Kansas was just named the state with the best roads of all states in the United States (by Reader’s Digest). If that is truly the case, then we’re all in trouble. Our roads suck.

It’s a fine line between being too busy and bored.

It’s also a fine line between riding at your limit and riding by yourself off the back.

Spring is a state of mind more than a temperature.

Note to self: Don’t ever have an occupation where it’s a good idea to wear a Kevlar vest under your clothing.

You owe it to yourself to race with Vittoria CX tubular tires on carbon wheels at least once in your life. (If you don’t race, then do a long ride with lots and lots of fast downhill corners.)

St Patrick’s Day just made it onto my top 5 of holidays. Not too much commercial stuff going on here. Drink beer, wear green and watch parades.

Riding is better therapy than contemplation, reflection, and meditation combined for a real cyclist.

A lot of people think that they are a lot more important than they really are.

Racing bicycles well in the rain takes a lot of concentration and focus. Racing bicycles well in the rain and cold takes the same, plus a ton of expensive clothing.

It makes it feel a little better when “your” team loses by thinking that there are fans for the other team that are just as happy as you feel bad.

Stonehenge was way more intimate and mystical before they fenced it.

There has never been a frame pump invented in the last 40 years that works as good as a Silca with a Campy head.

Milano-San Remo is such a beautiful race to watch. 300 km mainly on the Italian coast. The scenery is awesome. But, after watching the finish on Saturday morning live, I was startled that my first reaction was “that’s it, it’s over?” The riders are on their bikes for nearly 7 hours and then it’s instantly done. Oscar Freire was whisked away to interviews and everyone else is ignored. It is not a glamorous sport when the conditions are harsh. Even when the conditions are perfect, it sometimes isn’t that glamorous. One guy wins and everyone packs it up for another day. But, in cycling, the other days come often. As soon as the next day. Sometimes you have to wait a year, but they come. Tom Boonen will get another shot at MSR.

KU was upset Saturday by UNI. The difference between cycling and basketball is that the finality of it seems more final. The team will not get another chance. KU basketball will get another chance, of course, but those individual players won’t. At least they won’t as a part of the same team make up. If your team isn’t the NCAA National Champion, then it lost a game in the tournament. And it is over for them. Forever. Even if they are just freshmen, that opportunity is gone. I feel bad for them, at such a young age, to experience such disappointment. The expectations are so high that it magnifies the disappointment.

Let’s all remember, if you are just a fan or actually competing, that sport is just sport.

Brent Brookwater at MSR.

M.C. Morris at OKC.