Dairy Queen

One of the best cycling quotes of all time... but first, a little background. For those who don't follow professional cycling; the European tours are three-week-long events of up to seven hours per day of grueling work on the bike.

That's a lot of time to sit and think. So, a couple of decades ago, a question was posed to Greg Lemond: what do you think about during those long races? Instead of cycling strategy, or the stunning mountaintop vistas, Greg answered:

"Dairy Queen. God, I dream of Dairy Queen."

Let me tell you, I can relate. After burning thousands of calories on the bike, the slightest hint of food makes you ravenous.

...which brings me to today. It was supposed to be a 30-40 mile day. My mileage-limit without needed to eat more is around 50 miles or so, so no problem, right? Since my regular route was flooded, I decided to try to get to Grosse Ile, which had been recommended to me. In fact, it was actually gorgeous, on a gorgeous day, and I missed some stunning pictures of an Egret perched on a twisted stump in the river, but I digress.

Coming home from said detour... what can I say, I missed my turn. I ended up going through the Mexican-town part of Detroit; not a good idea after burning 2000 calories on a two-hour bike ride. Those restaurants sure smelled good.

"Chimichangas. God, I dream of Chimichangas."

Totals for the day:

Miles: 49
Calories burned: 2000
Chimichangas consumed: None. I'm in a serious deficit here.

Bike Ride!

My father's been working weekends lately, and as I haven't seen them much this year, AND my father might be going out of the country for a year. To make a long story short (but not by any means less tedious) I took a couple of days off this past week to visit.

My journey wasn't purely selfless, however. Southwestern PA has fantastic roads to bike on, if you like continuously rolling hills.

As my parents live about twenty-some odd miles away from West Virginia, and around thirty to Ohio, a started out with a 'Ohio or Bust' logo on my jersey, with drizzling rain threatening to change to thunderstorms.

As this was my third attempt to make it to WV, it was pretty smooth sailing. I blame my prior two failures on the detours and a lack of a map; by now I pretty much had the route memorized.



My personal favorite part of the trip was descending the 8% (average) grade for two miles from West Virginia down into Ohio. 40 MPH? No problem. 40 MPH on wet, grooved concrete, on tires the width of index finger? Perhaps I should squeeze the brakes...

Word to the wise - getting to say that you rode to Ohio isn't worth crossing that bridge.

And for the truly ridiculous...

There is now a full-page Yahoo (Rivals) article about a football player who just finished his sophomore year.

...of high school.

Politics in Michigan

Alas - the painful pangs of being a resident of a swing-state (near the major airport, no less) during an election cycle...

In any case, at least the good news is that Michigan is trying to pull ahead the primaries, in a blatant and overdue attempt to put a spotlight on some of the problems here.

But there's some question about whether or not that will happen - some in the state prefer a caucus. The difference between the two, of course, being known to no one who isn't a Machiavellian insider.

I'll save you the pain of reading the article linked above, and take you directly to the subject of today's rant...

"U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who supports Edwards, said in a letter released Tuesday night that he opposes a presidential primary.

He didn't mention Edwards, instead saying it would be irresponsible to hold an expensive, state-paid primary at a time when the Michigan budget is strapped. Edwards supporters also pointed out voters would have to present identification under Michigan's photo ID law in a primary, something they wouldn't face in a caucus."

So - there are two problems:

1. Michigan doesn't have any money
2. Eliminating voter fraud, through a means as simple and convenient as photo ID, is something to be avoided

You might think that these TWO problems require TWO solutions. But I have a better solution, to which I propose to those in Lansing: just don't hold an election at all. We'll stay home and you can tell us how we voted.

Good Times.

My, how time flies.

I finally got around to posting because:

A) The trendi-ness of having a web log has probably worn off enough that I can start;
B) I have a little unplanned extra time on my hands this week;
C) My plans for world domination are woe-fully behind schedule, and I figure a snazzy web log would pick up the pace a bit.