Looks like the weather for Saturday is going to be gorgeous until late in the day, so we should be on track to have a great clinic.  If you’re interested in joining us, please e-mail me before Friday evening at 9 p.m. and I will reserve a spot for you.  The clinic will take place at the Seeley’s Pond picnic area in Watchung Reservation.  The fee is $80 for the 4-hour course.  We’ll have 2-1/2 hours of discussion about techniques like spinning, climbing, descending, cornering, drafting, shifting, and braking, plus nutrition and training tips.  Later we’ll spend about 90 minutes out on the road putting those new skills to use.  I’ll provide drinks and powerbars; you just need to bring your bike and riding gear.

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Sometimes you hear a song that is simply perfect.  This one from Death Cab for Cutie has been one of my favorites for a while, but this week I’ve been thinking about it more.  It reminds me of the obvious, like the fires in San Diego that marked the beginning of my cross-country bike ride in 2007.  Those clouds of smoke on the western horizon, my friends Jeff and Samantha holed up in a downtown hotel while their neighborhood was surrounded by wildfires, my friends Ken and Lynn losing all their possessions they had stored at his parents’ house, which burned to the ground.

What Ken lost in those fires was unimportant for it’s material value.  His kayak and camping gear, some clothes, and his extensive collection of great wines.  The wine is probably the greatest loss, as it is symbolic of all the good times to be had with friends, enjoying the simplest of pleasures.  That whole song makes me think of all the cool moments you can’t buy, but you are given by the people you befriend.

Today my buddy Mikey T dropped by the shop to show me a funny article in ROAD Magazine about Jens Voigt that had us both laughing out loud, and it made me think about how much I value the people in my life.  Pretty cool that someone would take time out to share something because they knew I would love it.
Thank you to everyone who has voiced their support over the last couple of weeks.  My grandfather’s passing was a tough time for me and my family, but when we all gathered to spend the last hours with him it was also a celebration of a great life.  I haven’t written much yet about it - I’ve been too tired, my thoughts fried, unable to do the topic due justice.  Thank you all for lending an ear and wishing us well.  I’ve been amazed at how many people found out from this blog, and I’m pleased that you’re all still reading and checking in - thank you for that!

One thing I inherited from my grandfather is his wanderlust.  He was a diehard traveler, and he loved to drive.  Cars were his life:  his entire career he was an inspector at GM, with a short stint in the Grumman Aviation division during the war.  He loved cars for their beauty, mechanical genius, and for the freedom they gave him.  When we were finally forced to take his car and his driver’s license from him a few years ago, he never really forgave us.  Some of my best memories of my grandfather involve road trips we took together.  At a moment’s notice he would be happy to load up the camper van with a bunch of kids and wander the countryside, looking for an adventure.  (Usually ice cream was involved - his other great love.) It’s funny, I find that cars are a subject that I have a hard time avoiding when I write; they’re symbolic of journeys, an archetype I tend to beat to death.  No matter.

If there’s a heaven, Charles Stanley Clark has probably found it:  driving the backroads of Bucks County in a ‘38 Buick, a pretty girl named Elizabeth Barbara Tebo in the passenger seat.  “Like the slow curve of a back road/one hand on the wheel/I’ll drive ’til I remember/how it feels/baby, this how it feels”  (”Go Down Easy”, Over the Rhine from Good Dog-Bad Dog, the Home Recordings).

We’re headed into the July 4th weekend, and I’m inspired to listen to Over the Rhine’s great collection Discount Fireworks.  Makes me want to take a road trip.

Anyway, I’ve gotta throw it out there:  one week until the next Endurance Guru Basic Road Cycling Skills Clinic on July 11.  Let me know if you plan to attend, so I can make sure to have enough food, drinks, and literature.  I hope you can make it - it’s always a great time, and a terrific way to learn the stuff that will help you enjoy your time on two wheels.

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