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I did not ride a bike today. Nor did I ride one yesterday. I may not even ride one tomorrow.
I feel like river dancing.
A couple of image laden emails came my way these last few days. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
From: Case Flakeman
A beautiful word, in gold leaf, painted, dedicated to you, brother.
Bitch’n.
Next one contained exactly three words. It’s a good thing a picture is worth a thousand of the little bastards.
From: Sadcow
Gotta love truckstops.
Indeed.
I feel like washing my entire body in bleach. Twice.
Link dump:
“If Bruyneel does not want me, it will be Bruyneel who is leaving the team”: velonews.com
I don’t play video games. But, if I did: teamfortress.com/movies
Jarate, where dignity does not exist: teamfortress.com/sniper_vs_spy
Just riding along??? flickr.com
I was there, man: upsideout.blogspot.com
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Team Fortress 2… The Scout is the ShamWow guy!!
Nice!!
“Do you have any idea, any idea who I am? Basically I am a big deal.”
In my own mind.
I rolled out this morning under light rain and 61 degrees F. It took me five miles to warm up— I was balling my fingers behind the hoods to try and thaw them before we hit the singletrack where I’d need to use ’em.
Go ahead, Aridzoneans, try to imagine it. Just try.
Ha! I knew you couldn’t!
Happy 4th post facto, all.
Rode the Wasatch Crest Trail twice with my ten year old son. His first experience. He complained most of the way on the uphill and even abandoned his bike right at the crest and started walking down Millcreek. He gets in moods where he stops being rationale. I waited him out while he walked downhill about a half mile, then went and got him. We had a discussion and he wanted to hold firm. Finally I said he could go back and get his bike or he could get a smack on the behind and then go back and get his bike. Either way, he was going to go back and get the bike. He fretted for a few moments, then headed back uphill.
He wouldn’t acknowledge me for the next 20 minutes, but then he started hooted and hollering, calling out stumps and rocks and trees.
When we got home, he told his mom how great that trail is.
The downhills are better when you pay the price to get uphill first.
Re: AGW. Someone wrote sarcastically on an earlier post that weather is not climate. Ok. Looking up when weather becomes climate, the magic point is 30 years. Perhaps we can agree that looking back 30 years at the lower tropospheric mean global temp should give a fair picture of “climate” where air meets the ground. Right?
Here is a link to a graph of mean global lower tropospheric temps for the last 30 years as of June 09. Mean change? +0.001 C.
One thousandth of a degree mean higher temp.
http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/uah_jun09.png
Here is a link to the current active surface temp station in Hillsboro, Ohio. Note that the temp sensor is laying flat on the ground.
http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/hillsboro_oh_ushcn.jpg
From Gary Strand, software engineer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) commenting on Climate Audit:
“As a software engineer, I know that climate model software doesn’t meet the best standards available. We’ve made quite a lot of progress, but we’ve still quite a ways to go.” http://wattsupwiththat.com/
Since global mean tropospheric temps are flat for the last 30 years, and the surface station data on which the global warming computer models are based is suspect at best, and NCAR says that the coding of the global warming computer models doesn’t meet standards, wouldn’t you agree that tanking the U.S. economy with Cap and Trade is at best premature, and in all honesty very, very bad policy?
SMY
Because we needed another reason to hate Vino I bet he pops his collar too.
Oh, and here is another great reason to <a href="” title=”hate Bruyneel”>
I suck at html http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/2009/06/astanas_chris_horner_explains.html
“wouldn’t you agree that tanking the U.S. economy with Cap and Trade is at best premature, and in all honesty very, very bad policy?”
SMY- I’d have to put it about equal with carefully selecting your data so they fit your beliefs, going against the entire scientific community, and sticking your heads in the sand so you can recklessly trash the planet a little while longer. Hear that tinkling sound? It’s the sound of your urine falling on your son’s head.
PS- enjoy the ride, 56 degrees F and light rain this morning, I may go with the full-finger gloves today.
56 degrees? Stop yer whining. Sounds like the perfect riding temp to me. Try riding when it’s 104.
Mike- I prefer it when it’s over 60 degrees, and if I dink around another hour or so, it will be. Hopefully the sky will lighten up, rain is less than ideal, but it has barely sprinkled thus far.
I’m headed for warmer stuff next week:
14- Cheney WA, Columbia Plateau State Park
15- Ione WA, hwy 31 to Nelway BC and back
16- Ione WA, Sullivan Lake loop
17- Schweitzer ID, lift assisted
18- Silver Mtn ID, lift assisted
19- Hiawatha Trail, Pearson ID to Taft MT and back
Three states, two countries, six rides in seven days. Awoo. C’mon out and ride.
Wow, that sounds nice! Now I’m gonna start whining.
Hopefully the climate/weather holds out for the Levis/Trow 100 in lovely Wisconsin this weekend…my first mtb century race.
Sounds like a blast Mikey! I’ve ridden in 5 states so far this year as well.
SFB- an mtb century is a big day indeed. Forza!
Smarter Thanyou, you actually hit your kid?
is it me or does Frank Schleck have some bike handling issues
and Garmin is totally out of their league as evidenced in the Giro and this TOur. this aint just no sophmore jinx. they blow
What on earth prompted Cadel Evans to stay with Lotto this season?
Garmin totally out of their league and they almost win the TTT? clearly Astana is better than anyone else as a stage racing team, Columbia is the best at winning stages/single day races. yeah, they don’t win much, but i think it’s because they are trying to form a cohesive and clean team. i do think they will win a stage this year.
Maybe Renshaw will blow up and then Garmin’s choo-choo train will have a chance of delivering young Tyler to the line ahead of Cavendish. He beat Cavendish once this season, it could happen again.
Dave,
Spoken as someone who is not a parent.
If you don’t know the difference between hitting and spanking, you are a moron.
No, I don’t hit him or spank him. I don’t have to.
Jr knows that I would do it if he choose poorly when that is a consequence.
In this case, it was a matter of his safety. Too far to walk out. Too far in the heat of the day. He’d consumed most of his 72 ounces of ice water in his camelback. He didn’t have the stamina to walk out. If it were shorter, I would have let him walk out, leave his bike, and let him mow lawns to earn enough to replace it when he could have been riding along with me.
If he had just sat down, I would have waited him out. But he was walking and about a half mile downhill when I made the threat. Any longer and the situation would have become a threat to his safety.
In the end, he had a great time on the ride and wants to do it again next weekend.
SMT,
My god, we agree on something – earn your turns…
And I say that at an atheist. Go figure.
ok that was genius
spanking is different than hitting…profound and patronizing
dave is hitting it different that spanking it though? you stupid fuck
garmin sucks donkey wazoo they cant handle it
they almost won. but they didn’t
matty white and Jv look like a train this their dog every time the camera goes to their car
Smarter Thanwho, as a matter of fact I am a parent. 19 year old daughter entering her sophomore year of college in the fall. Kid’s never been in trouble, always got decent grades and her friends are fine young men and women. And no, I have never spanked, hit, struck or beat her. It might have been easier at times if I had, but in parenting as in any endeavor the reward tends to be proportionate to the effort.
And if it was that hostile an environment what were you doing there with your kid in the first place?
Oh, and butthead-I’m a stupid fuck? That means so much coming from a man who can’t even construct a decent sentance.