Sunday, June 24, 2007

It's a Bit Complicated


"People in love lie around and get fat. I didn't want us to end up like that," Eddie Argos croons on "People In Love," about halfway through their new CD, It's a Bit Complicated. By this point, you're used to Argos' dry and plainspoken humor. And you're hooked.

Simple punk rock overlaid with concise lyrics delivered plainly and with all due comedic emphasis, Art Brut manage to stay above the sense of joke band and elevate their humor and their rock to a level that need not answer for either.

Since their first CD, the riffs have sharpened, the melodies grown stronger, and the songs improved without resorting to gimmicks or technological advancements.

Tracks like "Direct Hit" and "Sound of Summer" are definitely musts for your summer soundtrack.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Party Tonight at The Bouquet

Tonight's the solstice. So we're throwing a party.

RadioBoise and the ACLU are teaming up to bring some great music to The Bouquet tonight to celebrate the summer solstice and try to raise some money to get us on the air.

The lineup includes:
The Invasion
The Scumbagz
The Universal
Kamphire Collective
NOLLIFUR
DJ Art Hodge
Bovalexia

Also, outside on the street, we'll have DJs spinning tunes for at least the early hours of the evening. When we stop will depend on when they make us stop.

It's only $6, and it's for a couple great causes. Join us if you can.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Amo mi bici nueva más que puedo describir
















By midnight last night I had the rig assembled, tweaked, and ready to go.
This morning at 6:30, tires touched dirt, and it was indeed magic.


The Grip Shifts are wonderfully responsive and accurate. The disc brakes are a revolution. And the feel of this frame, so far, is pretty fantastic. It's still and light and eager, taking snaky singletrack in quick and precise movements and going upward as well as anything that's got me attached to it possibly could.



So far, so great.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Moreau Takes Dauphine


Even though Vino's Astana team won 4 stages in this year's Dauphine, the end result was simply to let the world know that they were coming to the Tour de France loaded for bear, as it were. They're strong. Take note.


(But then, huge efforts at the Dauphine do not necessarily translate into Tour success, as it could be more a showing of a too-early peak... But I digress.)


Christophe Moreau, the 36-year-old French rider for AG2R, won the overall this year in a return to form that many cycling fans will be glad to see. Moreau's been the beleaguered best-Frenchman for a while, not really getting better results than that too often since he last won the Dauphine in 2001. But this shot at the top step of the podium could change that.


I don't imagine he'll be gunning for the overall at Le Tour, just considering the lack of depth on his team, but he could light up a few stages for sure.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Moreau Tops at Ventoux


Christophe Moreau, the perennial "best Frenchman," was best of the whole day for the second time in this year's Dauphine-Libere. Even better, he hit peak form in the granddaddy of all stages, the climb to the summit of Mt. Ventoux.


The Americans held their own, the Kazakhs all but imploded, and there were a few surprises, too.


The stage put the overall for this race totally up for grabs, as there are now 6 riders within 53 seconds of each other at the top of the standings.


Check it out at VeloNews.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Rainy Sunday

When a truly rainy day comes to a climate like ours, you must take advantage. And as the rain spat steadily throughout the course of the day today, take advantage I did.

I burrowed deeper into bed for a long while before getting up, listening to the drops ping off the roof and windows. Then I lingered over coffee and an omelet while reading one more article from the paper, then one more, then one more.

Laundry into the machine, kitchen cleared and cleaned, garden quickly harvested.

I spent a good couple hours in the shop out back, trying my luck with some crunchy bearings in my road wheels. I listened to lots of music (this weather always brings out the jazz cravings, so it was Von Freeman and Nicholas Payton and Charlie Haden taking turns), I drank loads of coffee, and I watched the rain fall.

The hounds and I braved a brief respite in the drizzle to take a walk on the paved hill in the Military Reserve. The skies reopened on us at almost precisely the halfway point, which of course is also the farthest point from home. It was briefly windy and cold and coming down in buckets, but as it quickly subsided into a heavy mist and I knew clean clothes and a free afternoon awaited me at home, I didn't rush. I just enjoyed it.

Dinner was gumbo from the Louisiana chicken joint with cornbread and salad, and I watched Volver (Cruz in Almodovar, actually a pretty fantastic movie), then I read some more (Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell, which is quickly gaining traction), and then it was off to bed.

All in all a wonderful day. We could use a few more of these here in the high desert. Days like these are good for the soul.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Race to Sun Valley

The Lyle Pearson 200 started as a crazy idea and ended as one of the best days on the bike, ever. I've got to hand it to Mike Cooley and George's Cycles: They put on a hell of an event.


Starting in Boise at 6am on Saturday, 4-person teams took off every few minutes for a team relay time trial out of Boise, up Hwy 21 through Idaho City and Lowman all the way to Stanley, where we would turn right on Hwy 75 and cross over Galena Summit to a finish line in Ketchum. All in all about 190 miles of riding.


The route was broken down into 10 stages, each about an hour's ride, give or take 15 minutes. There were 3 major climbs and quite a few not so major climbs, all along a route that rarely went downhill.

Here's how it broke down.

Shea Anderson and David Varner started the day off, riding over Hilltop to Robie Creek. This involved a decent climb, and unfortunately Shea got to start the day with a flat before even getting out of town.





At Robie Creek, I joined David for the ride to Idaho City while Shea hopped in the truck. (We borrowed Joy and John's Suburban, which turned out to be the perfect support vehicle. Shwank digs.) This was a nice steady pull up the valley of Mores Creek against a slight but steady headwind. We made good time, David spelling me long enough to keep the energy high.












At the Idaho City exchange, Tim Maguire took over for a solo ride to Mores Creek Summit. This is a bitch of a climb, and Tim held his position among the other racers very well.


There, Shea took over for a solo ride down from the summit, up to Beaver Creek Summit, and then down again to Lowman. This stage must have been a blast, a couple short tough climbs punctuated with a dazzlingly swervy and speedy descent.


In Lowman, Tim and I teamed up for the stretch to Grandjean, another long gradual climb up a river valley.




David went solo from Grandjean up to the top of Banner Summit, blazing up the steep climb and passing the climber for our nemesis team along the way.




All day, since the very start line in fact, we'd been racing along against the team of Mike Trowbridge, a guy I work with, who was also riding with a guy who writes for Shea (Waj). We traded leads a number of times throughout the day, three of which were on the final stage. It made the day much more interesting.

At Banner, me, Shea, and Tim worked together down the other side and across the rolling valley floor into Stanley. This was a beautiful ride, the Sawtooth range looming off to our right most of the way, a short descent followed by rolling terrain of the valley floor, perfect Idaho landscape.


In Stanley, Shea pulled off while David joined Tim and I for the pull up from Stanley to Frenchman's Creek (not Smiley Creek, as the race bible said, but a point a couple few painful miles further up the road). This one about killed me. And Tim, too. Coming toward Stanley I felt like a million bucks, taking long hard pulls and keeping the speed high--a little too high, at times. But not 5 miles outside of Stanley my legs collapsed on themselves. I ate, I drank, but still I had nothing. The grade must have been just upward enough to severely limit any accelerations or hard efforts. But then, this was mile 70 to 90 or so, so it makes sense I was getting tired. But Varner kept us rolling, letting Tim and I spell him only briefly before getting back on the front.


At that point Shea took the last solo leg of the day, going up and over Galena Summit and down the other side to Galena Lodge, where the rest of us would join him for the 24 mile race for the finish line. He aced the climb, and more importantly, killed the descent on a wet and slippery road in rain and hail, passing Mike's teammate, who'd blazed by us between Stanley and Frenchman's Creek.


All 4 of us rode the last leg, and by then we were all feeling pretty good. We worked well together, taking short hard pulls and keeping the speed way up. We saw a wolf along the way, a huge charcoal gray guy along the side of the road near a dead elk. My first wolf and I couldn't even pause to enjoy it.







We crossed the line in under 10 hours, beating the goal we set for ourselves, just about 2 minutes ahead of Mike's team. With our time bonus we ended up with a total of 9:27:05.


Cathy and her mom had driven out to see us finish, but unfortunately for them I gave bad directions to the finish line and no one in town, it seems, knew anything about where the race was finishing. But it was still good to see them about a half a minute after crossing the line.



It was a hell of a day. Long hard miles amid amazingly gorgeous scenery. The event was pretty laid back, most of the transitions left to the honor system. Everyone was friendly and supportive. Can't wait til next year.

Monday, June 04, 2007

LP200

The big race is in the books. 200 miles, Boise to Sun Valley. The weather was good, the riding beautiful, and the team performed admirably.

We don't have the official times yet, but we did better than we'd hoped. Under 10 hours without time bonuses.

We've got loads of photos and videos, so a bigger better entry on this is soon to come. Stay tuned.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Mayo Returns


Basque climbing sensation turned absentee Iban Mayo today brought his new Sauneir-Duval colors across the rain soaked finish line in the last mountain stage of this year's Giro de Italia.


Showing the form that a few years ago made him one of the most feared ascenders in the peloton, Mayo pedaled away from a select breakaway group, motored up the hill, and absolutely flew down the other side, risking all in a heroic bid for victory.


He managed to keep the rubber side down for the duration, and his celebration said it all. Good to see Mayo back again.


(pic from VeloNews)