“Never Give Up, Never Surrender” - Commander Peter Quincy Taggert, GalaxyQuest
If ever, oh ever, you needed an example of this cheesy faux-tv-show catchphrase, it came at the finish of this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen - I won’t spoil it for you, but the reason I find bike racing fun to watch is that it never really ends up the way it’s supposed to. A stunning effort followed by a stunning effort countered by a stunning effort. Great finish. Find the footage, and make sure you see the climb of the Grammont. Ok, it was sunny and there was a profusion of bare arms and legs, in addition to a ridulous number of silly crashes on wide roads, but it was a heckuva finish…
Trail Report -
Of local interest only, more than likely, but I prowled around the trails at China Camp State Park on Sunday and enjoyed huge numbers of wildflowers, iris and grasses growing, but was really suprised to find the trails already parched and dusty in places. We saw considerably less rain than statistically average* (which I’ve now jinxed, and as such would expect a significant dousing in the next couple weeks) this past winter and things are already noticeably dry. Gonna be a year of dry-lube and dusty rides, I reckon.
*There is no such thing as “average” or “normal” rainfall in Northern California - it is either way above or way below the mean.
Riding In Marin (#316) -
One of the great perks of riding around the roads and trails of Marin is who you run across. I was finishing up my Puntas Doble ride on Saturday, negotiating the idiotic transition from neighborhood frontage road across two one way arterials that brings a rider into the west end of downtown San Rafael. Coming towards me on the median island was a young kid riding a 24″ wheeled mountain bike, leading a group of riders. The median is very narrow and runs parrallel to a couple of two-lane roads, where people drive way too quickly. As there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room, we both took it slowly to allow the other to pass, and set up for sharp turn to the crosswalk for which we had a green light. As I went past him, I realized that the headtube of his bike had an interlocked “OG” on it.
Now, the median income of Marin does allow for such things, but it was reasonably uncommon for people to have Otis Guy-built kid’s bikes. I looked up, and sure enough, the lanky adult bringing up the rear of the bunch was none other than one of the pioneer builders of mountain bikes, Mr. Guy himself, sheparding two youths along while toting another in an AlleyCat. He smiled, said “hey” and nodded happily, pleased as me to be out on a now-sunny Saturday, pedaling around.
Just kinda restores your faith…
April 10th, 2007 at 9:16 am By Grabthar’s hammer, your submarining of hincapie in the 2006 ronde shall be avenged. Repeatedly. China camp during wildflower season is just great. Enjoy.
April 10th, 2007 at 12:58 pm …man - I can’t even begin to write about the fact that George is missing this spring without using the phrase, “…so, was it worth it Levi?”… and since (a) Levi is a semi-local-boy and (b) deserves a Big Honking Win, I don’t want to be that bitter and snarky. Plus - that’s bike racing, and it just as easily could have happened on the roads of Europe as the highways of CA. George will be there in July, but I just want to see him in the center of that velodrome in Roubaix, holding that big hunka rock in the air before he hangs up his pedals…
April 10th, 2007 at 4:27 pm Dang–I’m away from home and couldn’t record the Ronde. Figures it would be exciting. Of course, I did get to see Milano-San Remo, AKA “Terror on the Roads of Italy.”
April 10th, 2007 at 6:44 pm Ahhhh - “La Primavera”…. a beautiful race!