Blue Monday

January 31, 2011January 31, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 12 Comments

Bare trees, a la Fleetwood Mac — There's a big-ass mountain behind there somewhere. We know it's there. We just can't see it.

Nope, not so much. January hits the door running, taking our blue skies with it — so this Monday, what we have is gray with a side of snow.

Oh, well. Mondays are supposed to suck, right? And it ain’t like there isn’t any work that needs doing. I wrapped up my review of the Voodoo Nakisi for Adventure Cyclist magazine — look for it in the April edition, I believe — and more bikes are en route to the Caramillo Street Beacon of the Revolution Bicycle Examination Collective & Proving Ground as we speak, including a Soma Saga and a Raleigh Port Townsend.

But before they get here and the fun stuff resumes, VeloNews needs a cartoon, Bicycle Retailer wants ’toons and columns, and VeloNews.com has requested the honor of my presence in the virtual barrel a few extra days in February while Management attends the Tour of Qatar.

And given the weather, it looks like the only bike I’ll be examining is the one bolted to the Cateye CS-1000 in the office.

So, yeah. Monday. There’s always a little blue in there if you know where to look. A professional can always find that dark cloud surrounding the silver lining.

Speaking of dark clouds, check out Paul Kimmage’s interview with Floyd Landis, posted at nyvelocity.com. Good read, but a sad story. Makes a guy feel like a low-level mafioso for writing up pro bike races for fun and profit.

I will never be smart

January 30, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 4 Comments

So much for my skill at prognostication. Marianne Vos wins the women’s race and Zdenek Stybar takes the men’s title.

I was trying to follow the men’s race via streaming video, but it blew up on me somewhere in the third lap so I clocked in and went to work. The video finally came back to life with two laps remaining, so I had that going for me.

Man, check that photo of the men’s podium. Those are two disgruntled Belgians.

German chocolate

January 29, 2011January 29, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ Leave a comment

Good Lord, the worlds course in Germany sounds like your basic nightmare. Goo on top of ice. Mmm, mmm, good.

Naturally, being a Bibleburger, I’m pulling for Katie Compton in Sunday’s women’s race. She’s raced strongly and smart this season, and it’s not just a question of her being a Yank and a local — I think she’s got it coming. So sue me.

As to the men’s race, I know Tim Johnson and Jonathan Page well enough to say hi to, and I like Jeremy Powers’ style — but I think I’m gonna have to go with Niels Albert, who has been killing it.

That said, Sven Nys is overdue for a rainbow kit, and he likes him some filth. Will his come-from-behind style pay dividends in St.-Wendel? Stay tuned to VeloNews.com. My colleague Charles Pelkey is on the scene, and we’ll all be getting up way too early so you don’t have to.

TGIF

January 28, 2011January 28, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 20 Comments

I can’t wait to see how the wingnuts manage to credit Ronnie Raygun for all the upheaval in the Middle East while heaping scorn upon the Kenyan Muslim socialist currently occupying the Oval Office.

Happily, right now they seem more concerned about why the comic-book movie “Captain America: The First Avenger” is only titled “The First Avenger” when it’s being pimped to the rest of the world. You’d think they’d be more worked up about the gay subtext — you know, the old “Cap’n America and his teen sidekick Bucky” deal, wink wink, nudge nudge, the nonsense that got old Frederic Wertham (“Seduction of the Innocent”) all het up over Batman and Robin. Thanks and a twirl of Thor’s hammer to Steve Benen at Political Animal for the tip.

Meanwhile, the Tea Party twits are already finding themselves either shunned by the “mainstream” Repug dingbats or absorbed by the conservative Borg: “Thanks for the lift last November, bitches — now go stand in a corner with the fundamentalist Christers and shut the fuck up until we need you again.”

Speaking of neotard asshats, there’s a fresh rant up at VeloNews.com and it seems a fairly gentle reference to self-described rodeo clown Glenn Beck has generated some backlash, mostly from feebs who can’t even spell their hero’s name. Good times. I took a quick peek at some of the funnier ones and then slipped out for a longish bike ride, because this weekend will involve some heavy lifting from the bottom of the old VeloBarrel, what with cyclo-cross worlds going on in Germany and Alberto Clenbutador weeping into his tapas.

I had doubts that the temps would hit the mid-60s as forecast, but was wrong as usual. I didn’t have enough pockets to stuff cool-weather bits into and wound up keeping the knee warmers on. Fat city.

The danger of distracted pedestrians

January 26, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 7 Comments

First, they came for Muffy’s iPod, and I said nothing. …

Jesus H. Christ. Do our lawmakers have nothing more pressing to take up than the blistering stupidity of fleawits who fall into fountains or totter into traffic while entranced by their Personal Lobotomy Devices?

I fail to see the problem here. Stupidity should be painful, and if it is occasionally fatal, well, the gene pool appears badly in need of chlorination, does it not? Back to job creation, if you please. Hey, here’s a thought: Hire personal assistants for everyone to keep them from hurting themselves!