"Out with the old...in with the new...ring-a-ding-ding."
-- Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik in The Apartment (1960)
I put the Pedro Delgado DVD away this morning, probably for good. I put it in the section with "Grizzly Man", "Super Size Me", "Startup.com". Not because I don't necessarily want a reminder that it's probably the coolest gift anyone's gonna give me this year - not because it's kind of wistful to watch Steve Bauer lose the yellow jersey to Delgado on the Alpe D'Huez - just because. There's no reason to pull it out again, because I know that I won't see Jesús again. And it was fun watching the video with him, getting to see him be passionate about something aside from getting laid, but it's a historical document. Water under the bridge....
I turn 40 in just over two weeks. I've pretty much assumed that I'm going to be turning 40 with a small handful of the most faithful friends I've got - those being Lu, Scott and Toño - and I'm kind of just thinking about cancelling the whole damn thing and turning 40 by myself with a bottle of champagne and a big tray of sushi. I can't postpone turning 40; having a small army of friends with me on the 4th is not likely to make the blow any easier. The Americans are all going to an election party at the Circulo de las Bellas Artes. I'm not American, and couldn't give a toss about the election. I just want to ride, and would have ridden had I realized how out of whack the weather forecast was going to be.
I'm in a right royal mood today. It struck me this morning that I've spent so much of my adult life being alone that cycling is probably the only sport that wouldn't frustrate me. I don't mind riding alone. I wouldn't mind riding alone now, except that I've got to meet someone in half an hour for a drink. This said someone is the second person to tell me that she gets pissed off when friends find their soulmates and let their friends fall by the wayside. The other person who told me that, who is male, got married yesterday.
September seems like a much more appropriate month for making new year's resolutions; after all, we do it for ten to twenty years when we attend school. I was thinking of this watching "The Apartment" for the nth time the other night - Fred MacMurray and Shirley MacLaine drinking quaint cocktails on New Year's Eve, and the look of boredom in Shirley MacLaine's eyes when she realizes that, in spite of Fred MacMurray having been tossed out on his ass by his wife, things are not going to change. Out with the old, in with the new...ring-a-ding-ding, says Shirley. Two minutes later, the other shoe drops; she takes off to Jack Lemmon's apartment. There's no guarantee that this relationship is going to work out, either. But at least she's taken the reins and made a decision to excise the crap in her life that isn't working.
Jack Lemmon: I love you, Miss Kubelik. I absolutely adore you.
Shirley MacLaine: Shut up and deal.
Indeed.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Decision time?
It's nice out there today. I should be out on my bike but I can barely keep my eyes open - I slept like a log last night and wouldn't be awake if it weren't for the alarm on my watch, and the jet fighters flying over the centre of the city. (Día de la Hispanidad is on Sunday, and I assume that the jets were rehearsing the big fly-over.)
I never really know what I'm supposed to do on days like this. I didn't bike a lot yesterday - 25 miles getting around the city - and tomorrow Gonzalo and I are going to try to do the entire Anillo Verde that circles the capital. Then Saturday the gang are off to the Sierra and on Sunday, there's always the possibility of heading down to San Martín (if I don't catch up with the Chamartín gang.)
"The guy who wins is the guy who trains hardest" - Floyd Landis dixit. But then again, Floyd was paid to beat the hell out of himself, and I'm just starting....
I never really know what I'm supposed to do on days like this. I didn't bike a lot yesterday - 25 miles getting around the city - and tomorrow Gonzalo and I are going to try to do the entire Anillo Verde that circles the capital. Then Saturday the gang are off to the Sierra and on Sunday, there's always the possibility of heading down to San Martín (if I don't catch up with the Chamartín gang.)
"The guy who wins is the guy who trains hardest" - Floyd Landis dixit. But then again, Floyd was paid to beat the hell out of himself, and I'm just starting....
Friday, October 3, 2008
Back in the Saddle
In addition to being one of my favourite cyclists, David Zabriskie, of the Garmin-Chipotle squad, is also one of my favourite bloggers. Read Dave's blog, when he's got the chance to update it, and you get an untarnished, no-holds-barred look in on the world of cycling - the last entry, at www.davezabriskie.com, is a heartbreaking look at what happened during and after he crashed out of the 2008 Giro.
Yep, you read that right. LAST entry. As in, not long after fracturing his 1st vertebrae, his wife gave birth to a baby boy and then there were the small matters of the Tour de Missouri and the Worlds in Varese, which means that DZ's attention, to put it mildly, has been slightly fractured. So I'd keep on checking out his website, hoping to find a new blog entry or piece of information, some nugget of wisdom, and realize that the final thing he'd put down was the run-down of his return from Italy.
And then I'd think, oh boy, he's not the only one........
So this weekend, in addition to taking Ellie out (you'll read about Ellie below - she's the other reason I'm somewhat house-bound and not able to do much beyond pottering about the new apartment, riding and writing), I'm going to catch up on all of the blog entries I should have written (and did, in some cases...just in other blogs) so that the last six months accurately reflect everything which has happened - getting into road cycling, the Trans-Iberian Express, and other things.
Stay tuned...much more coming up!
Yep, you read that right. LAST entry. As in, not long after fracturing his 1st vertebrae, his wife gave birth to a baby boy and then there were the small matters of the Tour de Missouri and the Worlds in Varese, which means that DZ's attention, to put it mildly, has been slightly fractured. So I'd keep on checking out his website, hoping to find a new blog entry or piece of information, some nugget of wisdom, and realize that the final thing he'd put down was the run-down of his return from Italy.
And then I'd think, oh boy, he's not the only one........
So this weekend, in addition to taking Ellie out (you'll read about Ellie below - she's the other reason I'm somewhat house-bound and not able to do much beyond pottering about the new apartment, riding and writing), I'm going to catch up on all of the blog entries I should have written (and did, in some cases...just in other blogs) so that the last six months accurately reflect everything which has happened - getting into road cycling, the Trans-Iberian Express, and other things.
Stay tuned...much more coming up!
Why there aren't more female cyclists (Part I)
This morning, Carlos Sastre, the 2008 winner of the Tour de France, had a cyber-chat with the readers of the Spanish sports newspaper, MARCA. One of the reasons why Carlos became a cyclist was the effort his father, Víctor Sastre, who started a sports foundation in the town of El Barraco. According to Sastre Senior, drugs were a big problem in the town in the 80s, and sports (especially cycling, of which the elder Sastre was once a practicioner) seemed to be one of the main ways out. And to this day, the Fundación Víctor Sastre trains kids to be competitive cyclists...and the website says that some thirty boys and girls currently take part in the program.
Given that the thought of traning and developing up-and-coming cyclists should not be that alien to either of the Sastre men, then, I put forward the following question (somewhat abbreviated because I wasn't able to save what I wrote):
Hello Carlos:
Congratulations on an outstanding season. I recently took a look at the webpage of the Foundation in El Barraco and I noticed that you've got a number of girls who are taking part in the program. I was wondering if you have any opinions about why there are so few women who ride professionally in Spain and who continue as they get older.
It's probably not surprising that he didn't take that one on: firstly, because he probably has very little to do with the Foundation (aside from giving the occasional pep talk) and secondly, because cyclists, like a lot of athletes, are not really given to deep reflection on things that do not fall within their scope of interests. Sastre isn't alone in this respect: Alberto Contador's Televisión Española blog from the 2008 Olympics (which is no longer available on the RTVE website) only has two mentions of his female companions - Maribel Moreno, who got sent back to Spain after testing positive for EPO; and Leire Olaberria, who took home a bronze medal in track. In both cases, Contador's second sentence was "I don't know [said cyclist], but....."
Admittedly, there's no geographical reason why these cyclists should know each other (Leire's Basque and Maribel is from Valencia) but it made me wonder why the national cycling teams couldn't have, at least, had dinner or gone for drinks or some such thing before heading off for Beijing. It's not like there are tons of women cyclists racing in Spain: this list gives the ranking of the 44, count 'em, 44 Spanish women and their national rankings. I should point out that not every cyclist on this list races in Spain: Eneritz Iturriaga is currently riding as a pro in Italy. (To see the most current list of Spanish women's road rankings, click on this link: http://rfec.trackglobe.com/familias/INDIVIDUAL%2022-09-082.pdf
I've been thinking about this a lot in the last couple of years, but I had two moments of clarity yesterday, especially after my credit card rebelled in Calmera as I tried to buy a new odometer for Ellie:
a) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING IS EXPENSIVE. Not just expensive - bloody expensive. A decent bike will run you at least €1500 (and that's for an Orbea, which is produced in Navarre.) A 2008 road licence is €52. Then there's the kit, the expense of getting to and from races, entry fees for races... The RFEC is trying to combat this by offering grants to cadets and sub-23s and their families, but if it's like trying to get ANY grant in Spain, it'll involve a ton of paperwork and ultimately not be worth the pittance you'll get. As they say in Spain, water that's gone under the bridge can't move the mill.
b) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING REQUIRES A LOT OF FAMILY SUPPORT, or a lack of emotional and work obligations so that you're able to focus on the stupid stuff, like being able to cook healthy, nutritional meals for yourself, to be able to shop regularly, to have someone to talk to. I used to think that male cyclists were insane for getting married so young; now I see that having someone on board to work as a butler, laundress, nutritionist and secretary is a very intelligent way of keeping your head out of your hands and your tears of exhaustion and frustration in your eyes.
All of which doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to race - but it does require the ability to keep your head on straight, to know what your priorities are and knowing what you want. And that's not necessarily something that most young women are able to do easily.
ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº
Stupid Piece of Trivia for the Day: One of the possible translations of the name Carlos Sastre is Chuck Taylor. As far as I've been able to find out, the cyclist from Ávila is not a b-ball player, and he has yet to be seen in a pair of high-tops.
ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº
If your Spanish is up for it (and judging by the calibre of questions, you don't need a particularly high level of fluency), the Q&A is still available online at http://www.marca.com/charlas/carlos-sastre/03102008.html
Given that the thought of traning and developing up-and-coming cyclists should not be that alien to either of the Sastre men, then, I put forward the following question (somewhat abbreviated because I wasn't able to save what I wrote):
Hello Carlos:
Congratulations on an outstanding season. I recently took a look at the webpage of the Foundation in El Barraco and I noticed that you've got a number of girls who are taking part in the program. I was wondering if you have any opinions about why there are so few women who ride professionally in Spain and who continue as they get older.
It's probably not surprising that he didn't take that one on: firstly, because he probably has very little to do with the Foundation (aside from giving the occasional pep talk) and secondly, because cyclists, like a lot of athletes, are not really given to deep reflection on things that do not fall within their scope of interests. Sastre isn't alone in this respect: Alberto Contador's Televisión Española blog from the 2008 Olympics (which is no longer available on the RTVE website) only has two mentions of his female companions - Maribel Moreno, who got sent back to Spain after testing positive for EPO; and Leire Olaberria, who took home a bronze medal in track. In both cases, Contador's second sentence was "I don't know [said cyclist], but....."
Admittedly, there's no geographical reason why these cyclists should know each other (Leire's Basque and Maribel is from Valencia) but it made me wonder why the national cycling teams couldn't have, at least, had dinner or gone for drinks or some such thing before heading off for Beijing. It's not like there are tons of women cyclists racing in Spain: this list gives the ranking of the 44, count 'em, 44 Spanish women and their national rankings. I should point out that not every cyclist on this list races in Spain: Eneritz Iturriaga is currently riding as a pro in Italy. (To see the most current list of Spanish women's road rankings, click on this link: http://rfec.trackglobe.com/familias/INDIVIDUAL%2022-09-082.pdf
I've been thinking about this a lot in the last couple of years, but I had two moments of clarity yesterday, especially after my credit card rebelled in Calmera as I tried to buy a new odometer for Ellie:
a) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING IS EXPENSIVE. Not just expensive - bloody expensive. A decent bike will run you at least €1500 (and that's for an Orbea, which is produced in Navarre.) A 2008 road licence is €52. Then there's the kit, the expense of getting to and from races, entry fees for races... The RFEC is trying to combat this by offering grants to cadets and sub-23s and their families, but if it's like trying to get ANY grant in Spain, it'll involve a ton of paperwork and ultimately not be worth the pittance you'll get. As they say in Spain, water that's gone under the bridge can't move the mill.
b) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING REQUIRES A LOT OF FAMILY SUPPORT, or a lack of emotional and work obligations so that you're able to focus on the stupid stuff, like being able to cook healthy, nutritional meals for yourself, to be able to shop regularly, to have someone to talk to. I used to think that male cyclists were insane for getting married so young; now I see that having someone on board to work as a butler, laundress, nutritionist and secretary is a very intelligent way of keeping your head out of your hands and your tears of exhaustion and frustration in your eyes.
All of which doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to race - but it does require the ability to keep your head on straight, to know what your priorities are and knowing what you want. And that's not necessarily something that most young women are able to do easily.
ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº
Stupid Piece of Trivia for the Day: One of the possible translations of the name Carlos Sastre is Chuck Taylor. As far as I've been able to find out, the cyclist from Ávila is not a b-ball player, and he has yet to be seen in a pair of high-tops.
ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº
If your Spanish is up for it (and judging by the calibre of questions, you don't need a particularly high level of fluency), the Q&A is still available online at http://www.marca.com/charlas/carlos-sastre/03102008.html
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