in keeping with Snake’s theme

It’s all about the Attitude

Its that simple. Life is what you make of it. If you want to bitch and complain about shit then do it. Dont expect anyone to listen to you for very long. Why would they. Its like Big Pun always said. Less talkie and more doie. Its fine to bitch and moan but what are you going to do about? What are you actually going to do about it?

One of the best stories that I have ever heard is this.

A teacher is his/her classroom. The class slowly files in and sits down. The teach calls for everyone’s attention. The teacher has everyone stand back up and stand next to their desks. Then the teacher tells everyone to look under their chairs. To all the students delight there is a dollar bill taped to each and every chair. The Teacher then says take the dollar and sit back down. Then the Teacher says to the class, “what is the moral of the story?” The moral is this if you want to make a buck then your going to have to get off your ass and do something.

Im not saying we should go out and chase the dollar. What I am saying is that if you want change then your going to have to go out and get it. Your going to have to get off your ass and find it. Its fine with me if you want to bitch about how tough you have it. But you had better be heading out the door to make a change while your doing it. Because I will listen for a bit to you, but if your not moving forward with it, then you my friend are part of the problem.

Snake

Thanks Missy.

I promise people: The next posting I make will be poetic and positive. But for now, I’m opening the door of my hurt locker to allow you to look within. It is a desperate grasp for commonality that I can’t find in the people I see today. My hope in humanity is at an all time low.

I was in the area’s only bike shop yesterday, buying some brake pads for the ONE bike I’ve been hired to repair in the 7 weeks I’ve had a flyer up. (and there is NO bike ship in Mt. Vernon, only a ski shop) A guy was thinking about buying one of those TREK hybrid bikes and I said: “That one is a really good one because it had clearance for fenders.” He said:

“Why would I want to put fenders on a bike?”

[meaning: I don't ride in the rain]

I hate this place. I am not making a negative commentary about an overall good experience. It sucks ass in Count Vermin. I’m in a lonely, alienated existence, which is dotted with a few simple joys like taking Lance out for a run to town on Sunday (the only day it’s not CRAZY traffic) and enjoying my coffee at the cafe before I go to the very enjoyable, quiet and warm law library (my house is neither).

It may make no difference to complain about this, but I’m incredulous as I climb the hill on the way over to the I5 overpass, being passed by one after another after another car as I get to inhale the fumes of their ill tuned engines (cheap to the point of total falsehood) and I ask, at the top of my lungs:

“Why doesn’t anyone here RIDE A BIKE?” I cannot answer that. I can only continue my careful preparations to leave, and make the case for bicycles where I am not the only fucking person doing it.

So Rock’s Dead and Flyod’s racing for Bahati Foundation Team. Never saw that one coming. I figured Floyd would be answering a few questions for Inspector Clouseau right about now or giving up racing to work for The Geek Squad, seeing as he’s dabling in IT these days…

Landis will serve two roles – as rider and ambassador for the Bahati Foundation, with the organisation aiming to ’support inner-city youth and garnering positive attention through his [Landis'] success on the bike’.

The move comes after Landis had made moves to join Rock Racing in an attempt to return to European racing given that Michael Ball’s outfit received a Professional Continental licence. He only competed in the team’s uniform once however, at the Tour of the Bahamas.

Time will tell if Landis is up for the challenge or whether he’ll fall flat on his arse like he did while riding for OUCH-Maxxis. I’m guessing the latter, but the secondary team role of wheel fetcher might be a good fit!

More over at Cyclingnews.com.

This is going to be a pretty weak post. Mostly because the riding is off the hook right now in the desert southwest and I have better shit to do than type. So here it goes:

This might be the link of the week so far, keep hitting refresh notahipsterbecause.com.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of this guy named Tony, he makes nice bikes. He just finished the women’s prize for the 2008 SSCXWC (Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships) and it is a fine machine. You can see the Flickr gallery of it here. Nice bikes are worth the wait.

There is a good amount of stuff going on in my town and one worth mentioning is the Brides of March . Seems like it is going to be a rowdy good time while wearing a dress. It might be worth checking out just to spectate.  Unfortunately I will be out of town…maybe next year.

This just in from nyhc00: BMX meets “art” probably NSFW.

The next two days are stacked with good music for me. Tomorrow night is the the legendary Cro-Mags. If you don’t know this band, study up.  Our friend Bikesnobnyc summed up that the singer John Joseph as being “so tough he probably keeps “fixies” in his Saxo Bank jersey pocket and eats them instead of Clif Bars”.  Here is a little video of the man, you decide. 

Another old hardcore guy and bike rider, Tim Barry, will be here too. Formerly the lead singer of the band AVAIL and now tours solo doing this punk country/acoustic/folk type stuff. It’s good shit and it goes well with whiskey. I would highly recommend checking his tour dates and trying to catch him when he comes near your town.

See ya next week. Until then… keep it dirty.

First up is boombaird who chimed in with regards to Hitler getting his grubby hands on everything.It turns out that the MI5 was actually worried that these fine fair “Hitler Youth” might be on reconnaissance efforts in the early days of the onslaught. Another headline read “Nazis must be spyclists”. Such wit for 1937.

Interesting. Full read over at timesonline.uk and an alt version via the bbc complements of grumskikorsakov.

Fortunately, the plan failed. Thus, we have the ensuing success of diversity to gander at, which is undeniable:

pat pat... good game gurl.

Yea, that works for a brother. Makes me think about updating the track suit. Thank you Judi. Of course, since we won that shit, we also have the ever persistent American overcompensation to deal with because awesome is a state of mind:

While I’m relatively unfamiliar with this species “TRIATHLETE”, I’m guessing there a Prius, a cancer foundation or a marine animal  involved. Good luck with accolades n shit gral. You deserve every drop, timed with the wrist watch.

general opinion

That last pic was provided by Dirty, spied at the 24 hours in the old pebble somewhere around his booze encampment. I believe it may have been the only gnome out there this year. My, how times change.

Happy Tuesday.

www.natebloch.com

I cant figure out how embed this vid so here is a link.

Now grow a set and get out there and ride.

Snake

Happy fucking Monday as well. Thank god its fucking over already. Sleep tight group ride in the morning with some tack on afterwards.

….when you get home from a hard ride and you can hardly think straight and the adrenaline is still pumping and you gotta let the dogs out and you need food and you’re looking at your text messages and about 20 other things are going through your head……

At this exact moment, that’s how I feel. My heart is still thumping. My shoes are still on. The dogs are in the backyard, and unless I look directly at the keyboard, I can’t type a single word right.

I LOVE the feeling of coming home with trashed legs and a sense of accomplishment. It’s like fucking crack to me.

THIS is what it’s all about folks.

P.S. BJ – we need new categories. None apply.

Sometimes it is not about the ride, distance or difficulty…it is simply about the respect of the kit.  Not only the kit, but the attention to the tire pressure. The old guy obviously respects his kit and the pressure due to the fact that my friend saw him check and recheck the pressure in each tire three times to verify the necessary numbers. If only his kit matched his ride…

-perry

Just look at that player. Pimp shoes matched up to a pimp’ed out kit. This man holds a halo over the Gray Wolf as he lays wake to the field.

Need to blow an hour? I did. And this is how I did it.

Honestly, I was typing away as this played in the background. I haven’t watch more than a few minutes of the video. It appeared to be a fine day over across the pond. No so much of the spray tan & fist pump action that made the Jersey Shore the endearing trainwreck that it is. But, fun all the same.

Requisite “safe for work” language – I am almost positive there is at least one (1) naked body in there somewhere. This is Space we’re talking about, after all.

Drunkenness, hangovers, and debauchery tend to come to mind when one thinks about alcohol and its effects. But could alcohol also have been a catalyst for human civilization?

According to archaeologist Patrick McGovern this may have been the case when early man decided to start farming. Why humans turned from hunting and gathering to agriculture could be the result of our ancestors’ simple urge for alcoholic beverages.

“Alcohol provided the initial motivation,” said McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. “Then it got going the engine of society.”
Read the rest: www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology…

And here is a joke. Because sometimes we just really need one.

From: Mr. Bill
Subject: How do you know when love fades?

A man was sitting on the sofa watching TV when he heard his wife’s voice from the kitchen. “What would you like for dinner, Love? Chicken, beef or lamb?”

He said, “Thank you, I’ll have chicken.”

She said, “Fuck You. You’re having soup. I was talking to the cat.”

Thanks to Mr. Bill for that one. Made me laugh out loud in the law library when I read his email. I always get a kick out of those moments when I lose it and people stare at the square old guy with kids who studies by himself. They have no idea…

More of Mr. Bill at Bills Bike n Breakfast, Linden, TX.

Charlie Brooker – How To Report The News

And now, the link dump:
Now, this is how you put on jeans (Barely SFW)
Indy Custom Cornhole
Did this band rip the DC logo?
The Bud Light clothing drive

Paris-Nice Cometh:
Paris-Nice 2010: The Big Preview
AFLD to snub UCI at Paris-Nice
Paris-Nice serves up a treat
Weekend Preview – Murcia, West Flanders, L’Eroica, and the Race to the Sun

I’m going to be, of all places, in Texas next week. Del Rio, Texas. I look forward to doing a whole lot of nothing. I, of course, will have to bring school work with me. As they say, the river never stops flowing.

See all that sun? It’s going to be glorious outside today and I am stuck in here. All day. From 10a-10p. And everyone on facebook is posting pictures of being outside.

Everyone’s out riding. Enjoy it. Spring is coming. I can feel it. The kids on our street are outside playing. They’ll all be banging on our front door soon to ask Dominic to fix their bikes.

***********

Just as soon as I typed that a little kid was banging on the front door asking for me to pump his tires up. Which I did. His Mommy and Daddy sell drugs for a living. And live in the Section 8 house across the street.

Hill ride with Ryan tomorrow.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 – (1/4) The hills
Tom Boonen is as explosive as ever. The form looks very, very good. Heinrich Haussler also looks to be on form. No lack of confidence in that young man.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 – (2/4) Flecha attacks
Flecha lights the dynamite. Boom!

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 – (3/4) Final kilometers
Haussler looks fantastic in the finale . Same with Tyler Farrar.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 – (4/4) Interview Flecha
Big ups to VDB. Class.

This one languished in my inbox for a few weeks. I had a class canceled on me, with about ten minutes notice, one afternoon last week. So instead of, you know, working ahead or some shit like that, I set about reading through some of my long overdue emails.

We do what we can in this life, right?

From: Primo
Subject: Bin Laden blasts US for climate change
You still cant tell the cops from the bad guys.

Bush’s man Bin Lalden is talking like he’s fucking Al Gore!

news.yahoo.com/…bin_laden_tape

I ain’t gonna vote for him, but I wonder if Bin is going to be onna ballet next election? He does have a lot of valid points. However, considering that Bin is a Saudi and a member the richest oil family on earth, hearing this shit from him is like hearing about Exxon cloning oil resistant baby seals.

Fuck, I’m confused. Time for a bike ride to clear my head…..

Ah fuck it. The god damn terrorists are winning.

A new bike for me is never a reality until I ride it. You know what I mean? Dominic gets excited about every little part, every detail. I am just kinna like ‘meh’ until it’s built and I am pedaling. I can sit and stare at it, post pictures of it, talk about it, blog about it, but I am not officially excited until it’s time to ride! Yesterday was that day.

It needs some mud.

I was totally psyched to ride a MTB again! I always had one when I was in my 20’s (that makes me sound so old). I rode it everywhere back then because it was my only form of transportation. When we talked about building me a MTB, I wanted it to be old school.

The trails are a wreck and will stay that way until May, I hear. So we just rode downtown and goofed around. Ended up at Lunken and rode the bike trail some. Not every ride has to be a fucking hammer session. I like to have fun on my bikes, fuck around, remember why I love them so much.

Gnome, that XL beanie you sent fits Dominic and he loves it.

Dominic builds the best bikes. He only had to make one minor adjustment (the seatpost has a quick release!). The shifters are really sucky. The fork is rigid. The bike is heavy as fuck. It’s super comfy though, and fits me perfectly. It was a bitch to climb on. Racing on it will be interesting. I’ll likely be bringing up the rear! But it’s a beautiful bike and I love riding it. May needs to hurry up and get here so I can ride trails.

NSFW – Zen where the FUCK do you get this shit? This is just nasty.

L7 was an awesome band. Turn it up!

This weekend we’re supposed to hit 50’s. That means two things. Muddy yard (dogs). And a hard ride outside. I am hooking up with Ryan for one of his killer hill sufferfests. This kid is like 26 and totally kicks my fucking ass. He’s a cocky little fuck and finds joy in making me cry on the bike.

From Ray out of Phoenix:

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – A bicyclist has died days after being hit by a garbage truck in Scottsdale.

Police said 53-year-old Cindie Holub was riding a bicycle east on Dynamite Boulevard along the far right side of the roadway around 1:10 p.m. on February 24th.

A 50-year-old man driving a Waste Management garbage truck was reportedly attempting to pass when the right front of the truck hit the bicyclist.

Holub was airlifted to Scottsdale Osborn hospital with life threatening injuries including a possible broken back, pelvis, and internal bleeding.

Police said she died from her injuries around midnight on March 1st.

Full story abc15.com/…Scottsdale-bicyclist-dies-after-being-hit-by…

Funny, or not so, the President of Waste Management was in Phoenix the day before the “accident” promoting the Waste Management Golf Tournament. After seeing this guy on CBS’s reality show Undercover Boss and the show highlighting how the drivers are pushed to complete their routes, makes me wonder if corporate policy could have been a contributing factor.

Point being? Reduce your carbon footprint… risk your life. Awesomness.

“I knew that the form was good and that the team confided in me, but I would be lying if I thought at the start line I was going to win, even though I knew I could be at the front. . . In fact, during the team meeting, they asked what I thought the ideal situation would be. I responded that I didn’t know, that I preferred to improvise. And it was like that. I played by cards as it unfolded, without having a set plan.”
velonews.competitor.com.

Look at Flecha. The cards are on the table. He knows this is the moment. He has just gotten rid of the baggage. There is nothing between him and the finish line. He reaches out with his right index finger to shift up another gear… (Full size version of pic here.)

Image from Velonews.com

I believe that is Philippe Gilbert, of Omega Pharma Lotto, who just got his doors blown off. He’s no slouch, that one. He took Omloop Het Volk (as it was then called) twice in his career, in 2006 & 2008. Gilbert would finish the day in the second group, some :26 seconds back, soft pedaling to twenty six place.

There are eight million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them…

Monaco’s Cycling Federation has handed a two-year suspension to former Silence-Lotto rider Thomas Dekker for an EPO positive that resulted from the re-testing of an old sample last year.

Dekker, who was licensed in Monaco, learned last summer that the UCI retested a sample from December of 2007, after doping officials found suspicious data in the rider’s blood profiles maintained as part of the governing body’s biological passport program. When the initial sample tested positive for Dynepo — a variant of EPO — Dekker denied using the drug, but then admitted to doping when the B-sample came back positive as well.
Read more: velonews.competitor.com.

This kid has talent. Too bad he didn’t steer clear of that douchebag Cecchini.

Dekker admitted two years ago that he had collaborated with the infamous Luigi Cecchini, an Italian physician who has been linked to allegations of doping.
Supra: velonews.competitor.com.

For general information about Dekker / Cecchini relationship, doping investigations into Cecchini, and Cecchini distancing himself from his clients following doping offenses, read this: cyclingheroes.tripod.com. Cecchini wiki page worth reading as well.

Yep. Don’t go down that path. It looked bad from the word go. This is from March 16, 2006:

Dekker’s New Doc
Tirreno-Adriatico saw a young winner take the overall win in the form of Rabobank’s Thomas Dekker. This victory comes shortly after Dekker announced his association with renowned coach Luigi Cecchini. Speaking with British magazine Procycling about his decision to work with the Italian Dekker said “Cecchini is helping me with my training and nothing else. I am very ambitious, I want everything very quickly. Luigi shares that ambition.”. Now 61 years old, Cecchini has a reputation in the world of cycling for developing cycling superstars shared with his compatriot Michele Ferrari. Back in 1996, a number of Cecchini’s protégés shot to the forefront of the sport winning the Tour of Flanders, Tour de France and sweeping the podium at the Atlanta Olympics.
Read more: pezcyclingnews.com.

Young Thomas has some time to think about things. We’ll see what happens upon his return to the ranks of professional cycling.