Saturday, May 24, 2008

Tacos for breakfast


Today was going to be a good day on the bike. Not epic, not legendary, but a good day out. Until I got doored. At first it looked like just the front wheel was demo'd. I was fine. Nick played rescue crew and grabbed my car, so I could swap wheels and keep going. If only it could be so easy. Throw on a new wheel and as I ride away realizing my shifter feels funny. Well it feels funny, but how does it shift? Not so good as my rear derailleur explodes!!! Nice. Luckily I can roll down hill to my house again and examine the bent rear derailleur hanger that helped give the rear derailleur the impetus to self destruct.
So now I am looking at new front wheel, new rear derailleur, new shifter, new rear derailleur hanger (hey maybe a frame and fork too -why not go big?). Bike is in the shop now getting examined for the damage report that I will probably have to chase the idiot who doored me across Arlington to get paid.
I think the best part of the whole thing was when the lady said, "I can't believe I doored a cyclist" and I looked down at my bike and then back at her and said "I can". I think that went over her head.
So another weekend another incident. I need to get the curse remover going on this bike thing.
I have to give the Williams front wheel a lot of credit, it absorbed most of the force of the impact before imploding.

PS
Day later. No word on bike til Monday. Took a 2 hour ride on my single speed cross bike which as much more fun than I expected. Guess that's the silver lining. Can't cry when you have more bikes to ride.

Friday, May 23, 2008

The Education Of Sonny Carson

I mentioned this movie in another review and it is so good I had to post this. This clip was made famous by Ghostface, but the movie is well worth your time.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Marzio Brushegin Appreciation



12 years as a pro, 11 Grand Tours, and 3 wins. that is a lot of days in the saddle. The man owns more donkeys (by a factor of 5) than he does wins. The ulitmate domestique, gregario, grinta, whatever you want to call the guy who rides tempo for hours only to get shelled and drag his ass across the line to do it again. He has always ridden for strong Italian team (Fassa,Lampre) who had clear leaders and media stars.
Well yesterday was his day. Wins the first ITT in the Giro. He puts the screws to Visocnti and Ricco and the other pretty boys who get the limelight.
The effort it takes to be a great cyclist is pretty awe inspiring-hours on the bike and denial of anything that can compromise your peformance(food,desert, fun, etc) for example. It is truly impressive when a man can stick to that life style for over a decade while gathering so little glory for himself. Even winning doesn't ensure you stick to the plot(Dario Pieri!) Imagine how many hours of training separated those wins!
But maybe Brushegin is sick of the shadows, Check out these quotes
"'This pink jersey is not by chance,' said Bruseghin.
'I am not wearing it because of one solo escape. Those of my rivals who underestimate me are wrong.'" Take that Visconti. Looks like Marzio is ready to be the leader of the Lampre squad in this Giro. It's hard to see him triumphing against Menchov or Contador. But maybe he can put the hurt on Visconti,Ricco,DiLuca, et al who have been getting all the glory. It would be nice to see him on the final podium however unlikely that is.

Time Trial didn't upset the overall contendors too much. Ricco got hosed by a fall and Simoni did better than you would have expected, but all the favorites are within a few minutes with one tough mountain stages to shake things up before this weekend's sufferfest.