Why Me

I often check in on my buddies blogs and wonder what the hell am I doing in Baton Rouge when I could wake up to this?

I guess I am a little jealous of guys like Jason, Eric and anyone living the life of a pro cyclist. I imagine that it is a good life full of amazing views and plenty of hours shooting the shit in the car with your buds. Hours in the car scheduled just to escape the vehicle and shred some sweet ass single track in the mountains vs waking to humidity so high that even my hair frizzes. Well news from the enlightened guys at USA Cycling is the plan to remove my racing category of Semi-Pro and ask us to upgrade to the ranks of Pro. I am in support of the decision to change the categorization labels that have been ambiguous at best for a numerical system. However, the word PRO has in the past been left to the ranks of those bad enough to prove how fast their kicks were. Jedi mind tricks aside I anticipate that us lowly locals wonder kids that have grown accustom to kick'n a little "A" will wake up next year to an awakening so rude that even Andrew Dice Clay would have a hard time swallowing this bitter pill. You can eat wonder bread till you shit a brick and you still won't be able to keep up with the pro men. So what do we do? We need to train and make the sport and the competition better. We the next batch of neo-pros will all have to log lots of hours or accept the fact that we will be pack fodder at best or DFL.

So this coffee's for you. See yawl on the road and trail.

jR

LSAT

All to frequently we loose track of time. Like when you walk out of your front door late for school and you forget to toss on your trousers. I have neglected to study sufficiently for my next attempt of the LSAT. I hate to speak in cliches but it is time to burn the midnight oil and force the consumption, digestion and eventual excretion of test taking skills long since forgotten. Since my last days of school years ago I rarely have had opportunities to really work out the ole brain muscle. I guess I have come to a crossroads. One can go through life and be a beach or ski bum, but those that are truly successful at this endeavor worked hard to find out that it was there true calling in life and not the life of an attorney or pH d. I need to work hard for a few weeks both on the bike and in the books. So a temporary leave of absence is necessary from my social life in order to complete my preparations for a date with destiny. Another opportunity to smudge a finger print and totally think I aced this test awaits me. So good by cold beer and hello coffee and aspartame.

Gustav

Big Buildings
Little Buildings
Trees
And People

Have all succumb to the power of Gustav. I just want a few days of something like normal with a cup of coffee and another day clad in spandex v.s. This


But just as people are malleable and quick to fix things that are broken soon enough my home town shattered by this storm will rebuild. I will be back on my road bike riding in the early mornings cool air whilst daydreaming of past trips to Tahoe, Colorado, or many of the cool places cycling has taken me. I will ride and spend more time managing my thoughts, arranging and rearranging scenarios, situations, analyzing and reanalyzing and double checking the cover page on my TPS reports. Soon enough we people of Baton Rouge will be back to normal and all the great things that people have done for us will be forgotten and the ass holes that have temporarily been hesitant to lash out will show their faces again. But until then, drink up and have a toast, to the good will of mankind.