Happy Halloween ala Russell Street

I felt a little bad not costuming up for work today, but I think we made up for it this evening.

Surf City funness...

A few pics here and more on pbase later. Take home from the weekend...I feel pretty proud of myself for drinking more airbornes than beer.

there they are again

it seems like the pants & shorts like to be worn backwards...at least it wasn't me this time

Incident on Skyline in the Berkeley Hills

from a local cyclist

Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:51:51 AM
Subject: motorcyclists assaults cyclist on Skyline

This was also witnessed by a car driving behind the cyclists. The story from the driver is essentially identical to the one below.

Today a friend in my graduate program was riding Skyline with 4 or 5 other riders. They were headed towards Redwood from Tunnel Rd. and had just crested the last small climb before the big decent to the light at the Skyline / Joaquin Miller intersection. Apparently a motorcyclist, for an unknown reason, approached the riders who were riding in two lines, came up next to my friend, grabbed his shoulder and physically pushed him off the road. Experienced riders in a group, they were ascending the last rise with a good deal of speed, so my friend went down pretty hard.

I was riding Skyline solo, and came upon the scene as the ambulance pulled
away, so all of this information came from the other eyewitness riders, one
of whom is a Berkeley professor. Thankfully, I just found out that my friend is, for the most part, ok. He suffered 4 fractures, two in his collarbone, and two in his shoulder. The other riders didn't get a good look at the motorcycle rider, or his license plate so they didn't have much to tell the police, other than the motorcyclist was on a red and black sports bike and had a matching red and black outfit and helmet.

I'm still having a hard time comprehending what this motorcyclist did. By all accounts, there was no oncoming traffic in the other lane, and there was plenty of room to get around the bikers even in the proper lane. Considering the fact that the motorcyclist didn't stop, it sounds like it was a clear act of aggression. Fortunately my friend was wearing a helmet.

I don't know if there is a lesson to be learned here, because this act was so violent and random, other than, watch out for aggressive drivers and motorcyclists, and wear a helmet. This is a long shot, but if you see a motorcyclist that matches the description I've posted, watch out, and if they act aggressively, please pass along any info you can to me or the police.

old people

should not get new things, cus sometimes new things that are supposed to be very easy to setup and use aren't so fricking easy



can I just start the day over again or pretend tomorrow is my birthday...

all this talk about UCI barrier height

Just made me think of this. And yes, I've broken a rule about a recycled post. But, now a year later, I can totally relate to Daisy's dilemma.

sierra point cross

Hard to say how much fun it was, but on a survival note, I was pretty darn pleased. I was super scared about the half pipe bmx thing. I'm happy to say, it was not that bad and bordered on fun. Not so sure how many more of these cross races I will plan on doing, but if any of them happen to conflict with a 40K individual time trial...I'm there at the latter!

However, I do know for sure there is one more race that I will plan on doing. On my schedule is the Velo Bella costume race since I already have a costume.


half pipe bmx thing...and some, ok, a lot of photos here.

charting new territory

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that “maybe” I might want to try a cyclocross race, and marscat promptly said she would give me a clinic. “OK”, I think. She had clinics with mentors such as AndyJM, Ben JM, AnnF and other really experienced mentors. I get Marscat. Oh well…I ought to be more thankful.

But this weekend, I saw there is finally a race for women Cs that does not include the other women. The reason that this is a good thing and why I might actually race is because Marscat and I have to share. The other races never seem to work out since we only have one of everything. I will have to wear her shoes which used to be my shoes and I will use her bike which used to be Cheryl’s bike. So, I am a little excited. The race is early so I can do a long ride afterwards and still work on my road base and maybe get a sundae. And, if I try now when no one is around to watch how terrible I will be, I might be able to do the costume race at the Velo Bella race and not feel so anxious.