Super Rookie’s World

The Tour of Battenkill is a race in Upstate New York.

They have over 1300 people registered for the race. The cost to race? $45.

That is $53,000 alone in race registrations. The prize list is at about $9,000. They have a new title sponsor in AMD. I can’t imagine the race cost more than about $25,000 to put on…

USAC won’t add it to the National Calendar. I am sure there is more to the story than I know, but holy crap that is a lot of racers. A majority of the fields are filled (most with 125 rider limits) and some fields have wait lists of 50+ already!
That is amazing.

Here is the bikereg.com site for the race.

You may have heard of this race after the letter Sen. Schumer wrote to USAC regarding the calendar listing.

I like how they split up the Pro/Cat1 field from the Cat2 AND 2 Cat4 fields.

I bet next year they have 2 Cat3 fields.

I also bet that the local economy loves having 1500+ people coming into the region for a weekend in April.

Good for them.

You may have heard by now that we are fast approaching a historic ‘leap second.’ Yep, coming this December, 31st an extra second will be inserted into the National Atomic Clock in D.C. and the world will collectively hold its breath. Every few years this happens, but it is actually an interesting phenomena. Here is the mundane article from the AP about the ‘leap second.’

Naturally, Harper’s Magazine was all over this story the last time a ‘leap second’ was inserted into our lives at the dawn of 2006. The article, “Clash of the Time Lords: Who Will Measure Our Days?” by Michelle Stacy, appeared in the December 2006 issue of the magazine. To view the whole article you need an online subscription, but you could always go to the library and check it out.

The article is one of my favorites to date that has appeared in Harper’s. It delves into the debate of time keeping and the nerds that argue about it. In fact, it makes pretend bicycle racing drama seem rational. Here is a recent article talking about the debate (no where as good as the Harper’s read).

Ways I am going to spend the leap second:

1. Breathing.
2. Thinking of the soreness after doing some “squats.”
3. Eating.

The Hawks are taking on the Wild tonight in downtown St. Paul.

The great thing about the Blackhawks is that they have a fair amount of travelling fans. No matter where the game is there always seems to be a bunch of chearing for the Black and Red. Just the other day I was watching the Hawks play in San Jose and when Toews put away a goal a ton of fans went nuts. The Hawks may be the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NHL. A large fan base no matter where they play.

A win in St. Paul would be a perfect run-up to the showdown at Wrigley.

The Hawks are only 6pts behind the Wings in the Central and sitting pretty in fourth place in the conference for the playoff hunt. With the mid-season break a month away the Hawks need to keep the rhythm going.

All in all the best part about the Hawks right now is that they are playing infront of packed houses at the United Center and have returned to a home ice advantage they haven’t seen since the glory days of Roenick, Belfour and Chelios. I am sure my former co-workers at the United Center are pretty damn excited about making good money in the club level!

Finally, a picture for All The Way Ray!

Don’t talk in the movie theater. You never know what is going to happen.

After reading this:

The father stood, and Cialella pulled a handgun and shot the father, sending others in the theater running for safety, police said.

[Police] said Cialella then returned to his seat and continued watching the movie.

I wonder if he was able to finish the movie.
…I went to the basketball game yesterday. America’s fastest cyclist sat behind us. Amazingly he wasn’t wearing his gold skinsuit. Nonetheless, he assured me that he is returning to the velodrome next year…as a category 4. Watch out.

After the game we headed to Gasthoff’s. Sarah didn’t take part in the boot because she didn’t want to put everyone to shame.
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City took four points out of a possible six over the holiday weekend. This is good news for City fans as the transfer window opens in January. There is talk of bringing Michael Owen over to the Blues. It sure does feel good being a fan of the richest team in all of sports. Now, only if they can it together and stay above the relegation zone.

This is scary.

I know quite a few people in the neighborhood.
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Timberwolves tonight…make sure you watch the game on TV. You never know who you might see:

The chances of this happening again are slim, but you never know. Roughkat is taking me to the game and he has been known to provide some favors in return for good seats, so you never know. I believe that the tickets for tonight are in literally the last row in the stadium, but those are the seats that really capture the “spirit” of the game.

After the game I will be watching my wife win the Boot Game at Gasthoff’s. Whoooo Hooo.

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It is 30+ degrees outside. That means the fenders are getting put on the bike and I will be training:

My thought on this holiday:

What did Tyler Hamilton get his twin for Christmas? My guess is a new golden retriever named Anchor.

My wish on this holiday:

That we will get to see an event like this once again in July. However, I would settle for this instead.

What are you thinking about?

Wowzers.

Graduate School seems easier than undergraduate coursework.

Or, maybe it is just the fact that I am actually showing up to class.

Who knows.

Want to know how I celebrated?

1)

Decorated cookies.

2)

Closed Manning’s.

…

Whooo Hoooo!

All to often in life you come into situations that make you realize how lucky you really are.

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Sarah and I got this:

Hagerty is jealous.

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I also asked for 3pts from City on Boxing Day.

P.S. Boxing Day is a holiday that congress should seriously consider adopting.

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Sarah and I met the architect of the house across the street from us. It is easily one of my favorite houses in all of St. Paul and it added a lot of flavor to the drab “historical” feel of my neighborhood. At first, some in the neighborhood were a little hesitant to accept the house, but I think most have come around. Paul, the architect, is going to give me a tour sometime…he also gave me a heads up on sweet new alleycat stop (70 Lawton Staircase). Yep, a house on a staircase. Try to find that one!

Here is the aerial view of the house across the street from mine:

On Friday I put up a post about the Minneapolis Police Department (click here).

On Saturday I got the following email from Sgt. Jesse Garcia:

Super rookie-

I understand that its just you’re blog, but if you would like get the real story please ask. Otherwise its just a bunch of misinformation.

Sgt. Jesse Garcia III

Minneapolis Police Department

Public Information Officer

I was really excited to be on the Police reader, so I decided to seek out some advice from wiser individuals. First I went to All The Way Ray. This is Ray’s response:

Wow, the cops are keeping tabs on you.

Thanks Ray. Very insightful. Perhaps I should check with Smithers:

If (s)he bothered to respond why didn’t they just send the “true” story?

Hmmmm. One last person to check with. What does (dis) have to say?:

this means they already been tapping your phones for weeks.
probably staking out your mom’s basement too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVq6N0xAEEM

Very funny. I like the reference to my mom’s basement. (dis) is just so damn clever! I decided to go with the advice from Smithers and emailed that exact message to Sgt. Garcia. How did the Sgt. reply?

Are we able to meet for coffee next week?

Hmmmm. I smell a trap. I really wonder where some of the misinformation is in my blog posts. I am sure some of my opinions about the matters may be not be popular to the MPD public relations department, but all of my info came from articles in the Star Tribune over the past few years. Is the Tribune reporting incorrect? I kind of want to know, but I think (dis) is right that there is absolutely nothing that can come from this.

Honestly, I am just stoked that my crappy blog full of typos and incoherent thoughts came across the MPD blotter. I am sure I just come across as a snarky individual that doesn’t appreciate the civil service…but when was the last time you heard me complain about the St. Paul Police Department? Sgt. Garcia probably has the hardest job in the entire city of Minneapolis. You know, trying to make the MPD look good (almost an impossible task).

*Edit for formatting issues at 2:10pm

I have started reading a blog on the AMC website entitled, “Future of Classic.” The blog focuses on movies that may or may not be airing on the American Movie Classic channel. If you are into movies at all than I would highly suggest you check this one out and add it into your RSS feed. I have all types of movies added to my DVR now that i have learned more about upcoming movies.

Just the other night I watched, “Le Mans” starring Steve McQueen. What an awesome and realistic movie focusing on the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans Auto Race. It is a beautiful flick and it is only on AMC. If you like auto racing check it out. If you like 1970s hairstyles and French fashion check it out.

The only movie that I have yet to see on AMC, but it is only a matter of time, is Total Recall.
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Finally, the other blog I have added to the reader is, “Heshers United.” What an awesome blog dedicated to metal and soccer. ‘Drew goes above and beyond in publishing this new blog. Here is a glimpse of the awesomeness:

One of the purposes of Heshers United is to decipher who in the footballing world is truly a hesher. Is it just a look? Is it an attitude? A grimey lifestyle? Is it strictly confined to the style of hair metal that one listens to? I would have to argue that it could be a number of factors all interwoven like the beautiful braids of a Viking. So back to Pavel Nedved, the Czech-born 2003 European Footballer of the Year and Juventus warrior- is he a hesher or not?

You know you want to read it.