off the back... OTB

after consultations with my good Dr. Richard Price and other highly trained professionals on staff at Rocky Mountain Orthopaedics over in GJ, the course of action was to receive a corticoid injection to relieve nerve root compression (and associated non-stop, debilitating pain). this is the area that hurts (most specifically, the L5 disc which has had its jelly-filling pooched out one side)

this is what it looks like when the disc is squished (right side):

the plan was soon confirmed by a late-night trip to the emergency room this past friday night when the spasms and pain flared up far beyond the point of being able to treat it with something from the home medicine chest.
after almost 3 hours of waiting (standing), i finally got in to see a Doctor. he quickly tired of all my moaning and writhing about, and ordered a visit from sweet sister morphine and her cousin demerol as well. once i was calmed down enough and could lay still on the exam room table,  i was gurneyed to the MRI room for a scan which has confirmed the extent of my injury.

on monday i received the L5 spinal corticoid injection. good stuff, tell ya what.

that will conclude the graphic image and descriptions for a while; no need to see injections or surgery, scars or skinny legs, for that matter.
my last hope for relief is to now have a discectomy performed, probably by a neurosurgeon.
the L5 seems to be a vitally important component in lower-body mobility, muscle function, and the ability to do just about anything else-- i'm not sure that i could ride a bike right now if i wanted to. here's a short list of things that are affected by L5 problems:

L4, L5, S1 Thigh abduction


L5, S1, S2 Extension of leg at the hip (gluteus maximus) 

L4, L5, S1, S2 Flexion of leg at the knee (hamstrings)

L4, L5, S1 Dorsiflexion of foot (tibialis anterior)

L4, L5, S1 Extension of toes

L5, S1, S2 Plantar flexion of foot

L5, S1, S2 Flexion of toes




there is a lot of work in front of me to rehab from this predicament. i am going to serve notice at this time of the probability of highly irregular blogularity from me, as (what looks like from here on the sofa) the rest of the summer will likely be more about clawing my way back to the front of the bunch from about as far down as i have ever been... rather than (participating in and reporting on) all of the epic rides and races taking place during the high season of our favorite sport. besides, the intense haze of pain and narcotics i am currently experiencing has rendered me a near-babbling idiot. right now, it's more like looking at pictures and doing some coloring books for me, anyway... best to stay away from the keyboard.



most importantly, i also would like to take a few moments to thank my partner, Jen, who has stood by me at all hours of day and night, through what has been one of the most protracted experiences of intense physical pain that i have ever endured. i don't know how or where i would be right now without her, and the kindness and caring she has shown me on so many occasions, especially in the past few weeks.
she works 12 hour days practising internal medicine at the Veteran's Administration hospital in GJ, taking care of our Nation's sick vets, and then still manages to take care of me as well, after she gets home.
thank you, Jen. i have a profound appreciation for all of the hard work that you do every day, and the way you kick ass at the races is a huge inspiration for me, too. i love you so much.

rock strap v2.0

way back in the day a device was developed in order to keep aging, road-weary musicians on their feet and not falling off the stage while performing at yet another stadium concert. strumming the guitars and mumbling into the mikes is easy enough for all but the most overly-impaired, but standing all the way through an extended-set 3 hour jam is where things begin to get a bit tricky.



Steve could have saved himself from this season-ending fall, had he only known.



fortunately, modern science again came up with the answer; ladies and gentlemen... the Rock Strap:









after an initial visit to Dr. Richard Price (also one of my LTR team mates) at  Rocky Mountan Orthopaedics Associates over in Grand Junction, it was determined that i have been suffering from an herniated disc w/nerve root compression for the past 6 or 7 weeks. that  would seem to explain why i spent four hours writhing on the floor in agony after a mountain bike ride of the same duration a couple of weeks ago.
things are not a whole lot better when riding the road bike, either. there is a position of comfort where some pain-free moments are to be found, but the pain is there when i start riding hard and then waiting for me when i get home.


i have embarked upon an aggressive plan of attack to get me back on the bike- or just being able to do anything, really, without experiencing spams of agonizing pain. sure, riding the road bike provides brief moments of relief; times that i actually forget that something is hurting bad... but that's not the way to enjoy the best part of the year, to do some epic rides and expeditions, great races, and generally enjoy some quality of life with my partner.
 i have been ordered off the bike for two weeks by my physical therapist, in order to give the disc any chance to recover. then there's the corticoid injection to the spine that Dr. Price will administer next week... the last-ditch hail mary all-out effort before surgery. and that's no joke...

Greavy: "That fella' Vic said you run his truck down in the swamp...said you locked him and his missus in the root cellar."



Earl: "That was kind of a joke..."



Greavy: "A joke? What the hell kinda' joke's that?" It's about as funny as a gut full a pinworms."

from Neighbors


the physical therapy sessions are providing some relief, getting my spine straightened out a bit and reducing the frequency of muscle spasms. they hook me up to one of those electro-stimulators and put a 25 kilo sheepskin heating pad on my back before some therapeutic massage. after all that nicey-nice relaxing stuff, i get hauled out to the real physical therapy area for some fun.

it seems that medical science has also discovered an application for the original Rock Strap- and added a treadmill to keep the feet of the old road warrior moving in a forward direction. this new device also cinches tight on the thoracic region, making it really hard to breathe. lucky for me that the thing was programmed to roll at a blistering 1km/hr.

Rock Strap v2.0



looks like i get to be the soigneur this year and do support for Jen at her upcoming races including the season opener of the Steamboat Springs Town Challenge series and the epic of the West- the 111 kilometer MTB marathon- the Laramie Enduro (she got in by winning a spot in the lottery, my stars didn't line up for an entry this year). probably just as well, that i didn't... my pre-entry fee for the Dead Dog Stage Race is a contribution at this point.

time to get on the program- 110%

.

2011 Giro d' Italia

i have to admit that i really love the Giro. the promoters go to such great lengths each year to outdo the previous edition with more climbs that have never been used before; steeper climbs; steep climbs in snow storms; and really, really steep dirt climbs that would be better suited for the VTT's. then they throw in a day on the strade bianche and it rains torrentially for the whole 6-plus hours that it takes the winner to navigate the parcours.
like what happened last year on stage 7 when Cadel finally stomped the stuffing out of everybody on what was probably one of the most brutal days of racing i have seen. here's the first of 5 vid segments. i'm sure that you will figure out how to watch the next 4 if there's still some plasma pumping through your veins.




also look forward to increased and more regular blogularity around here as the season develops. now that all the excitement of the past couple of weeks has subsided a bit, term papers written, got ourselves moved into our new digs over in the 'sade, and the madding, huckin', he-man hordes of the Fruita Fat Sausage Tire Festival have vacated the trails, making it safe for the sisters of singletrack to venture out once again, there might actually be a few minutes to drop a post or two and some worthwhile things to rant about (as well as the usual trail/road/race reports from western Colorado and the southwest).
to wit; we still have a race report form Rabbit Valley to post, heralding Jen's ascent to the top step of the podium. stay tuned for more.

oh, and in case you didn't know already, here's where you can watch all of that fantastic Giro action from the comfort of your armchair:

steephill tv Giro coverage

cheers

Liege-Bastogne-Liege

here's a couple of videos of one of the (arguably) most talented winners of Liege-Bastogne-Liege doing his thing- way before he had a "posse". no matter that his fridge was full of medical products for his sick dog and that he vacillated from the highest step of the podium to the darkest depths of depression and personal tragedy- finally dying alone at age 34 in a hotel room in Senegal... the guy could ride a bike like no other:






and then there was this bit of climbing at the Vuelta in 1999:




the style, power and panache... not to mention the hair gels, Frank Vandenbroucke was one of the greatest winners of L-B-L ever.

have a great ride today, gas it like Frank on those climbs.

two images for today

and

re-posted from the blog bikes, bikes & bikes (caution: all cycling-related, some NSFW)

two images (and a map) for today

from the ride. didn't see a car the whole time- not one. and that is not a complaint.

sunny, but not warm

 just turn around to see this:

Pinnacle peak, south Routt, Colorado.

which is right about in the middle of this map:


View Larger Map

.

how to avoid cabin fever

winter can be nasty and brutish up here in the mountains of northwest Colorado. seldom is it short.
some days, the snow is piled so high outside the ol' shack that it's impossible to go anywhere until conditions moderate significantly, and the sun finally, and almost magically, appears from behind the clouds.
today wasn't exactly one of those days, high temp was about 10 degrees farenheit and the snow insisted on continuing to precipitate earthward.

no, this isn't actually our cozy cabin in the mountains. it does, however, represent an excellent example of the shacks that Oak Creek coal miners lived in back in the day.

here's some local "mountain men" playing some music and singing about how they assess the current weather conditions outside. enjoy:





this is what it really looked like outside my back door when i was making a decision about what sort of ride i was going to do today:

hmmm... too much shovelling required to make an escape- go to "training plan B" was the only realistic option. hit the rollers.

after it's all over, we pull on the boots, the packs, the lead-filled snowshoes, avalanche probes & shovels, and slog it up over the pass and into town to stock up on plenty of bacon, flour, salt and hardtack before we get slammed by the next big storm coming our way.

ya have to get outside... one way or another. that's how it's done.

the voice of Le Tour de France

i spotted this exciting blorb over at bikerumour.com a while back and thought it was worth another mention here as it is now well time to be planning out the upcoming season... if one hasn't done so already.

at any rate, it is now official that none other than cycling's finest commentator, Phil Liggett, will be making the call for the "multi-year" HD broadcast of the Amgen Tour of California in May.
and such a beautiful, thoughtful idea to bring another great Gran Fondo event to the U.S. by offering cyclosportifs the opportunity to ride a brutal stage as the pros do in the L'etape du California.
we here in Colorado still have a bit of catching up to do with California (as our local ProTour race does not offer a corresponding Gran Fondo event), but what's new? anyway, we're still in our inaugural year of the race.

that is, without a doubt, some of the best cycling-related news i have heard in quite some time. hopefully, Phil will be on board for the Tour of Colorado Quizno's Pro Challenge  August 22 - 28 as well.

Phil and Dave (sporting a slightly deranged, too-much-bike-schwag-viewing-look) chillaxin' large at the great annual Gathering of the Tribes a couple of years back.

readers can get further infos over at bikerumour by following this link. we'll be out for at least a couple of days worth of roadside picnics when the riders roll on through south Routt this summer.

see you there!

wishing a full and speedy recovery

i will forego my usual commentary and observations for this post and just wish a full and speedy recovery to congresswoman Giffords from the folks here at ABANDON YOUR CAR. our deepest condolences go out to the friends and families of the other victims of the Arizona shooting as well.

congresswoman Giffords is obviously a "real cyclist", not just an election-seeking politician riding around the neighborhood in search of a photo-op and a few more votes. in fact, she's a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus. here's a couple of links to articles from TusconVelo; one is an interview with Rep. Giffords, the other is a short article describing a ride she took with a friend on the night before the shooting.

check out her custom whip, put together by Dave Bohm over at Bohemian Cycles: urban tires, SPD's, disc brakes, internally-geared hub, comfortable and sensible geometry, custom paint job, and, equipped with LIGHTS front and rear.
that's what i'm talking about: a real bike for a real cyclist.

happy Martin Luther King jr. day, everyone. get out and go for a nice ride today... to honor all of those who are unable to do the same, but would certainly be out there if they could.

the non-structured phase

the best and, arguably, most important thing about bikes is that they are fun. indeed, our mission here at ABANDON YOUR CAR is to demonstrate how much fun can reliably and consistently be had when one gets as far away as possible from an enclosed, 4-wheeled vehicle and takes to the streets, roads, and trails on a self-powered conveyance- AKA: bicycle
natually, when i think of fun and bicycles, my mind wanders to France, which represents to me a Nirvana of sorts for cyclists. they seem to really enjoy their cycling a great deal, (in fact, almost to the point of nuttiness) and when i was last there, observed that the motorists were extremely polite and quite happy to share the road with cyclists. at least in the regions that i visited.

at any rate, here is a cool video with some smooth beats to go with it... from France, of course.


Paris à Vélo (Paris Remix)
Uploaded by Noart7. - Watch original web videos.




uh-oh. now what the heck is going on here?


back in the "olden days" of american cycling, we, as cyclists, often seemed to struggle with our ability to blend with the "social fabric" of the time.
here, this wayward hipster has apparently taken a wrong turn on his way to an early "tweed ride" and now finds himself JRA lost at the local swimming hole. fortunately, it appears that an attractive sun bather is able to get past the ridiculous "cyclist out of context" issue and offer some directions to get him on his way.
what i find most troubling about these images, however, is that the bike's manufacturer felt that in order to sell this fine racing bicycle they were not going to show the guy in wooly racing kit ("tight clothes") at the races with a bunch of other sweaty dudes riding around in circles. instead, they put him at the pool in seersucker slacks w/matching colorway shirt, shoes and beltway in the company of an attractive, scantily clad young woman.

obviously, we were still trying to assimilate the two concepts of "fun" and "bicycle" into a unified theme.

i own a red 1973 Schwinn Paramount very similar to the hipster's above. totally beautiful and original vintage bike. but not once has taking that bike for a ride led to a friendly conversation with a member of the opposite sex, so i sort of doubt the veracity of the ad content. of course, never while riding have i found myself lost at the swimming pool, either.



over the years, so much worry about matching colorways and fashionable tweed has turned some of us into fat, bored and complacent vinyl record curators... like our poor friend in the above photo; Jabba the Cat. (image: fixedgeargallery)

i still want to have fun when i ride and not be too serious about being fashion-conscious all the time. i wear a helmet when riding on the road or trail, but seldom do when urban riding, in the best european tradition.
recently, i was reading one of the blogs that used to be in my favorite blogstack and the writer had a 9 or 10 point code of conduct- a couple of which severely scorned "tight clothes" and expensive bikes and was all on about something called "the slow riding movement".
that was just too annoying, pompous, and self-important for me. they got eighty-sixed from the blogstack because i simply can't abide by such intolerant attitudes and also find that, admittedly, and from time to time, i enjoy riding expensive bicycles at high rates of speed while wearing tight clothes and a helmet.

kinda like this guy: Dr. Fred Rompelberg

well, except without the car, that is.
but 268.831 km/hr is still pretty impressive- even if quite possibly it qualifies him as the biggest wheel sucker of all time.


maybe more like this guy: Steve Gaskey.

fun, fast and dangerous. fast as you want to pedal.

i saw this machine at the great annual gathering of the cycling tribes (AKA: Interbike) a few years back and the owner/builder had a video showing how the thing wound up through the gears and when it reached top speed, the rider hit a button and the pneumatic lift dropped the bike onto the pavement... and the subsequent rubber burnin', tire screeching launch. freekin' awesome.

this week coming up i am looking forward to being out of the snow, some great riding in Fruita, and spending a good deal of quality time with my best buddy. that's right, having some fun and being out on the bikes. not worried about heart rate or intervals or tapering or spending enough time at altitude or fashion or anything like that- also known as the "non-structured phase" of the yearly calender.

i hope all of you will indulge yourselves in a bit of the same.

ride for saturday 17 july, 2010: Kent Eriksen's Tour de Steamboat

some of the best riding in northwest Colorado will be traversed by several hundred cyclists on saturday when Kent Eriksen's Tour de Steamboat takes to the high mountain roads again as part of a great fundraising event for Sunshine Kids.


the parcours features two substantial climbs: le passage d'oreilles de lapin and le Passage de Fuseau (Rabbit Ears pass and Gore pass)


this event has grown in popularity over the past several years, now to the point where all 3 available ride options are filled to capacity. so, sorry to say that if you have not yet registered already you will have to wait for next year's ride to participate. sign up early to be sure that your spot is reserved for the next time around.


also know as "the Gore gruel" for good reason. this can be a brutal, remote slog in the high mountains when ridden unsupported.

fortunately, refreshments will be served on saturday.

bike month

the month of June has been designated "Bike Month" by the folks over at CDOT

here at ABANDON YOUR CAR, we think that's awesome. when the state of Colorado gets behind any initiative to promote alternative transportation and a healthy lifestyle, we're all for it. we would also like to take this opporunity to once again encourage everyone to do what they can to move away from the car-centric culture and all of its pitfalls.

the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first turn of the pedal.





Photo: Win McNamee / Getty Images

we know all too well what continuing down the same path will bring. here's some additional motivation:

wildlife images at SFGate.com

an essay and some more images, timely and relevant. make yourself read and look. do it.

Giro d' Italia stage 4 - TTT

unless you have the top-dollar cable sports programming piped into your teevee, chances are you didn't see today's coverage of the G-d Italia here in the 'states... just like me.

check out how Vinokourov shags his team off the back, one by one. the clock doesn't stop until the 5th rider crosses the line, so getting all steamed up about it doesn't help one bit, either.
imagine being #5, just killing it because you know that the boss is about to lose his pink jersey, sunglasses and booties. and the boss is real tight with the ol' boys back in Kazakhstan, by the way.

and i just have to say that Vino is looking awfully huge and showing abundantly good form for a guy who has been "on holiday" for the past two years. amazing what a little bit of beach time can do for ya...

sooo, enjoy the racing. what little we get to see.

the spring classics

racing season is now.

the big guys have been going off for over a month now in the ProTour. the hair gels, the tweets, the silly finish line and podium getures have all begun in earnest. there has been some awesome racing somewhere in the mix as well.

things get rolling a bit later on this side of the pond. here in western Colorado we are still shaking off the effects of a winter of epic proportions. today was the first really nice, sunny day this year that featured what i would call warm temperatures. i'm almost thinking about doing a ride on my singlespeed pretty soon. no big hurry on that one, though.

coming up on the 27th and 28th of March, we have the Mad Cow Classic p/b the Mesa State College cycling team. this two-day, three event series features a brilliant, uphill ITT starting at the west gate of the Colorado National Monument and finishes at the visitor's center about 7 kms distant and 325 meters straight up the road. here's a sampling of the parcours from mapmyride.com- be sure to get a witness on the profile as well.

anyone out there remember Kevin Costner's finest hour when he starred in the all-time classic cycling film American Flyers? better put it on your Netflix queue if ya don't. there are a lot of great views of the Monument in this often overlooked cinematic jewel.




saturday afternoon brings the obligatory office park criterium to appease the non-grimpeurs in the pelican. i suppose i can be put upon to suffer through that for an hour or so.

then on sunday, the weekend is finished off with a fine road race for all categories. more climbing... i like it.
this event reminds me something of the old Criterium International format, which we will also see later this summer here in the U.S. of A at the Dead Dog Classic, held in and near the town of Laramie in the Wyoming Territories.

i would also like once again to remind everyone on the western slope (and elsewhere, for that matter) of the LiveTrainrace.com spring criterium series beginning on wednesday, March 31st and held on the following 5 wednesday evenings in April.

and of course, what would the month of April be without the spring classics. kicking things off we have the 11th edition of the Boulder Roubaix, presented by my homeboys at DBC EVENTS aka/Denver-Boulder couriers. big props to Chris Grealish for hosting this great event (as well as the Boulder spring training crits and a UCI cyclocross event...) again in 2010.
there has also been an additional segment added to the parcours this year, bringing each lap to right around 30 kms. mostly dirt on the new sections, by the way, with a couple of extra sharp rises thrown in for good measure.
Chris doesn't put on races to coddle the whiners and softies, that's for sure.

bonus question for the ancient history buffs:

as a sort of "where's Waldo" kind of fun search, can anyone spot yours truly in the video of the 1999 edition? (hint: Rocky Mounts, and not the one that's almost crashing)

six (plus twenty-six) years in a raincape

given that the weather today disintegrated into total crap, i had resigned myself to yet another session of garage-time on the rollers. that didn't work for me, i nearly slid back into the dark ages of SAD as soon as i went in there, looked at the apparatus and my bike, and thought for two seconds about what i was intending to do.

i turned around and went to the gear locker an pulled out the "severe duty" garments- the waterproof Pearl Izumi Gore-Tex slacks and my ol', trusty raincape and put 'em on over the rest of the monkey-suit.

sometimes the rollers just ain't gonna do it, and i have to be outside no matter what the weather is. and the truth is that it wasn't all that bad. besides, what's going to happen when you have to race in foul conditions if you never train for it?



socks go over the shoes, just like underwear are worn over the pants.






headed out on the fixie for some hard, satisfying efforts. besides, it's a lot easier to wash a fixie than the geared roadbike (which just received a Euro-wash (c), a fresh set of cables, and some nice, new Cinelli cork tape). sometimes it's not so bad to have a small fleet to choose from.

it felt really great to be out there, just like the old days down in Boulder. riding because it's time to ride, not because i managed to wait it out and it's finally 65 and sunny.

i'm not a pro anymore and i don't have time to train like one anymore, either. i have to make the most of what little time i have, though. just like it was back when i was livin' the life.

with all due respect to the master Joe Parkin for making a play on his blog title, it has actually been that many years that i have been riding and training in the foul weather. never made it to Belgium, but i did manage to do at least one race in France during the month of July in all of that time. now i'm motivated to race again this year and have managed to bank some good fitness over the winter.

it smelled all good and fresh and like sage out there today. the cranes and meadowlarks are back and making a lot of noise out in the fields. there's some green stuff starting to sprout, too.
i have a feeling that this is going to be my best year ever... and even though i am old, i'm not too old to back that one up.







here's some motivation and inspiration for all of the fair-weather whiners out there. these two images are from the blog Copenhagen cycle chic where the art of commuting while looking fashionable has been raised to the highest of aesthetics. they aren't at all afraid of a lot of snow or sub-zero temperatures, either. riding on their ancient townie bikes, the women over there seem to be a whole lot tougher than the girly-boys over here who can't ride a bike all winter because the trails have some snow on 'em and think that only wimps in tight clothes ride roadbikes. waaaaaaah waaah wah

and they make it look easy and fun while riding in the snow as well. those Europeans have it all, don't they?

2010 north american handbuilt bicycle show- part deux

Kent Eriksen Cycles- best titanium

first of all, i don't know if anyone else has noticed, but that's not Kent. i hope that he didn't get stolen like the ANT guy's bike from the hotel in Richmond. that whole situation snowballed into a near rawkus- complete with spurious tweets about an alleged ad on Craigslist selling a "... clown bike" or something of that nature. just read how bikesnob explains his way out of it before i get myself into even more trouble by starting the next internets rumor from the handbuilt show by blogging that Kent has been nabbed by the body snatchers and is up for sale on eBay right now.

i do know that Kent and his crew do make the finest titanium bikes out there. they put a lot of effort into making the bikes look clean and uncomplicated. there isn't any fancy paint to cover a blemish or hide a mistake. bare metal and welds that aren't filed or sanded at all... yet they are rideable pieces of high-performance art that look beautiful under the closest inspection.

Jen would undoubtedly say the same thing about her Eriksen 650b f/s custom.

i can't wait to finish my singlespeed Eriksen, either. mmmmm mm

here's the copy from the 2010 NAHBS award winners page:

"Kent Eriksen chooses each tube set according to the physique, riding style, and intended use of each customer, and he builds in titanium only. The winning bicycle was chosen as a show model because of its clean, simple, elegant and functional design–which represents Kent Eriksen’s values".

image credit: NAHBS

big congratulations to Kent, Katie, Bo, Chad (Kent's stand in bike model) Chris and Paul over there at Eriksen Cycles on their award. you guys deserve it.

FOLLOW-UP: March 15- here's some good images and press from bikerumour.com

2010 north american handbuilt bicycle show

live this weekend, from Richmond, Virginia, is the 2010 north american handbuilt bicycle show. this is the premeire showcase for cycling's boutique offerings on this side of the Atlantic. perusing the images from cyclingnews, it becomes readily apparent that there is no shortage of lust-inspiring craft & giblets on offer this year.

we here at ABANDON YOUR CAR would like to take this opportuity to wish our friend Kent Eriksen of Kent Eriksen Cycles all the best at the show this year. he took top palmares for the builder's award at last year's show, and he always has something cool and new on display to wow the judges.

back a the show:

i like the neo-retro randonneur style bikes, kitted out with color match fenders, pump, and cork-plugged bidon

sensible and stylish all wrapped up in a convenient package = my kind of bike





this is an image from an ebay auction that ended recently. this guy is one of my favorite sellers because he curates such a vast hoard of vintage items and his auction style is top notch professional. i liked this particular image a lot and thought it would be relevant to include here due to the many retro elements on display at the NAHBS

Giro d' Italia awards presentations rile the Dutch

Giro d' Italia organizers have announced that there will be Italian women presenting the awards for the stages that start in the Netherlands this year. this has caused consternation amongst a few Dutch politicians, who feel that the traditional presentation practice is sexist.

this well may be, but i'm not so sure that if i won a stage in a grand tour that i would want to get smooched by a couple of guys dressed in drag, as has been suggested by some. there's just something about a 5 o'clock shadow that would probably rub me the wrong way in that situation. maybe i'm sexist, too.

at any rate, it seems that this is a story that will be ramping up from now until the prologue kicks off in Amsterdam on the 8th of May. it should be interesting, to say the least.

without doubt this could shake up the old traditions, which would probably be a good thing- especially for the Italians who seem to be stuck fast somewhere in the era of Fausto Coppi. the view of the podium (WARNING: NSFW) will likely look much different than in the past, such as last year when Dennis Menchov reigned supreme in the Italian Grand Tour. thinking about the possibility of this newly proposed reality is the stuff that bad dreams are made of.

maybe the Dutch politicians are correct. just send the racers up there to collect the awards and call it good.

a few words about good taste

with apologies to the polite, civilized people who like to visit here and share their comments; i have now enabled word verification to be required prior to posting your contributions. it seems that, for whatever reason, this blog has atracted the attention of some very unsavory and uncouth spammers from the cyberspace of yonder internets.
i honestly don't have time to go through all of my many archived rants every day to make sure that those who can't keep their hands out of their pants while they are on the computer... just keep it to themselves. i say to those "people" (and i use that term quite loosely) please go away, you are not welcome here.

again, i apologize to all who have visited and chosen to paticipate in a dignified manner. everyone is invited to be here, in MY house, as long as their contributions do not slide into the gutter and maintain a content rating of PG-13 (at most... or perhaps i should say "least").
it's too bad that so many suffer inconveniences inflicted by those few who are lacking in good taste and manners. i hate making rules and regulations, but sometimes it is what must be done.

Colorado loves California day

it's official, as decreed by Guv. Ritter. today, we Coloradans are celebrating our true love for the state of California.

well, i'm celebrating my love for the Golden State today. i hope that Colorado finds a lot more ways to be like California. bike lanes. mass transit. cultural diversity. good food. Mediterranean climate. any or all of those things would be a great place to start. i'm not holding my breath, though.

we'll probably end up moving there before any of that stuff happens here in the square state.