And the Winner is…

Lane number 5, or four, depending on which end you count from as the first cucumber vine has reached the top. I bought some welded wire mesh, the type they use in concrete slabs, to create this trellis for our cucumbers. It was on sale so it cost me less than $10. We secured it with some tent stakes and Misao added some lateral support with some string lines to keep it from falling over. These photos are about seven weeks apart. The mesh is four feet by eight feet. Sometimes I just sit outside and watch the cucumbers grow.

Soon we will have plenty of cucumbers pouring in, but it is the Olympics that everyone is focused on now. Those opening ceremonies sure were strange and outright socialist (un-American for those of us on the other side of the pond) but you can’t say it wasn’t well orchestrated in terms of theme. The torch lighting is really what makes everything stand out and they did a good job with it, accenting the theme they were trying to convey. The scale was surely grand enough. We have come to expect bigger and more extravagant every Olympics but that has been replaced with simply a grand expression of the national identity the corresponding Olympic committee  wants to convey, which is all one should expect.

The peach tree is heavy with peaches. Does that mean I boo when any Chinese win an Olympic event and cheer and laugh when I see a Chinese athlete fail and embarrass themselves in front of the whole world? …Are those Chinese gymnasts under age?

I have not seen any cycling coverage of the Olympics yet. Maybe I have to get up earlier, or maybe they are being ignored for some reason beyond my comprehension or simply because the British have some real competitors in the events. My wife was watch the gymnastics last night and one young lady did very well. I looked up to catch part of her performance and asked my wife “Is she British?” My wife answered, “Yes, look at her teeth.” …True story. So much for the National Health Service.

I will go out and water the garden now. we have finally got some rain on a regular basis but the heat and drought of this summer have been tragic for our farmers. You can see the river off the Hoyt Park trails in the picture. When the area was a dump many many years ago, they say people would drive out on this little dam and wash their cars. Some mountain bikers like to ride over the river here though this is the first time I’ve seen the river so low that I would consider riding across myself.

Alterra Coffee Bean Classic: The Video

Starts and the O’Malley Woods rock garden.

The Olympics have started. The mountain biking will all be at the end. $30 to watch the Olympics live over the Internet. Actually $29.99, but that is $29.99 too much for me.

Happy Birthday

The Alterra Coffee Bean Classic in Franklin, Wisconsin was the day before my birthday. Today is the day after my birthday and tomorrow is Alois’ Birthday. Yes, Alois is not my evil twin nor I his. Though I am sure he would make a fine twin brother. Happy birthday Alois!

I arrived in time for the Sport Class starts. I wish I was in shape to race but I wasn’t. I race to compete and if you can’t compete…

It was a bit hot Sunday for the WORS race. The brief rain from two days before was not enough to keep the dust from flying.

Crash! Lucky the National Bike Patrol was on hand.

I hiked part way up the ski hill. The bikers look like ants.

I looked for a new place to get pictures this year. and settled on the rock garden in O’Malley’s woods.

“I hope you didn’t get that.” he said.

The WORS sponsors change over time. Kinetic is now a sponsor rather than CycleOps; a reputable company. Kinetic runs the warm up tent now. Does it make a difference who sponsors the event? Yes, especially if they are cheaper. I would like a very high end trainer with virtual courses and Internet interaction but don’t think I can afford one. I absolutely need a trainer this year before Winter arrives if I am serious about contending next year and it will have to be a more basic model at the lowest price possible. Not sure what that says about Kinetic.

This may be the final WORS race at Crystal Ridge if negotiations with a baseball facility developer do not go well. A gentleman has come in with a large bankroll to build baseball diamonds on much of the site and has four fields fully booked for next year from April. WORS had some 800 competitors on Sunday.

Now that Metro Mountain Bikers is part of IMBA there are greater opportunities to produce world class facilities for mountain biking. If they can build and run these places successfully out in the wilderness I don’t know why they wouldn’t be a hit in more populated areas. Especially in an area where racing is so prevalent.

I have strung my video together and will get it up in the near future. The pictures (I have a lot) will eventually get up on Flickr though they want money now to have so many photos up. I will try to see if I can get back to their free service by reducing the number of sets I created if I can ever access the sets. …Maybe I’ll just pay them.

It sometime takes up to two hours or more to prepare a post for this blog if I have pictures. My political blog is a minimum of five hours to produce a post and my professional blog hours upon hours. I can produce a post for my other blogs within an hour. Then I have the books I am trying to write.

War of the Worlds

Yes, we attended our nieces wedding some ten days ago but that is not the war I am referring to. On our trip to the wedding we had to pass through this alien environment and every blade was spinning, a rare event. Visible from ten miles away and eleven miles deep these windmills made me dizzy and gave me a headache by the time we got through this Stretch of Indiana.

And I am not making reference to the Tour D’ Fraud”, sorry “France”, that started this weekend either. NBC has extensive Internet coverage that you can pay $30 for. I just want to know how much you get paid for pretending to take a picture and then causing a crash taking out half the field like last year. NBC is ramping up their Olympic coverage showing many of the qualifying events.

I actually enjoy watching bicycle race coverage and it is not just for the crashes like with NASCAR. I saw the mountain bike course for the London Olympics over a year ago. Built for the camera with manufactured features that didn’t come about natural.

The lilies also resemble those monstrous machines from Orson wells “War of the Worlds.” And if you are a regular reader you may know that we have seen the first two hours of the Tom Cruise version maybe five time, but have never seen the end. So when we got back to our hotel after the wedding reception “War of the Worlds” was on TV and we got to see the last two hours. Perhaps a good omen that their marriage will make it to the end. ‘A’ omen, not “The Omen”. Just want to make that clear since we are talking movies and all. It sounds like the happy couple will start a family in the not too distant future. We certainly will never be baby sitting for them but that’s only because they live so far away, ..only.

Wedding cake!

We actually found a tourist attraction in Indiana on our way home, if you can believe that, after we met Elvis’ cousin in Louisville. Fair Oaks farms has good ice cream and extremely over priced cheese priced by the half pound. I guess they have tours during regular hours.

The exercise routine is lacking. I get plenty of exercise in other ways but haven’t ridden much. I will not be in shape for The Alterra Coffee Bean Classic though I will be getting some photos. They say coffee prevents skin cancer. Seems a fit for riding.

Alois has been taking to the skies. Nice photos Alois. Thanks.

Segelflug in den Bergen

Vor einigen Tagen konnte ich einige schöne Flüge in den österreichischen Bergen machen.

Wir waren in einem Duo Discus Doppelsitzer Segelflugzeug unterwegs. Dieser Segler lässt sich wunderbar leicht steuern und es macht viel Spaß damit zu fliegen.

Kurz nach dem Windenstart mussten wir am Hang Höhe gewinnen.

Bei der Wende am Hang kann man den Flugplatz erkennen.

Die Thermik war an diesem Tag sehr gut, deshalb konnten wir bis zum nördlichen Alpenrand fliegen.

Beim Rückflug mussten wir am Zahmen Kaiser nochmals Höhe gewinnen, um sicher zurück zum Flugplatz gleiten zu können.