Wining

How it was my "turn" to drive, I will never know. I always end up with the Winery Tour rotation. I think my wife arranges things this way because she knows I wouldn't dare hit it too hard knowing I have guests in the car. And she was right. Frankly, wine makes me sleepy, and combined with food, it has little effect other than the usual detachment found in the head the next day. Food kills a wine buzz quicker than aspirin kills a tannin hangover. I write this slowly and deliberately, if you know what I mean?

Regardless, it was up to me to get the Blau's, our favorite couple, to the winery then out to dinner and home safely. It would mean that I would be on my best behaviour, if there is such a thing.

We started at the Smokehouse with a group of caravaners rushing in to purchase cheese and supplies. I like the Smokehouse, where else can you patronize adversity? In 93 the place was wiped out by the flood. I remember sandbagging for the businesses in the Valley and others near in the city of St. Louis. Annie Guns is probably my favorite restaurant. Both the Smokehouse and Annie Guns are owned by Tom Signert, top dog restaurant guy. I don't care if it costs more to go to both these places. Hands down it is butter.

I had just come home from Columbia that morning after spending the day at Missouri Valley College on Friday. I was exhausted and stopped to see my sister Kathryn at her home in Columbia. Her home is half way and sometimes I will stop and visit with her, on my way back home. I was too tired to drive the rest of the way, so I thought I would poach a bed and maybe dinner. She is always glad to have me. Never a time goes by when I stop to visit that we don't stop and reflect on dad, who passed away a while back. It is usually a moment of silence followed by a tear. Then back to whatever it was that we were talking about.

This years Entrepreneurial Day included my Business Dining Etiquette seminar and, new this year, a wine tasting. It has always been my honor to provide a 5 course meal along with a program that I wrote a couple of years ago on Symmetry and the Subconscious: Business dining do's and don'ts. I am writing the book now and it will be my first in a series of no-nonsense business techniques. We shall see where it takes me.

I enjoy this sort of thing, getting to speak about myself and my ideas for two hours straight. It is absolutely an expression of my ego, I confess. I do feel I can connect a lot to graduating college students. They are so much on the brink at this time in their lives and they listen intently, because they are a little scared. It is like they need polish just before we kick them off the cliff. It is a tradition to do this with our young. After the lunch/seminar, I was off to Stone Hedge Country Club for my second presentation of the day, a wine tasting, of all things.

I used to study wine and I should do it more, based on the fact that there were several questions that I could not answer. To dive in I am afraid it would lead to an all out immersion of vineculture and we know what that means...equipment, books, bottles, a whole new hobby. Not to mention the somewhat sedentary epicuristic culture that comes with drinking wine all the time. I am afraid that I would get fat, drink too much wine, have the numb head all the time. And my kid would have no part of me, being as straight as she is. Nope, I will stay with what I have for now. Guitars, Blogs and Bikes

The seminar went well, however. What I learned was that all you have to do to present a successful wine tasting seminar is to get past the first 15 minutes, then they get giddy and can't keep to themselves. I doubt anyone remembers what the hell I told them after the second round of reds. I couldn't even speak over them talking to one another. I put it on autopilot and mumbled a couple other facts and figures, made up at the time of delivery.

Again, I enjoy doing this, what a way to change the world? Helping educate students on what seems to be missing a little in our culture. Explaining how breaking bread and drinking spirits is a part of our culture and that it is to be respected and practiced accordingly. We conform to tradition this way, rising to the standard of what has always been. In business it is no different. There is so much culture, most of it finding its roots from the process of eating and drinking together. It is an equal time, one of mutual respect, in order to transfer thoughts and ideas.

Looking Back, Standing Up

After a busy day of wrestling employees, clients and numbers, it was my commitment to visit an old friend from high school, travel in to the city (after 5:00 PM) and meet at the downtown Missouri Athletic Club for a bit. The plan was then to move on to Bushes Grove, do a "getting the band back together" rendition thing on General Manager, Pedro Beltrenena. Pedro didn't know that we were coming, John Bell had sent me "blues brother" glasses to get in to character, to set the stage. I like stuff like this. We thought we would make a scene, cause a disturbance, make him quit his job and go out on the road with the band, like in the movie. Or at least pick up our tab (not really).

You see, John is/was an expert in tab stashing. He carved his skill out of the multitudes of restaurants that I have managed through the years in the St. Louis market. I think there are still folded waiters tabs stuffed between the bar and kick board at Mike Duffy's, or the Galleria Houlihans, or Cardwells, where Pedro worked, or the Media Club, or.....All testimony to the craftsmanship of John Bell and his clever antics. Bygones, I say.

You might have seen Pedro in the recent full page ads in both the Post Dispatch and the Riverfront Times, in an effort to boost lagging sales at "gazillionaire" Lester Millers 10 million dollar food manse. And as far as I am concerned, they have the right man for the job with Pedro. He needs to be around rich people, it is his brinkmanship. We used to have a little catering business back in the old days, doing high end catering events from Pedro's home in U-City. Lester Miller, Bob Kaplan, Robert Rafael, all clients of Pedro's, all brat pack St. Louis golden boys. Even though we had a falling out years back, I still consider Pedro to be a superb restaurateur. I am concerned, however, about the ability of that restaurant to (re) surface as what it once was. But as most people say, Lester's got the cash, does he really care? Damn right he cares, don't kid yourself. I wish them the best, as it is indeed a St. Louis Landmark and the restaurant business is a tough one.

Both Pedro and John Bell were high school friends of mine back in Columbia MO. Pedro was a foreign exchange student, who could only be described as Fez, the Latino on "That Seventies Show". John, a trust fund baby from his fathers invention, The Toastmaster Oven, I think.

John is now writing a series of books on American History and contacted me a while back. He wanted to catch up, tell me about his endeavor, find out what I have been doing etc. For a short time, in my pre-married days, John and I ran together, doing the music scene, singles happy hour groupie wannabee thing. What I have always enjoyed about John was that he always has a certain intellectualism about him, even in high school. When we were running in our twenties he lived in the West End, as did Pedro. All three of us migrated to St. Louis for various reasons after high school.

Pedro and I worked as restaurant mangers at Union Station, me at Houlihans, he at Fedora, restaurants owned by Gilbert Robinson Inc., out of Kansas City. GR was a leader in multi conceptual restaurant chain management in the states. It was a solid company, innovative during the corporate growth years of chain restaurants.

John had a Baby Grand Piano in his apartment and always wore a blazer or suit coat. I thought that odd, why leave a perfectly good pair of pants in the closet that matches the suit? I was captivated by that, a twenty something yuppiebee having a baby grand piano under a window in a West End apartment with 12 foot ceilings. He would wear the suit blazer over a pair of jeans, tennis shoes etc. Letterman either stole it from him or vice versa. Me, I lived in a house with a bunch of rugby players in Brentwood. There was sophistication but it was found only in a three year old Dijon mustard bottle in the fridge.

Once John had backstage tickets to KSHE's 20th birthday bash. We had a limo with Dave Mason and his wife, a couple other musicians as part of his brothers connect. I watched Monday night football with the Jimmie Ray Vaughn and the Fabulous Thunderbirds in their suite, before they were off to sings songs like "tough enough" for the thousands attending. Later that night we went to the after party, where I hung out with Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Charlie Daniels and a couple others. I damn near got fired for missing work that night.

So this is what I thought about while sitting at the bar waiting for John Bell at the downtown MAC. I went back to the good ole days, until about 7:00 PM, then got in my car and went home. He never showed.

Dreams of gettin me some Wapiti

I went to the outfitter the other day to buy a Wapiti. I had run out, gone dry, used up the last one mid week and needed a new supply. The damn place was busy but I found a wall of them packaged and stacked up on shelves, in the outdoor section, next to the fly shop. I couldn't believe it, there in its own section, was huge display with a bunch of folks standing around trying to get there hands on some Wapiti. There were the popular Wapiti Individual Packs, The Backwoods Wapiti, the Wapiti Weekender, Wapiti Family Pack, , the Shack Pack Wapiti, and, if you signed up at the promo booth, you could get a direct mail super club "Wapiti Wallop". You can get your Wapiti by mail each month. Or visit Wapiti.com, for more information.

In the corner next to the fish tank, a group of men were standing around a table, getting a gander at the Wapiti Girls, handing out samples of mini-Wapiti's, for the wife and kids, (gotta take care of the boss and the little ones). The models were cute, next door perfect, healthy and athletic, like our kids are.

The parking lot was packed, so many people wanting to get in and find out what all the commotion was about. I was standing in line, wiping my mouth off with one of those brown recycled sustainable napkins from the buffet. Yep, Wapiti corporate had brought in some energy food for the customers who had waited so long in line to get their Wapiti. Wapiti corporate was giving away a trip! a Wapiti Adventure! There was Lil B, Smartman, Kitty, COKEN, Baldy, about a hundred thousand others that I don't have stupid names for, all in need of some Wapiti, and quick.

So I was thinking, where else can one go to "get Wapiti". My favorite bald guy sent me this picture after a meeting on this importan subject. I am thinking it pretty well tells the story. So I figure I am on my way there. As soon as those models turned their heads, I grabbed a big ole stack of raffle forms and stuffed them in my backpack. Later I had my kid make about a million copies and fill them out while on an float trip with her friends. I came back the next day and stuffed the box. Ain't no way I am gonna lose my chance at getting me some Wapiti. Word.

Generation XYZ

I was fumbling through the Internet the other day. I was trying to find an interesting topic to write about because I am dry. Since my daughters homecoming was last week, I thought I would Google something in the nature of "generations". Geez, too much information there. I have decided that every teen should be assigned a social worker, because there sure seems to be a lot of issues and controversy surrounding them. After all, teens get their information from the Internet. And since I have been troubled as of late, trying to get inside the head of my teenager, snap her out of her cyber mindset--look her in the eyes and find the "off" switch to cyber-media, I have to communicate with her on her terms. From my office in my basement I emailed her to "quit talking to her mother like that". It went over well, I cc'd everyone involved.

On my search, I ended up with a bunch of articles about marketing, parenting, marketing, parenting, marketing mainly. Most specifically, the articles had to do with how business "get" to teens to sell them stuff; how kids "take in" information, and what captivates them enough not to "filter". Through technology, we have created generations of human information filters, cyborg human screening machines that skim pulp off the bottom of multi media for targeted intellectual nourishment.

What fuels our kids urge to purchase one thing over the next?--hell, it is their ability to scan the dead skin off of traditional marketing tactic. There are so many different portals, the urgent, non-stop, in your face stream of influence used by marketeers. I truly think we are living amongst a cyber power of soldiers, they with their God for saken pages of Face Book.

The generations go like this:

2000/2001-Present - New Silent Generation or Generation Z

1980-2000 - Millennial or Generation Y

1965-1979 - Generation X

1946-1964 - Baby Boom

1925-1945 - Silent Generation

1900-1924 - G.I. Generation

It kind of sucks that I had no idea what the name of my parents generation is/was; the silent generation. I had to Google its meaning, and by doing so, achieved subliminal perspective of the XYor Z generation. Nope, the Silent Generation people aren't remarking about rampant spamming and phishing, viruses and/or OEM's. No body's bitching about the fees on eBay, or pissed that they forgot their online banking personal question? They are dying and no record is made of their electronic existence; not necessarily a bad thing.

Face book is marketing at its best, homogenized personal brochure making where teenagers compete to one up the competition--the magic of network brilliance. It is the pinnacle of promotion, and often used in the wrong way. I wonder if the chronicaling of every kids face book will somehow come back to haunt them? For the Baby Boomer generation, a criminal record would be the fear of what others might find out. For Y and Z, there is a very significant record of goods and bads chronicled by no other than the offender thyself.

At least the Silents will go down with out a real record and better intuition.

Body Worlds Comments

I chose this particular picture in celebration of my new Chiropractor, Roy. I still can't remember his last name. I have to defer to Bald guy, Kevin. He is the one who introduced me to him, goes to church with him etc.

Funny thing is, I can remember where Roy lives, where he went to school, where his kids graduated college from, where he teaches, when his classes are, what gripes him about the young kids of today. What his horses are like....But remember his last friggin name? WTF?

I am thinking that there is an environmental mental dislodging that took place in my late teens and twenties than no adjustment can fix. Knowhatimsayin?

Anyway. Props go out to Roy and his ability to bring back to me my sleep. I have apparently been suffering from some phase two neck problems, lower back and other. I have jacked myself up more times than I can think of. A bad fall in 02 must have done the damage, plus a football injury in high school. Spearing. Honestly though, have you ever been to a Chiro and they said, "congrats, you are perfect"? No, because you were in pain and your spine is crooked. Mine has always been crooked. I told Roy to make it so I could stop peeing at night. He took care of the problem. I swear, I am not peeing as much. He says it is because the nerves get agitated around the lower area and these screw up something with the bowels that press on the bladder or whatever. Now I am sleeping through Paul Harvey's morning spew. Good day.

So I am buying in to the chiro thing. How can you not? If pain relief happens, you should worship your knuckle cracker daily. I explained to Roy that I am not necessarily your run of the average pimp. I am a masters athlete, I go fast at stuff. He asked if I ride the Katy.....

I should send him this shot on Peaks Trail between Breckenridge and Frisco, day one of a 5 day mountain bike excursion in Co last summer.

I ain't bragging or nothin. There are old guys much more fit than I. I am just saying. The body ca be pushed to the limits, and at 45, we are not finished having fun, going to full excursion, taking risks, chances, living life to its fullest. We owe it to ourselves, so our kids will see the true meaning of action hero, a parent who gets "air". To me, it is worth it. So Roy and I have become friends.

So back to Body Worlds 3. Pfoodman is helping to underwrite the exhibition. My staff will be there Friday to welcome and feed the guests coming to the extravaganza, a anatomical exhibition of real human bodies, by Gunther Von Hagens. It has been as controversial as the cloned sheep thing. So when asked to provide the food at such a theme, well, I was a bit perplexed. Jerky came to mind. But who really likes jerky?

I put Chris Lupo and Chef Anton Keller on it. We should have around 600 guests, milling around, tasting our food, doing the social thing prior to going in and seeing the exhibitions. I am hoping our menu items are a good fit with the exhibition. I can't really say I have been challenged with this sort of thing before. On one side of the wall, delicately placed skinless bodies posing in life movement. On the other side of the wall, a carving station with four Sous Chefs with sharp knives. Hello?

Article on Jobs/Depression

This article (below) appeared int he St. Louis Post Dispatch over the weekend. Basically hit every online source as well. I find it to be interesting, especially with the election coming up. I met with my financial planner this morning and he mentioned how the market might react during the next several months, in anticipation of an administrating change. I tend to hear only certain things that he tells me, the rest goes way over my head. And to tell him this launches him in to even more muffled intake, so early and not enough patience for this brain to succumb. Anyway, the article outlines the condition of the service industry. Read it yourself below. I have been looking for a reason to spout off at Hillary, she scares me with her plans on health care, other government programing. In a nutshell the article says that if you find yourself in the lower strata, and you are indeed a line level worker in either food service, health care or daycare, you might as well put a gun to you head, 7% of you will suffer from depression. The experience of these kinds of jobs may put you in jeopardy of thinking clearly, finding lifelong fulfillment. These are stats man, no messing around, occupational categorical data. Let's see. The health care situation is one that I am exposed to quite regularly now. I have come up with some opinions on certain things. I supply employees from a hospitality industry in to what I consider to be the train wreck of health care bureaucracy. Hospitality meets Health care. In other words, my company, a restaurant management company among other things, is in the market to supply upscale value added service to what has otherwise been considered "dietary" or "functional" amenity, caters to the needs of these dietary workers, food service workers, restaurant workers, other service worker categories, all labeled high risk of depression, all future employees of my company. One can assume that it is because these are tough jobs, (hospitality and "dietary")--that they are slow fill--that articles like these are written for a purpose. Let's be real here, there is lots not to like about kissing ass all day. Seniors are especially a temperamental customer base. The reality? It ain't gonna get much better. I have become good at it though the years, kissing ass. I am proud to say that I am still making a career out of it, launching a business, employing nearly 250 employees in the food service industry. I suppose that a large part of what I do is convince my employees that it is worth it. I don't even want to know how many we have if I am responsible for them being depressed. I am one of them, after all and I get depressed thinking that they are depressed. So I battle the load bearing responsibility--the task of recruitment and attrition with a thing called strategic company culture. It ain't perfect, but it is a must have. What about if the government can step in and make all the troubles go away? Maybe Hillary has the answer in context with the health care issue? Maybe her plan is one that will fix things for the patient, but most importantly, for the workers who will take care of them; those who will cook for them, serve them, clean up after them? I wonder if the Dem's have thought this through? Can Hillary guarantee a better company culture than that of business, funded by the people? Can Hillary provide competition allowing the market to dictate the costs of labor and the incentives used to recruit and retain employees? Let's face it, the strongest companies out there are the ones emphasising strong company culture, interesting, authentic, rewarding culture that can change lives. And believe it, It is such a hit and miss--a work in progress to have a strong culture. We have a saying in our industry, we are only as good as how our worst manager treats our best employee. Workers and their supervisors are in a constant state of development, always. The service industry is so much more challenged by this than any other traditional workforce. So let's do this. Add the lack of trench workers; food service and health care employees in to the mix. Let's get ready to get down an dirty. By the way, the workforce as it is now is as volatile as it can get, more so than it has ever been, headed for disaster. Introduce an increased dependence on this group of workers due to the increased calling for health care/service workers to care for an aging population and dude, Hillary, you had better have a plan. Does Hillary really need to answer to the demand? What will be the shortfall? What types of incentives are to be given our current workers, or better yet, those we need to recruit in to the industry to bear the load. Should it be our tax dollar, a governmental program to feed workers in to the industry? Will there be some sort of health care worker welfare? Lots of questions to think about. Can't business take care of this? The day will come when the Dem's will want to provide some sort of crazy system to get workers into the mix. It will come in the form of a tax to business, maybe a credit for income tax for these workers, likely many of them non-resident, giving reason for more workers to fall in to the mindset of mediocrity. All expectation of achievement will be lost because there is no competitive standard, services will fail, more money will be spent and we will end up with more bullshit to deal with. I have seen firsthand the process a health care management company must provide to satisfy current federal billing medicaid regulations. It will take a wing of the white house to determine the need for service workers and the effect the shortfall will have on the entire system. Business is responsible for creating jobs, the companies who show progress towards achieving employment status of recruitment and satisfaction should be rewarded. Let not let the the Dem's create yet another brainwashing of our service workers, those employees so important to our economy, those much more fulfilled than those surely to be dependent again on handouts. (10-14) 18:48 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers. Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available Saturday. Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues. Almost 11 percent of personal care workers — which includes child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs — reported depression lasting two weeks or longer. During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at least four other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image. Workers who prepare and serve food — cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses — had the second highest rate of depression among full-time employees at 10.3 percent. In a tie for third were health care workers and social workers at 9.6 percent. The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 percent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors. Government officials tracked depression within 21 major occupational categories. They combined data from 2004 through 2006 to estimate episodes of depression within the past year. That information came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which registers lifetime and past-year depression bouts. Depression leads to $30 billion to $44 billion in lost productivity annually, said the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The report was available Saturday on the agency's Web site at The various job categories tracked could be quite broad, with employees grouped in the same category seemingly having little in common. For example, one category included workers in the arts, media, entertainment and sports. In the personal care category, a worker caring for toddlers at a daycare center would have quite a different job from a nursing aide who helps an older person live at home rather than in a nursing home. Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, 7 percent, compares with the 12.7 percent rate registered by those who are unemployed.

Bubba #1

Well the friggin three hour extravaganza liked to suck the mojo right out of my inerds. But I ain't making excuses. I am simply sharing the fact that my system was still full to the eyeballs with lactic acid from Riches Spain Lake race.

That is about the best way I can put it. No matter how I tried to replenish the fat and salt from yesterdays Spanish Lake race, I didn't quite have the recovery needed to hang on to a couple guys at Bubba today. I did alright, the results just kind of sucked. I was at the bottom half, but hey, it is the first one. There is a tempering process with Bubba, you got to show up each week and climb the ladder through the series. And if you think it is about winning, forget it. It is about pain, taking the pain and feeling the fitness overtake you over time. I love that about cross. Especially with the teenagers who made up half the field for christsake. Ahmen.

I noticed Russ and Ethan, a couple others in the A's. There were others older and seasoned. Not sure how I would do but it would be nice if the body delivers a decent fitness level to go up against them in a race this year. Kurt Russell showed up in his bigshark kit shiat. I was thinking I could have shaken it up with him a bit, by the way he was...looking. I respect these guys. They are pretty much the money. With what I have been doing, the results should be coming in the next couple weeks. But the same will happen with everyone doing this sport.

The pace went out hard and after about 5 laps, I started feeling a might bit bonky, like coffee hangover empty. After some decent efforts, I had to slow down and regroup, which allowed Jose, Jim, James and others to dance around me while I coughed lung in to the dusty field. Jose crashed and fell back a bit, muscling his way up to the top 10, I believe. He is a tough bastard. They all are.

The good news is that Jamberetz was there with his camera. Yes, that camera makes it all the more worth it. There are times when I look up the trail and see him on his knee pads, in perfect position. I come rolling in arms flexed, quad flexing and stuff. The grimace face is all I can send to him. He'll click around the time the snot unfolds itself from my cheek, or catch me in a dab. He takes so many that everyone gets a superstar shot. Worth the pain, worth the pain.

Oh yes, Weiss beat me on a mountain bike, an old one, I think it was a GT. Great.

Spain Lake and other.

Oh my. That race stung. They all do. I decided to jump in to the endurance class because that is where the bro's were, Crocker, Schuck, Brenden, we are all pretty equal, I suppose, they were shredding me, I must say. The three hour plus race that, as a residual, gives you a little fitness for down the road. Since the Cross season is upon us, I thought it necessary to trim some fat and go for the burn. We ended up a couple minutes apart, barring Crocker and Brenden getting in an extra lap. They likely had 15 minutes on me. A little embarrasing, but I am me, and they are them. Understanding of course that today I have a cross race and I would like to be there for my fans.

I knew it was a cop out to the normal expert class, in which the usual suspects would show, DRJ, the usual field would spread out the usual way and I would get my usual results. Pirtle comes blasting by a good five minutes in front of everyone else. WTF? I would have been not last but lower middle, where I am, usually. Bauer surprised me a bit by running gears, the queer. He tricks me this way. Always avoids the Pfoodman with the Single speed class, something different. I am beginning to think I smell or something. Gunpowder little buddy, these guns smell of gunpowder, don't they? Glad to see Mark finishing up another fine season.

I am bringing some demo bikes to the cross race today. Any body can use them. Daren from Lindenwood Cycling team is supposed to bring some of the new blood, students on the new cycling team. He has some scholorships to hand out to students wanting to race n school. What a deal? More to come on this.

Congrats to Boz. Shredded Agrijo on the last of his series. These two guys have been going wacko at one another all year. Both great guys for the sport. Welcome to the jungle, get ready to take it higher, both of yuz.

Paging Jerry Orzano.....please come to isle: get on you bike and ride.

Do we need a meeting at the club?

Revenge...

...is for cowards really.

I see no point in it. Revenge is what you do in to retaliate from an offensive move. Often it is in the same proximity, the same time frame of the aggressor. Frankly, the best thing to do is not to sweat things too much, your guard was down to begin with. Remember that revenge is defensive, not as as significant, not good enough, a reaction precipitated by the subject and part of the original casting. To be original, you must be on the offensive.

If you find yourself taken aback, on your heals, seeking revenge instantaneously, you simply honor your subject, giving them a little more control, undue credit for their actions. You'll play by their rules then, their offensive move always in the context of things. You'll make decisions based on emotion, from what was felt from their offensive move. Not a good place to start. Your perspective can be manipulated, a bi-product of good offensive tactic.

Nope, every move, every action taken to provide influence, every ounce of effort needs to be ignited from an offensive perspective. Planning, detail, staging, timing, everything must go in on the front side. The more the better, patience is key. The better planned an offensive attack the more likely the subject will provide a knee jerk reaction to the move. And the knee jerk reaction is what can be the greatest exposure. Don't you really want to expose them?

So put revenge away when you can. Take the hit, dis-honor your subject by ignoring them. There is time. Lots of time.

Burnin

Furby basically captures the essence of Burnin at the Bluff 4; what turned out to be my race of pain for the year. Holy godomighty that was tough.
The course was loose and dry rotted, lots of places to go down and char your legs and elbows. I stayed upright for the most part, though my lap times seemed to be a bit hindered from a combination of lack of sleep and fatigue. However, I came around on the second lap, and didn't have a mechanical or flat for the entire race. The consistency helped us get the third place podium.
Yes, Eric trashed his frame, ended up riding three different bikes on three different laps. Word has it that Salsa has already sent him another frame. That is way cool. Salsa is good people.
This is the start of lap two, waiting for Thrasher to come in from his lunch. He turned in a good lap, getting in good position from the start. Glad he has returned to racing and has recently devoted his time to racing again. Of course, he will spit out a few more kids a long the way.
Note, Thrasher in superior running position. Glad I didn't have to do that.

Done with lap one.

Gary Busey Movie pic #3

Unusual Crash Test Dummie

The leg and arse is worse.

Damn, it was nearly a perfect run. Eric laid down the law on the blue ribbon and tried to dampen my spirit. His climbing seems a bit better than the last time I rode with him. And it was pissing me off but I will say this: If you hammer me on the climbs, I will retaliate. That was the theme, he was going to try and break me on the first couple hills, before I could get my recover down tight. We went in through Zombie Road, a favorite of Eric. It adds the additional 5 miles on what ins normally an 18 mile loop. We both have been training, as has our third, Thrasher, the smartest Schmaggie in the world.

A couple interesting things happened today. In the first 5 minutes I broke a front spoke and Eric flatted. This gave way to stop and go until I finally convinced Eric to put a tube in his rim. Yes, he is one of those "Stans" guys. The guey glue stuff that rarely works in the woods, we stopped a few times to he could roll the tire around, re inflate, repeat, until we got to the parking lot. I was feeling better by then. Not quite able to shed him in the flats, there were many hikers, as usual on the Sunday afternoon at Castlewood.

So we decide to go up Grotpetter. First we stop and talk to Ted Weiss. We were standing there and suddenly the power lines begin the shake and all the poles begin to shake. A tree suddenly fell in the woods and took out the power lines and, get this, started a fire. We went looking for it up the driveway to Ranger Loves house, finding ourselves standing in the middle of some downed "hot" power lines. Pretty freaky. We got the hell out of there. Of course, a couple fair weathers told us that we should move away, like we didn't really figure that out for ourselves.

So I led out up Grotpetter. Keeping a respectable gap, getting ready to crest the roller coaster climb. I can usually recover here, staying out of the saddle, then recover on the sweeping switchbacks, repeat. I was feeling pretty good and, when coming out of roller coaster, looked back to find that I had put a 5 yard gap on the old guy. Well, this was good, because I knew that the Love decent was all mine. I held 98% all the way down, damn near exemplary maneuvering, if you ask me. Except for the last 100 feet, I went high and didn't make the cut. I was thrown over the bike and almost saved it. dismounting on the left and staying clipped in, then falling backwards over the bike in to a tree. I am a bloody piece of hamburger poundage. I didn't get the neck pain until later last night. But you know what? I am going to ride it off. Today, like any other day. I havent fallen in a while. It was just Saturday when we rolled up on Kurt Fletcher and Terrance Keenen, a couple very distingquished roadies, washing the blood off their wounds, each had fallen in different spots that day. I was thinking, they should get "off road" more often, and they wouldnt fall like that. I guess Karma took care of that for me. I was standing at the same spigot, washing the blood off, less than 24 hours later.

Word.