I am going to the AC/DC concert tonight and it is going to be awesome! One thing though, what exactly does a 41 year old wear to an AC/DC concert?

This is a test to see if I really can update my blog from my phone via email (because really, I am that busy and that important).

Hello Again

I am back, probably for a limited engagement, but I am back. I have been away, I have been busy. Busy training (because I love it), busy trying to develop racers to the best of my ability and knowledge (because I love it), busy racing my bike myself (because I love it) and busy working (because I have to but also because I am fortunate enough to earn an income doing things I love like direct a bike team and coach kids in climbing).

Because of some back and forth between myself and The Hedge Fund I directed him towards the Gym Jones site and Mark Twight. Twight and his writings have always resonated with me. Hedge already knew about Twight, which didn't surprise me because Hedge is not afraid of hard work and he is afraid of complacency and mediocrity.

I decided to check out the Gym Jones site again and came across this. I have probably posted this before. Well, I am going to post it again, because I like it.

In Defense of Elitism
As if it requires defending …Gym Jones is exclusive. We exclude. It is not a question of elitism vs. egalitarianism because there can be no question; the black belt is elite, the white belt is not. The black belt is earned through long, difficult work, rigorous education, commitment, and persistence. Not everyone gets a black belt. It's not T-Ball. We invite elite performers to train here because they foster the environment we prefer. It is the rare athlete who improves despite training exclusively with less capable practitioners and such exceptions may not be used to prove a rule. Talented athletes surround themselves with others of a similar or higher caliber – both mental and physical – and improve by doing so.
The parallel motive has to do with choosing who we want to spend our limited time with: why would we open our arms to any and everyone?

from www.cyclingnews.com:

USA Cycling seeks volunteer collegiate conference director

USA Cycling is recruiting a volunteer director of the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference (ACCC) which covers North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.). The volunteer will work to promote the growth of collegiate cycling through individual membership growth, member retention, club stability, and new club development and will attend conference-related races, events and schools to support conference activities. He or she will coordinate conference scoring, results and rankings for each race, event and season and contribute conference news to USAC's website and other outlets. The position will require significant work during business hours.

Seriously USAC?, volunteer? Are you kidding me? Especially when the job description states that the position "will require significant work during business hours." I mean WTF?! Is this part of their long term plan to promote cycling in this country, seek volunteers to run multi-state conferences?

Le Roi D'Hiver makes his return...to the streets of Bremerton.

SNOW!!

IT WAS A GOOD WEEKEND FOR COLUMBUS SPORTS

OSU 42, that team from up north 7

COLUMBUS CREW 3, New York Red Bulls 1

Congratulations Crew on the MLS Cup!

I'M BACK.

"Why?", you ask.

Because tomorrow is the appointed date of the biggest rivalry in sports.

That's why.

THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES versus the team from up north.

BUCKEYES BABY!

I SAID, "BUCKEYES BABY!!"

GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!!

TOLEDO ROCKETS 13, MICHIGAN 10

Most of you probably don't know that before I was a Buckeye at The Ohio State University, I was a Rocket, a Toledo Rocket, of the MAC Conference. Well, they beat Michigan yesterday...at the Big House. That means that both of the universities I attended are going to beat Michigan this year. Oh the glee....

And yes, that is a Toledo Rocket beer cozy, or rather, a beer jersey. Classic.

Goodbye To A Friend

It is with great sadness that I find myself making another post about the passing of another friend of mine. I just found out this morning that my steady climbing partner from the LA days, Joe Christy passed away a couple of weeks ago. I found out about it while scanning through some updates on Facebook of all places. I called a mutual friend of Joe's and mine and found out that Joe had taken his own life. Conjecture is that the ghosts of Vietnam finally caught up with Joe. Joe and I talked of many things during our climbing days at Malibu Creek State Park but one thing we never spoke of was his time serving in Vietnam. It turns out that Joe was a tailgunner in an attack helicopter. One can only imagine the things that Joe saw during his time serving his country and it seems as if those personal demons finally got the best of him.

I will always remember Joe as someone who never turned down the chance to meet up for a day of cragging. I had the great fortune of meeting Joe and John Long one afternoon at Malibu Creek and had the even greater fortune of becoming a regular climbing partner with both of them. The routes that Joe wanted to do were always "whatever you want to do". His positive energy was infectious and I became a better climber because of it. Joe belayed me on many attempts on my very first 12A project and was holding the rope when I finally completed the redpoint of the Drifter. Joe had an encyclopedic recollection of every move on every route in Malibu Creek. One of my fondest memories was an afternoon climbing with Joe back in the Ghetto. We were doing some laps when Joe noticed the water had risen...a lot. He suddenly realized that the rangers had opened the dam upstream and if we did not hightail it out of there we would be swimming home. Classic.

The very last route that I climbed in Malibu Creek came on a trip back to LA after I had moved to Seattle. I had never completed Malibu's classic standard "Urban Struggle", a four star 12 a/b before moving away. I put it on my to do list when I knew I was coming back to LA for a wedding. I called up Joe and he was more than happy to meet up with me in the parking lot for the walk back past the Apes Wall, and the water traverse back to the Ghetto area. Joe and I were prepared for a siege that day as I was not feeling all that great. I redpointed it on my first try. A day full of great conversation, a lot of laughs and a successful redpoint of our local crag's classic standard. Those are my last memories of Joe Christy.

So long Joe, you will be missed. I am going to the climbing gym today to do some laps in your honor.

IN DEFENSE OF ELITISM

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I am a fan of Mark Twight. One of my favorite books and one of the few that I have read multiple times is

Kiss or Kill.

You also probably know that I don't believe that just because someone enters a race that it makes them a winner. Everyone is not a winner.

So you can imagine my glee when I read this on the Gym Jones website:

In Defense of Elitism

As if it requires defending …Gym Jones is exclusive. We exclude. It is not a question of elitism vs. egalitarianism because there can be no question; the black belt is elite, the white belt is not. The black belt is earned through long, difficult work, rigorous education, commitment, and persistence. Not everyone gets a black belt. It's not T-Ball. We invite elite performers to train here because they foster the environment we prefer. It is the rare athlete who improves despite training exclusively with less capable practitioners and such exceptions may not be used to prove a rule. Talented athletes surround themselves with others of a similar or higher caliber – both mental and physical – and improve by doing so.
The parallel motive has to do with choosing who we want to spend our limited time with: why would we open our arms to any and everyone? -Mark Twight

"It's not T-ball"

Classic

2008 BLACKBERRY CRITERIUM

Yes, it is going to happen!

SUNDAY AUGUST 31, 2008
Total cash prize - $3600 (min.)

CATEGORY - TIME - DISTANCE - PRIZES - PLACES - ENTRY
Cat. 4/ 5 11:45 30 min. $150 3 Places $20
Jr. C/D* 12:30 20 min Prizes 3 Places $12
Jr. A/B* 1:00 30 min Prizes 3 Places $12
Masters 30 + 1:45 45 min. $500 5 Places $20
Women 2:45 45 min. $250 4 Places $20
Cat. 3 3:45 60 min. $750 7 Places $25
Kids 11 and below 5:00 TBD Ribbons to all Free
Pro 1/ 2 5:30 75 min. $1950 15 Places $30
*Jr. men & women race together but scored separately.

Course: 4th Street, Pacific, 5th Street, Warren Ave. Four 90° corner circuit on excellent wide pavement including slight rises at both ends.Directions: Circuit is a block from the Bremerton Ferry Terminal. For more info on the event and the Bremerton Blackberry Festival please go to www.BlackberryFestival.orgRegistration: On race day only. One day USCF license available. WSBA numbers will be used & can be purchased at www.wsbaracing.com (not for sale at race). Rental #’s available at the race for $10 rental ($5 is refundable).

Out of state riders, no fee to rent just a $5 deposit.

For further information on the race call Joe Holmes (818) 430-7055 jgholmes@comcast.net
All USA Cycling rules will be enforced. All riders must sign a waiver and wear an approved helmet.
USA Cycling permit pending.

WHALE OF A CRIT CANCELLATION ANNOUNCEMENT:

I regret to inform everyone that we have had to cancel the Whale of a Crit this year. This decision was based on a number of factors all adding up to a situation where we felt like we would not be able to put on an event that met our standards. We made every effort possible to pull the event off and only made the decision to cancel at the eleventh hour after it became apparent that we would be unable to address all of the issues that sprang up in the past few weeks.

I would personally like to apologize to everyone who made adjustments to their schedules to accomodate the Whale of a Crit, most notably Eric Anderson who moved the Team Trial Championships for our race. My apologies also to those individuals who find themselves unable to compete in both the Senior Games and the Team Time Trial Championships as they now fall on the same weekend. Please accept my sincerest apologies as I know this was quite a topic of discussion this spring. I also would like to apologize to those of you who were targeting the Washington Cup and now find the series one race less.

Those of you who have participated in our events these past few years know that we try to put on the best event possible in terms of race course, event atmosphere and prize list. We just felt that we would not be able to meet all of our criteria and did not want to make due with what we were going to end up with.

I am sorry for all the inconvenience that this had caused and I hope that this will not influence anyone to not take part in our events in the future. If anyone wishes to contact me personally please feel free to do so.

Thank you,

Joe Holmes
Ridge Racing

Just when I thought football season could not get any better.

Patrick joins NBC, reunites with Olbermann

Fantastic.

Pittsburgh's Rooneys Quietly Shop the Steelers.

WHAAAT?!

Hinault is awesome.

Badger:

Badger is the common name for any animal of three subfamilies, which belong to the family Mustelidae. Badgers are capable of fighting off much larger animals such as wolves, coyotes, bears, and protesters during the podium ceremonies at the Tour.

Seriously though, how awesome is it that Hinault was the first guy to throw the protestor off the podium during the stage winner presentation? That is reason #842 why I have always loved Hinault.

I think I got as excited with that as I was with Frishkorn almost winning the stage.

Thank you OLN, er, I mean Versus.

For not making my ears bleed this year listening to the ignorance of Al Trautwig during the Tour coverage this year. Craig Hummer has always provided knowledgable reporting in the past and he is a welcome replacement for the melodramatic banter of Trautwig.

Good on ya.

NOT TO BRAG OR ANYTHING BUT...BRI RULES AGAIN!!!!

The Joe Matava Crit was kind to the guys in blue as BRI went 1, 2, 3 in the Masters A race as well as winning the Pro 1-2 race and the $145 backside prime. Congrats to GB and DR for another BRI double.

Then to top it off, DR adds another win for the weekend at the Bellingham Crit on Sunday.

In the words of Stuart Scott: "boo yah!"

HEY P-DOG: BRI IS THE NEW AWESOME

Because not only did BRI win the 1-2 race at Des Moines, but they went 1st and 2nd in the Masters A State Crit Championship. Which means BRI doubled on the day, doubled for the State Crit Championships and are currently in 1st place in both the 1-2 and Master A BARR competition.

SNAP!