One for the locals

I just sent an e-mail to my brother that included the word "bullet" twice (don't ask). As I finished typing it, I thought to myself, "Holy crap. Some text scanner at the NSA will pick this up and next thing I know, I'll be hearing funny clicks on my phone line." After all, we have to fight terrorism, right? Far be it from me to complain about a little minor violation of my constitutional rights. How can we defend freedom if we expect to keep some?

Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what your country can do to you.

Fortunately, I'm the kinda guy who's a pretty quick thinker, so I just went back through the e-mail and added a few words that should get it filtered out as a normal American e-mail that's expected to include some mention of ammo: Deer Turkey Bass Duck NASCAR Bubba Momma Budweiser Truck Chew Alan Jackson Git-r-done

Heh, heh, heh. That oughta do it. I tell ya, sometimes I'm so smart, I excite myself.

It's time for a little overhaul of the links on this blog. I asked myself yesterday why I'm linking people to Specialized, Sidi and Giro instead of our local talent. The big guys don't need an occasional hit from this tiny little speck on the ass of the Internet, and besides, I only put up the commercial links to help fill space when I started blogging last summer. We have some deserving talent right here in the frozen north, so there's now a links section just for Alaskans and Alaska-related stuff (all bike-related or of interest to cyclists, of course).

As for the big guys, I'll move 'em down the page a bit, but leave the links. Why waste all that work?

The local-links idea occurred to me after I stopped by Paramount Cyclery to say hello to Rose Austin. She's a WOMBAT, a trail activist, a shop maven and the woman who wrote the book on Anchorage Trails. Her excellent book "Mountain Bike Anchorage" is available from Near Point Press.

My wife and kids just gave me a jersey designed by Kathy Sarns, an Anchorage artist who, when she isn't exploring new ways of traveling by mountain bike with her husband, Pat Irwin, creates Alaska bike jerseys.

And, of course, there's Wildfire Designs, which I've linked to previously. Cool bikes made for hardcore riders by a guy who rides in Alaska what he makes in Alaska.

I'll add more as I think of 'em.

Some people make fun of women drivers. I, however, being a sensitive and fair-minded modern guy, would never do such a thing. But male drivers should probably make sure their skills are up to par by taking this driving test on how to pass a cyclist. Thanks to gwadzilla for the link.

Today's photo? My snow-packed hub after riding home from work on Friday. The weather man's 2 inches of snow turned into 6 or 7 inches by the time I decided to call it a day and start the holiday weekend a couple of hours early while I still had a chance of making it home.

The trippy colors are courtesy of my tinkering/editing with iPhoto. Knowing just enough to be dangerous. Story of my life