7:30 this morning I rolled up to the stoplight at Irving/19th with my race bike and full team kit on. A lady in the crosswalk looked me up and down, paused a beat, and then addressed me directly.
Lady: You kinda look like Lance.
Me: Yup, just less successful...
Lady: And less wimpy! He dumped her when he had cancer!
Seefeel's Mark Clifford on collaborating with Cocteau Twins:
When I was about 13, when I kind of discovered the Cocteau Twins they were a really, really important band to me. At the time I remember thinking, "I wanna make music and I wanna work with the Cocteau Twins." So yeah it was. When we did our first EP, More Like Space, I just sent Elizabeth [Fraser, vocals] a copy of it, just basically saying, "I've been a lifelong fan of your music." It was kind of like saying thank you. I didn't expect to get a reply or anything. It was just a gesture really. I certainly didn't think they'd like it. So then I got a letter from Robin [Guthrie, guitar] saying they really enjoyed it and would I like to come and meet them. So I went up to their studio with Daren and sat there and chatted with them and they were really nice, friendly people. I kind of expected them to be a bit hostile and confrontational, but they weren't, they were the most chilled out people you could possibly meet. [Laughs.] We sat there and he played demos of their new material. At the time it seemed all really natural, but when we walked away it was like, "I can't believe we just sat there and we chatted to Robin and listened to his new songs while he was mixing them and stuff." I think we got on well with them from the start because it was a very short time after he just rang up and said, "Would you like to come and do some work with us?" And he basically just said to me that I could just pick whatever tracks I wanted to, to remix, and that was just... He took us to this little room with all these like tapes of every Cocteau Twins track ever. He said, "Mix two tracks off the new album and pick whatever two tracks you want from the back catalog." So I just kind of looked at all these tapes and thought, "Well I'll have that one and that one."
mt. tam hill climb - 17th
I rode it in 48:50, a personal best by more than a minute.
a few months ago i sprained my finger crashing in a race. it's a minor injury but it's still not fully healed, and the doc is recommending that i stay off the road until it's better. so lately i've been spending a lot of quality time on the indoor trainer! it helps that the vuelta is on right now, so there's plenty of bike racing action to keep me motivated while i pedal away in front of the tv.
did i mention the sweat? one hour on the trainer and i'm absolutely soaked. this is with all the windows open and a towel at hand to mop my brow every 30 seconds. and two 20oz bottles of water. since my background's in running, i am used to sweating profusely during a workout and actually quite enjoy it!
a doesn't like the fact that the bike-trainer setup has become a semi-permanent fixture in the living room. valid. if all goes well i'll be in good shape for tam next weekend and can get back to my regular road riding program.
is anybody else getting a lot of spam with ***SPAM*** at the beginning of the subject line? i've noticed an influx of these in the last month or so. between my mail host and gmail most of them are getting filtered out, but a handful are slipping through every day.
early bird crit - dnf
snelling rr - 58th
merced crit - 24th
merco rr - 25th
merco crit - 41st
santa rosa crits - 42nd, 45th
berkeley ttt - 13th
brisbane rr - dnf
brisbane crit - dnf
wente rr - dnf
madera crit - 22nd
madera tt - 38th
madera rr - 30th (30th on gc)
berkeley hills rr - 24th
panoche rr - 16th
pescadero rr - 16th
burlingame crit - 49th
leesville rr - dnf
san rafael crit - dnf
district champs rr - 8th
dunnigan hills rr - 44th
san ardo rr - 19th
mt. tam hill climb still to come, and then it's officially wintertime!
but the correct one is: 'time to shake the donuts'.
about a month ago, i decided to take an indefinite hiatus from drinking alcohol. i know you are saying, what the??? well, i did this for various reasons and so far it has been a real hoot! kinda weird, but not at all bad.
anyhow, do you think this little life change has stopped me going out? no sir! if anything, i've actually upped my rate of attendance at bars. and i must say it is a strange thing to be at a bar and not have a drink. since i've been doing it a lot, i'm going to provide you with a list:
+ slim's
saw dinosaur jr. with some pals. club soda/lime was $3 - big cup, pretty great value!
+ jay 'n' bee club
julie/paule's wedding reception. we were there for like 4 hours and i had a bunch of diet cokes, which would have been $2 had it not been open bar. when i ordered the third one, the bartender made a joke about it being time to cut me off.
+ park chalet
went there for a bike team meeting on $1 pint monday. crazy busy! bad luck, the home-brewed root beer is not included in the $1 special. i had a diet coke for $2.50 or something.
+ hemlock
toromiro played a gig here. ariel bought me a club soda, mostly ice, don't know how much it was.
+ mezzanine
went here alone to see css play with busdriver and a bunch of other bands. rockin' late-night show, very crowded and sweaty and i could only make it to the bar for one club/lime, $3.
+ zeitgeist
going-away drinks for a coworker. got a cranberry/club/lime for $3 and some random chicks made fun of me for ordering a girly drink. i held my head high and they respected me for that.
+ pig 'n' whistle
wednesday pub quiz. more diet cokes, probably $2. still cannot believe i did pub quiz without having a single pint.
+ madrone lounge
met up here with a friend. so far they get the award for best non-alcoholic drink selection. very good $4 ginger beer in a bottle!
+ the independent
saw tortoise at the home of overpriced drinks. friend bought me a club/lime, probably $3.
+ marin brewing company
bunch of us took andy out 'cause he's getting married next week. diet cokes were $3, bartender was not exactly friendly, but whatev.
in case you were wondering, bar-gun diet coke tastes about the same everywhere.
assumptions:
banana
frozen mango chunks
dates (for chewiness)
plain yogurt
milk
method:
mix on high in blender
