Getting ready

The day after the election, I hit the road on my cross bike to explore some new roads. As I rode through my neighborhood, I noticed all the Obama signs in Old Town Longmont. There was a big push in my hood. On election day, the Democratic campaign had canvassers all over the place. Some even came in from California to help in Colorado since it was a swing state. The work seemed to pay off. As I rode my bike into the more rural parts of Longmont, then north toward Carter Lake, I saw a bunch of McCain signs. I felt like Nelson on the Simpsons (Ha Ha) - but I didn't want to rub it in. It's just amazing to me how many people still supported the Bush/McCain mentality. I suppose when it's in your family for generations, it's hard to break the cycle.

I chose to take the cross bike out on a primarily asphalt ride for a reason. The nice thing about a cross bike - no matter where the road takes you , the bike can handle it. I took some roads that I've never been on. Sure enough the road turned to dirt.

The road less traveled.

So - not to get to philosophical here, but this ride is a great parallel to where we are in America. We chose to go down a new road - one that we've never been on before. Sure, the old road was filled with potholes, road kill, puddles, and many road blocks. But that's old news. What's important is that the new road is something completely new. You have to hand it to the American people for going out on a limb and electing to take a new path. Change is good. The only constant is change. If you search 'change' on Google, Barack Obama is mentioned within the 1st few results. So - the times they are a changing. If it's an indication of what lays ahead, my ride was excellent. The new road was fun, scenic, and brand new. I can't wait to see what's next.

Others are happy too. Check out this song from Brother Ali...


Speaking of getting ready, Mr. Swift, Lawyer Eric, and I are hitting the Boulder County trails for a good 6 hours today. We're getting our legs ready for next weekend's adventure: the White Rim Trail. It's an epic ride in Utah's Canyonlands National Park. The 103 mile loop is typically done in a few days and it's known as the 'ultimate party trail' since a lot of folks camp and party along the way. But there won't be a whole lot of partying for us as we are doing the loop in one day. We're joining White Rim veterans Brian and Jenny Smith. They're multi-sport athletes on the Trek-VW MTB team. They just got back from the Xterra World Championships (where they each got top 10 finishes) and they want to do the ride to celebrate the end of their season. There should be about a dozen folks on the ride next weekend. I'll try to remember that pain is temporary and glory is forever. After all, you don't remember the pain - only the good times. I think there will be LOTs of good times on this ride!

In other news:

When Jackie went to NYC, she brought me back a very nice gift - a pair of Rapha Knickers. I was really impressed with the performance, so I checked out the site. They have some nice, simple style, but DAMN they're expensive. Check out this tweed soft shell. It would be a sweet jacket to pimp around on rides, but come on - $750! Wow.

A couple Madones came through Adventure Fit this week. Sharon, who does Urban Assault Ride PR, and husband Dan are the happy parents.
I was impressed with the way the seat mast came together. It's light, but doesn't require a cut. And it's adjustable, which is a plus. The paint job was also top notch. I can't wait to see what Trek comes out with for Lance's return!

Speaking of Trek (and Sharon), Trek is a new sponsor of Freiker -a bike to school program that's really state of the art. The kids get a chip that is scanned every time they ride to school - so they are automatically counted. They tabulate the miles ridden and the kids get prizes for riding the most miles. Sharon was instrumental in bringing the program to Boulder. Her girls have won many Freiker ( FREquent bIKER) awards. Nice work Sharon!

And last but not least, we're getting some cool new apparel for the UAR next year. On tap we have UAR cycling caps, UAR jerseys, mens AND womens socks, and reflective UAR stickers. What else would you all like to see? Bring on your special requests!