Re: Origin

he didn't write
Hi
Hey
Hello
or
Coffee?

but
The rest of the story

as if it
was already begun

- tob

Curiosity

+

=

and

- TOB it was awful

Words to Live By

...but you have to read it in yer best southern Baptist voice....

(photo travelin' between Oquossoc and Coos Canyon, ME in '05)

Attack
the hills or
they will defeat you.
- Art from Tennessee, 1997

joe?

just doing what I do
talking
listening
helping with a fix
protecting someone needing a rest
nothing of any consequence
but somehow it intrigued
and someone intriguing
noticed
listened
and laughed
talked
wrote sweet words
and exposed a mindset
like mine
and
now
insides are knotted
from the intensity
and outsides are
playing
it
safe
because being intense
both inside and outside
gives me no calm
to disappear
behind

- ob thinkin' it needs to be winter again, because then the Joes stay inside

Wallowing??

I think my exact words were
...this will sooo come back to bite me....
but I'm still going to wallow in it

it did
it is
and
I'm not anymore

so, what have I learnt from this???

- OB off sitting in a #@!$!! training session

More Photos

More Storm Pics: footprints in the hail, manhole covers bouncing off due to the water from underneath, huge trees downed...all part of the storm that ran through downtown as we huddled under tarps held up by PVC pipes

criminy

thanks to Sascha for the link

- OB

The Storm: Photos

This is what we were enduring prior to the women's #3 stage:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

photos from cyclingnews.com

- TOB really, it was scary

So, Like, the Hail and All?

So we, like, ride our beater bikes from my house down the trail to watch the downtown criterium? because, so we wouldn't have to mess with rush hour traffic and parking a car? and it's like only five miles from my place to get there and we're bikers and all?

So we get there? and we're having a beer and listening to this Irish band on the plaza when the thunder? and the lightning?!?!

And so we run under one of the tents but it's not really a tent but a tarp stretched over some tables? and then the hail?! and we're, like, wondering where hail comes from on an 87-degree day in Minnesota? and we're watching it plop into the pond that's on the plaza and we're all huddled together with these people we don't know under this tarp with, like, tables and chairs?

And then the marble-sized hail?! it starts pelting us? and stuff from the trees starts blowing around?! and we can see sheets of rain and hail and leaves blowing sideways and it piles up on the ground and the rain? it can't drain off the concrete plaza? and it was like over an inch of hail and leaves and water piled on the plaza and the pond was, like, alive and jumping with all the hail?! and now it's not so funny anymore?

But we didn't hear tornado sirens and the sky wasn't green, because I know that's what comes before a tornado so I knew it wasn't a tornado? but it was still really scary? and someone in Orchestra Hall saw all of us and finally opened up the lobby and we all, like, ran for the building!

Oh
my
God!

So, the women's race started all late and stuff and was shorter? then the men's race started and 15 minutes into it, the sky? it gets really dark and it's only, like, 8:00 and it's really dark and the thunder again? and then the lightning bolts light up the sky and it's so cool when you're downtown? and the rain just pelts us and the guys only get to race for 18 minutes before they call the race? and so they had to be really bummed because this was for points and stuff?

- so, like, OB

The OBJoeS*

EDIT: changed the ending on this one 7/3

From nearly the beginning of my blog, I've referred to the guys as Joes. It's made writing easier. I couldn't just make up a name for someone I know, nor could I illustrate the back and forth nature of conversation by writing: this guy said... the other guy fired back with... later that one guy hollered from the back room.... Neither a made-up name nor the term guy captured the person behind the story.

It just made sense to make them Joes. Joe said... JOE fired back with... I heard Joe holler from the back room.... It made them real without divulging identities.

However, and he probably doesn't know it, Shannon over at erratica was the one who inadvertently started the OBJoeS* by calling himself Joe #4 in response to a post I wrote about our meeting at the LBS in March.

Joe was working on his new build, while Joe was installing a new cassette/chain combo...from the other room Joe hollers: see-ya Jeanne.

I hear a different JOE: the Old Bag?!

In his reply Shannon, then TGD, signed-off: Joe #4. Which made me laugh, but which also planted the question: who, really then, are Joes #1, #2 and #3? It takes something larger to have a numerical designation. And while there are many significant Joes in my life who will never be classified, this is a bicycle blog: the numerical Joes must have something to do with cycling.

So, the OBJoeS* evolved -- with five Joes so far.

But, a nagging question arose. There are other cycling Joes: Shawn is the second blogger I met, who drove an hour across Phoenix to ride with my crowd while I was there visiting, who lamented with me the changes in the desert landscape. But from the beginning he's always been Shawn. He definitely deserves Joe status, yet a number never stuck. Why not?

It made me realize the Joes, rather than being actual people which they are, mind you, moreso stand for an experience: Joe #4 is the in-the-flesh blogger while TGD will always be Joe #4, Shawn is too. #1 is the rider so smooth he allows me to forget my trappings this one is pretty died-in-the-wool for now. #2 will always be the romantic interest this obviously changes. Joe #3 is the connection beyond the ride we're all potential threes. #5 is the one I'll probably never meet in person, but is a writer I visit regularly and is the one who dared ask to be a Joe or maybe he didn't ask, but he hinted and I offered and it became...ok, so I had a weak moment!

Cycling life wouldn't be the same without the Joes -- or without the Bettys for that matter -- in the same way life wouldn't be as rich without the characters who surround me. Cycling, in whatever form, may be part of my lifestyle but the people make it part of my life.

- OB

* Old Bag's Joe System

Wheeeee!

(I'm still off for the summer)
...this will sooo come back to bite me....

- OB but I'm still going to wallow in it

Categorized

Just in case you've a hankerin' fer an old post, I had nuthin' better to do with my time than pull them together with a short descriptor of each...

BECAUSE I'M OFF WORK FOR THE SUMMER!

- B off for a ride, seeya

BTW, they're over on the right side under favorite posts.

Inspire

...because cycling is only one part of life


clear for clarity in problem-solving
purple for patience shown
yellow for sunshine and fun
red for the warmth behind the connections
green for going forward
blue for sadness now that it's over

- tob from the kid who dared me

Dreamin'

chasing away
the
creepy-crawlies

the
eeby-jeebies

and
the things that
go bump in the night


- ob ...the ghosts in the dark corners
* awesome monsters from monster-madness.com

The Bettys

EDIT: changed the ending on this one 6/11


I first came across the term Betty while reading MTBR's Women's Lounge: someone referred to a fellow biker's new baby as a beautiful new Betty. I started seeing the term bandied about when women talked about their female cycling buddies. Betty has connotations as strong as those that are attached to Fred don't be such a Fred! except Betty lies on the other side of the spectrum. Being a Betty is all good.

Betty is strong and intelligent. She's willing to try about anything and she learns quickly. Betty doesn't know it all, and she realizes that. She's fiercely loyal. She listens and supports. Betty knows when to talk, when to joke and when to be quiet.

Betty is a smart cyclist who understands the bond.

So, when life tossed-up some road apples while we were away for a cycling weekend in the woods, two women kept close, kept me sane and kept me clear of the splatter. When the manure spread into the week, they were close to the phone and to the computer.

I've been fortunate throughout my life to have developed close friendships with smart, confident women...some of those relationships span 39 years of my 45 year old life. But, I've found I'm also blessed with new friendships growing from respected acquaintances who rally 'round when life tosses out something unexpected.

They're Bettys.

- OB

And We Did Dance

Another generation meets Alice Cooper

School's Out (1972)

Well we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin' all that noise
'Cause they found new toys

School's out for summer
School's out forever
My school's been blown to pieces

No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks

Out for summer
Out 'til fall
We might not come back at all

- TOB I'll be back

Joe #2

lying player
who's a
past-addict
has a
new addiction
and a
psycho ex-girlfriend
.
outta
there

and the final phone call? damn, was I on my game!

- OOOOOB be smart, women!

Still Here

riding
working
sane

barely
on all three counts

quiet
writing
missed



Friday at 4:00

- TOB but not 'til after the celebration

Outta the Stripes

some heavy duty work
last night
done

tired but liberated

opening the cage
running toward the weekend
throwing off
the striped costume
living in my skin
for two and a half days

not a teacher
but
a
cyclist
laughingrolling c e l e b r a t i n g breathing
again

- OB but I should probably wear something


...still 4 more days until I'm really done for the summer, though

Girlfriend

a baiku


Betty and me, we
go way back like girlfriends do
time spent together

she hangs out content
to pick-up when life settles
because she knows why

we're like that, Betty
and me, we depend upon
the strength of the bond

the history behind
what is now means we always
start up where we left

and we always leave
on good terms, Betty and me,
we lock side glances

when time finally
welcomes us to fly with the
breezes down the road

- tob waitin' to take-off