raw opinion—great food—fast cars—wild horses
Had I not been warned as a youngster to be careful what I wished for, I’d certainly wish to live somewhere with predictable weather. Then, of course, I’d wind up in Seattle or London and curse the non-stop rain and fog! Since I became an avid road cyclist about 7 years ago, I’ve developed a careful technique for checking the weather forecast. First and foremost, I rely heavily on the weather...
It happens most on days with a steady crosswind on the ride. I’ll be riding along by myself, and suddenly realize that I’m not alone. There’ll be a dog running along beside the road, but I’ll know I have nothing to worry about… because they’ll be going for him. But most of all, I hear that voice, telling me “We’ll have a cross-tailwind coming home, Lauren. You’ll like it!” I always...
I haven’t seen much normal lately. In fact, normal has been missing since summer. Normal, by definition created over 2007 and 2008 means riding my bicycle 10-15 hours a week, amassing 150-250 miles and lots of the bike maintenance that goes with that. This fall, I made a conscious effort to take two weeks off the bike. I cheated, and it wound up being eleven days. Three days of normal riding...
There are things in life you love. There are things in life you hate. There are things in life you really don’t care one way or the other. The most frustrating things, though, are the ones that you love so much, you keep using them even though you hate them. This saddle is one of those things. When I first rode it, I was in love. It was so amazingly comfortable. Roadies...
I don’t suppose when Thomas Wolfe wrote You Can’t Go Home Again there’s even the remotest chance he was talking about the shower in my folks’ house. But, as far as showers go… it’s reason enough. To be honest, I can be certain he wasn’t talking about that shower since the house wasn’t constructed for another decade after he wrote the book… And I’m pretty sure it was yet another decade...
It’s been ten years since it’s been properly cold in Dallas. That’s what the weatherman said… It’s only stories like this one from Toronto that make me feel like it’s better to be here right now. The forecast has been exaggerated a bit in the past, so I was hoping they were being pessimists again this time. I suppose they just can’t risk not telling us how bad it could have been....
I’ve long known that a falling piece of toast can land only one way… jam side down. And, most likely, on one of the many clumps of Fiona hair that no vacuum cleaner in the world can quite overtake. Last night, I made another incredible discovery. It would have merited further experimentation, but I was going to run out of socks… You see… I discovered that dropping a rolled up pair of socks from...
We year-round cyclists have a way of rationalizing really cold days. Once the mercury starts to dip below 50, we “ride the thermometer.” 45 degrees? 45 miles. Last night at dinner we were discussing what/where to ride today. At the time, I wasn’t really keen on another ride downtown, but I knew it was the prudent choice. One of the mysteries of living near a big city is that said big...
Yesterday was the first day of 2010. So, of course, it was the first bike ride of 2010. I stayed with the group for about 6 miles before getting scared off by shaky riders and a very unsettled pace. We seemed to speed up on the ascents and slow down on the descents. In the end, I had a great 46 miles of riding through Allen, McKinney and Frisco with only...
There are a few drawbacks to riding a bicycle 12-14 hours a week. Of course… right now, I’d gladly accept them all. None of them are quite as frustrating as being trapped by the dull ache accented by the occasional stabs of roaring pain in my right ankle. When you spend a lot of that bike time riding with other people, it can get even worse. They tend to take...
Canis Wickettis
c. 1992-2011
You will be missed.