Your voices were heard!

Thank you to all of you who emailed and called to voice your concern over the incident involving Todd Brawell! Also, thank you to Lenoir Chief of Police Joey Reynolds for taking our concerns seriously enough to meet with Jeff first thing this morning at the shop. But the real attention should focus on Todd's interaction today:

I just wanted to let everyone know that I also have been contacted
by the Chief this afternoon. We had a very positive and lengthy
discussion about this matter. It is obvious that our voices have been
heard on this issue. The chief mentioned several times about all the
calls and emails he has recieved over this issue. I told him that the
cycling community feels strongly about this issue. I explained to him
that my issue wasn't seeing someone "get a ticket" but that I was
very concerned that this sets a very dangerous precedent. The chief
explained that even in automobile accidents they do not always cite.
I do not think this is a wise policy but it is the policy
nonetheless. He did go on to say that in all accident cases a report
is filed which shows the "contributing factors" to the accident. In
other words it declares "fault" in a round about way. I asked had
that report been filed in my case and did it show fault. He said he
would pull the report. I also asked if I could have a copy. I
explained that I thought a declaration of "fault" would be a step in
the right direction. Within 10 minutes I had the report delivered to
the church office. It does indicate that the driver of the
vehicle "failed to yield the right of way." I feel much better about
this situation after talking with the chief, receiving the report,
and seeing how they responded to this issue after so many voiced
concern. I ended the conversation by assuring the chief that I
support the very difficult work they do in law enforcement and that I
appreciated him contacting me personally. Thanks to all who voiced an opinion in this issue. Your voices were heard loud and clear.

Todd

Chief Reynolds voiced some concerns with Jeff in their meeting this morning that I would like for us all to address. Let us be very clear in acknowledging the support that the Lenoir Police Department and Chief Reynold in particular have shown towards cycling and cycling events in our community. The police department has always been helpful and courteous whenever we have approached them with regards to an event. One thing that was foremost in the conversation was the question posed by the police, "What would you like us to do?" This seemed to be posed in a way as to what would we ,the local cycling community, hope to gain from voicing our concerns in this matter. That is a big, weighty question...

Jeff and I have both had friends who were killed by drivers who "didn't see" the cyclist that they ran over. In all of these instances, the cyclists were obeying the laws and were killed by drivers who were guilty of some minor traffic infraction, such as failure to yield the right of way. I would hope that by our vocalizing concern for how this situation was handled, that the police department might take these "minor" traffic infractions a bit more seriously. It is important for all of us to realize that the only protection that we have while riding is from the code of safe conduct that is embodied by the traffic law. I hope that the message we gave to the police department is how disheartening it is to feel that the apparent protection of the law might not really be there for us. I for would like to see our voices of concern heard now by those who are charged with protecting our safety, rather than having to wait for more sorrowful circumstances. For me, ghost bikes are too late.

We are all loved by someone, be it our parents, spouses, children or friends. We all deserve to be safe. We all deserve to be seen.

Let Chief Reynolds know that we appreciate his attention to our concern and that we hope to maintain a meaningful dialogue with the Police Department over matters of cycling safety.

WTF

I have been putting this post off in the hopes of having a nice ending for it, but that ship has apparently sailed (for the time being). Last week, everyone's favorite bike ridin' preacher, Todd Braswell, had the unfortunate experience of being hit by a car while riding his bike to work at Lower Creek Baptist Church.

Todd was in the middle turning lane on Hwy 18 waiting for traffic to pass in order to turn left onto a side road. A car was at the stop sign of this side road waiting to make a left turn on to Hwy 18. Traffic cleared and Todd began to make his turn. The driver at the stop sign initiated his turn at the same time and hit Todd. Todd was lucky in that his injuries were minor. However, the police officer who responded to the accident decided not to cite the driver of the car because the driver stated that "he didn't see" Todd.

This is a very bad situation. It is my (and many others) firm belief that had this been two cars, a citation would have been written. What the driver in this situation did was fail to yield the right of way to another VEHICLE. Todd was lucky, but we must do everything in our power to voice our concern over this situation. We can't let the precedent be set that as long as a cyclist isn't too badly injured it's okay to hit them with your car. We must BE VOCAL!

Cycling is very popular in our area. We have two major cycling events that bring 500 to 800+ riders each to this area. Cycling is closely associated with our area and contributes a great deal of money to our local economy. We must preserve the safety of our roads.

Get involved.

1. Write a letter to the editor of the New Topic (Here is the contact link)

2. Email the Lenoir Chief of Police, Joey Reynolds (also a cyclist):
jreynolds@ci.lenoir.nc.us

3. Email the Sheriff of Caldwell County:
ajones@caldwellcountync.org

Don't take this lying down! Let your voice be heard!

Math lesson

Despite the fact that I teach Physics and used to teach Math, sometimes simple mathematics is beyond my comprehension. The latest math problem to blindside me has been a fairly simple equation, to wit:

2 adults + 2 dogs + 1 (destructive) cat + 1 eighteen month old baby boy



less than 1000 square feet of stuff

Now, I hear the naysayers among you saying that that is plenty of room to cram together all that stuff. Others may want to post comments regaling me with tales of how they grew up in a family of 22 that all lived comfortably and happily in a 12ft by 12ft Tuff Shed. Great. I'm happy for you, but for us the situation is tight.

This is a pretty roundabout way of saying that I haven't been posting lately due to a severe case of the lifestyle pare-downs. I have been posting everything that isn't nailed down on ebay. Want a slightly overripe banana? Do a search, I might have put one up for auction at the rate I'm going!

In case you haven't seen or heard: the new Sledgehammer Charlie's team kits are here and they look awesome! Look for us clad in our new white, orange and gold kits as we train and race this coming year! But you might want to avert your eyes from the groin region if it's a rainy day!

Things are happening as far as the shop is concerned. We have a new logo which now adorns the fresh batch of water bottles we just got in. I have finished doing the stud work in the bathroom, electricity has been run and a new toilet and sink are just around the corner! But the biggest news of all is that we have an official website that will be going live in the next month! You can check it out at lunacyclesnc.com and stayed tuned for the full version.

Lastly, in an effort to get some of you to retire some of your less becoming cycling clothing and to celebrate the coming warm weather that should be here soon (fingers crossed) we are putting ALL of our clothing that is in stock on sale for 20% off! This includes winter clothing and fresh '08 spring clothing!

And now to share a more personal story. I have recently begun to experience the effects of rapid cognitive degeneration. The evidence that I have for this is that by thursday of this week, I will be registered to race in the Burn 24 hour mtn. bike race that will be taking place May 24-25! I have myself on a very strict training program that consists of riding at least one day a week and slowly rubbing my butt with sand paper for 2 hours every night. In true training fashion, I will be decreasing the grit of the sandpaper each week until just two weeks before the event and will then taper the last two weeks with just a scotchbrite pad so that I will be good and recovered for the race! I will be racing as either a duo or possibly a team (what say ye, Todd?), so stay tuned for more details...

on parenting

When we first found out that we were going to become parents, everyone we knew who had a kid said some variation of the same thing: "Everything about your life is going to change." Now I recognized the validity of this statement and even glimpsed the "abandon all hope ye who enter here" veiled pathos in the eyes of some who uttered these words, but I think I'm beginning to plumb new depths in this realm.

Beyond the occasional well-placed and utterly charming kick to the groin that I encounter during a diaper change and aside from the new fad of flinging hard, dense and sharp-edged toys at Daddy when his back is turned, there are a few things that I think we are starting to enter new territory on.

As we live in a small house and an eighteen month old seems to occupy more physical area than the laws of physics would seem to support (it's like the reverse of Dr. Who's Tardis), our two dogs, Kai and Jenny, are spending more and more of their lives down in the basement and in the backyard. This past weekend I finally became fed up with the state of our basement and embarked on "the big push" to bring order to the chaos. Over the course of this effort, I have uncovered one of the greatest mysteries of our time: how can 2 medium sized dogs (combined weight=110 pounds) shed approximately 4300 lbs. of hair in 6 months? Now, my weight estimate of the gargantuan hairball may be off slightly, but I think you see the point. If humans lost this much of their bodies in the same amount of time we would literally look like toothpicks.

As if this discovery were not enough for one weekend in the Moore household, a second more important discovery was made. What we have discovered promises to alter the very fabric of how fathers will view taking care of their sons from this point forward. We've all been there: mom needs some time to herself (or just needs to get away) and Dad is faced with taking care of his eighteen month old son for a couple of hours. After reading Tickle, tickle for the fiftieth time in a row ("Squelch, squelch in the mud. Splish, splash, scrub-a-dub. Gently, gently brush your hair. Tickle, tickle under there." Yes, I have it memorized along with a LOT of others) you are starting to get a little punch drunk. Said toddler looks on the verge of some sort of emotional release that is sure to include crying and you get that panicky, "What do I do?" running on a loop in your head. Let me assure you, this has NEVER HAPPENED to me. Ever. Period. End of story. But, for those poor unfortunate souls who find themselves in this "hypothetical" situation for real, I present to you: Heavy Equipment Videos. Thanks to nearly 30 years of high level scientists working to advance computer technology and the internet, we have the ultimate way to occupy a little boy! I'm not sure how Owen got so into heavy equipment (he has a special fondness for front-end loaders), but thankfully, enough forward thinking (and brilliant) fathers have posted heavy equipment videos to the internet that his obsession can be easily sated. If you find yourself in this position, try it out and see how well it works!

Sheldon Brown

Many people are writing about the passing of Sheldon Brown yesterday. I don't want to do a disservice to Sheldon by describing him, instead I encourage you to check out his unique and quirky website. My thoughts are with his family and friends. Cyclists and cycling lost a truly great lover of the two-wheeled machine.

No excuses

For anyone with even a passing interest in reading what I have to say, I'm sure that my saying that I have stepped back from frequent posting comes as no surprise. My real job has been claiming more and more of my evenings, making it that much harder for me to keep up with what is going on in the world of cycling, let alone write about it. For example: I haven't even watched 'cross world's yet. For anyone who knows me, this surely is a sign that I am greatly indisposed.

However, I am not unaware of some of the more major happenings in the world of pro cycling and this week saw a doozie. Astana (II- electric Johan Bruyneel-aloo) were utterly dissed by the Giro who decided that the Disco' - uh, scratch that- Ass' Boys would not disgrace the hallowed italian roads with their tainted wheels. Further, ASO is saying that Contador is not a done deal for starting the TdF this year. Oh, that pesky Puerto investigation just won't go away. Interesting in it's exclusion from the Giro is Team High Road who may now have a big target on their back after getting up on their high horse to prove how clean they are. I guess those visits to the hospital to get all of those blood infusions just didn't strike anybody as kosher in Italia.

The big winner in all of this is Team Slipstream who look to be in the catbird seat. What a deal to essentially be a Pro Tour team without all the hassle or expense. Trust me, everyone is going to be tripping all over themselves to invite these guys to their races.

We are starting to get some glimpses of non-winter weather and this week had some truly nice days. Amazingly enough, after weeks of looking like a ghost town, the nice weather brought people into the bike shop in droves. New bikes went out the door like spring had sprung. But don't fret about quiet winters in the bike shop. We planned a bunch of remodeling for this downtime and if you've seen the way we've ripped the bathroom out, you know bike mechanics with time on their hands can be a dangerous thing.

This week I'm going to be going to Asheville for a school conference. The bonus is that I will be staying at the Grove Park Inn for free! I can't wait!

It's a celebration, b*&ches!

A lot has happened this week and I have tried to stay mum and let it all burst forth in one post. This past weekend, cyclocross world champions were crowned in Italy. Lars BOOM had an off day and managed to win world's anyway. I wish I could have off days like that...

Now, even though 'cross is a passion that burns brightly for me through the winter, two far more life changing anniversaries occurred this week. Thursday, January 23rd marked the birthday of one of my personal heroes, Macgyver. I was a huge Macgyver fan, always marveling at his ingenuity and reveling in the utility of commonplace items like chewing gum and aluminum foil. The idea that the raw materials for explosives and gunpowder was truly electrifying in my young adulthood. Truth be told, it still is. However, I remember the day when my faith in Macgyver came to a screeching end. In the episode, Macgyver needed to make an explosive or gunpowder and filed some cheap, third world bicycle frame to get magnesium filings for his concoction. I was shocked. Only a handful of magnesium bicycle frames have ever been produced and you certainly weren't going to find one just lying around like Macgyver had. That is when I realized that the show was all b.s. and Macgyver was all just Hollywood smoke and mirrors. Crushing.

Today, however marks a much happier and far more profoundly life-changing anniversary: the 50th anniversary of LEGO bricks! Oh, the hours I have spent enraptured by these simple plastic bricks. I still have all of the LEGO bricks I have ever owned, sitting in a box in the basement, waiting for when Owen will be old enough to play with them instead of experiencing their choking hazard properties!

Tomorrow night, Luna Cycles and Rock and Road Bicycles will be doing a demo ride night at the "Chicken bone velodrome" in Hickory. The rides are from 5:30 to 8:00 at the Hickory Motor Speedway. Admission cost is $10. Ride is canceled if there is inclement weather. See you there (hopefully)!

The Lion King roars

Some pretty strong words from Cipo' with regards to the pending Rock Racing deal came out today. It would be great to see Cipo' tearing it up on American soil; giving Champagne Opening 101 classes to all the domestic sprinters on the NRC circuit. Imagine the team kit possibilities that a man of Cipo's taste, coupled with the high-end jeans of title sponsor Rock & Republic, could yield! Alas, it may never come to pass...

As the temperatures around here have steadily dropped, the frenetic Presidential Primary process has truly begun to heat up. I took an online quiz to see what candidates were the best match to my opinions on various topics. Imagine my complete chagrin when my number 1 candidate match was with a guy I had never even heard of: Mike Gravel. I have been checking him out and I recognize and agree with most of his positions on the important topics of the present time. However, I am not blind to the fact that the Primary system is a pretty bogus, rigged affair that seems to be run by the National Parties as less of an open forum about what Americans wish for in a President and more about the steamrolling of revolutionary ideas in favor of finding the electable middle-of=the-road candidate. I think we are being done a sever disservice with our two party system.

When we were in Canada two years ago, it was their national election time. We watched the returns and were bewildered by the multiple party format, as there were about 6 or 7 parties involved in the election. The guy that we were renting skis from each day was more than happy to explain things and kept his ridicule of our election process to mere jovial condemnation. But the whole thing made sense. Multiple parties contest seats in the parliament. The party with the most seats is able to choose who the Prime Minister will be. Unless the party with the most seats in Parliament has won a clear majority of the seats (more than all the other parties combined), they have to play nice and try to reach consensus with the other parties. If they try to steamroll anything, the other parties just gang up on them and thwart whatever they are attempting. The beauty is that minority opinions have a voice. This is important to me because I often have to explain my own political leanings by saying, "I would have to move to the right to be a true democrat."

In this country, it seems anathema to engage in political conversation if you inhabit the fringes of our system. Way right or way left and you are pretty much a non-entity. I believe that all of those opinions should be voiced, whether I agree with them or not. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that some positions that people hold are not well thought out, mean, or just plain stupid. But at the same time, I think it is necessary to consider where everyone is coming from just in case you might be able to find common ground. I just know I'm tired of having to choose between whoever is left out of the media-worthiness scrum that we are currently embroiled in...

Snow day!

We got the most significant snowfall I've seen here in a few years last night. Consequently, school was canceled for today and tomorrow! Couple that good fortune with the MLK Day Holiday on monday and Bam! out of nowhere you've got yourself a five day weekend!

I lolled about the house, playing with Owen (watching him eat snowballs two-fisted style!) and then hopped on the mtn. bike to ride in to the shop at noon. I used a little trail that runs from my neighborhood to downtown to fool myself into thinking I was in the woods. The snow on the trail was pristine except for some rabbit tracks that cut back and forth down the entire length of the trail.

Everything is melting now and turning to ice tonight as the temps drop to the 20's. I already miss that fleeting bit of quiet that you only get when there is snow on the ground to muffle all of the world's noise.

Jeff, Chuck and Big E took off for Costa Rica today to do a little riding and surfing in warmer climes. Be sure to scratch them off your xmas list for this little manuever timed oh so perfectly with our first good winter blast in a while!

A must have?

It is time to come to terms with the fact that we have a serious loose dog problem on some of our beloved road ride routes. This Saturday marked the 3rd time I have been chased by the same pack of 6 dogs at the same spot on Hwy. 90 between Lenoir and Collettsville. So here's the deal: the only way something will be done about it is if we call Animal Control and inform them of each and every incident that occurs with any repeat offenders. It's one thing for a dog to be loose now and then, but there seems to be a growing number of dog owners who feel that their dogs should have unfettered access to the road and anything that catches their fancy as it passes by. So here is my little Public Service Announcement:

Beware of the dog pack at 3635 Collettsville Rd.

View Larger Map
They will swarm you from both sides of the road with one dog running ahead and trying to jump out in front of you. If you encounter them and they chase you, please call Caldwell County Animal Control and report the incident. Or you may want to purchase the latest in winter training accessories.

I've been itching to escape the confines of pavement cycling ever since I got a rigid fork for my mountain bike (a very long while ago) and so Sunday, we planned a little ride on the Over Mountain Victory trail at Kerr Scott Reservoir. Jeff, Shelli, Golden, Big E, Nicole and I met at the trail head at 1 o'clock and took off in pretty perfect conditions. We had gotten a decent amount of rain earlier in the week, but rather than being super muddy, the trails were an awesome tacky consistency that allowed for a lot of speed. The ride was an incredible change of pace from the base pace riding we've been doing and it really made me lament how the length of time I've been away from the mountain bike. I'm ready to head out there again as soon as possible...

Super Mario!

The once and future king? Time will tell...

finding your inner flauhute

I've gotten back into the swing of teaching and working and parenting and occasional bike riding. The group ride saturday was a course preview for this year's Cycle To Serve ride. Some new roads have been paved, opening up some more loop possibilities and everyone wanted to check it out.

This is the time of year that I have a love/hate relationship with riding in. I love riding in cooler weather; enjoy wearing arm warmers, knee warmers, vests, hats. But this time of year, when the temps truly drop, dressing appropriately for the conditions is a total crap shoot for me.

I step out of the house, immediately feel a numbness spread through my jaw rendering me incapable of speaking in anything but a slur, I go back in and start throwing on more clothing. In these situations it inevitably ends up warming, I'm way overdressed, and I truly fear that spontaneous combustion is imminent. Lesson learned, the next ride I step outside, brush off the frozen jawline and head out dressed like a german pro training in Mallorca. This leads to the mercury plummeting and my hands turning into useless chunks of wood that can barely grip a handlebar let alone shift gears. I try to think warm happy thoughts as I start to up my conception of base pace.

When I first started riding, I was taught that you should start out feeling a little chilly and then your body heat will rise as you ride due to exertion. This little gem of knowledge just isn't doing the trick anymore. I have now come to realize that there are 2 vital parts of my body that I have to keep warm, everything else I can live without so to speak. The key is hands and feet. Just repeat that over and over, because that is one of those little secret roadie nuggets of wisdom that no one ever wants to share. Yeah, it seems that I can be a flauhute (a hard man) as long as I have toasty fingers and toes.

The other sucky thing about this time of year is going on rides on the weekends and freezing your dangly bits off and then during the week the temps soar and your stuck in less meaningful situations like work. I walked out of the building on the way to the library today and nearly had a drop of sweat form on my brow from the balmy mid-60's temps we had today. Where was that warmth this weekend as we headed out this past saturday in brisk upper-30's?

The point of all this rambling is some sort of self help exercise, I guess. I will ride in cold weather, again. I will not dress properly, again. These things I sadly realize, are a given, unalterable, beyond my feeble control. I just hope I get lucky and manage to hang on to all my digits.

The crossroads

photo: Patrick Hartford

I've been getting some decent riding in with my time off this week. On Wednesday, we set forth on the Lake James (bitch!) loop. Nothing like a 5 hour road ride to set some perspective in your life. Given the fact that this was the longest bike ride I've done in about 2 years, it worked out pretty well. But I just couldn't leave it at that...

Jeff and I got Brian to cover the shop today (thanks, B-Rock!) so that we could meet up with The Mayor and Preacher Todd for a dirt road ride out in Collettsville. We met up at 10am at the "Hard and Flossie Clark" Park (I swear that is its name) and departed down Hwy 90.

Just as Hwy 90 is about to turn to dirt, there is a road to the right. This is Anthony's Creek Road. Anthony's Creek is paved for a couple of miles and then turns to dirt. When the pavement ends, the climbing begins. And climb it does. Up and up and up it goes with Anthony's creek sinuously winding from one side of the road to the other. Almost from the gun, there is a beautiful waterfall that cascades through a jumble of granite blocks covered in green moss and algae. The air was crisp and cool, but the climbing caused us to warm up pretty quick. Towards the top I had to stop and get rid of some layers as I was starting to soak my wool jersey through with sweat.

We got to the top, a little community known as Gragg. We rode along a ridgeline and then descended down towards Wilson Creek and the community of Edgemont. We rode through Edgemont and on toward Mortimer. Just past the old CCC camp there is a little store. The store sits at the intersection of Hwy 90 and Brown Mtn. Beach Rd. This is a fairly important little intersection when cycling in this area for, as Jeff put it, this was "one of life's crossroad moments"; a decision point. At this point we had been riding for 2hrs and 45 minutes. Take Brown Mtn. Beach Rd. and we're back at the car in about an hour; take Hwy 90 and we have about the same ride time but with a lot more pavement. Or option 3: take 90 for a bit and then turn onto the all dirt "18 Mile" road and add another 2+ hours of ride time. Guess which option we chose?

"18 Mile" road is a beautiful, if not jagged, ride that has many ascents and descents and goes through at least two distinct life zones before dropping you onto Adako Rd. I readily admit I had a few dark moments towards the latter sections of the road, but it was worth the extra mileage.

Upon returning to the car, I immediately dubbed this loop the "7 faces of death" ride, but we were all in agreement that we seemed to not feel as beat up as we did at the end of the Lake James (bitch!) ride on Wednesday. I regret not having brought a camera, because the views were stunning and pictures would serve as ample inducement to get you to ride this route, but I also regret that I have not developed the habit of applying Chamois Butt'r before doing these epic rides. I keep trying to remember, but the habit just isn't ingrained yet. However, I do have a deeply ingrained habit of complaining about not using Chamois Butt'r at the end of long rides when my hind end feels the way a baboon's butt looks.

I got home, got a big hug from Owen (and his assistance with putting the wheels back on my bike), jumped in the shower and took off for Sledgehammer Charlie's in Blowing Rock. I hadn't been there since they moved, but Chuck had been talking about the food during the ride (never a good thing on an epic ride) and so visions of brisket and apple crisp sundaes danced through my head as we hit the road. The food was excellent, Owen ate his weight in french fries and baked beans (I'm sure an interesting diaper story is imminent) and I ate like there was no tomorrow. And now, since I feel somewhat human, I'm gonna call it a day and go crash out.

And Todd: today's ride was totally blog-worthy!

Happy holidays! - or: how I survived the shop party and saved Christmas for a little girl on Christmas Eve.

The shop has been hopping for the past week. A big thank you goes out to all of the people who came in and, in one way or another, expressed the sentiment that they were trying to do all of their holiday shopping with locally-owned businesses. Amongst all of this holiday shopping, many of our regular customers and friends came by bearing gifts of a decidedly belgian flavor. By the time we shut the doors on Saturday, our 'fridge had to have something propped up against it to keep the door shut!

We had told everyone we could that we would have an informal holiday party during our shortened Christmas Eve hours from 10am to 2pm. Jeff and I were a bit nervous that although people might come, they would also bring more libations with them and our huge collection of belgian beer would not easily diminish.

By noon, no one had stopped by for the party and I quietly went to the fridge, pulled out the first bottle, popped the cork and set out upon the grim business of consuming our Christmas booty. Fortunately, people began to arrive shortly after. Jeff and I were heartily helped with dispensing with all of our holiday good cheer and a good time was had by all.

I got home and hung out with the family. Owen was ripping around on his little trike, his stuffed puppy draped across the bars when there came a rapping, a tap-tap-tapping upon our front door. Golden answered it and told me that our neighbor had an emergency with a Trail-a-bike that they had purchased from the shop. Now I have promised to not use the real name of this neighbor, so let's call him: Farley Chrye. Farley's wife had come to get me and Golden later recounted the look of desperate panic that was in his wife's eyes when Golden greeted her at our door. So I took off to see what was up.

She took me to their neighbor's garage. I walked into the garage and was greeted by the sight of the trail-a-bike lying on its side, a cordless drill with a large drill bit in it, a pair of channel lock pliers, a seat attached to its seatpost and the attachment collar for the trail-a-bike. I turned to her and asked, "what's the drill for?" Now as a long time professional bike mechanic I have come to realize (without a small measure of trepidation) that nothing good ever comes from the introduction of power tools into the bicycle repair equation when a layman is involved. Farley's wife just said, "I don't know" with that tone of voice that drips with the undertone of my-husband-has-done-something-stupid that I personally know all too well.

At this point in the story I must put forth that I am not immune to the occasional stupid act. I have locked myself in the closet while no one else was home, swallowed a nail while doing work around the house and set my porch on fire while trying to start a charcoal grill with white gas. Now I say this to establish that I am somewhat sympathetic to the plight that Farley was in.

Farley came into the garage with his neighbor, Paul. Paul is a nationally-known comedian who for some ungodly reason decided that he absolutely had to relocate to Lenoir, but that's another story... Paul immediately started laughing and explained that he had tried to be the voice of reason. I asked Farley what he had done and why, to which he answered, "I'm an artist not a bike mechanic." Duh. So I replied with, "I wonder what the labor rate should be for an after hours house call on Christmas Eve?"

Now partly out of empathetic pity for the situation Farley was in and mostly because this was a gift for his cute as hell, 4 year old daughter Gwyneth, I said, "Let's go to my house where I have the right tools." On the walk, I was regaled with the tale of how Farley had tried to wedge the wrong sized adapter (he had thrown away the right one) onto his seat post using lavender scented massage oil (Paul kept calling it "love oil" and explained that all of the original "spooge" had come off the post while they were working on it) and using the drill to try to ream out the plastic adapter.

Long story somewhat shorter, I got the trail-a-bike installed on Farley's bike. Farley thanked me profusely and about 20 minutes after leaving my house brought back a portrait of me that he had painted a while ago and gave it to me in appreciation for helping him out. This morning, they came by with Gwyneth riding on the trail-a-bike, a huge grin on her face. Her mom told her to thank me for helping her Dad not ruin Christmas, and she did.

As a postscript to this story, Paul point blank told Charlie that this kind of thing was the "moments that he lives for" and that he would probably be blogging about it, but was definitely going to include this incident in his next book! You can check it out at Paul Stoecklein.

Happy Holidays!

Goodbye Heat Miser!

So long, for now

The day started out chilly and grey and just got colder and nastier from there. Different Charles and I went for a ride this morning out towards Collettsville. It was all good until we encountered this freezing fog that seemed to drop the temps a significant amount. At some point, my left hand turned into a block of wood and I began to feel a sense of urgency about getting back to warmth.

I hit the shop doors and felt immediately warmer, but then my hand started thawing out and then the pain hit. Wow, that unfreezing process will make you do a little rictal dance of displeasure like nobody's business...

We piled the fam into the car and took a little xmas shopping trip to Hickory this evening. The usual selfish, reckless driving behavior of Hickory was in a serious holiday upswing. Everyone surges forward without regard to anyone or anything except for their god-given right to be ahead of you, no matter what the cost. We got the supplies for our gift project and headed to Atlanta Bread Company for dinner. To me, Atlanta Bread Company is almost always a mildly disappointing experience. The food is lackluster and is nothing more than fast food with fresher ingredients. It also attracts an odd collection of middle class America, from the bulky father-son pair who communicated in little more than drawled monosyllabic grunts to the pair of Hickory Hipster decked out in corduroy, tweed and argyle suits, beards and big chunky black hornrims. They looked fresh out of the pages of Art in America and out of place by a few time zones.

The weather has really socked in. Cold, rain and high humidity make for unpleasant riding conditions. We'll see how things are in the morning. Maybe a bit of white stuff on the ground?

Say it ain't so!

You mean to tell me that cycling isn't the only sport on the planet that has a drug problem?! It looks like the Mitchell Report is going to make a lot of Americans do some soul searching about whether or not they think a doped athlete is okay. It's funny how in denial the MLB has been about its fairly obvious doping problem. Barry Bonds is not alone in amassing a huge amount of muscle bulk in a fairly quick amount of time. It will be nice to have another sport become the center of the doping spotlight for a while. But it won't be all bad for the MLB since they have not accepted membership in the illustrious club of sports that submits itself to the humiliation and degradation of WADA (and for that matter, the smug buttheads at USADA). It is refreshing to see that Team High Road is living up to its name and is joining Team Slipstream in acquiring the services of the Agency for Cycling Ethics. If cycling has to be embroiled in this mess in order to correct the indiscretions of the recent past, then it's good for other major sports to have to face the same scrutiny.

Congrats to Bob Pugh for finishing 22nd in the 40+ B men and Bobby Lindsay for finishing 61st in the 30+ B men at Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City.

Group ride tomorrow at 10 am from the shop!

Inuit Summer

This blast of warm weather has been a burden almost to great to bear within the confines of the workplace and the work week. Day after day of glorious, unseasonable weather has made me ache to get on a bike and blow off everyday responsibilities. Fortunately for me, tomorrow is my last day with students and Christmas break will begin. Now if the weather will just hold out long enough for me to take advantage of it!

We've been busy around the shop getting things ready for the holiday shopping season. Everything is stocked up and we have A LOT of stuff on end of season sale for those of you who have been staving off the idea of upgrading your equipment. There really are some deals to be had if you just stop by and check it out.

The Saturday group rides should be a bit more populated now that 'cross season is over. This Saturday we will do the regular ride at 10am from the shop, unless the weather is poor (i.e. rainy) and then we will do a dirt road ride meeting at the Hard and Flossy park in Colettesville (the park on Adako Rd. just past the fire dept.). While a 'cross bike isn't a requirement for riding on dirt roads, don't say you weren't given a heads up on the fact that a dirt road ride is a ride that travels on dirt roads. As in: not paved, but instead, made of dirt.

Now is the beginning of base mile season which means slow, talking pace rides. Putting in hours, not miles. So let go of the concept of average speed and enjoy the comraderie of winter riding season. And if you haven't been doing group rides, now is the perfect time to start since the group will not be out to hammer or otherwise go fast. Remember that next year's riding season starts now. So whatever your goal might be, winter is the time to lay the foundation!

I have to say that I'm glad 'cross season is over. It was exhausting and I really had to let some things slip in other areas of my life to make it possible to race. That isn't my favorite thing to do, but I really enjoy 'cross racing. I won't miss the time away from home every weekend, but I will miss racing and hanging out with old friends and all of my new teammates. A break to recharge, train, get strong and then on to the '08 road season!

Email-

From: Jack Brown
To: Shawn Moore
Subject: Hey Shawn, you know how I know you're gay?

This picture

And the fact that you eeked out a top ten finish again, just in front of me. Dick.

The hard day

We hit the road for the final 'cross race of the NC series at 5 in the am. We had to head out early 'cause it's about a three and a half hour drive to Cary. Jeff and I were in one car, while Jack and his son Harrison followed. As has become our normal routine, we stopped off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

While I waited for my sourdough french toast with blackberries, Jack showed us a neat feature on his cellphone. When he checks his text messages, he pushes a button in the robot-woman voice reads the text messages aloud. I looked at him immediately and said, "You shouldn't have shown us that." Jeff and I took turns texting Jack some pretty rough messages and the beauty of it was that the robot-woman reads EVERY word. Join the fun; email me and I'll give you Jack's cell number! I'm sure he'll love the text messages!

The only way to describe Cary was: hard. 2 run ups, a super tight twisty course a couple of climbs and a bit of sand for flava. I got a good start in the CX4 race, but couldn't hold the pace. Still, I had the best finish of my season with an 18th place. I turned myself pretty inside-out in the process, but I still lined up for the Master's race. Several of us doubled-up trying to get as many points as we could for the team competition. Everybody gave it a good effort, but I don't think we were able to close the gap on Boone Velo in 2nd place.

Jeff had a solid race, but he got caught up in some lapped traffic in the crucial final turns and missed the podium for 4th place. He was also just shy of the points needed to go from 3rd to 2nd in the overall series results.

After all the racing, we had a few hours of pretty hard spectating. In fact, we spectated so hard, we had to wait around a bit before heading for home. We finally got home about 7:30 and I was pretty knackered. Today, I was pretty useless. In a way, I'm glad the season is done 'cause I'm exhausted. But some of the team doesn't feel the same way. Bob and Bobby leave Wednesday morning for 'cross nationals in Kansas City. It's been great racing with so many teammates this season and I wish those guys lots of luck in the last big race!

finally

Thanks to Shelli for the pics from the Boone 'cross race!



I have been so busy this week. I'm just glad it's over. One more week of school and then a break! I'm still processing all that happened this week, but the true highlight occurred Thursday. Our school had the extreme pleasure of hosting a group of 24 educators from Egypt. It was a remarkable experience and one that will be with me for a long time.

quick race report

Boone is in the books! Jeff Welch won his first race of this year's NC Cyclocross series. Other race results:

CX4:
Chris Behrman 10th
me 21st (dammit)
Big E ?
Other Charles ?

Master's 45+:
Bob Pugh 5th

Master's 55+:
Howard Hesterberg ?

I will post photos tomorrow night and also fill in the blanks in the results.

Want to ride trainers at the shop tomorrow night at 7pm? Call or email me to reserve a spot!