I wish that Sunday's lasted for 48 hours...it was a good day last weekend in Sedona.

BEATIN' THE FUZZ.......a classic euphamism from my pal Kurteez...meaning Playing Tennis.

That's my girl Squirty B.......she's got Serena Williams' booty, Martina Hingis' rack, the focus of Tracy Austin, and the clothes of a 6-year old boy......Notice the two different socks, and the camouflage Arizona Diamondbacks hat. LOVE IT! And she wouldn't have it any other way. Who knows - she could be good someday......she can't be any worse than me or my Dad. We both played through High School, but that was about the extent of it. For now, here's the fave list of sports for Squirty B:

Bike Riding
Soccer
Ice Skating
Tennis
and in a distant 122nd place....T-Ball. It's too boring.

THE LAST OF MY RELIGIOUS POINTS.......

I don't know what's worse - an athiest, or a religious zealot.

Declaring yourself an athiest is a cop-out. You're protected in the sense that no-one can ever prove you wrong, and you can cherry-pick holes in age-old scriptures that are used to define any form of faith. You can sit on your soapbox and throw shots down on the masses as you relish in pointing out contradictions in the Bible...the Koran....etc.

Religious zealots. They lean on the overwhelming belief of a God because they are weak, manipulative, insecure......and more commonly......opportunists.

TIME Magazine this week points out - on the cover no less - that Christianity should be taught in schools from a historical perspective because it is the cornerstone of western civilization's religion. Several PhD's, and school administrators say that it would be possible to teach even scripture without 'preaching'. Having come from a white-bread school/neighborhood, I would imagine there would be a good degree of people where I grew up that would favor this, followed by those that are strongly opposed - with those that don't really care bringing up the rear.

This is a trainwreck of an opinion. I would support 100% a 'religions of the world' class that introduces High School kids to the seven major religions of the world - from a factual and historical perspective. This would be education. I would/will pull Lyza out of any school district that adopted preaching Christianity. It's going to be hard for her growing up because Lyza's birthmother has embraced Catholicism (presumably because you can let those sins go once a week - say a few Hail Mary's and hold that Rosary please - allright, that was a cheap shot there). I, on the other hand, will not require Lyza to go to church and practice a specific religion..

For the record, I believe that religion can include visits to a church/Temple/Synagogue etc, meditation, a walk in the woods, or a scary moment(s). I believe in a higher power, especially after seeing my daughter born. I'm steadfastly opposed to organized religion being integrated into politics, and I believe that religion and humanitarian efforts can mix if the intent is just to help, and not to spread the faith. I am not a Christian, and I can't identify wholly with any one religion at this time in my life. Finally, thanks in advance for keeping your beliefs to yourself unless we become more than acquanintances. I'll do the same.
_______________________________________________

Off to Tucson this weekend - I can't wait.

CB

6 Rides in 8 Days

Ahhhhh...I feel restored, refreshed.....and downright wasted. There's nothing better than coming to work on Monday needing to recover at your desk. Conversely, there's nothing worse than coming into work on Monday feeling great - because you didn't do enough on your weekend away.

The one rough day of the six, I was riding my singlespeed with two dudes - one of them was pretty fast and he had gears. We tore it up for a couple of hours, and I redlined three or four times just to stay in front. Was it worth it? Well, I had to take about a 1 hour nap, and even an afternoon iced latte' barely woke me up. You know that feeling too - where there's a burning in your lungs and trachea - not quite to the point of puking, but you're thinking about the fact that it could happen unless you back off. I seek this feeling, I LOVE this feeling.

www.dawntilduskrace.com is next on Tax weekend. Get to know Gallup, NM. It may look like a sh*thole, but its got some culture, some great Mexican food, and great trails.

Squirty B arrived after school today, and man was I glad to see her. We get a whole week together - as we are now following a week on/week off schedule with her mother. This kid just makes me smile. We have such a great time together. D loves to take her to school in the AM - so I work early and leave by 3pm to get her at the bus stop - that gives us 2 hours to goof around before dinner....that's what I call "prime time".

D didn't get a job that she found out she didn't really want anyway....so that worked out OK. 75% travel would have wiped out the foundation we have built and neither one of us were cool with even trying it. I'm glad.

We're heading to Tucson this weekend for some fun in the sun. I'll bring the roadie and get in 2 morning rides - maybe even up Mount Lemmon if I get the time. 5000 vertical feet in 20 miles. Good times!

TAXES and....

Lost some to the Feds, got some from the State - and netted a few hundie for the vacation fund this year. Not bad. My taxes are so simple now that I am not married to Leslie anymore. I also feel a hella' lot better about not getting audited - as in why would they choose me since my itemized deductions are simpler than a 1st grade book. I love living the simple life.

Hammered out a mud-fest ride this am before the sun was out. My bike is somewhat trashed but nothing that a good bath won't fix. I can't wait to get Lyza back on Monday so we can shred all next week after school.

I think I have reached my boiling point with regards to sports figures using their fame/notoriety as a pulpit to speak out against human rights. What I am alluding to here is Tony Dungy (HC of the Indianapolis Colts) speaking out about his opposition to gay marriage by saying that "the Lord is on his side with this issue"
a) Tony - you must be referring to your Lord because yours isn't mine
b) OK - so being a father, I get the positive side of having parents of each gender involved with kids, but the point is having two great parents, which can be any gender in my mind

I'm tired of Christian right-wingers. I'm tired of their beliefs bleeding into politics and human right issues. If you believe in God/Allah/Buddah and it makes you a better person - wonderful. Just don't tell me about it, and just don't say that your beliefs are "right" because you share them with your Lord. Nobody's right.....stop trying to make the word FAITH a synonym for Christianity.

I've only scratched the surface of this - more later....

I Bonnie Blaire'd out of work yesterday at 1:30 and was on the trails by 2:30. Rode the tires off my RIG for 2.5 hours, and put myself in a nice state of bliss for the rest of the night....tired, but refreshed...elated really. There is nothing more satisfying that pushing a 27 pound pig around singletrack with one gear....this bike tracks like its on rails, and the simplicity of no gears continues to please me. I've been a devoted singlespeeder since 2001 and I'm not gonna change until my knees say no more. Who needs a $3,000 mountain bike? Pros and Posers - and I'm in the middle of that spectrum.

On a great note, I am absolutely positively ready for the mountain bike marathon this weekend, but on a bad note, I can't go due to work. Oh well - I'll save a few bucks in gas/food.

Coming up - a review of Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation". If you haven't read it, well....let's just say that I never made it through my Christian Confirmation ceremony.

Holy sh*t

I think I'm feeling better today. The legs don't feel like wood, and I have a ride lined up tomorrow after work around 2pm. After a 14 hour day today I'm ready for tomorrow. The temps are dropping by 30 degrees tomorrrow night so I gotta get it in......

More tomorrow...

Sufferin'

OK, so I get the work thing solved - although the fallout will still hurt for another couple of weeks as I get some new staff trained, but now this.

I'm whipped, dog-tired, weak-legged, and sufferin' on my rides. I got out twice this weekend from 7am-9am both mornings. It was f'n cold, but the trails were great. One problem - I have about 80% of the cardio capacity and strength as I had just a week ago. Allergies are kickin' my ass lately, and I have to believe that this is the culprit. Remember when Paolo Salvoldelli dumped an egg trying to defend his Giro d'Italia title last summer? OK -you don't remember that unless you're cycl-obsessed as I am, but he suffered immensely from spring allergies, and I'll just lump myself into the same situation (minus the bike-star status o'ccourse).

I did get a raise though, and an endorsement for another year, so at least there is some stability there. Quick hits: we're gettin' another dog this week - its time. Lyza did her first real MTB ride this weekend - conquering Campbell Mesa with ease. I was pretty proud of her for not complaining, and just riding and the resting when she needed to. It was probably a 4 mile ride on dirt - pretty good for a kid on 16" wheels. Spring break here in AZ which means a crazy week at Junipine, but busy is good as the days fly by - and then you get to get outside and play!

The Times they are a Changin'

WTF? That NCAA tournament bracket and corresponding bet that I mentioned never happened. I think I have officially moved into the "I could give a rats ass" about televised sporting events. OK - the fact that I ditched my TV 3 1/2 years ago has a lot to do with it, but I think I have just lost interest in this stuff as life has changed. I haven't seen the last 4 Super Bowls, and when some dude at a party says "how 'bout them Phoenix Suns" - I just nod my head and say "how 'bout them?!" - cause I have no idea if they are good or bad.

Trust me, I'm not on a high horse here. Its not like I read books, or get involved in volunteer work in place of the time I used to spend watching sports. Its just that I don't make time for it anymore. That is a clear indicator that I work and play, and that takes up pretty much every day.

I still check the standings of the Twins, Vikings, and the Dallas Stars (as they were the Minnesota North Stars when I was a kid). Other than that....well I'll have to ask you for the stats.

Now that the shitburger has been digested, things are looking bitter, I mean better. I hired a proven commodity who will help immensely. In short, I'm climbing back into contention.

I'll have to skip MBAA#3 next weekend, but, I can deal with that. It's just a desert course with no real features other than granite, and some blooming cacti. I'm still banking on this, this, and this.

THE Tournament starts this Thursday, and I'm looking forward to a gambling diversion. I'll slap down $25 for my bracket, and I'll get 3 weekends of 'action' out of it. I haven't watched a college b-ball game in years, and I only know who's who by listening to sports talk radio on the way to work. So let's just say my bracket won't be very scientifically determined - it'll be more or less a crapshoot, which is how I like to play anyway. I know two things though, IU and the Fighting Illini are going out early...

SHITBURGER

Have you ever had one? They taste like crap, smell like crap, and if you eat too many in one day you might think you're cursed. I ate one yesterday, as one of my key staff members essentially had a meltdown 3 days before the start of our busiest season - Spring Break. Guess what that means? I get to cover everything.

Fortunately, in the course of my career, I have eaten so many of these that I hardly wince when I swallow 'em down. This one though, isn't going down as smooth. Easter plans will now be cancelled, and I'll be lucky to still do the two bike races I have scheduled. Worse yet, it messes my schedule up with the family - which is what hits the hardest.

So, enjoy your dinner tonight. I'll be eating a shitburger with a side of depression, a glass of raging anger, and some crap icecream for dessert.

Oh my do I hate the 'successories' posters....talking about motivation, pride, persistence etc...but this little gem above is just my kind of humor - sick, yes - but c'mon it's pretty damn funny.

A much-needed head clearing ride yesterday..

2 hours, 5 minutes all sweet Sedona singletrack on the 29'er ss. Aside from bashing my kneecap into my stem the first 50 yards, and getting caught in some nasty thorns, it was a great ride. Its a challenge to ride a 29'er in Sedona, so much so that for me - 2 hours is about enough time in the saddle. I went back to work after the ride, and got 9.5 hours in yesterday total. Rolled home to Flagstaff about 8pm and crashed hard.

Next up - Thursday morning before work in the Mt. Elden trail system
(see Oldham trail #1) for info on the climb up....and then a hella fun time back down.

Check it out www.dawntilduskrace.com That will be race #2 for me this season. I can't wait!

CB

anna niCOULTER smith

Actually, I'm not doing Anna Nicole a service by combining her name with this woman's name. Ann Coulter is sort of like the Paris Hilton of political pundits - somehow carving a niche (ironically niche ryhmes with B*tch) for herself that for some reason people tune in to. I think it has to be shock journalism - waiting to see what she says next.

Well, calling John Edwards a faggot pretty much brought down the house at the conservative political action conference. She said "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm - so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions," said Coulter, whose comment was followed by applause.

No further comment needed...

Immigration / Immigracion / La Migra

Its about to heat up in the House and Senate again with the general consensus being that if something isn't done by August, it won't get done until after the 2008 election.

There is one thing that President Bush and I agree on, and that is that there must be an empathetic approach to immigration. Rep. John Kyl can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned. If you never saw the Kyl/Cornyn draft then you are lucky. It was a "We're white and we were here first" perspective that made me sick.

Since we are all descendents of other countries (except of course our Native American neighbors), it seems as though some of our conservative lawmakers have forgotten that we/they came here for opportunity, and bullied primitive cultures into submission for their land. OK - so then how does that make us different or better than an underpriviledged person from Mexico or South America coming here for opportunity? I realize that every socio-economic factor has changed since the Pilgrims came to North America, but if I hear one more person refer to a hispanic illegal as a 'beaner', a 'wetback', or a 'spic' - then I think I'll come out of my skin.

Here's my view - take it , rip it up, or just plain leave it:

Look up the McCain/Kennedy bill This is a pretty good example of what a bi-partisan bill can look like. I believe that we have to secure the border. I believe that the illegal aliens that are here, should stay if they want to become US Citizens - and they should go if they don't. They should be given the opportunity to become US Citizens now. I believe that a guestworker program should be instituted to help feed line-level jobs in construction, hospitality, agriculture, BUT I also believe that these employers should shoulder the cost of benefits and state-funded services for these guest workers. Individual US taxpayers should not have to pay the cost of guestworker health and social service benefits.

Its crazy to think of how many other socio-economic issues this impacts. I just hope that our lawmakers exercise compassion when making such a huge decision.

MESSIN' IN THE CINDERPITS

We took a nice and easy hike through one of the cinder pit areas of east Flagstaff with Lyza's buddy Jackson. The east side is laden with cinders as the whole area was once a steaming cup of cappucino-like lava...thankfully many years ago. These caves are endless - and fun to explore with the kiddos. They ran over 2 miles, and now Lyza has her bootie parked on my couch watching a Batman movie - with her eyes half open. As always, good times!

MTB ride tomorrow morning before the family gets up. I'm already ready to go hammer on the Rig for a couple of hours. The route is laid out, the gear is packed, the clothes on hanging up - do you think I need a release?!