Art O’Connor

I heard about T-Mac’s cancer diagnosis last week and frankly I have been kind of at a loss for words. Fuck is the word that comes to mind most often. Fucking cancer. I am sick of it fucking with people that I care about, no one deserves it, no one wants it.

I have been playing the bike game for a long time now, T-Mac has been playing it longer and better. As a rider he is someone I have always respected and looked up to. Super savy, great sprint, great skills. The guy can do it all. The respect I have for T-Mac as a rider is nothing compared to T-Mac the man. Over the years I have had the pleasure of going to several ‘cross Nats with him, being in a lot of breaks, as well as chasing him around Mexico for a week last winter. Some of the best times ever. All I can say is cancer picked the wrong wheel to suck. Send some good energy out to T-Mac. It works, it worked for my Mom(3 times now) and it will work for T-Mac. Lets give him the lead out so he can wind up that awesome sprint.

New shirts are available just click on the CafePress link. Act like ya know.

Happy Memorial Day. Good luck to everyone racing in Draper today, wish I could be there. Last time I raced there was in ‘98. It was over 100 that day and I managed to take the win. Good times for sure. Would history have repeated itself? Probably not, but you never know I guess.

We take a lot of things for granted here in the USA and it is easy to forget how good we have it sometimes. Yeah the current administration is criminally inept but we still have it pretty good. I can write that knowing it will be read by (possibly) dozens of people and not have to worry about the Secret Police kicking down my door tonight. Is this country perfect? No, but I would not live anywhere else. Don’t forget to take a few minutes today to remember and thank the people who have paid the ultimate price, and those who put their life on the line everyday here and in the god forsaken hell holes around the world fighting for our country.

wanna win a yellow jersey can you lie?
take the EPO and you will fly
from a chump to a champ its all about money
blood so thick it aint even runny
cheat and lie as long as you win
sign a fat contract and do it again
when you get caught just tell a lie
“it wasn’t me, you got the wrong guy”
all the kids that look up to you
look ‘em in the eye and lie to them too

As Brewer pointed out today is Sean Kelly’s B-Day, the last of the true hard men.

Today is also Mistress Julie’s B-Day. I think she is turning 27 again.

Well well, I told you so. The Meat puppets did live up to the hype and though it is only May I am claiming show of the year status. There were some crazy large VO2’s in attendance. Is there a connection between listening to good music and having a big motor? I would like to think so. I have been to 100’s of shows and seen 100’s of guitar players and I can honestly say Curt Kirkwood in one of the most impressive players I have ever seen. Seeing someone that good makes me alternate between either picking up my guitar and practicing or wanting to turn it into a coffee table or wall decoration.

No racing for me this weekend. I am trying not to drive so no Garden City and the MTB race is on Monday which is a work day for me so I guess I will do Mueller Grueller or maybe Super Crest on Saturday. Does anyone know if the Crest is rideable? Probably do a few longboard runs at the U tonight so grab your board and rip some pavement.

Finally got some help moving the furniture out of my front rooms. Got half the carpet pulled up yesterday so I guess I am commited at this point. I should have the rest of the carpet out this weekend and get the old paint stripped shortly after that. Then I can do some real damage with the sander. Wish me luck. BTW, I pay in beer if anyone wants to stop by and give a hand. Also my deadbeat tenant will be out next week and I will have a lovely one BR charmer located next to historic Trolley Square for rent soon. Spread the word.

Zabel? Say it isn’t so….

My unbeaten streak at Soldier Hollow is over. I have raced there twice before, I won The TUNA Biathalon up there once and an ICUP race a few years back. It is a great venue and I like racing there even when I don’t win. Despite no winning I am really happy with my race. My days of baseing my success (and self worth) based on my placing are thankfully long gone. I guess I am a recreational Pro these days. My only plan is to go out, push myself as hard as I can, have fun on two wheels, and hopefully have a cold one waiting at the finish (thanks Julie). So, mission accomplished. Oh yeah, I got 5th.

Once again got to put more faces to blogs. Met up with big mountain ripper, single speed hard man Forrest Gladding and his lovely wife Melanie. That has been one of the really cool benefits of writing this blog is I have had the chance to meet some really cool people.

Today os a day off in the Floyd freak show. All that thing needs is a guy in a bumblebee suit and it would be exactly like a Mexican soap opera. Hey Geoghagen, *67 check it out. Tool. I hear Basso is looking for a new stable boy, er assistant. Give him a call.

One of the benefits of having a job again is I can spoil myself with massage. Got one last night to work out my many kinks from the weekend. If you are in the 801 and need to get some work done drop me a line and I will hook you up with Rachael. The girls has some mad skills. She is a cyclist and pro tri geek so she knows the pain we feel and how to fix it. Recovery is the name of the game folks, if you want to take your performance to the next level do yourself a favor and give her a call. You will thank me.

Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash were sooo good. If you missed it, well you really missed it. There is a chance for redemption as the Meat Puppets are at the Urban Lounge tonight. I am predicting show of the year.

I almost forgot. At the Pedal Pusher Film Festival (which also rocked), 2 different people called me Racer. WTF? He is younger and way better looking than me. Wait maybe that means I am young and good looking too? Nah, they were probably drunk. I bet when people call him Art he punches them.

It is Bike Week in the 801. Lots of stuff going on. I have been doing my part riding to work trying to keep the Soob parked. Tomorrow is the ICUP race at Soldier Hollow, be ready to put out the watts. That afternoon The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash are playing for free at the Gallivan Center and then the Bicycle Film Fest at The Depot. Who says nothing ever happens in the 801? Oh yeah, that was me.

Can you believe the whole Floyd soap opera? I really wanted to believe him but after LeMond’s testimony yesterday I guess he is a stinking cheat like Tyler. Lemond has no reason to lie, in fact he probably has more to lose by telling the truth.

Did you see Alice crying again yesterday? From Cycling News

“There is no longer respect,” commented Petacchi’s last lead-out man, Alberto Ongarato, to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “If you did something like this in the times of Cipollini or Museeuw, I would want to see how that would end up!”

I got news for you Alice, you are not Cipo or even the doper Museeuw. Just shut up and ride.

I almost forgot, my boss man is bringing us free sammiches from Caputos’s today for us. Lord help me I loves the sammiches.

Has anyone noticed all the scary movies coming out recently? Probably to make the shenanigans of G Dub and Cheney seem tame by comparison. I tend to like them and for a long time there has not been much to write home about. bug movie“>Bug looks pretty interesting. Judging by the trailer it looks like it was shot in Grantsville or somewhere else in BFE Utah. If nothing else it does have Ashley Judd in it so at least there will be some eye candy. The story goes something like this: A lonley underemployed woman with a “tragic” past hides from her psycho ex (but he was cute) in some rat trap hotel. She falls for some new guy and things go well until either 1. The Bugs arrive and start doinf some crazy bug fu or 2. She takes him for granted and starts dating her loser boss who ignores her but can score the kind bud. I am guessing it is scenario 1 since we have all probably experienced #2 so who would see a movie about it. That and the name of the damn movie is Bug. I hope there are some good explosions. I like explosions. They should also have Ed Asner in it, he is box office gold. And midgets.

I heard our local hoop the ball franchise have advanced to the next round of tuornament play. Watching the local news readers it seems that is a big deal. That and some lady in a mini van crashed in to a 7-11. Man, nothing realy happens in the 801.

I am heading up to Soldier Hollow to do a few hot laps on the course this morning. I have some help moving all my stuff so i can finally rip out the carpet. Then a longboard session tonight. Pretty good day for The Train.

I tweaked my back a while ago moving some stuff. Since then I have had some sciatica that flares up after about an hour on the bike and is worse after I stop. It has been managable but still kind of a hassle. Last night I was trying to move furniture out of my front room and I really tweaked it. I guess moving a couch by yourself is contraindicaded when your back is already jacked. So after a night of sleeping (more like lying there motionless wide awake) on the floor it felt pretty good when I got up to go to the cube farm. Good enough that I rode in to work. Bad idea. I am seriously considering calling a taxi to go home. My kingdom for a flexorol! Maybe an elaborate system of belts and trusses…

Looks like Alice managed to get the W today. That should help his psychosexual stress. But he still cried.
“To win today was a huge relief,” he said, sobbing with joy as he hunched over his bars after the finish. “I’ve had a lot of doubts about myself since my crash. I’ve won races but to win at the Giro is something else. It was a big release of emotions. Those tears you saw where tears of joy. … This is one of the most beautiful wins of my career. It erased a lot of doubts. The team was always strong, what was missing was me.” Euro’s

The search stings that lead people to my page are pretty interesting. People searching for “chisled abs and stunning features” get sent to Turbo’s (That Turbo, so hot right now) page. Today someone was sent to my page after entering a search for “inbred”. It is a cruel world.