Photos From the Saddle

I appreciate a twisted sense of humor, and I’m fairly certain that Dave Zabriskie has just that. Be it quoting Talladega Nights on the Giro or doing his best Russian “What Game Play?!?” immitation, he definitely has fun with the press. Photos of his bitchin’ mustache have been bouncing ’round the web recently and his Me and My Mustache entry gives a bit of insight into his thoughts on the matter:

Thanks for all the positive feed back on the mustache — I think I should keep it too. I pulled up to the CSC car on the first stage to say hi to Bjarne and he asked how it was going. I said, “pretty good, I grew a mustache.” He told me I looked like shit to which I replied, “I grew it for you man — I wanted you to be really happy I wasn’t on your team anymore.” We both laughed and the race rolled on. Part of the reason I want to keep the mustache is that I’m going to have a baby pretty soon and part of me thinks it’ll be cool to have all the first pictures of me with him in the hospital looking like this – yes, that’s how I see the photo album taking shape.

More power to ya, Dave. I’ll be sure to pick up a DZ Nuts shirt, too.

I saw the suicidal rabbits on the trail for the first time this year… a couple of them scurried a few meters in front of me this morning. There have been more than a few birds, too, that appear to enjoy flittering in and out of the light of my TriNewt.

Today was a day where all I could do was ponder how quickly things can change.

Apparently, Sunday is supposed to be “colder with rain and drizzle.”

Also, I think there should be a massive gladiator-style showdown between the various camps of grammarians in order to establish a standard for using punctuation either on the inside or the outside of the closing quotation mark.

It was one of those days.

Rode a bit later in the afternoon than usual and found quite a few more riders out ‘n about, so of course I had to take blurry pictures of ‘em.

Words have been bouncing around the local blogs about the article on messengers that the PI wrote up. Of course, the comments are more than a bit flame-tastic. And, of course, this isn’t really news to anyone around here. However, Red Kev made an excellent observation:

After reading all the comments, I decided to look up how many people were outraged about the article that I saw next to the messenger article…The headline for the other article was Out in 5 After Taking Wife’s Life. After finding the article online, I saw that, at the time I am writing this, the comments were half that of the messenger article. From this I learned that twice as many people are pissed off at bicycle messengers as are outraged by a murderer getting out in 5 years for killing his wife. Something about that just seems wrong, but perhaps I am biased.

Current count is 88 comments on the messenger article, 39 on the released murderer article.

I’ve also been trying to find out more info about the local cyclist that was hit by a car, then drug to the side of the road before the driver left. The “person of interest” in the investigation is an 18 year-old girl. Is “suspect” too condemnig now? Anyway, nothing new on how all that is panning out.

Sunday’s outing turned out well, though I doubt I’ll ever do the “official” ride again—too many accidents waiting to happen and too many egos. Funny how everyone has their own take on the rules… like the three guys bitching about nobody knowing how to ride safely, while they rode three abreast and refused to move over when someone signaled they were going to pass (forcing that person to ride in the oncoming lane). My personal favorite was a response I got to saying On your left: “What? You want me to move over, fucker? Fine!” as they swerved to the left, in front of me. Fun times.

The weather was perfect, though… only a few drops of rain, otherwise cool and partly cloudy.

Rode to work Thurs. and yesterday, with great weather both days. Mornings are definitely still chilly, but it’s getting lighter and there are hints of what it’s like to ride in nicer weather.

Thursday’s commute had some fog giving way to a spectacular sunrise. On the ride home, I was enlightened to the nuances of drafting buses vs. semi’s (you get more exhaust in the face with buses). There’s also a really freakin’ annoying noise emminating from the rear wheel on the One Way… some bearing of some sort. I can’t wait to get rid of those wheels.

Yesterday, I rode the full way in and back on the Double Cross and felt great… even resisted attacking G on a climb in the morning and just took it easy. Rode solo on the way home, which allowed me to indulge some photographic inclinations.

I do appreciate the off-kilt forecasts, I will say that.

G and I took advantage of the holiday and went for a “slow” ride in the morning. I really need to stop pushing myself when riding with him, ’cause he just pushes right back and I end up countering his counter and so on. It’s good and all, except for when you’re genuinely trying to take it easy.

We ended up doing laps on a route that’s just begging for a fast-paced group ride, if not a full on race. Just under 5 miles long, easy to clean (and close off/manage traffic), a quarter-mile-long 11% climb and great scenery. 5 laps sounds torturous enough.

After the ride I enjoyed the clear skies for a while before venturing out on the One Way for some city explore-age and photo shooting.

Many fond memories of that bridge. Pedestrian bridges really ought to be more common.

Haven’t yet commuted by bike this week. The guilt has sunk in, and I’m planning on riding tomorrow and Friday. Possibly even the full 50-mile round-trip. A fun ride Sunday will “kick off” the cycling season in this area… though I have to admit that my current mindstate is that there’s no real “off-season” for cycling; just a cloudier, wetter, colder season with less daylight. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to ride in all that.

“Brilliant sunshine” and “Rain and drizzle possible” are part of the 5-day forecast. I’m all for the sun; it’s the rain and drizzle forecast that cracks me up… only around here would you get a clarification of the two types of rain that are possible in the day.

Photo dump…

Went for a short spin in the brilliant sun today and resting up for tomorrow’s early holiday ride with G.

There’ve been all sorts of things I’ve noticed while riding/commuting… such as the empty condos along my route that were the targets of, I presume, paint-filled balloons. For some reason, the combination of the paint splatters and the “Avail” sign in the window amuse me.

That’s about it…

Props to the state gov. for putting this together: The Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grants

…The Washington State Legislature included $74 million to support pedestrian and bicycle safety projects such as pedestrian and bicycle paths, sidewalks, safe routes to school and transit… The Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grants were established to address the nearly 400 statewide fatal and injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicycles each year.

Something is always better than nothing, and the state is putting up a big “something” to help out.

In other news, Lance’s bike shop concept/plan has been bouncing around teh intarwebs a lot as of late. I gotta say, no matter what your thoughts are on the guy, it’s a great idea. While I know it’d never happen, even the remote possibility of being able to say something like “Hey, Lance, can you get someone to check out my derailleur while I’m in the shower? Thanks… Yeah, I know, WTF is up with Rock Racing???!” is pretty damn rad.

Plans to ride all the way home with G were aborted due to some scheduling issues, but as it turns out the train ride was just as pleasant… My legs were dead anyway.

Also, news that a “riot” broke out at the Dead Prez concert in Oly last night is spreading. Gotta love those wacky Evergreen kids. Though, as I think about it, a “riot” seems like a logical conclusion to the combination of Dead Prez, Evergreen Students, campus patrol showing up and arresting someone (is that possible?), and “Fuck the Police” being performed.

I’ve got a forecasting plugin for Firefox that’s apparently decided “partly cloudy” is too boring of a forecast.

“Variable clouds, then a shower” and “Considerable Cloudiness” were some other favorites.

Commuted on the One Way on Tues., bummed a ride yesterday with the excuse of a “rest day”, even though I went and did a quick climb on the Double Cross after work and then rolled the One Way down to the pub for some rockin’ Quiz Night action. Commuted on the One Way again today. Make way for some photo-dumpage…

At Quiz Night last night, the always-amusing antics of the “General Public” came up. While dodging the flying nails of a rather pre-funked patron who was unaware of her gesticulations (and nails) and their respective proximity to my face, I was able to recount some of the more amusing questions I’d received as a paid gearhead. The all-time favorite: “Will a GPS unit track the distance I’ve walked on a treadmill?” which is closely followed by “Can I use an avalanche beacon while surfing? Would they be able to find me?” Runners up include “What color is the black harness?”… “What’s your email address? I want to email you a question” (which was sent as an email)… “How do I tie my shoes?”… “I bought a size M but it was too small, should I buy a bigger size?”… “Is a bigger backpack meant to hold more stuff, or just meant to be bigger?”… “I want to buy a shirt that fits me… (they’re told a sizing chart will aid them)… A sizing chart? That’s too much work for me; just tell me what size I need.”… and so on.

That’s about it, aside from the odd clicking in the drivetrain that developed while riding the One Way home this afternoon.