Super Rookie's World

I got an email today from Julian…well I will let him tell you:

Hey Tim-

We over at the Geriatric Bicycle Riding Cooperative decided to name our first race after none other than the immortal Super Rookie.

http://www.Burnhamracing.org/race

It’s the least we can do to honor such a commanding figure within the larger cycling community.  Hopefully your legacy can live on in our race.

They you have it folks.

It is official.

A race has finally been named after me, it is time to take aim at the NVGP and have them name a stage after me! I kind of like the ring of, “Super St. Paul Time Trial.”

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Judging by the information on that flyer it seems like they scored a race on a “rally” course aka similar to Dakota Tech, but with woods. Sounds like a good time if you are down in Chicagoland/Madison/Milwaukee area.

Also, looking at the prize list I bet they come out even, if not ahead on proceeds. My guess is that a bunch of the proceeds will go to the 501(c)(3) that they started up for charitable work. I also surmise that the rest of the profits will go to a giant “Elite” sticker to place on the official team truck.

…simply amazing.

Go buy it.

Some may have noticed a lack of podcasts etc…from BikeThrow.

I personally have gotten tired of hearing from people on what we can do to make the site better.

Constructive criticism is one thing, but constant bitching and complaining about a site that was put up for fun gets old real fast. It was almost like the site is a lifeline for people and that everything has to be perfect for these individuals.

It started with constant critiquing of what we can and/or can’t say on a podcast, it then became about the length, it then became a venue for people’s lame comments.

I hope the site continues on, but my commitment to it will be reduced.

All I have ever wanted to do was ride my bike and write my thoughts on it.

It is okay to bitch about my personal website. Even I will admit that this site sucks major balls and can be boring, but the other things I have tried to do have never been meant to disappoint.
Oh, don’t worry. I ain’t pulling a Smithers.

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It looks like I was wrong on this one.

I think this is probably a good move by Bloomberg since he will more than likely be entering a race with a rockstar (Obama) and the veteran (McCain). He would definitely lose, but if it had been Clinton vs. McCain he might have actually scored some electoral votes.

Oh well. It would have been exciting to see a big 3 person race.

Some people don’t think it would have been a race, but when you are worth 11.1 billion dollars and own a media empire, you might find the tools to win some respect.

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I just got the most recent issue of BMXer Magazine. To my shock my district number is 38, but that is probably out of 39 riders total. Ha.

It also seems like ABA and USAC have ironed out the differences and are working together to promote the 2008 “Super” Nationals. This is a good thing with both organizations and means that the BMX world may become one.

No word yet on whether or not Dan Wold’s favorite rider, Joey The Bomb, will be there.

(Photo from JoeyTheBomb.com)

I went on a nice ride with (dis) and The Falconer today. We headed west to Wayzata and then noticing the time we turned around to head back due to a mid-term exam I have today in Communications. On the way back we had a nice wind at our back and a lot of tools were being dropped and used on the way in. It was a nice effort as we flew back in.

When I arrived home I changed quickly, grabbed my books and took off for class. When I got into the car I looked at the Syllabus and noticed that the exam is online and I don’t need to go into class. Whew. I would have been at least 20min late, but not I can take the test from the comfort of my own home. Nice.

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On tap for tonight: Re-organizing the Tupperware and making lasagna with Sarah.

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I might even have time to call Time Warner and negotiate my way into discounted Fox Soccer Channel.

House and Senate Override Veto on Transportation Bill

I never knew that Tim Pawlenty was so against improving the infrastructure of our state. Especially considering the fact that a bridge collapsed a few miles from his humble abode on Summit Avenue in St. Paul.

When I lived in Florida with my dad about 8 years ago I would go to a bike shop down the road from his house. It was a decent shop and they told me about, “Bike Racing at Piccolo.” At first, I thought they were talking about the world class Velodrome that is located in South Florida called Brian Piccolo Velodrome, but they were actually talking about a self contained Criterium Course within the park that was used for bicycle racing.

A comparison to this would be Dakota Tech, but instead of being privately owned, it is owned by the Park Board. This means that you can go out and train and ride it whenever you want. It is actually quite funny because the Velodrome would have about 25 people racing (total) and then the Criterium Course would have over 200 people. I wonder if that has since changed, but in the meantime enjoy the G-Map Pedometer of the crit and velodrome area of Piccolo Park.
Aerial View of Piccolo

Oh, note the inside of the velodrome, because that is also used for inline skating races, much like the inside of Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis. It is a shame that they don’t do roller derby on banked track like that!

It has also come to my attention that there is another publicly owned criterium course in Virginia Beach, VA. It is located at a facility called The Sportsplex. Here is a G-Map Pedometer of that one.

Aerial View of Virginia Beach Sportsplex Criterium Course

The above doesn’t seem like a recent picture of the complex, but this is where it would be. Seems kind of lame, but judging by pictures and youtubes of a recent criterium there, they seem to have some hills. Oh well, it seems kind of cool, but I am sure it gets boring after a while, just like any other sustained course that is used week after week.

Do you know of any other criterium specific course in the U.S.?

Some sad news coming out of Chicago.

The worst part about this entire thing is that a young man lost his life and people are starting to turn it into a flame war between cyclists and automobiles. Don’t people have any respect? Instead of showing compassion people are turning on the hate and doing the classic, “serves him right…” routine. It is sickening.

We went to Florida and we saw a lot of cool things:

We were in the airport:

We went to the magazine stand and saw this!

I went to the swap:

Tonight I went to the T-Wolves game. After it was over The Little Guy and I went to the washroom. After we were leaving The Little Guy thought Tuffy was standing next to him at the traugh. So, was Tuffy at the Wolves game?

My teammate, TC, got a bunch of photos into the New York Times again. This time it was about a ice/school bus contraption that they use in Northern Wisconsin. In fact, the thing is kind of like a giant airboat that they use down south for huntin’ gators.

Here is the story via the NY Times.

Here is TC’s blog.

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There are a few people taking the fun out of Bikethrow.com.

These two people are on notice:

The StarTribune is a great newspaper.

Do you know what that is? It is because they place two crossword puzzles onto the same page, right next to the Suduko. The best part about it all is that the puzzles are the New York Times and Tribune Media Services. Most other papers only put one crossword puzzle in, but sometimes papers do get two crossword puzzles, but place them in different sections! That is lame.

I love crossword puzzles because it reminds me of my grandfather, Big John. I used to call him once a week (usually on Thursdays, because of the increasing difficulty over the course of the week) for help. He was really great at helping me figure out the clues on my own, usually resorting to Latin to find the stem-words that would help me solve the problem.

When you consistently do the crossword puzzle you learn the different tactics that the writers use to “fill” the page. They also tend to use the same clues for the small 3 letter words. A common 3 letter word is, “eli” for the clue “Yale Graduate.”

At the end of Big John’s life his mind was slowing down and he wasn’t able to help me all that much, so at times I would make up clues so he could help me. His favorite clue to answer was, “Edison’s Middle Name.” On the last day of his life when he was still awake and talking he asked me if I did the puzzle for the day. I told him that I was almost done, but I was stuck on a clue. He asked what the clue was. I told him it was Thomas ___ Edison.

He looked at me with a smirk on his face and whispered, “Alva.”

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Here is an article from the Guardian about the Sons of Ben supporters group in Philadelphia.

If I was in Philadelphia I would be hanging out with these guys.

In the meantime I have to be a fan of the mightily lame-named Minnesota Thunder.

The season starts in a few months with home games at Griffin Stadium.