Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Shaky City

Heading out the door bound for Land of La. Earthy rumbles will no doubt serve as good prep for dodgy, off-camber turns. Be back in a month or so....

Friday, July 25, 2008

I don't get it, but whatever

Meg tagged me? With a meme? Dude, I am WAY out of the loop on this one, but I just finished up a brilliant job teaching over the summer, got nothing to do right now, so here goes:


If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

My purple Zank. Easy answer. The bike does it all, and it's comfy steel all around, baby.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

See answer above. My Serotta Legend ain't too shabby either. Check back in six or seven years when I have my new Sachs. Answer may change.


If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

I would ride from my sister-in-law's pad in Long Beach, Cali along PCH to my day job teaching swim and rescue classes to female, 18-25 yr old lifeguards-in-training in Newport Beach, Cali. And then I would ride back to Long Beach. Why? The scenery, man.

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrow minded?

Yes. Road. Because I suck at off-road. I hit trees regularly.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.

I would beat my testicles with a wrench before I would ride a recumbent.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?

See answer above. Replace "ride a recumbent" with "race a triathlon."

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?

Ice cream. To keep my slim, sexy figure.

Can you conceive cycling without racing?

Here's the deal: I think I confuse "racing" with "touring."

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?

Drop my bibs and shit with it.

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not?
Also, answer it.


What are you going to do tonight, Moveitfred?

Well Moveitfred, I'm glad you asked. There is the usual Long Island Fiasco circuit race tonight, but here's an example of where my head is at right now. Instead of racing I will be attending the double feature tonight at the film fest. I'm hoping to catch up with a couple of new screenwriter friends, talk shop, mingle, and say things like "I appreciated the visual elements in that film, however I believe the narrative arc was misconceived."

Two more things:

1) I have no friends and nobody reads this blog, so I have nobody to tag. I will accept my fate.

2) Heywood: if you're out there I need your help to screw my f'ing head back on straight. Dude, I'm going to a FILM FESTIVAL tonight! It's gotten that bad.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

FFFFilm FFFFest

Took my man card out of the wallet for the week and replaced it with a pass to the local film festival. Moveitfred hangs out with the other artsies and retired greys watching indie shorts and features late into the night.

Notice that besides getting in line for a new bike that will reach home sometime in the decades to follow, there ain't much talk about cycling on this cycling blog.

That's because there ain't much happening.

I'm putting all my rocks into the bag that requires the driven, virile Heywood to trash my ass into shape for cross season out in the hinterlands of California over the coming weeks.

Good plan, huh?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

In Line

If you pay attention to such matters, one of the big buzz topics through the intervines this week was the news that Richard Sachs is closing and locking the front door on all new frame orders.

If you're not in line and you want one, better set your preferences on ebay and hope some dude with your same build suffers a brain hemorrhage before you're hooked up to tubes yourself.

After about 10 minutes of careful consideration, I got in line.


Now all you f'ers can fall in behind Moveitfred, atmo.

Six years or so gives me plenty of time to decide if it's going to be a road or cross frame.


Atmo.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Just Summer

Trying to be mellow by parking myself in front of the euro feed of TdF right now. Dudes are killing it bombing down the Tourmalet at the moment. Glad I'm right here sipping a big cup of joe. Just mellow.

Dodgey experience yesterday down on the south shore of the island paradise at Cupsogue County Beach. For summer the swell was pretty big, and there was a powerful sweep from east to west down the beach. Was out in the break with two killer swimmers: my daughter and friend. Both strong, all-county quality in the water. Tide coming in, and quickly we were caught up in a large set of waves. The first two in the set broke over us, washed up the beach, and then washed back out pulling us with the volume of water.

OK, this now officially sucked. We were now washed out to the furthest breakers, and the big overhead swells just kept pounding down. Not much time to breath as the swells were coming in tight sets. Others got washed out too. The Atlantic was flexing its muscles. Not fun.

Luckily these two girls were killer! My daughter, the smallest by far, was struggling. She was getting tossed and held down. We pulled together. Ducked and got pounded. Came up together for air. Assessed the situation. Put our energies into calmly moving toward the beach.

Wasn't easy at all. The sweep down the beach kept us moving parallel to shore. Lifeguard teams jumped to full alert. Guys were flying out into the surf with cans and ropes. We were getting completely shellacked by the surf. As we were moving in, lifeguard teams were screaming past us to those way out. They were in real trouble.

We finally caught some swells that lurched us toward the beach. Felt great to finally be in knee-deep wash. The girls were awesome. The lifeguards were awesome. Others--adults, teenagers, strong-looking people--were being rescued out behind us. Towed, roped, finally all made it in sputtering and gasping and thankful.

It's the old cliche but true: it's amazing how fast things can change and turn to shit!

Back to TdF. Front groups ready to climb Hautacam. Coffee's about gone. It's a steamy day here. Showers passing through. I've got new cross wheels coming from UPS today. Going to throw on a cassette and check those out later. Countdown to cold and cross.


Find more videos like this on Cyclocross Magazine


But it's just summer now.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Tracking

Type:
Package

Status:
In Transit - On Time

Scheduled Delivery:
07/14/2008

Shipped To:
EAST SETAUKET, NY, US

Freddy is:
Jazzed


Forthcoming functional set of clincher hoops for the cross bike. Can't wait to slap 'em on.

Monday, July 7, 2008

man...

photo from pez:



there is just way too much funny going on in that pic.

Stuck

Why is it that every freakin' pathetic little breakaway I've ever been in has never stuck?


Big congrats to RGM/Sachs rider Justin Spinelli who took second in that other big race over the weekend. Understand he did it all without any help. Pretty good tuneup for the real season that starts in a few months.


Sunday, July 6, 2008

Thunder God


The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is THE THOR when I lay my vengeance upon thee.