christ--where has the week gone?

wow.

i guess, somehow, between racing, riding, out-of-town day trips,

oh, and a wrestling awards dinner, and crap like that,

i've managed to go since sunday without a post.

i really am sorry.

that makes me almost as lame as some of the other bloggers

here in capitol city, and that makes me cringe.

the good news is:

skinsuit weather has arrived!

or, at least it was here today.

it's been a good week for me, personally. riding every day,

although i'm not going to get the 21.5 hours

my program called for this week.

no biggie.

threat of rain scared away the little kids on tuesday,

and a lot of riders still haven't set their clocks ahead

for daylight savings time, i guess. new bikes are cropping up,

like the perennials in my various gardens. always a pleasant surprise,

and great to see the abundance of winter bearing fruit with

the coming of the new season. i was able to see, and lift,

lippold's new titanium bike--

yes, the red and yellow beast is retired for now.

that new bike is SO light! dang.

i try not to be a bike geek--i'm riding a 1995 ralph,

for god's sake, with 1992 dura ace and ultegra components,

including 8-speed down-tube shifters with a 9-speed cassette.

in fact, i've gone through maybe six or more flats this spring.

my shit is NOT new.

but dave insists his bike is light because of those

snazzy hed bastogne wheels he has--and that the team has

the chance to get from andy at hed in the twin cities.

1400 grams for the PAIR!

but, alas, i'm forced to be philosophical again.

it's been a fairly good winter and early spring thus far.

now, granted, i haven't gone anywhere exotic or mountainous

to test my mettle. and, frankly, when the weather DID get nice enough

this week to shed the tights and knee warmers,

i was immediately reminded of my scandanavian heritage.

june cleaver would have sold her soul

for bedding as white as my legs!

so, i'll try to cover a few things in this post.

the news: why the fuck does bush make telling the truth

seem like a bad thing?

what the hell IS he hiding?

i am so fucking sick of this administration's stance on good and evil.

today, after the house finally found its spine passed a funding bill

tied to a september, 2008 pull-out date,

bush quickly arranges a photo op

with military personnel and their families,

and accuses house democrats of playing politics???

with a straight face?

he's a mean, twisted, demented, lying little ...

either that, or, like poor pinocchio,

dubya really IS controlled by the evil mr. cheney.

and recall, all this bullshit about the war funding bill is just the latest smoke screen to hide the mess with his attorney general, who should have been booted months ago, but there is SO much un-checked corruption going on that, seriously, a program would be helpful. every body says "all presidents fire u.s. attorneys." yes, they do--AT THE START OF THEIR PRESIDENCY. but they DON'T do it when these supposedly independent prosecutors are fired because they either DO prosecute republicans, or DON'T prosecute democrats, despite phone calls from republican senators!! and karl rove is still around? and notice how nobody is talking about scooter libby and his pending pardon? and notice how nobody is paying attention to, well, ANYTHING to do with funding health care, or education, or, hmm, what about dubya's dismal trip to central america. reminded me of vice president nixon's trip to the same part of the world in the late 50s.

the best clip of the week:

bush standing at a podium, saying that "so-and-so doesn't know his left hand [raising and looking at his RIGHT hand] from his right [raising and looking at his LEFT hand]."

and steve who? left the state of iowa?

i just can't wait to race tomorrow. and sunday.

let's see, the weather for saturday:

two weeks ago, the gravel course was muddy but sunny.

last week, it was snowy with fresh gravel.

tomorrow? 1-2 INCHES of rain is forecast.

sunday? 78 and thunderstorms.

f*cking SWEET!!!

140 riders at kent park?

f*cking EXCELLENT!!!

for someone who has not experienced a full season of racing for a number of years, nothing says racing like a whole bunch of nervous, apprehensive, gotta-show-my-shit iowa bike racers like a mass-start cluster fuck 830 am on a sunday morning cuz we gotta be gone by 1100 24 mile marathon.

they shoot horses, don't they?

it won't be five days until my next post, be assured!

and thanks for reading.

heavens, we've passed 10,000 just like that!