A few words for a LOT of years

Dawn on the second half of my life.

Celebrated my 40th this past weekend with good friends - old and new. We went to a place that ranks in my top 5 favorites on this planet, the small cottage Jewett's grandpa built back in the '30's where Dave and I have gone since we were kids. The waves were small but super fun and consistent, the water warm, the fish were starting to run, sun blazing and truth be told I don't know that it could have been much better for everyone. There isn't much need to write a ton, the photos do the talking. I'd just like to say thanks to those who made the trip and helped me ring in the half-way mark to my life. It was a very special weekend and made me quite happy to be where I am. There are more (and much better) photos thanks to Martin and his mad skillz with the 5D here.
These suckers were posted everywhere in the cottage, even out on the street! Great idea and made me a bit melancholy for sure.

Nurf Football

Emily found time in between baking birthday brownies and posting old photos of me to get into the waves on the kayak.

The waves started too small to surf with boards but they were great in the 'yaks!


Ms Alex blew off a marathon to attend. That's dedication!

Jimmy the SunGod wished the wind blew harder. Martin waits for a pass.

Time to replace carbs

Pizza and Beer for lunch!

For dinner White House chef Iggy snagged a huge steak out of Obama's fridge and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

James especially enjoyed the steak...

Iggy explains his faith in Maureen taking on the large dose of icing on her brownie. Considering Maureen had just biked 120 miles that day in preparation for her upcoming World Championship Iron Man race in Kona, she deserves to eat anything she damn well pleases! She could have easily stayed in her comfort-training-zone back in DC but nope, she came to the island, weathered the pot holes and traffic to still be present AND get her workout in. Huge thanks for the effort Maureen! Now eat that icing!

Gives new meaning to BlueTooth

Iggy and his lemonade

The next morning Alex and Martin headed to the South end of the island to watch the sunrise. Dave had miraculously appeared on the couch at about 5am after a 12 hour marathon drive from NORTH of TORONTO!!! He had a comp on the 19th (my actual b-day) but he wouldn't be kept from a party at his own place so he busted out of the sub-freezing temps of the Great White North and showed true colors as my best friend. Talk about dedication, the man is HARD CORE! He slept a bit the next morning but didn't miss a beat once he woke up and joined the fun. He even brought a SICK new hand-made coffee table for me!

Jimmy, Caz (brown flip flops) and Martin with his new tat.

Emily sporting the 'bun'

Is this the Caribbean or Jersey? Look at that water!

Dave and Alex

Jewett drops into another glassy left

Pelicans patrolling

Everyone had a chance to get into the waves and have some fun

Jewett gets a ride

I poached Dave's new board and scored many waves on it.

Everyone had to head home Sunday but Monday Dave and I stayed on to keep surfing and fishing as we have for about 30 years. Dave heads out with Tommy to check waves.

The waves down at Holgate were clean and fun - all lefts. Dave was a pig in mud with the longboard we borrowed from East of Maui - thanks Mark!

Everyone got tatoos - even Dave

To make the trip complete we scored a dozen small bluefish in the surf.

As with any good adventure, all we left were footsteps. Thanks for reading.

Something to consider

if there are less people, the quality of life for everyone goes up - we don't have as much of a need for companies like the Walmart's or a housing industry that for some insane reason is just 'expected' to have 10-20% increases every year (where do ya think them homes are being built?). If there are less people, we have less cars, less traffic, less of basically EVERY PROBLEM WE FACE. And more GOOD STUFF like land that isn't strip malls, Walmarts and huge houses.

So why, can someone please, for the love of God's Green Earth tell me, why are so many people having 3 and 4 and 8 KIDS??? (saw a family with 8 brats at the beach just yesterday)?????

Really? We need that in this day and age?

Did God tell them to multiply and divide and conquer the earth? Or was that written 2,000 years ago buy men in a room who were terrified of what lay beyond the boundaries of what they were aware of? Hmmmm, seems it's a little hard to justify that mentality today.

People need to be regulated. Like the seatbelt laws or helmet laws. People cannot always do what is best for them, as seen time and time again down through the ages. I'm still amazed that there are idiots out there who smoke then expect the health care industry to pay for their cancer treatment. Our country should outlaw taking care of stupid people. How's THAT for health care reform? If you don't know why you are in DC marching against health care reform but you're there anyway, holding some anti-Obama sign then you should be slapped and sterilized. That's my opinion for the day. Our species can't even see the writing on the wall enough to self regulate. And here in Amurica you can get your own reality TV show if you pump out enough kids - or better yet, make every headline in Amurica by getting 8 to pop out at once!

how can I be this cynical at age 40? Is it just me?
********Sigh........**********

At least I know what to dress up as for Halloween this year...

Amurica - Luv it er Leeve it!

and if yur wunna them commies or 'czars' then I'm gunna blast ya!
Just as soon as Walmart restocks the ammo department...
YIKES...

I love how the terrifying "Ammo Shortage" and things like "Video Games Sales Slump" are making headlines. Not to mention giving "Halo 5" glowing reviews on the home page of MSNBC.

Nothing to see here folks. Just keep watching TV. And buying guns.

Bike Racers

a strange breed indeed.

180°

from the previous video. Well, actually, right in line with it...

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Idiots with big mouths and voting rights. Terrifying.

Where were these folks when Bush invaded Iraq from nothing more than bad intel?
Where were they when he mailed a few pallets of cash over there (ahem, $12 billion) and could not account for it's distribution? Where were they when he infringed on their civil liberties (uhhhh, The Patriot Act)??

Into the arms, of Amurica...

Alison's BACK!!!

After a couple years off the bike, my coach and good friend Alison Dunlap has returned to competitive cycling. After winning the 2 person cat at the inaugural Breck Epic this summer, she has turned her sights on Cross racing. But first, to test the legs she jumped into a 4 day road stage race. She won the women's race then jumped into the crit with the Men's Masters which usually contains some ex-pro's and cat 1's - well, see for yourself. Huge props Alison, you are inspirational!

SURPRISE!

Huge thanks to Emily who organized my friends for a really fun surprise party at Dogfish Head the other night. Meant the world to me. Great shots Martin!



Emmac kicks ass.


Matt's daughter is an artist! That's Duck and Doah!

Nothing like seeing photos from 30 years ago...

Mark you rock.

More from Mizzo

Zipps in disguise

Jan is the man

Curtis frolicking

Beyond Trials

this is absolutely ridiculous but shows a powerful level of balance and control I know I've never seen before.
Fixy Ballet

Back On Tour

Feels great to see the team again - I'm in Jefferson City, Missouri shooting some more footage for Chasing Legends. We interview Thor and Jens Voigt tomorrow on top of my filming from a moto during the TT. Exciting day for sure.

Funny how some riders prefer chocolate milk for their recovery drink but not so funny that Cav is scratched off the list. He bailed on the race today due to an infection in his respiratory system.

So he did.

Sometimes I can be really wordy. Sometimes I can rattle on about almost any old thing - especially if I've had one or two pints. But it's only 1pm this Tuesday afternoon. Too early for beer, too late for more coffee. So chances are I won't rattle on too much but there is a glow about me this day that I'd like to share with the world. I guess that's what blogs are for after all. When you've got something you'd like your friends and folks in your life to hear. So let me bend your ear for a minute and share a quick story of overcoming and yes, it has a happy ending.

It starts with a guy who wants so bad to be something he's not. That alone set's up the main character for a downfall because you as the audience know, going against the grain of life is never fruitful. So this guy happens to be not much more than a kid knocking heavily on the door to 40. He's never been the best athlete (tho he surrounds himself with those who are) and he's always been a bit vulnerable to the opinions of others, most likely putting too much weight in their opinions, putting them ahead of himself even when he's done what he knows to have been the right thing to do. A bad combination for our guy.

When you want to be a competitive cyclist but you really are not, you look to minimizing whatever weight you can, in the wheels, the frame, and whatever junk you have in your head. A weight was carelessly dropped in this guy's lap last year before a cycling event he thought would help define him, at a time when he was desperately searching for definition and running from condescending, judgmental opinions. The event was the 2008 Shenandoah Mountain 100 and the weight proved devastating to his "race". He pulled the weight through 100 miles of mental hell and then some. He wanted to quit but from friends along the way he found the strength to keep going. So he did.

In every cloud there can be found a bit of silver so he chose to write about that. He made it through, learned a lot about careless friends, lies and opinions of others - maybe today he's a bit wiser for it but for sure he's a hell of a lot stronger. Wisdom is born of experience. Strength from hardship. He let it all sink in and amalgamate. Sorry, getting a bit wordy.

The knocking on that door is louder but as J. Renard wrote, "It is not how old you are but how you are old". A year later we catch up to the guy in a similar spot at the same event. But now we see a different side of this guy. He brought with him last year's lesson, brought the memory of support and a bit of silver so this time when faced with unfortunately similar dissidence, baiting and juvenile insensitivity (which suspiciously reared from the same heads) he could smile. So he did.

Some say it was the homework done on the course since last year and the long hours of training deposits in the Bank of Pain or maybe even the long talks about the zen of suffering with the worlds greatest cycling legends while driving for hours on top of hours behind the current legends of the sport. Others might point to the karma of saving a kitten a week before the race. Only he knows where it came from but it could only be shown in a smile. So he did.

Standing on the start line he took stock of who he was, where he had been and what lay in front of him and his bike. There was no weight binding his shoulders or clogging his lungs and truth be told he was already there. The finish was a mere formality because this past Sunday at 6:30am his goal was already achieved.

The race rolled out and he stayed with those who he knew would be his fuel. He stayed the course of a plan most brilliant and he became what he never was - more than a competitive cyclist shattering his most optimistic finishing time - more than an individual ready to stand alone by his actions and efforts letting the smile speak for himself - he became happy within himself and it showed in every revolution of the wheels under him - he could pedal with risorial muscles, so he did.

A last minute decision to bring the camera proved fortuitous. This race was one to remember. On the way to Linn trail, early in the day stories about Dogfish Head beers were traded - some riders had clear motivation in front of them all day. Notice the red bottle cap.

White Dynamite chugs towards the toughest climb of the day


Aid 2, Conte's man of bling, J-WA


"24 Solo" wiseguy Jon Posner with J-WA

It had been a year since our guy had ripped up a downhill with his BC Stage Race doppleganger Poz so the two unleashed a display of two-wheeled artistry in motion on an off-camber canvas that stretched over the ragged edge of control for 15 minutes. Nothing will ever come close to that painting. Adrenaline coursed when in years past lactic acid prevailed so on the two went towards Mountain House and the base of another hard climb.

Braley's was another downhill for the books but it's tough to take photos when your knuckles are wound around the bars and pale white. Just imagine a green-blur with a winding spaghetti line of singletrack dropping off the face of the world.

Not far past the Conte's stop at Checkpoint 4 at Braley's was a train hammering steadily along led by Cannondale faceman Roberts Moore. As any good story needs a few moments of doubt, there were a few twitches of muscle cramps on the long miles towards checkpoint 5.

Rolling quietly

through the pain and dust

SM100 legends Thomas Jenkins

Paul Buschi

Friends would appear in front, then behind - quite the roll reversal.


Words, spoken or written carry the weight of the world. Last year they crushed me and this year they lifted me to more than I ever was or have been. I have been inspired by those who were there for me last year and all days since. Friends new and old launched me from one mountain to the next until alone I stopped riding a bicycle and just flew.

For now I can only say thank you for reading and hope I get the chance to tell you more about this past Sunday with a pint or two in front of us. I have a nifty new pint glass I can use and be ready for a colorful story not from the same guy you once knew. And yes, it has a happy ending.
JB at 8:51:00


JB, Poz, JB


For more photos, check the Gripped Racing blog and as always, thanks for reading!