This Just In: Still Chock Full of Hate.

I'm bordering on hating. No, I'm totally hating. I'm hating on how ZANY everything is getting around here.... Novelty afros and celebrating nearing 666 friends on farce borg is getting me down.... As someone quoth in the comments section the other day;

"I must say that the 'dress up and play an alternative singlespeeder for the weekend' ethos witnessed at a number of Singlespeed events shits me to tears."

I couldn't be more down with this sentiment. I'm "boring passionate" (thanks, Dad) about the single speed. Both my bikes are single speed (1x shit bike all weather commuter and 1 x rigid 9r) and I don't really have any interest in riding a bike with gears or suspension (at the moment). Do I like bikes with gears? sure. Is the Nomad a good bike? Yeah, They're mean as if you ask me...just not my cup of tea. Is this trieste potentially a means of putting off writing an essay? Damn skippy. Do I wear a Tutu when I ride my (Single speed) bike with my friends? No. DOES ANYONE I KNOW WHO RIDES A SINGLE SPEED dress up in fancy dress when they ride or race (apart from the SS champs)? No. Am I dour? No. Overly serious? No (ask anyone who knows me). Like beers? yes. Like riding a lot? yes. Like racing? Love it. Mediocre at it? at best, yes. Feel misrepresented by all the SSWC10 marketing hoopla? Yes. Hating on the event? No. Excited as all get out by it and already entered? Yes.

I guess the point is this; Reductionist or overly simplistic, one dimensional representations of groups/things/people/ideas gets me down. I was listening to Dan Carlin the other day discussing an option for the USA addressing their somewhat tenuous relationship with Iran and the causes of this relationship (Clue: the Theodore Roosevelt quote "He's a son of a bitch, but at least he's our son-of-a-bitch is particularly germane).* He said something really interesting to the effect that in keeping with perhaps apologizing for supporting a regime which some would say terrorized Iran's people for years that the USA should adopt a more self effacing and humble approach. "The elephant in the room doesn't need to tell everyone he's big, and everyone will resent him if he does" was the passage that stuck in my mind.

I think that if the elephant that is the SSWC10 stops telling everyone in the room how big (or zany) it is, the better it will be. I mean, this event is going to be amazing and I'm so excited to be part of it and racing and being around hundreds of other people from around the world all of whom love the single speed is going to be a peak for me. We'll be balls deep in zany antics I'm sure, and the costumes, beer, shenanigans and tomfoolery that will be on hand will satisfy everyone to some level. I'm hopeful that if this japery does take place (and I have no doubt it will) that it's in a natural, beer fueled (or not) manner of the like minded mob..rather than the unnatural "ZANY ZANY WOW WOW WOW, I'm-on-a-single-speed-freak-bike-just-this-once-look-at-me" manner which I'm hopeful won't permeate the event to a great extent. Yeah, that's about all I have to say on the topic and totteringly boring as it is I'm at the point that I'll explode if I don't get it off my chest..so there you have it. Rant over.

In other news,I started "cross training" today with a running program. It was pretty shit, but alright and a challenge, so we'll see where this takes me.I'm okay with copping to training (I'm just not very good at it) and am hopeful that having a riding/running thing up on the go will help when the winter series roles around. Running itself was no challenge from a cardiovascular stand point so that's good, just muscles being used differently(MENTAL PICTURE OF ME RUNNING- A starved, slavering walrus chasing a bucket of herring down a gravel road). I've commuted via bike all week which has been surprisingly pain free. The lung appears fine now, I'm off antibiotics,pneumonia free and staring down the barrel of my first off road ride on Saturday after work. I'm going to try something different and will no doubt post some shoddy photos on here after the fact.

In Closing.
I'd be really sad if anyone reading this gets up and arms because I'm ragging on the SS champs. I'm not. I just don't reckon this battleship grey, proud buttocked elephant needs to shout "I'M A BIG, ZANY MOTHERFUCKING ELEPHANT...LOOK AT ME. WOOOOOOOOOO" etc. It just needs to hang out, eat peanuts, get brushed with a yard broom and go on a terrifying yet humorous rampage through the circus at the appropriate time**. Much cooler. Oh, yeah. on that Iran thing, I'm not saying that the current regime is any better either. Just sayin'.

*Whilst riding my single speed (drunk+ and in a tutu#)

** Hopefully killing as many clowns as possible. I hate clowns. Laughing-on-the-outside-crying-on-the-in-no-business motherfuckers. Hang them all.

+ This is a lie.

# I may as well be, I look reeeediculous in riding gear.