Old Guys Win Intramural Bike Race

As temperatures dipped into the 50's only the hearty (crazy?) showed up for the USD Intramural Bike Race. The race consisted of, well, Team Barking Dog Cycling Club! Craig D., Randy R., and I had a personal bike race that took some of the fun out of an actual race, but hey, we get Intramural Champion T-Shirts for our effort! I edged Randy R. by a little over :20 seconds, but it wasn't exactly a glory victory as I sucked his wheel for a good eight miles before trying to give him a little draft. He fell back and I just kept going and he never caught back up. In Time Trial mode, I probably wouldn't have won.

Best 10K Time Trial Yet

I took the Bacchetta Ti Aero to a new low on the 10K Time Trial route. Official Time (according to the timer) was 14:46. I don't think I went sub 15 on the diamond frame even. I love this bike! Now to learn the fine art of turning around at the midway point, get clipped back in and up to speed faster.

Captialization IS Important

In the world of hi-tech gadgetry, I've noticed that more and more people who send text messages and emails have forgotten the Art of Capitalization (using Capital letters properly); for those of you who fall into this category, please take note of the following statement:

Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse, and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

Is everybody clear on that??

LATE EDIT: My friend Snakebite also reminds me of the extreme importance of punctuation:

Proper punctuation can save lives, too: It's time to eat, Grandpa! It's time to eat Grandpa!

MS 150 - Riding for MS - Not Ourselves

This last weekend I had a great time on my 14th Multiple Sclerosis 150 Bike Tour. On a fundraising ploy, I made the challenge that if I raised $2500, I would dye my hair orange and if I raised $3000, I would dye my hair and wear a skirt on the ride. Care to guess how that turned out?





As of this posting, I have in the neighborhood of $3400 raised. I'm quite happy to do silly things to raise a little money for the MS Society. For those of you who gave me the wonderful whistles and the one marriage proposal, sorry, I'm taken.

It seemed that the banquet is where things went wrong for some. You see, the MS Society did a couple different things after the ride this time. Upon completion, you received (a very useful) head/sweat band from the MS Society. It was a trade off for patches for riding the century loop on the ride. Seriously, you would have thought that you was physically taking money away from people from some reactions.

The uproar from not getting a "patch" for the century ride -- of which I have a stack of -- somewhere -- actually caused at least one person to tell one of the MS ladies that he wouldn't return next year. *pause for effect* Yep. That's right. Somebody actually said they wouldn't come back because of the century patch. Seriously. Oh yes, it was an adult, just in case you were wondering.

I do admit, there were some 'traditional' things at the banquet that didn't happen this year that I missed: Recognition of top teams, top fundraisers (although they were on the video), rookie riders, and riders who have participated in multiple years. Missed, but nothing that would cause me major panic.

Maybe I'm 90% optimistic and only 10% pessimistic, but something really has to set me off to get THAT excited over anything. We need to remember why we are there. It isn't about us. It's about the MS Society. We are raising money for the MS Society. It isn't about a self gratification. We should be thankful for all they do for us on this ride. The support, the cheering, all the things that happen behind the scenes: It's simply incredible!

My rant is coming to a close but this has been eating at me all week so it had to come out. If the person who actually told the MS Society they wasn't going to ride over a patch is reading this -- and I hope they are -- sit back, relax, and think about it. Why are you riding this ride? For yourself or for the MS Society? Is a patch worth upsetting the wonderful ladies of the MS Society? What do you do with the patches anyway? I will gladly give you my stack of patches that are somewhere in my garage. Also, if you are reading this, I hope you are person enough to send an apology to the MS Society and plan on riding next year. It isn't about the patch, it's about people living with MS.

Get Bent

Yep. For those of you who are friends on Facebook you already knew this, but now the rest of you must know. I have this:



...and it's fast! My back really thanks me for this purchase.

A Bike Commuter Moment

You know you're a bike commuter when you go to get into a car and you still tie your pant leg back so it doesn't get caught in the chain.

Ignite SD Speech

Kevin Brady at Ignite Yankton from Ignite SD on Vimeo.

This was my first attempt at an Ignite speech in Yankton, SD on May 31, 2011. In retrospect I should have actually practiced and not made my topic so broad, instead of just winging it. You know what? That just wouldn't be me. I may have to give this another shot someday.