Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Desperately Seeking Susan







Okay, maybe not "desparately', and maybe not even "Susan",  but I am looking for crews that could use another electron in their electron cloud.

My crew has scattered to the 4 winds, like so much flotsam. Big Jim Slade is busy training, and his training plan has him off on Tuesday. Human Wrecking Ball went and wrecked himself! Lil' Ball is doing as he should, and getting hisself an edumication. The rest of the core has long since reached critical mass, and fizzled out of the cycling atmosphere.

There are a bunch of new recruits out there, that are fun to ride with, but their attendance on weeknight rides is a little more sporadic.

So, who out there is still running around in the dark, on weeknights? I typically ride on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but I can be flexible. Don't tell me that I should join faceyspace! That place is the timesuck devil, and if you feel that the FaceBorg is the only way to communicate, you're probably just going to aggravate me anyway.

I heard today, that Munson Monday may still be rolling. That sounds promising. I see that the ever stoked, Tommy G is still running his Tuesday night crits. That may be a viable option.  What else? I know somebody around here has to be helping keep the cycling night light industry afloat.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Minutiae



A lot has happened since my Rwanda trip, but writing about it all felt so insignificant, compared to that post. The reality is, if you stop writing when you don't think there is something as "big" as the last post, you wind up living out your life as that high school quarterback.......who peaked in high school. 

So now, you get minutiae. Not entirely, but maybe a little.

Another Felasco has come and gone. After last year, I wasn't doing it again. Last year sucked, for a lot of reasons. But when I found out that only a couple dozen people had done the event every year, me included, I signed on, again.  We were still missing some key players, this year. Some out due to life reasons, others due to poor planning. This year saw Un-Big Tony make the 15hr drive to join us. U-BT is an old school crew member, who was often mistaken as my brother. His trials skills are renowned, but now that he is no longer Big Tony, and has been spending quite a bit of time in the saddle, he has a motor to back up all of those skills. It was bitter sweet realizing that he was a changed rider. I was stoked to see him riding so well, but at the same time it stung a bit to realize that I was getting dropped. So be it, that's just how Felasco goes.

I didn't feel so strong during my ride. I got popped off of the group, after lunch, and it took me a while to get back on. When I did, I made the decision to forgo the 62 mile option, and stick with "just" 50. I did, at least, decide to keep my foot in the gas to the best of my ability, for the full 50. I was bummed at cutting it short, but when I looked at my Garmin, 2 days later, I realized that I rode one of my fastest Felasco's, yet. With all of the added singletrack, and the heavy traffic, that's saying something. I'll take it.

Life has been super complicated, the past 2 weeks, and I feel like I constantly have my nose to one grindstone, or another. I had intended to stay at work late, and try to put a dent in the heap. But after some cajoling from this new school, Tiny Might, I decided to join the HG  ride. The ride didn't fit my desires, so I slipped off into the dark, alone. I settled into my pace, and continued further into the woods. As I found my rhythm, and the flow came together, I pondered how lucky this night had become. That afternoon, between work and the promise of rain, I had no ride plans, and only more work to look forward to. Instead, the rains dispersed, the work was pushed aside for another day, and I found so much peace in those woods. I typically ride with a big group, but that solo ride was just what the doctor ordered. It was an unexpected gift, but again, I'll take it.

I have a new page I'm playing with, that is perfect for quick posts of images and ideas, both mine, and borrowed. Check it out if you get a chance.