I found it! Supplication.

Betsy knew I would, though she wasn't sure how long it would take.
I knew I would but really wasn't sure if I could take it.

There's an old Levi's Jean commercial, and it was part of a series, real urban, big city, showing lots of different folks and types of folks. The lead-in for one was the last shot of another. Maybe Chicago, perhaps New York, probably not West Coast.
Any way, the one I was interested in had a little guy on a minibike (see the connection?) and he steals something. A cop jumps in a cab and tells the cabbie "follow that guy, I'm a cop!" and then the cabbie does the whole inner city cop chase thing, and lo-and-behold he has pictures of Starsky and Hutch and Kojak in his cab.
"Who loves you Babe?" as he gets close to the minibiking thief, then slids it sideways much to the chagrin of the cop, and this happens multiple times.

It's not a Honda Trail 70, but a Mini Trail 50.
Still a fine commercial, and no I coudn't find it on YouTube or nothing.
Couldn't even find a reference of it anywhere on the web! If you can, do lend this sorry sod a hand.

So I had to go through my collection of VHS tapings of Millenium and The X-Files, cause I knew it was in there somewhere.
Found it, during the Millenium Alignment show. A good one, I'll get the date here after a bit. August 8th, 1997, when all the planets were lining up and all hell was bound to break loose.

That about made my day.

A better and cooler place

Just think how much more *fun* life would be, if more folks were riding and trucking about on little motorcycles.
Big grins, having fun, chatting.
"You meet the nicest people on a Honda"

Well I'm doing my part now.
You?

One van (anyone know what kind?), 4 folks, two Trail 70's. Sweet.

That's me, in my suit, going to work, and Betsy and I on the rail trail.

Chris and his concubine, coming over to the Shogrens, for card games, drinking, and trail riding.

Share the Road.

But Take the Lane as well.

"Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles."
Seems no one can decide and neither side will compromise-

Google search on "cyclist fare best when they"
Oh well, we can keep trying and hoping.

Cross starts when?

You can see Betsy's new frames.
But can you see where mine are?
Buried behind the box, behind our borrowed award-winning Tandem.

I am not quite ready for cross, though my legs don't hurt when I run.

The Beginning of the End

Of summer, and all that is peaceful and good in Morgantown, WV.

The students are coming back.
I noticed the blue and gold signs directing parents to the various dorms yesterday as I drove back into town and my heart sank a little.
This morning Betsy and I got to see that at 7:30am there were quite a few of folks trying to get it over w/ early. At Towers it looked like a huge Yard Sale and my cry "I'll give you 50 bucks for all your crap" got some chuckles and lots of gazes by already tired students and nervous parents.
No pictures, we forgot the camera. You'll just have to take our word on it.

On the ride back home the traffic around Arnold was at a stand still and getting only worse as there is little place to park, little place to off-load all your worldly belongings, and it's right on the main drag into town.

Yuck for anyone trying to get around town today. Unless you're on a bike!

And with this event, summer comes to a screaching halt.
More traffic, less parking, more obnoxious activity in the evening, more stumbling kids in the morning, more trash.

I know there are good things to come of all this, but right now they escape me.

Poopie pants.

Well we had a nice summer while it lasted...

Bowling for fun and money!

Betsy, I, and her folks went bowling between her National Road Race and the Podium stuff in 7 Springs. A good time was had, I won, crushed them, but Betsy was coming on strong by the end.
I thought of her when I saw this-
Bowling for Boys and Girls Book
Next time we're going to put the money down and see what happens!

Numbers

Oh that piece of paper is around here somewhere, just hold on a second
or two.

* 21 Moon Lilies have blossomed and died from Friday 6pm until Monday 8am.
* I pumped up 45 cross tyres to 60psi on Monday. Some more than once.
* Dry-mounted 28 cross tubulars. 14 didn't quite stay inflated for too long. Time will tell how many can be revived.
* I can get 27 half pb&j sandwiches out of a jar of Kroger Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter.
* It's 81 miles from my house to Betsy's.

420

So I'm on my way back from the Barnyard Dash Cross race in Loveland, OH.
Got third, flatted on the last lap, drizzled some, bumpy-fast course.

Stop in at a convenient store to grab some sort of go-juice. The one cashier is gooning on a buddy outside with his mike, he's a happy fellow, wanting to make his day go by with a little more fun than most I'd say.

So he rings me up and my total comes to $4.20. "Woah, 420, looks like a good time!", says he. I reply with some sort of remark that gives him the impression that I do indeed know what 420 is (the international smoke time (for some, it's always 420)).
"Yeah, you look like an old stoner", and he rambles on some more.
"My girlfriends mother looks like she's stoned all the time, she's like 40"
Gee thanks, I smirk, grab my change, my two cans of Monster and bag of pretzels, and head out to my VW Bus, oh wait, I get into the 4Runner.

Must have been my tired post-race look and the hair all pulled back.
Or that I just look like an old stoner. Great.

smoke

I think it would be good if I started smoking. Just a little though.
These guys across the street at Town Hill Bar, waiting for the place to open this morning (hey, I would like a beer this fine chilly morning!), seem to enjoy it, gives them something to do whilst waiting.
I sometimes wait a lot. Smoking would be a good thing to do then.
And they're pretty skinny. I like being skinny.

diaryDog, let's skip the run this morning and just walk down to DairyMart to pick up some smokes instead.

___
Sent with fiendFoneVI
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Blue skies don't always bring warmth.

A few years ago, me and my buddy Mike had a little battle. The loser would
be the first to turn the heat on in his dwelling.
Luckily I had a little gas insert in the fire place that I would use some, and with the ceiling fan blowing baby breath heat around, I lasted until November something, perhaps close to Thanksgiving.
Mike had the heat of his neighbors and the city of brotherly love to heat
up his place.
I ain't even gonna try this year. The productivity level plummets when
it's too chilly. And the lord baby Jesus knows that I do need to be
productive.
"Let us be thankful we have an occupation to fill. Work hard, increase
production, prevent accidents and be happy."

Right now the basement is warmer than up here, so it's certainly a sign
that I should stay focused and get more bike stuff straightened out.


My middle finger, on which I had been wearing a big fat X ring, is now rotting and painful. I think I got it too tight, didn't take it off enough, and now the skin's gotta reform. Sure did like the way it looked!

In celebration of the coldness I made the first of my favorite concoctions- hot water, soy milk, and maple syrup. Much too cold for Citrus Drop over ice.
Hello Autumn!

___
Sent with fiendFoneVI
"You have nowhere to go. I am here to protect you."

pb & j.

Everytime, I mean everytime , I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I drip grape jam on myself, or the carpet, or the computer keyboard.
For the past 4 days this has been the case!
Am I getting incompetant, or is my fruit side of the equation a bit off?
Whatever it is, I'm tired of being a sweet sticky mess.
Grump.
___
Sent with fiendFoneVI

Convert lines crap.

So I had to change a setting so's I could more efficiently and properly have the hard and soft line-breaks converted from the email client to blog.
Just like that.
Gotta go back to filing, watching the spider that lives in the shell, and running after dairyDog.
My day couldn't be much better, it's the w/e and Betsy's coming down soon.
___
Sent with fiendFoneVI

The smell of tomatoe leaves and Moon Lilies

It's back to being a sleevless day here, so there's still hope that I won't fall apart yet.

I just love the smell of you fingers after you touch a tomato leaf.
So fresh and distinctive. Just a few more nice days and the plant that I thought would certainly perish may just bear some fruit.

The Moon Lily plant is still producing like a proper fiend.
Just two blooms today, but it looks like there may be about 6 or so for tomorrow. This thing just won't stop!
With the less than sunny weather the blooms you bring inside stay pretty decent for more than just a few hours.
If you don't know what they are do a quick search, then get a small plant. Soon enough it will take over your corner of the world too!

dairyDog too?

What about the amazing dairyDog?

She's always got her race on.
Beat me again at the Mon. Ave. drag race.
She's got the heart of a champion.

sleeves, cemetaries, and critters.

Went from sleevless running this morning to long-sleeved jersey this evening, one of the beautiful ones from the long-gone Super Cup Cross Series. And it's 7:30pm and dark!
It's causing me to loose my focus.
My focus of snapping legs off at the races!
Crap.

Today's ride brought to you by Icing and Club Cracker...when the motivations low and you need something to get you up and out!

The Mon River Rail Trail has to be one of the best things Motown has done.
Rode down towards Fairmont, met up with John Olmo, he told me that Darwin Johnson and his son shoot first and ask questions later when they catch folks on their land. Land that has the lonesome cemetary on it.
So I went there anyway, but didn't tary. Probably not going to ride up through there much more, now that hunting season is almost upon us.

Beavers!
Always lots of deer and bunnies on the trail, but if you keep an eye out you can catch a beaver swimming in the Mon., or two! So cool, so quiet swimming and sometimes so destructive. What a life.

Came back feeling friskiefied, rode over across the way at the high school with dairyDog, and ended up with a good-feeling ride.

Thank you Pillsbury Icing Doughboy and inexpensive Kroger Espresso coffee!
Nothing but the best for me.