the real jedi

Ryan and i caught Pulp Fiction over the weekend and it occured to me that Jules is a lot wiser than supposed Jedi Master Mace Windu. What a movie those could have been with Jules leading the Jedi. I shudder to even think of it.

Come on Chancellor Palpatine, what's Fonzie like? He's cool... exacta-mundo

Which lightsaber is mine? the one with Bad M!@#$# F!@#$% written on it!

Well, Kool and the Gang Yoda, all you had to say was that he'd bring balance to the Force.

Also, Todd Barry is killing me, his particular brand of pessimistic sarcasm is making me feel like a pollyanna.

GOSH DARN THIS MAC! Where's my x86
Need PS2 games?

wind again

Of course River Road wind can't compare to the west coast winds, but today was another headwind/evil cross fest. I got in about 3 and a half hours, and i finished just wasted. Ran into Steve and Team Ripple (Jan, Shelly and Kate) in the loop. We met up with Shawn P. and eventually Taylor.

There seemed to be a lot of riders out even though it was supposed to rain. For the 4th or 5th time this year I thwarted the weathermen by carrying my rain jacket.

Lance said it...

I'm cleaning out an old PC that we have and i found this that i created back in June 2004. It wasn't prophetic or anything, but it was funny at the time.

Public Retraction

Earlier this week, I reported that Amy hated Garden State. Since that time, i have been corrected, in fact she liked it a lot. I misinterpreted her falling asleep during it as hating it. Sleep deprivation shouldn't be taken into account when evaluating film.

I just realized that Zach Braff starred in it, wrote it and directed it. Impressive.

20 years ago! No way

It's tough to believe that the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up 20 years ago tomorrow, this lists seven popular myths about the tragedy.

Number 2 says that the shuttle didn't explode, so maybe blow up is speaking out of turn. I was expecting to see Sally Ride did not die on the shuttle listed as a myth, because i remember a lot of my friends thinking that she did. Ok, maybe i did, when in fact it was Christa McAuliffe.

remodeling the place

What do you think?
Maybe those heavy blue tones were bringing me down man.
My hutzpah was all flamenck.
Know what i'm sayin bro?
Like whoa, this is so much better.
I feel so positive, it makes me want to sing.
Maybe later.

by popular demand

I fixed the link to Lance Bo Bance's blog.
I didn't know it was broken, evidently Opera does some sort of resolution.

This morning, the beating with a stick continued as i did Pat's extended 90 minute spin routine at the studio followed by a 2 mile spirited run. The spin class was great, split between Chuck and Pat as leaders. Chuck pretty much destroyed me with an extended big ring set of

one minute right leg, one minute left leg
one minute right leg, one minute left leg
one minute right leg, one minute left leg
one minute right leg, one minute left leg
one minute right leg, one minute left leg

Pat followed up with long "climbing" efforts which finished off the damage. Running with these guys is always fun because they don't like to slow down at all, not even in heavy traffic while crossing Perkins Road. They call it easy, and i don't think they realize how hard i'm working just to hang on.

sup

Shout out to all my G-town homeys, check this out tomorrow there's a court date near you that might be interesting to attend. I can't make it. Where's the courthouse anyway?

I ran 6 miles Monday night around the lakes, then 5 miles today at lunch. To those who can't figure it out, i'm completely sick of the trainer and the rollers and am now turning to running to ease the pain. Needless to say, tonight i'm walking around like somebody beat me with a stick.

Amy has commented that Eric and i have been posting rather depressing entries as of late. It's kind of like the old days when we used to ride around Mobile and just complain like two old codgers for hours. I love it.

In media news, we caught Garden State over the weekend. I loved it, Amy hated it.

Sunday we worked a trade with my sister, she took Ryan and we took our two nephews and niece to see Hoodwinked. I thought that this was a good deal, but let me tell you, taking a family of 5 to the show and the concession stand is no small investment. WOW! The movie was so so, the kids were hilarious.

Last night i finally received my copy of Bicycling which features a story on the Rouge Roubaix. I was sorry to see no mention of Jon who invented the God-forsaken event, me and Bob who allegedly inspired it, and lastly no mention of the various stories of gritty heroism from past years. But this is Bicycling and not a more race-minded rag.

God bless Tivo, tonight it has snatched up Monty Python's The Cycling Tour.

J's site has been down for a few days, which is a drag because i'm missing my fix of Utah winter rides.

I'm hoping to log a long one this Saturday, but here's a link to the info on Kenny B's Katrina Damage Ride.

That's all here.

brilliant

this is

The decline of western civilization

So this morning i pull into the credit union to make a deposit in the drive-through and i face Murphy's conundrum, six lanes, two are open, consequently, those two each have one oversized SUV in them. I roll the dice and choose to wait in lane number two.

At this time, some sorority girl in a Honda Accord pulls up behind me and picks chute three which is, by all accounts, closed. I mean, come on, there's the sign, it's closed. Meaning, you won't be serviced.

In my utopia, the teller has every right at this time, to request that the driver exit her vehicle and stand in front of the other civilized folk who are queued up in line, where she will be beaten with Nerf bats by the loan officers or whoever else isn't busy at that time, until she admits that she doesn't read directions or subscribe to basic social norms.

In the real world, perhaps a more clever form of discipline could be arranged. Maybe a stupidity fee could be levied against her account, something good like $100 or so. At the very least, she should be chastised over the intercom. In anticipation of this logical choice, i stealthily lower my passenger side window, waiting for some juicy discourse. Damn, i'm clever.

Much to my chagrin, she gets her transaction completed and voila she's off while i'm still stuck waiting behind the Yukon who is evidently doing an entire house refi while waiting in her car.

So what have i learned today?
If you're given two options, choose the third one.
Do what you like.
Be McGyver.
Happy Monday.

Mr. J

Here are a few shots from Mr. Jairo Alvarez's group ride. He's undergoing surgery tomorrow for prostate surgery, so please keep him in your prayers. We're all looking forward to his rapid return to group rides.

Name that backside...

On the left Jerry Simon, sporting the Delta Racing duds. On the right, River Road retro legend Bob Abbott aboard his new carbon Felt. It was fun catching up with him about the Old Days.

This shot also shows the strategic location of the Boudreaux's Butt Paste logo on our bib shorts.

Crap Sandwich Month

In case you didn't know, January 2006 has been officially named Crap Sandwich Month by me. The latest installment...

Jan 17 - David celebrates Taylor's arrival in Baton Rouge by driving his car into the side of Taylor's Accord. WELCOME Cousin!

While you may not agree that this is optimism, i could have named 2006 the Official Year of the Crap Sandwich, but you see i'm a flat tire is half-full kind of guy. Gluttonous self-pity stops here.

Have a great weekend, looks like one made for rainy riding.

K-Ron in the Hiz-ouse

Karen, as in

Karen who lives in Colorado Springs or
Karen who works at the Olympic Training Center or
Karen who loves India's or
Karen who loves cold weather,

has started her very own blog.

Just one look at her itinerary for the next five months guarantees that it will be at least 100 times more interesting than mine, so check it out.

Let me see if i have this straight...

1. The more meetings one has to attend, the greater the negative effects; and

2. The more time one spends in meetings, the greater the negative effects.

This is a new study? I guess i'm a font of frickin knowledge then, i've known this for years.

Look out world, i've used the word "frickin" twice in as many days.

Pekoe

We lost our big orange cat yesterday. For some time, he had been having some difficulties breathing, but over the weekend the slightest movements caused him to pant. Bringing him into the vet was a tough decision because he has to be heavily sedated to be treated. Our vet knew this and counciled us on the "Death Talk" because of his concerns that he might not survive the drugs. But with his deteriorating condition and recent weight loss, we had to find out what was wrong.

The vet removed about a cup of fluid from around his lungs, which was a combination of blood and white blood cells, signalling a massive infection. This immediately aided his breathing, but any form of treatment would involve regular bouts like this. We had to decide what was best for him, Pekoe's tiger-like personality wouldn't do well with regular medication or procedures. So while he was still sedated, with Amy and i there with him, our vet put him to sleep.

After 14 years of living with 1, then 2, then 1 cat again, it's very difficult not having him here. Since Natalie died back in August, he had stopped his trademark "Ow-wow" meow and had settled into being a very laid-back cat. He'd even cut back on the legendary biting that made so many people fear him. We still can't believe he's gone.

ttt practice

Sunday was our team time trial practice on River Road. Learning something on every ride is a good thing, Sunday i learned that Mitch and Tom are frickin flying. Didn't have a cyclocomputer or hrm but i definitely suffered some which was good.

a mullet by any other name

So Velonews is reporting that Laurent "Hockey Hair" Brochard is finally ditching his trademark mullet. Perhaps the mullet has a different interpretation over there on the continent, but to my eyes this still rings of the traditional "all business in the front, all pleasure in the back". Granted to a lesser degree, but tell me what you think.

spin again

Caught Pat's spin class at the studio for the second time this week. Great workout and sweat fest. About midway through his big-gear intervals we did 5 sets of 2x30 second leg isolation drills. Talk about get to squares at the end, yow. No run this morning, motivation was low in the group, and i wasn't going to push it, having run the soccer fields last night. Happy and Lucky Friday the 13th to all. Here's your link to some trivia for the day as well as a connection to the Knights Templar.

Remember me when i'm gone...

Ok, granted, it isn't JAMA, but I was recently given a copy of Men's Health that ranked 100 cities on how healthy they are for men to live in them. Women weren't considered in this study, again i don't know how scientific it was. The survey ranked each city on health, quality of life and fitness. The results for us locals were not good with Baton Rouge coming in 72nd with a solid D+

There was much better news for some guys i know
1. San Francisco A+
2. Honolulu A+
3. Austin A+
4. San Jose A+
5. Salt Lake City A+
27. Los Angeles B
34. Dallas B-

And some bad news for others
49. Tucson C
77. Nashville D+
79. Houston D+
81. Buffalo D
89. Louisville F

I'm on the upward swing, spending my childhood in a D, then the majority of my life at D+. Eric did ok going from an F to a B, Taylor might have the best improvement, D+ to A+. Meanwhile, Amy's brother has spent the last 12 years living in two A+ towns, nice.

I don't quite get the D for Tucson's fitness ranking, that is nearly the same as Baton Rouge.

Bill and Bob

I finally finished A Walk in the Woods and oh what an underwhelming walk it was. A mediocre tale spun against the backdrop of the Appalachian Trail, the promised laughs just didn't deliver. Only the scattering of facts and statistics regarding the history of the trail itself kept the pages turning. I hope this doesn't spoil it for anyone but in the end, Bryson and his companion didn't even complete half of it's length, and they hardly even attempted the dramatic Hundred Mile Wilderness which marks the final pitch into Maine. This man is no Krakauer.

Just for kicks, i went back to the blurbs at the front of the book. The Boston Globe touted it as "an almost perfect travel book" perhaps because it has a spine, jacket and pages inbetween. My favorite came from the Providence Journal-Bulletin which declared "nobody has written anything like this book" which i can't even begin to make fun of. Kind of like saying Smiley Anders is compelling.

After seeing the success this book had, i'm tempted to write about my adventures in the 2004 Bicycle Tour of Colorado. The chapter on Jeff's confrontation with Tour officials and eventual formal banishment would make it a NYTimes bestseller and i did come across my journal the other day...hmm. Maybe I'll start by writing them here.

Now i'm on Bob Dylan's Chronicles. I began this book the way i ended AWITW, by reading the blurbs at the front, the best of them came from Greil Marcus who confessed, "I've written a lot of books, and after reading Dylan's book, I realized I would never write a book that good." Whoa! These got my super-psyched and immediately it didn't disappoint. After one chapter, it's clear this is a book you won't need a bookmark for, you're afraid to miss a sentence. This is going to be good.

Delta Racing Training Ride

Here's a few shots from our team ride yesterday, 2006 looks like it will be a big year for us. We've picked up a lot of riders from all over the state and they're a fit bunch. No shortage of wind yesterday, the kind of day that lifts your helmet off your head, LITERALLY. More info to come soon, as i'm working on our team website.

weekend tragedy

Just wanted to post a note, Saturday, Margaret Moran, a local cyclist, was killed while crossing Highway 61 at Starhill. This is a really dangerous crossing because cars are hidden by a turn on one side and a hill on the other, which makes judging vehicle speed tough. According to Bruce Wickert's report she was struck by a Hummer and never regained consciousness. Very sad news.

farmer dave

So there it is, the 2005 broccoli harvest from my garden. The object all the way to the left is a nickel, to give you some idea of scale. I'm thinking i'll skip the winter garden next year. The produce stand is much easier. I'm also glad i wasn't depending on it to feed my family.

Stupid Human Tricks

Slept in a while this morning but got out early enough to catch up with the Coffee Call Ride near the Women's Prison. Pretty uneventful 36 degree ride with Keith, Norm, Stan, Brian, Britt, and Kenny. On the way back, Keith was at the front pulling when the wind blew his cycling cap off, i was in the row behind him on the outside and i caught it on my left brake hood. I know the quality of this feat wasn't worthy of Cirque de Soleil or anything but hell, when you ride 3 hours on a flat road, these things are exciting.

Also want to give shouts out to new members of blogtopia. Marcy, a buddy from my LSU Library basement days, and Lance, straight out of Chauvin Original Gangsta from my Mobile epoch. Check em out.

Image Googling

Loved Eric's idea to google image search his name, my search turned up these which aren't quite as enjoyable.







What was trippy was that while searching i actually found a photo of me in a team time trial and another one of my old car. Crazy.

While compiling random lists, at one time (and sometimes many times) or another i've been told i look like each of the people below, which is funny because they really don't look that much alike.

Real Men of Genius

For Friday afternoon fun, give these a listen which come from Matt Z. My personal favorite has to be Mr. In the Car Nose Picker

Lunchtime Tech Chat Winner

Here it is, Chatter Bug. $20 then $10 per month for unlimited long distance, pretty crazy.

the post-crash shower

That is usually the worst part about crashing. Not the actual loss of skin or the accident itself, no usually the worst part comes once you get home and you take that shower that makes your legs quiver as water pours into your exposed flesh. Then, to take your mind off that pain, you get to scrub your wounds with a washcloth to get out the gravel, dirt, etc. But no more, i've learned a better way. Spray your rash down with Dermoplast and wait a minute then step into the shower. Scrubbing out road rash has never been so much fun. This stuff really deadens the wounds. PUT IT IN YOUR TOOL BOX.

Pavement meet David, David meet the Pavement

Yes, what better way to welcome in 2006 than with a nice tumble on the old bicyclette.
Not as much a tumble as an uncontrolled slide. I was psyched to finally be back up in the Felicianas for the first time since before Katrina. Happy to be on hills, and not on the cursed loop of River Road.

We had a nice sized group and the roads were wet from fog. 4 miles into it, someone got a flat, thena mile later i did the same, using up my only spare tube. I should have just turned around at that point, but instead on we went up Sligo. I decided to test my legs a bit on the two steep sections heading to Rosemound. Mitch, Mark and i got a gap on the rest and we were just rolling, not fast at all, around the Lake.

I approached the off-camber 90 degree turn that leads to the exit and swung wide-out to make the corner. I've probably done this one 50 times in my life, it looks easy, but gets sharper as you get deeper into it. As i set up for it i noted bundles of pine straw in the apex, but missed these by a foot at least. Then whammo-bammo-slammo, i lost traction on the road and we're sliding, meaning my bike and me. I'm on my ass sliding for a while, the bike is sliding. The damage to my bike was nil, except for a sharpened corner on a pedal. My shorts were trashed, and me well probably about 6 square inches of skin loss over my elbow, knee, shin and ass.

After regrouping at the store, everyone else kept rolling towards Jackson/Red Bug, i took a right on 61 and went home in case i tightened up. About 4 miles from the car, at the 61/66 intersection, i hit some gravel or glass that blew out my front tire. NICE. Without another tube and no interest in a hike in my cleats i just rode the flat back to the car.

I hope 2006 gets better.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!