"Don't be a hero" they tell me. "If it hurts tommorrow call Pete the lawyer." Answer me this: if nobody was a hero and everybody just leaned on their Pete-the-lawyer, where would we be? Did Paul Revere or George Washington or Admiral Farragut or the regular people on United 93 wait until the morning when they could speak with their lawyer? Somebody has to be a hero - why not me? Why not now? I know some heroes...people who've put themselves on the line for somebody else and "let's wait 'til morning" is not what they'd think.
posted at 3:15 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Not much of an average last night as a portion of le peloton wiped out after being cut off by an elderly Floridian in a PT Cruiser. I was the last of the 4 to fall, sustained minimal personal damage, and my trusty 2000 is being restored to near-new condition by the crew at BnJ on somebody else's tab. Found out today that the carnage wasn't terrible - Jodi is OK (road-rashed and sore like me), Greg has a hairline fracture in his elbow, and no news is hopefully good news about Ari. Just a reminder to be safe and have some fun while you still can is how I'm counting the episode. Plus, a good way to meet people. Folks are a whole lot more interested in coming up and talking to you when you're bloodied and beaten then when you are standing tall and proud.
posted at 12:42 PM - comments
Monday, July 28, 2003
Nice weekend here - got organized some more at home, continued my book, swam a bit, went to church, and accidentally left the windows in the truck open so that water could saturate the entire front passenger area. Caught "Catch Me If You Can" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," too, and enjoyed them both...good stuff. Movies are such a fine release.
posted at 12:59 PM - comments
Friday, July 25, 2003
Thursday must be just about my best day, and yesterday was just a classic. Lunch with a friend, plenty of talk of travel and the snobbery of Sarasota, then a second 25+ ride (25.3) wherein I really felt strong the whole trip and wound up being as much of a horse as anybody in the group. It seems like maybe I've turned a bit of a corner on the bike; thank you Lance and the rest of le peloton du Tour. Then home to catch a meal and a few pages of "A Way in the World," followed by friendly voices on the phone, one of which lasted well into the night. A darn good day from here.
posted at 12:29 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Such a productive ride last evening: hit a PB 25.8 over the flying island and made a new friend besides. Then it was home for a chef's salad dinner and much phoning around trying (without success, ultimately) to arrange delivery of my chest of drawers from Perkins. Today is "Corey gets Auto Insurance" day, so hang on to your hats and tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree for that heap of fun!
posted at 12:55 PM - comments
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
A fun-ish ride last night with a big crowd (for a Monday) but otherwise a fairly ho-hum day. The morning's tour stage saw Lance take it up a notch and put 1:07 between himself and Ullrich, so things are looking exciting for some cyclists anyway.
posted at 12:46 PM - comments
Monday, July 21, 2003
Quiet weekend here yet again. Fun evening on Friday followed by hiding from the heat for two more days, but I got the apartment clean, took care of some details, and tried to put together the delivery of furniture from up north. I also continued to read at a feverish pace, knocking down Cather's "My Antonia" on Saturday afternoon. A good book, especially so for those of us who grew up in a small town.
posted at 12:43 PM - comments
Friday, July 18, 2003
A swift ride at 24.69 mph last night wasn't without frustration as some of the 'guns' rode with the B group and wore down the lower part of the pack towards the end. Would have broken 26 for sure but I fell of the back of the train near the beach and solo-ed in over the last 4 miles. Then home for a chef's salad dinner and a nice talk with Robin, who's holding herself together very admirably, considering. Today we went to lunch as a 4-man office with Nancy tagging along and had a good time. Mmmmm Kress burger. Then in the early afternoon, tres good news about the dresser. Darn fine day, all told.
posted at 2:53 PM - comments
Thursday, July 17, 2003
Scary sad news from Lansing yesterday pales the importance of what might otherwise be notable events of today. It's hard to know how to think about things, and perspective seems impossible. Rough night, early meeting, and hard to be at work today while thoughts are elsewhere.
posted at 12:54 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Frustration mounted quickly during the upwind, up-island leg last night as the 22-24 group rode 21 instead. So, I turned at the bridge and paced home with Louis from the A group, who'd had a flat and was anxious to get back before the rain set in. We averaged about 25, but my trip was a shameful 22.85 miles per hour. Better luck next time.
posted at 1:14 PM - comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Rain in the forecast and Kim's non-participation led me to forego last evening's ride and head home to rig up my new JBL S-Center II. With wires connected and receiver settings adjusted I popped in "Gladiator" and was pushed well back into the cushions of the sofa with how well the system sounds now. Quite a leap forward. I also read, shopped for tires & car insurance, talked for a long time with Dad, and swam a few laps of the Timber Chase pool.
posted at 12:53 PM - comments
Monday, July 14, 2003
Interesting afternoon this fine day as the YD portion of MPYD gathered at the Hyatt to talk boats with Stephen & Steve and then head out for an oh-so-brief ride on the 36. My new S-Center II should arrive today, but I won't get it until tommorrow lunch (barring rain) due to my cycling addiction. Speaking of cycling, go Lance. Like I've told everybody I've seen - he's such a stud. He carried USPS through the team TT and then carried himself up the wicked switchbacks to Alpe d'Huis. I'll be wearing my Trek Capt. America throwback jersey with pride as long as he's got the yellow.
posted at 3:40 PM - comments
Saturday, July 12, 2003
Fun night out with some old friends and new acquaintances last evening, but darned if I still wasn't bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 830 this AM. Headed to the library to buy some plane tickets for Karyn & Rob's wedding and to archive the blog, a productive start to a Saturday.
posted at 11:39 AM - comments
Friday, July 11, 2003
Not sure I knew how tired tired is until I wrapped up my ride last night - 24.07 flying island and I was spent. Not since I played every down of the Pickford game senior year at RRHS have I known fatigue like I did last evening. After that it was hard to get going on anything else. No reading or anything, just some dinner and some tunes.
posted at 3:49 PM - comments
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Home last night to swim and clean and cook and eat and read, but tonight I'll climb back aboard that trusty steed, the aluminum/carbon fiber horse that is my Trek 2000, and rejoin the thundering herd for another hot and sweaty ride up and down LBK. It's forecast to be blazing yet again this afternoon - I miss the UP. In other news, I ordered a center channel speaker yesterday, so now I'm waiting for it to arrive and provide a scintillating audio experience.
posted at 1:01 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
Swept through the balance of Life of Pi last night - a masterful tale woven perfectly through the last page. I highly recommend it, if for the entertainment more than for the meanings that I might have missed. Yann Martel points out on the second to last page that "there's nothing worse than a botched farewell" as Richard Parker disappears into the jungle...couldn't agree more, I say. It's good to spend time alone with a Bengal tiger, maybe it's good to see things come to an end, but it's best to make sure that the transitions are smooth ones.
Terribly loud excitement at work this week: heavy equipment arrived to begin replacing a water main under Palm Avenue. So, while I work away at the stern details of an 84-footer, diesels crank and hydraulics whoosh on the opposite side of my windows, moving earth and accomplishing progress. Infrastructure is good stuff.
Home last night from the trip and the library to read some from Life of Pi, which I've had for some time now but didn't want to start for sentimental reasons - turns out that it is really quite good. It is nice to be home to my sofa and my stereo and the "chill" playlist and a good book, but I missed some folks so I jumped on the phone later in the evening and spent 127 of my 3500 minutes fulfilling a craving. It's cheaper than the patch and doesn't leave a white spot on the suntan on your shoulder, but it does wear a person out and prevent them from riding the following day. Instead of cycling tonight will be swimming and then Thursday will be my return to the bike.
posted at 1:00 PM - comments
Monday, July 07, 2003
What a fantastic long weekend, travel problems notwithstanding. I got to spend plenty of time with everybody up there, with the exception of Mercers, with whom I spent just one short evening. We went to a parade, ate summer party food, watched fireworks, went to a movie ("The Italian Job" is sweet!), got in a couple of nice walks around campus and had a couple of blazin' ice-cream stops. I helped Jacqueline with some design ideas for her deck, which was nice, and enjoyed just lounging around at 4.5 Locust Lane. After just about 24 hours from the end of festivities and 12 hours from my departure from Michigan, I'm going through withdrawal from everything I did while I was there.
posted at 6:55 PM - comments
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
A rough ride last evening netted a 24.05 flying mile, but starting with the B group wore me down too quickly and forced me to finish losing steam with the C group. It'll be good to get more experience on the bike to be able to maintain a more average average. Also worked lots yesterday in preparation for an tommorrow's trip north for the Fourth. I'm stoked to be getting away, stoked to see people, stoked to be flying, stoked to celebrate my favorite holiday, stoked to be an American (even if we are blackmailing 35 countries into turning a blind eye to any war crimes we may have committed. Nothing says "guilty" quite like bribing people into voting "not-guilty" no matter what.") and stoked to be heading back to Michigan, where the grass really is greener. Let the good times roll.
posted at 1:06 PM - comments
Thursday, July 31, 2003