'Picture Of The Year' and The World Class Upgrade

PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Every race I do, I look to see if there was a photographer that may have snapped a decent picture or two of me (don't even tell me you don't have a folder on your pc with pictures of you racing. I'll call you a liar). I figure, when I get too old to race, I'll have something to show my grandkids. Of all the shots I managed to dig up of my 2009 season, I liked this one the best.

Yes, I know it has the photographers logo on it, and I'm not publishing it without compensation. I did in fact buy an 8x10 semi-gloss. It looks WAY better than what you see here. It was taken at the Orchard Cross race in october 2009.

WORLD CLASS UPGRADE

Last fall, the day before the Pinnacle Challenge, the shock fork on my MTB started locking up. Closer inspection showed the anodization on the stantion tubes actually worn off. I had seen this already but the fork seemed to work fine. Bear in mind this was a 2001 SID, and it's been ridden hard, as you can see.

Of course, I didn't have time to replace it before the race, so I raced on it. Can't say it slowed me down all that much, other issues were at play there. So, I could have A) bought a repair kit and fixed it, or B) just bought a new one. Since the legs were so worn, I chose B, and found a nice new upgrade on Ebay.

A brand new 2009 Rock Shox World Cup. I got it for a bit more than 50% of retail (hey, I may have bought it retail and supported my LBS of a certain other blogger had bothered to answer my emails to him about that specific issue, more on that below). Uncut steerer, no races or brake hardware ever installed. Allegedly it was part of a build kit from BDH bikes in canada, and the cutomer wanted something else so this one was set aside. I installed it but haven't had the chance to ride it, I've been on Son-Of-Ice bike. It _does_ look quite sharp though.

I've ordered a rebuild kit anyways, what the hell, I'll give it a try. I'm mean, how hard could it be? Bike shop mechanics do it all the time.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

I've soured on the world wide web, life in the united states, and living in massachusetts specifically.

What better way to advance the health and welfare of the people than for the u.s. supreme court to allow that people with the most money get the loudest voice?

What better way to celebrate the legacy of Ted Kennedy than to send a vapid neocon sock puppet to 'represent' massachusetts?

What better way to show appreciation for contributing to a non-charitable fund than by _not_ sending a thank-you note, and subsequently removing my most recent comments from your blog? (ignoring emails about possibly buying a new shock fork didn't help either, ok, I get the hint.)

This week, instead of perusing news repositories and my expansive list of 'blogs i follow', I've spent my idle periods at work playing solitaire and mine sweeper (not the internet versions). There will be a lot more of that (or is it, a lot _less_ of that?) as I focus instead on introspection, and reseting and re-enforcing my personal goals and sensibilities.

So, I'm checking out for a while, and that is _truly_ a World Class Upgrade.