poem for the week

away with me to the woods of old
where the stories grow taller each time they are told
where the wind blows soft and the roots of the trees
form the floor of the forest and one only sees
his life ahead in the road behind
what lies in front is the place where we'll find
camaraderie, friendship, and experiences of a lifetime





I'm gone to the forest, be back in six days.
Go ride your bikes, eat turkey, and laze.

I am the calcamus

Calculus is not like riding a bike, turns out. Who-duh-thunk?

But I can always make myself feel better by watching Johnny Math miscalculate these barriers (it's at the end).

Today's how to:

How to convince yourself to ride when it is 34 and raining! A crucial winter riding skill here in morgantown.

Actually, I have no idea how to do that. I recommend that you pray that it gets colder and turns into snow so you can actually go do something. Drink some tea. Do some yoga. Play video games.

That is winter training.

Carrera De Los Muertos

The Thrilla at Marilla!!

When we last left our heroes, they had just eliminated the threat of, making sure that the city was safe for another day...

And what a day the first of November would turn out to be. A day after which, the city would never be the same again. A mysterious event called Marilla Cross was about to take place, and take the town by storm...

The excitement started early, as our heroes met at the secret "blue house" lair for coffee and power wafers, trying their best to recover from the previous night's festivities. Both agreed that the best idea was to quaff the caffeine and count on energy from the previous evenings luxurious allotment of libations.

"Jumpin Jack Daniel's, Batman, I'm HTFO!" exclaimed Robin.

"Now isn't the time, Robin." I said. "We must rally. News is out on the bat radio that there is something quickly developing at Marilla Park. We must go!"

Our heroes took the bat dog out, loaded her in the car, and meandered down to the park to investigate the goings on. They found cat-woman and bat girl already on the scene dressed as pumpkins.

Carrera De Los Muertos they called it.

The race of the dead. I didn't like the sound of it one bit. As the "Bee Men" began to swarm around the park, we made our way around the scene to collect some information and stay out of danger.

We found Lovely Laurie and asked for an update. "This course is a tough one!" she exclaimed, not taking the time to slow down as she passed. Probably best that way. Meetings with informants should be brief, concise, and inconspicuous. I understood what she meant though. The course of action we needed to take wouldn't be easy. But in the fight for justice, it never is.

We moved on. As the Bee-Men and also the Aw-Omen field flew about, all around us, we caught sight of another of our friends on the scene. She's known as 'The Moment'. No one quite understands why. Today she was decked out and ready to make some trouble.

She told us that this was some sort of "race." At least on the surface. However, Robin and I could see that there was more afoot than cleats and barriers. Curious individuals were all around. Some good, some bad. We booted up the bat-car's computer and started to search for identities.

Of course, how could we miss it! All the baddies in town were here. There wasy Gary, "The Promotor"; Mark "Mr. Glass" Glass; Aaron "LB" Yevuta, the head of the shady operations of the WV Night Club; Johnny "Blaze" Martin; Gunnar "The Gunner" Shogren "The Shogun"; Chris "The Baker"; The Brothers "Beardy Steve" and "Lanky J One Legger". Robin and I knew what we had to do. We had to defeat these evil-doers in shoulder to shoulder racing, in the name of justice, in the name of all that is right and good.

We registered ourselves just as the Bees had finished swarming. Matt the pirate put on a good show, narrowly losing position to "BirdMan" but holding off a strong charge from the Don and the Lion of Flanders.

We took to the line and sized up the competition.

Through the course of the race, we waged epic battle, and though we didn't cross the line first, we took the Victory in the name of Justice, successfully ousting a number of evildoers, getting help from many in the process. Gunnar made good on that closet full of stars and stripes jerseys by letting 2 other former national champions by (plus one other guy for good measure). Annon the Cannon took on Beardy Steve, and One-Legger J cruised to just miss the top 5. A glorious day for the forces of Good and Cyclocross.

results

Later, a rail jam, and previously, an adventure!