drama.

don't leave home without it.

idol and actual.

the challange.

using only european pro cyclists, present or past, (and all doping scandals aside), answer me this loyal readers;

riding/racing style-wise who is your cycling idol? who do you wish you raced like?

and;

riding/racing style-wise who do you actually race like?

personally, i think sean kelly and greg lemond are my biggest cycling idols. but for me, i wish i raced like a alejandro valverde.



you know. suprisingly decent sprinter, and a very strong climber.
a top-level "all-rounder".

i guess kelly was something like that too... but he's crazy. i don't want to be crazy.

...and i think i may actually be more of a philippe gilbert, not usually there on the climbs, and not usually there these days in the sprint, but can be somewhat dangerous if he happens to make it. a good team player, usually in a breakaway. a lot of decent finishes, but not the top dog.



an "opportunist".

plus i'd look good good in a white kit.


how about you?

feelin' it.

light some candles, invite your lady over, go to thedispencer, hit play.



thank me later.

war stories.

it was a few weeks ago that i was hanging out at the red dragon with rookie and nickelnuts (aka homme). don't ask how we ended up there.
but, we had some time to kill.

talk had somehow turned to politics, as it often will when hanging out with puffed up liberal do-gooder folk, and sr starts making cracks about voting/anarchism/direct action, as per usual.
probably right after explaining how john fucking edwards was going to save the world.

anyways, homme was a bit intrigued, and wanted to hear about some of the shinanigan's back in the day. so i had a time recounting some old business for his entertainment.

i figured i'd write something up on the subject on here sooner or later, but... you know how that goes.
anyway, turns out i don't have to now!

homme can read some of those stories in this weeks city pages, which features a cover story on the baldies - an anti-racist skinhead crew from minneapolis, 20 years after cp orginally did a story on them.
some good friends are interviewed in it.

sure some of the facts in the article are a bit fuzzy, left out, or over-simplified... but it is still a good read.

if you find the citypages article interesting, and want to see some more, (or want a film some thought-provoking entertainment value), i'd recommend adding this is england to your netflix que.
it's pretty powerful stuff.

the movies site has a quick skin tutorial for your short-attention span.

holy shit.

former lgr rider karla kingsley added a few letters to the team name acronym, and is rocking in cali this season with lgbrc. aka los gatos cycling.

here's a flick of her riding the tour of california women's criterium. (red/yellow on the left).



she's making quite a dent in the scene out there, scoring an 11th place in the p/1/2 field at the cherry pie crit last weekend, (also won by brooke miller who won the toc crit yesterday).

go karla!

total blackout.

curious.

at the start of the tourocali last year i made this post. it was in regards to the trending of pro teams, domestic and not, to the color black in their kits.

formerly this was somewhat taboo for various reasons from "too hot" to "looks amateur".
ever since they figured out how to sublimate the lycra on bibs, it has been a full color free-for-all. (with mapei winning the fight, btw).

this year black is out.
way out.

what's in? white.

god knows why.

fdj has pretty much owned white for the last few seasons. no one wants to touch it.
gets dirty. asscracks. blah blah blah.

now suddenly, this:



the whole peloton is wearing more white than an alabama klan rally.

quickstep.
highroad.
bmc.
csc.
jelly belly (ahead of the curve, white kits last year too).
even astana whose kits main color can best be described as "puke", has white all over the place.

didn't really see this change coming. can't say i approve.

one white kit i do approve of:



levi's "retro" stars and stripes kit.
as far as us champ kits go this is hot stuff. it is very hard to make america's flag look good.

i just want to applaude teams like bissell, rock racing, bouygues telecom, lgr, rabobank, and even cofidis (not at the toc), for going with a sense of style over the current lame trend.

i also like that the toc is interesting so far this year.

i don't do it for the fame.

i do it for the money.

obviously.

it was "see, and be seen!" week here at the (dis)pencer.com.

i stopped by the one on one bicycles studio and bakery after work on friday night. there was a big crowd there, apperently to see timmer giving hed... demos.

hed. demos. (i bet he was wondering how long until somebody made that joke).

neat stuff.
there was/is a sweet 1950's masi track bike pimped out with some hed wheels there...
and me without my camera!
i'll have to get back there. (even though i like to only pop in once a month or so, just to keep the suspense high).

this morning i had to get up extra early to have the time to make it over to the all-you-could-eat pancake breakfast hosted by the women's prison book project. an annual tradition.
...probably should have told ray and those goofy hc dudes about it. i think they'd appreciate some flapjacks during a ride. plus from the photos they were in the neighborhood.
like bloodhounds.

anyways, had to keep a schedule and kept it to a minimum - only 2 vegan cakes and 2 cup of coffee. pretty easy for an all-u-can-eat.

fox9 was there. i think my face-for-radio is on tv somewhere. eating.

then i was off to moose and sadie's to meet up with the lgr saturday morning crew for some westery miles.
popped into the caribou in wayzata for some coffee and warmth, saw some lsc hosers, then back on the road. further west.

came across a fragmented wah ride; cleary, wah, and super* i could recognize... there were more.
they waved. pmax cheered. (reports say he may have been delirious. i think thats just pmax).

we tooled around a bit, hit the 'bou again, and bee-lined for home.
i was wrecked. ...but not wrecked enough to keep me from walking the dog down to the coffeeshop. (that's 4 now for those keeping track).

daytona is tomorrow. jr wants it... but who's got the pole?
goddamn right.

i'll be home from the ride in time to catch the last 50-60 laps.

i bet the hanna/strats homestead is closer than ever now that jr. is in the 88.

no more drama.

maybe i'm missing it somewhere, but i have heard very little about rock racing in the news lately.

is everyone still caught up with boonen, and his purported coke dealing?
i can't imaging that the cycling media is actually interested in the tours of lanquakaiiii, or qatar...
...is everyone just too phsyced about lars boom?
or happy for slipstream? or, thinking lance is a dick?


well, it looks like everything worked out ok for rock racing, for now.

trialtir stepped up, and provided de rosa bikes, as well as l.a.s. helmets for the team.

...i can't tell what kind of wheels he's on, (campy?), but this is fast freddy in action in cali last weekend while we were a freezing at -15.



it's too early to be racing anyway, but it still makes me hate california.

gonna get fast so skibby likes me again.

swap action.

everyone came out. it was rad. got to chat up a bunch of fools.
the list is too long to mention everybody, but it's always nice to see everyone when we all actually have a chance to talk.

i picked up the final piece i needed to crown my new racing bike for next season. that was rad.
(thanks to littleguy for the eagle eyes on that one)!

photos of that soon. yep. deathstar 2, coming soon. fuck the ewoks.

been doing a little construction/remodeling work on the side. partially to prepare the wallet for the swap and the racing season purchases, (new chains, cassettes, cables, all that crap you forget all about until the last 3 days before the first race), and partially to stay sane.
it's fun. i like the drastic difference in the work and work enviroment, between the two.
makes them both way more tolerable.

and, hands on work is real work.

also, i think i'm on track to being fast again this season. maybe.

we'll see.

but, i've got some new motivation; skibby only hangs out with you if you're fast. at the swap, he was totally only kickin' it with the fastest people around. must be nice.
but, i know with some elbow grease, i too can hang out with skibby!

ha. really though, i've decided to really focus and try to make it to the big time.

yeah. the big show.

i'm gonna really step it up a notch. i figure i've got the "professional-looking" thing down, and now it is the time to back it up...

...and go cat 3 elite-amateur.

more to follow.

soul searching.

it has been quite some time since the question was asked, but i think i finally have my answer.



this is how i will cross the line from now on.

...so watch out if it comes down to a sprint.