Time for a new charity ride...

One of the great things about our society is the fact that MOST  (notice I didn't say all) people want to do something to help others in need.  You can see this by all the charity rides and walks that are held every week end through out the country.  The most popular being of course...

Well this past week end our family had the pleasure of participating in The ERRACE (http://www.errace.org) event in Avon. I hopped on the bike and did the 25 mile ride while Connie, the kids, a good friend of hers and my nephew did the 5k walk.   What a well run event that was mapped spectacularly with great friends and lots of good food.  I'm not sure what the final totals were, but all the proceeds go to cancer research.  It was a great event.

Now please allow me to deviate here a bit and vent.   If things don't change soon, there's going to be a new charity event needed... the HBACWOACR Ride.  You see, as a survivor I appreciate everyone coming out and riding these events and rasing money and awareness.  ALOT of these people take their bikes out of cob webs once a year to do these rides and I love the enthusiasm.  BUT, when you have hundreds of "newbies" dumped onto main roads who have no group riding experience and cover the roads like there's a impenetrable "charity force field" around, mayhem ensues.
I always stay at the back of these rides because I don't want to be one of "those guys", you know the racer types who have to fly off the front, but at the same time, mid and back of the pack riders are putting their lives at risk following behind some of these groups who have no road sense.  LEARN THE RULES OF THE ROAD!!!!!!!!
So next year I will be having the HBACWOACR Ride, or "Hit By A Car While On A Charity Ride" Ride... Please give often, every little bit helps...   Stupid people....

On Sunday a group of buddies made the trek up to Killington VT for some downhill hijinks...Here's a vid of my mad skills
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150913713205766
Sorry, it's on FB
Had a blast and I have to say I didn't crash once... veered off the trail once or twice, but no crashing... had a good time and looking forward to doing it again....
But next time a full suspension bike is in order... over 8,000 ft of descending just isn't all that comfortable on a hardtail.....

And now the BIG NEWS!!!!!
I finally got off my ass (damn ADHD) and sent in the paper work for the first annual Ride/Hike Your A$$ Off!
The date is set for September 30th at Gay City State Park.  The plan calls for a mountain bike ride for the riders out there, and a hike for those afraid of bikes... Distances aren't set yet, but probably count on 12 and 3ish respectively...
All the proceeds will be going to Get Your Rear In Gear a great fun group who's mission statement is "Empower local communities to promote prevention and early detection of colon cancer and to provide support to those affected."   Check them out at www.getyourrearingear.com  
I'd love to have as many of my readers, friends and family come out to join in the fun... I have some things planned that I can't spill the beans about yet, but stay tuned...
A big thanks to Anne Carlson at Get Your Rear in Gear who has extremely patient (and frustrated I'm sure) with me in putting this on.

If anyone out there cares to help, or knows any companies that would like to lend their support, drop me a line... like everything else in my life, I need to get my ass moving on this....

That's all for today... take care!

Visions of Lance Dancing in my Head...and other musings..

Well it's that time of year again when you find fit skinny men parading all over France in rainbow colored costumes for the world to see.  Yep, it's Tour de France time (not sure what you folks thought I was talking about). Here @STC Headquarters it a time of many arguments when I want to watch the Tour coverage but the other members of the family just don't get it....  I guess it's an acquired taste.

Because of these TV images, most of my riding ends up being on the road this time of year.  I pedal around the area on my slick tire equipped Airborne Delta with visions of Lance Armstrong dancing in my head (but with out the needle in my ass cheek). I effortlessly attack every hill like I'm on a solo break away in a crucial stage of the tour... sweat dripping down my fore head as I reach for the luke warm water I have (how come no one hands me up water bottles on my rides?) .  Luckily there's few Cumberland Farms and 7-11's on the route.

To prove  my total lack of mountain biking lately, I'll give you this ScopeThatColon exclusive that I didn't want to share with anyone.... it was my mountain bike ride from Tuesday,  I had big plans, but I just turned the GPS off and survived the loop.... Click on the ride name and it shows some neat info though, for those of you into that stuff...

Not too pretty... I don't understand why that when it's really hot, every stone is taller and sharper than they were before.   Everything on the bike creaks and squeaks and you just don't get comfortable... go figure...


Here's a few other nuggets:
-Waiting to here back from  the state to confirm the date for the first annual Ride Your A$$ Off.  I really wish I started this process earlier, but those of you who have grown close to me and the family probably realize why I didn't... that's for another day though.  

- Coming up on the 14th my family is doing the ERRACE event....  More info here
http://www.errace.org/  Wife and kids are doing the walk and I'll do the 25 miler... We'd love to have family and friends join us,  let us know.

- We have a few friends doing the 3Day breast cancer walk....http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage&JServSessionIdr004=tlavkaitl1.app320b... if you have a few extra bucks, throw it their way....

- Our SSDR (Super Secret Dads/Dudes Ride) group is having out first annual "Ride Up North presented by FSR Energy" (they hooked us up with a bunch of energy shots and drink for the trip).  We're heading up to Killington on the 15th, the more the merrier, drop me a line if you're interested...

- If you find something you love, never change, caress it and profess your love and never take it for granted....yes, I'm talking about bike seats.   Specialized bikes seats suck big time.  I picked up a couple lighter racier styles to take the place of my old, chunky looking ti railed WTB saddles and I regret it.  The Specialized saddles look "Euro" and all but they creak and the snag your shorts and on the cross bike the sharp edges scrap your thighs on remounts....  back to the WTB's for my butt.

And now to finish up, I'm going to rant all over you...

You all have killed it for me and have made me a bitter bitter man.  Let me explain.
I'm coming up on 45 and for most of those adult years, I've worked retail in some capacity.  Everything from small business  to mega giant box stores.  There was a time when I enjoyed helping people.  Talking to them, offering my "expertise", and putting a smile on their face when I was able to help them out.  And 95% I did it with kindness and common courtesy.
You all ruined it for me.  I realize we live in tough economical times and every dollar counts, but customer service doesn't mean "bend over and let me take it up the ass".
"Stop arguing with me that you forgot your five dollar off coupon to a competitor and we should still match it anyways (is the $5 worth it looking like a douche bag?)."
"Your 47 years old, it's about time you learn on your own, the basics on how a helmet fits... I'm not asking you to split an atom"
"Even after explaining that $150 is not alot of money and this isn't really a  "full suspension mountain bike",  I shouldn't have to replace your rear wheel for free when you go complaining to management that I want to charge you"
"We're not a playground... stop letting your kids run around the store unattended!"
"Your failure to plan ahead does not consitute an emergency on my part... I will do my best to fix your bike so you have it for your trip tomorrow.  Stop yelling at me if I can't get it done though, from the looks of the rust, two flat tires and spider webs, I would bet that the bike emergency didn't happen over night."

Yes, I'm bitter.....