Amp

The other day, I was speaking and thinking of getting another guitar. Today, I came home with an amplifier?!? Early Fender Princeton Chorus, made in the US, not Mexico. Has a clean and dirty channels, reverb and a chorus. A footswitch allows me to go from clean to distorted and have the chorus on or off.

This was a good move, considering I WANT to join a band. Gives me more depht an versitility. Also, I can sound sort of like a Hammond going thru a Leslie with the chorus. Thus will give me a needed quality, since I can pretend to be a keyboard, while comping rhythms.

4 things

1) I haven't rode my bike in a long time. Maybe two weeks and that is including on rollers. Just haven't wanted to. I'm not training for a race, but riding for fun. Right now, with the recent weather, riding in that weather isn't fun.

2) Instead of riding, I've been running some. In the time allowed, I'll get a better workout, in a shorter time frame. Also, the cold isn't as cold. I did between 5 and 6 miles today. In strong wind and blowing snow. On pavement and trails, over hill and dale. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow.

3) Over the recent week, I've regained contact with my sister Regina and with Steve Levin. Regina is the only blood relative that ever gave a crap about me. Hopefully, we'll stay in touch this time. Steve is my former best friend and was the best man at our wedding. I'd like to get with him and make some music again.

4) Speaking of music, I'm kind of sort of thinking about getting another guitar and setting it up for slide guitar in open G tuning. I may also go to a blues open mic in Webster Groves at the Route 61 Roadhouse. I know my hours are getting cut again at the bike shop and perhaps now is the time to make contacts in the music world and form a band, or join someone else's band.

Don't Keep Me Wonderin'

Almans, with Duane. Tom Douchette on harp.



and as gay as Kevin Cronin is, Gary Richrath completely RULES!!

Playin' with the Dog

I sat in with the Brown Dog Blues Band last night. I was a bit awkward a) since I haven't played with a full band in eons and b) since I didn't know much of the material very well. I did record the first set and upon listening to it, I actually played my ass off at times. I did some good solos and the more I settled into a back up role, the better I did a sort of Danny Gattonesque groove/riff/jazz chord comping thing. It was fun. I hope they let me play with them again!!!

Ok, this is for real.

Tuesday night, I'll be sitting in with the Brown Dog Blues Band. We'll be playing at the Lone Wolf Coffee Company. Not sure the extant of my role of sitting in will be, but I'm sure I'll have a good time. Looking forward to getting my Duane Allman on!!!

Speaking of which, sad news. The Allman Brothers Band have recently announced that in 2010, they are going to pack it in forever. Then this week, Dickey Betts (who's been out of the ABB and playing with his band, Great Southern) announced that he's not going to tour anymore, effective NOW. This is all sad news to me. True, Gov't Mule will be around, but no original Allmans on the road.

In tribute......



Camn shame that the camerman wasn't focused more on Duane's guitar playing, but, I'll take it!!!!

Nope

Nope, not Sunday either. I forgot Amy has to work in the morning and I gotsa watch the 'lil ones.

Hate to say it, but....

Nope not tonight. Ralph's stuck in Minnesota and his flight won't get him here in time for us to play tonight.

Now, we're looking at playing Sunday. Not sure of the time. I'll let you know.

Fenton James Comeback

I'll be playing out this Friday evening. I'll be backing up Ralph Pfremmer and playing some blues at Ralph's Lone Wolf Coffee Company. Starting time is around 7:00pm or so.

Photos

Here are some photos of my Les Paul Studio.

Another reason......

Another reason I've always dug the sound of a Les Paul is jazz fusion. Jeff Beck played a 1954 Les Paul on Blow by Blow and Wired. Then, of course there is Al Di Meola. Al is a MONSTER on guitar. His work with Retrun to Forever is the thing of legend. Well, that band is legend. Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and of course, Al on guitar.

Here's some Al Di Meola Project from the early 1990's.



Haven't rode much. Haven't really wanted to. I did ride in last night to work. Was freakin' cold on the way home. I was dressed right, but should have worn a balaclava. My face froze in the wind on the way home. I suppose it wasn't THAT bad. It went numb before too long!!!

Mississippi Queen

I couldn't find a good quality of Mountain's original version of Mississippi Queen. Fortunately, my favorite electric guitarist, Warren Haynes, did this stellar version with the first version of Gov't Mule!



Not much went on this weekend. Took the tribe for a chilly hike at Powder Valley Conservation Area. Actually, we spent more time inside the interprative center, than hiking. But, we still had fun.

Haven't been on the bike in a few days. It's been cold and damp and I'm still not totally over the ick. Still a total snot factory.

Les Paul Soulshine

Warren Haynes has THE tone!!!!!

GAS

I've spoken about GAS (guitar aquisition syndrome) many, many times. Yep, I have a new guitar. Just came home with a Gibson Les Paul Studio, with the faded cherry finish. The finish looks like that of the red Les Paul Juniors of the late 1950's. Great guitar. Just gotta get used to playing electric again.

Joe Pass

Holy crap Batman!!! Why on earth have I never gotten into jazz guitarist Joe Pass? The guy is unearthly!!!!!

18, the hard way.

I rode 18 miles today. But, it took a total of 3 rides to do it. I did 10 miles on the rollers this morning. Felt ok, considering the head cold I had yesterday had me wiped out. Then, I rode into work for 2.5 miles. On the way home, was the remainder. I took a longer way home, which included one good hill. It was darn cold, but I actually was overdressed. Upon my arrival at the homestead, I was turned into a sweaty mess. Yes, I hammered, but still, the temperature was below freezing and I wasn't out very long.

If you have Charter Digital cable, there is a cool U2 concert from 1983, before they made it big. Most of the songs are from their first two albums, "Boy" and "October." "War" hadn't been released yet, but they played New Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday and maybe another song from the yet to be released record. The funny thing was when Bono went into the crowd and climbed on top of a fence and stood on it. Actually, his balance was pretty impressive....until he lost it and fell flat on his ass and back.

The concert is also on Youtube, song by song. Or at least a good bit of it. Type in U2 Rockplast.

Here is Bono's falling. I guess, once they hold him up, his dancing on top of the fence IS sort of impressive. BUT NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AS HIS MULLET!!!

Blah

I now have a horrible head cold. Yippie!!!!

Time Trial

Ok. I'm going back and forth here. Should I do Eddy Merckx division time trialing or track racing. I just don't know. I did find the place for me to actually pratice tt'ing by home. It's the north outer road of 44, from Buder Park to the enterance (exit rather) of Lone Elk Park. It's not 10 miles, but I can go back and forth a few times, which will help with the turn around. From the 141 bridge to LE is just under 2.5 miles. I could always add a section of Buder and head back by the airfield for those little planes.

Of course, going as fast I humanly possible on the banked turns of a velodrome looks hella cool!!!!!!!!!

Cool Old Bikes

Since I like cool old bikes, I thought I'd save photos of them and make a blog page to show them at. Right now, I just have my Alan on there and a really cool safety bicycle from the 1890's. I have a link to it on the right "Cool Old Bikes," or here is simply the link to it.

http://coololdbikes.blogspot.com/

Oh, Just Friggin' Great

What else can go wrong?

My day was ok. Yoga in the morning and an hourish ride, of all hills, in the afternoon. I felt strong, except for my lungs, which are still coughing up crap.

Ride in the afternoon? How'd I manage that? Amy went to the doctor today. Her cough is worse than anyother of us. She literally, coughed from 11pm to at least 1 am last night, without a 30 second gap inbetween!!!! X-rays were done.

She has bacterial pnuemonia. Joy.

I'm pondering doing some sort of racing next year. Eddy Merckx time trial division sounds good. So does track racing in kilo, sprint and persuit type events. The Merckx time trialing I can do on the Alan. For track, I'd need a different steed. Possibly, maybe, not sure...this.




I'm all about retro. This is an Italian track frame from the mid 1950's to early 1960's. Obviously the brake would go. IF I get a track bike, I want a TRACK BIKE. Something I would ONLY ride at Penrose. Other photos of this show amazingly cool lugs!!!!!

Edit.....

More bad news. Vicki's cancer has returned. God bless.

EBay goodies

Don't forget to check my eBay auctions, folks!!! Right now, I'm beginning to list crystals and minerals again. There are a few cds there now, too.

I buy from eBay too. I just got a Capagnolo Nuevo Record rear derailleur, for the Alan. Now, I can get rid of the 980. I'm certain that was non original to the bike, as the shifters and front derailleur are Nuevo. I also just got a wool Brooklyn jersey!!! I've wanted one for a long time, but have always been unwilling to pay so much for them. They usually go for around $100. Mine....thirty!!!!

Now, I can get my Roger de Vlaeminck on!!!



Shared time with Laurie Burge this morning. Always a pleasure. Conversation goes from stones, to politics, to metaphysical, to...... Always, leaves me feeling good and with a ton of things to ponder. She's a good soul!!!

Weekend catchup

I finally feel somewhat normal. Still am coughing up tons of crap, but I feel alright. The rest of the tribe is on the path to recovery, with Jake taking the longest.

Went on a good ride this morning. Not far, but hard. Lots of hills. Old 141, Romaine Creek, Saline, Sugar Creek, Old Gravois, Hawkins, Oakwood. There is another road between Saline and Sugar Creek, but I don't remember it's name. Several seriously hard hills and a ton of rollers. The hammer to the gut, as it often is, was Oakwood. Espicially since it came after everything else.

Fatigue is there from lack of fitness, but I can say the flu is (knock wood) gone from me now.

Cool historical climbing video series. Actually, it's the "Best Climbs of the Tour de France." Not sure how the ratings were done, etc. but, it's cool. This is part one of a 9 part series. When it's over, put your cursor over the photos at the bottom, find part 2 and click, and so on, to view all of them.

Burrrrrrrrrrr...........

We all have the flu now. It finally hit Amy hard today, which of course, means no Thanksgiving feast. Still feeling like crap, I went out for a ride today anyway.

The weather was cold and really windy. Having the chills all week didn't help me none. I decided on an "easy" ride. "Easy" meaning small ring (42). Yet, I rode Hillsboro/Valley Park Rd to High Ridge. The route I took from the house was 10 miles to the Phillips 66 Station in High Ridge. Very little flat, lots of climbing. Being already weakened, I knew the ride back would be a killer. My plan was to do the ride as an out and back. Conviently, that would have been 20 miles, with lots of hills. Good route from the house!!! But, I want the flu to be done with and took the easy way home, which had me on Rte 30 from High Ridge to Sugar Creek Rd. I like riding on 30. Yes, cars are doing 70mph, but the shoulder is huge and puts you 10 feet away from the cars and there is a nasty rumble strip between the road and shoulder, so you'd know if someone was near you. Good pavement and from High Ridge to Fenton is mostly down a long false flat hill, and you can go darn fast.

High Ridge. Why is it called that? Because, no joke, it's the highest elevation in Jefferson County. So, I turn on 30, which is open, no trees, got into a comfort zone and WHAM! I almost got knocked off my bike by a wicked gust of wind. I had to fight this type of sudden wind until the first elevation drop. I can't imagine riding this section of road with aero wheels today. Thankfully, I'm retro and have 'box' rims. It was windy the whole time on 30. This cooled me off and I was actually looking forward to the next hill climb to warm me up again!!! It sort of did. On the hill after that, I realized I was spent and made a good decision to not do the out and back. I may still be out there now.

Overall, it was only about 18 miles, but considering my battle back from the flu and the battle against the wind, the mid forties temperature and the windchill in the mid thirties, not to mention a bunch of hills, it was a pretty good ride. I just hope I didn't weaken myself more overall and that this friggin' flu goes away once and for all.

At least it wasn't THIS cold...

Ignition

Flu

Yep, it's the flu, folks. Gotta be. Nasty cough/aches and pains are going away, but has now been replaced by diherrea. 4 nasty bouts since noon. Despite this, I managed to get on the rollers for 30 minutes. It's weird being in a cold garage, sweating. I think the sweat was more due to the flu than the workout. I think I just managed around 8 miles. I got done a little bit ago and showered. I feel beat. Winded more like it.

Yes, the flu sucks.

Weak

Great God Almighty!!! I rode really poorly today, not that this suprised me. Been battling a cold and to make matters worse, got almost no sleep last night. Jake is sick as well, and between 1 am and 5 am, I went into him 6 times. Amy also went in a few times. My planned ride today was out the window. I didn't know if I was really sick or just tired. Maybe sick and tired. So, I did get out, but only rode around 12 miles of flats, with one hill (Oakwood). Yeah, it was windy, but it was my energy level that was the problem. I just had nothing. I suppose it was better to ride than not, since at least I got my legs loose.

The best thing about a bad day, is that they give you something to judge a good day by.

I got a nifty fortune from a fortune cookie the other night. "Instead of giving someone a piece of your mind, instead, offer them the peace of your mind. Nice words to live by.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

Now that I am riding again, and winter is coming on, it was time to get a new set of rollers. The last ones I had, I used for around 10, maybe up to 15 years. They had 4" drums. I loved the things. This time, I got me some with 3" rollers. A big shout out to you ______ _______. Thanks again.

Today was my first ride on them. It would have been easy to have gotten carried away and done a lot longer ride, but, not wanting to flog myself on the first time on them, I set myself a strict 45 minute time limit. When it came, I stopped.

But, in that time, I became one sweat drenched puppy. I really worked myself. I was told that smaller drums give off more resistance and I agree. I started out in my 42x19 for a 5 minute spin to warm up. Then, I went into the 52 and stayed in the 19 in back. I stayed around 90 rpm for cadence, except, when I did some intervals, where I picked up the rpms to around 110-120. I did one minute on and one off for a while, then a 10 minute session of as hard as I could until I slowed enough to warrent ending the session. After a cool down spin in the 42, I stopped. I really felt this in my legs. It was a good workout, one that had my heart rate up and got me to the point of where I couldn't talk while riding. Good stuff.

I know that these will help me get back into shape and were a great decision on my part. It didn't take long to ride smoothly and centered on the drums. Now, I need to get better, so I can shift my down tube shifters on the fly, drink from a bottle, etc. In the "old days," I got pretty good. Could do most of the tricks: no handed riding, one leg peddaling, standing, drinking, juggling bowling pins, etc.

Patience Jim. Those days will come again.

A spoof of sorts

With both guys home sick, I had more time on my hands than normal. On stlbiking's message board, were some created movies. After watching, I decided to log in and give it a try. I came up with a spoof on the local bike racing scene. Complete with jokes about everything, new, old, Lance is God, upgrades, Cat 5 'pros,' Team Mack and even Mark Shea.

AARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

People suck. No, make that some parents with sick kids suck. Ben stayed home from school yesterday, and both him and Jake are staying home today. Why? Here's the chain of events. Last Thursday after dropping Jake off, Ben and I were waiting around. A friend of his, M_________ T_______ had a wet nasty cough, which I noticed. I talked to Ben and told him to try to stay away from MT, to avoid getting sick. A little later MT was being his usual self (jerk-off punk). Ben said, I don't want to play with you today, because you are sick. MT said and I heard, "I'll get you!!!" and ran off. Well, after school, Ben says that as soon as they got inside, MT snuck up behind him and coughed in his face and breathed all over him. What a little ______________er. Now both of my kid's are sick due to this little prick's actions. Great. But what I don't understand and what is much worse is this, kids will be kids, I know that. But, the school has a policy of if your kid has a fever of 99.8 and above, OR a wet cough, they are supposed to stay home, just like I'm keeping my guys home. But, NO!!!! MT's mom dropped him off at school, risking infecting everyone else, so she could go work out, which she does every morning (and needs to do, I will add, MOOO!)

Enough of that rant.

And now for....

Rain. It's back to rain rain rain here. Didn't ride yesterday, won't today (I wouldn't have due to kid's home anyway). I have a set of rollers coming, won't be here until tomorrow. Naturally, Thursday, it's supposed to be nice and dry. Oh, well, I do need them and will have them for the next patch of bad weather.

And....

...to top it all off, I have another broken tooth. Going to the dentist tonight.


AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I found this old photo of me racing cyclocross at Queeny Park in 2001, going up the muddy hill, just past the creek crossing. Photo taken by John Mussleman. I edited the size so it would fit on the blog.

Nasty

Nasty day for a bike ride. Chilly, foggy, windy. It was mainly damp and windy. I did get out for a 20 mile ride in the flats. Of course, that always means a hill or two around here.

In the recent past, I was thinking of randonneur riding and doing some brevet rides. Coming to reality, that's not going to happen. I simply won't have the time to put in the miles.

But here's a thought...time trialing. I always thought I had power and wasn't too bad at time trialing. I think in the State Championships, I even did a 57 minute ride as a cat 5. There was no official Cat 5 champion that year, but I had the fastest time of the 5's. The following years I did 1:04 in both other attempts in stiff wind. I think I entered as a 4 one year, but would have been Master's Champion in my division, if I entered that instead. Arrgh.

So.......

If I can get in shape, this could be something realistic for me. Racing alone. Nobody else to crash me out. There is a weekly series in June and July in St. Charles, run by Joe Walsh of Big Shark racing. The bonus....there is a Merckx division!!! Meaning, no aero bars, etc. Simply old stuff, which falls into my retro love thing.



Who knows?

The Badger

Happy Birthday to Bernard Hinault!!!!

(from cyclinghalloffame.com)

Born on November 14, 1954, Bernard Hinault’s achievements as a rider are second only to Eddy Merckx. Nicknamed “The Badger” because of his fighting style when cornered, Hinault was a complete rider like Merckx who could climb, sprint, and time trial with the best.

Hinault’s record of ten Grand Tour victories is second only to Merckx's eleven Grand Tour victories.

Hinault joins Merckx as the only riders to win all of the classifications in the Tour de France (overall, mountains, and points jerseys), although Hinault didn’t achieve the feat in a single year like Merckx.

Hinault’s record of 28 stage victories in the Tour is second to Merckx. He won 7 stages in the 1979 race and 5 stages in the 1981 race.

Hinault’s record of over 250 professional victories, including 52 time trial victories, is impressive. Hinault was also an accomplished one-day rider and won the World Championship Road Race and a total of five victories in cycling’s monuments (he never won the Tour of Flanders or the Milan-San Remo).

In addition to the CyclingHallofFame.com designated races, he also won the then unofficial time trial world championship, the Grand Prix des Nations, five times.
One of the most memorable Hinault victories was at the 1980 Liege-Bastogne-Liege in Belgium. The April race was held in winter conditions which deteriorated during the day. Of 174 starters, only 21 finished. Hinault rode solo for the last 50 miles (80 km) of the 151 mile (244 km) race through a blizzard and won by 9:24.

Hinault was clearly the strongest rider in his victory in the 1980 World Championship Road Race held in Sallanches, France. Hinault devoured everyone from the start in a race where only a handful of riders finished.

Hinault’s record, in the Grand Tours at least, may have indeed been even brighter had it not been for knee problems. Hinault was forced to abandon the Tour in 1980 because of a bad knee and was forced to miss the Tour in 1983 because of a knee operation.

In 1985, Hinault won the Tour de France thanks to the help from Greg Lemond in exchange for Hinault’s promise to ride for Lemond in 1986.

During the 1986 Tour however, Hinault attacked Lemond and wore the yellow jersey as the race leader.

Hinault kept attacking Lemond which made the other riders chase Hinault. Lemond was able to counter attack the other riders and take the yellow jersey himself. Hinault’s attacks didn’t subside until the final time trial was finished and it was obvious that Lemond was going to win. When questioned about his tactics, Hinault’s response was that Lemond needed to learn how to win through adversity and that this lesson would make Lemond a better champion.

Possibly, but either way it provided much interest and entertainment during the Tour de France that year.

Hinault left cycling at the peak of his career. He retired in November of 1986. His last race was a cyclocross race five days before his 32nd birthday.
Hinault's accomplishments include 5 Tour de France titles, two second place finishes, a Mountains Jersey and a Points Jersey in the race. He won the Giro d'Italia three times, the Vuelta a Espana twice, a 1st, 3rd, and 5th place in the World Championship Road Race, a Paris-Roubaix title, two Liege-Bastogne-Liege victories, two Tour of Lombardy victories, plus victories in the Amstel Gold Race, the Ghent-Wevelgem, and two victories in the Fleche Wallone.

He won the Tour de France - Giro d'Italia double in 1982 and 1985. He won the Tour de France - Vuelta a Espana in 1978. He is the only rider who has won all three Grand Tours at least twice.



During his racing days, Bernard didn't take crap from anyone and HATED protesters, even getting into fights with them, when protesters delayed races. Now, he's a part of the Tour de France orginization and is a fixture on the post race podiums. In this video, you can see that the Badger still doesn't take crap from protesters!!!!

Kid's Day

If I ride at all today, it won't be until later on, in the evening. Jake doesn't have school today, which means, it's a kid's day!!! Not sure what we'll do while Ben is at school. For that matter, I'm not sure about what we'll do after Ben gets out of school either. Likely, we'll go to Burger King for, what's becoming a weekly event, the special lunch. The BK in Valley Park has a kid's eat free deal, if the parent gets a combo meal. Usually they split a chicken nugget meal and the fries.

I haven't talked about guitar playing in a while...

I've been tuned to Open G mostly lately and working on slide. I'm at a level where I'll say that I've gotten really good. That makes me happy. Yesterday, I got an itch, so I tuned to standard for a while. I really like this old Gibson of mine. Plays great, sounds great. Later on, I tuned to my old favorite, DADGAD. But, I've been in modern pitch (A=440hz) and I chose to lower it to old time pitch of 430. This has the effect of lowering the strings notes just a wee bit. I did this after momemtairlly being in dadgad 440, and I can say that after the change, the tone erupted from the guitar like an asteroid hitting a planet!!! Good stuff. It's been a few weeks since I've been in DADGAD and all the music I play in this tuning is of my own composition. It's like returning home after a long journey. Things are as you left them, but a little strange. Dust off some cobwebs, and you are "in your place."

And now, the master of DADGAD tuning, Frenchman, Pierre Bensusan...



Not sure if that's his song, or a cover, but DAMN!!! The guy is a melodoic genious!!! I wish I had a 1/10th of his tallent. No, I WANT IT ALL!!!

Not bad

Considering my lack of fitness and my back woes, which lead to leg woes, I'm riding fairly well. I did my figure 8 of hills today, with the worst, Oakwood, being last on the adjenda. For a historically horrible climber, I'm doing alright. Seated, I was able to ride in a 3 gear tougher gear. Shows some strength is coming back. I didn't stand much. Once, where the outer road of 44 turns right into Valley Park road and another time during where the grade goes to 12% on Oakwood. Not a bad ride. It was fun and very enjoyable. Later, I rode into/from work. I didn't do the extended ride, as it was colder than I expected and was underdressed. I'm going to ride this morning. Speaking of cold, the ground is covered with frost. Should be a "refreshing" ride.

Lately, I've sort of rediscovered one of my favorite musicians, Steve Winwood. The guy is an amazing tallent. He can play about any instrument, which he did on many of his solo albums. Heck, look at the credits to the Blind Faith album. He plays a ton of stuff, while Eric Clapton just played guitar. With Traffic, it was the same way. Steve would play about everything. He wrote one of the all time rock classics, "Gimme Some Lovin'" and recorded it with the Spencer Davis Group when he was only 14 or 15!!! Here is a video of Empty Pages, during a reformed Traffic tour stop at the Woodstock concert in 1994. Not a great recording, and not nearly as good as on the Barleycorn album. But, it's still a great song. Heck, the girl dancing topless is a nice bonus to this video.



Here's Stevie at a young 15 doing Gimme Some Lovin with Spencer Davis....



Added later.........

My ride this morning sucked. I just didn't have it. I was dressed perfectly for the weather, but, I just had no power. So, I just rode the Fenton flats at an easy pace of around 15mph. I did finish off by climbing Oakwood on my way home. I had to stand twice and much earlier than of late.

I recently got a great coffee table book called The Compition Bicycle, which shows old racing bikes of days gone by, with complete specifications of each and some cool old stories. A note to my friend, who the other day, said my bike was "heavy..." My bike, with all it's stuff on it, weighs about a pound LESS than the bike Eddy Merckx used in the 1974 Tour de France.

Everything is relative and meaningless.

Night Riding

I woke up this morning and quickly realized that in my condition, I obviously pushed it way too hard yesterday. Sure, it was only 30 miles, but I rode it hard. Thus, instead of a morning ride after the kids were in school, I went home and back to bed!!! I rode into work however. On the way home, I took the long route via the river road and by Chrystler/Maritz. I've rode these roads hundreds of times, but never in the dark. For most of the route, there isn't much ambient light, just the light provided by my headlight. The road isn't in the best of shape, since it floods all the time. In fact, the water just went down and I could see brush marks from a street sweeper, that cleared the road. Yet, a fine dirt was still on the road. The air was crisp and there was hardly any traffic. I think I only got passed by 3 cars the entire ride home. This extra distance doubled my normal commute. It was fun, and I'll certainly do this again and again.

Weekend update.

Some good things happened this weekend. I was able to catch up on some yardwork. I mowed/mulched the leaves in the yard and burned some yard waste. While burning the waste, I drank a beer and played some slide guitar. Over the last few days, I've figured out how to play in different keys, while in open G tuning. Songs I taught myself were a new version of Statesboro Blues, which is in D and Crossroads Blues, which is in A. For Crossroads, I use a capo on the second fret. That old blues guitar of mine really sounds great for the blues. It's almost as if the guitar is holding music from long ago and I'm channeling that energy and letting the music sing again thru me.

I found a praying mantis yesterday at work. I wanted to show it to my sons, but I rode into work. So, I took a chance and put it on my arm and rode home with it. Amazingly, it made it home with me!!! It was sort of funny, it crawled down my arm to my brake lever, then went into the drops and stayed out of the wind. We let it go in the wood pile today, but the little guys were happy to see it and enjoyed checking it out.



I FINALLY took my first long ride on the Alan today. 30 miles in St. Louis County. I started off riding the 141 gauntlet to Big Bend. From there, I went west and rode the new section of road to New Ballwin, where I went left to Keiffer Creek and turned right, following it into Clarkson. From there I turned on Clayton and took a breakfast stop at the Lone Wolf Coffee Company. I hadn't eaten yet, and I planned on stopping there. I had a Blueberry muffin and a cup of Joe.

I also realized what this bike means to me and why I got it. It's very anti-ego, which I'm all about now. I don't need flashy anything. A good friend picked it up today and said "it's heavy." Years ago, this would have been viewed by me as a personal attack. I was a weenie, who was into the latest, greatest, lightweight stuff. But, I said nothing. Sure, I could have. The bike after all has clunky commuter pedals, a Brooks saddle and a Brooks tool bag full of tools. Not to mention a pump, lights and a freshly topped off water bottle. The bike still comes in under 24 pounds. Heck, there are a bunch of new road bikes that with the stuff that's on my bike would weigh more than mine. But, I said nothing and smiled. You see, I don't care. I just want to have an enjoyable bike to ride. One that has a great ride quality, climbs well and is fast. The Alan is all that. I don't need carbon this that and the other, aero wheels, blah blah blah. Not that there is anything wrong with that stuff, or (most) anyone that rides with it. It's just not for me. I'm about simplicity and lack of ego. My friend did compliment on the fact that it's a nice looking bike, which it is. I got another compliment yesterday at the shop about it, from Tank.

I'm Glad

You know what, I'm really happy with the Alan. For the riding I'm going to do around here, it's perfect. It climbs really well. Considering I haven't really done any road climbing in years, I'm actually climbing really good. Is it the bike? I'm out of shape, yet, as for in the saddle climbing, I almost think I'm as good as ever. Not bad out of the saddle either. I am lacking overall in the power department, but I'll get stronger. In fact, I feel stronger than I have in a while. I guess doing hills will do that for you.

If you're wondering, the gearing is 52x42 up front and the six speed rear ranges from 13-24. I'm climbing decently in a 42x24??? Considering I used to run 39x23 on lighter bikes........ Good stuff.

And, on my loop today, I realized that I can go a bit farther, since I'm riding overall faster. Thus I have a bit more time. Today, I took a challenge, I haven't done in a few years. Oakwood. Starts with a long stretch of 8%, then goes for another good stretch at 10%, then a few hundred feet at 12%, before finally hitting 14% near the top. It was the last hill of my ride and I already did 2 good ones before that. I took the challenge and won. No leg or back pain. Like I said, my power is off, but darn it, I rode really well, all things considered!!!

If anyone wants a fixed gear or knows anyone that does, let me know.

Kind of Kewl Top 10

I don't agree 100% with this. Kelly should be higher than Indurain and Armstrong. Look at Lances palmares, compared with the others. Doesn't compare. He was all about July. Don't forget, nobody's palmares shows other races won. Lance's really was about all there was. He won the Tour du Pont once, against a weak field too, which I don't think was on there. I wish they would have put total victories for each rider on the list. Merckx, Hinault, Coppi, Bartali easily top 4. I might have put De Vlaminck up a bit higher too. Certainly, Kelly should be no lower than 5th.

Catching up

I finally took some photos of the Alan!!!



Crazy handlebars are amazingly comfortable. Check out the tops, or almost lack thereof. Nice big curve going to the hoods. You can put your hands on the tops by the stem, on the straight bit. Otherwise, you are in that curve, which by the way is an amazing hand position!!!



And here are what our pumpkins looked like for halloween. I always like barfing pumpkins!



As for the bike.......

It's been having issues. Flat city, which I finally got ironed out. Creaking from the bottom bracket area. I think I have it worked out now too. I got home from today's ride and tightened the lock ring and rode it again, for a short distance. No clicking. Hopefully, that was it. Today, I finally didn't have a flat, so I was thinking I'd get a good ride in. I was, until I got to the intersection of New Smietzer and Hillsboro/Valley Park Rd. There it was flooded. So, I had to go back. But, that way did give me the nice hill there. I also took in the hill of Gravois/Hawkins and added another to my figure 8 loop, May Valley. MV is in my subdivision, in fact a few hundred feet from my house, but with the gearing on the fixed, I just never wanted to tackle it. That was part of the reason for getting the Alan in the first place. Gearing. It climbs nicely and rides well. I like it!!! As you see in the photo, it only has one cage mount. Not a big deal as most of my rides will only be in the 1-1.5 hour range anyway. I can always get water or ride with a CamelBak if necessary. With a cage, pump, lights, computer and pedals (yes, they are spd on one side and platform on the other...), full Brooks tool pouch and a Brooks saddle, it still weighs just 23 pounds. Not bad for a vintage bike!

Well........

Well, the real first ride won't be today. I only went for a quick few miles. Just didn't have time for it. Ben's birthday is this week and g'ma is coming over today.........

But, what I did notice of the bike, is that it rode really nicely. Had a good feel. Definately doesn't feel like aluminum. If I had to give an initial thought on the ride quality, I'd say sort of titanium feeling.

Last night, we took the guys to West County Center and around the neighborhood for trick or treating. WCC was sort of a bust, compared to last year. I'd say less than half of the stores were handing out candy. But, they had fun and we ate at Chic-fil-a for dinner. Then, hit the houses around the block.

This is cool.......



I rember seeing this many, many years ago. Great song. Traffic was always a favorite of mine, espicially the post Dave Mason version, which this is. Steve Winwood is one of the best musicians ever. He can play any instrument, and do it well. Great singer too. But, what are they on? My guess is mushrooms. Jim Capaldi does his best hippie version of Davy Jones on the tambourine.

'Tis Here

The Alan came today. I have it built up the way it'll be. Rode it around the block once or twice, while I was fine tuning her. Thankfully, I didn't hear any creaking, which is something I feared. It's neat that aluminum can really feel like steel.

Tomorrow, I will do the first real ride upon her. I'm going to do my figure 8 loop, to stay close to home. Just in case.

Yes, I'll post photos sooner or later....

Best ever?

Bernard Hinault. Best ever? Sure, there's allways Merckx to consider, but Bernard had something about him, a form of aggression. He once broke away in an early stage of the Tour de France and created panic in the peloton. They started to chase fevoriously. But, when they caught up to him, he was standing on the side of the road laughing at them. He was just getting into their minds!!!!! Speaking of the Tour, BH could climb, time trial and sprint, including winning on the Champs d' Elysse while in the yellow jersey!!!



Lance, for one, wouldn't have contested a sprint in the final stage of a race he already won. BH just had an aggression.

BH won a Leige-Bastogne-Leige in a blizzard. I think only 28 riders even finished the race. Oh, he was wearing shorts and no jacket either. He got cold and attacked to warm himself, he would later say. He won by something like a half hour.

Today, he works for the Tour, handing out podium prizes and shaking hands. At least twice now, he's thrown spectators off the stage!

Yes, the Badger, was a well deserved nickname.

Bernard, I bow to you.

A Small Victory

Rain. Rain and more rain. I can't remember the last time I was able to get a ride in, in the morning, while the guys are in school. Seems like it's always raining. Then, it'll rain when I need to commute into work. Needless to say, I haven't rode much lately. I did ride in to work last night and it felt great.

Well, today, rain wasn't supposed to come in until late afternoon. At least, that was the forecast yesterday. I planned on a ride. So, while getting ready, I checked the radar....just in case. DAMN!!! Rain on the way and almost here. I changed my planned route to a figure 8, which would never take me too far from home, just in case. This is a good route, with several longish hills. Due to not riding much lately 'cause of rain and before that, illness, I was weak. Very weak. I really can't wait until I have the Alan (it has shipped) and have it the way I want it. Higher presure and narrower tires, coupled with some gearing will help out a lot, since, it's all hills around here. Yes, I can grunt up the climbs in the fixed gear, but, at the same time, SOME gearing would be nice. That and the retro grouch in me had me go for the Alan. 52x42 up front and I'm not sure what the 5 speed in the back will have. But, it'll be at least a range. Also, I will admit, I do miss high speeds. The large ring will get me those.

But, I digress.

My ride had me go thru a few spots of drizzle. I got home, put the bike up against the wall in my garage and at that moment, heard the skys open up with heavy rain on the roof. I went out back and raised a fist at the sky.

At least for today, I defeated the rain.

JOHAN!!!

After disposing of his rivals two climbs ago, Johan Museeuw assaulted the Wall of Grammont like it was just a minor hill, on his way to another victory of his in the Tour of Flanders. Many say this breakaway is one of the two best in the history of the race, the other was by...someone named Merckx.

Alan

I really wish I was computer savy enought to be able to edit the original photo, so it would all show here. But, here is what shows up, of the actual bike I bought.




...and the head tube junction.



Cool, huh?


I'm putting a Brooks B-17 Narrow in black and Tektro Campy Aero knockoff brake levers on. The levers, because I don't like the feel of vintage levers, and loathe having the brake cables shoot straight up in the air. The 'new' cable routing will give the bike a nice, sleek look. For bar tape, I'm going with Deda black 'carbon look.' If you're saying "WTF?" don't worry. This tape looks nothing like carbon. It is somewhat vinyl covered foam, with a pressed in pattern on it. I like this tape a lot. If you ever saw my old Colnago (sold due to the bad mojo angst associated with the bike), it's the tap I had on that.

Good plans

I love it when a good plan actually works out!!!!

I had mentioned that I was thinking about getting a vintage bike. Well I did.



An ALAN from the late 1970's or early 80's. Mine is red. By the way folks, that's red anodized aluminum!!! Going to look spiffy!!!! Campagnolo downtube shifters, hubs and deraillures, Miche headset, bottom bracket and crankset, Modolo brakes and levers. I'll get a Brooks saddle and maybe new brake levers, because I don't like the shape of vintage levers. The Raleigh One Way is going to go. Assuming I like the ALAN. These Italian frames have quite a cult following. 10 cyclocross world championships were won on the cyclocross version of this frameset. Many road races too. In fact, ALAN made these frames for many bike companies, like: Colnago, Guericotti, Gitane, Bianchi. Remember how the Litespeed Blade timetrial bike was used by just about every pro team in the late 1990's, albeit painted like the brand they were sponsored by's paint scheme? Sort of like that.

So, what was my plan that worked out? I paid for this, then listed a banjo on eBay, with a buy it now of a little more than what I spent on the bike. A good price on the banjo. I knew it would sell. It did.....less than 20 minutes after listing it!!!!

A plan that worked!!!!

Catching up

I haven't updated this blog in some time. I started the Ghost Tales blog and posted some things. In fact, my post from yesterday is EXTREMELY interresting!!! I caught an image of a ghost or two, including faces, in a boarded up window of an old church. If interested, click the link on the right for my Ghost Tales blog.

Bikes. Hmmmmm. I love fixed gear, but, there are certain disadvantages to it. I always wanted a cool old downtube shifting ride. Hmmmm....Italian, Campy, Miche, Modolo, with a Brooks. We'll see!!!!

Something had me tune back into Open G on the guitar. Something about old Gibsons that just say, "play some blues on me." So I did. The Gibson Carson Robison is a great guitar for fingerstyle and blues. I am very glad I got it!!!!

More rain

Darn it!!! More rain. I'll make lemonade out of the situation and do some much needed yoga and try to zone out of this dimension for a while. In case you're wondering, Michael Hedges will be on as background music.

The other day, I said that I was going to do a search for some chord patterns for DADGAD tuning. I found some and playing around with them, came up with a cool little song/tone poem/sonet around G D and A. Of course those chords will work well in this tuning, since the strings are tuned to those notes! Fun, fun, fun.

Speaking of Michael Hedges and DADGAD tuning.......

Ragamuffin, from a concert in 1987. WOW! The guy was amazing. This is a really different version, shorter than normal too.

Finally, a RIDE!!!

Even though it was less than an hour, I really enjoyed actually riding my bike this morning, while the kids were in school. Nothing major, just Fenton industrial area flats. It's been around 1.5-2 weeks since I went for a ride, other than into/from work. Sucks being sick. Sucks having rain all the time.

Lately, I've gotten away from what I want this blog to be about. This blog is about life with my family, bikes and guitars. I have gotten into ghost hunting and it seemingly has taken over this blog. To thwart that, I have started a blog to specifically deal with that subject. Look to the side and you'll see a link to Ghost Tales.

So, now, my usual readers can read the normal things here, like always. For the paranormal, please visit my new blog, Ghost Tales.

Change

You may have noticed that I changed the look of the blog. I like the way I have it colored, the words stand out against the background. I also removed most of the links I had off to the side. I'm in a fight, to control my ego. What did those links do for me? Did they make me look cool because they were there and other cyclists would see them? Most cyclists that come here, go to those sites already. Gone. As for friends blogs, one seemed to recently become sort of an ego trip. Reading it made me wonder about the author's motivation. Ego. I don't want it around. I didn't just want to remove one and single it out, I chose to axe them all, since like the bike links, most know those addresses already. Gone.

Why do I blog? Not sure. A way to express myself and get my thoughts out there. I have friends all over, and this is a way for them to keep up with me.

My "in to's" haven't changed all that much. Bikes, acoustic guitar, spirituality. Lately I've gotten into something I'm not sure what to call. Ghosts, spirits, energy, life after death. I'm not being morbid or seeking an answer to my mortality, I'm just curious. Thru yoga, I know Chi is the life force that we live off of. What happens to that energy when we die? Does it go away, does it or we manifest ourselves in another way in another dimension, in this dimension? Is the spirit of EVERYONE who ever lived still with us?

So, last night I was riding home. Traveling in the dark, has me seeing things differently. Have you looked at the entrance to the Fabickberg at night? Sort of creepy. I brought my camera with me and snapped this photo.



The orb and the red veil over it, obviously weren't there when I took the photo. And nothing is there to cause this effect. Could it be some spirit? Who knows? I don't. But the subject intrigues me. I've always enjoyed watching ghost hunting shows on tv. Makes me think, "is there something after death?" Growing up Catholic, I was taught there is. You ask spirits for help. The whole religion is based on spirits and life after death.

Crazy Stiff

I haven't ridden much lately. Nasty weather last week, then this friggin cold set in. I rode into/from work Friday and Saturday, but that's about it since Monday (or so) of last week.

The cold kept me inside yesterday. I didn't want to move. In fact, when Amy took the boys out, I laid on the floor watching the Viking game, until halftime, when the kids came home. I then went to lay down in the bed. I woke up for dinner at 5. My sore throat is not too bad now, in fact, barely existant. Now, it's morphed into a head cold, with fatigue.

As a result of the cold and not riding, my back, espicially lower, has been killing me. I just did a yoga session, with long and deep stretches. It really helped. At the moment, I'm loose and feel better than I have in days, back speaking. I hope it "takes."

On the guitar front, since I've been cooped up for a week or so now, I've been playing quite a bit. Last week, I was in open G. Hadn't been there for a while and really good blues poured forth from my soul. Lots of killer slide licks. My tone was ON!!! For this week, I tuned back to DADGAD, where I mostly play. However, I am actually going to try and learn some things in this tuning. In the past, I simply noodled and made up chord shapes, in the spirit of William Ackerman. What I'm going to do now, is look up and learn some actual real chords and scales. It's weird, I've been playing in this tuning for 2 years or so, but haven't bothered to learn anything. That is the beauty of this tuning. You can just play, taking previous fretboard knowledge and morphing it into something of your own.

Hopefully, I'll feel well enough later to ride into work.

Sorry folks

Sorry, but no Cancer Research Ride for me today. Last night, I started having a sore throat. It kept me up most of the night. This morning, I also have a runny nose and aches. Great, just friggin' great. This was supposed to be a day for myself. The Thomas the Tank Engine Experience is in St. Louis (Granite City) and Amy and her mom are taking the guys. I was going to do the ride, then...whatever.

I wonder if I'll even bother getting dressed?

Rain and Divining Rods

because of the recent rain, i haven't rode in seemingly forever. it's just been damp, misty or rainy and cold. yuck.

for my next trip out to zombie, i'm going to try an experiment with divining rods. i just made some 'proper' divining rods. went to lowes and bought some copper rod/wire and some pvc tubing (5"). i cut the copper so that i'd wind up with about 2 feet of straight, ran it thru the handle and hooked it about an inch at the other end. this way, the rod will move freely thru the tubes, without my touching/influincing it in any way. i tested it on my water line out front. btw, working construction with some guys from petosi is where i learned about divining rods. you take one in each hand and spin them in opposite directions, which builds up a static charge in them. they WILL and DO cross each other when you cross a water line and supposedly over big metal objects. i have tested this theory many times over water lines and even did so BEFORE having them located by the water company. they have always been right!!! so, i tested the new ones, they floated freely within the tube handles and yep, they crossed right over the line.

then i went out back. supposedly they help find spirits too. you ask or concentrate on finding a spirit and they'll point in the direction to follow, you follow them and they'll cross each other when you are in the spot. so, i was facing our common ground and asked out loud, "are there any friendly spirits nearby?" the rods were pointing into the common ground, then pointed towards my left. they pointed at one of my neighbor's homes. there, the husband passed on a few years ago.

they should make for an interesting experiment at zombie!!!

this is a photo of a woman using them for ghost hunting. they crossed, and someone took a photo. see the orb right over the rods?!?

Obsessed

Wow. It seems I'm obsessed with Zombie Road and the lore of the area. I keep perusing the net, finding stuff to read and photos taken there, like this one. Cut and paste this address, and put it into your browser. When it comes up, you can click on the photo and blow it up and move around and check things out. I see 9 different shadow people and multiple orbs. One of the shadow people appears to be a woman in a dress. One of the orbs (the one near the woman's head) has a face!

http://www.paranormaltaskforce.com/images/Sent_In_Misch_Pics/IMGP0100.jpg

Think shadow people are fake? Ok, explain this following photo, taken by me right after my spoke broke the other day. I felt uneasy and took photos in a circle from where I am standing.



Look just to the right of the big tree on the left. See it? I'm guessing, it's not as dark as the ones in the photo I had you paste into your browser, since I took this photo around 10 am. Creepy, huh?

Zombie Exploration

i rode the al foster today for fun, just to see all this again. you know how they say if you're looking for something, you'll find it......

i saw all sorts of weirdness out there. tree vines that were in knots, and general creepyness. the feeling people have of time standing still sort of happened. it seemed to take forever to ride thru the short distance. i felt closterphobic near the cliff. i saw a tree that had many railroad spikes hammered into it and a ton of nails, all starting about 10 feet above the ground. i stopped at the sherman bridge and checked out the grafiti. several 666's and all sorts of odd things. "are you a believer yet?" and on the river side of the concrete support facing the river, a weird skull and above it some seriously evil looking eyes. on my way back this happened...no joke...it was cold already and i felt a really chilly breeze and suddenly started smelling STRONG perfume, really flowery old woman smelling perfume. nobody else was anywhere around. as i was riding thru this cold spot which smelled of perfume...a spoke on my rear wheel broke!!! not sayin' some spector did evil to my bike, but damn! you gotta admit that that was one hell of a coincoidence to have the spoke break at that very moment. no, i didn't ride thru a hole or anything, just litterally j.r.a. and poing!

ch ch ch, ah ah ah!!!

looks like they are paving zombie road to make it into a multi use trail. that's odd. they heavily patrol the area to keep people out and issue tickets, so they are making it a park to attract people in? well, i'm sure i'll check it out when it's legal to go there.

Zombie Road

Last night, I saw a show on Syfy called "Children of the Grave." It was about haunted areas in Peoria, Il. and Springfield, Mo. This held my interest, then the next segment was on Lawler Ford Rd and the surrounding area in what is now Wildwood, Mo. Lawler Ford Rd, is locally known as ZOMBIE RD!!! The place always gave me the creeps, yet I swam in the river countless times there. Meremac supposedly means "river of death" in Indian tounge. Over the years, any St. Louisian knows, there have been lots and lots of drownings there. The documentary showed many areas familiar to myself and likely thousands of others. It was mostly shot along the Al Foster Trail.

Here are some links to Zombie Road sites...

http://www.prairieghosts.com/zombie_road.html

http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosthunting/ZombieRoad/index.php

http://www.paranormaltaskforce.com/zombiephotos4.html

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2641314_DLFBC/3/139558383_R2mft#139558383_R2mft

Various things

Most importantly, if you look to the right, you'll see links to various cancer related sites. I feel I'm on some sort of mission. Cancer needs a cure. We ALL have to help.

Brett Farve kicks ass. The Packers are like my all-time favorite team. Owned by the people of the town, not some rich bastard. But, they completely hacked me off by not taking Brett back from retirement. He's THE best quraterback ever, period. Not taking him back was insane. Last night was his first game against the Packers. He now is on the Archrival, Vikings. Brett had a carrer game, one of his best ever. Farve 1, Packers 0. I'm really curious to see how the fans react later this year, when the Vikings play at Lambeau Field. My guess, is the fans will cheer for Farve and the Vikings as they kick the Packers ass on their home field.

I think I have a broken arm, by my wrist. Not sure how I did it. It's been hurting for about 3 weeks and only gotten worse. I think it's a stress/hairline fracture. It hurts when I move it certain ways or put weight on it.

My arm is affecting my bike riding. I can ride in the hoods ok, but standing will hurt. I can't ride with my hands on the tops. I can sort of ride with my hands in the bend/junction of the tops and the part towards the hoods. Playing guitar is a certain chore. Because of my arm, my little finger becomes almost useless after several minutes of trying. After 20-25 minutes, I just have to stop. To uncomfortable.

Speaking of guitar, you all know I play mainly in DADGAD tuning. Pierre Bensusan is the BEST when it comes to DADGAD tuning. In my opinion, the best thing to ever come out of France. Ok, MAYBE next to Bernard Hinault (Django Reinhard was a gypsy, born in Belgium). No, Pierre is so much more inspirational. Heck, you gotta be good if Michael Hedges writes a song called "Bensusan" for you! This video is long, but it's a good example of him and DADGAD tuning.



Pretty good, huh?

Bensusan, Hedges and Kaukonen are my guitar gods.

Merckx, Hinault, Kelly and De Vlaemink are my bike gods.

Vicki

Vicki is my sister in law. Tonight was the first time I have seen her since her battle with ovarian cancer started. She's healthy now, except for a broken bone in her ankle. But, wow. She aged and can't weigh more than 90 pounds. She is a hero of mine. Had massive doses of chemo and operations that removed most of her insides. Suprising, her energy level was high and she played and chased the boys around g'mas house. Her fight goes on, but she is winning and is going to be victorious, which of course is her name, Victoria.

87 into 88

From my second New Year's show. Hell in A Bucket was followed by Uncle John's Band and Playing In the Band.



Listen to Jerry RIP on this!!!! I remember breaking up with some girl or other, and BLASTING the "there may come a day I will dance on your grave, if I'm unable to dance, I'll still crawl 'cross it" line out of my car stereo, as I dropped her off. Kind of prickish of me, but the point was made.

New Years shows were always da bomb!!!!

I will get by

The Grateful Dead were on FIRE in 1988. I saw them around 25 times this year, including this show at Shorline Ampitheatre in California. Touch of Grey was everywhere, even in Billboard's Top 10!!!! It was great having them get successful, but after 1987, it just wasn't the same. Tickets became hard to get, MTV picked up on them and kids started coming just to drop acid and party. The crowd got unruley.

But, I still had fun at the shows up until 89. After that, I only saw them once in 1990 (July 4th in Kansas City), then all four shows at Riverport in 94/95, which were actually, pretty bad, except for the killer Black Throated Wind in 94 and the last ever Playing in the Band, in 95.



Ah, gone of the days of dancing with strange hippy chicks, sleeping in the parking lots and partying like it was going out of style. Then of course, getting the ick a few days later.

The Ick

The Ick is an old Dead Head term. What it loosely means is the inevitable sickness one would get after partaking in a series of concerts and all the extracurricular activities involved. Part hangover, part cold or flu, part withdrawl symptoms. It sucked. Everyone shared everything at the shows and everyone wound up with the ick.

I don't have the ick now, but I sort of feel like I do. My whole air passage, from my nose thru to my lungs feels dry and 'burned.' Lethargic is how my energy level feels. Slightly achey is my body. Slightly runny is my nose. Haven't rode in 2 days, except for to and fro work, which I'm about to do again now. I just feel like laying around and doing nothing. Which sums up what I've done, save for taking the guys to school and going to work. Not eating or drinking much either.

Damn, really feels like the friggin' ick. Brings back bad memories of having it and good memories of getting it.

Today

We did the Ovarian Cancer walk this morning, with hundreds of others. I don't know who ok'ed the t shirts, but the shirt had a big time spelling error on it. Jake wound up having to be carried part of the way. Ben wanted to run it. But we survived.

I went for a 20 mile ride tonight. Started around 6:15, with sunglasses on, ended with full lights on. It was a weird time of day for the ride. Saw a beautiful sunset, reflecting on the lake at Yeager Park. Nice and cool temperatures too. I like riding this time of year.

Preacher Part Deux

No, we didn't see Joe today. But, I found this out from Brittney, when I was getting Chuck and myself sodas.....

The Preacher came into the gas station and bought $60 in whiskey and beer, then 4 cartons of cigarettes from them. He had a HUGE wad of money to pay with.

Then, he visits us and cries for free repairs and things. We did around $100 dollars in free repairs for this bozo, because we felt sorry for him.

Hope he gets flats on his bike and all six of his trailers.

The Preacher

BEWARE bike shop people in St. Louis and all points towards New York!!!

The Preacher may be paying you a visit!!!!

Geez. I don't know where to start and I can go on and on and on. There is a guy that is riding his bike cross country, heading towards New York. He has multiple Burley and other trailers in one long line (about 6 of them). He came in because his bike wasn't shifting. We took pity and said we'd adjust his derailleur for free, to get him going. He stayed and stayed and stayed. The liquor bottle came out. Thoughts of Charlie Manson or worse were going thru my mind.

His bike is called The Preacher. It talks to him.

At first, the guy seems nice, if not a bit "off." The more he's around, the scarier he gets.

You are warned!!!

More Angst

Rain this morning means I won't be riding. I don't mind riding in rain, but I just don't like STARTING out in rain. Espicially, since I'm not really training for anything. Besides, my back/leg is still in pain/numbness. Maybe I should visit my chiropractor. So, I'll stay inside and do yoga this morning, while the crew is at school.

Speaking of more angst.....

Just got a copy of the movie, Freeway 2, Confessions of a Trickbaby, staring Natasha Lyonne. The only other movie Amy and I know her from is But, I'm a Cheerleader, where she plays a super sweet as sugar cheerleader, who is discovering her sexuallity. We liked her acting in that movie. After watching Freeway 2, I am now convinced Natasha IS a great actress. Filmed in the same year as Cheerleader, in this movie, Natasha plays the polar opposite character. Not sweet, but violent and filled with angst.

She plays Crystal, aka "white girl" a teenage armed robber, who poses as a prostitute, but pistol whips her Johns and steals their money instead and gets sentenced to 25 years in prison. But, she also has the eating disorder, bulliema (sp.). So, they put her in the state hospital to battle that disorder, until she's 19, then off to maximum security prison she'll go. At the hospital, she meets Cyclona, who's in for life. Realizing that once in prison, they'll never get out, they decide to bust out of the hospital, which has almost zero security. Then, they'll head to Mexico to stay with Sister Gonzalez, Cyclona's saviour. Then, the fun begins. Cyclona, it turns out is a serial mass murderer and sexual devient and kills repeatedly along the way. White Girl, tries to turn her ways and beats her several time. They huff paint, hop trains, kill border patrol agents and causes mayhem in general, on their way to Mexico.

Turns out, Sister Gonzalaz is a man, who actually set Cyclona into her crazy world. As a youth, she was tied up, gang rapped and basically a sex slave for SG's cult. Oh, yeah, SG also eats children. Eventually, White Girl figures everything out and shoots everyone involved.

Despite some bad direction to the movie (I think if some parts weren't a stupid, like projectile vomit and buliema throw up parties and other parts were more shocking and horrific), this was a darn good movie. Maybe that's why it's going for good prices on eBay (the movie is out of print). If it were directed better, this could have been an amazing movie.

If you can find it, see it. I'll give it 3.9 stars out of 5. It would have been better, but for the direction. Natasha plays a tough, violent hellion rather convincingly. Maybe that's why the next few years of her actual life seemed to parallel that lifestyle.



Oh, if you see this movie, Natasha is a very short woman. When she's in scenes with others in this movie, LOOK AT HER SHOES!!! They have 4 or 5 inch platforms added to the soles! Makes her walk kind of funny, but I guess she took it all....in stride.

Pain

Not exactly a good last two days. I was really stiff and had some lower back discomfort yesterday. Instead of going for a ride in the morning, I stayed home and did some yoga. But, I couldn't get into it and the results were shoddy, at best.

I was hoping on doing my Hillsboro Rd route this morning. Alas, again, I woke up in pain and discomfort. This time, I had the added pleasure of numbness in the front of my left shin. I did a 15 mile flat ride in the industrial area instead.

The other day, I was talking of a fast track bike. On my ride today, I pretty much shelved that idea as being just silly. Instead, I think I need to start focusing on long rides on Sundays and more rides during the week. IF IF IF I want to do a 200k brevet next March, I need to get distance in. Besides, it will help me lose weight and hopefully help with the back pain.

Also, Sunday, Amy (I think) has the whole clan signed up for a 1 mile walk to benefit Ovarian Cancer. I think it's in Forrest Park.

The Exorsist

Ok, so it's not the Exorsist, but the beginning of Scary Movie 2. Natasha Lyonne does her best Linda Blair. Oh, if the children are around, the language isn't for them.



I guess, with Halloween coming on, I'm getting a bit gouhlish.

Who knew?

Who knew Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was THIS talented!!!

Angst

Not sure why my mood is terrible right now. I enjoyed a nice 30 mile ride today. The weather was cool and damp, perfect for breaking out my long sleeve wool jersey. Great choice. At times I was a tad cool, but I was never hot. Great route, including, Fenton, Sunset Hills and Crestwood. I am really starting to tell that I'm climbing better. My ascent up Gravois/Kennerly didn't hurt. But, wow. It's a long hill. Really long for around here.

I'm not sure what I want to be as a cyclist. I even contemplated buying a track racing bike today! WTF? I really don't want to race and to top it off, track racing is generally dangerous. Maybe something like a pursuit or kilo. Some bike set up time trial style could have it's advantages. But, I REALLY doubt I'd get something like that.

Bikes are weird ego machines. I have a friend who is racing cyclocross. Good for him. But, he's complaining about buying $40 brake pads for his carbon rims. Here's the problem. Cyclocross. Maybe a local racer will do 10-15 races in the season. IF you are a contender, I can MAYBE see having carbon rims/wheels. Otherwise, it's just silly. Total stroking of ego. "Look at me! I spent more on my wheels than most people I'm racing against spent on their entire bike!" As I said, if you're a contender, maybe I can understand it, but when your being beaten on people who's bikes don't cost as much as your wheels??? C'mon friend! You are just stroking your ego. Ego is a bad thing. It leads to people's downfalls.

I used to have expensive race bikes and was all into it too. But, now, I'm happy riding my simple fixed gear for fun and pleasure. AND, I'm having more fun on the bike now, than when I felt compelled to "train for the big event" and prove my worthyness to others who also felt compelled to prove themselves to me and others.

I'm not knocking racing, but at the same time I am seriously glad that I don't do it anymore. Which makes me wonder about my debating track racing. Why have a special bike to ride around in circles in North St. Louis? It would be fun. Maybe, it's because I've done my share of racing bmx, mountain, road, and cyclocross. Track is something I toyed with, but never did much racing of.

Maybe I'm starting my mid life crisis, not sure what or who I want to be.

Music. I think I may finally be where I want, with the instruments I want. I love the Gibson/Carson J. Robison guitar. The Gold Tone banjo is also turning into a friend, something "different" for when I don't want to play guitar.

My personal mood is weird right now. I feel hippyish, always carring a Tibetan Quartz crystal with me, meditating, doing yoga. Other times, I'm pissed off at people and feel like pummeling them. I have been in a bit of pain lately, my back, teeth, sometimes even my hair. My family makes my happy/angry. Like I said, my mood is weird.

I saw this today. Wow. I don't know what to think. Amazing story at least!!! Haunted guitar. Yeah, sure!

http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-GIBSON-KALAMAZOO-ARCHTOP-WARNING-GUITAR-is-HAUNTED_W0QQitemZ360189907498QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item53dcfdd22a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14know

Takin' Care of Business

Just a quick post to catch up. I did get a banjo. A Gold Tone openback frailing type banjo. It's fun just to knock around on it. I like the bare finger type playing better than bluegrass style. I'm not going to get all serious on it, just have fun.

This is cool....

The Harmony H-72 guitar I sold on eBay, was bought by B.T.O.'s Randy Bachman!

New Grass Revival

New Grass Revival. Damn, what a group!!! Invented, obviously, "new grass" music, which is a offshoot of bluegrass. Less mountain, more pop and rock. Star studded group with Bela Fleck on banjo, Sam Bush on mandolin, John Cowan on bass and amazing mullet and Pat Flynn on guitar. Bela and Sam are GODS on their instruments, everyone knows that. Pat is under-rated on guitar and John's got amazing pipes. I saw them twice. The first time was at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. The last time I saw them, was their last show before going their seperate ways. It was opening for the Grateful Dead at new years, 1988 into 89 (or was it 89 into 90). These guys were great. Really good songs and killer instrumentals too. This video shows about everything they had, great vocals and wizard like instrumental passages.



Since then, I saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones a bunch of times, several times had Sam as a member of the band. I met both backstage at the Westport Playhouse (as well as Victor and Roy Wooten) and spent a long time speaking with them. They remembered me the next time I saw them at a free concert in the parking lot at Union Station, where they talked to me several times from the stage (I was in the front row). They hadn't done a soundcheck and they were asking how they sounded and what needed to be changed. We had drinks afterwards. Cool guys.

Fever

Guitar aquisiton syndrome (gas) sucks. I have it again, but of a different sort. The Carson J Robison/Gibson guitar is everything I thought it would be and then some. I simply love it. I now have a good hard case for it and after putting on new strings, humidifying it and playing the heck out of it, she has come back to life. AMAZING guitar!!! The Harmony did sell via eBay, and for signifigantly more than I paid for it. This will allow me to either keep all the money, or keep some AND get another instrument. Problem is, if I get another instrument, WHAT?

I was thinking mandolin. But, in my efforts to learn it before, it just didn't happen for me. Weissenborn type lap guitar? Possible. But, then again, I can always play lap slide on the Carson J. Banjo? Most likely. I used to play bluegrass banjo and in the short time I took lessons, I amazed my teacher with my potential. But, I really don't want to be "bluegrass," if you know what I mean. If I were to banjo out, I think solo type old tymey music would be the appropriate venue. Just jam and make up melodies. Also, tuned to G, banjo would help my guitar playing in G as well, so the learning would translate between instruments nicely. Ok, olde tyme banjo. Would I want something OLD and cool or new and cool? There is one old, old banjo at a local shop I'm thinking about. Also, I found a guy that makes fretless mountain banjos. Another possibility.

Or, do I keep all the $$$ for myself?

Healing

I went to my Chiropractor this morning, after dropping the lads off at school. Afterwards, at home, I did some yoga and meditated outside. It's fun listening to the symphony of nature as I travel the astral plane. I feel envigorated, young and healthy. It's a feeling I want to keep around.

As for the guitar, the strings at 420hz hasn't seemed to damage the top any. This is good. WOW!!! The tone this thing has!!!! Boomy bass notes and eveness through out the neck. Great fingerstyle guitar! I think I made a great choice. No. No thinking. I DID make a great choice.

On the guitar front, my H-72 Harmony is for sale on eBay. Auction ends tomorrow. I have it listed at $450. No bids....as of yet. There are THIRTY THREE watchers!!! Hopefully, tomorrow will have the auction explode, netting me some $$$.

Black and White

No, I'm not talking about race relations. I'm talking about black and white television. I grew up with it. Our family had a big consuel color tv, but I had a small black and white in my room. I think I got it around 1975, or so, when I was laid up with Swine flu. It had a ear plug jack too. This enabled me to stay up late at night watching all sorts of things. I remember watching hockey, soccer, Wrestling at the Chase, western movies, Woodstock and Montery Pop, all in black and white. I remember Howard Cosell informing me and the nation that John Lennon was shot, during Monday Night Football.

The reason I am remembering black and white today, is that on the NHL Network, they were showing a playoff game today from 1971, and it was in black and white. It had the Toronto Maple Leafs (with Hall of Famers, Daryell Sitler and Bernie Perrant) contesting the New York Rangers (with HoFers, Brad Park and Clark Gilles). The game was so much better back then. No advertising on the boards or the ice like now. The play was different. Not as much sensless crushing people into the boards. That's not to say there wasn't any rought stuff. Each time somebody skated by someone else, elbows were up and there was a lot more open ice hitting going on. There was a 5 man fight in the first period and several fights in the second period, including 2 5 man fights. Good stuff. I didn't see the 3rd as we went out for family activities.

I had a nice ride this morning, a 20 mile route thru Fenton, Sunset Hills and Crestwood. Not much flat. Started from my house to Bowels and the first hill. Once by the hospital, I went down, reaching 50km. Turned right onto Horan, then right onto Larkin Williams and up the short steep hill into Old Town. Over the bridge and the industrial flats of Sunset Hills. This would be the last flat for a while. Up Old Gravois/Kinnerly. It'll be a great climb after they finish the roadwork. As of now, the pavement sucks. At least today, they weren't working, so I didn't have to worry about any one way traffic situations. Once at the top, it was time for rolling hill after rolling hill. Kinnerly to Sappington to Eddie and Park to West Watson. Then, Rott gave me some flats again. I took the path into Minne Ha Ha Park, back over the olde bridge, then up 141 to Bowles and back home. This is a good route. About an hour and 20 minutes on the fixed gear, including stop lights and signs. I am getting fitter, the climbs don't seem as bad anymore. In fact, I like them.

Fun on a bike

Today, was the Founder's Day Parade and Festival, in Fenton. The shop had a spot in the parade, which had a vehicle with bikes on top, followed by 4 cyclists throwing candy to the kids along the parade route. Yes, I was one of the cyclists. My chosen weapon was a Sun cruiser. I haven't rode anything like that in years. Justin, also from the shop, rode a mini penny farthing, aka, high-wheeler, with a 26" front wheel. 2 of Justin's friends also rode, one was on a unicycle and the other on a Sun tricycle. The basket on the back of the trike is where we stashed the candy and our water. The route was about 3 miles, which made for a return trip of the same distance and there was a short hill each way. Given our rides, we all had different diffulcties, mine was the wide cruiser seat being a pain in the ass, literally. I hurt by the turn around point.

But, we all had a good time, made some kids happy and got some free advertising for the shop.

Bikes. They can be used for fun, not just training to be the next Lance Armstrong.

Purge

After yesterday's bad event and the mental energy I used contemplating it, I was left with an awful headache. It started last night at work and continued to today.

I needed to purge myself. I've been thinking of getting a haircut. Even seriously thinking of shaving my head. Don't know why I wanted to go bald, but the thought was there. So, after dropping the boys off at school, I headed to Great Clips. I didn't take it all off, but I went shorter than I have in a very, very long time. #2 shears around the sides and back and maybe 1/2-3/4 inch on top. I like it. I also wonder what Amy will say.

At home, I did some Tibetan Bowl meditation, to heal the headache, followed by some yoga. I haven't done any yoga in a long time and I was stiff. Didn't do any set plan, just flowed into poses that felt "right."

After the bowl and yoga, my headache is much better, almost competely gone. It's good to get rid of stress and blockage. It allows your chi to flow and purge your body of toxins.

I'll ride this afternoon for about an hour.

***

Added later...

I broke a guitar string on the Gibson. I hate changing strings on old guitars. You never know what's going to happen. Should I put 'silk and steel' strings on this guitar? That was my main question. All I had at home were medium Elixers, so I put them on and carefully tuned it up. Then I thought, well, I'm playing solo. I don't need to tune at a frequency to easily play with others. My old Bruno, I tuned at 430 hz. In the 1800's 430 was the standard pitch for the note A. Somewhere along the line, it went to 440. So, I tuned to 430. I also tuned to DADGAD, to have some lower string tension while the guitar's top adjusted to the new strings. Then I tried 425hz, then 420!!! I left it at 420. Tension's low and it sounds really mellow and throaty! I'll see what happens to the top over the next few days, before I decide on and if, I want to bring it back up in frequency.

Oh, and for those of you keeping score, no, the lady copper never called me.

People suck

People suck. This morning, I went for a short, but tough ride. It was the Hillsboro Rd/Trailer Park ride. 2 steep out of the saddle, give it all you got, climbs. After the hills, I did a spin thru Old Town Fenton.

Then some asshole threw something at me. They were headed in the other direction. I looked back and saw they pulled into the gas station. If it had just been words, big deal, people say ignorant things all the time. But, something whizzed by my head. I was pissed off. I went to the station and asked what exactly the problem was. "Stay on the sidewalk, faggot" was what I got. I informed him that he obviously wasn't aware that riding on sidewalks is actually illeagal in Missouri and that bikes have a legal right to be on the road, hence the "share the road" signs that are all over this stretch of road. "I'm going to shove your bike up your ass." was the reply. Also, this dolt picked up the windshield cleaner/squeegie thing and swung it over my head. Cell phone was pulled out and I called the police and gave the license plate number of his truck. While on 911, he kept yelling threats at me and swung the squeegie at me again. That was almost "it." I asked him if he ever had his ass kicked in by someone wearing spandex before, because it was about to happen. He responded by getting into his work vehicle (yes he was working) and drove off.

Normally, I have the utmost respect for law enforcement officials. Not this time. A lady copper shows up, with full on attitude. As soon as she got out of the car, I realized that she in no way, shape, of form was going to do squat. She took my statement and said "thank you." "What? Don't you even want my name and contact information?" "Why, what am I supposed to do about this, it will be your word vs. his." As if by magic, a witness from the gas station came up and wanted to give her point of view on what happened, and totally back up my claim. Lady copper, said, thank you, but that won't be necessary. "Huh? You aren't going to take a voulentary witness' statement?" After my contact info was grudgingly gathered, she said, "I'll call you this afternoon if I find out anything." I said, "yeah, right. I won't be holding my breath, you don't care. The fact that you first were going to let me go, without any of my information, told me that you weren't going to do anything. Not taking a voulentary witness' statement to what happened only backed that up. Thank you for the fine and professional way you conduct yourself." And I rode off.

No phone call from her yet. And I still can't figure out why someone who I never saw before in my life, heading the other direction, across 4 lanes of traffic, plus a center lane, would throw something at me.

Ritual Dance

I've been playing the Gibson in DADGAD tuning a lot. That tuning is just easy for me to improvise in. As a bonus, the guitar seems to like it too. It resonates well in that tuning. Acoustic guitar instrumentals get me thinking of one guy. Of course, Michael Hedges.

From Youtube, Michael Hedges' "Ritual Dance"



House painting was completed today. I rode for around 20 miles, mostly flats. I put the fenders on my bike after yesterday's rain. Good thing. Part of my ride took me thru the Meramec Greenway section of Yeager Park. It is a well shaded section, that hadn't dried out from all the rain of Saturday and yesterday. The fenders kept me dry. In some way, they are a badge of honor. I am now a bike Fred, but one with a history. Actually, these fenders are ok. They are made by SKS and they actually look pretty good and sit mostly even on the bike. The last bike I used fenders on was my good old Trek 470, which I converted into a fixed gear bike and used as a commuter for many years.

Bikes are cool, m'kay.

Guitars are cool too, m'kay.

Michael Hedges kicked ass, m'kay.

A thing of beauty.

There is a lot of bike riding in St. Louis this weekend. For the pros, the Tour of Missouri starts downtown on Monday. For those that think they are pros, there is the annual Gateway Cup, a series of criterium races. Years ago, I'd do the Gateway Cup races. Now, though I respect those that race, I also think a lot of the attitude that goes with it, is silly off the charts. STLBIKING's message board represents some of this stupidity. Threads complaining about entry fees, racing in the rain...you name it. If you don't like it people, don't do it. It's that simple. But, for many it's not. Egos need to be stroked.

I rode this morning for 25 miles, in mostly rain and wet. Part of my planned route took me from Kirkwood to 21 via the Grant's Trail. Trailnet, or some similar group had a ride going in the other direction. I must have passed 200 riders. Then it dawned on me, what I was really watching.

You see, "racers" make up a very, very tiny part of the area's cyclists. But, they have those big egos and think they are the schiz. These casual riders I saw on this ride, were all smiling, talking to each other and had smiles on their faces. AND, they were RIDING IN THE RAIN!!! Certainly, they showed up, in the rain, paid their entry fee in the rain and started their ride in the rain. I have more respect for these people, including the fatsos on recumbants, than I do for certain racers that complain about non refundable race fees, when the race is held in the rain and they are too, well, "special" to ride in the rain.

I no longer race and am somewhat proud to be a 'regular' cyclist again, riding for fun, pleasure and excersize, without some need to stroke my ego. Again, nothing wrong with those that race, just don't become a tool, is all I'm a sayin'.

Oh, and then there are moments like this, from Friday's Cat 4 race at Lafayette Square...