Random Thoughts: Part Deux

To piggyback on Rider 3's post from earlier in the week, I too have some random thoughts. In a way it's a sad state for me when it comes to riding. I don't have a bike to race on, and often lose focus on riding when I'm not working towards something/want to avoid completely embarrassing myself. Of course working like crazy and being up to my neck in dust during a massive house remodel doesn't help. Anyway, here's a cornucopia of bullets from the cacophony of my mind:

• On Alberto vs. Lance: How dare Alberto ride for the win! Didn't he learn from the times in Lance's career when he worked hard to make sure teamates ended up on the Tour podium? Like that one time Lance pulled Acevedo up to...never mind. Or that time he helped Floyd win the stage to...uhhh. Or when Lance tolerated dissension and the opinions of his domestiques...ehhhh.

• Then again...Whatever you think of Lance, he still did a mind-boggling ride. Seriously, three years after retirement, at his age, and just a couple of months after breaking a collarbone? Unbelieveable. He's two weeks older than I am, but a world more talented.

• On what you see riding: If you ride enough, you invariably come across cool, often crazy, and sometimes disgusting sights. In the last few months I've been within 100 feet of a moose, a bald eagle, a red-tailed hawk carrying a snake in its talons, five blue heron (my vote for the coolest bird ever), a 30 year old rusted shell of a car along a mountain bike trail, a guy with his aerobars 20 inches or so above his seat, a couple of hypodermic needles, an ashtray (evidently someone couldn't stand to have it in their car for ONE MORE SECOND), what I think was human feces, and someone plowing their field with a donkey.

• On sucking ass: I freaking HATE getting dropped. I'm known for being mild-mannered to a fault and don't think I've ever lost my temper. Seriously. If I were a killer, I'd be a stone-cold killer. But my form has gone to crap and lately I get very, very angry every time I go uphill. I don't think I can fake it much longer. Sooner or later the older gents are going to realize I'm not hanging back just to be nice and pace them back to the faster guys at the top of the hill. In short, I hate sucking ass.

• On ultra-hot days/nights: No, this isn't the buildup to an announcement for a new FOX reality show. It's been hot in Spokane lately. 100-degrees hot. Our 97-year-old house doesn't have AC, which is fine with us. Usually. Its deep eaves do a good job keeping things cool, but after a certain number of hot days it magically turns into a heatsink. So after weekend days where I've been uncomfortable all day and an evening of fitful sleep on sweaty sheets, nothing feels better than an early-morning ride. The descent out of my front door, when it's still cool enough to get goosebumps from the cold? Bliss.

• On making a cyclist happy: One of my best friends rode for U.S. Postal Service for a few years. And no, I'm not here to name drop. But I think he was still riding the same bike he did the Vuelta on in '97 or '98. Seriously, the thing is a wreck. Anyway, I helped him source a new Trek Madone 6.9 for a good price, and he rode it for the first time earlier this week. It's amazing to hear the joy a new bike can bring, even for those of us who have been on many, many bikes over the years, with a majority of them coming for free. Of course it cracked me up when he called on its maiden voyage as he was walking the last mile to work. Evidently he ran over something that put a giant hole in one of the tires.

• On my own new bike: Not here yet. But to say I'm looking forward to it arriving is a massive understatement. Last night my wife asked if I was more excited for the new bike, or for our remodeling project to be complete. I replied that I was excited for both of them, but in different ways. Is it bad to tell this kind of white lie?

• On Clunkers for Cash: What if the Fed put 1/100th of its proposed $2 Billion into the bike industry, subsidizing the price of emissions-free bikes anywhere from $300 to $1,000 (or whatever) depending on the price of the bike. It's a relatively paltry sum, and would do a hell of a lot more for reducing carbon emissions, oil independence, improving people's health, etc., while also supporting strapped manufacturers and local retailers. If you want to get patriotic about things, the program could be limited to bikes that are built or assembled in the U.S. How is this a bad idea? Even the Italians pulled off something similar.