It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

The Pen is Mightier

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Chose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Down With The Sickness: Time To Cat Up

Mongo is sick...not "and tired", not "in the head", and nothing to do with my sense of humor. Instead, I've got a good old fashioned cold. I wish I had paid more attention to that tale told by the old wife. Is it "feed a fever, starve a cold", or "feed a cold, starve a fever"? Whichever one it is, I'm doing the wrong one.

Anyway, I'm four days deep into this sinus extravaganza and it has put a damper on my ability and want to go riding. Interestingly enough though, my ability and want to complain and be miserable to be around is at an all-time high. I needed to get out of the house this morning and put some miles on my legs and loosen up some phlegm.

I figured my best bet was to go to my old stomping grounds at the Cat 6/7 "Enemy Bike Shop" ride and just sit in the middle of the peloton. I had no thoughts about contesting the win or even hanging up front because I was quite sure that I would have nothing in my legs and lungs but sickness and excuses. Just in case though, I doped to the gills.

It was a very large and expensively outfitted group today. In between the usual Madones, Colnagos, Serottas, S-Works, and Di-2 equipped machines, was the newest "look at me" bike of this peloton of poseurs...A ghost-black, Willier Zero-7 with a Campy Super Record 11-speed gruppo and Zipp 404's. Mongo has to admit that it was a sweeeeet bike. Unfortunately, it was ridden by an incredibly douchey older gentleman who Mongo had a run-in with previously on a different ride when he was riding a yellow and black "Petacchi" Willier and complained to me about not holding my line as he was drafting me up a fast , steep climb. What a dick!

As the ride started I got to chatting with my nemesis, "Hairy Guy With Beard...Today On Ridley CX" and we both figured we'd be taking it easy for different reasons and not push it. That didn't happen! All the other usual contenders/pretenders sensed our weakness and dropped the hammer early...including my pal on the Willier. I would have been content with a mid-pack effort if this blatant affront to my domination of this ride hadn't happened. It was now "on"...whether I or they liked it or not. Fortunately for me, "Hairy Guy With Beard On Ridley CX" felt the same way and we both jumped in the ten man breakaway.

Mongo's ride would best be described as savvy! I used as little energy as possible while in the draft, and purposely controlled the pace when I found myself at the front. Even in my sickly state, thanks to my strategy and PED cocktail, Mongo was fresh and in a strong position going into the final few miles (American for kilometres). By the time we finished the climbs and made the turn onto the final straightaway there were only two of us up front with the other eight about two hundred metres (European for yards) behind us and gathering steam.

The guy who was with me is a climber so I knew I could take him in the sprint. The trouble was that with almost half a mile to go I might not beat the other eight guys who were organized and closing. I attacked off the front anyway...and won! It should have been sweet but it wasn't. I think it's finally time to move on to a bigger pond. Mongo has exhausted his competitive welcome with this group and it would only be ego stroking and blatant sandbagging if I were to continue frequenting this ride...See you guys next week!

Irina Shayk Vs Bianchi Oltre

...Or Half A Page Of Scribbled Lines

This is a bad photograph of one of Mongo's watches taken mere minutes ago. Though a nice Tag-Heuer that I have owned for over twenty years, it is not the thing, but instead the memories attached to it, that I have treasured all this time.

Mongo doesn't wear jewelry...Unless of course you count the "big-ass" gold and platinum cross, the diamond studs, the pinky-ring, and the assorted, bedazzled "kicks" that I wear to the club on occasion. Other than that, I have always only just worn a watch.

Like most people of my generation, my first watch was a Timex. It had a brown leather strap and gold trim around a very basic, hand wound, analog dial. I was so proud! This was second grade if I remember correctly.

The watch that officially made me cool was given to me by my brother in-law when I was about thirteen. My parents gave him a Rolex or an Omega for getting my sister off their hands, and he gave me his Seiko divers watch. It was big, bulky, and bad ass! The only problem was that it lost about two minutes per day.

My first expensive'ish watch was once again another Seiko. I talked my parents into coughing up the $150.00 (in 80's dollars) for my Christmas present when I was sixteen. It was a sweet, stainless steel, quartz, diver-style watch that I wore proudly for almost thirty years.

The above Tag was also a present from my family. I think both of my sisters went in on this one as well. It continues to be worn frequently and I hope to get another twenty years out of it. Though I have owned, and do own, other watches, some cheaper, some much more expensive, these four watches in particular have been there for every meaningful stop along the timeline of my life

Who Needs Tenerife?

In the first official training camp style ride of the 2012 season for the Smyrna Bicycles Cycling Team, pronounced "lay-o-pard", eight of us got together yesterday and put in a brisk, 19 mph, 40 miles on the Silver Comet Trail.

A good time was had by all and a little smack-talk has started to rumble about the upcoming "race of truth", the Tundra Time Trial.

Rocket Reducer #66

The memories of my youth on Internet radio

I was so much older then

Sensory sounds at the click of a button

I'm younger than that now

I'll Go This Way: Sizing Up The Competition

Mongo had every intention of "layin' it down" on Saturday morning and doing a serious ride. My ride options were 7:30 am, 10:00 am, or 3:00 pm, with various or no teammates.

I chose the 10:00 am option...which was one of the two "Enemy Bike Shop" rides. They both start at the same time from the same place with the shorter, Cat 6/7 ride breaking off after a few miles. This is the ride that Mongo has dominated all year...with either a win or a podium the last thirty or so times I've participated. I figured that for my last, probably, suburban-alley-cat-group-ride of 2011, I was going to do the longer, faster, Cat 1-5 ride.

When I arrived at the parking lot and looked around I knew that "wasn't" going to happen. There were way too many matching kits belonging to local pros, and there were even a couple of guys wearing Hincapie kits and riding BMC's. Too rich for Mongo's blood! Had it been a month ago and twenty degrees warmer, I probably would have given it the old college try. But...it was 45 and windy and I hadn't doped properly for the effort needed to hang, or try to hang, with this bunch. So...I broke off at the appointed spot and did my usual ride with the usual suspects.

It actually turned out to be a little slower than normal, which led to "Hairy Guy With Beard On Parlee" and Mongo breaking away from the peloton about halfway through the loop. We battled each other over the last five miles, with both of us attacking several times, but in the end we decided not to contest the sprint...though Mongo did cross the line first.

Feliz Navidad

Climb On The Back And We'll Go For A Ride In The Sky

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.”

(Henry David Thoreau)

Back To Back: That's The Fact Jack

For most of Mongo's life, I have followed the "do what I want, when I want to do it" credo. While this cavalier attitude might seem admirable to some and childish to others, know that Mongo has paid the price many times over in the face of stability, commitment, family, and society. That being said, it has allowed me to pursue, or not pursue, avenues that might normally be closed to many. A ceramic bearing gathers no moss.

I was peeling off my kit a couple of weeks ago after a strong, 44 mile, 20+ mph ride with "He Was In The Front Most Of The Time" Tom, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. When did a small Shar-Pei start living on my stomach? Sure, I hadn't been riding as much as normal. And sure, my honey-bun and ice-cream intake has continued. But other than that, I was stunned at this development.

The past two weeks have been a boot-camp style immersion into regaining my fitness and losing the flabalanche. Long rides mixed with interval climbing have finally gotten Mongo back to ground zero. I put my fitness to the test on Saturday and Sunday with fast loops on the 23/2300 Hammerfest and the Beyond Six Flags courses.

Like most human beings, I'm not a big fan of cold weather. Throw in some wind and a bicycle, and it can be pretty miserable. Mental fortitude becomes the main factor under these conditions. Both rides offered Mongo the opportunity to pack it in early, but in honor of my teammates who were out there H'ing The F Up and racing cyclocross, I hung in there and finished strong.

Kate Upton Vs Cannondale SuperSix EVO

What Will $1876.00 Get You On Ebay?

O.G. 1978, Dogtown "Big Foot" with Tracker trucks and Road Rider wheels.