Evolution versus IE

The Texas State Board of Education had a recent debate on if the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution should be taught in school. Thankfully that idea was thrown out and we will not be teaching creationsism and intelligent design in our Texas science classrooms. It also really irks me how people use the term evolution when what they are talking about is natural selection. They are two different things but that is not why I am writing this post. It is because one person had a great comment towards the people who belief in the biblical story of the creation of man. Here it is:

"The funny thing about all these bible thumpers and "Intelligent Design" believers is that, if they truly believe we came from Adam and Eve, then I guess their god is OK with incest. I mean, if we all did come from Adam and Eve, then how did we get here if not for their children having had sex with each other, with Adam having sex with his daughters, with Eve having sex with her sons? Makes one wonder about a god that's OK with incest. I prefer to believe in evolution."

Very nice!

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Tuesday Road Ride

Left the office a little early Friday to get some road miles in with my homeboy and teammate Rey and our friend Adam. Haven't ridden with Adam in some time and it was nice to catch up. Shoal Creek and some Tarry Town loops. Beautiful day with temps in the 80's.

Excruciation Exam

Second marathon race of the season, but the first one for me. Did this one pretty much off the couch. Getting maybe 50 or so miles in a week. Fatherhood and work, riding during the week has been pretty low priority. 82 miles, start at the Flat Rock Ranch in Warda for a loop, off to Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville covering mostly dirt and some paved roads, 2 ten mile laps, and then back to Flat Rock for a short lap.

Finished 13 in the 30 plus and somewhere in the 40's overall with I well over 100 people. Same time as last year but got stuck at a train crossing right as the train was showing up. cost me at least 15 minutes. lack of gears cost me more than that. couldn't stay on the pacelines at 34x17. Would stay with them for a bit but trying to maintain a 18 to 22 mph pace with that gear for 25 miles I would not be finishing the race. Getting stronger now if I can just get motivated and get on the trainer in the morning before work at 5 am. Yeah, not as fun as riding, but its a way to get some saddle time in and not totally fuck my family.

thinking about maybe getting some gears. if it happens won't be till this time next year though.

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Good group today for the ride. 7 guys including me. 9am meet up at Pure Austin for some coffee. Andrew Yates' Beef and Pie production company is providing their coffee shop the beans. Good stuff. Rolled out up along the Shoal Creek trail, through Pease Park, Shoal Creek and eventually to Walnut Creek. Covered pretty much all the trails out there and then headed out making our way to some trails off of 360. John and Drew decided to bail out at this point and headed back downtown. Did a little lap out there. I was getting pretty spent at this point. Probably wasn't taking in enough fuel. Plus being on the singlespeed with these guys takes its tole, especially on the road. End up getting spun out. My buddy Stewart Stafford is a stud. Texas State champ multiple times. Andrew Yates is pretty fast too. Old men, but they put me in my place everytime. Rode with a dude Brian Lampert for the first time today. Lot of fun, you can tell he just has a blast on the bike. Was like riding with a little kid. Brian, Stew, Andrew, and Brian headed down 360 towards the Greenbelt to finish it up. I had to bail at this point. No way I would have been able to hang on 360 with a tailwind. did the Far West climb over to Shoal Creek and back home on the East Side. 50 something miles before it was done. Perfect weather.

Levi's New Ride

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Din Din Time

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Morning Sup of Jo Before the Ride

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Got about 5 hours in out at the Greenbelt this morning. Light rains we've been having are making the dirt real nice and tacky but the limestone's slick as snot. Only one wreck, canuck homeboy drew did a flying hipcheck into a live oak. He's okay but his bike has a bent hanger.

Testing

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USA

USA is advancing to play the winner of Brasil and Australia. The womens team looks awesome. Hope Solo is going on a shut out streak since the 2 goals she allowed against Korea. Abby Wambach is chasing the goal record.

Marta

6:55 Eastern Time.

USA vs. England. Should be a pretty sweet match. The time difference to China kinda sucks, but I've been able to catch most of the first halfs this week while eating breakfast before taking the dogs for a walk with Tara.

Hoping for a match between Brasil and USA. That'd be pretty sweet. Marta is really awesome. Her ball skills are amazing.

I Luv Video

Tuesday nights at I Luv Video is free beer. Tara and I have been on a sex and the city kick. I love it, funny as hell. Love how i see aspects of people I know in the characters.

Motorcycle Park

Took a couple of pics before riding emma long last sunday. the willits for is super sweet. pretty much all i could ask for in a rigid fork and with the way i ride, there's no desire for a shock. shorter stem helps a lot too. more upright and way more comfortable. be pretty sweet riding one of his bikes.

More Rain

Raining some more. They say, "in a drought, when it rains it pours." True for this year. This moring they were saying we might get 4 inches before its done. Water in the creeks is pretty sweet.

Planning on riding Monday, but it rained hard on Sunday. Walnut Creek is out, way to clayey. Green Belt would have been flooded with all the run off. Why not city park. The place was built for trials motorcycles. Its crazy! Surprisingly its super sweet for bikes, even rigid singlespeeds and there's not too much erosion from rednecks twisting. Shallow, rocky soil and steep grades allow this place to be pretty dry even after a hard rain. Only the second time I rode their since moving to Austin. Far enough to warrant a drive, but not enough trails to warrant driving to ride.

It'd be a bitch of a climb up to the park and its a bitch of a climb climbing back up into Austin from Bull Creek (the GPS said I got 3300 feet of climbing in on a 22 mile ride). I decided to ride back after my buddy needed to head home after the first lap. I didn't realize he threw my floor pump in his car. Ride home up Farr West was definitely fun carrying a floor pump in a messenger bag and 28 psi tires.

Whiskey River Don 't Run Dry

Tara and I went and saw Willie Nelson at the Backyard tonight. Played with Asleep at the Wheel nad Jackie the Joke Man Martlin was there. Benefit for NORML and and some other Mary Jane cause.

There's been a lot of musicians who have passed who I would have like to see play. Mr. Nelson is still alive, but he is on the list of folks who I wanted to see play before they died.

Other than that I wasn't too psyched. Played Whiskey River during the set and then again during the Encore. The boy's got a lot of songs, he doesn't need to repeat.

My biggesgt complaint must be the venue. Some sweet Live Oaks, but the acousitcs (sp?) were lacking. Big open outdoor venue what do you expect. I've just been getting into music like Willie lately. Started with Doc Watson at the Lied Center. That was a sweet show. Great sound. To say this is similar to referring to something you don't like as "gay", but I've always prefered black music. Hip hop, jazz and the blues. After Dire Straits my the first group I considered my favorite was PE. I also got into Hard Core early in High School. Seeing that shit live you are more interested in moving your ass. Listening to stuff like Willie I prefer to sit back and digest. I want to hear it. Listen to the stories and the music.

All in all I was glad I went. It was a cultural experience. The only big cocerts I've been to in Tejas are Austin City Limts Festival and The Roots. Not typical Texas concets. This was ligit. Hot chicks, short denim skirts, Cowboy boots and Hats. An experience in itself. Woodstock 2007 for a NY son?

No Rain

Finally, a week without any rain. The trails were pretty sweet and mostly dry. A few gumboey spots, but dry and no dust. Took a break from studying and headed out to Walnut Creek. The new fork is pretty sweet. The greater offset seems to improve handling slightly. Not a suspension fork, but there is definately some movement in the legs. I notice it with how it is able to ride over things. Seems like the fork moves up and forward to glide over roots and rocks.

More Rain

Its unbelievable how much its rained this year. Started getting hit hard again on Friday. Will it ever stop? I'm jonsin' for some dirt. Especially now that I got a WOW on the 29er. Replaced the bent Project 2 with a Willits. Little spin on the streets and this thing is sweet. Some nice action on the fork and its going to make for a sweet, smooth ride. Definately not suspension, but that's not what I'm looking for. Lost the long as stem I was running and went with a 90mm Thomson. Feels real nice.

Took some time to clean up the garage and get Tara's trainer set up. She hasn't been riding too much. Took the trainer out of the guest bedroom for when her mom stayed at our house to watch the dogs while we went to visit my family in New York. It never got put back up since we've been getting the room ready for the baby. Tara feels like she's slower, go figure, she's not showing at all! Being slow doesn't work for Tara riding in traffic, which is her favorite way to ride. But the trainer lets her get her rides in. The garage will work well. A bit hotter than the AC'd house, but that's fine for a southern gir.

Got everything set up while Tara was shopping for art supplies for her class. Went for a ride up and over Mt. Bonnel. Some great climbing. Love climbing the hills on the fixxie. Having to hammer is sweet and since your feet are being forced around it feels easier than a singlespeed. Got home and Tara was stoked to watch a movie and spin. The dogs and I chilled in the garage with her. Pretty sweet.

2 down in one week

Two cyclist killed last week. Sounds like it was the cyclists fault ran a red light on Springdale crossing hwy 290. though maybe it was a brakeless fixie rider, but the lady was wearing a helmet and that kinda goes against the whole look. Pretty shitty though. We've all done it and do it, running the reds. Here's one reason not to, or at least stop. Pretty easy to miss an approaching car when coming to the rolling stop.

Pretty hectic week in Austin last week. 2 girls on a conoe got caught in the current on Town Lake and took a ride through the damn below Pleasant Valley Rd. There was a boating ban on Town Lake due to the high waters and strong current. Guess the person who rented them the canoe at the Austin Hostel didn't know about that or think they needed life jackets. Ooops. Both girls survived without major injury.

Haven't seen it in the news, but some friends told me a guy and girl took a ride over the top of a dam on a jet ski. Guess they didn't see the dam due to the hight water and over they went at high speed. Both survived.

Another dead cyclist

Another cyclist killed by a motorist in Austin. At least the 2nd one in as many months. Technically the other was killed in Dripping Springs, but that's close enough.

Who knows what the hell this driver was doing when it happened. After he hit the cyclist he went into a ditch on the opposite side of the road and flipped into a parking lot on the other side.

Click the title for a link to an article.

Fucking nuts. Be careful out there.