Pussy Power

yeah someone out there is a smart ass. I like that. I love dogs. Had two for years, would love to have some pups around now, but we've got 5 cats. plus both the wife and I work weird longish hours, so not to fair to the pups. We had to have a lot of dog walker visits when we had Alice and Hoover. Cool dogs, great dogs!

On ward HOE! Sunday night consisted of sitting on the front porch, listening to music, eating Indian food, and drinking the night away.

Lots of full bottles made themselves empty. The sky got blue, then just dark and I dozed off a bit on the porch.

despite the darkness, I made sure to leave no beer unfinished. I went to bed and did some training, slept 10.5 hrs, with a max. hr of 48. that's a lot of zone 1.

Chris Hensel the grip.
to the fridge, cheers. dlowe.

no biggie

I've had in my mind for a short bit now, that I might want to do some urban camping. Just take a few things, some beer and walk from my house to a close place and sleep outside. Here is one place, might be sorta loud, being that its built under the highway.

I'm tired of feeling "safe" locked inside my house, sleeping in a bed. Whats wrong with the world outside of my house at night. Is it a stupid thing to do?

did the wiss on my SS. been a while and it hurt. Going to keep at it and get my legs back.

Went down the old path avoiding the roads to the park. The trails at the park were in good shape despite the rain, and the Wiss. is now more of a rigid SS type of riding park. I sold my Santa Cruz superlight a few years ago, no more need for the f/s. I do miss the rocks, but trying to roll with it all. I think I'll outlast the mtb freds, with their good intentions and one day the Mighty Wissahickon will on its own return to its rocky glory. Sorta wish I was a country boy and could just hike up into one the hollers and spend a few days in the woods, calling in sick on my cell phone, just playing hooky. Wawa for lunch, a stop to speedy's beer drive thur, and back to the camp site. cheers, dl.

dab

there is a sound that you hear when you tip a beer back, as the brew goes from the bottle to your stomach. A thumping. Its reminds me of a stone stuck in a tire. rolling along at about 35 miles per hour. its the air going in as the beer goes out. flow, I seek it in life. I've felt it on the bike. On a mountain bike its cutting a corner, and your shoulder breezing just across the bark of the tree. Over the downed log in a smooth motion. On the road I find it in a break away, each rider pulling through, brief seconds in the wind. And cross, when there is nothing but speed. I don't train to win. I have won some races, but first place is not the biggest or most satisfying victory. not always. I search for flow. Its been a while since I've done a lap of the Wissahickon on my SS, tomorrow that's my ride. Again. Then I'll take a nap, work all night. Get up, and go do some hill intervals on my bike.

Now my big decision, to open another beer, or not. I'm just lying on the couch, with a tilt of my head I see the Raleigh SS, and with a push of a button its back to Slumdog Millionaire. Cheers folks, and good luck with your flows. dlowe

b-sides

unreleased, but in the bin, so here they are: work.

the crew spreads out, making corners nooks into little lounges. with respect, I take a good gander of all that's around, I try to get a peak into the basement. If our location is a home, I sit on your couch, maybe even watch your tv. Look through your library, examine the photos on the fridge, your post it notes. Just like I'm watching a reality show. I pet your dog.

Got some good rides in, and been working, want new bikes. a new 29er frame/shock, and I wanna try the Trek cross bike out and see how it rides. Today, gym, some pedaling, nap and off to a night shoot. I'll take some photos for you, camera phones are great. cheers, dl.

backdrop

I'm trying to write something for Philly bike racing, it should be easy for me, but somehow it feels like I need to write from a different perspective. As a blogger/crosser, I don't claim to be any authority on anything. Its more about my id/wackiness. Do I need credibility? Am I credible? I seem like such a novice when it comes to cross, and really respect the racing, I've got a lot to learn, still. I'm going to try and give it a shot. Maybe in a few hours or months I'll get it to 'em, and if they deem if worthy, you'll see it up there.


as per what I do:

got up and read the paper on the porch
tweaked my bike a bit, tubeless wheels still sealed up good, ready for me to ride.
discovered some new trails. went up Horse legs, to the Dr. Spur, then took a right onto Scenic overlook/white dot trail. a touch of softness, worked on the off and on's, and it was pretty scenic.
Pretty lush out there.
Noticed the first of the fireflys last night, lots of blinkers in the backyard. maybe off to earth again tonight, well see. Me, just a simple hack of a cyclocross racer, in a good mood. cheers, dl.

toil

its under a hush breath, quiet. the small talk of cross, how far off in the future it is. I've been on the cross bike some, and more to come. I've got some new plans and new places to ride, its time to start now. Got to order some wheels, sell a bike, new tires, maybe new bike. One of the climbs, "private lane". just riding for fun, just climbs to keep it strong. still racing the road bike. more time on the SS mtb. Need some Rev W socks.


we have flowers in vases all over the house, our yard is filled with blossoms, and the flowers all make me think of Lee's mom, I miss her.

its not like I don't tell ya, but I'm always thinking and looking around when I ride. Scouting out some locations for some night cross training rides and it looks like the landscape and cart paths of this golf course might make a good place to ride. If the fuzz isn't tipped off by some late night drinking greens keeper. by the way, my weakness spot of training: sleeping. I'd much rather stay up late, sipping and surfing, than getting the sleep I need. Life of a X, minuscule level punk rock star, I guess. cheers, be good, howdy. dlowe

PoP

Jitney. Nice word. Sounds better, right "a broom jitney?". To me it does. saw them driving about in AC today as I worked. If your driving about, they just scoot in and out like the stink bugs, they have there own agenda.

Trying to get the pop back into my legs so I went to my hill. Its short and mysterious.

I hit it in different manors, and attack at it differently each time I head up it. The top has a little reward, a nice view, and with all the rain, a nice smell.

I don't mind the rain, keeps the skills up, on top of wet braking and cornering. Slugged back some coffee and worked and sped home and jumped into the last two laps of the drives ride. I'm tiltin' a Rare Rooster Rye Ale back tonight, so Cheers. dlowe.

dot to dot

snake bit

so I figure if everytime I ride wiss I throw a couple of rocks back onto the trail I'll feel a little better. so I do it.


awoke and just threw my stuff in a bag and the bike on the roof and went to race. last minute.

oxford rr. I don't know why I raced, just planned to take it easy and stay around the house. Off we go, sorta slow, so off I go. It was a casual off the front of the field go. didn't even get my heart rate up, and soon I quickly had 3o seconds on the field. hit the first short climb, umph, not much in the tank. OK, not to bad on the flatish stuff, I was up to a minute off the front.

I kept looking over my shoulder, nope, no one was bridgin up. 1st lap done, I sorta got lonely, and knew had nothing, no zing, so I just soft pedal for a while. Lap two we go harder on the climbs, lose 1/2 the field. Lap 3, I make the first 2 climbs and #3 just come to a stop. that's it for today. I think I ended up 14th. Happy, but I have really got some work to do.

I really am missing indie rock, you know guitars and good songs.

Ended at Earth drinking. Good line up tonight. and thanks goodness for friends.

cheers. dlowe

floats, must be a witch

dude messing with his phone, or texting/fb'n during the scene.

dude thats lower down on the chain, just hanging, staying outta the eye lines.

umph, good week and nice to be working. missed my biking but family and job does come first.

took a quiet shot as they shot this scene for Sunny in Phila. Somehow I am able to sit still and be quiet. That's tough. I worked at the BMS today, downstairs in the studio. and took a pic of Kevin laying out the chits. I hope he took my advice, I've always taken his, thank you Kevin, to heart.

I got a cup of coffee, small grits, and a orange. came to $3.93. Used my chit and we soon got to work. Good day, and good talents, good crew and I made it home and hopped on my mtb and was out the door by 6 for a nice soft/muddy ride at the Wiss. Someone has taken all the rocks off the trails so its a little soft from the rain, but it just decomposing leafs and trails scruff, so not doing any deep damage to the wide single track, I got a good ride in. I saw somewhere a photo of a lass doing some trail maintenance, funny thing was she was using a push broom. A push broom on the new smoooooooooooth trail at the wiss. I miss the rocks. I've been messing with my phone likes it a Rubiks cube. Its freaking out and not working right. but somehow, I've found the right combination of killing it and bringing it back to life and the witch floats on. F! I almost pre-ordered an i-phoney. whew. my abacus lives on, so text away, I'll get 'em now, till she won't power on, like tomorrow morn. I look forward to new bloggers and a secret FB knot message.

kick ass everyone, dlowe.

infinity

I have so many things to say. I'll keep it short. I had a beer in the shower. The closet thing I did that had to do with riding today was rubbing ointment on my legs and wearing compression tights.

long days, but my heart rate stays low, so I'm getting slower. In between moving frenetically you'll find me perched on a full apple box (12" x 8" x 20"). a behind the scenes look for you all of Sunny in Philly. The most stylin show about philly der is cuz! A kick to the nuts and off to bed. How soon will I get dropped in the Cheney Race? middle finger up to ya. dl

speed wrenching

I like the PA lottery, and I like this photo of the Guster. on to todays post.

my alarm went off at 5a. no dusty cob webs, just feet on the floor and into my kit and out the door. with a quick stop at my local Wa Wa, which is always fun to click around in wearing bike shoes, grabbed a red bull and banana, and away I went. Got two hours in and enjoyed some of the punchies of gladwyne. my legs ache and feel full of cake batter. I'm just a tad fat, but it is the off season, and I'm doing my "cross" training right now. this road bike stuff is just to keep me entertained till cross season. I got a lot of use of my speed wrench today building the car rig. Working the next couple of days on Sunny in philly.

oh well, my call times 6:30 on location so to the fridge for a cold one and whats on the tube. despite it all, dudes, I got 3 hrs in on the bike today, hoo raay. mucho respecto. dlowe.

Tid-Bits

Its hard to write when you have mr. gus sitting with you. most of you will wake up with some kind of pain in the head. Acquired while watching the bike race. Too much sun or too much beer. This weekend, for me, had nothing to due with bikes. My wife and I flew to Cleveland to attend a memorial for my wife's mom. Very touching. We returned to the graveyard for a small service at her grave, and then a lunch with family and friends in the hall. As we walked into the cemetery it was full of people, visiting graves, some with small picnics, or priest, candles, visits to those who you miss. some wine poured on the ground. I'm tired, an empty tired. so with that.

good night.

The Grey Whisper Mist

whispers, the word sounds so gentle. No. When the soft words are making suggestions in my brain, its loud and clear. It ran in many different verses through my mind during the drives ride last night. Most of the riders drove me crazy. Pull through dudes, don't blow up now, in front of me. Faster. Ok lets keep it up, come on don't let me ride off the front. Your going to sit in for the whole of West River Drive to "win!" the sprint. Shut-up you loud talking, no-pro cat three racer. On and on the inner whispers ran. I know why. Cause I'm going to be off the bike for 6 days in a row. I don't think I'm gonna get the chance to pedal for six days. I wanted a John Henry type of work out. On the tip of the saddle. I wanted to spend everything I had, I tried. I want to bleed pain. Now I just sip my Yards TJ Ale.

I have to say that the thought of leaving Philly, moving some place nicer, has been running through my mind. I don't think its going to be this year. Maybe because of this Ale. Its good. A sticky beer, with a hard heel kick. Like the pungent smell of a barn, but somehow old and good. Yummy. That's a good beer word. As I pedaled home and thought about all the whispers and the drives ride, I turned left and went up the sweetbrair cutoff. Towards the whispering wall. Of course I stopped and enjoyed the changing of the light. The clouds, and the color. I though about what I would whisper. "Pedal your Fucking Bike". cheers. dlowe.

......the grey whisper mist is the gentle escaping gas that you notice when you pry the top off a good bottle of beer.

shoot, shot

On the good days when you look down into the glass, you just want time to stand still. Ivy turned out to be, much to my surprise an attentive waitress. The rye IPA from dock st. was very good, and the pizza was good. My stories and social skills are dropping below the 100 IQ score, and I can tell I'm not quite up to par, but you know I started out strong today, and just ended up petering to a sorta stall. My eyes will be x's before my head hits the pillow.

no plans, good sleeping weather. good night. cheers. d.