Random thoughts

Took my daughter out last night to pick up a movie and grab a couple of tacos, and as we were driving home I had the radio in my Tacoma turned down low but I could still make out the lyrics to a song being played on The Arctic Cactus Hour on KNBA: "It's hard to kiss the lips at night that chewed your ass out all day long." I can't top wisdom like that, and there's little news on the bike front, so I'll just jump right into a few links.

With all the bad news around the world lately, it seems like Mother Nature is out to kick a little ass. Earthquakes, hurricanes, wars, tsunamis. And now the avian flu appears dangerously close to mutating into a form that could spread from human to human. One could get the impression that nature is trying to clean house and dump a few million people. Scary shit. And the Aussies are getting ready. Their plan might seem a bit draconian, but they're onto something. From what I've read, there seems to be only one way to stop a virus with a high mortality rate and no cure: Isolate the victims, let the virus burn and see who is still breathing when it's finished.

Maybe we could throw some priests into quarantine with the flu victims and hope the perverts get infected. I'm an athiest married to a Catholic, and I'm really glad she fell out of the church habit years ago. Our kids have never spent any significant time in church and that's fine by me. If they ever want my respect, the guys in the robes and funny hats will have to stop coddling the priests who bugger little kids, and turn the bastards over to the police. They belong in prison. For life. End of story. There's only one cure for pedophilia.

While we're on the subject of people who are really screwed up, this nurse is a real whacko. Still, I'm sure she made the old coot's day. Hell, she probably made his year.

On a happier note, congrats to the bike shops named as the top 100 in the nation. Unfortunately, our little shops in Anchorage didn't get no love, but it's hard to compete with the big boys down south. It's also hard to be as cool as Over the Edge Sports in Fruita. I was there in May, and was happy just to browse around while a mechanic did some wrenching on my brother's NRS-1. The only thing wrong with Fruita in May is being from Alaska all winter. I want to ride there again at the end of the season when I'm in better shape.

We're on the cusp of the beginning of a new season — winter riding season, that is — so I need to rig up a winter bike. I've decided to buy a new set of SRAM twist shifters and some flat pedals for my old Trek 7000, a rigid aluminum beast I bought from a neighbor for $35 five years ago, then rebuilt as a commuter bike. More recently, it has been doing duty as my 16-year-old son's bike. He can have it back next spring after I take the studded tires off. For now, I'm gonna take it back and go simple. Hey, it's catching on. Besides, I can't afford a new Pugsley, which a bunch of Anchorage riders are going for these days.

Speaking of the Pugsley, that's a Pugs in the photo above, which is linked from a post on mtbr.com's Alaska forum by Bearbait, one of our local guys who now has photographic proof that a fat-tire bike is easier on the planet than a big animal with hooves. Show the photo in this this thread to the next horse owner who complains about trail damage from mountain bikes. OK, those hoof prints are from a moose, but you know what I'm talkin' about.

I'm gone. Thanks for stoppin' in. And please, for the guys at Over the Edge, vote for Pedro.