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.

Beating the meat

January 25, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 16 Comments

Word comes from España that Alberto Clenbutador may get a year’s suspension from the Spanish cycling federation. That would cost him last year’s Tour title, and take a great big piss in his 2011 racing season — and perhaps his contract with Bjarne Riis — depending upon when said suspension is deemed to have taken effect.

Whatever the Spaniards decide, the case seems likely to wind up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, so it’ll be a while yet before we get the final word.

Speaking of meatheads, Congress will entertain the prez this evening during the State of the Union address. I’m less and less interested in this class of political theater these days — more work, less jabber, please — but we’ll probably be watching anyway, just to see if anyone steps on his dick the way Joe “You Lie!” Wilson did during Obama’s 2009 health-care speech.

Interestingly, ol’ You Lie will be sitting between two Democrats tonight — Susan Davis of California and Madeleine Bordallo of Guam. The posturing never stops with this lot. Too bad the Academy doesn’t hand out an Oscar for Pretending to Legislate On the People’s Behalf.

The traditional grumbling against January

January 23, 2011January 23, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 6 Comments

Them ol' January blues — Turkish snoozes away those ol' January blues.

January. Meh. The Turk’ and I both find it too tedious for words.

The upside of cycling in 30-something temps is that your bottles stay cool while your boogers get warm enough for you to bombard the iPod People with drive-by snot rockets as you zip past. The downside is that you have to wear every bit of kit in your footlocker and staying out for more than 90 minutes or so kinda sucks.

Yesterday I thought I’d be smart and toddled off to a nearby junior high school for a bit of solo cyclo-cross on Old Yeller, my favorite Steelman. The grounds there have a rolling nature, there’s a gravel track, some asphalt and a couple of staircases for run-ups, so yeah, perfect for chewing on that cold NNW wind only in tiny bites and getting in some vigorous healthful exercise.

Until the rear tire collected every goathead in Christendom and I had to take five to replace the tube, after first running a finger around inside the tire, probing for sneaky spines invisible from the outside. I found ’em the hard way, as usual. Owie.

This morning the front had gone flat, too. O bugger. That one I fixed indoors, where the furnace is.

What is the sound of one wheel spinning?

January 2, 2011 ~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 18 Comments

Zen, Zen, Zen, Zen. I heard that for an hour yesterday as I rode the Cateye trainer in my office.

Or I would have, if I hadn’t had the iPod cranked up to 11. Led Zep’, Elvis Costello, Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and the great Les McCann-Eddie Harris tune, “Compared To What,” recorded live at the 1969 Montreaux Jazz Festival.

That sucker sure makes the wheels go round faster, despite the dualism of the trainer, aboard which which one seems to be both asleep and working at 114 beats per minute.