Going primal with a new mayor

Yesterday we spoke about anatomy, and the fact that  David Zabriskie is halfway to "Ur-anus" which, depending on his staring point, might put him squarely around your taint, where as cyclists, we experience most of our pain.  That is, unless, you happen to be riding one of these, which I encountered at the end of my ride Monday evening coming down Stewart.

The obvious advantage of riding an upright ElliptiGo is that there is no taint pain.  However, as with everything in life, there is a compromise, and whereas this individual's taint might be chipper, his pride may be suffering.  Especially after he caught me taking his picture (DAMN his rear view mirror).  I couldn't help it though....the image appealed to me the same way that watching a trainwreck or Tyler Hamilton's declining career appealed to me....it's disturbing and yet I couldn't look away.  Maybe it was the setting sun, maybe it was the full body tights, maybe it was the PrimalWear cycling jersey hiking up his back revealing just a hint of mid-drift in the fading light of day, like some soft-core swimsuit model photoshoot. 

As soon I got back to COMO CYCO headquarters that night, I had to look up the name of the jersey this fellow was wearing.  Following the lead of the spine and ribs imagery gave me a good start, and before long, I had tracked it down.  This is called the "Bone Collector."

After perusing some of the other PrimalWear jerseys, though - I have to say that this is not my favorite.  I actually think I favor the "Cogs and Dogs".

As indicated earlier in the week, I too have a dog and am obviously fond of the 'cog' motif - so would actually like to see a modified version of this jersey if the kind folks at PrimalWear felt so inclined to accept a suggestion.

At any rate, last night was a big night for Columbia as we elected a new Mayor, Dr. Bob McDavid.  As we say goodbye to our former Mayor and cycling supporter Darwin Hindman, I think I can say that we all look to McDavid with concern and hope that increasing cycling infrastructure and advocacy will remain mayoral priorities in COMO.  If the photo taken of him winning the race last night is any indication of where he stands on the issue of cycling, we can see at least one supporter wearing the Golden Bangle of the Lance which might be interpreted as a positive sign, but also note that while Dr. McDavid is busy clapping to his own success, a congratulatory supporter is "left hanging."

Lest we cyclists be left hanging as well, the PedNet group recently asked the mayoral candidate if he "supported PedNet's vision of a growing network of paths, trails and multimodal streets throughout Columbia, enabling and encouraing people to use healthy, active modes of transportation..."  To which he replied,

"I am a long-time road and Katy Trail bicyclist. While my road biking has ceased, my wife and I enjoy biking the Katy trail and rank bicycling as our favorite pastime. Columbia's bicycle trails represent a unique and rich recreational asset of this great city. I strongly support Columbia bicycling tradition and have advocated PedNet as it develops our community's bicycling assets."

I hope that wasn't him riding an ElliptiGo on Monday night in the Bone Collector.

The Lanterne Rouge....making peace with your knechtenrol.

After a week at the conference in Walla Walla, I'm happy to report that the COMO CYCO blog came in 108th place out of 109 entries in the Blogger's Organization for Online Bicyclists (BOOB) Best Cycling Blog of 2009 competition.  You may wonder why I'm so excited about coming in next to last.  In short, the placement appeals to me because it essentially mirrors the result of many of my races.  Prior to any given race, the first thing I do is ensure that the organizers have not formed an additional Cat 6 classification that I could enter comprised of recumbants, cargo bikes, and cyclists towing Shih Tzu's in Burley trailers.  If not, then I enter as a Cat 5 and start to hunt for the biggest, hairiest guy I can find wearing a Primal Wear Jersey....something like this if possible:

 As soon as the leaders drop me, I find my rotund target wearing the 'Organ Grinder' jersey and wheelsuck him for the remainder of the race, only to attempt to pimp him at the finish line to avoid the lanterne rouge.  At the conference, the blogging equivalent to my big boy in the Primal Wear was the blog entitled:  Andy Shleck: best bike racer in the universe.  Easy pickings despite them having twice as many followers than we do because everybody already knows that  former World Champion Paolo Bettini is actually the best bike racer in the universe, and not Andy Shleck, ever since Bettini started flossing his taint with a piece of wood.

But I mention the lanterne rouge as though it were a bad word.  In reality, the designation of 'last place' can be a coveted titled that some, it would seem, actually seek out.  Take Belgian cyclist Wim Vansevenant who raced for Silence Lotto from 2003-2008.  He distinguished himself as being the only cyclist to have finished the Tour de France in last place three times.  And he did so in consecutive years....2006, 2007 and 2008. 

In seeking out some additional information I stumbled upon his official page on the Silence Lotto team website from 2008.  His bio was written in Dutch, which I had translated into English with the help of Google Translator.  Regarding his status as bearer of the lantern rouge, this is what the translated biopic stated.

"Vansevenant may at a first meeting happened earlier cold and indifferent.  Yet appearances can not deceive in his case.  Vansevenant has peace with his knechtenrol.  It is a role as one another and also not to underestimate driving holes closed, bottles get, get on a mountain, the wind driving the pitfalls of the course decipher.  Few developed zoeen mastery in this role as Vansevenant."

Last place or not, how many of us can say we've made peace with our "knechtenrol?"

At any rate, it's good to be home once again.  Although there is no cycling in the winter Olympics, I have to admit being captivated by the proceedings therein.  However, like many probably were, I was quite disturbed by one thing during the Olympic coverage this past weekend:  Bob Costas' hair.

I'm not sure if this is a hairpiece, or an extra-liberal use of some Grecian forumula, but something ain't right.  Perhaps it's the pressure that a commentator on a major network feels to continue to look young.  I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that NBC doesn't carry cycling.  Can you image what they would do to poor Phil Liggett?

Pedal on!