Snub-O-Meter

According to Webster’s: snub (snuh/bah) v., snubbed, snubbing, n., adj. 1. to treat with disdain or contempt. 2. a disdainful affront or slight. 2. to obviously ignore...itz of Scandinavian origin; cf. Icelandic. In Iceland, “snubba” means to rebuke.

In any event, I am initiating a Snub-O-Meter that I will utilize from time to time in an effort to quantify my common experience of being snubbed by fellow bikers: [note, Dear fellow non-snubbers, please feel free to use this new measurement tool]

A “4” on the Snub-O-Meter translates into a full scale, in your face, “contemptuous” SNUB. Note: To earn a 4 it has to be obvious that the perpetrator is w/o ear-gear and it must involve a one-on-one encounter, like in the early a.m. on the Munger Trail where itz just two bikers passing on a narrow bike trail.

A “3” is a snub of disdain, but the circumstances are such that there is a slight chance that the snub was accidental. For example, this is a situation where perhaps the snubber is late for work, he’s had a fight with his wife and therefore this snubber is not a repeat offender.

A “2” is a snub of indifference. To qualify as a 2 the snubber must NOT make eye contact with the snubberee. This person may well be hung-over and is bitter. He may be riding the bike because he lost his truck due to five recent DUIs...This snubber has a lot going-on in his smallish brain.

A “1” is a snub of apathy and or ignorance. This snubber is uncomfortable on the bike, he is nervous; perhaps he is fleeing from the law. This is perhaps the only truly justifiable snub.

Quoting Quakers:
Rode in today to work on yet another glorious morning. On the way in I encountered one classic #4 snub by a guy on a road bike, complete with time trial handlebars and old school birdcage pedals...On the positive side I had two very nice exchanges with righteous commuters....2:1 Not bad...
90 minute ride into work, easy w/ a focus on high RPMs

Postscript: total- 4 hours and 53 minutes [293 minutes] Can you say, "Eye of the Tiger..." I am feelin' like Rocky when he took it to Apollo Creed!!!

Today's NYTimes Lead Story: "Blast reinforces Cheney’s caution in Iraq, 'We have a Long Way to Go.'" So it goes...

Whatz with other guyz-on-bikes that will not for anything look up and say, "Hey whazup, nice day, eh" or even a "How we doing?" or even just a simple, "Dude." Itz my pet peeve of the week...Who are these guyz anyway? They are not super fast guyz...I know the super fast guyz, they beat me nearly every weekend during the racing seasons, plus up here there really aren't that many super fast guyz and like I said, I know who they are and they know me...I know most of the fastest guyz in the state and all are friendly and encouraging. Do you know what I am talking about or I am crazy? Here's a typical encounter...I am riding along, livin' the dream, feelin' great, up ahead coming towards me, I see a guy on a bike. Itz usually a guy on a fancy new road bike, a super light-weight euro-carbon job [he got "a great deal on it" off ebay], he's wearing a yellow USPS/Trek jersey that he got on sale off some internet bike store. Anyway, make no mistake about it, the dude sees me, we make eye contact...I enthusiastically yell, "HEY, howz it going?" He puts his head down and flies past, like in full-on ITT mode...Whatz with that? Howz that work? Where is that coming from? Does he think that being a jerk will make him fast? Fast like Lance...Lance is fast...Lance is a jerk, therefore if I'm a jerk, I'll be fast???

I mean I can understand the red-necks in West Duluth with the big dual-exhaust, "I support the troops" mega-trucks trying to take me out, thatz what they have been trained to do, itz their job. I never take that personally, but when a fellow biker snubs me...it really really hurts:( I feel like Dorthy felt when that super mean, mean lady tried to take Toto. Itz just NOT FAIR...Aunty Em :(

Proactive Pandering to Parastic Pariahs : Made the commute to beautiful downtown Esko...took the long route so I was out 109 minutes in the a.m.
Legs were a bit fatigued from the hills yesterday, but it was a glorious morning. Postscipt: Great ride home, got to see and exchange pleasantries with both Doug Robinson and Mr. Bushey...Bushey and I rode together for awhile...It was great...total dayz effort: 3 hours & 28 minutes [208 minutes]..SWEET!

When it all boils down to the essential element in one's life...The Most Important Thing there is.......

I stole this above pic from Hansi Johnson, who took it a few days ago at one of my favorite hang-outs in Duluth, Beaners. I stole it because it illustrates the most important thing in my life. It depicts my purpose in life; it illustrates what gives my life meaning; it summarizes what it all means to me; the meaning of my life; why I get up and fight the good fight each and every morning; why I went into teaching; why when I hit my knees every night before I go to bed, I give thanks; it why my life is so beautiful...

You know what I writing about don't you? Itz all about having........




A GREAT CUP OF Kick @#$% COFFEE...thatz the meaning of life!!!

Note: I'm not sure who that little kid is?

Our [the USA, that is] Overt Omnipresence is Over [or soon to be over]...153 minutes...most excellent workout involving hill repeats on and above the "Lester loop." Two efforts up the hill from the entrance of Lester Park to the top and four efforts up the long hill [a good 4 minute+ climb next to that school out there in Lakeside]...I felt great...Watch Hall and Swanson cuz I be a force to be reckoned with as soon as I find my form!!!!

Mission Accomplished...Clean Bill of Health!!!

Some of my good buddies from over the years came and sat with me in the WAITING ROOM and then after I went in for the "procedure" they even waited for the news...As you can tell from the pics above, they were as pumped as I was about the good news of my CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH!!!! I love those GUYZ!!!!


Nebulous Negotiations w/ Ner-do-wells: 37 minute brisk walk to the Saint Luke's Clinic this morning at 5:30 a.m.

Kudos to the following Team SKIHUT Cycling Mates: Scotty Johnson on 11th place at the first WORS Race...also kudos to Sarah K-J for winning the Women's Elite and to Mike Bushey, Joe Mcgraver, and Harry Anderson and Meghan Anderson...all with fine efforts @ the first big race of the season!!!

Note: Scotty Johnson recently wrote up a nicely done race recap [go to www.teamskihut.com] of the first WORS race...It was held in Iola, WI. With next week's big UCI race in Maplelag...the season is NOW...These guyz, Sara, Scotty, Bushey, etc...they are the real thing when it comes to racing on real mountain bike courses, like the one @ Maplelag...I am pumped, but THE SEASON don't start for me until May 19th and 20th [Cable & Erik's]; so I got plenty of time to get serious about my weight loss!!!

"Running on empty..."

Yeah...I am running on empty, but I am NOT looking for sympathy, thatz most definitely NOT COOL, but I have not eaten any food since Friday evening. While, I generally agree with the FDA that solid food is a required part of the essential food groups, I tend to build my nutritional foundation on a rather medieval concoction of dark roasted malt barley, whole hops, and yeast. If the fasting protocol required this product to be passed up, then indeed, I would seek public sympathy. In any event...got me thinking of Jackson Browne's Classic: Running on Empty--

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In seventy-nine I was seventeen and running up one-o-one
I dont know where Im riding now, Im just biking on

Running on - biking on empty :)
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun..........

"Biking the day before one's 'medical check', it ain't no good life, but itz my life..." cpf

My Maladroit Malfeasance towards Modern Medical Maneuvers, Medicines, and Mandates is thankfully but Momentary, lasting only until shorty after Monday Morning: I only need 80 minutes today to get my goal of 20 hours for the week...and I am gonna do it...Postscript: Got 'er done w/ 83 minutes easy "woosy" spin out towards Two Harbors...Total for the week--Just over 20 hours....SWEET!

Yeah...like doing our part for like the environment, DUDES!!!

Note: Photographs from today's community-service effort. The first picture is of either a raccoon or a like-minded beast or a dark angel of Lucifer, depending on your world-view...Sorry for the poor quality, again depending on your personal world-view, the poor quality is attributable to one of two rationales, one being that dark angels of Lucifer rarely photograph well or possibly that the person wielding the camera is a cretin suffering from both mild dementia and a hyperactive gland disorder. FYI, my vote is with the dark side...that hideous thing is clearly a member of Lucifer's gang!

This morning, in an effort to "model" appropriate civil-mindedness-in-action, I forced Sophie out of bed [single off-spring] to brave the rain and the wind to assist with a city wide effort to do a little "spring cleaning" along the trails and back-roads of Duluth. Sophie and I spent an hour or so cleaning part of the Munger Trail with several other members of the COGGS group [Cyclists Of the Gitchie Gumi Shores...or something like that...?]...In any event, it was fun and Sophie found this way cool skeleton of a raccoon or a oppossum, or maybe a dark angel of Lucifer. I think itz a dark angel of Lucifer, but the general consensus among the rest of the do-gooders was that it was a raccoon that has seen better days...

Laboring w/ other Luddites against Lecherous Followers of Lucifer: 3 hours and 31 minutes...oh yeah!!! Rode out to Thomson to find my friend, Hansi's House. I found Hansi's House and that was great, but I did not find Hansi...So it goes...I am on course to get over 20 hours this week, but I have to go to the Doc's office on Monday for a little "plumping work" so I am fasting today and Sunday...so Sunday's ride may turn into a modern day "vision quest." Especially, given the sad fact that at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow I will ingest a "purgative." I will let those will active minds conjure the rest...It ain't no good life, but itz my life.

Joe Friel, Training Guru sez: "Ya gotta rest one day per week"

Today is my rest day for this week...just gonna kick back and watch McDisney's version of Cinderella III w/ da kid and da wife. Yeah, life is good..gonna follow Friel's training advice and hydrate. Yeah, gonna hydrate with some [I really mean "a lot" of] Bell's Kalamazoo Stout to help kill the wretched pain of watching Cinderella III, and rest up for some big training dayz on Saturday and Sunday...Some of da boyz from TEAM SKIHUT are heading out on Sunday to race the first WORS Race and I am jealous as hell, but I gotz to remember that itz a long season and I'll get plenty of racing in...still I cannot get the idea out of my head that a Saturday or a Sunday NOT racing is a wasted weekend. Don't believe any of that new age stuff about picking and choosin' ones races...The fact of the matter is that: Only racing truly gets a guy ready for racing...I ain't sayin' itz a good idea, itz just my idea...and it don't mean nothin'........so it goes.

A Kaleidoscope of Kallikaks: I got a nice power walk in at lunch for 35 minutes...otherwise, I am taking the day off...Going for 20 hours this week w/ a rest day...thatz gotta be somekind of record, somewhere?