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It’s 10:16 PM and I cannot sleep. I am wired as hell and I wish this would go
away so I could get some rest. Both dogs
and my wife are snoring while I write this and glance at the television playing
Star Trek Voyager…because I love Star Trek.
May as well run through what I’ve been up to lately. So, here it is: I ride my bike; I work a bit,
here and there, I sold the store to a very nice young man named Chris Carr; I
vacuum the house; I ride the moto as much as possible (which is not very much);
I shoot some hoops if it’s nice outside; I wander around the neighborhood,
aimlessly searching for discarded squirrel pelts from coyote kills. I use them to make blankets for wayward
carnies and I also fashion tapestries from them. Beth won’t let me hang the tapestries inside
the house so I put them in my garage/shop (the third car bay). I’ve used the pelts as rags while cleaning
and lubricating my bicycle and motorcycle…they (the pelts) are very
absorbent. Sometimes the damned things
attract more coyotes, even though any meat on the pelts is gone. I don’t mind the coyotes so much. I sort of like them and I often feed them dog
food from Walter’s bin. I even named one
of them Banjo and he runs alongside me when I ride my bike out in the country.
As far as bike stuff is concerned, I turned over management
of the First Internet Bank team to Mr. Knapp and he is doing a swell job. The fellas and ladies are winning races
already and I think this season is going to be a great one. I’ll admit that I had mixed feelings about
letting go of the management of the team but when I think critically about it,
I mostly feel relief. It was very difficult
running the bike shop while also trying to run the team. Ryan will be great at it and I think the team
will be very solid and strong going forward.
I may do something in the future with another team but for now, I am
going to just enjoy watching First IB do their thing and win races. It’s way more fun this way. And I will be cheering for them just like I
always have since I started the team five years ago. It’s been a wonderful ride and I learned a
lot and I am grateful to all the riders who came through this program. You all made me so proud and I take away a
lot of personal fulfillment from this team.
So, thank you.
So, personally, I’ve been riding a fair bit this season and
have had a great base phase. I think I
am ready to race and I hope to have a good season. Our team is basically the same as last year
and we are capable of winning any race we enter. Masters racing is basically all about tactics. Most of us are at the same level of fitness now,
having done shitloads of training hours over the years. We all know each other’s strengths and
weaknesses and each race resembles a bunch of nervous two-year-old race horses
waiting to make the right move. This year
should be a bit more competitive and interesting as I believe Texas Roadhouse
has bolstered their roster with some stronger riders. The Zippers will be strong, as they are every
year, with the usual suspects making things difficult. Then we’ll have some of the smaller teams
from Fort Wayne, Cinci, Lexington, and some of the other regional cities who
will, hopefully, animate the races so they are not so formulaic. I love it when the pace is high and there are
loads of attacks. Way more fun.
Anyway, back to the squirrel pelts. The thing with them is: you must get them
when they are fresh. A two-day old kill
will simply not do. By then the skin is
too dry and the fur is already falling out…no point in trying to tan it
then. To make a full blanket, you will
need at least 45 to 50 pelts. It usually
takes me around a week to find that many, in the right condition. I sometimes have to fight off turkey vultures
also. And they are very dangerous when hungry. Do NOT…I repeat…do NOT grab one of them by
the tail feathers. Nothing enrages a
full-grown male turkey vulture like some idiot human grabbing the beast’s
carefully-groomed tail feathers. The rotten
buzzard will fight like hell and dart straight for your eyes if you don’t block
the attack. Truly vicious. I have found that the best way to handle them
is to keep some Hall’s Mentho Lyptus in your pocket and toss some of them at
the birds if they get too close. For
some reason, they love the type of hard candy and lozenges that old people keep
in bowls on their family room tables. Other
things that would do include Werther’s, cellophane-wrapped peppermints, and
Ricola. Oh, and Luden’s.
M’kay I am finally starting to not feel so damned jittery
and I think I’ll try and sleep now. What
time is it? CRIPES! It’s 11:06!
I customarily get to sleep around 9:30.
This will not bode well for the morning.
I am liable to be ultra-cranky and in desperate need of strong, black
coffee. But Beth turns on the coffee
maker at 5AM when she gets up…so the stuff tastes like melted tires by the time
I get to it. But maybe that makes it
stronger. Anyway, I hope so.
I hope you all Live Long and Prosper. Hell, I hope I Live Long and Prosper. I hope the over-abundance of squirrels in the
neighborhood live a Reasonable Amount of Time and Prosper…prior to becoming a
pair of snow boots or a slip cover for my driver’s seat in the Ram.
Love, Chris
