A guy goes into a store and asks the clerk, "I'd like some Polish Sausage. "
The clerk looks at him and says "Are you Polish?"
The guy says, "Well, yes I am, but, if I had asked for Italian sausage would you ask me if I was Italian??? Or if I had asked for German sausage, would you ask me if I was German??? Or if I wanted a taco would you ask if I was Mexican???"
The clerk says, "Well, no."
The guys says, "WELL, why do you ask me if I'm Polish just because I ask for Polish sausage?
The clerk says, "Because this is a f**king hardware store."
Friday, January 27, 2006
Excerpt: A THIN LINE
(author unknown (at least to me))
I know the symptoms just as well as I know the adjectives-burning
thighs, cramping calves, aching knees, screaming lungs, and side
stitches so sharp I can't inhale. And all this on top of nagging back
pain and that nasty stinger that pops up between my shoulder blades on
occasion the last few years.
Sometimes it doesn't hurt too badly, like when I have to dig just a
little. Maybe I've got to pull through at the front of a fast paceline,
the effort's intense, but after a few seconds the next guy pulls through
and everything's okay. Or the hill is steep but short. Other times, it's
the duration, not the intensity that makes the pain so bad, like a huge
headwind that beats down every bit of morale I ever thought of and I've
still got 10 miles to go.
Or I curse myself as I cannot answer another rider's move even though
I'm drooling and blacking out from the effort. Or the group disappears
yard by yard up the road as my legs simply refuse to work any harder.
Why do I subject myself to this kind of suffering? Why do I ride when
my legs are cement and I feel like crap? Or plan my entire Wednesday so
I'll be at my strongest in order to suffer like a dog trying to hang
with the Hammerheads? Why did I strap on a brace and go riding 10 days
after I broke my collarbone?
There's something completely different about pain I choose to subject
myself to. I do, after all, get to hold that internal debate about when
enough is enough. And of course, Darwin teaches only the strong survive.
I don't quite think this theory holds up in our coddled society, but I
haven't entirely given up on it either. I do know that I remain enamored
with growing stronger and faster, even though I can't figure out how all
the suffering this entails benefits me one whit otherwise.
Except that hard rides provide frequent, powerful reminders of one of
the great lessons humanity offers-that the fine line between pain and
pleasure is very thin indeed, and one cannot truly know one extreme
without knowing the other equally well.
I know the symptoms just as well as I know the adjectives-burning
thighs, cramping calves, aching knees, screaming lungs, and side
stitches so sharp I can't inhale. And all this on top of nagging back
pain and that nasty stinger that pops up between my shoulder blades on
occasion the last few years.
Sometimes it doesn't hurt too badly, like when I have to dig just a
little. Maybe I've got to pull through at the front of a fast paceline,
the effort's intense, but after a few seconds the next guy pulls through
and everything's okay. Or the hill is steep but short. Other times, it's
the duration, not the intensity that makes the pain so bad, like a huge
headwind that beats down every bit of morale I ever thought of and I've
still got 10 miles to go.
Or I curse myself as I cannot answer another rider's move even though
I'm drooling and blacking out from the effort. Or the group disappears
yard by yard up the road as my legs simply refuse to work any harder.
Why do I subject myself to this kind of suffering? Why do I ride when
my legs are cement and I feel like crap? Or plan my entire Wednesday so
I'll be at my strongest in order to suffer like a dog trying to hang
with the Hammerheads? Why did I strap on a brace and go riding 10 days
after I broke my collarbone?
There's something completely different about pain I choose to subject
myself to. I do, after all, get to hold that internal debate about when
enough is enough. And of course, Darwin teaches only the strong survive.
I don't quite think this theory holds up in our coddled society, but I
haven't entirely given up on it either. I do know that I remain enamored
with growing stronger and faster, even though I can't figure out how all
the suffering this entails benefits me one whit otherwise.
Except that hard rides provide frequent, powerful reminders of one of
the great lessons humanity offers-that the fine line between pain and
pleasure is very thin indeed, and one cannot truly know one extreme
without knowing the other equally well.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Vegas was exhausting!
I'm back from vegas and I'm exhausted!
It aint easy hanging out with 20 of your friends in the city that really doesn't sleep!!!
I'm curious as to the training crit at the Progress park this past saturday, Let me know what happened.
It aint easy hanging out with 20 of your friends in the city that really doesn't sleep!!!
I'm curious as to the training crit at the Progress park this past saturday, Let me know what happened.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Catch up...
I'm aware that the ole Blog has been somewhat dormant for the past couple of weeks. So I will now catch up with all the stuff I should have blogged about since my last posting:
- It got cold, then warmed up, then got cold again. Then it got warmer, rained and then got cold again. Now it's on the warmer side.
- Rides out at the Progress Park have gone on every Tue/Thur.
- Jayson and Scott are the current leaders of the "Iron Man Award"
- The Progress Park rides have been getting faster, with more interval, I mean "wintervals"
- Happy new Year
- There were lots of rides during the holiday break, some of which I attended...others I was unable to make. Some were fast and others weren't. Some started slow but got faster.
- There was a post-ride lunch at Neros on one of the days I had to work
- Scott Pfaff has recently been named as a new board member of the GCC
- Scott makes the A-riders proud!
- This weekend is the Tour de Felasco. I'm not looking forward to sitting on my mountain bike for 6+ hours.
- At least the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend.
- We now park on the back side of the Progress Park loop on Tue/Thurs. Why?...I think it's because there was a report of somebody deficating in the parking lot, but I'm not sure about that one.
- Jayson got another bike (side note: I'm still riding my Ridley)
- There a new U.S. Pro Continental team being formed for the 2006 season. The United Pro Cycling Team, who'd director is Frankie Andreu, has pulled top riders from many top US teams and looks to be a contender for the best domestic team this year.
- I may have missed a bunch of stuff, but at least you have something more current to comment on.
- It got cold, then warmed up, then got cold again. Then it got warmer, rained and then got cold again. Now it's on the warmer side.
- Rides out at the Progress Park have gone on every Tue/Thur.
- Jayson and Scott are the current leaders of the "Iron Man Award"
- The Progress Park rides have been getting faster, with more interval, I mean "wintervals"
- Happy new Year
- There were lots of rides during the holiday break, some of which I attended...others I was unable to make. Some were fast and others weren't. Some started slow but got faster.
- There was a post-ride lunch at Neros on one of the days I had to work
- Scott Pfaff has recently been named as a new board member of the GCC
- Scott makes the A-riders proud!
- This weekend is the Tour de Felasco. I'm not looking forward to sitting on my mountain bike for 6+ hours.
- At least the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend.
- We now park on the back side of the Progress Park loop on Tue/Thurs. Why?...I think it's because there was a report of somebody deficating in the parking lot, but I'm not sure about that one.
- Jayson got another bike (side note: I'm still riding my Ridley)
- There a new U.S. Pro Continental team being formed for the 2006 season. The United Pro Cycling Team, who'd director is Frankie Andreu, has pulled top riders from many top US teams and looks to be a contender for the best domestic team this year.
- I may have missed a bunch of stuff, but at least you have something more current to comment on.
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