Catch 22...Wow!

Remember Catch 22? One of those books that you were suppose to have read in high school or college, but ya didn't have the time (or interest), so ya bought the Cliff notes...

I am just about finished with Heller's Masterpiece...Its the most ironical, funny, and disturbing novel I have read in a long time...the humorous style reminds me of A Confederacy of Dunces (Catch 22 is not as funny, especially given the context, but still I often catch myself laughing out loud). A Cautionary Note: Hang in there and don't become initially dismayed with this novel; the first hundred pages are convoluted and thus tough to understand, but after that it all starts to come together and itz well worth the effort!!!! One can only hope that these characters are wholly fictitious, yet I suspect they are based on real people!

The March to Folly goes merrily along....................so it goes!

PS I obtained Catch-22 on the strong recommendation of Nicolas Kullish, the author of Last One In.

Feeding the Rat: 3 hours with the youthful Fraboni...great ride

KUDOS to Greg Hexum and Kim Holak for Victory at Bangin' in the Brush!!!!!!!!!

Perfect Day.....almost

"Since the bicycle makes little demand on material or energy resources, contributes little to pollution, makes a positive contribution to health and causes little death or injury, it can be regarded as the most benevolent of machines."
Stuart S. Wilson, Oxford University [source: Adam from the Duluth Cycling Website]

The world would be a better place if there were more bicycles...ya can't say that about too many things now a dayz! CPF

It would have been the perfect day if I could have raced at Saint Cloud, but with my wife in graduate school and a huge test looming in her near future, I stayed home to hang with off-spring...and I did get a great 2 hour+ ride in. Also, I am competing in a 12 hour race next Saturday, so I'll get my "fix" in seven henceforth....It has the makings of a classic SUFFERFEST...featuring a host of enduro-freaks including EKI, LORD OF PAIN

There's gotta be a better way to make a livin' than being a deer, especially a buck!

On Minnesota Public Radio, the other day ,they had some bureaucrat from the Minnesota DNR talking about how autumn is a time for the deer to become “active,” especially the bucks. Well, no kidding!!! I would become “active” to if I knew that over 500,000 gun toting blood-thirsty zealots were heading out into my neighborhood with the singular intent being to KILL ME, especially if I’m a male deer!!!!! In any event, I know the deer know what it means when the leaves start to turn color and they are getting totally freaked out…can ya blame then? The “Fall Colors” for the white-tail buck aint no good life; the does are hitting on ya and the humans are trying to kill ya, and the bigger your rack the deader you gonna be…The bureaucrat went on to extol the citizenry to be safe and conscious of others when embarking into the woods (via ATVs) with high-powered, hi-tech weaponry. He failed to mention any safety concerns for the deer, especially the bucks.

Yesterday, as I was riding up Lester River Road, I saw a beautifully majestic buck get hit broadside by a car full of moronic adolescents. The car initially sped past me at the crest of the final stretch of the hill leading out and onto a wooded plateau, the green sedan was “hugging me” close to the shoulder and I therefore surmise that they were focused on scaring the hell out of me, as it seemed as if the driver never saw the deer explode out of the woods. The ferocious impact sent the doomed deer cart-wheeling high into the air. Miraculously, the deer was able to get up and run away, but I am quite certain that he had sustained mortal wounds. The car never even slowed down…so apart from a few broken pieces of plastic and glass, I was left with nothing but the violent image and the profound thought that it must suck to be a deer, especially a buck with a rack………If I was a deer, I'd be a buck, a BIG BUCK and I'd be an enterprising big buck and so I'd open a full service, w/ 24 hour convenience, no appointment necessary "rack reduction/elimination" center where I'd remove or "tone-down" other buck's racks for inflated monopolistic prices ...then I'd be a rich buck, but alas I bet the humans would still be out to KILL ME...so it goes.......

Feeding the Rat: 150 minutes in windy conditions. Thursday: 2 hours in the rain

Shoe-ins for THE LIST!!! Plus a very cool pic...Oh to be young again!!!!

According to my trusty, well-worn Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary:

phenom /fee-nom/ noun ; a person of phenomenal ability or promise. Note: the term phenomenal means "extraordinary, remarkable, unusual, rare, etc...."

Therefore base on the above: The Lalonde boyz' command of their bicycles represent a phenom of which the writer has never before imagined. Or

Team Phenom of which the Lalonde comprise is beyond comparison within the smallish world of the writer. or perhaps: Jesse Lalonde and his younger brother, Marko, are the incarnate of Da Vinci, the phenom of phenoms during the Renaissance Period.

Pic -Source: Jesse Lalonde's website

I was beautiful then...........................................

Anyone that has been on the move for 20 hours or more can appreciate the lyrics as Grizzabella laments her decline...My little Sophie and I watched Cats last night and the words from Memory brought back fond albeit powerfully bittersweet "memories" from both the RED ASS 300 and the 24 Hours @ 9Mile, while at the same time bolstering my eargerness for the upcoming 12 hour race @ THE THUNDER DOWN...

Lyrics from Memory [from the Broadway Mega-hit, Cats]

Daylight

See the dew on the sunflower

And a rose that is fading

Roses whither away

Like the sunflower

I yearn to turn my face to the dawn

I am waiting for the day . . .

Midnight

Not a sound from the pavement

Has the moon lost her memory?

She is smiling alone

In the lamplight

The withered leaves collect at my feet

And the wind begins to moan

Memory

All alone in the moonlight

I can smile at the old days

I was beautiful then [or: "I was strong and fast back then" cpf :)]

I remember the time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp [or; "Every bikelight" cpf :)]

Seems to beat a fatalistic warning

Someone mutters

And the streetlamp gutters [or: "and the wheelset gutters" cpf]

And soon it will be morning

Daylight I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of a new life [or: "I must think of a new sport" cpf]

And I musn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory too

And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days

The stale cold smell of morning

The streetlamp dies, another night is over [or : "The bike light dies..." cpf]

Another day is dawning

Chequamegon 40 was a great race...but I got 'schooled.'

Itz was a full-on classic, beautiful weather, tons of friends; highlights included riding in a group that comprised many of my buddies, plus Gary Fischer and Kent Erikson!!! The Talent Pool at this race was awe-inspiring!!! There were 20 to 25 guyz that had a reasonable shot and just making the top 50 required a supreme effort...And I had a blast, but it wasn't one of my best efforts, I felt great for the first hour and good at the half way point, but I quickly faded after about the 90 minute point... Toward the end, on the Birkie rollers, I felt like I had been "knocked-out" from a round-house kick from Chuck Norris... Yet, I'll live to fight another day. I love bike racing even when I get my butt kicked!!! Plus there is always next week and then there's always next season!!!!

Kudos to Jan Rybar and Scott Cole on outstanding efforts!!!! The Lalonde Boyz and Ezra T. are of a different world!!! Many Ski Hut racers...it was a grand event!!! Gary Crandall and all the volunteers do a great job!!!

A race recap to follow in a few dayz

A GREAT PHOTO!!!!

Left is a great photo showing Doug Swanson leading out across Rosie's Field a couple years ago. A careful examination of the photo reveals Tilford (in chase), the Eppens (on Tandem), TJ Woodruff, Jeff Hall (on the right), and all the rest of the 'usual suspects'. Also, the most amateur of racers can be spotted at the far end of the photo (second to the end bringing up the Caboose.) While this is just the very beginning of a long two hour plus effort, crossing Rosie's Field in good shape and in a good position is key...Many of the guyz in this photograph that are bunched up and in hot pursuit will ultimately cash out and be relegated to limpin' 'er in...Essentially at the early stages of this classic race, we have a lot of pretenin' goin' on... but really only about 40 or so guyz are really contendin' for the top 20 spots!!!!

My sentimental favorites include Doug Swanson, Steve Tilford, and Eric Simmonson. I want Doug Swanson to win because I know him and really like him and his wife. They are super nice, amicable people, and Doug is very unassuming and always quick to support cycling. I don't know Tilford per se, although I rode with him for a few brief moments last year as he suffered a flat which put in out of the running for a top spot. Yet in my world, his misfortune allowed me to ride along with him for awhile. Just as he was finishing up fixing the flat, I caught up to him and so I started up a little conversation with him and he was very nice. After a couple of minutes, I remember him looking back at me and saying, "itz been very nice talking with you, but I suppose I better get back to racing." And with that very polite good-bye, he put 'er into an overdrive that I can only dream about and left me like a was standin' still. However, the fact that he's a nice guy is not why he made my top three. Nor is it the fact that he's an old guy, like me (we are both 47); the reason he made my top three is because he rides a rigid 29er made by Kent Erikson. Kent Erikson was born in Wisconsin and is in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. I love the idea that both Erikson and Tilford are riding bikes made in the USA by a committed craftsman that has roots in Wisconson. Both Erikson and Tilford are back this year. I know even less about young Eric Simmonson, but I love Bell's Kalamazoo Stout Beer and Bell's Expedition Stout can only be described as "nectar of the gods." Young Simmonson rides for Bell's Mountain Bike team on a Quiring rigid 29er made by Steve Quiring. Again I love that kind of thing!!!!!!! Quiring won the fat tire about ten years ago and now makes high quality bikes in a little shop in Michigan. How great is that? Great Beer by a local brewery and Great Bikes by a local craftsman...The American Dream?