Rising from the Ashes

A few months ago my family and I completely geeked out and had a Harry Potterfest in honor of my son William having finished reading the entire Harry Potter series.  We pretty much lived in our pajamas for the entire two days and lived on everything from Waffles to Devile Eggs to Ice Cream Sundaes for dinner one night and sushi the next.  One of our favorite characters in the entire series never spoke a single word - Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes.  It struck each us how sad it was that at the end Fawkes was left without anyone, after he had spent so much time with Dumbledore he was now without a companion and flew off alone across the lake, after giving us such wonderful moments as this;



And this;

And although he is one of my favorite fantasy literature characters of all time, Dumbledore needed help to kick butt as is shown in this little discourse which pits Dumbledore against my favorite wizard of all time;

 

And if you want to know how Sir Ian was able to channel all of that Tolkienesque persona into a mere mortal package, you have to listen in on his conversation with Ricky Gervais;



Now when Harry first meets Fawkes he bursts into flames.  Harry, never having seen this occur is of course shocked when he tells Dumbledore about it and he responds, "And about time too, he's been looking dreadful for days."  Not to compare myself with a truly memorable character, I myself have been looking dreadful for days, uh weeks, okay really since last November.

You see, I somehow managed to either injure myself or exacerbate a previous injury in my back to the point that riding my bicycle had become painful.  I couldn't make it for more than five or six miles before the pain would start up.  That pretty much has been going on for almost a year.  I've had injections, I've had epidural treatments, I've had chiropractic work (thank you again Dr. Scott!) and I've worked on my core.  The result is its better (I can ride about 30 miles non stop) but I'm far from back to my 2012 Ride Across America shape.   Instead, I've been making excuses not to ride (it's cold, I have things to carry, it will be dark) and I've seen my fitness languish to a level I haven't seen since my ankle surgery.  Although I did manage to briefly raise my head from my this self imposed torpor currently feeling like some sort of sun worshipping lizard,


(Could Someone Put Some Sunscreen Between My Shoulder Blades?)

in that I created a fundraiser to try and send a child to Sunrise for one week which I called 467 for Sunrise (based on the idea that 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every day and seven will perish from the disease).  I ended up raising $800 ($100 short of my goal) but it got me back on the bike and riding almost every single day.  Unfortunately, after logging almost 500 commuting only miles in the month of September, I lapse back into my sunbathing lethargy.  It's been that way pretty much every since.

Well no more!  I'm starting to feel better and I have to stop babying the back.  Of course, this is not to confuse the issue with Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back";



Trust me, at this point I got my own big butt!  But that's only part of the issue - a big part.  I just went today for my Northport Fire Department physical only to find out that although my blood pressure is great (116/76), I am now the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life.  I've decided that not only do I need to get my body back, I need to get my passion back - I need to ride!

But as I have been doing since 2007, I don't just ride for me and that's why I feel the most guilty.  Since 2007 I've been riding for others, trying to raise money either for research or to make possible a life changing summer for a children (or children) fighting cancer.  As I've written many times before, I don't have a lot of money but I feel I need to give something back to the cancer community in gratitude for the fact that I have three sisters and a mother who are all now cancer free.  The odds that four people related to you would be struck by cancer in an eighteen month period are astronomical - that ALL of them beat it is a miracle. 

And that's why I ride. 

To see the faces of young children, many of them either fighting this disease or in remission, having the time of their life for nearly three months is a true gift.  To know that I had a hand in helping them feel like just in other kid doing things that other kids sometime take for granted (but my campers never seem to do so) and being able to express themselves in a way they haven't before is a blessing.

And that's why I ride.

When I have to deal with the frustrations of the day and this crazy hectic world pushes down on me and makes me want to curl up in a ball I have an escape, one that I have been neglecting for far too long.  It makes me feel alive, reconnects me with the joy of my youth and reminds me that there is beauty in even the flight of a small bird or the bounding of a rabbit running in the grass as you roll along.

And that's why I ride.

So it's January, one of the coldest months of the year.  I wake up early in the morning and I allow the excuses to compile and mount until I roll over and refuse to get out of bed.  It's time to stop the madness.  It's time to get out and ride.  It's time to get rid of my big butt before Sir Mix-a-Lot comes after me. 

And it's time for me to lose 20 pounds.

So here I am publicly vowing that I will lose 25 pounds in the next three months.  By April 15 I will be down to 155 pounds for the first time since I got married.  Yes, you read that right I weighed 180 pounds on the scales during my physical - I just hide it well.  My plan is to lose 14% of my body weight in the next thee months and I am going to update this blog at least once a week (every Friday) to let you all know how it's going.  This will also take care of the doldrum that has infected my blog upkeep in the last year.  Well, really since we did the Ride Across America.  So my writing will serve dual purposes.

You see I have a plan.  This summer I am going to do something else to raise money for pediatric cancer.  I'm not sure yet what it is but suffice it to say I will never be able to do it if I don't lose weight and get myself into shape.  I am going to once again ride for the kids and for those who are fighting this disease. 

And maybe, just maybe, when baby no longer got back, baby's back will hurt no longer!

Stay well my friends and I'll see you on the road!

Potpourri in the Desert

(It's Desert Sage Y'All)

Miles Ridden Today - 54.32    Average Miles Per Hour - 13.86

So today saw us experience a variety of sights, emotions, musing and thoughts as I headed away from our night’s sojourn in Salome, AZ.

The day began most beatifically with the sun coming up over the courtyard that opened up to our rooms. I don’t know if I really properly described how cool the Westward Motel really is. It’s a small establishment with only a few rooms but its so cool and funky. When you drive up there is an old rusted open top roadster parked in front. The initial thought might be, “I’m staying in a junkyard?” but then you look about and you see the car’s presence in purely intentional. Everywhere you turn there are metal sculptures and other works of art that have been curated by the owner Rande and his lady friend. It really is a funky and eclectic mix and when I walked into the room I shared with the boys the cowskin on the floor only served to enhance the funky cowboy hipster feel.

As I was stirring at 5:00 this morning getting all of my preparations in order I was particularly struck by the fact that the sun was unusually beautiful this morning as my door faced east and I could see the sun rising above the rooftops across the street and the Saguaro in the front yard. (Side note: we went out of town last night looking for the blooming Saguaros only to realize that we had gone out too late and although we could sort of see them blooming, we couldn’t take any pictures because the flash feature wasn’t working well on the camera. Also, James was a bit freaked out about being in the middle of nowhere with the car having 43 miles to empty. After a valiant try we gave up and decided to do it again at an earlier hour when we get further north.)

As I started to go into the kitchen (yes, you get a full kitchen for your use at the Westward Motel which we availed ourselves of last night as Amy made meat loaf and black bean burgers) Rande handed my a cup of the strongest jet fuel I have ever had the pleasure to consume. He promised me that this crank would get me to Wickenburg in no time. After breakfast I had the greatest conversation with Rande finding out about his interesting life as a roadie for rock bands, how he and his partner ended up in Salome (of all places), and what the future of the valley holds for those who live (and winter) there. It almost made me think people like Rande have it right, just drop off the grid and live a simpler existence - but then I thought about the 115 degree temperatures and realized that was just stupid.

But finally it was 5:45 and time to push off for the last ride before a rest day and the shortest ride so far. I was pumped. Again, I had the experience of being the only moving thing on the road and enjoying the freedom of being “king of the road” at least until the first semi came along.

I also had a more important purpose for my ride today. Although our Ride Across America is raising money for Sunrise Day Camp, today I was riding for someone else entirely. One of my students contacted me last night to let me know that her mother was having surgery on Friday. Her mother had contracted a non-invasive form of breast cancer when my student was seven and she had beaten it back then. Now ten years later she was facing the fight again and this time she will be having surgery on Friday to remove the cancer and to have a double mastectomy. It really sucks because after five years you figure you’ve beaten it! I love this kid and her family have always been so supportive of what we’ve tried to do with Connor’s Army so I promised her that this ride would be for her mother. So today, as I rode I constantly thought of the energy I put into the pedal strokes going into the universe to be directed towards this woman. As I’ve often said before, don’t have the money that I wish I had to give to the cancer community, but I do have my strength and my energy and today it all went to somebody who is going to need as much as I can give tomorrow morning. Her surgery is scheduled for early in the day and she’ll be in most of the day so if any of you can remember, please send her your energy too - we’re all in this fight together.

In between my thoughts of this valiant woman, I found myself engaging in other musings. The thought that kept coming to me over and over was of that Keep America Beautiful commercial from the 1970’s with the Native American who looked out upon the landscape of garbage that our nation was accumulating and the final shot was of him with a single tear rolling down his face;



As I rode this stretch of Arizonian back highway it seemed that I couldn’t ride fifty feet with seeing another piece of trash on the road - mostly quart sized beer bottles. Considering I’m now in the land of Jan Brewer one of my other thoughts was this is how she views her state - one large garbage dump! And in more extrapolative musings I thought this is how so much of our culture has come to view our country - just a place to throw our stuff and refuse. It’s truly saddening to see what could otherwise be such a beautiful, pristine desert marred by so much detritus.

I am usually thinking of the kids of Sunrise when I ride and today I ruminatined long on how today they are enjoying camp for the first time. How I’ve only been teaching there for two years but how they seem like my own kids. How I miss being there and playing the introductory theatre games with them that I would be playing with them right now.   How I will be missing some of thosse familiar faces that I have grown to look forward to seeing each summer. 

And after much ruminating and profound brain things inside my head (and after a much needed rest stop with the family 18 miles outside of Wickenburg) I finally rolled into Wickenburg.  I knew we were supposed to meet at the Super 8 where we'll be lodging on Friday night so I went there and gave Amy a call - only to be met with the message that I had no network coverage!  This is not good!  If I can't readch her in a town as large as this, I could be up a creek ( a very dry on mind you) without a paddle.   - I could end up on the  side of the road to Kayenta looking like this;

(New Jenny Craig Weight Loss System?)

Turns out there were enjoying the Desert Cabelleros museum and lost track of time but we went to a lovely restaurant and had an amazing lunch and headed back to the museum so they could show me their favorites.  They also had on display a Penny Farthing (otherwise known as a "bone shaker") and the way my rear feels from the last few days I might as well have been riding one of those!  Its amazing to think that people actually did what I'm doing on one of those back in the day.

Since I had finally had enough and knew I needed at least one new tire we decided to head off to the Peoria Performance Bike shop to get me some saddle relief and some heavy duty tires.  We ended up with two Continental Gatorskin tires and a Selle Italia SMP saddle but I have to say I wasn't too impressed with the service here.  The shop mechanic was friendlier and more helpful than the salespeople and seemed so much more knowledgable.  In the San Diego shop the young man there was great and helped us get exactly what we needed - here, not so much.

And then we finally headed off to Phoenix to visit one of Amy's oldest (not in age mind you since I know he reads this) and dearest friends.  He and his family (wife Marian, twin daughters Jordan and Claire) opened their arms (and home) to us, made us welcome, fed us (Matthew made us an unbelievable stir fry meal!) and let the boys take over the Wii for the evening.  Sarah and the girls bonded (she rendered them in her unique manga style drawing).  I did my much needed bike maintenance and we got the kids to bed.   After talking to Matthew for a while I finally had to hit the sack while Amy stayed up until almost 2:00 catching up.

Oh, and during the evening we discovered that the two new tires we bought in Clinton, OK are already worn out.  WE ARE NOT HAPPY!  But that will be a blog for tomorrow as we go in quest of fixing said tires.

And the reports for today (we may be trying something after this post - showing pictures of some of the detritus I find on the road!);

FFR - 1 Possum, 1 Squirrel, 1 Horny Toad (I didn’t know it was dead until it didn’t move when I rolled three inches from it), 1 UFO
RRL - 1 Toilet Bowl (mostly intact), 1 mattress, 1 cooler (they seem to be everywhere out here), and although I usually don’t include clothing - 1 enormous (I swear it was the largest I think I've ever seen) bra.

And here are some links you should check out!

Amy's blog is http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com/
Securely donate and help us get the kids to Sunrise at https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/

Frozen Stay Puft Cyclist

Today I decided that I'd had enough of this bronchial infection/chest cold/head cold/whatever-the-heck is keeping me from being able to take a deep breath without hacking up a lung and I was going to get on my bicycle and ride, damn it!

	Queen - Bicycle Race .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

So I get up at 5:30 and I put on the coffee ('cause I know I'm REALLY gonna need it!) and went down into my man cave (okay it's really more of a man corner) in the basement and prepped Black Pearl for the ride.  Then I took her outside and if I didn't hear the voice of Morgan Freeman/James Earl Jones I'm not sure what it was because it was deep and melodious and it was asking me if I was sure about this.  Let me just say IT WAS COLD!!!!!!  But I have so often done in the past, I remembered one of the main I reason is for those who can't becuase they are fighting a disease that has rendered them unable to jump/run/play the way other kids can.  So I gathered my things and got myself ready to girt (yes, a nice biblical way to say that) myself for the cold.  I kissed the wife and James goodbye and stepped outside.  Even with the three layers and the baclava that made my look like a two-wheeled Ninja it was COOOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDD!!!!!!

But there is also another reason I needed to ride today.  You see my friends when I feel the need to feel my emotions (harken it back to the state of flow I mentioned in my last post) I ride.  I rode when David died.  I rode when my Aunt Janice died.  I ride when I'm frustrated (which I have to tell you I've been very frustrated lately but that's due to work issues and not personal ones) and I ride when I feel powerless.  Right now I'm feeling very frustrated, angry and powerless because someone who I think of as one of the most amazing people in the world (even if she doesn't know I think it) is facing this damn disease again.  My friend Dana Lewis is an incredible and amazing person.  I met her while I was still performing and I was always struck by what an amazing performer she was and what a brilliant choreographer she was.  One of my biggest regrets about leaving the business was that I never had the opportunity to dance for this incredible woman.

We recently go the news that this amazing dancer is once again fighting cancer.  She has been through it before and beat the damn thing and we've been praying that it would stay in remission.  Although I don't know all the details, I DO know that she has a small tumor lying on a lymph node on the right side of her pelvis.  When she e-mailed us four days ago she thought she might have to have surgery yesterday but as it turns out she couldn't because of the placement of the tumor so she's going to have to go through treatment.  Dana, if by chance you do read this - today was for you, darlin'.

So thinking mainly about my friend I just decided to suck it up and stop complaining because its nothing compared to what she's dealing with.  So I headed out and I froze.  I won't go into all the gory details, just know that I couldn't feel my fingers and I couldn't feel my toes and not in the good way indicated in this classic;

	Various - PGSORM & Marky Ramone & Tyson Ritter of the All American Rejects / I Want to Be Sedated .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

But I will tell you I definitely felt like I wanted to be when I got to school.  The wind was gusting right across my beam (that's thrown in for all you nautical folk) and it was extremely slow gowing.  I had hoped when I arrived that one of the kids would be around with their smart phones so I could have them take a picture of the Weather Channel.com's display of the current temperature in Syosset when I arrived.  Well at 7:42 AM this is what it said;

Today's Forecast: Partly Cloudy Scattered Flurries Clouds Early / Clearing Late
Currently:  Partly Cloudy
Current Temperature: 23°F
Wind Chill:  Feels Like: 8°
Wind:  From WNW at 19mph gusting to 25mph
Farmingdale, Republic Airport
Lat: 40.73 Lon: -73.41 Elev: 85
Last Update on Dec 15, 6:53 am EST

So, needless to say when I arrived I felt like my carbonite friend above.  BRRRRRR.  It took me about two periods to completely thaw out.  The rest of the day actually went great because once I thawed out I was incredibly energized by finally being able to physically do something!  But ninth period rolled around and I had to spend 15 minutes getting my cycling gear ready (and adjusting the brake that had been rubbing the entire ride this morning - yet another thing that slowed me down!).  So I get all dressed and I get ready to go and I check the WeatherChannel.com website and here's what it read when I left the school:

Today's Forecast: Scattered flurries. Partly sunny, with a high near
Currently:  Mostly Cloudy / Windy

Current Temperature: 26°F
Wind Chill:  Feels Like 12°
Wind: From WNW at 23mph gusting to 29mph
Farmingdale, Republic Airport

Lat: 40.73 Lon: -73.41 Elev: 85
Last Update on Dec 15, 1:53 pm EST

Yep, that was fun! And even though it was an entire three degrees higher it still left me feeling numb and unable to form coherent thought.  But the good news was I HAD A TAILWIND!  Nevertheless, it still had me feeling a bit like this;

But I made it home without losing any appendages to frost bite so I guess it was a good time after all.  You know, a sucky day on a bike is better than a good day on the golf course, or something like that.

But as I pulled up the last hill on the way to Northport I thought once again of my friend Dana and I realized that THIS is why I ride, to feel like in some small way I'm helping them in their fight - the cold be damned!

So, tomorrow I'll probably go out again on my bike (we're going to have a veritable heat wave of 35 degrees) and I'll think of Dana, I'll think of Stanley Cherry and all the kids of Sunrise Day Camp and I'll do my best to remember that they have it so much worse than my discomfiture of 45 minutes.

Stay well my friends and I'll see you on the frozen road.

An Act of God

So those of you who have followed my blog know that I have a somewhat curious relationship with God.  I believe in him utterly and completely but there have been times that there is no doubt I have made God laugh becuase of my presumptiveness.  Now, I don't believe in a vengeful God that likes to mess with us just out of principle but I do think it is a mistake to tempt him and I know I have suffered the wrath of said deity as a result.

I do converse with him on a daily basis yet I have to admit that I have not heard him speak back in the voice of Morgan Freeman;


That would be; a) incredibly awesome and b) far too easy -  at least according to those philosphers such as Immanuel Kant, Frederik Nietzsche, Friedrich Hegel,  Rene Descartes, or Socrates (read all about them here) or if you need the shorter, quicker movie version;



Well, with all due respect to Mr. Descartes, I don't believe I exist because I think, I exist becasue I ride;

It is when I am on my bicycle that I can ultimately reach that meditative state of flow or as one writer puts it, "the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity."  For me this is through my riding and while riding I often reflect about the many things going on in my life.  Sometimes I even hear the dulcet tones of James Earl Jones quoting biblical verse:

But more often the sounds I hear are my own labored breathing as I go up Stilwell Lane.  And on a day like today it would not be pretty.

Well, speaking of today I was all set to go bike riding and I had set out all my gear last night, lubed my chain, adjusted my brakes and pretty much set everything up so that I could get a good early start in the morning since I knew I needed to go and confer with my colleagues about casting our spring musical Bye Bye Birdie.

However upon waking I realized that the congestion in my chest was had not cleared up and there was no way in the cold weather I was going to be able to breathe what with my cold induced asthma on top of whatever was going on in my chest.  So I drove in - AND A LUCKY THING I DID TOO!

For you see, faithful readers a radiator pipe had burst outside the Little Theater about 6:30 in the morning and flooded the hall, the student government office, the psychiatrist's office, the Little Theater AND THE COSTUME CLOSET where we house hundreds of costume pieces and various accessories!  When I first drove up I didn't know what to think since there was CAUTION ribbon strung up everywhere and I peeked in the window and saw all the costume closet contents out in the hall.  So I ran around to the other entrance expecting the worst!

Long story short, I was able to save almost everything and I'm so grateful to Charles Abner, Tim Horace and all the rest of the maintenance and custodial staffs for getting everything out and mopping up as much as they could so quickly.  I was able to get about 150 costumes that had been soaked out of the costume shop and into my car and off to the dry cleaners!  Of course this took me almost the entire day to do so there was no conferring about casting with colleagues - however we were able to save a couple of thousand dollars worth of costumes.  So for once, everything aligned FOR me for a change. 

So today, instead of being frustrated about not riding and how I need to start training very hard and getting myself used to riding in all conditions to "stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood" for the charge ahead, it was most fortuitous that I headed my body and drove - otherwise, I NEVER would have gotten all of those costumes home on my bike!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still working on getting sponsors for our cross country ride and I'm praying/conversing/communing with God every single day praying for miracles and hoping that sponsors will come forward - and I do most all of this while I'm riding my bike. 

So next week its supposed to be REALLY cold but I plan on riding.  I have my Madonna del Ghisallo medallion and I will keep communing with the big guy (God, not JEJ) while praying and hoping that someone will come forward and help us out.

Stay well everyone and I WILL see you on the road.

What Keeps Me Rolling - Or At Least Upright (most of the time)

So for those of you who know me, you know that  I converted to Catholicism in college.   Some of my big influences during the time of my coversion were one of my fellow RA's (whose name I can't remember but who who I used to tag along with every Sunday), John (the owner of Mustang Donuts where I worked part time)

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and my friend and fellow SMU dancer Michael Shef who faithfully attended with me as I was trying to figure out what all these words were about.  He was really a great example and one of the first New York Catholics I'd ever met - thanks for the guidance Mike!  These three were really the ones who encouraged me in my quest to become Catholic and this trio, along with Father Michael Duca of the SMU Catholic Campus Ministry, were intstrumental in my journey as a catechumen.

While at SMU at learned all about the Jesuit form of Catholicism and that philosphy, coupled with the all accepting college mentality, formed my ideas of my religion.  When I moved to New York City I was lucky to find a similar atmosphere when I joined the congregation of St. Malachy's otherwise known as "The Actor's Chapel".  Again, a community of people who believed in a liberal form of catholicism that encouraged love and acceptance.

However, when we moved out to Long Island we found that the Rockville Center Diocese was a little less than liberal and each of the various congregations I was able to find out here never has felt like home.  Although Father Kelly (the priest who baptised our daughter Sarah at St. Malachy's) also serves the community of Rocky Point, its a bit of a haul.  And its really sad because I have a Catholic church that is literally a baseball's throw (and for any of you that remember me from my Ansbach High School days, you'll remember that I had a pretty good arm as a center fielder so I can throw - I just couldn't hit worth beans, it was long before I realized I needed glasses, not that it would have likely made a difference, but I'm getting off task again aren't I?) from my front yard.  Yes, we go as a family on Christmas Eve and Easter but on a persoanl level I like to go to feel a connection with something bigger than myself but I never feel like the church is "Home".

So I have come to the conclusion that I am Spiritual but I'm not Religious.  I believe in ALMOST all of the precepts of Catholicism but I can't bring myself to doom people to an afterlife of purgatory becuase they love someone the church tells them they shouldn't.  Nor can I bring myself to condemn women for decisions they make with their own bodies or damn people that take precautions (whether married or unmarried) to ensure that women don't have to make those decisions in the first place.  If I blindly followed all the precepts of the church I wouldn't have my three incredibly bright, beautiful and intelligent children who were conceived with the aid of science - a science the church officially does not condone.

I'm reminded of the advice given to me by John who was one of my sponsors as I went through the catechumen process.  John had been educated at The University of Notre Dame and was one of the most religious adult catholics I knew (aside from my parents).  He and his wife Mary would almost never work on Sunday mornings unless they had gone to mass the night before.  Anyway, I voiced my concerns to John about a month before I was to be baptised and he shared with me advice that a Priest at Notre Dame had given him when he voiced similar concerns, "The Pope is the leader of the church but he is still human and he has to guide millions of people from hundreds of cultures and thousands of backgrounds.  All he can do is to give general guidance for the whole church.  The most important thing to do is to listen to that small quiet voice inside of you that will guide you to what is right and what is wrong.  If you listen to it and access it through your beliefs then everything will work out, its only when you no longer hear that small quiet voice that you need to worry."  It took me years to understand that accessing that small quiet voice is what we call prayer, honest true prayer not the bargaining with God prayer that is really just designed to get our butt out of a sling.  I try to do that on a daily basis, using prayer to ask for guidance, strength, wisdom, patience and occasionally to help me deal with the rest of the human race.

Yet sometimes that's not enough.  As my incredibly patient wife Amy (and now my children whom she encourages to poke fun at me) can attest, I have a variety of superstitions.  Many of them don't always work - my biggest being not washing my Dallas Cowboys jersey after they win a game until they lose one, needless to say my jersey has been incredibly clean this year - I may take to wearing all black instead every Sunday for all the good my jersey has done this year.

Of all my rituals perhaps some of my cycling rituals are the most laughable - at least from her standpoint.  I always put on my Lance Armstrong II cycling shoes on the same exact way - the right foot first becuase that's the one with the Texas flag.  I like my water bottles to match.  They don't have to be great ones, I just like them to match or I'll only use one.  And I have to wear my Madonna del Ghisallo medal.  One of the things that my spirituality gives me (you knew that whole preamble about religion had to somehow relate to cycling) is the belief that we can commune with the saints.  Many of the world religions believe in benevolent spirits of our ancestors that hear us and help us in times of need and many of them believe in the power of intercession with these spirits.  A large part of my spirituality truly believes that there are spirits amongst us that hear us and protect us from the stupid things we do in life.  I honestly believe there are guardian angels and others that divert really bad things from happening to us sometimes, at least to me.  I'm not sure why they keep saving my butt but I know beyond a doubt that they have on numerous occasions.

But back to the medal.  Who is the Madonna del Ghisallo?  She is the patron saint of cycling and I have a silver religious medal of her that I had blessed by a priest and I wear next to my crucifix every time I ride.  I had her with me the day of my accident on July 11th and I truly believe that without her I probably would have lost an arm or worse in that accident.

I always put her on around my neck when I get ready to go and she definitely saved my tail on numerous occasions, including TWICE today!  Once when I was in Huntington on my training ride and as I was riding "as far right as is practicable" on the side of the road past a long line of stopped cars when suddenly a car decided it needed to parallel park and turned right into my path.  Something in me allowed me to stop and he stopped his car and I rode on.

Then later, as I was almost home an elderly woman almost "t-boned" me as I was going through an intersection.  I guess she just decided she was faster than me (not to be confused with those who think they're cooler than me) and she was going to make that turn.  Fortunately I screamed loudly enough that it scared the bejeezus out of her (or maybe just soiled her Depends) and she stopped while I passed unscathed about two feet in front of her car.

And I owe it all to the medallion I wear around my neck, which looks like this;

I really believe (in my superstition addled mind) that it is becuase of this divine intervention that I have survived and stayed upright on my bicycle for as long as I have.  As I write this, I have logged a little over 2400 miles of riding this year and my goal is to get as close to 3600 as I can (the distance it would be if I could ever do my cross country ride for Sunrise).  With a little luck, health, and some more intercession, I may just make it!

And I will see you, my friends (and our blessed Madonna del Ghisallo), on the road!

The World According to a Snob

Okay, so lately I've been reading a very enlightening book written by a persona known as Bike Snob NYC (if you look to the right of my main page here you'll see a link to his blog or you can just follow this link to BikeSnobNYC).  Now I have to say, I don't follow too many blogs on a daily, monthly, yearly, regular basis.  Honestly I don't have that much time in reality but I do follow his as well as the Cycling News website mainly to see if Alberto Contador has 'fessed up to using Clenbuterol - I mean c'mon tainted beef, the only time that happened to me was from eating bad meat in a Mexican restaurant in Berlin, Germany and I had food poisoning for three days.

(click on the "D" above and zoom in to street view to see the theater where I was performing West Side Story at the time I contracted said food poisoning - ugh!)

Of course the other main website I follow is that of my beloved Dallas Cowboys who don't seem to be doing so well.  Actually, for them it probably feels like the world is falling down around their shoulders, or at least the sky is falling.  It would probably look something like this;

(Notice the nonplussed expression on this Cowboy fan's face)

But of course, anyone who is a New York Met's fan probably knows that same feeling.  I can't help but already start to think that the season is already over.  And now that the last great challenge for the peloton comes this Saturday in the form of the Giro di Lombardia whatever will I pay attention to?  Yes, I guess I could hope against hope that things will change (remember, the glass is half full) but I'm not holding out hope this year.  I really can't anymore.

But I digress - what else is new oh faithful readers??????

So I've been reading the Bike Snob's Book, the full title being (as you can see from up above) Bike Snob:  Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling.  Now don't get me wrong I love the Bike Snob's post and I've learned a lot (even borrowed some things, see the dachsund of time) about writing and posting blogs.  Although I have to shamefacedly admit that as much as I try I'm not as prolific as he.  Still I try.  Digression anyone?

As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself I've been reading his book and I'm working on my second reading of it, primarily because I have nothing else at home I want to read, although I have been thinking about digging up my copy of Stendahl's The Red and the Black (which I haven't touched since I read the first third of it in my college English class but it's always intrigued me as a great source for a musical) and reading through that.  Darn, my constantly moving train of thought, now I'm stuck somewhere on a sideline.

So in the opening chapter the Bike Snob talks about how the bicycle is one of the great inventions of all time and a way that we know that is because the Amish people (who normally eschew anything that is technological and ostentatiously decorative) use it constantly;

and even the womenfolk get into this utilitarian mode of transportation;

and sometimes they even use it as a family outing event, sort of like an extended SUV - but of course I think they prefer to call it Ye olde paceline;

The point that he makes though is that the bicycle is an amazing invention and there is not much you can do to improve it, though many have tried, witness The Schweeb;



Now, given my penchant to enjoy many things German I am intrigued by this simply because the name for it comes from the German word "schweben" which means to "float" or "suspend" as the company proudly flouts on its website schweeb.com.  Yet as one of my students (Jillian Feinstein to be exact, which now makes two of the past four ACT presidents I have quoted), "I don't think people will use it because people are lazy and when they commute they want to sit and listen to their iPod.  You're the exemption to the rule of American laziness."  Ah, gee thanks Jillian Sarah.  But I think she has a point - to which I imagine the Amish velocipedists would agree.

We as an American people (can we really be considered a people when we can't even get legislature passed because we can't agree on anything?) are lazy when it comes to our European, Asian, Australian or even Antartican bretheren and sistren.  In those parts of the world the bicycle is used as a form of commutation (in the sense of commuting not to be confused with its use in the legal sense which is defined as "the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional.") on a daily basis which is part of the reason why (with the possible exception of China) no other country in the world contributes as much to global warming as we do.

There are many good reasons to get out and ride your bicycle - transportation, exercise, attracting the other sex, save the environment, or to help others less fortunate than yourself.  All endeavors of which I think even the Bike Snob himself would be proud.  Yesterday seemed to be a day when a bumper crop (which is slightly more than boucoups and slightly less than a hell of a lot) of cyclists seemed to be on the streets that make up the environs of Syosset, Huntington, Greenlawn, Northport (i.e., the route I usually travel to and from work).  I counted at least 22 cyclists of all varieties (commuters, day laborers, casual riders and a pace line of four "enthusiasts") in my 15 mile (shhhhh, I took the long way home) commute home.  The weather was great and it was nice to be sharing the road with so many of my cycling brethren and sistren right here on the streets of home.

I have to say, of the five categories I listed above I think I qualify for all except the third one (primarily because I have already attracted the perfect woman and its hard enough as it is to get her to ride her bike) but the one that is most near and dear to me is the last one.  I just wish I could do more. 

As you've all read in many of my previous posts I really want to cycle cross country to raise money for Sunrise Day Camp.  I believe in what they're doing and I see what they can do for the kids that are fortunate to go there.  To be able to raise $50,000 in order to send 8 kids to camp and make a difference in their lives would be the most amazing gift I think I could give to the world.  But I can't do it by myself.  I need help and to be honest at this point I don't know where to turn to find it.  I'm not good at all at the self promotion business.  I don't toot my own horn, even at those times when I should.  I know the route I want to follow, I know (roughly) what we need in terms of financial support but I don't know how to go about getting it.  Do ANY of YOU have any ideas?  Can you share them?  I know some of you have put the word out (thank you so much Jason) but I think its going to take a village to pull this one off. 

So, my fellow villagers in this great community we call Earth, how about it?  Can each of you help me by trying to reach out to ten people who might be willing to help me procure sponsorship to complete this Mitzvah Project?  Can you help me find ten people or businesses willing to sponsor me for $1,000 each so that I can have the funds we would need to raise five times that?  You have my e-mail, you have my facebook information so let's see how we can make a difference in the lives of children with cancer - let's use our bikes to fight this fight!

Stay well, and I will see you on the road (weather permitting).