Caught A Bad One

BAM! is the sound of me hitting the ground a mile into an XC race this morning. With Gough and Nickel right behind me, some local trail user decided he'd had enough of us "city boys" on his trail. As I cruised past him unaware of his anger, he threw his body into me and I went flying. I thought Gough was going to rip the guy's head off, especialy since that was pretty much what he yelled as Nickel helped me up. I didn't even really think about going after the guy. Aside from being in shock, I was number 4 in team scoring and we needed the points. Besides, I'm not really the type to go after someone even if the guy did have it coming. All I remember is thinking that I needed to keep running. E and some spectators tried finding the guy but he disappeared deep into the park. It was totally surreal. Going after someone while they're competing is some cowardly bullshit. After the race I learned that he shoved a teammate of mine and then pushed Bowen, too. So much useless rage...Anyway, I was 18th, slower than it should have been. I thnk we were the 2nd team overall. The competition will only get tougher as the season progresses.

My neck is sore. Welcome to my 30s. I feel like I fell off my bike on a trail ride. I need to see my chiropractor. Next week the race is on Saturday in Golden Gate Park, 9:45am. No pissed off redneck trail users there, probably just a bunch of hippies on the way to the free Spearhead show. We'll be there at the show, too, after the race. Spearhead is kinda lame these days, but Saul Williams and the superstar USF DJ J-Boogie will also perform. Racing and beers and food and friends sounds a lot better than a sore back...Will the Wolf be at GGP? Will DJ 3D be at GGP? Will you be at GGP?

Nothing Too Deep, But...

iPod 30 year mix:

"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)" Pete Rock and CL Smooth
"Music" Erick Sermon & Marvin Gaye
"Ain't No Half Steppin" Big Daddy Kane
"Brooklyn" Mos Def
"Clan In Da Front" Wu Tang Clan
"Liquid Swordz" GZA
"It Ain't Hard To Tell" NaS
"My Favorite Things" Coltrane
"All Good?" De La Soul
"Lady Don't Tek No" Latyrx
"You're All I Need" Method Man and Mary J
"Shelter Two" The Evens
"Crooklyn" Crooklyn Dodgers
"Ride The Fence" The Coup
"Bring The Noise" Public Enemy
"South Bronx" BDP
"Nobody Beats the Biz" Biz Markie
"Don't Sweat The Technique" Eric B & Rakim
"Tougher Than Leather" Run DMC
"Like A Secret" Jawbreaker
"Motorist" Jawbox
"rearviewmirror" Pearl Jam
"Machine Gun" Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsies
"Radio" LL Cool J
"Cha Cha Cha" MC Lyte
"Great Expectations" Jurassic 5
"Not The Only One" Rancid
"Fight The Power" Public Enemy
"Close To Me" The Cure
"William, It Was Really Nothing" The Smiths
"A Love Supreme" Coltrane
"Unity" Operation Ivy
"NY State Of Mind" NaS
"Paid in Full" Eric B & Rakim
"Livin Proof" Group Home
"Freestyle"(over NaS beat) Saul Williams
"The 900 Number" DJ Mark the 45 King
"Money In the Ghetto" Too $hort
"Electric Relaxation" A Tribe Called Quest
"Meiso" DJ Krush
"Midnight In A Perfect World" DJ Shadow
"Swan Lake" Blackalicious
"Hello (Remix)" Lyrics Born
"Here We Go (Live at Funhouse)" Run DMC


damn spammers hit my blog! bastards, that is unless y'all are real people who posted those random notes. if so, hit me with some info and we can chat about penny stocks.

what the hell? penny stocks? you know i have no love for capitalism, right?

When Things Should Work But Don't Work, That's The Work Of All These Governors

No time to write. I must sleep now. I'm closing in on the last hour of my 20s and I really don't care.

Today was not easy. I'm completely distracted by the utter chaos and suffering in the South. I am so angry and have nowhere to channel this energy. My only piece of solace today was that I heard from my old friend John who lives in New Orleans. He managed to get out but has nothing and seems to be in a bit of shock. He's looking at heading to the Northeast for awhile but he seems focused on getting back to NO as soon as he can to start rebuilding.

Here's what he wrote about New Orleans in June 2004:

"i love new orleans. it's a strange and unique place. dilapidated and desperate, and such vibrant life as well."

"...home in new orleans is a big old warehouse that over
the past five years has had the first two of three
floors built up as living space by a punch of punks,
artists, weirdos. it's pretty wonderful, the building
itself is over 100 years old and we have a lot of
space, as you can imagine, so it's crammed full with
bikes and stuff and musical instruments and a
silkscreen area and darkroom and beautiful roof and
backyard (somewhat rare in the city), garden and
chickens. wonderful, although a bit overwhelming at
times - all the clutter.
i've been living in this house for the entire two and
half years that i've lived in n.o. i love it, even
if i do get grumpy."


Tonight E made me a nice pre-birthday dinner. Tomorrow we go to her dad's place and we'll sleep there. Then I have a race in the morning.

G'night.

Apologies for the 2 weeks of nothing....let's see, maybe I'll begin with tonight.

I headed out on my run from the Guy West Bridge when E called out to me that Blackalicious was playing on campus for free. Damn! I jogged over to the stage and learned that I had 90 minutes before they were to come on. I did my 8 mile run and went back to meet E at the stage. The Addict Merchants, a local Sactown crew, was still opening the show so we grabbed some food and went back in anticipation of the Gift.

Xcel, the keyboard player, and three background singers hopped out on stage and jammed for a minute before the Gift of Gab came out and blew minds for 90 minutes. They played old stuff from "Melodica", brand new stuff from "The Craft", and inbetween stuff from "A2G", "Nia", and of course "Blazing Arrow". I LOVE going to shows where people experience Gab on the mic for the first time. I used to hear stories of him blowing minds back in Davis in 94-5 when he would come in to my job, sell used CDs jacked from KDVS, and try to score weed. A decade later and he's a veteran of the stage. He ripped 3 or 4 freestyles and I watched jaws literally drop. Xcel was on point with all of the beats and the backing crew was nice as ever. It was such a perfect way to spend a Wednesday evening. When they came out for the encore, he began with the first verse from "Swan Lake"...not sayin I'm the baddest but I know I got potential...

Anyway, last weekend's bbq with the family was great. I got some nice stuff but it was mostly just cool to see everyone happy and in good health. My grandfather's eyesight is much better after cataract surgery and my 15 year old cousin is ripping it up on the football field out in Brentwood. At a scrimmage early that day he was playing nose tackle, ran around the back of the line on reverse, and caught the running back from behind!

I just noticed that one of the links on my front page is no good. It's really a shame because it was a page dedicated to my hero when I was growing up. Cecil Johns taught me how to ride a bike, plain and simple. The guy was an amazing professional athlete and such a great teacher. He had so much style and managed to remain a professional bike racer to nearly 40 years old. He died last year of a heart attack after being in his house when it was struck by lightning, totally freak thing. The doctor who performed the autopsy said they had never seen a healthier body. I still have some bike parts he gave me and I'm never giving them up. I remember him hooking me up with some stuff at a race once. I was 12 or 13 and he made sure I was very polite to the sponsor who was giving me the goods.

As he used to day, Cecil was my full factory daddy. In BMX racing, the top riders have full factory rides. The so-so riders get co-sponsorship or factory support deals. I had co- status at Boss Racing of Oakland, the best company in NorCal. Cecil was a longtime rider and promoter of their product and the leader of a rough around the edges NorCal scene that was popularized big air and strong bikes. After I quit racing my cousin who was a full factory rider and budding pro began building Boss frames. When the company went out of business a few years ago I figured all the bikes were gone. But just last week I learned of a secret stash. In a couple days I should have my hands on one of the last frames my cousin made over there. That one is a keeper for sure. I'm gonna ride it and keep Cecil around in my head for a little longer.

I haven't been in touch with much media in the last 36 hours so I don't know too many details of what's going on in New Orleans and the surrounding area. E has kept me updated on a little bit and it sounds horrific. It seems like it's still getting worse. I'm really hoping my friend John got out of there. E just mentioned that people are not going to be allowed back into the city for probably a month. Then what?

Cross country season start two weeks ago. I am pretty happy with the beginning of the season. I got 18th place in the first race and 13th in the second. That second race, in Santa Cruz, was really good for me. I ran 30 seconds faster over the 4-mile course than I did last year at the same race. 22:08 works out to 5:32 mile pace. I was 2 minutes behind the leader and one of my teammates got second overall. Also, after the race E and I jammed over to the Boardwalk and rocked on ride on the Giant Dipper. That's a quality day.

E just mentioned, "at least they'll have cots at the Astrodome." As she mentioned earlier, it is so surreal that there is a sizeable of the US in complete turmoil yet our lives are essentially untouched by it. We did talk earlier about compiling some emergency gear and getting flood insurance. Hooray for living in a 100-year flood plain!

That's it. I need water and sleep. If I forget, happy birthday to Lisa W!