California dreaming...

Bike (or lack of) stuff:

No I actually have a plane ticket. March 9th I am gonzo to hang out with Matt! for a bit. He contends that LA has amazing riding, and that I will have people to ride with. It was 80 there the other day. I had delusions of doing Redlands and San Dimas... but not having ridden my bike in 10 days would probably make that hard. Jake said Redlands is "really really really hard"... coupling that with poor fitness is not good.

I remember like 15 years ago, I was hanging out with a BMX dude who was talking about all the traveling he has done. At the time, we would all pile 5 dudes and 5 bmx bikes into a car and drive across 4 states to ride new trails for a weekend, then drive home. He thought it was weird that he had been to so many cities, but never experienced them. Sometimes I feel that way about cycling. I have raced a lot of places that I would love to have simply just ridden. Green Mountains, Battenkill, all those mountain bike trails...

Anyway, so my plan is to go out there and ride a bunch, suck up some new roads, maybe do some sort of riding that will get me fit and come home and enjoy the 40 degree rains and probable floods.

Life stuff:
In 1998 my dad bought a Dodge colt new for less than 5,000. In 2000 he was still driving it. He was the president of his company, and by far had the shittiest car in the lot everyday. At that point, the seats were literally held together with duct tape. The car had no power steering, no power windows, NO RADIO, no AC. Guess what, when he got rid of it in 2000, he gave it to my brother who drove it for a few years. It ran until the bottom rusted out and it would no longer pass inspection. My brother then drove it through the woods, and traded it to a junkyard in exchange for the tow out.

Today NPR had a story about the "GM Sunshine," a 5000 dollar minivan available only in china. In the article, they interview the General Manager of GM (GMGM?) and he pretty much states everything that is wrong with some 'Mericans.
-they need gadgets.
-they need SIX TIMES the horsepower of this thing
-they need leather seats
-they need the ability to go 80 miles per hour from a standstill (insert super long rant about seeing the cars sit on the parkway everyday and wondering what the AVERAGE speed of the average American commuter is)...
-they need to pay six times as much

And all of the previous were fine if it is what you want,but the bottom line is what could be a 5-7 thousand dollar car, suddenly becomes a 30,000 dollar car...
Bring me the 5000 dollar car please.


Fifteen wrote: "a little too easy, is just a little too hard"...



I've been having a hard time trying to justify
The clouds arising from the cars we drive
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world waste away
Been having a hard time trying to accept the fact
That paying money for four walls leaves the slavery intact
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world slip away
I know, I know, I know, life has become slavery
Costs two dollars a minute and additional charges to pray to god today
See I've been looking for some guidance but the voice on the phone ain't got a damn thing to say
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world fade away
I was born a little too late to see the dream that they called America
See I only want to be a Free man but it's against the law to sleep on the ground in Gods land
And a little too easy seems just a little bit insane
And I'm afraid I'm going to have to run for my life one of these days
I know, I know, I know, life has become slavery
The ground is my body, it's been poisoned with lead and junk food and toxic waste
The sky is my mind it's been clouded with cigarettes and fluorocarbons and petroleum distillates
The water's my heart, it's been broken with booze and drugs and shooting up paste
The sun is my spirit, it belongs to all of us, I guess we're all one sick race
And autonomy shall reward itself with freedom
And humility shall reward itself with peace
And the dissolution of possession and the integration of humanity
Shall bring forth a sharing of our responsibility
For our lives and our earth