cycles.... and what not

sure - someone's sine waves entry title got my brain thinking...

but then i got thinking about that... sine waves, pendulum, balance scales, yin/yang, ebb and flow of the tides, phases of the moon, change of seasons... rest and activity, peaks and valleys, highs and lows...

Every once in a while i find my self swinging back the wrong way... sort of veering off course... I guess just realizing that the course has changed and making the corrections is more than many people do. I guess some people just change course, or pretend it was deliberate, roll with it and act like it wasn't a mistake.

Recognizing mistakes, personally or publicly acknowledging them is the first step in reducing their frequency. Lying to yourself perpetuates and reinforces the acceptance of wrong, inappropriate or hurtful actions, as slight as they may be. It is hard to be the ideal person. Nay impossible. But as long as you are mindful of the shifts and work to mentally correct course maybe it is okay...

Back early in the season some one (i don't remember who) talked about getting old and doing two on and one off in terms of training. Two weeks on the bike one week off. Peak and valley. Lots of recovery. Some people say one on, one off... others like the kids racing can get by with one or two days off a week.

I had the overwhelming mountain of factors pushing me to get in the car and drive in. It was 33°F out there with cold 10 mph slightly off headwind blowing unobstructed off the water. I'd ridden every day this week. One day was a "hybrid" day, drive into the city and leave the car at day care and ride the last two miles in. That and i've got a lecture this afternoon and so i brought the lappy (i don't usually bring it). And to top it all off we were running late. I guess maybe if the fuel light wasn't on in the other car (it was on all day on Tuesday, okay it turned off if i parked it down hill slightly), i might have taken it. But it was and that was just enough to get me on the bike. No fossil fuels for the two of us getting in. It was a great ride. A bit cold. But the passenger was super toasty warm when she hopped out at her stop.

I'm still suprised by all the attention (positive) that the lights on the trailer get. Every day. Without fail. I get at least one person slowing down and rolling their window down to say how cool it looks, or a pedestrian on the path remarking to their friend much the same, or a cyclist. My goal was just to make it more visible. I looked at $30 blinky LED safety things (non-bike application design). But, i don't think they would have had the same impact as my $6 target LED bead set of lights. Battery life has been pretty amazing too. The idea wasn't my own. Last year a co-worker here at the giant U wrapped his big bike frame with christmas lights. I haven't quite gotten to busting out a set for my bike. My passenger wants more lights though. She did manage to break one of the interior lights by playing with them with her feet. Fortunately it only knocked out the last 6 or so leaving 12 still lighting up the inside. Still plenty of light. And now that the end strands are broken she can kick em as much as she wants while singing "The Wheels on the Bus" song. Took me a bit last night to figure out what she was singing but when she got to the "MOVE ON BACK" verse, i knew. She sings that the loudest "The driver on the bus says: MOVE ON BACK, MOVE ON BACK, MOVE ON BACK..."

Life is good here in New Belgium. Esp for us flatlanders with lots of water to keep our temps nice and mellow. Oh and New Beligum tickled a bit of a ponder: Does anyone else find "Cross Crusade" somewhat offensive at all? Sure it is just a name, and they are deliberately playing up the whole religion farce. But, the crusades are a pretty shitty episode in the 'western' history. Drop all the religious crap out and what you have is a new civilization going out to beat the crap out of an older more advanced civilization out of ignorance. Maybe the portland 'new' cyclocross civilization is just pissed at the heritage and legacy of cyclocross racing in New Belgium, I mean New England. No way in hell was i part of the history. But, those west coast folks always seem to be acting similarly the original crusade rivalries. Sure. Maybe i'm stretching too far. But. It was a line of thought in my head. And i'm not really afraid to say what i think, in so much that personally i am very willing to change what i think. And saying something, is one of the only ways to get the crap outa my head. I could be so far off base it isn't funny, but i'm not afraid to change, to admit i was wrong, correct the course and move on in a positive direction acknowledging my fault. It is kinda funny though that it took someone from the portland scene to say that "our" self bestowed title of 'New Belgium' rubbed them the wrong way before the whole Cross Crusade really began to bother me. Honestly thinking about it, the 'bishop' they were pulling at '05 nats (i didn't notice them at '06 maybe because i was too busy sucking on the bike and working to help a real PRO make it to the worlds selection team).

Anyway to completely change the subject only slightly. The Vanilla Journal showed up in my inbox this morning. Web version can be found here. Gotta say, those are some sweeeeeeet bikes. They, without a doubt, are bestowed with soul from the get go.

talk is cheap, all the wind baggin in the world won't make up for a simple act of kindness.... actions are critical in this impersonal world of the internet... let your actions and interactions with real people be what defines you... smile at someone. Offer a random but genuine compliment to someone. Make someone happy for no reason. There is a reason peace and love are often linked together.

peace,
G