via

--posted by roy

sort of close, and then in the end, not really so much.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=2006/woodland_sponsors

amateur athletics does not benefit from the dumptruck loads of cash that are poured into it each year. 

rediscover what amateur cycling is all about.

it starts here.

- - - posted by scott (link from mike)

every culture has a fall harvest festival.  it is a natural time to sit back on your heels, assess where you are and express some gratitude that you've scraped by for another year.  if there has been some bounty, all the better.  i'm not particularly sentimental, but i would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all current union members and our comrades everywhere.  we correspond, we joke and we share stories and experiences and i am much richer for that interaction.  we provoke people sometimes but even that always seems to lead to interesting conversations.

here's hoping that we all have a chance to reflect on the year that is winding down, and to consider the good and bad things that have happened to us and to others.  have a safe time out there.

- - - posted by scott

garner points out that corporations are dropping sponsorship to usa cycling.

One of the tangible benefits of being a USA Cycling member has been United Airline's voucher exempting members from paying extra to fly with their bikes - saving US$80 in baggage charges each way. However, that benefit will not be renewed as United ends its sponsorships of individual sports.

"United decided to discontinue all of their sponsorships of national governing bodies, so it's across the board, not just with USA Cycling," USA Cycling's Andy Lee told Cyclingnews. "They will still be associated [with the] US Olympic Committee - they were a partner with us for sixteen years which was pretty amazing."

 

The loss of the voucher programme will undoubtedly affect those members who normally count on the savings, but Lee says USAC is looking at similar sponsorships for the future; "That is our goal right now. We know there are members who would pay a little more to fly on United in order to save money on their bike. We are starting to research some other companies that can step in and fulfill that role. The United deal and voucher deal was very valuable to our members, but that was only beneficial to members who travelled and lived in markets served by United. Now we can go out and try to find a sponsorships that could benefit a larger number."

 

United Airlines did not return requests for comment.

this post goes out to all the haters.  you simply would not believe the amount of venemous mail we receive here at central receiving under the plaza de la revolucion.  some people try to emulate our smooth rhetorical style.  others try, but inevitably fail, to achieve the incredibly high levels of truthiness we bring to the table.  but most just take an anemic stab at it; calling us names or saying ridiculous things.  it's really pretty pathetic.  if it were amusing, it would bring us joy, but it's generally just grumpy. 

today, i ran into something that is not bicycle related but which did amuse me.  i wish more of our hate mail was like this.  that would please me.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/editorial/15986574.htm

I believe that this is what passes for a quality argument amongst the "other" side.  this thing is literally a minefield of fallacies, of every shape and sort.  non sequitur?  check.  straw man?  check.  red herring?  check.  fallacy of many questions?  heck, the whole thing constitutes an emphatic yes. 

in many posts, i try to describe something by presenting a dichotomy between them and us, or how we view the world and how they view the world.  this is what we're up against.  literally.  i was riding my bike to work a few days ago.  i was as far to the right as practicable and not impeding traffic from what i could tell.  a car pulled up slowly, rolled down it's window, and we had the following dialouge.

driver: "it's not safe for you to be on this road."

me: "it's only unsafe if someone makes it unsafe."

driver: "you should really be on the sidewalk"

me: "it's actually against the law for me to ride my bike on the sidewalk"

<pause>

driver: "get your %#$&ing bike off the %#$*^&* road."

me: <silence>

now, dear reader, you may wonder why i bring this up.  i see this as a rare glimse into the real thoughts behind the driver.  they were sort of forcing this nice facade and a veneer of caring.  the whole "it would be safer for you to be off the road" is a ruse.  you are in their way.  and they want you to know it.  they try to tell you politely, but that will only last so long.

to tie the whole post togethger, i am beginning to wonder if we are being too subtle and polite to get our point across.  we have tried to take the high road, but it's like yelling at a wall.  maybe it's time to lift the rhetoric a bit.  in the next post, a description of the surreal encounter i had yesterday of how cyclign fits into the "system".

-sg

the union plunges forward, surmounting every obstacle, oblivious to the strain of the struggle.  with thoughts only of the great and glorious revolution in cycling and the social order, we vanquish those who would stand between us and our goals.  many disparate parts, coming together, stronger through their union.  the racing union.

our membership drive continues for a limited time.  our numbers grow, our strength grows, our fortitude grows, our resolve grows.  the time is now.  join the party and help us further the valiant struggle of the cycling proletariat.

union!  bright star by which we steer.  union!  beacon to all who seek shelter from the ravages of the acyclic culture.  union!  strength to those who toil on two wheels.

i got a number of emails from people suggesting that we'd catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  i'm not sure what the hell that means.  people saw our recent drive for new members and seemed to want to tell us to tone it down a notch or two.  go along to get along, old chap, eh?  whatever.  read this post very carefully.  the times, well, they are a changin. 

we're standing tall with the will of the people as the wind at our backs.  where would we "move" to?  we're being inundated with *&%$ing ridiculous requests like this one.  mabra is not putting on the races, promoters are putting on the races. mabra is supposed to be an association of it's member clubs and promoters. i fail to see how promoting mabra is supporting these people.  it ought to be going the other way. seriously. How easy is it to find detailed data on the member clubs on the web site? how easy is it to find rides or articles of interest or anything that helps to indicate that there is some sort of community which the association is supporting?  in addition, this whole effort smacks of "branding", and i question the _need_ for mabra to assert it's privledge in this regard.

asking the racing union to advertise this kind of adminstrative oligarchy of plutocratic robber barons defies logic.  it would be like seeing hugo chavez wearing a baseball hat and t-shirt covered in dollar bills and doing advertisements for financial services companies.  communists for cool hard cash.  the reason it's so detached from reality is that it's predicated on the idea that movement towards their chosen position makes sense.  but that's just flat out wrong.  the social currents are with us, not with them. 

brothers and sisters, citizens and cyclists, now is the time to heed the call.  work to break the back of the car-based society.  work to bring the joy of cycling to all individuals and work to experince that joy yourself.  do you sometimes forget why you fell in love with the bicycle to begin with?  the union offers you the chance to rediscover that and more.  union brothers and sisters, onwards and upwards, never failing.  the time is now. 

- - - posted by scott

The racing union is actively soliciting racers and riders to come and join us.  We are considerably different from many clubs in the area in that we do not plan to emphasize racing over riding.  Our organization is focused on the enjoyment and efficiency of the bicycle; as a recreational pursuit, a form of transportation and a way of bringing people together to enjoy each others company.  Our members cover the spectrum from occasional commuters to active racers.  We have some ambitious plans for 2007 and we need some additional people to realize those plans.  We are working on collaborations with other clubs as well.  Our club has a powerful ethos and we plan to continue to show, by example, that a small club can make big changes.  If you're interested, please drop us a line.

portal to the revolution: www.racingunion.org

our guiding principles: http://www.racingunion.org/Document.aspx?manifesto

contact: supreme_revolutionary_council_for_cycling@racingunion.org

- - - image by chris/post by scott and michael

We recieved the following email yesterday regarding branding of MABRA:

The MABRA Board has been working to get the cycling
community at large to recognize MABRA as the first
point of contact when considering racing in our area.

Expl: MABRA's web site is on the caution tape used for
the MABRA cyclo-cross series.

If possible (strictly optional) we would like member
clubs to consider putting WWW.MARBA.ORG on team
uniforms.
We understand that many orders, with art work, may
already have been processed. If not, we'd like your
consideration on this.

Thanks
Randy Inglis
MABRA Pres.

We at the Racing Union wholeheartedly agree with the necessary conformation and indoctrination of area cyclists under a unified umbrella and therefore fully support this effort.

However, there is an undercurrent of unease here at Revolution Headquarters.  Some among us are quite lathered with zeal and ready to throw ourselves upon the petard of community ownership part and parcel.   Accordingly, we have suggested the following as the new required uniform and bicycle equipment for all MABRA racers regardless of team affiliation:

The trailer is not optional.  In fact, we support finishing each race at a local food bank with the delivery of rice and potatoes.

Others among us are willing to take a more stayed approach to this change and allow each team to continue to offer some distinctions upon their uniforms, with the inclusion of the required MABRA logo in a prominent location.  To this end we declare that the new MABRA logo is as follows:



I know that the Racing Union can count on the support of the mid-Atlantic cycling community to further our effort at outreach and recognition.

dear leader wishes that it be known by all that this post pleases him.

http://unholyrouleur-jim.blogspot.com/2006/11/secret-lab-emails-prove-floyd-landis.html

that is all....

i pointed out in a previous post that aric's bike is the new hotness.  through some internal union communciation channels, i mentioned early this morning that kevin had picked up one of josh's old bikes and it's also the new hotness, but for totally different reasons.  then chris designed some new graphics for an upcoming membership drive we are about to initiate.  and his graphics are also part of the new hotness, but for totally different reasons. 

some discussion ensued.  certain unnamed indivudals claimed that i was some sort of arbitrary arbiter of the new hotness.  in some cases he is correct and in some cases he is incorrect.  certain unnamed indivudal followed up by claiming that his riding at hains point today would become the new hotness.  then there was confusion followed by some allegations that emphasising the "hotness" of material goods was a decidely poor fit with the union ethos.

let me tie all this together.  we often say that something is union approved.  what does this mean?  it generally refers to actions or objects which appear to be incarnations of the union ethos.  if you were to take the principles outlined in the manifesto and reduce them to a quick experience or something you could hold in your hands, that would be it.  something that is union approved satisfies you in a very deep way: it is an object which is excellent on it's own while simultaneously being the very embodiment of your philosophical principles.

still not sure what's going on or need an example?  use the search feature and select the key words "union approved" to get the general idea.

so what is all this talk of the new hotness?  the new hotness is the zeal we express towards these union approved objects.  certain unnamed indivudal's riding today was the new hotness, not because he went out there and rode hard, but because he went out there and rode to make the union proud.  he rode as a teammate (until we separated) and volunteered first and foremost to support any union wheel.  that is union approved.  and it's the new hotness.  same goes for chris' graphics, and the new bikes that aric and kevin have acquired.  all are embodiments of the principles that drive the glorious revolution, but for different reasons.  they are therefore union approved, and hence, the new hotness.  q.e.d.

- - - posted by scott