Rocky Hillside

Cartoon by Rick Smith. There's more here.

I would never have thought my hero, Yehuda Moon, was a doper. Then I saw today's cartoon and then this in the NYTimes:

New Suspect in Sports Doping Is, No Joke, Viagra

. . .

Viagra . . . was devised to treat pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in arteries of the lungs. The drug works by suppressing an enzyme that controls blood flow, allowing the vessels to relax and widen. The same mechanism facilitates blood flow into the penis of impotent men. In the case of athletes, increased cardiac output and more efficient transport of oxygenated fuel to the muscles can enhance endurance.

Coincidence? I think not. There are no heroes anymore.

(Maybe this also explains why Lance is waffling on Tour 2009?!)

Beautiful day for a ride.

Image by Sam Javanrouh. Some rights reserved.

Found on flickr while looking for something else.

Just before dawn on Mt. Alishan in Taiwan. Image by Jeremy Joslin. Some rights reserved.

• From the Taipei Times:

  A bicycle path along the nation’s only mountain railway opened to the public yesterday, allowing cyclists to enjoy breathtaking scenery on Alishan (阿里山), officials said.

  The route . . . winds along Taiwan’s renowned Alishan Forest Railway . . . .

  The 2,565m-long cycle path cost more than NT$20 million (US$609,000) to build.

  It is constructed alongside the railway, on which trains moves at only 16kph, allowing cyclists to keep pace with passing trains, district director Yang Hung-chih (楊宏志) said at the opening.

  Yang said the path would remind local residents of childhood days spent chasing trains on bicycles.
  . . .
  The Alishan Forest Railway ascends from 30m to 2,216m with the use of zigzagging mountain tracks. [Here's a plan of a loop in Alishan Forest Railway.]

  It passes through 72 bridges and 47 tunnels along the way.

  Local residents spent their childhoods chasing trains up this thing? Why hasn't there been a Taiwanese Tour winner?

• Bicycle Diaries has posted a 1961 video clip of a large British family heading out for a bike excursion on a bicycle-built-for-4 with a baby-car and two 3-speeds. Utterly charming, very odd, and quite funny.

• When the sun rises just as I am embarking my second cup of coffee and seems to set before my coffee gets cold, it's time to think about next summer. The best place to find "winter dream food" is at Biking Bis. His collection of multi-day tours (this year he listed 98 in 47 states), charity rides, and selected touring blogs is unparalleled. The Touring category has even more.

• Another blogger loves Phil Wood Tenacious Oil, the only chain lube that works for me, rain, snow, or shine. A few years ago, I tested every modern chain lube I could find in San Francisco's damp weather and, although my chain was undoubtedly tidier, the bloody thing would start squeaking after a day or two - usually when I was miles from home.

• I saw this warning label for cars at Urbana-Champaign Cycling Ventures:

  As the licensed owner of this vehicle, I’m fully aware that driving such causes air pollution, noise, traffic and increases the likelihood of injuries to others, possibly death and property destruction. In addition, many of the dollars spent to propel this vehicle will be used by terrorist organizations with stated desires to inflict harm and possibly death to my fellow citizens and family members.

  (I can't figure out from Sue's post where the warning label originally appeared.)

Image by occam. Some rights reserved.

Just before 6 this morning, Gerty wobbled a bit as she rode down the back path to the alley gate. Off to be an election judge, she looked eminently practical with her lights and panniers.

Watching her I realized again how much I love her. I was as stunned and enraptured as if we had just met.

A wobbly start to a bike ride in the dark. An old vase filled with weeds. A poem on the table. Discovering I have a "new" thrift store fleece jacket in the closet.

I don't know what these things have in common - perhaps they only reflect whatever it is that makes Gerty unique. Perhaps they are just out of the ordinary things that remind me that Gerty is around and how glad I am that she is.

If Colorado ends up close, the aftermath could be ugly.

I helped three people apply for mail in ballots. Only two ended up receiving ballots. Gerty also applied for a mail-in and never received one. That's a 50% screw up rate.

Gerty went down to election central to figure out what was wrong with her ballot. She was number 976 in line and saw three people she knew who were there to figure out similar problems. It took hours to find out that she should just go vote tomorrow.

Then there's the polling places. Gerty went through election judge training and then, after the city called and asked her to be a supervisor, through supervisor training. Though the person who called assigned her to a voting station, Gerty never got the official letter. After calling last week, and repeatedly today, each time being promised a call back, Gerty thinks she is supposed to be a regular judge at the place she was assigned to originally.

I hope our experience is anomalous or that Obama wins by such a large margin that these screw ups won't matter.