US Open Tickets for Sale

Any golf fans out there? Anybody looking to take a day, or a few off, and head down to San Diego to watch a little white golf ball just get crushed? Well, I've got you covered...to an extent.

I'm auctioning off my tickets on eBay. If you're interested go check them out. If you bid enough times maybe I can earn some money to pay for a TT or track frame!

Going Compact

When I first started cycling seriously a few years ago I went with a compact crank. After riding standard cranks for the past two years I've decided to go back to a compact. Wish me luck...the low-key hillclimbs this winter could be really interesting in a 34/29 combo! More to follow once I get back on the bike and share some power data...

The Santa Cruz Mtns Fire

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=34464@kpix.dayport.com

There aren't too many roads up in the area of the fire, otherwise I'd be up there riding. However, even worse, there are no sources of water for fire hoses. Hopefully this fire will be snuffed out before too much damage and people are harmed.

This link seems to have the most up to date information:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9344864

Creamy Goodness - Protect Your Junk

A year ago or so I found a recipe for some home brewed chamois cream. Pretty easy to make and doesn't cost much. But I've got to say I don't have the initials in my name to pull off this marketing campaign.

Dznuts

Brought to you by Dave Zabriskie...and the phrase "Protect Your Junk" is even trademarked.

Techno Music (aka the MRI visit)

This is a stretch, but stick with me here as I explain something...

At a young age I was introduced to playing the piano. I didn't really have a choice as my mother was an organist and working towards her own degree in music theory. Now mind you, as a first grader it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially when older people are commenting to you about how when they were young they also played the piano and then they quit a few years later. And now when these older people look back they regret not sticking to playing.

I guess I listened to them enough to keep pounding on the ivory. Yeah, pounding! My teachers were never impressed with my skill to play music softly, because I was drawn to playing everything loud and hard. Call me a hardman of the piano. Needless to say, I stuck with lessons for eight years. Toward the beginning of high school I started focusing on basketball and less on music, but still enjoyed playing from time to time. Probably one of my favorite moments was at high school graduation where I busted out a Bach sonata to the surprise of all my classmates.

Around this time I was discovering electronic music. This was in the late 80's, early 90's and Kraftwerk had laid down the roots of this genre. I soon discovered Orbital, The Orb and Underworld. BTW, one of my favorite concerts was Orbital/Underworld tag team at the Fillmore in SF. Absolutely brilliant...stayed up all night and fell asleep at my desk at work at 3pm the next day. Woke up with sore calves from jumping up and down to the music.

I thought I could put my piano background to use. I dabbled a little bit with hooking up my old synth to my Apple Mac II and trying out the MIDI stuff. It didn't work out too well because my synth was mono-phonic; it could only play one sound at a time. So much for trying to layer a bass line, percussion and a melody all on top of each other. And I realized that the cost to do this would have been tremendous between all the gear I'd need. So back to the drawing board...

I ended up being introduced to DJ'ing by some friends who were into the rave scene in LA. I spent a few months finishing up school over in Oxford and fell head over heals into the club scene, particularly around the music. I ended up coming home with almost 30 pounds of vinyl in my backpack. I got hooked up with some people here in the Bay Area in the mid to late-90's and did some DJ'ing. Mostly small stuff, but fun nonetheless. On a side note I still have my technics and bust them out from time to time for my kids...it trips them out that I'm able to match beats.

So what does this have to do with my MRI visit? A lot to me if you look at it from a musical perspective. There are times where I can let my mind wander and allow my ears to travel down a sonic journey. Whether this be on a beach, amid the redwoods or while listening to a mix tape, it's a fascinating little journey in my head.

While the MRI was pounding away taking pictures of the bulging disc I let it happen. I let the pulsating hits of the machine wash through my ears and I found myself focusing on the secondary sounds the machine was producing. When you think of the MRI and the sounds it makes, it's usually the "click, click, click" that is common. When I'm lying there I hear that too, but after about twenty seconds my ears start picking up the smaller, more faint sounds of the machine. It's like I can hear all the inner-workings of the MRI; gears clicking, things rotating, stuff like that. It's like my own little techno mixtape in my head.

Yeah, so it's a far reach to pull these two things together. But for me, I actually like the MRI as I know it will be a twenty minute mix of minimalistic techno at its finest.

No Way for Pah-noo-che

Ha, no scoop on the results here, just an empty feeling that I have since I won't be racing with my teammates today. I was really looking forward to this race from several different perspectives.


First, quite a few of my teammates felt this course was suited to my strengths (no, I won't let you know what they all are...but they do include knowing the proper footwork for setting a well-executed pick'n'roll, conflict resolution, program management among other things). I went out there 12 days ago to scout out the course with a couple of teammates and they were right. A good mix of rollers leading up to the first climb, and then a series of climbs over the next 6~7 miles that weren't too steep, but enough to shed people. My kind of climbing...and that doesn't even address the hardman wind that will come into play down there. Now it just needs to have some rain mixed in for a true classic, but that won't happen today. Damn hot, and hydration will be key.


Second, I was hoping to get myself off of the equipment failure stump. Twice in the last three races I've done my efforts have been undone by some weird, yet common to most, problems. The first was the rolled rear tubular at the Ronde crit. That was most disappointing because I had second locked up with 2 laps to go in our 2-man breakaway and then the rear tub rolls coming out of the hairpin. That result would have given me enough points to upgrade to the 3's. The last incident was the flat tire I got while descending on the first lap of Wente RR coming down Flynn. It's one thing to say that tubulars are more 'supple' in their ride (which I totally agree to 100%), but when you realize that the suppleness you're experiencing while going 35+mph is due to a slow leak, then it absolutely sucks. The higher powers of the bicycle gods know that I've put in my fair share of equipment sacrifices.


Third, our team was going to have a strong showing of riders in the M35+ 4/5 category. Nothing more fun than riding with 8 other teammates and executing our strategy. None of it for me today. Half the fun of the racing is all the stratergery (thank you President Bush for making this a word that others can use...) that occurs between the team via email beforehand. Whether we can execute is another thing, but just taking about who's going to do what and when just gets my juices flowing.


In the downtime, my list of honey-do's has been filled up with things needed for getting ready for the new baby girl. Put a new coat of pink paint in the girls room...check. Get down baby stuff from the attic...in progress. Secure three weeks of vacation when the baby arrives...check (man, I'm about to use the family medical leave act to its fullest...thank you to the state of California). Amazing what things in life you have time to focus on when you're not racing and the back is on the mend.

For my NBA playoff friends

Get a beverage and read this column. A pretty funny fictitious story that could almost be true.

Gooseman, Charlie, this is for you guys.