That’d be a good name for a band, hey? “Monsoon Weekend.” What kind of music, do you think? Blues? Shoegaze? Emo?
We’ve had a bit of a tuneup for what is supposed to be a dampish Saturday and Sunday, so when I rolled down to the bosque yesterday for the first time in quite a while I was aboard the Soma Saga disc, which still wears its fenders.
Good call. I had to surf a few puddles. And the extra weight of themoplastic mudguards, rear rack, and dynamo hub made it good training for … for … for what, exactly? I have no idea. I am neither racing nor touring. Just riding.
It was a nice change from my usual loops through the foothills, though. It’s easy to build a 20-mile circuit with 1,500 to 2,000 feet of vertical out here, but you know what they say about familiarity and contempt.
To disrupt the monotony I’ve been switching bikes — Soma Saga disc, Saga canti, New Albion Privateer, Nobilette, Co-Motion Divide Rohloff, even the Bianchi Zurigo Disc, the only alloy-and-carbon steed in the stable — but sometimes an old cowboy needs a new trail.
Speaking of which, I was doing a casual road ride with a couple other guys today. For no particular reason I was on a Steelman Eurocross, and it goes without saying that pretty much whenever a dirty alternative to asphalt presented itself I was on it like a dog on a bone.
I never jumped off and ran, though. That would’ve been rude.
Mad Blog Media 
Just gotta keep you away from any fire hydrants.
Heh. You know them old dawgs and their old tricks.
I think Monsoon Weekend would be a desi-beatz band.
Whoo, that’s a new one on me. I had to look it up. Well played indeed.
Monsoon Weekend = Calexico
I keep forgetting about Calexico. Good stuff. Los Lobos paid a visit to Taos over the holiday weekend; they have a new album of covers, “Native Sons,” due out here directly. Those dudes know their way around a set list too.
i used to love calexico. they’ve kinda drifted out of the playlist but this is still one of my favorite songs.
Running eh? Kind of like the court jester in tights running across a bed of hot coals.
Monsoon Weekend. Since monsoons typically relate more to east Asia, my thought that a conch shell troubadour might be part of such a group. A little “Vahevala” to add into the mix.
Tour update: My kids’ favorite riders are Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, and Mathieu van der Poel, for the sole reason that they like saying their names. They’re also now Mark Cavendish fans, because he keeps dropping f-bombs after the finish when he doesn’t see the camera recording his convos with teammates.
i always liked the name Joop Zoetemelk.
I always thought being named Joop would be like the thing Steve Martin said about playing the banjo. You can’t help but be in a good mood when you hear it. (No one plays the banjo singing “Death, and grief, and sorrow, and murder …”)
The banjo is a interesting, considering its origins. Percussion, rhythm, and melody in one instrument. Nothing like a bluegrass banjo solo to get my toe tapping and my face smiling. But, on the other hand, you have this traditional song.
Bet they would have loved Bo Hamburger.