riding little/blogging less

The holiday season always throws my riding schedule out of wack, and getting sick didn't help any. Not to mention the fact that upon my return to visit the family in Oregon, I discovered at least a foot of snow. A foot of snow is trouble in a place like the greater Portland-Metropolitan area, where the snowplow-to-fixter ratio is about 1:10,000. I didn't have a bike there, so it didn't matter. And since this blog is about cycling and not about trail running, I won't talk about trail running in the snow except for the point that trail running in the snow is fun and I should start a blog about it.

In any event, I'm mostly non-sick now ("non-sick" is different than "well"), so I've resumed bicycle riding and even racing, which I did this weekend with Jay, and which I will write about soon.

The other preview of a blog entry I'll throw you is my conversation with former pro cyclist/current anti-doping maverick/future possible Kid Rock entourage member, Matt DeCanio. I ran into him at a Christmas party and he is one interesting dude.

The other pre-Christmas party I attended was Emma H's birthday at the Pinhook. (The Pinhook is the new downtown bar and I realize that to the folks who have left Durham, there is something sobering and depressing about hearing about new bars that have opened up where old friends are now getting together to get alcohol.) The bar is the new de-facto hangout for local fixters. The event was also blogworthy due to the presence of some of the area's cycling luminaries including a bunch of dudes from Performance Bike's corporate offices and Gaynor, the former owner of the fabled Bull City Cycles (no relation to Bull City Cycling). Yes, once, there was another bike shop in Durham where now only Alivia's stands. Also, Emma's husband Pete (of Bobkestrut/cyclingnews.com fame) commissioned an awesome cake from Mad Hatter's Bakery featuring a deftly frosted picture of Tom Selleck. I don't have pictures, but it did make the Mad Hatter's hall of fame--they probably have a picture on file there.

Okay, so stay tuned for more crap.