Cody

There's a fragility in opinion that I think I no longer can say that I am immune to.


It was a feeling a haven't truly encountered for some time; true objective sadness. Yesterday when I was talking to my father I learned that one of my families three dogs was diagnosed with liver cancer and that it had already spread to his lungs terminally. At first I didn't really know what to say, and truthfully there wasn't much to be said.

He received the shot today sometime in the afternoon not a day after my knowledge

He had done nothing to anyone, at times he could be yappy like any other small dog, and of course sometimes that yappiness transcended into a full scale hate factor where I was the one wishing death, but given the opportunity to strap him down to a table and give him the lethal injection would I? Absolutely not; and here, all of a sudden, something completely beyond my power does, in such a short span of time that it throws me into shock, almost like a joke. A fatal infallible truth; and now he's gone.

It was the first time I've heard my father cry in a long time. As a kid I was very lucky, both of parents despite their eccentricities had a firm grasp on reality and were seldom brought to tears; brought to vulnerability, and despite this I hear the sniffling of my mother over the phone, and the hushed crying of my father in the background.

No one is an island. I thought I was beyond emotion, and yet all it took was the unmitigated pattern of truth and fate. I'm not a religious person but I do wish a peace upon my family, and a peacefulness in the dog that I now recognize to be good.


Danny

POINT OF INTEREST FOR THE DAY:
Generally speaking I think its a good thing to live in the present, although recently I've found myself doing the exact opposite.

School has been good to me thus far. This term I'll be finishing up FIlm History which turned out to be far more interesting than ever previously thought. Overall I'm glad I'm a film major, maybe its not the most conventional study, but it beats solving math problems.

The OSU and WWU/UW races went very well, more and more I'm finding I like Criterium's much more than Road Races. They remind me of Cross and I like that.

yeah

Winter Term: Done

After a steady completion of final after final, my Winter Term is for all extensive purposes over. I have to say taking 20 credits wasn't as bad as I imagined. Granted most of my classes functioned a little differently with the work load emphasized in different places, but overall not a horrible experience. The weather has been off and on this week with random downpours and bouts of sunlight.


Typical manic Portland; can't make up its mind to save its life.

I've mostly recovered from my brief bout of sickness, its always a weird feeling re acclimating after being bed ridden for a couple days. The real test will be this weekend. I'm not sure how people fair doing 30 mile bike races and what not after being sick but I'll see soon enough.

I hope I don't die

the end

Sickness

I has it.

And have had it for the past four days.

Lame

S&D III

Spand and Deliver #3: Half Messenger/Half Road Race. Alley Cat

If there is any indicator to how I've improved since last year, (coming up on almost exactly last year now), this is it. I did this alley cat last year and got DFL, attributed mostly to my lack of coordination between checkpoints, but either way by the end I was more tired then I had ever been and in last.

Things I learned during the race last year

- do the checkpoints in the right order
- try not to fall
- how to descend Mt Tabor correctly

Things I acquired from last years race

- DFL
- A Candy Bar
- A Nickname

Concluding thoughts: no expectations, have fun.

Banana #1

Today was the first race in the Banana Belt series for OBRA. I suppose it was my first race of the "season" and overall I did fine considering I've never actually done a road race before. 19/31: slightly below mid pack but I mainly attribute it to the down hills I had to deal with 2/3 through the last lap. I had kept a pretty good pace but after failing to keep on on a very sharp turn down a monster hill I lost the pack and had to sprint just to keep up. Again, descending is something I'm not very good at but I mostly attribute it to the fact that its hard to be steady in any situation when your gangly, and 6'3.5", this isn't including the fact that it was going down a wet hill at 35mph and having to make a 90 degree turn. So overall I didn't do horribly. I would have liked better if I finished higher, but for a first road race that wasn't too bad.

On a slighter more ironically positive note it rained almost consistently through my race and for the most it didn't really bother me, I can thank the Cross Crusade for that one.

As far as road racing in general, its something I need work on so I suppose I shall continue to proceed.

Thats all for now?

Theft

Recently I was unfortunate/fortunate enough to get my wheel set stolen and then get it back. I've got to say, as far as gut feelings go, getting something stolen from you definitely leaves the sourest, emptiness taste. I'm really lucky I got an opportunity to get my wheels back but this little theft has been floating around for about two weeks now and as far as emptiness goes its somewhere between Dick Cheney's heart and a black hole.

I'M GUNNA GET YA!

http://bikeportland.org/2009/02/18/thief-swipes-high-end-bikes-from-pearl-district-condo-photos/

I've got to say as far as thefts go this guy has really screwed himself. When my shit got stolen the only person who cared enough to look was probably me and a few other close friends/cyclists, but this guy is offering up a 1000$ bounty. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the Moots company aside from the fact that they actually decided to name a bike building company Moots, but if I so much as see the slight gleam of Titanium anywhere in the Pearl, this guys pretty much done. I had a day dream just a second ago of unclipping and pouncing on the guy while riding, so one can imagine what social justice/universal curvyness coupled with bounty of 1000 means to me right now.