Word of the Day

Collusion.

I rode home from work last night in a steady rain. I enjoy riding in the rain but I forgot my glasses so i basically powerwashed my eyes out with road grit. I got some serious eye-boogers this morning.

It finally stopped raining. Now my lawn will grow to mega lengths. I better mow it now.

Assuming no one else is thrown out of Le Tour my podium would consist of the "Son of Rudy", Basso, and a Disco, in that order. Floyd and Levi go 4th and 5th. Your thoughts?

Good day.

Got EPO?

Briefly. They’re all guilty. The whole lot of ‘em. Personally I couldn’t care less. Either they all do it or they all don’t. As long as it’s a level playing field. When you look at Lance specifically could you mark it down as possibly the largest marketing scam of all-time? Think about the money generated by this dude. The lives positively affected by what he’s accomplished. He’s got a huge stake in remaining innocent. Of course he’s going to refute any and every new report. The more you hear, the more you read, the worse it appears. Not that I feel his message is diminished a great deal after all he still was a high profile athlete that recovered from the brink to conquer all. All be it dirty(allegedly). How could you not draw inspiration from that? Maybe he had a chimera too, eh Tyler?

Speaking of playing field. I watched not one but two WC Soccer matches yesterday. Not much scoring but I’m hugely impressed by the athleticism and dexterity of these guys. Although the second half of Portugal V Holland was ridiculous I was still entertained.

Rains of biblical proportions continue to water my lawn. I like greenery. Beats scalding sunshine browning and burning the hell outta everything.

King of Queens is very funny.

Five days until a possible Lake float-cheap beer-bbq chicken-fireworks kinda day. Been a few years. I need to talk to BBP to check into that.

Six days until the Kessel BBQ-Fest. Hopefully we’ll have decent weather. Maybe a ride or four.

I’m done.

Bore

No desire to post anything today. I got outta bed. Finished the Patio Project. Then I cleaned out the garage to prep it for The BBQ-Fest. Made a run to The Salvation Army to donate some crap. Made a giant salad with steak and French fries in it. also made some krispie treats. Layed around and watched tv. Now I’m going to bed. At least it’s raining like hell. I like hearing rain fall. Makes me sleep well.

GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!

Last night we hit the drive-ins for the first time this year. First movie was Cars. One of those animated deals but it was pretty funny. Second movie was X-men. I can’t seem to get into X-men. We left halfway thru it when we both realized we had absolutely zero idea what the hell was going on. It was a pleasant evening to be lounging outside to watch a movie. Cooled off nicely.

I can’t say the same for today. Warning: I’m going to complain about PA weather again. Honestly? 98 degrees in Camp Hill today. What exactly gets accomplished in this kind of crap? I rode from 11-1 and felt like grim death. I drank 40oz of water before I left and 72oz more during the ride and it still wasn’t enough. At least when it’s 15 degrees outside I can at least layer and manage a decent ride. How exactly do you dress any cooler when it’s 98? I could just glue a chamois to my grundle and go naked. Somehow I think that wouldn’t fly either. I think I just don’t function well in this type of mungy weather.

So I get home and let The Wifey know I would be shutting it down for the rest of the day. She was ok with that but I did want to get some things done. I attempted to put my “Field of Dreams” together but I ran into a few broken and missing pieces so that’s on hold. Nothing like opening up the garage and throwing the B Boys on quite loudly for all the neighbors to enjoy as I rummage around looking for badminton parts. Those fellas are some bad-ass white boys.

Required viewing Monday evening. Game 7 of The Quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. This is the last hockey you’ll get to see until October. Speaking of sports no one watches. I guess people do watch soccer but it can’t be much more than hockey. Anyway, I caught some World Cup this afternoon. This is t first extended chance I had to watch any of it. seems as though nothings changed. One team scores a goal and the other team doesn’t. game over. Or both teams don’t score at all and the game is…….over? And these little sissies get lightly rough up and they fall to the ground like they’ve been shot by a cannon. Writhing around crying like a girly-man. What makes it all so stupid is these twits are faking an injury so they can get the ball back or somehow gain an advantage. It is pretty cool when you actually see a goal. My conundrum was watching it in HD but listening to English speaking commentators or watching it on a non-HD channel with Spanish commentators who are MUCH more passionate about the game and freak out when a goal is scored. Great stuff.

Gotta go, The Animal is trying to eat my cookies. L8

235 grams

So I made it out for a bit over 90 minutes on my bike today. Still feeling the after effects of physical labor from Sunday. Last time I ever do that.

I received my new ‘cross wheels yesterday and threw ‘em on the TCX. Just with a wheel swap I knocked one half of a pound off. American Classic 350’s with Sapim spokes. 1291 grams per pair. Old wheels were Bonty Race X-Lites at 1526 grams. In full race mode the TCX should weigh under 17lbs. I still need to figure out which carbon bars I’m going to run which will knock another tenth off. Should be a pretty light little sled. Don’t know what that gets me but it’s got count for something, right?

Fantastic grilling this evening. Raspberry Walnut marinated Delmonico kabobs with red peppers and portabellas. Steamed Broccoli and asparagus. Roasted redskin potatoes seasoned with a little EVOO and lemon pepper. I also made some chicken for The Wifey as per her request. Erin’s parents came over for the grub. Good stuff.

The weekend looks warm. As in really freakin hot! Joy. Drive-ins Saturday night.

Whatever

Looks like a nice today. And lucky for me I’m off work. I put in that little patio last Sunday and spent the next 3 days hobbling like a cripple due to all the physical labor involved. I think I’m finally on the mend. Yesterday my back was so stiff I could barely bend over.

Geno’s revisited. I didn’t clarify my stand very well in my last post concerning the Geno’s ordeal. Obviously what’s going on is pretty controversial. Lots of undies have been bunched up in knots. And for what? I’m certainly not going to defend this guy for being a jerk. However, he OWNS the business. If he wants to be a douchebag to some of his customers, let him. Those customers then have a choice. Deal with it or leave and never go back and tell all his/her friends to never go there either, instead going to Geno’s competition and feeding that lucky businessman’s family. Better yet, go find a nice Spanish restaurant, order some Tapas or maybe some Paella, and feel cultured and enlightened.

I digress. We all have choices to make in life. As I said, Geno’s business is at stake when he acts like an a-hole. If enough people are turned off by these antics his business will be affected and he’ll either adjust his policy or suffer the consequences. Sink or swim. Why is this any of our concern? If Geno’s so offends you, and this is where my problems lies, don’t go there but don’t let it ruin your day either. All those non-english speaking customers are adults. They can make decisions on their own. We don’t need to make it for them. If you feel so horrible for those folks maybe you should go down there and give them a hug and make it all better for them.

If I were the King of Cheesesteaks the smart thing to do would be to hire a spanish speaking employee or two and watch the cash roll in. Sink or swim. My guess is that place is making money hand over fist right now thanks to all the free publicity you “offended” people have given it.

The times I’ve been to Vallarta or TJ or Ensenada or my favorite, Puerto Nuevo I’ve always made an attempt to speak the native tongue when ordering food(best fucking Lobster in the world!) out of respect. If I couldn’t get my point across I’d just point to a dog walking down the street and I’d get a fresh tortilla with some meat in it. Yum. My point being I at least made an attempt to speak Spanish. Usually the person I was speaking to spoke English and all was well. This is something I haven’t heard brought up in this whole Geno’s affair. Why can’t these fine non-english speaking folks from wherever show just a little respect and make an attempt at English? Maybe they are, I don’t know. Why is that offensive?

Enough already. Lobsters are now dancing in my head. Día bueno mis amigos.

Question of the Day

As stated in an earlier blog, we, at the cyclery, are quite progressive in our conversations throughout the day. Un-PC, mind you, but I feel we come up with some real interesting stuff. Interesting to whom? You decide.

Today’s most interesting topic was whether or not animals can be MR. And if they can be, is it possible for humans to detect it? How we came to this subject matter is probably best left for the flies on the wall. I googled the topic and found this page the most entertaining. The end result, however, seems to be inconclusive.

And while on the topic of PC. When do we, the collective un-PC'rs, draw a line in the sand and say "cross this line, YOU DO NOT!"

One Hundred

Any number of titles could have worked for this post. “Why I Didn’t Ride My Bike Today” or Why I Didn’t Go To Philly and Watch a Bike Race With Eric” or “Holy Shit! My Back is Killing Me”. But instead I paid homage to myself for making this my 100th blog entry. My 9th grade English Teacher, Mrs. Wolf, would be both flabbergasted and proud at the same instant if she knew I was able to pull off 100 entries considering I couldn’t manage to come up with bupkis in my graded daily journal back in the day.

So, why didn’t I ride today? Beautiful day, would’ve been nice. But, I had bigger fish to fry. There is a little patch of grass at our house that’s been bugging me from day one. I started doing something about it Thursday. Today, I finished it. Just to the right of our driveway between the carport and the garage was the ugliest rocky clump of dirt and half-dead grass you would ever see. So I threw a little patio in it’s place. Lots of digging. Heavy lifting. Sawing lumber. It’s a pretty amateur job but it looks a helluva lot better than it did before I started. I woke up at the crack of dawn and cruised over to Lowes for some goods. The heavy operations started around 10:30am and I worked straight through ‘til 4:00pm getting most everything done. I just have a couple small things left to call it complete but no big deal really. Now, I also have a place to throw the Chiminea Erin bought me for being her husband for 3yrs. Sweet.

My Patio Project (some of the bricks are still wet)

That’s why I didn’t ride. I guess I could’ve this evening but as I said, my freakin back is hammered. That’s also why I didn’t go to Philly to hang with Eric at the bicycle racing event. He had VIP access which would’ve been super-cool but I really wanted to get this little project knocked out. Sorry BBP. Maybe next year?

That’s all I have for now. I’m spanked. GOODNIGHTNOW!!!

Snowflakes and Fingerprints

So, what exactly does come up in conversation on any given day at Holmes Cyclery? Well, most of the time we’re discussing quantum physics, rocket science, Einstein, and solving various issues most people with normal IQ’s cannot grasp. Today, however, things moved in an atypical direction when VisitPA Ray boldly states “I can hear anyone in this room fart and tell you exactly who it was without seeing said farter”.

That’s when a curious little thought came up. Are there ever two farts alike? Serious food for thought. I do think Ray is accurate in that everyone has a certain, shall we say, fart signature. But two the same? These are the things that perplex our scholarly minds.

On a different note. Our boy KHam is heading down to NC to race at the NORBA this weekend. Good luck, Kyle. If things don’t work out for you on the mountainbike and you get tired of getting spanked by the likes of VisitPA Ray and friends, I think you definitely have a janitorial career to fall back on. Fabulous work cleaning the shop tonight. Seriously though, good luck.

Kyle works a mean sponge

More Gooder

The Wifey is down in Cape May this weekend hanging out with her parents at Uncle Willie’s condo. My quandary is this; The Sopranos finale is tonight. As crap as it’s been I still need to watch it. As much as Erin has bashed it in the past she sat there with me the past three months watching this dreck. Do I wait until she gets back and watch the replay mid-week? Or just be done with it tonight? I’ve got an hour to decide.

I love this weather. I believe it topped out at around 70 today but was mid to high 60’s all day. I just go better at this temp. Not just on my bike, but just in general. Who in the hell actually enjoys 90+ degrees besides the swimming pool builders?

I did a good hilly ride today. Constantly up and down. Felt great. I headed down past The Hebe’s neck of the woods just west of 83 and found yet more awesome backroads that get me down and over towards Dover and back.

‘Neckcar. Missed it. Not a single lap. Ho-hum.

VisitPA Ray layed a nice whompin’ on our boy KHam yesterday. Not a bad day for either. 2nd and 3rd. I can’t wait ‘til Ray emails me the race report which usually contains podium pictures in it. I wonder where that particular picture might end up tomorrow? Perhaps the Holmes Wall of Fame/Shame? Although in no way does it get any better than hearing both race reports in their presence at the same time. Hebe? You peddling drugs in our area tomorrow?

Kenny's got a conundrum.

Bob Mould – See a Little Light. Nice.

Dos de Junio

There are plenty of reasons why I love living in this great ‘ol country of ours. However, there is a growing list of reasons I’d be just as happy somewhere else. When shit like this happens I can only scratch my head. Silly. Where does it end? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not planning on picking up and heading south. But can you honestly tell me a story like that gives you a good feeling this country is headed in the right direction?

I’ve spent the day doing domestic chores for The Wifey. I have(had) every intention on getting on the bike but at this point the skies are threatening. No big deal I guess. With the humidity as high as it is right now I’d be drenched head to toe in sweat if I didn’t get rained on.

Hockey has still been quite thrilling the past few nights. Carolina v Edmonton in the finals. If you’re not a fan of either of those teams there is no way you can tell me anyone would have predicted them in the finals.

Phillies still suck.

I’ve got more crap to get done before The Boss gets home from work. Plus, I'm throwing together some quality Mex for dinner. We'll have some carne asada and carnitas fajitas with some homemade guacamole. Pretty much the best food ever. L8