Answer

What a world, what a world. It was 100 degrees in the shade the day I posted that entry. It reminded me of one of my all-time favorite movies. The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy dumped a bucket of water on The Wicked Witch of the West she cries out "I'm melting, I'm melting". Just as she disappears her last words are "what a world, what a world". I know, I'm a simpleton. Have I ever given any reason to think otherwise?

So, we made it home from our Jim Thorpe lounge safe and sound. I was so tired from relaxing the past two days that I needed to take it easy today and nap a little. Rough stuff.

Monday morning we finally did our touristly duty by visiting the Asa Packer Mansion. We’ve been meaning to do it the past couple times we’ve been up there but never made it. quite an impressive place. Asa Packer has an interesting story behind him and walking through this mansion was pretty friggin cool. The tour guide claimed the place is still 95% original. I won’t bore you with the details but it was eye-popping to see how awesome a millionaire’s (billionaire by today’s standards) mansion was back in the day. If you’re ever in the Jim Thorpe area do yourself a favor and check this place out.

Outside the Packer Mansion - Neat place

I did manage to hit the Lehigh Gorge rail trail yesterday for exactly 50 miles. I wish I had my powertap on my ‘cross bike to see what those numbers looked like. Dead flat for roughly 44 of those miles. Pushing ‘cross tires on a cinder trail is not as easy as you might think. Or was it the fact that I was riding alone for 2hrs 50mins? Nevertheless, it was a good ride. I did use my HRM, which told me I spent all of 2hrs 20mins at around 160bpm. That works.

It was a little toasty on that ride so when I got back I filled the whirlpool with cold water and jumped in with only minor shrinkage. That felt good. Then I moved to a hot shower to loosen up my stiff legs. You Williams Girls (you know who you are!) will be happy to know that I’ve altered my shower routine to now include below the knee soaping and cleansing. Although I still refuse to pay any attention to my feet. If I soap my entire self above the ankles while also shampooing my head, I contend that gallons of water per minute coming from the shower washing all those cleansing agents off of me by way of my toes is all the attention my feet need. It’s not like I have smelly cheesey feet. I challenge any of you to come up with a cleaner pair of feet. Note: I did NOT say prettier feet! Just cleaner. Am I wrong? America (ode to Bernie Mac), tell me I’m right here.

Is next week really the beginning of August???

Church bells

I’m relaxing at the Inn at Jim Thorpe right now. We got a pretty sweet room. Top floor. It dropped into the mid-50’s last night. Aaahhh, that felt nice.

I worked the MS 150 ride this weekend. I had the last rest-stop Saturday which drug on forever waiting for everyone to roll through. Sunday I had the first stop which required less time but more work. Lots of flats and gear adjustments. Sometimes it’s tricky to tell someone the reason their bike is not shifting is because it’s P.O.S.

I was home in time to catch the final stage of Le Tour. Waytogo Floyd. I have no stories of being passed in the woods back in the day by a wheelie-ing Floyd to tell. I really was never a big Floyd fan. Sorta ambivalent really. Until that mega-comeback last week. That was freakin’ macho. Legendary. How can you not root for that? Anyway, pretty cool. Erin’s dad now has a new hero.

After watching the tour finish we hit the open road for JT. Got here quickly and settled into lounge mode. Due to my work schedule I don’t need to be back to work until Thursday. Sweet. Looks like nice days for my lounge. This town is cool. Quaint. Touristy but I like it. The local church bells ring on the hour telling you what time it is. Reminds me of when I lived in East Berlin growing up. I would ride my BMX bike all over town during the summer but never knew what time it was until the church bells rang.

I brought my TCX so I could do a road ride and an extra set of wheels so I could then get on the rail trail for a bit of ‘cross type stuff. Sunday afternoon I got out for a road ride. I wanted to explore a little so I tooled around town and then headed toward the mountains. The town itself has some VERY steep little climbs all over. Not exactly short ones either. I mean not a tenth or two. Half milers straight up. Warmed me up good. Once I crossed the Lehigh River into the other part of town I new I had a more sustained climb. 3 miles of it. The first part of it was steep but in steps and also still in town so I didn’t pay attention so much but as I headed north out of town I realized how much elevation I had already gained. At that point I climbed through the woods on a nice paved road with a wide shoulder. It never got hard but I was in my 25 most of the time. I never imagined I would be climbing for 2 more miles. At the top it plateaud so I kept going for about 7-8 miles to the next town and then turned around. Just before I dropped back down the climb I saw a sign indicating a 2 mile descent at 6%. That put it into perspective. Halfway down I saw another sign indicating the first mile I climbed through town was 9%. It helped me in a small way gain an appreciation for the Tour climbs. Say for instance La Toussuire. 12 miles @ 6%. Or the Galibier. 26 miles @ 4.5%. Not particularly steep but I only went 2 miles @ 6%. Pretty nuts. I couldn’t imagine something like Joux-Plane 7.5 miles @ 8.7%! Ri-damn-diculous.

Today we had breakfast at a diner down the street. I had French toast and some scrambled eggs. Erin had a mega-omelet. Now we’re back in lounge mode. I’m going to throw on the ‘cross wheelset this afternoon and do the Lehigh Gorge rail trail. Out and back should be around 50 miles or so. Flat obviously but that’s good. No coasting. It’s like riding at the beach without the wind. Nowhere to coast. Tempo, tempo, tempo. Plus it’s scenic. I can work up an appetite for more grub and a nap. Maybe a lounge in our whirlpool tub.

Enjoy the day.

What a world, what a world

10 bucks to the first person that correctly identifies the relevance of the title of this post.

A little warm today, eh? I digress. The Wifey and I cruised over to Casa Legend last night for some good grub and hung out a bit. We couldn’t come up with a movie to fall asleep watching so Mike threw in season 1 of The Land of the Lost. I haven’t seen nary a rerun anywhere in probably 20yrs of this quality Saturday morning TV program from back in the day. We watched the first 2 episodes. The first was how they met Cha-Ka. The second, and more highly anticipated, was the first appearance of the sinister and quite scary Sleestaks. Good entertainment. We went to Reeser’s for some soft serve ice cream and called it a night.

Today I met El Legend for a quick but hot-as-balls ride over to Cousin Calvin & Amy’s to meet our wives for a dip in their mega pool. That hit the spot. Thanks to them for having us. One month ‘til their Fest. Always fun.

Speaking of fests. Erin’s Uncle Jimmy took some pictures at our BBQ and sent them to us on a disc, which we received yesterday. Lots of good pics. Most of them funny. These are some of my favorites.

Your humble narrator workin my stainless steel Weber

Thotis, Seve, Oz, The Legend - badminton anyone?
Me pointing out The Wifey's beer belly, eerrrr.....Pregnant belly
I think I might be in a bit of trouble posting this one.....The Mrs Legend
Nicki, John, and Brother of John enjoy my hard efforts...The Mini-Patio

Enjoy the week. Stay cool.

Crickets

If I were to say to you, my loyal readers, I have absolutely nothing at all to say right now, would that mean that I just said something?

Instead I'll leave you with my favorite image from this past Sundays mega-couch/lounge. Priceless. Silly Frenchie. Or.............

My favorite image from the Drive-ins Saturday night. Enough.

Aloha

The Wifey and I hosted our 2nd Annual BBQ-Fest on Sunday. All went well. Thanks to all who attended. It seems like I never get to spend as much time with everyone while I’m too busy grilling up burgers, doggies, and hog-birds or just generally running around with zippy’s disease making sure everything is ok.

I did didley poo yesterday which is exactly how today is looking. I may get on Erin’s elliptical machine for an hour or so. I used it a week ago and sorta enjoyed it. I’d get on my bike but vicious rain is headed this way in short order. We did go out and get breakfast at Eat & Puke. My favorite breakfast joint, Zach’s Country Kitchen in New Cumberland, was closed so E & P it was. I’m never disappointed with E & P but you just always think you can do better at a mom & pop place. I had a scrambled eggs and bacon with a waffle covered with an apple cinnamon slurry. I have the worlds most sweetest sweet tooth but your standard syrups are just way too much. Good stuff.

We watched Le Tour finish. I thought those final hills would shed the sprinters more but credit Tornado Tom for getting over that last bump in the road and snagging yellow. Macho. An equally macho achievement was accomplished in the sports world today. Competitive eating is quality entertainment. 53.75!! Crazy.

We went to see The DaVinci Code last night with The Mr & Mrs Legend. Good flick. It was tough to keep up with all that’s thrown at you but I was entertained and stimulated just the same. I find theology fascinating. Part history. Part……well….fiction, I guess. Erin read the book and was happy with the movie. The only drawback was getting to say "hello" and "goodbye" to The Legends and not much else. The Wifey and I wanted to grab a beer at Coakley's but I guess old people need more sleep or something like that.

Speaking of reading books. Why is it that since I’ve been married I no longer read books but just lie on my ass and watch TV? I do ride way more now also but I’ll be damned if I haven’t read 2 books in 3 years. Maybe I should sell the ‘Ol 55er. Maybe being married has nothing to do with it and that giant TV has everything to do with it. I wonder what Erin would say if I asked her? My zippy’s disease comment earlier in this post is a reference to one of my favorite books. Road Fever. Cool book.

Thor hammering away right now. Late

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

I tell ya, Ray, Best Ride Ever

What a day. Erin’s grandparents were hosting a picnic this afternoon up in Thompsontown so as planned I wanted to ride up to enjoy the festivities. Get a ride in, work up an appetite, eat my ass off. Simple plan. Simple formula. The essential basis to why I ride a bike.

So I begin my journey into somewhat unknown territory. I had a choice right off the bat. Looking at a map, I knew I could cruise up thru Enola and hug the river north into Marysville (Home of Kuhn ‘Cross) and take Rt. 850 west out into the valley and then north again OR I could chop at least 6-8 miles off and instead go over Lamb’s Gap and catch 850 much further west. So, ride longer or climb a wall just 13 miles in. I’ve never climbed Lamb’s but knew from the years of mtb’ing up there what kind of climb it is. That’s the way I went. It went well. I’m not a big dude. I should be able to climb at least decently. I can’t. Nevertheless, I made it over the top and picked up 850. Not even two minutes later I find young Hammaker rolling east towards me. He turned around and joined me. Sweet! Company.

Good thing about having Kyle along at this point is his local knowledge of the roads in those parts. I’ve never ridden up Perry-way. He steered me clear of a road I was planning to take which would have been a steeper harder climb than the one we did instead. KHam stayed with me until we reached Newport. That was 40 miles in. Up until that point I have to say those back roads we rode were the smoothest most scenic roads I’ve ever ridden on. A good bit of up and down stuff but not near as much as I had expected.

Once in Newport I stopped for fresh agua fria and a Snickers Almond bar and hit the homestretch. Or so I thought. A quick 6 miles into Millerstown and the final climb I knew I’d be faced with. I knew it may be a dirt road in which case I might have to navigate around it and add 5-6 miles to the ride. At this point I’m at 46 and feeling the effects of 96 degree sunshine. 46 ain’t much really but add in the alpine nature of this ride and the heat and, yeah, I was feeling spent. And sure enough, it was a dirt road. I didn’t want to backtrack and add miles so I forged ahead. Dirt road. One mile. Straight up the mountain. Very little shade. The PowerTap info for this particular one mile stretch is rather comical. Not at the time, mind you, but much after the fact. 11 minutes. Avg power - 227. Avg HR - 176. Avg cadence - 46! Avg speed - 5.1 mph!!

After that little bastard it was cake the rest of the way in. In the end it was 56 miles. Three and a half hours total. For the next week or so I will be avoiding any road that has Gap, Hill, or Mountain in it's name. I've seen enough for the time being.

I won’t get into the ridiculous amount of food I ate. Too much to list.

On to the unveiling of The Wifey’s anniversary gift. I bought her one of these. She loves it. I think this covers her birthday and Xmas for this year and next. I’ll be accepting applications to work out at KAC (Kessel Athletic Center).

I’m sleepy. Goodnight.

Sunshine Daydream

As I sit here pecking away at the keyboard it couldn’t be a more beautiful day outside. I tidied up the garage this morning. I need to get some junk together for an inventory reduction sale on ebay. Then I got out for a couple hours on the road sled. I haven’t ridden all week beyond commuting so I was prepared to feel like poo. I did. And I just got done walking circles in my yard mowing the grass. Quite a day so far.

And yet I can’t seem to feel a little bummed. I get this way occasionally. Why? I’m homesick. Or maybe a better way to say is I'm awaysick. A couple nights ago I caught a show on TV that featured SD. I’ve visited there many many times. I have a good friend, Glen, who lives there with his fantastic wife Lupe. I think the first time I visited was back in ’98. Probably half a dozen times since then. I never get sick of it. I ALWAYS miss it. I was a fingernail from moving there in late ’00. Why not, you ask? I had met The Future Mrs. Kessel just months prior to my trip out just before Xmas that year and hit it off real well with her so I became hesitant to make the move. In retrospect it was the right thing to do because fast-forward to present and you’ll find me celebrating 3yrs of wedded bliss in a few short days.

That doesn’t make the tug I feel from the land of perpetual 70 degree sunshine go away. Henceforth, my melancholy. I’ll get over it. I always do.
Speaking of The Wifey, she loved her anniversary gift. As I said before I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to gift giving to Erin. She hooted slightly. I think she showed more emotion yesterday receiving her gift than she did the day we tied the knot.

We watched King Kong last night. Crap. Not even worth the $3 rental fee. It’s so cliché, and I love clichés, but the original was never made better. Not the 70’s version. I’m talking the version from ’33. Watch that one if you can and you’ll see what I mean.

The hammock beckons. Good day.

ouch

For one reason or another I’ve just put in 3 straight ten hour days at work. I’m pooped. Yesterday I delivered a gym to a detention center over in Harrisburg. Hburg is not that sketchy of a place with the exception of a neighborhood here and there. I was borderline sketchy yesterday. All was good, however. This place was a half-way house for cons. It was explained to me that most of them are mandatory drug sentence convicts but they do get their share of more violent cases.

As soon as I walked in one of the old-timers pulled me aside to make sure I was very aware of where I was and the potentially explosive situation I was in. I think he was more keen on impressing me with how “brave” he was to work in such a dangerous environment for over 20 years. Truth of the matter is every “resident” I came in contact with, as they are not locked down, was polite and respectful and mannerly. Maybe it was because I was installing a new toy for them, I don’t know. I did manage to smash the shit out of my right middle finger like a dumb ass.

I picked up Erin’s anniversary gift. Now I just have to figure out when and how to unveil it. As usual, I’m pretty sure she has no idea what I’ve gotten her.

The Phillies suck.

I’m planning on riding up to Erin’s grandparents on Monday for their Memorial Day picnic. They live in Thompsontown which is roughly 40 miles by car up 322 towards Happy Valley. Of course I won’t be taking the highway so I’m thinking I might be looking at more like 55-60 miles or so. A few hills to mix it up. It should be a real nice ride. Especially when I’m done and more tastey picnic morsels await me. Temps in the mid-80’s should make it a little interesting considering it really hasn’t been that warm in a long while.

Otherwise, I’m looking at a lot of R&R this weekend. A little work around the house. A few rides. I’m sure we’ll be doing our own grillin’. Fun.

I caught this brief little news story on cyclingnews a couple days ago and found it funny. I'm sure most have seen it but I know some who read this are not cyclingnews.com junkies so I'll just copy and paste it and here it is. Enjoy.

Water-carriers battle in the Giro

Cycling is traditionally divided into stars and water-carriers and while battle rages at the top of the Giro d'Italia rankings between stars such as Ivan Basso, José Gutierrez and Paolo Savoldelli, a literal contest among water-carriers has been going on further back.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport Quick-Step's José Antonio Garrido recently set a new record by carrying 16 water bottles simultaneously from the team car to his team-mates. With one bottle in his mouth, two in the cages on the bike, two in his pockets, six under the front of his jersey, and five under the back, Garrido lugged over five litres of water to his team-mates.
In yesterday's stage, Fabio Sacchi (Milram) beat Garrido's record by carrying 18 water bottles simultaneously, but Garrido thinks he can beat the Italian. "I've already done a test, and think I can manage 20 bottles," he said.

There's more than just bragging rights at stake too. At the end of the Giro on Sunday, Italian cycling legend Francesco Moser will present a prize to the man who manages to carry the most bottles: a bottle of wine for each of the bottles carried. "It will be a kind of miracle: water will be turned into wine!" said Moser.

Clean Underwear

Wow! It’s windy outside today. I ventured down to the armpit of PA today to catch a little bicycle racing. It’s only 25 minutes from my house so why not? I can throw some support for The Legend. Too bad this race has to be one of the most boring unspectacular business park races a person could ever attend. If not for the raging headwind blowing into the riders faces as they made their way up the finishing frontstretch I’m pretty sure I would have slipped right into a nap after two laps. With all the wind it at least held my attention for approx 6-8 laps before I packed it in. I don’t know how these guys don’t fall asleep racing this course. I have zero experience at road racing so maybe it’s a tactics/strategy rush that keeps them interested. Beats me. Regardless, I have huge respect for these dudes. The wind was gusting up to 30-35mph and they were still fast as shit up this grinder of a hill through the start/finish. When I left there were at least 3, maybe 4 groups splintered all over the road. Whatever.

I did hang with Kenny down at the race today. He just got back from a trip to Cali with his fiancé. That’s right. You heard me. Fiancé. Way to go Kenny. Congrats.

I wonder if KHam spanked VisitPA Ray today as planned. He claimed he was going to give Ray a rip-down at the Guy’s MTB race in Philly. Of course Ray had other plans.

Last night our friends Deb & Chuck had their annual picnic/barbecue fest. I wanted to get a ride in yesterday so I rode down to their place from work so I could lather up a good appetite. I was blasted by a healthy headwind until I got to Whiskey Springs at which time I made a real go at making some good time up the climb. It’s almost 3 miles from bottom to top but it’s broken up in spots with some rollers so it’s never a total grind. In fact it’s only steep in one section somewhere in the middle but, nevertheless, you’re ascending a majority of the time. I felt pretty good. Far from anyone’s record but still faster than I’ve ever gotten over the top. The beauty of my PowerTap software is I’m able to download the total ride and single out any part of the ride I want and gather vital info from it. The most encouraging hunk of info was not the time nor the watts but the fact that I was able to average 92rpms from bottom to top. I never bogged down. I just found a tempo and kept on going. I stayed on top of whatever gear I was in. To me, that’s always a sign I’m headed in the right direction. Oh yeah, I ate 2 hamburgers, two hot dogs, two helpings of pasta salad, two deviled eggs, two peanut butter fudge brownie bricks, a handful of bbq chips, and my first non-diet soda beverage in years. Seve was working a mean grill.

I was reading the latest copy of Bicycle Retailer the other day at work. It’s a good read for industry insiders with a wealth of info on who’s doing what and what’s coming down the pike and general BS like that. Two things caught my eye. A little paragraph on Luxxy’s new bike shop. Good luck. A real quick bike shop joke. Q: What’s the quickest way to make a million in the bike industry? A: Start with two million. I’m sure he’ll do well. The other thing that caught my eye was an article on an employee of FSA, named Brad Lewis, who’s worked in the bike business for years. 37yrs old. Races road, ‘cross, and mtb’s. Very well it sounds. He was doing a crit a little while back and a few laps in fell over dead. Freakin dead. The article mentioned the autopsy showed he had heart disease. Still, 37, and bang! You’re gone. Mortality sucks.

Later in the week a nasty auto accident nearby killed an innocent woman who’s only issue was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A dickweed trucker who was “distracted” rammed into a line of stopped highway traffic. 8 demolished vehicles, big fire, and one instantly killed motorist. Just like that. You want more? One of The Legend and The Mrs Legend’s good friends father unexpectedly dies of a heart attack a couple days ago. Here today, gone tomorrow. I hate coming off so dreary here but there is a point to all this. As much as I love to loaf on the coach and watch TV, why not treat every day as if it’s your last. I forget who gets credit for that quote. Churchill? Fields? Benny Hill? Not sure. And believe me, I’m not preaching here, because I’m as guilty as anyone at putting things off.

On a lighter note, The Wifey made some fine grub for dinner. Salmon, rice, and spinach. Yum.

Looks like the mid-80’s by the end of the week. Just in time for a three-day weekend. That works. Sayonara.