Bicycle Built for Two

I bought this bike for an awesome price of $175. Of course it may not be worth that much. It almost blew off the rack on the interstate so I slowed down considerably and made it home. The first attempt at riding was in the parking lots at Metro Center. It went ok but the wife wasn't comfortable in the back (she's the stoker) so we need an adjustment or a new handlebar. We weren't fast but we made steady progress. Next time we tackle the greenway!

Competitive Failure

I'm not an extremely competitive person, certainly nothing like the LA that Bill Strickland describes in Tour de Lance (a great book regardless of what you think about Lance). I played high school sports but basketball is a team game. I was always disgusted by the guys at the YMCA that played every game as if it was the NBA finals. I never really participated in individual competition such as track or swimming or bridge or chess.

Nevertheless, this spring I entered the Podium Cafe Virtual Directeur Sportif, a fantasy league about bicycle racing. You get 150 points to purchase riders. Alberto Contador, 3 time tour winner of beefsteak fame cost 32 points with the expectation of a great return on investment and Gorka Izagirre Insausti is 1 point but whoever heard of him?

At one point last spring the East Nashville Slow Riders were in first place. Thanks to Fabian Cancellera and Tom Boonen, stalwarts of the spring classics such as Paris Roubaix and Tour of Flanders I was rolling along. Then Boonen was hurt and didn't ride in the Tour de France. Fab had a great year but the spring is his strength although late in the year he did win the World Championship in the Time Trial. Tyler Farrar, the sprinter for Garmin Transitions had his best year and led my team in scoring. Next year his price will increase. The long and short is I finished the season in 116th place quite a come down from my early lead.

My downfall was the lack of a contender for the overall championship (General Classification or GC in the lingo) of a grand tour such as Contador or Ivan Basso. I did buy Christian Vande Velde but he kept falling off his bicycle and scored no points all year! He's a nice guy but how does he keep his job? Chris Horner was a good buy as he was cheap and his score was 10x the previous year, plus he seems like a good guy. I needed more Horners and Farrars.

As an aside on a recent trip to California I dined at an In and Out because it's his favorite fast food hamburger. For a guy who is pushing 40 he's doing well.

Next year's strategy is obviously to broaden my team to include all types of riders. The winning team, Sleeping Maiden Velo (huh?) had Vincenzo Nibali as its leader. Who is he? He is the winner of the Tour of Spain but I never heard of the guy before this season. I guess I'll have to read my old copies of Velo News all winter in preparation for next year's competition. But that would make me competitive.

Bert's Bad Beef

Alberto Contador is the latest cyclist to return a positive drug test during the Tour de France. It's for clembutrol whatever that is. His protests seem rather silly, that it's from some bad meat from Spain, but he has some "experts" on his side. Other say it's just not possible. I guess his story may be true but I wonder what comments we'll hear from Andy "dropped chain" Shleck?

Great weather to ride a bike even if you're a lot slower than Bert. Have a steak and beer after you're finished. There's no need to worry about a drug test although I do wonder what they're feeding those cows these days.

How Time Flies

As a new blogger I was unaware of the dedication required to constantly update the world on my thoughts and actions. Since I have joined Facebook my creative activities (such as they are) have been directed to that forum of internet intellectualism. I posted about positive results for my alma mater's football team and their upcoming challenges. I will soon travel to witness the action in person.

I am participating in an event of momentous magnitude for my adopted city of Nashville, i.e. how to get more people riding bicycles so that bicycle shops can sell more bicycles. I rode my own bike 62 miles (100 kilometers to the rest of the world) in a local charity ride. It only took me five hours or so including stops for nature breaks and the rest stop cookies included in the cost of the ride. All paid riders received a reasonably acceptable spaghetti lunch after the ride.

My wife is busy planning a trip to the city by the bay, San Francisco. I understand you go there to see stereotypes (Chinatown, Castro District, Haight Ashbury), tall trees and a prison. Then we will drive one of Hertz's finest down the coast on Highway 1. I have discovered that the hotels and rental cars are expensive. I'm sure the bicycle ride across the Golden Gate Bridge will be the highlight of the trip.

The Good Old Bicycle

I didn't know Art Hobson when I was at the University of Arkansas but other people spoke very highly of him. He is a physicist and was very well thought of by my friends. Here he explains why two wheels are better than four or more.

Touring the Artsy Bike Racks of Nashville

I rode about 30 miles Sunday and included a visit to each and every art bike rack in Nashville. These were installed recently to show how the city is bike friendly. Some of them are kind of cute. The microphone at the Demonbreum Roundabout is my favorite. Excuse the picture quality they were taken with my phone.



These are at the Farmer's Market on Rosa Parks Blvd. Notice the agricultural theme.









Maybe we can organize an East Nashville to downtown tour of all the bike racks. It's only about 12-14 miles but there are some hills. I can testify to that.

The Right Reverend Houston Dale Nutt

I was not a fan of Nutt at Arkansas after the 2003 season when a team loaded with seniors, including several that went to the NFL, badly underperformed. He then flirted with the Nebraska job, received a lucrative contract extension and promptly produced two losing seasons. He lost to Vanderbilt in 2005 and should have been fired the next day. He has just signed an all-american candidate quarterback at Ole Miss who has had numerous run-ins with the law. Jeremiah Masoli led his team to the Rose Bowl last year and was then kicked out of Oregon after two different criminal incidents.

Nutt is of dubious character but this one takes the cake. I can remember one of his stars was arrested when he was found drunk and asleep in his car by the Fayetteville police. He played the full season. Nutt's idea of discipline starts with how much the player can help him as a coach. He did kick off a troubled player from the Ole Miss team weeks before this event. He then said he had no interest in Masoli but after his backup QB left the team he changed his mind. I hope this blows up in his face.

My favorite Nutt story is that one of the 1,000 text messages he sent to the "woman not his wife" (see Mandel's story in SI) was 20 minutes before the kickoff of a bowl game against Wisconsin. We lost the game.