average avenger

No one gives you a problem at the liquor store.  We all know why we are there, and what we need.  
and we are considerate of each others needs, cept for the holidayers.  Red cuppers, the hooters and piggy back riders, the ones who we are lucky to know are the minority of the liquor store. 
I am an average avenger.
I will be the best average guy I can be.
I accept that.
and am proud of it.

I am trying to stop searching for the antagonist, but have started looking more for that common nod, standing in the WaWa, and the loud phone talker blabs away.

I, holding the door for whoever.

and in a race, nothing more than elbow brushing, shooting holes, being bumped and passed or pedaling by someone who is suffering more than me.

My friends we are by far the largest number, we are an army, the average army.

and nothing is more average than the new Tokyo Police Club album Champ

here is some of the sly winking goodness

i'm popping the top off another bottle, a small batched brew.  Where an average being like me, watched the bottling machine, and another tapes the box, and a driver drove it down the road, and someone lifted the weight of this bottle and set it on the shelf.   somewhere someone sent electricity to me to keep it chilled.  and many, many, many, in China, made my glass that it is poured in. The hands, finger prints, germs.  I'll savor its taste, and lift the bottle and toast us all.  Be the best average you can be. Cheers!  d.

She's a sex bomb my baby - yeah

I just feel better, I sleep better, I eat more fruit, drink a bit less beer.   I ride the cross bike.  Tires and glue.

and  the "gym" was this, and I did it. 

and the rest of the night
spent in a short cab ride and a really friendly bowling alley

and sitting back out on the curb, not waiting to be old enough to drink, or go away to college.

we now have familes, and bills, and the future it looks different as we wait.

cheers, Mr. David W. Lowe.

nerd

I AM A BIKE NERD

nope...   more of just a nerd.

Somewhere in life I never got the message, or the invite, or I did not see the door open.

and I stayed on the outside. Its nice out here, sorta get to pick and choose.

create your own style.

Same goes with biking.

 I'll spend time looking at the tread of a tire and imaging how it will "hook up".

and sometimes I just need a bit

like aluminun pulleys.

make sense right, sheds mud, spins through the bits and chunks, its sharper.

and I've been looking at some spiffy cable hanger, with cable adjuster

I looked pretty BOO!  shopping at whole foods in my sandles and socks.

To be a nerd you gotta have some strong opinions, This is some older Tame Impala, there new stuff is crap, it don't rock.

 Cheers, dlowe.

dizzy

I was just walking around the back yard, looking at things.  Dusk was setting in.  Everything was crisp and damp.  We got dumped on good.  The temp. drop from 95-75, its nice to have the doors and windows open listening to the bugs.

I did alot of circles today, doubled up on the crits, 25 + 35 laps,  felt like shit the first race, felt pretty good the second.   ...but I did not hold my arms up in the air in victory....

like the clouds  tonight.

but I did survive.  There was some hard breaking in front of me, some panic, my front wheel gets clipped and  with a super power slide skid, kick out the back tire and looking like one of those dirt track motor bike racing dudes I held her up and did not bounce on the pavement.

Crits are becoming more bumpy.

Yesterday, over on the Plateau, done with my cross work, heading down to fill my bottle at a fountain.  I saw a hawk followed by a small bird.

The little bird landed on the hawks back, and took a ride.

this is what  it looked like:

just a photo I snagged from the web.

grass track starts in 7 days,

bueno nachos!

david.

Home

If you look in the top photo, there are people up there, back lit, kissing. 

just out and about on the bike.

stopping here and there for cold water.

Philadelphia

d.

Dung

Did crappy, stunk it up.

cheers, d.

grrRough

a friend of mine made a statement about the heat, how it made his skin feel like it was on fire.   The world was making him feel something, and he did'nt like it.

I like the heat, the cold, the rain.  Just things that make me feel alive.

I miss the rocks.  I miss riding over the rocks, being jarred, gliding at a high speed just rolling along the tops of stones.  Making a line outta the puzzle, lifting, pushing, weight back, even balanced making the tires dig.

I passed someone on the trail, she had a bit of a frown,  "torn up" she quiped with the air of looking for hand sanitizer, all I could reply was "Wissahickon" with a smile.

Thank you rain. 

and in this heat I find Joy divison to be cooling:

I'm soaking up cold Pacifico, pre Fairhill Chill.   I don't race the mountain bike much, so tomorrow is a treat.  cheers, d.

all the Cons Mods

Sunday's race recap: Go!  hufff, pedal, hufff, no nitro, regular speed, survive, some good peeps yelling "go Dlowe", 4 laps, thanks for the cheers it helped.  Somehow 5th, hit no tress, road clean, didn't quit, good for me.

I read Joe Parkin's book, Come & Gone "A True Story of Blue Collar Bike Racing in America".
A really good read. I picked it up, made it straight through most of the book with a couple of beers, and finished the rest the next day.    Its a cool perspective of racing that I will never see/reach.   I look forward to his next book.   I hope he writes more about the mind set and internal voice that infulenced him to ride/race.

....funny to be jealous of, yearn for the pain, talent, speed, wins, loses and suffern he lived. 

                                                            

Mod

Do you think Paul Weller will be playing at the Team Sky party?

f''n A, they've got a bit of crooked teeth

and bit more style than the rest of the peloton.

Down inside my jumble of wires and pockets of soulfulness and dumbassness there is a Mod element, not much of one, but one that has Seen the Jam, and one that still buys every Paul Weller Album.

What I like most about the Mods, are the frayed edges, the rough and tumble elegant imaturity of an embarassed youth trying to find truth as an adult. whew thats a sentence.


I went out motivated to ride this morn., and I pinched a flat, early on.  I only had one spare tube and just one cartridge.
I thought to myself, "a bit underprepared".  Ride on?  Hell yes, and got a good interval work-out in and taunted the flat devil.

   Hit the farmers market, ..... and the blackberries, ahh the blackberries, rare to my tongue and so very good.

I love fresh produce,fruits, fresh local bread, and you know, a local brewed cold beer or some.  cheers, d.

content

I awake from my sleep some nights, because of this blog, my blog.  Why?   Because I overthink, underwork, regret and scheme.   I am a poor writer,  I write too quick and under-edit my thoughts, my themes. 
Frequently I am embarassed, when I read my past postings.    I keep at it, one of my strongest traits is recognizing my weakess traits.  This is one of them, not that I'll ever get better at it.  So I will muddel on.
and if I give you anything, I hope I give you a bit of motivation to be yourself,  to take a risk, to share yourself with the world. 

Last week while microwaving my brain in the break attempt in the crit, I dreamed of water.  Today it, the rain, hung on my nose, stung my skin on the downhills, and was sweet on the lips.   Today just a bit of riding out on the cross bike. 

I had no plans when I left the house, just not to over do it, gonna race the Mtbike tomorrow.

The pine needles aroma, under the trees, were like the finish of a good beer.  Lingering and with personality.

The woods are very dense, and dark. 

I don't fit very well with my Dad.  Today is his birthday, I love him despite our lack of/challenging of a relationship.

This is a place he would enjoy, so I tried to soak it all in, trying to imagine what it would be like to stand here in his shoes.

I'm nervous.  Nervous anticipation of racing on my mountain bike tomorrow.

Cheers, tonight I have a movie date with my wife and the Duchesse de Bourgogne.  David Lowe

Junk Miles

Waiting for the train to pass, coming back in from my ride.    I was out doing some, beat the heat, early morning training.   

Today I headed out.  I did the intervals with out turning back, they kept taking me further out, I don't know why I did not turn back and head back in.   I just wanted to ride on.


   At the river fountain I filled my bottle and instead of turning around I pedaled on, the shade, and thin ribbon of trail kept pulling me farther from home.

How much is racing about the mental state?

The too long of a ride home was long and hot and lollygaggy.

Slowed in the shady cool spots.

 

Cheers, d.

The tuckers

I enjoy pinning my number.  Just the calm, habitual process.  Today all my energy was conserved to be spent on the bike.

and I spent it all.  Its the first time this year my legs and body could go, and go.  The first race I attacked again and again, close in my attempts, and I think if I would of played my cards a bit differently I'd been in the break. 

The second race, some how a group of us rolled right off the front.  and games started right away, sitting in not pulling, attacking, somehow we got away from the chasing field.  Again I think I played my cards a bit wrong, and ended up killing myself, just head down pedaling lap after lap.  Held on for 11th.  I think the lead group caught the field, and mixed in some lapped riders, I donnaknow. 

as soon as the race ended I made it over to the yard sprinklers and sat in their spray for awhile.

I'll call it a real good day, good to have some legs and guts, and I learned alot.

Those tuckers came over to our seats to do some Faith no More partying with us.

Last night Ant, George and I road over to the show.  We sat on the bench, with cold Hop Devil and enjoyed a great night.

I don't know why it took me so long to take advantage of this nice venue, will be there many nights in the future.  A short ride and sipping some cold beers, listening to music outdoors.  

ageless

the wind carried me to the stables and the hill before my hill I'd use for todays interval work.
I was pretty charged up and ready to roll.  But I stopped to reinforce my purpose, the intent, to sit and ponder and make sure I put in the best, full, deep effort into these intervals ahead of me.

some songs from the new teenage fanclub's latest, yep I'm a big fan, I have everthing by them.  I tried to listen
sitting on this bench.

I got thur one song, and contemplated one thought; how in riding age does'nt matter.  That I get as much from a younger one, that has no fear, as I do from the most raced season vet. who never panics.

Total time of sit and think, about 2 minutes. then down the hill to the hill.

Intervals can be a funny thing.  I hit the first one, and not 1/2 way in I was in a quitting way.  Thats what makes it a good interval right, wanning to quit?

got the set down.

and the next two.

Now sitting on the porch, sipping a cold coke and listening to.... you know... Stereolab... done and just enjoying the breeze.

Red

prepping my legs and building my mind for cross

starts at the core

the soul.

Los Natas

My blood is running again.

I've been making some of the morning rides with the motley crew to laugh and pedal and open it up a bit, I hit the coffee shop and then my intervals with music again pounding away with galacier size motivation.

             I lost a bet and I've been searching for socks, Phillies socks to pay off the bet.  I found some

I'm not sure they will fit the large souls that Todd has.

and food, red, and picked fresh on the ride

Thanks to MaxImin Max, for pointing out the bounty I've been riding by.

cheers warriors, dlowe.