yesterday afternoon, i got an email from a teammate about his use, in the gym, of the smith machine and how much weight he was lifting and how he was lifting it.  helplessly, as though i were in some trance, like a zombie, i abandoned my office responsibilities, and watched from a distance, a virtual out of body experience, as my mindless-body headed to the basement gym where i basically doubled my weights and did many, many, many sets of squats with waaayyyy too much weight.  And then I went home and passed out in bed in my clothes, where I slept until comrade randers-pehrson called and woke me this morning.  i believe i have some sort of pathology related to competitiveness.  i am leaving washington dc for the hinterlands of tibet and nepal to spend some time with the monks and cleanse myself of this cursed aggressiveness and seek peace.  and drink lots of yak milk.  i've heard that's good for calming the inner self.

aloha,

scott

an excellent example of reframing an issue and finding common ground. 

again, they come to us in terms of ideas.  we've been right, all along, and it's just dawning on them.  don't flip off the pickup trucks that cut you off.  speak to them as brothers.  bring them to the realization that we are all in this together.  don't mention that part about us having been right all along.  let them think they are living a beer ad.  i frankly don't care why they do it, but they must do it.  consider this yet another tool in your proselytizing toolbox.  spread the word.  bring the change.

when it comes to communciating the will of the people, i don't usually have much tolerance for dissent.  the will of the people is what it is.  and it's not what it's not.  that much is totally clear.  and it's also clear you can't have everyone running around, willy-nilly, expressing all sorts of opinions.  we've already accepted the fact that the people's will is what it is.  so i don't usually cotton to the idea of all sorts of different people telling me what the people's movement should be doing.  that said, there are some people who have earned, through thought and action, the right to speak out.  comrade heinz is one such person.  his recent work is very impressive.  certain lurkers on this blog who dislike authors such as chompsky may favor heinz as he tends to discuss things in direct economic terms.  a nice interview can be found here:

http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/15236

as i sat quietly in the administrative offices of the ministry of outreach and public affairs, taking in equal portions of the people's breakfast and the briefing on social unrest and class struggle in various locales around the globe, i was jolted abruptly by the following news:

http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080109/tbs-autoshow-india-tatamotors-02c71ef.html

Tata Motors, which will be unveiling its new "People's Car" priced at about $2,500 on Thursday, will sell the new generation Indica, the latest version of its best-selling hatchback, from the latter part of 2008, Chairman Ratan Tata said at an auto show.

hell no.  let me tell you something.  when you've been struggling and striving for years to bring about the glorious revolution in cycling and the social order, you don't roll over everytime the yugo manufacturer of the moment announces some new populist conveyance.  this is the people's portal and until further notice, you'll find out what the people think here.  to divine the will of the people from some hack who aspires to be the next henry ford or andrew carnegie: laughable. 

normal operations must now resume.  support the words of your brothers and sisters.  support the wheels of your brothers and sisters.  support the cause of your brothers and sisters.

-posted by scott

Note that the weekly newspaper out in Luray, VA, the Page News & Courier, this week ran the story below, about an event Racing Union is co-promoting with Page Valley Cycling this summer.  You can see why this is a collaboration which makes sense - Page Valley Cycling, like Racing Union, promotes bicycling "as a means of transportation, fitness, recreation, and racing," and this will be a challenging race with a unique approach.  Rather then plopping a road race down in the middle of an area having little to do with the competitors, the organizers of this race hope to make connections, along the way promoting bicycling.

-- posted by Chris

Riding a bicycle on the streets in and around DC can be a dangerous task any time of year because, frankly, we're not visible to a lot of motorists.  Know what I'm talking about?  I think you do.  I think anybody who rides a bike has experienced this.

So why make it easy for them?  We're well into the second month of commuting in the dark.  A headlight is a good idea; and a blinky light is even better.

In an effort to educate and distribute blinky lights to those who may not have the recources to do so, some of us at Racing Union have picked up an idea with some of our friends at Evolution Cycling to distribute blinky lights to those who need them.  In Racing Union's case, we've been working with the Immigrant Advocacy Program, a program of the Legal Aid Justice Center (http://www.justice4all.org/programs/vjc/) to get blinky lights in the hands of day laborers in Northern Virginia.  These are some of the hardest-working people among us, and a good deal of them are fellow bike commuters who could use our help.  We stand in solidarity with them.  Virginia Justice Center began distributing the first 60 blinkies just prior to Thanksgiving.

If you're interested in contributing to this effort, let us know.  The first time around we got a sweet deal, with the blinky lights costing only around $2.50 a piece.  Send an email, post a message, or talk to one of us next time you see us - we'll make sure your contribution goes to finance the next set of blinkies.

-- posted by Chris

I don't know why VeloNews is so late in covering an event from back in September, but my latest copy (October 29, 2007) has a quote from Rock Racing owner Michael Ball at the USA Crit Finals as saying:

"We don't want to just own this event, we want to own the domestic cycling series.  We want to dominate it.  We want to go out every weekend and squash everybody...."

Pardon the interruption, but so far, so good, right?  I mean, you'd want your team to achieve world domination, right?  Nothing wrong with that, right?  But wait, Michael Ball can't keep it shut at just that.  The quotation ends with this kicker:

"...and come Monday morning people go out and buy a lot of Rock Racing crap."

Tells you all you need to know, doesn't it?  I don't know what the Rock Racing crap is, but I'm sure it's crap.  But that's not the point.  In one sense, you gotta admire how direct the guy is.  It isn't about glory, it isn't about keeping the sport exciting through good, honest competition.  It's about people buying crap.  IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!  Remember that when the next doping scandal comes along.

--posted by Chris

Postscript:  Oh, and did Rock Racing "own" the event in Las Vegas?  Unless he was talking about Rock Racing being the sponsor, which is appropriate for an event in Las Vegas, um, no.  But, hey, they did get fourth, seventh, and thirty-fifth place (results), so maybe people will buy some crap after all.

from terry...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/did_the_congest.php

bring on the change

strange.

but rockin'.

this tune is simply haunting.

i always laughed when there was a commercial on television that said that.  some very serious man or woman, wearing a labcoat would gaze earnestly into the camera, remove their glasses and hold up a manilla envelope or folder and say "an important university study has shown that..." 

this was my cue to start ignoring the rest.  at least political attack ads have the courage to cite their sources.  these are generic.  what gives this thing it's credibility?  the quasi-scientist staring into the camera, or maybe the "important" research in that manilla folder?  what gives.  as i got older, i came to appreciate the subtlety of competeing subject matter experts in a court of law and the way that authority, certainty and belief and are assumed and attacked when research is discussed.  this can all be seen repeated in bicycling relevant terms through a nice link from terry: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/freakonomics_on_1.php

-sg

just days ago, i was jabbering on about this.  you probably thought it was just random occurences, and random flux that thye happened in succession.  but i ask you, how many data points does it take to make a trend?

http://bikecentric.blogspot.com/2007/10/can-you-hear-me-now.html

time to take back what is ours.  zero tolerance policy for vehicular traffic on bicycle commuter routes is in effect.  go get a late pass.  step.

several friends, unbeknownst to each other, are waging a vicious battle for web link dominance.  bryan will probably win the war based on consistency, but for today, pete wins the battle and walks away with it for the weekend.  his email jokes about whether unicycles are union approved.  i would stress that it's not the size of your ride but what you do with it.  and this guy makes do.  check it:

http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=unicycle

-sg