Day: August 20, 2022

Taking the day off after a bike pack epic. Sadly I feel great … just not ready for work. So I am taking advantage of the fact that I said that I would probably need Monday off. Thinking next weekend of hitting up Lava lake with Mo. it is time to get out and soak up what is left.

My good friend Paul Bardis wrote up a great piece about my journey to the Worlds last month and it got published in Vermont Sports. I used to grace their pages back in the day (check it) and it is nice to see the love and support from my North Country peeps. Click the image above to visit (or here).

I just woke up from a weird dream about a wounded elephant. What was that about? And then moments later I sit here at work with a tweaked back. How did I tweak it? Don’t know, only that I was late for work and thrashing about the apartment gathering what I would need while I was incarcerated in prison. I am also feeling like I have fallen from being in shape and am putting on weight.  HEY! That’s the wounded elephant.

Now that I have that figured out.

Last night I went for a

We are out of Carbo Rocket … oh no! No that is not the reason for this post. Brad keys has some more on the way. 

I just want to say that you are not freaking out.  The web site has changed styles and colors.  I had to upgrade the server side software and it broke the current theme.  So this is the Drupal default. 

Who cares though!  Right!  Its the content that counts, and what matters to me most is that I get a public place to air my shorts!

TIP: Do you want the old theme back? Log in and go to your account.  You should be able to choose the old theme but be aware!  Things may start looking a little funny.

So yea! There I was, cycling home after a recovery ride with my friend Garland. The air had cleared and we took a jaunt out to Miller Creek Valley. Mr G went on to do a longer ride and I headed home for some recovery when it happened. [Photo Gallery]

I hit 39th street, one of my favorite streets.  I like it because it has a divider and big bike lanes. Its more like a boulevard. Champs de Higgi! I was riding without thinking, just relaxing, then something brought me out of my stupor and also the bike lane.

It was all automatic.  I saw some parked vehicles and so I went around them.  What I didn’t know was that I was entering the anti bike zone. 

It seems that motorists hate the bike lane so much that when they see a cyclist come out of the lane they figure that the son of a bitch is fair game.  So I was assaulted and at one point I thought I was going to get beat to a pulp by a bunch of angry motorists.  What happened?

The Good Shepherds Children Center. 2321 39th St. 829-3404 apparently had some sort of meeting and all those rich shepherds (deduced from all the SUVs), being above the law (won’t say anything about a religion organization), parked in the bike lane.  They thought, “wow, a lane just for me”.

I wonder how many cyclist put their lives in danger because of these jerks?  Save the children, kill the cyclist! If these are shepherds I sure would hate to meet the wolves.

Yo! Stumbled upon this killer website – the National Forest Preserve Alliance (NFPA, see what I did there?) – and let me tell you, it got me fired up faster than a squirrel hopped up on Red Bull. Since movin’ to Missoula, I’ve realized our forests are in serious trouble, thanks in part to the Bush administration’s “let’s-clear-cut-everything” agenda. Screw that noise! Here, the forest ain’t just scenery, it’s our backyard, our lungs, our whole dang ecosystem. So corporations and whoever else wants to grab a piece, take a hike!

This NFPA crew, they’re the real deal. Their whole “Endangered Forests, Endangered Freedoms” thing? Basically, they’re using lawsuits, rallies, and even some good old-fashioned elbow grease to keep the Forest Service from turning our national treasures into sawdust. Did you know 95% of our original forests are gone already? The rest? Mostly public land, getting logged with our tax dollars, no less! Missoula’s seen its fair share of deforestation, and polluted water’s next on the menu if we don’t do something. Think about it: when do we stop, before every critter native to these woods is just a memory?

Time to ditch the chainsaw and get to restorin’, I say! Check out these links: Endangered Forests, Endangered Freedoms Project (sounds epic, right?), Protect & Restore (duh!), and even their About Us page – they’re a real grassroots movement, powered by people like you and me. And hey, if you’re feelin’ spicy, there’s a link to “Stop the Bush Administration’s Pro-logging Agenda.” Go nuts!

Remember, folks, a healthy forest means a healthy planet, a healthy Missoula, and maybe even a squirrel with slightly less jitters. Let’s get fightin’ for what’s right, one click at a time!

Today I feel stronger than ever. I did the backside loop of West Rock. The loop starts in reverse to the one I did yesterday… It begins in Westville and continues around west Rock on the east side. It mostly side hill single track with some short steep climbs. Just enough to expand the lungs like a vacuum cleaner bag. Leaving the lake on the north side a short loop takes you at first on some flat and back on some rock pathways. This stretch is extremely fast and has flat sections. Once back towards the lake the trail swings uphill and the hill climb starts on the water tower access road. Around the water tank and the first run up occurs. This hike a bike section is about 50 yards of heart pounding and slippery climbing. On top you mount the bike for a quick road accent to the highest point of the loop. Heading East on the road takes you to a gravel road that ends as soon as it begins and from there on out it is tremendously technical. At first there are the rock gardens then there is the valley which has to be run down and up because of the steepness of the terrain. This is the last of the three dismounts. Once on top of the second ridge there are views of route 15 and all of Westville. Also one can catch the sunset over the valley. Back on a twist tour de France road section takes you to the top of West Rock itself before plummeting to the valley below on one of the scariest downhills around. From top to bottom is a quick 3 minutes and then it is back home for a recovery smoothie.

Friend Luli is finally on vacation (Sikorsky finally let him). He writes

Hello from Prespa, what”s up gangs? Hope you are doing well, I myself am having a wonderful time here. It”s too hot though. 90s 100s. I”m going for a couple of days to the beautiful coast of Albania. Bill tell guys at work i said Hello. Peace!

Everyone here says hi and cant wait till the goulash party when he returns. 🙂

Today I feel a bit grouchy but I cant complain. Yesterday began the same way but ended up pretty well.

After work I headed out to the West Rock loop. The loop starts out with a gut wrenching climb up the ridge before crossing over the west rock tunnel. The ridge road is three miles in length and the last smooth rolling section of the entire loop.

The decent off the ridge is one of the finest side hill single tracks in CT.

Then comes the twisted woods single track.

After that a 1 mile long flat trail give you top speed of around 20 mph in anaerobic mode if one wants to go hard.

The rest of the loop includes some ups and side hill before coming out in Westville.

A good ride that usually takes around two hours and leaves the rider totally exhausted. Just what I needed.

After my ride I went to the movies with my friend Lisa. We got their early so we had time to catch up on what each of us has been up to. It seems that she is doing well and I am happy after the way Sikorsky treated her.

The movie itself was mildly entertaining (probably due to my mind being somewhere else) but you cannot fault the Laura Croft character. I really like her strength and athleticism and her attitude. Way better than James Bond.

The day ended well after starting off slow. I hope today will be the same and I can get caught up after that nice weekend I had. Maybe a little 3 Doors Down will help, I heard them on the radio last night and now I have a CD I have used for motivation so far today. Has anyone heard of them?