Changes

Going out west was probably what brought it to the the surface but, it was coming. Then there was the Bump and Grind race. I haven't been that ready for a race ever. It felt good not to be the slow guy for once. The Grand Canyon made me wonder what I was doing with my time, goals and life.

My visit with John, was more ammunition for the argument. He had no interest in getting back in the game. The business, the people, they are toxic and they want you to be sick like them. I thought of a line from a Paul Simon song: "I don't find this stuff amusing anymore."

When I got home my youngest son and I went on a lot of bike rides. He told me he wanted to ride more and maybe race. I sat for two hours and watched the boys play soccer. They are getting good. These are the things I should be doing, this is what makes me feel good and proud.

I called the band and told them it was over. I deleted music industry numbers and contact info out of my phone and my computer. I felt lite and free. When I get home, for the first time in years, all I will have to worry about is, if my bike clothes are clean, why the boys are fighting, and whats on T.V.. If the wife gives me the wink a couple times a week?

Bonus.

W.B.Z.N.

Get Up! Stand Up!

Please post a comment here to convince Magnum to re-launch his blog. I fear a joke of mine went awry, and I may have played a role in the blogs demise.

STAND AND BE COUNTED! MAGNUM.....COMEBACK!!!

What's Going On

"Did you ride to work?"

It was first thing in the morning, so I wasn't as prepared as I normally am. About three words into my reply, the person in question interrupted me, with a tale of how a cyclist gave her the stink eye, for blocking the turn lane.

"Oh I get it." I said, "You just asked me if I rode, so you could tell me why cyclists are assholes....right?"

The look of horror was immediate. How could I be so rude? Her face turned red. Then, I was the happy recipient of a three minute diatribe, on why it is okay to drive in the bike lane, if no one is in it.

"Too bad it's against the law, huh?" I wondered aloud.

I have never been part of such a hated minority before, and I have to tell you, it sucks. People honestly believe we are the problem. I am going to have to avoid such conversations in the future. I will add cycling to the list of politics, religion and other such taboos. Not because I am worried about my social stock rating, but because I am tired of being in a battle of wits, with unarmed Philistines.

W.B.Z.N.

Roll The Bones

My son rolled the Tom Brown stuff yesterday. That's right! I am one of those annoying Dad's that thinks his kid is AWESOME!!!

W.B.Z.N.

Rainbow in the Dark!

John is telling a story about Dio. Someone had an 8x10 photo of him and wrote on the bottom "objects actual size" and they got in trouble. The video stopped before I got the whole story.

Enjoy.

W.B.Z.N.

In A Big Country #4

I have spent some time in central, and south, Texas. Northern Texas is a different animal. The canyons and mesa that decorate the high desert, run from New Mexico, to the northwest edge of this huge state. It flows into a transition of grass and graineries. Once again, we were running from a sunset, toward Amarillo. There were dark skies behind us, and a good light show ahead. I was looking for the Cadillac Ranch, when I noticed all the grass going horizontal. It was blowning from left to right, and a dust devil was forming, in the field opposite us. A cluster of tumbleweeds, a box, and assorted other flotsam, crossed in front of us, at a high rate of speed. Davey was in a grappling match with the steering wheel. A tractor trailer went from the fast lane, to the emergency lane, in one impossible maneuver. We came out from under the front, and decided we should exceed the speed limit for a little while, ozone, and crude prices be damned.

Other than that, the rest of the trip was a montage of diet Pepsi, waffle houses, gas stations and fighting to stay awake, during our shifts.






The day light found us in Hattiesburg Mississippi. We were seven hours from home.


I spent the rest of the ride reminiscing. How could all of this have happened with no notice, and in three days? I thought about John, and how he had made decisions to get off the merry-go-round. He found what he always wanted. I thought about the Grand Canyon, and how a view changed my priorities. I thought about Route 66, and how things change with or without acceptance. This trip proved what I have always known but, had brushed aside. It's all out there, you just have to go see it. Great trips, like great art, should change the way you see things forever.

Mission accomplished.

W.B.Z.N.

Running Up That Hill

It's race weekend. That is a Picture of "BLOODROCK" . The infamous BUMP AND GRIND race in Birmingham, Alabama, is this Sunday. I hope I am ready. I'll let ya know how it works out.

W.B.Z.N.