Not really, because I can’t remember who won most of the races, but I would be seriously remiss if I didn’t immediately give major props to Eric Rasmussen for winning the state championship in the singlespeed category (in his first SS appearance this season), and then immediately turning in an amazing second place finish behind Idaho’s Sam Krieg in the men’s “A” race to take a second state championship on the day.

That’s pretty freakin’ impressive. Good job, Rico. With Bart Gillespie racing in North Carolina this weekend, the state championship for the Men’s “A” group was wide open, and Rico proved he was strongest on the day. I think this is worthy of sainthood in The Church of the Big Ring.

Props to everyone that turned out for a beautiful day in Ogden to race; especially to Reed Wycoff who kept it going after two hard crashes (one with Connor O’Leary on the pavement, the second over the barriers).

And major bummer to Ali Goulet, who broke his frame … I’m humming Taps right now; because I hate to see any bike die.

Props also to Art O’Connor and Matt Ohran for turning in a fine MonaVie 1-2 finish in the Men’s 35+ “A” field.

Darren Cottle took the men’s 45+ open race, while simultaneously his son Tanner was battling it out with Tyler Fought for the Men’s “B” championship, just missing out on the Cottle double-play by finishing second.

I love seeing how many women are coming out to race this year as well. Trish Glenn, who won the Women’s “C” race, Meaghan Cunningham takes the “B” race. The winner of the women’s “A” race is from Idaho, so I’m not sure if second-placed rider #98 (whose name I don’t have), or third-placed Chantal Thackeray takes the state championship.

Perennial fighter Jennie Wade put in a strong start to the Women’s “A” race as well until an ill-timed mechanical took her out of the running.

Missing in action were Marit Fischer, who is currently racing Ironman Arizona; Dayna Deuter, who is nursing a hamstring injury, and Theresa Carr, who is battling the phlegm gremlins. We missed all of you yesterday.

A repost from March, prompted by various Twitter and other assertions that the United States was founded on “Christian principles” … nothing could be further from the truth.

The only part of became the United States that was founded on “Christian” principles was the original Plymouth colony in Massachusetts, by the Puritans who were escaping religious persecution in England … and of course, they promptly started inflicting their own warped sense of Christian values on the Native Americans and amongst themselves (Salem Witch Trials, anyone?).

In any case, back in March mother sent me more mom-spam, this one being a purported re-write of the Preamble of the Constitution, accompanied by a series of articles. Some of the articles are basic pleas to common sense. But one in particular really got my goat.

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country’s history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!! GET OVER IT!!!

The problem is that this nation was NOT founded on the belief in one true God. Far from it; when asked about it, Alexander Hamilton once flippantly responded that the United States was not in need of “foreign aid.”

Please show me, in the original Constitution, where it makes mention of God. Please!

Unfortunately, you can’t, because the word does not appear once in the entire document.

The word God did not appear on US money until the Civil War, and did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, as a reaction to the McCarthy-driven anti-Communist hysteria.

Oh, sure, there are two brief mentions in the Declaration of Independence (cf. the phrases, “Laws of Nature, and Nature’s God” and “endowed by their Creator”), but the Declaration of Independence is not the document on which our nation is based … the Constitution, which was drafted 11 years later, holds that estimable position.

Heck … most people think that George Washington was the first President, too … but he wasn’t.

There were several Presidents of the United States prior to George Washington. Under the Articles of Confederation (drafted in 1777 and ratified in 1781), the following men served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled:

• Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 – July 9, 1781)
• Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 – November 4, 1781)
• John Hanson (November 5, 1781 – November 3, 1782) — the first to serve a full one-year term, and the first selected after the surrender of the British Army … but not the first.
• Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 – November 2, 1783)
• Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 – October 31, 1784)
• Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785)
• John Hancock (November 23, 1785 – June 5, 1786)
• Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 – November 5, 1786)
• Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787)
• Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 – March 4, 1789)

By the way … the word “God” isn’t mentioned in the Articles of Confederation, either.

And because some people weren’t clear on the concept, the first 10 words of the First Amendment to the Constitution specifically state: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

If God isn’t an establishment of religion, I don’t know what is.

Furthermore, in the Treaty of Tripoli, ratified in 1797 in one of the Senate’s only unanimous votes, Article 11 famously states:

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.

Note that Jefferson did not even capitalize the name of God in his letter. He, along with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were not Christian, although they were Deists … they believed in one Supreme Being, however, but rejected many elements of the Christian church. James Madison, primary author of the Constitution once wrote on Christianity:

What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.

For what it’s worth, I do believe in God, or rather that there is a higher power within all of us, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist alike … even in the fuckwit currently inhabiting the White House. I guess that makes me a Deist, like Jefferson, et al.

But God, in whatever form, has NO place in official government, by design. Please try to remember that when you cast your ballot over the next 6 days.

On the bike, however, is a different story all together … when I’m on the bike, I’m constantly praying … if only to make it to the top of the next rise without my lungs exploding. And I wear my Madonna del Ghisallo … now without a rash, since I finally got a nickel-free chain. And as a legally-ordained minister in the Universal Life Church (and member of The Church of the Big Ring), I feel like that’s acceptable.

So after yesterday’s ride, I was pretty much wiped out in the evening … was thinking about going to bed about 9:00, when I get a tweet from the Reverend Big Ring, who was at the Bayou quaffing Chimay with his lovely fiancée Rachel, the Husla (who of course was not drinking), and a few other people.

The theme of the evening was to bring the bike. So I threw the fixie in the back of the Trooper and headed downtown … found parking a block or so away from the Bayou, and headed in for a couple Anchor Steams.

Eventually, a decision was made to head over to The Hotel Bar & Nightclub on 2nd South … so, hopped on two wheels, and rolled the few blocks north and west, and was confronted with one of the most insane situations I’ve seen in years … especially after The Rev and Rachel headed home.

At 42, I’m not used to the nightclub scene anymore … loud thumping beats, people trying to dress and look years younger than they actually are and just trying to get as trashed as they possibly can (and laid in the process).

On the other hand, I put myself into a situation that would normally having me freaking out with anxiety, by hanging out with a bunch of people I don’t know, especially once the the Husla and Rev both left. And I survived, albeit with very little sleep.

VeloNews | Andy Hampsten and the 1988 Pink Jersey

How do you define an epic? It’s a noun grossly over-used by sportswriters, particularly those who write about cycling. Through the years, European journalists have described heroic deeds by brave athletes on bicycles with gushing prose that was rarely deserved. They even titled road racing’s formative years The Heroic Era.

Admittedly, in the long decades before live radio and television commentary brought reality to the grand tours and classics, cycling fans only learned about races through the written word. And journalists depended on selling newspapers to make a living. The better the story, the higher the sales. It’s no wonder they turned ordinary performances into extraordinary feats.

On reflection, were the daylong slogs through blinding rainstorms on muddy roads any more heroic than what miners did in their everyday jobs at the coalface? How meaningful was, say, Tour de France contender Eugène Christophe’s carrying his heavy steel bike down the Col du Tourmalet and repairing the forks at a blacksmith’s forge? Or did the survivors of “epic” editions in Paris-Roubaix really deserve the lavish praise heaped upon them by an adoring media?

That’s not to say that the riders who excelled in harsh conditions were not deserving of their recognition as exceptional individuals. But a true sports epic is one in which, besides having to battle the elements, the contestants go to the limit of their physical and mental capacities while still competing for the victory in a major competition. All of those ingredients came together on June 5, 1988 on stage 14 of the 1988 Giro d’Italia.

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an excellent series of articles celebrating the 20th anniversary of Andy Hampsten’s win in the 1988 Giro d’Italia, starting with the grueling stage over the Passo Gavia, in which Hampsten finished second on the day (behind the Netherlands’ Erik Breukink), but with the maglia rosa of the overall leader, which he held until the conclusion of the Giro several days later.

I’m actually surprised the Reverend Big Ring hasn’t posted a sermon about this yet … but he has been busy finishing the new chapel and preparing to move his wisdom from the Hells to the Golden ones, if all goes well … so I find myself in the position of leading the prayer service.

Let us pray:

I believe in Hampsten, the Climber Almighty,
    the Creator of heavenly tours,
    and in the Landshark of steel, on which he rode:

Amen.

Now head on over to Velonews.com to read the entire series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Then go to Cyclingnews.com to read Cold comfort: Hampsten’s day on the Gavia.

Great interview in the Marin Independent-Journal today with Davis Phinney, 1984 Olympic cyclist, 2-time Tour de France stage winner, and America’s winningest cyclist.

Cycling in Marin: Champion cyclist regains control of his life in battle with Parkinson’s

IF you’re looking for minor miracles, look no further than Davis Phinney.

For most of the past three weeks, this champion cyclist, a guy who has won 328 races in his life, including two stages of the Tour de France, has been sitting in Tiburon. And waiting. Waiting for a small miracle.

On Friday, that miracle arrived.

At age 48, Phinney has been in an eight-year fight for his life. He has Parkinson’s, the insidious disease that causes uncontrollable quaking and shaking.

Click to read the entire article.

Bob Cullinan, who wrote the article, is also the guy behind CycleTo.com.

Video excerpts from the interview are available as well.

And then go donate to the Davis Phinney Foundation, to help the fight against Parkinson’s Disease. That would be the Big Ring thing to do.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is being broadcast live on Cycling.TV, and again I’m able to watch it without a subscription … much poorer quality video than a couple weeks ago for Paris-Roubaix, but I’ll take what I can get.

And even grainy/pixelated coverage of Phillippe Gilbert attacking hard on La Rédoute is pretty amazing.

And now Paolo Bettini pulls Gilbert back … and now Andy Schleck is taking a flyer … and Schleck is caught by Stefan Schumacher! With about 30km to go, this is going to be an exciting finish!

Definitely a lot Big Ring moves here.

Update, a few hours later:

Nice work by Valverde and Rebellin to reel the youngster in, with older brother Fränk on their wheel. It was too bad that Fränk didn’t have the snap in his legs to drop the two other riders after the great set-up that Andy gave him … but the brothers still managed to finish third and fourth.

I wonder how many times (if ever) that’s happened in a Classic?

I’m taking a few days off from work because, well, I just needed to take a few days off.

I was originally planning to go down to Fountain Hills, AZ (where my mom and stepdad live), to cheer on Kathy Sherwin, et al, at the NMBS race down there, but due to finances (and lack of planning, other than requesting the time off), this didn’t happen.

Now I’m just trying to relax and decompress. Unfortunately, like my normal work week, I’m still only getting 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I need to get out on the bike, and yet, I wasted a perfectly good riding day yesterday.

What’s worse than knowing what the solution to a problem is, and not being able to motivate yourself to do it? My life is so decidedly un-Big Ring these days, it’s unreal. Dysthymia in action (or is that dysthymia inaction?).

I did go to the Bike Porn showing at the warehouse last night; which was really quite interesting in the various ways that bicycle pornography can be interpreted; from the slightly erotic panning of sculpted lugs on a handcrafted steel frame, to the comedic idea of two bikes making love to each other, to a freak-bike builder lusting after high-end boutique racing bikes, to actual hardcore porn involving a bicycle … certain aspects of the latter were erotic and well-done; other aspects were just disturbing, at least to me.

You can view the trailer on Blip.TV … be forewarned, it is definitely not safe for work, or for people who don’t want to see nudity or anything remotely explicit.

Ran into the Wolfe, just after the screening and chatted far too briefly. Sometimes it’s interesting how easy it is to “talk” to people online, yet how difficult it can be face-to-face, when you’re not really sure what to say.

Shortly thereafter was an impromptu running of the Salt City Sprints with a number of exciting match-ups; in a few of the races, in keeping with the theme of the evening, a number of people (men and women alike) stripped down to skivvies, or less in a few cases, to try and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals (or maybe just to give the audience a thrill) …

The most exciting match of the evening was the fully-clothed face-off between Legal Messenger, Inc. (LMI) owner/dispatcher Jason Copier, and LMI messenger Patrick Beecroft which finished in a dead heat at 13.74 seconds. The battle for sprint supremacy between messenger and dispatcher was not settled last night.

The evening broke up about midnight, with many heading off to the Gallivan Center for a Midnight Mass, while I drove home (because, as you know, I drive to bike events rather than actually riding), and sat on the couch for another 3 hours watching stupid late-night television (I don’t even remember what was on) before finally wandering off to bed for a fitful 5-hours of sleep, waking up this morning at 8:30 to face another bleak, boring day … I’ve got to get out on the bike today, even if for only a short 10-miler, before the weather gets shitty.