I cannot be certain if a falling tree makes a sound when no one is around, but I am quite certain that if a tree falls in a forest it will ALWAS find its way across the trail. It’s a fact.
Posts Tagged → random
Ignoring The Facts
I find it amusing sad how long I can ignore the fact that spring and summer are gone and now fall is on the cusp of doing the same. Looking down the trail and seeing nothing but brown, bare trees is sort of a repeated slap in my fat face to wake up and smell the decaying bung of autumnal death and keep riding as long as I can. For soon winter will be bending me over a barrel of dark cold ass depression and thrusting its unprotected frozen phallus of hate in my general direction.
This fact was made all the more real today when at the ride’s end I stood in the parking lot talking to some friends and was getting hit in the face with a smorgasbord of gusting wind, leaves, rain, sleet and snow. Then the sun came out. Michigan weather is as psycho as mountain weather…. we just don’t have mountains.
Wiggins & Baines, Cycling & Football
Sunday, I was watching the Everton vs Tottenham match on NBC. At one point Everton (and England international) left-back Leighton Baines went over to take a corner in front of the visiting Spurs’ fans. As he walked over they were chanting something at him, but it was inaudible on the TV. Whatever it was, he noticeably laughed out loud and gave them a thumbs up.
Thinking About The White Bike
A few days ago I mentioned that during my ride I went by a newly erected Ghost Bike memorial. While I didn’t know the teenager who lost his life at that intersection last month, as a life long “bike rider” and a cyclist of over 20 years, it was hard to ride by and not feel some sort of sadness and emotion. I felt that however sad it was to see, the bike both honored the deceased and served a reminder to motorists that we cyclists are out there. And I am pretty sure that is what I was supposed to think.
Then Monday morning (just before my 24 hour plague hit), I was chatting with a friend of mine who is a good bit older than my wife and I and has lived around our community most of, if not all of her life. In fact, she lives on one of the dirt roads that I often ride down, just a couple of miles from where the Ghost Bike now sits.
You Probably Race
If you open up a drawer–any drawer–and find a gel flask, you’ve probably raced some mountain bikes*.
Or you are just an unorganized doofuss like me that throws your shit wherever and then spend hours looking for it in the time leading up to a long ride or a race. Note that there is no cap for the flask. I am pretty sure I saw it on top of the dryer in the basement.
*OK, you might not race mountain bikes but you do SOMETHING equally as cool yet unpopular and misunderstood by the general U.S. public: ultra runs, adventure racing, cross-country skiing, etc.,
Fast ‘N Loud On Dirt Roads
I believe I may have watched way too much Fast N’ Loud the past few days, given that the first thing I thought of when I rode past this old F150 on Sunday was “I wonder what the guys from Gas Monkey Garage could do to that?” Later on that day, a little bit of Googling would have me not at all surprised to see that they have indeed worked on an older, badass F100 in Fast N’ Loud, Episode 6. Check out the pics on KC (the paint dude’s) blog.
Still, I found myself rolling along thinking that if I was Richard from Fast N’ Loud, I’d say– “I picked up this old Ford F150 for $1,800 along a dirt road in the middle of Bum-F*ck, Michigan. Now it’s time to get it back to the “bearded wonder,” so he can turn it around by next week and I can get it to auction to make some fat cash and pay the bills. Thinkin’ maybe we’ll drop it, get a new exhaust on, some new wheels from our friends at JagOff Custom Wheelz N’at™ and have KC throw on a killer two-toned black paint job to make it badass and scary rolling down the road.”
But as we all know, I am SO not Richard from Fast N’ Loud, so I would probably just buy it, get it painted back, have it not run, park it in a field and have some chick in a green bikini stand beside it.
I’m thinking it would be unwise to go back and make an offer on it.
Top photo credit: Me.
Bottom photo credit: Hell, I don’t know, it came up when I Googled: Ford F150 truck, black, field, girl, green bikini, Auburn fan. This was the only photo that came up, so I used it.
Dealing With The Plague
After a nice ride on Sunday I was feeling pretty good and had a pretty good evening; I had a good dinner, a couple of beers and headed off to bed with plans of hitting the gym in the morning to get back at the weights. But…
Could, Did and Will Do Again
For some people, riding bikes is about going fast, winning and losing races. For some it’s about adventure. For others still, it’s about going places and doing things that you never thought you would or could do.
I Know A Guy (Not Denzel)
I know some people who know some people that rob some people. – Huggy Bear
Actually, I just have a friend who was looking to unload these super fresh XTR pedals he acquired for a “Holy shit! Even I can actually afford that!” price. I LOVE me some XTR. Yeah, yeah, XT shit is good and I dig it the most, but when a good XTR opportunity knocks, I do my best to answer and fork over money.
Francesco Moser & Bodoni
I hate myself. Not for all my normal reasons but because the very first thing I thought of when I saw this photo of Francesco Moser wasn’t about him, his bike, the race he was doing or the Cheshire Cat shit eating grin the dude in the car is sporting… it was that the font used for the sponsor’s name on the team car is Bodoni Poster Italic. Not a huge fan… Unless I’m doing some 70s looking project, then it’s pretty darn cool. I on the other hand am just an idiot.