I’ve been sleeping better the last couple nights. But, that being said, it ain’t anywhere near what I need to be doing to train and race bikes properly. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. The most common suggestion is still to go out and get a reclining chair. I’m not going to do it. For one, I don’t want to own a recliner. Two, I can’t imagine a place in my house to put the recliner and sleep in it. Where are you supposed to place it exactly? Are you supposed to place it next to your bed and then just sleep there?
I’ve been taking a big handful of Motrin before going to sleep, along with 1/2 a Valium. I’m going to hold back on taking Ambien for a last resort. This lack of REM sleep plays havoc on daylight hours. It’s been a chore. The PT I’ve been doing over at Rebound Therapy has been an eye opener. Before this, I would have told you that I could rehabilitate just about any injury I had by myself. That isn’t the case here. I would be weeks behind without doing the small, seeming meaningless, movements that I’ve been doing there. It is one good part of this whole ordeal.
I see that Johan Bruyneel is back and posting on his blog once more. He didn’t have much to say other than it is a joy acting like a father for once in his life. He hasn’t removed the 9X Winning Tour de France Sports Director from the heading of the blog. I guess he missed the memo that Lance has officially won none as of now. That puts a big dent into the number 9. The other two were from Alberto Contador. You can take those as you see fit. When is this arbitration hearing going on where Johan can prove that he can come back and win more Tours? I thought it was supposed to start and finish in 2012? Guess not.
I heard a deal on NPR about the failure to pass any legislation on gun control. I don’t know where any of you stand on this, but some of it just makes common sense. We don’t seem to complain when we have to register our cars. I’m not sure why anyone would be against this. It seems like law abiding people wouldn’t care the least. So it would only address criminals in theory. The best quote I heard this morning on the radio was from some senator or legislator (I would love to put his name here) and he said “the fact is that no amount of government interaction (it might of been legislation) can stop irrational people from doing terrible things.”
I know it is hard to sound credible when someone is recording everything you say, but that statement is regoddamndiculous. He must of taken an Ambien after he woke this morning. If you use his logic, then there is absolutely no reason to have Homeland Security. For that matter, even having any police around.
It seems like spring is non existent here. Dennis said it is supposed to snow another 1/2 foot or so up in Cable. They need to hold the Birkie in April since this weather pattern has shifted.
Trudi ordered a truckload of mulch that was delivered yesterday in the rain. I was mildly horrified. She is taking off this afternoon for a month, so I assumed that it was going to be up to me to spread it around. I went to PT, came back and Dennis and Trudi had spread the majority of it. I only had to move 10-15 wheelbarrows full and it was done. It looks good.
The is a stage race in Lawrence this weekend. But, none of my guys can race it. For some really unexplained reason, the guys at Velotek Gran Prix, and their races in general, don’t allow Cat. 1’s to race. I’ve received a few emails from friends wanting to come and are super surprised that there is no race for them. It is a long story, that probably doesn’t really have a conclusion, but it is jacked up to say the least. Our sport is much too small to start excluding certain people from racing. It’s that simple.
Catherine is racing over there this weekend. There is Cat. 1 racing for the women. I think Bill and Brian should just race the Master’s races and smear everyone. Maybe they would put the Cat. 1 men back. I’ll probably ride over and watch some. It’s an easy way to get some miles.
Okay, I need to ride before heading over to the airport in Kansas City to drop Trudi off. It is 38, wet and blustery. Perfect April weather.
It doesn’t look like much, but it is way over 50 wheelbarrows full. Maybe closer to 100.
It is easy to spread it in the front, but around back took more effort.
The kittens, all siblings, are super interested in anything going on outside.
Bill and I just heading out to ride to Lawrence on gravel. Bromont was up for it, but Hawkeye was done from walking. I found out my shoulder isn’t up for gravel riding yet.
After abdominal surgery, I found a recliner to be sleep saver. In fact, it was a necessity. When I came home and stayed at my folks for a few days, my abdominal muscles were so sore that there was no way I could lay flat or crawl on/off a mattress. I slept for two nights in the recliner in their living room, and slept well. Of course I occassionally got dagger stares from their two cats who considered the recliner as THEIR sleeping spot for the night. Tough for them, I was first.
You can put the recliner chair in the living room, in front of the TV. Then, you start to watch tv and after 1 hour, you will get to sleep. I do it all the time.
First, did you read about that lady that took an Ambien and went to sleep in her own bed only to wake up in jail and have no idea what happened? She sleep walked to her car and drove 1.5 miles before hitting someone. She now has a DUI on her record, but knows of nothing that happened. What are you supposed to do? Lock your self in your room? I suppose you would know to unlock the door in your sleep??
And second, I have guns and enjoy shooting. It’s a family activity. I want to start by saying that it TOTALLY makes sense to increase the focus on the mental health of all of us. For sure the mental health of anyone attempting to purchase weapons. The reason I don’t mind registering my car is because by doing so – car lots still have cars to sell and they’re not $100,000 each. I’m not saying that guns would be this expensive. But, right now even – you can’t go to Wal-Mart and buy ammo. Everywhere is sold out – and there hasen’t even been any legislation passed yet. If legislation was passed people would hord so much that everything would be so expensive (even if you could find what you wanted) and only the super rich would be able to own guns or afford ammo. Sound like England much??
Anyway, just like with Reps and Dems there are nut-jobs on the far-right and far-left of both parties. And it’s this extreme divide that is doing the damage to this country.
Sure, I would like to be able to find one damn box of .22’s to go target shooting with my son next month. It’s not to be found! But, you read these online forums and these guys talk about going to Gander Mountain and standing in line each week at 6am waiting for the weekly truck to come in so they can further their stock-pile of ammo. One guy boasted he had 36,000 rounds of .22! Why the hell are you doing that dude? What are people so afraid of?
So, I think it’s this fear of the possiblilty of everything shooting related being super expensive or flat unavailable if legislation passes.
Everyone just needs to chill the eff out. This Saturday is a perfect day to get started. Can’t we all just getabong?
If not, I guess my son and I will shoot my BB gun. Until someone decides we need legislation on those – then the nut-jobs will buy out all the BB gun stuff. Losers.
best post & @wildcat comment this year!
The Masters category for the Lawrence race is restricted to Cat 3/4/5, so your Cat 1 guys can’t race that either.
You can have almost as much fun with a proper ‘bb gun’ as you can have with a firearm.
http://www.edgun.ru/en/cat/guns_03.php
There’s plenty of cheap ammo, and you can hunt locally without worrying about getting arrested.
That way you cn save the firearm ammo for when TSHTF.
I”m very apprehensive to do this. I’ve never responded to something like this. Not sure this is the right forum.
I don’t believe an irrational person or someone with criminal intent planning to do something terrible is necessarily going to follow legal means of procuring a weapon of some sort.
As far as mental health data, where is that going to be available? If I have a prescription for anti anxiety or depression will my doctor report it to a government agency? Will that keep people with struggles in their lives from seeking medical treatment?
I would like to have a safer world to live in, but our government cannot protect us from all evil.
I’ve been wondering about the Cat. 1 bais in Kansas racing myself. Does anyone know the logic behind it? I guess it’s nice for the Cat 2’s trying to get upgrade points but that doesn’t really seem like a valid reason to exclude 1s. It seems like any benefits fail to outweigh the damage it does to the local race scene.
I might be moving to the Kansas City area for work, would probably live in Olathe. What is the best way to check into the cycling scene (websites, teams, etc)? I am a 37 year old Cat 2 on the road and track (not that there is a velodrome to race on there!)
Thanks,
Jeff
Steve,
Go to Walgreen’s and look for a drink called Neuro and the flavor “Sleep”. It has melatonin in it, and may help you sleep through the night. Works for me..
Nice to see pics of anyone’s yard without snow all over!
Re the Cat 1 thing…..I was once a 1. (downgraded) and have promoted MANY events. I can’t speak directly to the reasons the promoters of your events would not include cat 1’s, but I know that for me it was a supply and demand issue as much as a competition issue. There just aren’t enough 1’s even in MABRA to justify a separate 1/2 event and including them in the Masters event created an environment that led to many of the 3’s and 4’s not even bothering to sign up and race. So I had to resort to excluding them for the sake of net numbers. Its hard to pay all the expenses of an event as it is. So much so that I had to stop promoting races and am going to start doing Fondo type events and unsanctioned “races”. They are much more inclusive and cost effective and don’t require a license or (necessarily) sanctioning. To say NOTHING about the hassles USAC has created in the last bunch of years. hmmmm??? is USAC and the UCI listening? I don’t think so.
Heck…I remember doing Super week in the 80’s when you had to…. GASP!….MAIL in your fees and forms and the prize money was big enough and deep enough that you could race nearly everyday and pay for most or all of your travel expenses (I lived out of the van!) just by finishing in the high teens or top ten.
I remember doing the Pro 1/2 event in Tour de Moore in NC (the year before the big crash in the cat 3 race), finished 20th and walked with a $150 check….it was my first event as a Cat 2.
David, you are 100% correct in my opinion. Evil will always do evil things. Criminals do not follow any gun laws so most gun laws only affect law abiding citizens. I had read there are over 22,000 gun laws in the US so what will adding more laws do to curb gun violence? If LEO’s would enforce the ones we currently have would that even help? As a society we glorify violence in movies, music and on TV. Our kids are inundated with violence. We have taken god out of our country, schools and lives. We give pills for every physical mental problems. We have created a social welfare system that rewards people for having babies and no jobs unless you consider collecting welfare a job. We are reaping what we sewed.
Jeff…the 2 best sources for bike racing info in the KC area are:
KCA Cycling- kscycling.org
Local Cycling- localcycling.com
I don’t know why we think criminals will follow drug, homicide or larceny laws either. We really should get rid of those too.
Also if anybody is still paying attention, what about illegal drugs? Illegal drug laws have had little or no effect on the availability to criminals and those with intent. I believe that gun laws will be about that effective.
Thanks Bruce! Looks like a really good race scene. Do people use cross or mountain bikes for the gravel races?
Jeff