Art O’Connor

Tomorrow night at Bar DeLuxe the Supersuckers will be dishing out heaping helpings of twang and roots rock. That is reason enough for me to venture to a smoke filled bar. On this occasion though straight outta Denver The Railbenders will also be rocking the 801. I saw these guys in Denver a while back and was very impressed. When these guys play in Denver it is the thing to do that night. Put on yer fancy duds come down to Bar DeLuxe, where the beer flows like wine.

I have been accused of being soft for not going to St. George this weekend. Well anyone can go ride in 70’s and sunshine. Me, I will be putting in the hours in 40’s and rain (uphill into a headwind both ways). Candy asses.

Gonna give St. George a pass this weekend. I work until 11pm on weeknights and I don’t want to take a vacation day so there you have it no race. Maybe I will do the RMR next weekend, maybe even take the knobbies off the cross bike, maybe. Looks like it will be warm all week so that will help my cause. Besides, I have an unofficial rule to not race until I get 1000 outside miles in. Only about 870 to go!

I could go down on Sat. and just ride but I have never really been the type to go somewhere and ride. I hate driving to ride. Gooseberry, Gem, Zen, never ridden them. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been to Moab for any reason other than racing. I don’t even know any trails in Park City. I just head out the door and put in the miles, I really dont care. Any ride is a good ride, just ride.

Sly brought me a sweet boomarang and some kangaroo jerky from down under. I am gonna throw the boomarang at Momma T next time I see her (and happen to have my boomarang handy). That will make her day.

Good hell 2 weeks until the first ICUP race. How the hell did that happen? My winter has flown by and I am in horrible shape. I started with good intentions and was skiing, running, and swimming. Then my back started to get a little sore when I ran or skied. That turned into a lot sore, so no more skiing or running for a bit. Now I am in bike mode and I am happy to be able to do that, still swimming too. Gotta keep moving, gotta keep trying.

I think injuries can sometimes be a good thing. Yeah, the timing is never good, but they give us a chance to get some perspective. It is easy to get all self absorbed in our training and lose sight of why we are really doing it. Injuries for me give me a chance to come back to reality and appreciate what I have. Everytime I reach down to tie my shoes and I get a shooting pain I am reminded how awesome it is to be pain free. Sometimes when I am completely healthy I will do something (reach into the back of the fridge, move a chair, whatever) and actually notice that it did not hurt, and I am thankful. It is easy to take things for granted.

Still though that St. George is gonna hurt…

After getting pounded by snow all week it was nice to see the sun again today. I am pretty done with winter. Snow biking has been pretty fun and I have had a few good sessions on the skate ski’s but I am ready to start riding for real. I am sure all the lift riders are happy but with Snowbird asking me to grab my ankle to the tune of $69 for a tram ticket, it is clear they don’t need or want my business. Come on global warming!

Wednesday at work my liberal LDS (yes they do exist) cube mate was watching CNN’s coverage of the tornado damage in Arkansas and said “Well what do you expect when you vote for Huckabee.” I nearly wet myself.

Sly says he is gonna bring me back a boomarang.

Here is Lucy. She is a total spaz.