and reaped great rewards from my career, one must not lose sight of the fact that these blessings came only after studying all of this completely impossible, egghead stuff for years."
Dr. Ahmed Zewail, a Caltech chemist whose spectroscopic studies of the transition states of chemical reactions earned him the Nobel Prize in 1999, explained in layman's terms just how hard the discipline of chemistry is, using the periodic table of the elements as a model.
"Take the element of tungsten and work to memorize its place in the periodic table, its atomic symbol, its atomic number and weight, what it looks like, where it's found, and its uses to humanity, if any," Zewail said. "Now, imagine memorizing the other 100-plus elements making up the periodic table. You'd have to be, like, some kind of total brain to do that."
As hard as chemistry and other traditional sciences may be, scientists say such newer disciplines as quantum physics are even more difficult.
"Quantum physics has always been a particularly tough branch of science," UCLA physicist Dr. Hideki Watanabe said. "But in addition to being some of the smartest Einstein-y stuff around, it is undeniably a really stupid, pointless thing to study, something you could never actually use in the real world. This paradoxical dual state may one day lead to a new understanding of physics as a way to confuse and bore people."
"I guess there's cool stuff about science," Watanabe continued, "like space travel and bombs. But that stuff is so hard, it's honestly not even worth the effort."

Life is the coffee
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A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.
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The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
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After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other's cups."
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"Now consider this: Life is the coffee. The jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Enjoy your coffee."

From Jackson Stewart's Blog

In a lot of ways I agree.

Courtesy
July 16th, 2007
Some people have deemed me as a complainer but, I think the majority of my complaints are observations.
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Like the lack of courtesy at the airport at times. I wonder why there are usually only 1 or 2 people per flight that do not hover over the baggage claim. The rest of the 100+ people desperately conquer the perimeter of the baggage carousal like their luggage is food coming out of a red cross truck. What makes these 1 or 2 people different? Why do they realize that if they stand there that they would be in other peoples way? Its similar with getting on and off the plane, people will try and jet in front of you whenever they can, like its a really fast crit, where a guy can only pass one guy at a time but, he’s gotta be a real dick to do it, and there is really no way for him to make it to the front anyway.
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These people seem to be the same people who are always in a hurry but, they will jump in a Star bucks line of 20 or so people no problem.
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And these Fat Asses! That’s right I said it. I get charged for bringing a 20 pound bike on the plane but, there is no charge for people caring on 200 plus extra pounds? You know I’ve learned a thing or two from considerate guys like Nydam, Schmatz, and Tim Larkin. And I realize that everyone has their own issues as human beings and deserve some understanding, sympathy, and respect. However, when you come on my plane sit in the middle of me and some normal sized lady in the isle seat, smelling like a cigarette factory that caught fire, and looking like something that was genetically cloned with a meatball and some type of seal blubber, I start to have a hard time with that consideration concept. And then you shoe horn your ass into that middle seat and your, what would be called, hips and stomach swallow the armrest that separate our seats, whole, leaving the remainder of you squeezing me into the side of the airplane, I again question my considerate-ness. But, then, within minutes, you pull out a stank super sized double cheeseburger and fries!………that’s when the gloves come off!!! I’m not making this up, this happen to me a half an hour ago.
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I think there is a humane natural reason for such things and I am pretty sure Scott Nydam could give me the answers if he spent sometime on it. He might have to make a few phone calls but, he would end up with an explanation and maybe some KOM points in the process.

Random Observations

Friggin California drivers suck. I have seen so many stupid stunts by a California driver that I am numb to their stupidity.

Old People

My latest observation, in which I was an unwilling participant, was a run-in with a senior citizen. I was riding my bike home from work and heading out of Los Gatos by the high school. I hit the stop sign at the top of the hill and proceeded next to a dark blue SUV. This old timers car, you know the late 80’s early 90’s Oldsmobile, drove up on the cross street to make a right turn. I noticed the car and saw the short, curly, grey hair of a really old looking lady. BTW: Why are they all so friggin small? She so small that she was looking through her steering wheel to drive. Anyway, I had a gut feeling that I was in a bad situation. I kept my eye on the granny car while the SUV pulled away from me. I guess the dark blue boat of a SUV was easy to spot, while they guy in the bright yellow and red clothing, which was closer to her, was like friggin camouflage. She hit the gas as soon as she had some daylight. “Oh F*ck!” was going through my head as I saw her bumper getting close to me as I headed toward the double yellow to avoid the 2 ton car. I saw her swerve, of course toward me at first, and then hit the breaks. Hopefully it was because she saw me and instead of avoiding a squirrel. What happened after? The usual in California. Not sure on what to do when they do something really stupid they first are tentative at passing the biker. Then they realize the inevitable because the divers behind them are getting impatient so they pass and avoid eye contact as all costs. I guess they figure if they don’t look then nothing really happened. No acknowledgement that they almost injured someone because of their stupidity. No sorry. Not even the finger. Heck, I would have more respect for a person that told me to “F*ck off!”

The Psyche of California Drivers

Here is an interesting observation for you. Please try it because it works every time.

I am sure you get really pissed when every once-in-a-while there is that motorist that gives you about 2 inches of room while they pass you. A lot of the time it seem that it is done for no real reason, not that there is a real valid reason to almost run over a cyclist because you cannot slow down for 2 seconds. Anyway, I’ve noticed that if someone buzzes me, or if hear traffic coming and I get that spider feeling that the next car is going to be close, I spit a nice big loogie or do the Texas Hankie to the left. I am always flabbergasted because I usually get little to no room from motorists but when I do this I get an easy 3 feet EVERY TIME! What the f*ck? A motorist can care less that they are going to smash part of their car and/or kill someone or at the least scratch their precious car but they will give me all the room in the world to keep some goo from getting on their paint job. I still don’t get it.

The Timpani Criterium

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I think I'm going to write a book on how not to prepare for a race. I'm telling you my life is complete chaos that is somehow guided in the right direction. I have no idea on how I get things done or how I don't just pass out.

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Check out my day of the race schedule.

(This is not typical since my club did put on the race and I had to help out, but this is not that far off of a typical weekend day)

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5:00 AM - Get up. Coffee. Head out to Mike Rowe's to load my truck with NCNCA stuff.

6:00 AM - 8:30 AM - Set up course.

9:30 AM - Home so wife is not uptight because I spent all day at a bike race.

10:00 AM - Ride to breakfast with wife and baby. Hit the farmer's market.

12:30 PM - Back to race to get ready and warm-up.

1:40 PM - Master's 35+ (2 friggin flats)

2:30 PM - Fix race wheel flat to I can race to Pro/1/2.

3:55 PM - Pro/1/2 race. Complete waste of my time though it was a workout.

4:30 PM - Load truck.

7:30 PM - Pick up baby from my parents.

8:30 PM - Gave baby bath, fed her and put her to sleep.

9:30 PM - Cleaned out truck, completed chores around the house and got ready for work tomorrow.

10:30 PM - Cannot forget the wife. Talked to her about her day. Tried to be the attentive husband as he complained about random people and off load her emotions of the day.

10:45 PM - Pass out.
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No wonder I raced like crap.

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Why me?