Always Look on the Bright Side

I didn't look at it as heavy, wet snow on my commute into work. I thought of it more as my personal-ticker tape parade for my birthday.

In other news They're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha haaa, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away ha haaa.



Sweet, a modern remake of the legendary classic!


In still other news, Cactus-Eyed Joe, myself, and another cycling/fitness instructor from the U went to a train the trainer session in cycling yesterday. It was a good workout, but I learned very little. It was nice to see how another instructor does it and that was about it. Handout-wise, I'd grade the workshop a C- (being kind), Workout wise A-, Hotness of the instructor B, Hotness of the girl behind Cactus-Eyed Joe A-, Level of annoyance with the happy lady next to me singing when we were supposed to be working out hard - VERY HIGH. Lunch/laughs afterward with CEJ, Abby-Normal, and two of their friends - Priceless.

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Hello kids, you may not remember me but I'm your Dad. Laura, I'm the guy who used to sleep in your bed. It's been such a long weird week that is exactly how I feel. Let's recap:

Saturday: Work Midwest Championship Track Meet 10-6.

Sunday: Easter Sunday: Church - Family dinner

Monday: Work until noon - Work Dan Lennon (A) Track Meet, eat/drink afterwards, get home about 10:30

Tuesday: Work until noon - Work Dan Lennon (B) Track Meet, eat/drink afterwards, get home after midnight (oops)

Wednesday: Work until noon - go to Kearney for Women's DII Elite 8 game, drive back. Arrive home 4:26 am.

Thursday: Work a semi-normal day COMPLETELY minus my voice, part from game, part from the cold that is kicking my butt. Stayed home, trying to recover.

Friday: Work and "after work" working on my Mom's computer -- amazingly I fixed it. Thought I was going to have to "fix it" with a shotgun for awhile.

Saturday: Road trip to Kearney for the National Championship DII Women's Game. Back home by 11:15ish.

Sunday: Cycling instructor training in Sioux Falls at Sanford Wellness Center from 9:00-12:00. Left town about 7:40.

Sunday night: Chill. Watch a movie. Relax. Prepare for a much more relaxed week (hopefully).

Friday Funny

It's been awhile since I posted a Friday funny so here you go:

A woman pregnant with triplets was walking down the street when a masked robber ran out of a bank and shot her three times in the stomach. Luckily the babies were OK. The surgeon decided to leave the bullets in because it was too risky to operate. She gave birth to two healthy daughters and a healthy son.

All was fine for 16 years, and then one daughter walked into the room in tears.

'What's wrong?' asked the mother. 'I was taking a tinkle and this bullet came out,' replied the daughter.

The mother told her it was okay and explained what happened 16 years ago.

About a week later the second daughter walked into the room in tears. 'Mom, I was taking a tinkle and this bullet ! came out.'

Again the mother told her not to worry and explained what happened 16 years ago.

A week later her son walked into the room in tears. 'It's okay' said the Mom, 'I know what happened You were taking a tinkle and a bullet came out.'

'No,' said the boy, 'I was playing with myself and I shot the dog.'

Team Man Tandem and Cactus-Eyed Joe to Kearney

Team Man Tandem (CDV and myself) along with Cactus-Eyed Joe and another cyclist from here at the U are on the way to the National Championship game tomorrow in Kearney.

Warning: Cycling will be discussed to and fro.

USD Advances to National Championship Game

USD took down the #1 Delta State Lady Statesmen 68-58 to advance to the national championship game. Delta State was undefeated at 32-0. That was quite possibly the best 40 minutes I've ever seen the Coyotes play.

I was chatting back and forth with my friend Barry of Pop40 fame, and a USD Alumnus. I did a poor job of not allowing him to listen to it online with the internet streaming cache lag without playing spoiler.

I SO have to go on Saturday. I see that CDV just left a comment on my last post about a Road Trip Saturday. Does that mean you want to go? I'll ride in somebody's trunk to make this game!

Sorry for all the non biking posts as of late, but this is probably the last time you will ever see this from USD as they make the journey into Division I. If you are going to leave Division II, do so in style ladies!

Box Score: (I attempted to put up the stats but the formatting was horrible, so I put the Box Score as a picture below):

4:36 AM and the Snow Storm That Wasn't

Part II of USD Women to the Final Four

After the game we had to wait for Dan Genzler, USD Sports Information Director (aka The Minister of Information), to finish his writeup from the game and post stuff to the web page as he was riding home with us. By the time he was done and we rounded up everybody, loaded the super tanker and put gas in it, it was after midnight. Taking the short route home was still a good solid four hour trip home. I had a Monster energy drink leaving Kearney only because the station didn't have and Amp (bad station..no biscuit) and we were on our way home.

The first part of the trip went well and we had the obligatory pit stop at a little town called Clark, which amazingly still had a station open at such a late hour. I found an Amp there (Way to go Clark, Nebraska!). Not just an amp but a cornucopia of Amp varieties that I hadn't see before. I settled on Amp Revive (Orange can) and it was decent and kept me going as my usual fun loving, jumpy self.

After some Hwy 30 traveling, we turned onto Hwy 81 and started heading back towards home. After going through Norfolk, we were just a few miles north of town and it started to lightly snow. We all commented how bad the forecast was as the snow was now supposed to be below I90 in South Dakota. We decided they meant to say not south of I80 in Nebraska. The joking soon stopped as it was snowing hard, if you could call it snow. It was more like a "snush". The wind was blowing it sideways and it was sticking on the road and making things a bit treacherous. We were following a semi and talked about following it all the way to Yankton to stay in it's tracks. Then it slowed down to 45 mph. We decided that following it was not worth it and that we'd make better time going on our old route. Bad move.
We turned on Hwy. 20 and you could just hear the snow crunching under the tires. The snow flying into the headlights was starting to wear on my already tired eyes. Then to make things more interesting, all the lights that were anywhere near the road went out. The wet, heavy snow must have temporarily taken out power to the area. The excitement continued the rest of the way home as we soldiered on between 40-50 mph. Of course, when we got across the bridge back into South Dakota, it wasn't nearly as bad.
Time of Arrival at the Brady Household: 4:36 am. Time of arrival at work this morning: 7:58 am. Of course I was fabricating the whole snow storm story because the weather person is never wrong. There was no snow south of I90. The white stuff on the ground isn't snow.

USD Women to DII Final Four

What a wild, crazy trip it was to Kearney, NE to watch USD play Washburn at the Women's Division II Elite 8 last night. Due to last minute bizarre circumstances and a couple of extra passengers, I ended up driving a fairly new Excursion (aka "mini-semi") with only a little over 4,000 miles on it with four guys as we had to bring two more home. I commented that the trip to and from Kearney (right at 500 miles when all was said and done) is probably equal to the last 5-6 months of driving combined for me, if not more.

We met up with some USD Alums and faithful at a pizza joint about a mile from the game. Best part...Fat Tire baby! It is easily one of my favorite beers, and I partook in pleasing my palate with an undisclosed number of them. Okay, so I can't remember as they kept showing up in front of me magically.

We got to the game in time to watch the end of Delta State's win over Franklin Pierce. #1 Delta State won to remain undefeated and will (SPOILER) play USD tonight. I think we match up well with them and look forward to the game.

USD and Washburn played an epic game last night and SO made the trip worthwhile. Each team looked great at times and not good at others. Each team made runs during the game where they each looked like they could potentially put the other in a world of hurt for any hope of comeback. At half the Coyotes were up by 7. Washburn went on a huge run to open the second half and suddenly a 7 point lead was a four point deficit. Late in the game it looked like we had the win wrapped up and their star player hit a couple of incredible three pointers to send it into overtime.

In OT it wasn't looking great as two of our key reserves fouled out. To top it off, it went into DOUBLE OT. In the 2nd OT, USD and Washburn were both looking like heavyweight champs that just went 15 rounds pounding the heck out of each other. USD had a couple nice drives and sealed it with good foul line shooting pulling off the 85-80 win. It was an awesome atmosphere as USD had way more fans that Washburn despite being just a few miles closer to Kearney than they are. Noise levels were not even a comparison. We were 10 times louder than they were.

The game didn't end until 11:00 and we didn't get on the road home until after midnight but it was all worth it.

Upcoming post: The trip home. A bizarre end to our whirlwind day.

Road Trip to the Elite 8

After working a track meet in the dome on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, I need a break. Well, I'm not sure that it's much of a break as we are making a down and back trip to Kearney, NE for the Women's Division II Elite 8. Leaving at 1:00 today and probably getting back into town about 2-3 am. I figure that this may be the last chance in quite some time to see USD in a national sports spotlight with the move to Division I next year, so a road trip is in order. Go Yotes!

The "Retro" Brady Household

Here is a Google Map image of the Brady household with two cars. I suspect it will be awhile before you see an image with two cars at our house again.

Tandem Bike Racks

With the adoption of a Cannondale Tandem last summer came a whole new era of fun cycling in the Brady family. We are excited to get much more riding in this year.

Laura and I decided to get some miles in each day on the Tour de Kota after I get in to each city. That pretty much guarantees a century a day of riding on the TdK. I'm excited to get out on the road more with my wife and the tandem pretty much guarantees to get a heck of a workout this summer between riding with my wife, my kids, and CDV in preparation for Team Man Tandem (the name is growing on me) on the Gut Check.

This led me to an important thought: I need to acquire transportation for the tandem. Not knowing what to expect and never researching it before, I truly expected to pay about $100-$150 for the tandem carrier. Hopeful that I could update the rack I currently have with one that would hold a tandem, I started my searching with Google. Then I realized something else that is important: Apparently Tandem racks are gold plated. Yakima and Thule, both very reputable rack makers, have exactly what I need. The Yakima Sidewinder and the Thule 558p both retail at $375. Yup, three-hundred-seventy-five bones. Dear IRS, please send the "stimulus" check soon. My LBS needs it.

Andy Hampsten's Team 7-11 Eddy Merckx

The Owner asked if I'd be willing to put my bike on display in his shop and I graciously agreed. I decided to share the story behind the bike. Before I do, understand that it IS for sale for the right offer.

My initial road bike was an entry level Cannondale which I though was the bomb. It served me fine as a starter bike, but when I decided to get more serious about biking I knew it was time to upgrade. Well, it just so happened that my manager at the time wanted to get rid of a Team 7-11 Eddy Merckx owned by Andy Hampsten.

I was always a little skeptical about the story that the bike was actually Andy Hampsten's "personal" bike as I knew the guy who owned it before my manager and he was always good at going on and on about things. I'm not saying that I ever thought he was a liar, just a person who like to talk...a lot. His story was that he knew one of the team mechanics and was able to buy an actual bike from the Tour de France. At this I admit my B.S. sensor was on high alert.

But at any rate, I was VERY pleased when I purchased this bike. For those who love steel frame bikes, this is a classic bike. It isn't that heavy for steel and it rode like a Cadillac. Smooth as all get out. It had (and still has) the original Campy Record components on the bike. I thought about riding this bike until it fell apart, but I decided to find out the history of the bike for myself before doing so.

I went online and found out that Andy Hampsten actually sells steel bikes in Seattle. Well, his brother does in his name. Andy lives in Italy. So, I emailed asking about the bike. Andy's brother Steve forwarded my email to Andy and he actually responded to me. Much to my surprise, after a couple of emails back and forth, this bike IS AN ACTUAL TOUR BIKE FROM THE TEAM! Immediately I started looking for a different bike to ride to put this on the shelf. A piece of history shouldn't be ridden in my humble opinion. Below is an email I received from Andy. Understand that at the time of this email I was completely sold on steel bikes. I probably would have bought steel again, but I really wanted to support the LBS, and steel was not an option.

7/15/2001

Hi Kevin,
Hey nice bike. It sure is one of the original team bikes with the
number plate hanger. I love those old steel forks with the classic flat fork
crown, what a ride! As you know the parts have changed even more than the
frames in the last years. Whatever you do don't go upgrading the parts with
the latest stuff. I'd go with a new bike when the time comes and leave your
Merckx as an intact piece.
You are right on about the carbon-fiber and beer can frames of
today. I am sure they are light but it is hard to beat the feel of a proper
steel frame. As you know I now flog bikes, with my brother Steve. They are
made by artisans in Seattle (the ti bikes are made in Colorado by Moots.
They're mythical!!) The cool thing about steel now is it has the same
characteristics but a lot lighter, AND it can by TIG welded stronger than
what lugs offered with all that extra metal missing. It's great!
Enough of the hard sell. Sorry about your sticker being chipped but
that is part of having an original bike.

Happy riding, Andy Hampsten



www.cinghiale.com (Cycling Tours) www.lacucinamia.com (Culinary holidays)
www.hampsten.com (for great bikes)


Some of you are probably wondering why I would get rid of this bike with it's history. Well, I'm just not a collector. I would love for this to find a home with somebody who appreciates it's history and maybe take it for an occasional spin. Let me know if you are interested!

Happy St. Patricks Day to All

With a name like Brady, I can't help but be Irish. Although technically I'm more German than anything.

Couldn't get the embed code to work, so click HERE for your special message from me!

Awareness Tests

How aware are you?

FREE MONEY!!!

I will need some help from CDVto remember the exact date this took place, but it has to be close to a year ago now. We went on a ride around town and into the country a little bit. We ended up at the Roadhouse where we shared a pitcher of beer, and then a second. The only thing I remember vividly from that day was that there were a few guys at the bar and their buddy was getting married in the park that day. We talked with them a little and if I remember right they bought us one of our pitchers (who knows...maybe Craig and I shared three pitchers that day).

Why this long winded story about a day that seems like just another day with another ride? Well, that day ended up being a day where I kicked myself for a long time. That same day I realized that I was missing my money clip. I looked through my jersey pockets and nothing. I called the Roadhouse and they searched the booth I was in and nothing. I was upset with myself. I lost my money clip. Credit cards, license, and most importantly, at least $100 as I knew I had a hundred dollar bill.

Fast forward to today. I had to run camera for the Semi-finals of the North Central Regional Women's Basketball Tournament in the dome today. It was requested that we dress up and not wear jeans. Since I wore one set of khaki dockers yesterday, I decided to dig through my plethora of dress pants and found a pair of dark green dress pants that I used to wear quite often, but hadn't in quite some time.

Apparently I hadn't worn those dress pants since the same day that I "lost" my money clip. That's right, I found my money clip in the pocket! $120 found its way back into my life! I think that my dark green dress pants may get worn more now. They just became my lucky pants!

Happy Pi Day

I have to give credit to Lindsey for having "Happy Pi Day" (that's 3.14 for those of you who are intellectually challenged or blond) in her Google identity this morning or I wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Upon further discussion we came up with a great idea. I checked the calendar and next year Pi Day is on a Saturday. With the number of "geeks" in our cycling club, I feel it is necessary to announce that we will have a Pi Day ride next year! I even geeked it out further by suggesting naming it the "Pi R NOT Squared, Pi R Round" ride. I thought it might be fun to have a social urban (Vermillion...urban...I don't think so) ride. Bebop around town and end up at the coffee shop and make sure they have Pi(e) for us.

Mark your calendars and remind me...I'm getting older and I forget things.

Late Edit: MinusCar brought up a great idea. The ride will take place officially on 3.14 at 1:59:26. I'm not explaining that one. If you haven't figured out where that comes from, you are not a true nerd.

Weird, Wasted Day

This morning I came out of the bathroom, turned slightly, and WHO IN THE HECK JUST SUCKER PUNCHED ME IN THE BACK!?!?!?!??! I could hardly move, I was doubled over and I could hardly breathe. Laura rubbed it down a little and I struggled into work. I made it through the morning but ended up having a massage and a chiropractic adjustment along with 600 mg ibuprofen and a cyclobenzaprine (flexoril). The flexoril kicked in and I had to sleep for a bit. I missed a couple hours of work and I'm still kind of miserable. So miserable that I didn't go riding on the first 60 degree day of the year (other than commuting).

I don't know how to explain it other than I hurt like you would not believe. Sitting too long, reaching too fast, simple routine tasks all hurt terribly. Tomorrow I'm supposed to run a shoulder camera for the NCAA Division II Women's Regional tourney in the dome. We will see about that. It's all going to depend on the magic touches of my wonderful massage therapist tonight.

In other noise, Angela Olson from South Dakota Safe Routes to School is coming to town in a half hour to meet with a bunch of us. I informed the city about the opportunity and they jumped at it and invited her down. I'm impressed that the city responded so quickly to get the ball rolling. More on that meeting in my next post I'm sure.

Child-Biker Down

This week has started the two older children biking to school. Austin usually rides with me to work and then continues on to school. Last night on our way home from the church, we went through the park and there was a huge lake of water across the sidewalk from all the melting. This morning that lake was slightly frozen on top and the edges were really slick.

Being the lazy person I am, I'm still running my studded tires. Austin wasn't so fortunate. He went down on the very edge when he thought it was okay to pedal again. I have taught him that it's best to not pedal in places that are icy, but he was bitten by the black ice.

Being the trooper he is, he got up, wiped it off and soldiered on. Being the teacher that I am, I asked him if he was glad that he had his helmet on. He's getting to that age where I think he feels a little peer pressure now that he's in middle school that "helmets aren't cool". Unfortunately for him, helmets are not optional in our household.

No Reason to Panic

CDV (Ride Vermillion) and I went out on our initial tandem ride in preparation for Gut Check '08. It started out great! I clipped into the new Crank Brother Quattro SL's with no problems at all and I'm actually quite impressed with them. CDV and I rolled out a rather easy 20-22 mph pace. That lasted about eight miles or so and then something went drastically wrong.

There is a stretch on the bluff road that was HEAVILY seal coated last year and it is "slow" pavement. That's what we chalked up to the fact we were climbing a small rise at a mere 12-13 mph. As the last 20 miles unfolded for this ride, it was evident that something else was going on. We got off the "slow" stretch and still was struggling to hold 17 mph tops.

We stopped about 23 miles in and checked the tires and, even though I didn't take time to check them before we left, they seemed fine. We got back on and it seemed to roll better, but still not great. Probably 18 mph top end and we were getting tired. Then we started to hear something..it was a whining noise. It was the disc brakes. It's my first bike with disc brakes and I know NOTHING about them.

We LABORED back into town and we were totally fragged. When we got back to my place I picked up the bike and spun attempted to spin the front wheel. It made ABOUT one revolution before coming to a complete stop. Craig made his way to his truck and I crawled into the house. Too tired to even look at the problem. Heck, it took me another 2.5 hours to recover enough to BLOG about it.

No reason to loose faith in the tandem team that is poised to take the Gut Check by storm (we are the only tandem team so far!). Think of the initial ride like one of my indoor cycling classes: We had an easy flat for a warm up and then we turned up the tension to simulate tough hills....for the next 1.5 hours. So for those who want to whine about my classes, remember...I could take you out for one of my now famous tandem rides.

Warmer Weather Causes Cycling Dreams

It was mid-40's today. Nothing to get too excited about, or is it? It's been so cold for so long that mid-40's is like a heatwave! So much so that I trekked down to the LBS and picked up my new pedals for the tandem, the Crank Brothers Quattro SL pedals.



Being a mechanical moron, I had a couple issues putting them on. The instructions said that the left pedal has a small groove around the spindle flange. Perfect...no problem. WHAT THE HELL IS A SPINDLE FLANGE? Finally figured that out. Threaded all four pedals on the tandem as far as I could by hand, but I don't have an 8mm Hex at my disposal so I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.

Then came the shoes. The cleat with the circle goes on the right shoe. No problem, found that. How in the hell do you get three screws in there? I only see one possible screw location! Laura figured out that the outside snaps off allowing you to screw all three in and then it pops back on. Yeah, there are good reasons that I married her. To make me feel silly is close to the top of the list.

What does this all lead up to? 55 degrees tomorrow. Ride Vermillion and I are starting out training for the Gut Check with our first tandem ride. In case you missed it, it IS official that we are going to ride as a tandem team on the Gut Check, unless a) one of us gets hurt and can't ride b) we end up hating each other being together so much. So we are going out with a different clipless pedal than I have ever ridden before and Ride Vermillion has only been on a couple times. Anybody who wishes to follow with a video camera has a good shot at catching an outstanding accident.

ONE Car Family

I casually made mention in THIS post asking if anybody wanted to buy a car. Guess what? It's gone...sold today! Blogging...BETTER than advertising! The Ford Deathstar is still in place for necessary trips and child transportation. One car - five person family - priceless.

Since I will not be there for your birthday bash Snakebite, consider this your birthday present. Special mention to the man with a minus car mission also!

My Super Villian Personna

It's only fair that I have a Super Villian side too....
This fits into one of my favorite quotes: I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
You are Riddler

Riddler 61% Apocalypse 60% The Joker 59% Lex Luthor 56% Dr. Doom 55% Dark Phoenix 51% Poison Ivy 50% Juggernaut 49% Catwoman 49% Venom 49% Magneto 48% Green Goblin 41% Mystique 41% Kingpin 39% Mr. Freeze 38% Two-Face 37%

Riddle me that, riddle me this, who is obsessed with having a battle of wits??

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Times Ininitknee

Conversation before bed with my youngest last night:

Me: Good night, I love you Carson
C: I love you too Daddy.
Me: I love you more.
C: I love YOU more.
Me: No way...I love YOU more.
C: I love you WAY more.
Me: I love you times infinity.
C: I love you times in-in-it-knee
Me: Ininitknee?
C: Yep.
Me: That's probably way more than infinity, huh?
C: Yep.
Me: Okay, you can love me more tonight. Good Night Carson.
C: Good Night Daddy

Dude Where's My Car?

I'm about a month late with this post, mainly because every time I tried, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to write it. It didn't start out so funny, but for those who know my Sister-In-Law and her husband, it definitely is one of those things that could only happen to them.

A little background: In August, they moved from Vermillion to Thorton, CO (burb of Denver). From small town life to a large Metropolitan area can be quite the change. They got into a nice apartment complex with a garage and things seemed to be going well for them as Russell got his feet wet in Seminary and Dulci in her job. Then it happened, they became victims of big city "crime".

They both tend to take public transportation more than driving, which is a good thing in my eyes. However, on a Saturday morning, Russ couldn't find the remote control for the garage. They were convinced that he must have dropped it while carrying something into the house. Their best guess is that in happened on a Wednesday and now it's Saturday. Well, they get the landlord over and he opens the garage for them. THE CAR IS GONE!!!!!! STOLEN!!!! Okay, never mind the fact that their car is a 1994 Grand Prix with a ton of miles on it and the bikes in the garage are probably worth more than the car. They called the police and filed a report. Their best guess is that somebody found the remote for the garage, it opened and they stole the car.

The following Tuesday, three days after canvassing the area to see if they could find their stolen car, Russ was driving the minivan to catch the downtown bus. As he pulls into the parking lot to get on the bus, what does he see? A 1994 Grand Prix, right where he parked it to get on the bus the Wednesday before.

Most of our family pretty much doubled up with laughter. We went from the feeling of feeling sorry for them being the victims of big city crime to a feeling of "How could you NOT remember where you parked your car?". I've heard stories of having the stress of a big paper due from class and being rerouted because of a big sink hole on I-25 to just having too many things on their minds. At any rate, they have their car, and we have a lifetime of ammunition to give them a hard time about (we had plenty anyway).

Uncle Chuck, who lives in the same area, offered to buy them a Redneck GPS locater for them. What's that you ask? Tie a string on your finger and the other end on the car. It's good advice. They should heed it.

Failure to Check Weather.com

I left home with my light balaclava, parka, and jeans. That's it for layers. March 7th, that's plenty of clothes. Holy-mother-of-perpetual-cold it's flippin -3 out this morning. Thank goodness it's only .93 into work as an 8 mile an hour North wind was cutting through my jeans like I was wearing shorts.

Saving grace is that it is supposed to be 50's Monday and Tuesday to start next week. Light at the end of this arctic tunnel.

My Superhero Persona is....

The Flash

The Flash 80% Spider-Man 80% Superman 70% Green Lantern 65% Robin 60% Catwoman 60% Iron Man 60% Hulk 50% Wonder Woman 48% Batman 45% Supergirl 43%

Fast, athletic and flirtatious.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

MJ Turns Double Digits

My daughter turned 10 today. That's 10 going on 16. Although when she was getting presents she was more like a five year old. She was full of excitement and amazement opening each one. Laura got her some fairly expensive earrings and that (and getting her ears pierced last month) definitely made her day. Here is the look of WOW she had opening them:

To All My Code-Geek Friends

I know far too many "code monkeys". I suppose I'm a shirt-tail member of this group with minor VB & VBA scripting/web page background, but I truly bow to their geekdom. So to all my techno-geek-coding friends, henceforth you will be known as code monkeys.

The Naming of Cactus-Eyed Joe (Part 1)

Unlike myself who throws all my random thoughts into one blog, Cactus-Eyed Joe is blogging three different blogs so I missed it when he started to tell the story of the naming of Cactus-Eyed Joe (Part 1 of at least 4 I'm told). Part 1 is a bit of a teaser.

"The Streak" Reaches a Year

I have not driven a vehicle to work officially for one year (as of Sunday). Actually it has been even longer than that since I personally didn't drive that day. I accepted a ride on 3/2/07 due to a nasty slushy snowstorm that we had.

Yeah, I know it's just short of a mile to work, but I do it--every day--regardless of the weather.

In other noise, I actually haven't even had the car since around Christmas. A family friend had their car break down and I've been letting them use it. I offered to sell my car to them, but they decided that they are getting their car fixed. They actually returned my car while I was gone Saturday as they got their car "fixed". I got a call Sunday saying that they didn't even get home before it quit running again. I told them it is still sitting where they parked it.

Anybody need a decent commuting car? I have one for sale cheap. I'm just trying to live up to my hero Snakebite and be car free. Yeah, I know that I would still have the Ford Deathstar, but with 3 kids, it's tough to be TOTALLY car free.

SD Bicycle Summit

At first I wasn't sure if I was at a Bike Summit or a bloggers convention. After all, there was thE kErnEL, Hooterville Mayor, Cycle SD, MinusCar, Cycling Cathy, and Ride Vermillion. After pleasantries were exchanged with fellow bloggers/cyclists, we started to realize the higher purpose of why we were in attendance.

Sometimes it takes an incident to get people to join together for a cause. Although biking has always needed a unified voice in South Dakota, it took the state legislature trying to remove bicycles from the definition of a vehicle to make us realize just how much we needed to band together. When Greg Boris got a few of us on board with his dream of a bike summit, yesterday was a wonderful climax of all that planning.

Everything about yesterday's summit was awesome. From hearing Gary Sjoquist, a national bicycle advocate, to hearing the magic words, "Congratulations, you have just witnessed the birth of the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition" I couldn't have been more proud to be there. I truly believe the future of cycling will be greatly enhanced by what we witnessed yesterday.

Although it has just begun, it is going to take the work of many people to keep the Coalition going strong and getting our message out to others. As we continue to grow and need assistance in various areas, I call on all bicyclists reading this to consider helping. More information to come on what will be needed.

I was also proud that we took our first action as a coalition to draft a letter in support of not demolishing a train bridge on the Cheyenne River between Rapid City and the Badlands. It would cost $250,000 to demolish and $300,000 to restore to usability. If it is demolished, the dream of a 98 mile trail from Rapid City to the Badlands would never again be realized. I thought it was pretty awesome that we not only formed the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition, but also was able to hit the ground running with an advocacy issue.

Thanks go out to my share-the-ride mates Craig, Cathy, and Jack for taking a day out of their lives and sharing the dream and showing the support of our local group of riders as well. My biggest thanks go to Greg Boris. Once he got fired up to get this thing going, there was no stopping him. He did an outstanding job of getting the right people involved to make this happen. Long live the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition!