cyclocross

There is an interesting article in the times about athlete vs equipment. It is a good read, slightly off-topic from the debate, I found a great quote about cyclocross. Here is a quote from the the founder of Ibis Cylces about cyclocross:

....the rules forbid disc brakes on bikes used in cyclocross, a rapidly-growing freakshow offshoot of road and mountain biking that is run in the winter, off road, frequently in muddy conditions. Not allowing disc brakes (which are much safer than rim brakes in wet conditions) on cyclocross bikes is akin to telling Formula One teams they still need to use drum brakes on their 200 mile-per-hour race cars.

Clyclocross, aside, I couldn't help but think if we had a stock of 12 similar bikes that we could all race on. Perhaps then I could beat Scott on Molino or Max on Sweetwater. Just kidding. The entire article reminded me of my Rocky Mountain Vertex and comments from friends, like you need a new bike. Which brings me to my next topic, my old-school '82 300 turbo diesel Mercedes Benz, also know to a few out there as Smokey Joe.

Cars have been in the news lately. Here is a good quote from Josh Holshouser:

I frankly don't want to hear about how Chevy by 2010 will have an electric car or any other innovations due out in the next few years from these Chevy or GM. They should already be here, and if GM and Chrysler were truly serious about being competitive they would have been here already. ”

The old Smokey Joe is slowly dying. The engine kill switch has broken for about a month, so I have been turning it off manually, popping the hood each time I need to turn it off. My mechanic gave me the final option over two months ago: trade for another Benz or rebuilt engine, each was about $2,000. I think the month of May might usher in a different car, hopefully very soon. Many adventures await pending a new car.

Edit: I just went over to Dave's blog and read his words about Anthony. Stunning and eloquent. Well said Dave.