DClog

The Art is Strong

Tonight's incarnation of DC3 was unstoppable. The sound was good, the players were on and the creativity was flowing... and the crowd was digging it also.

Setup early and waiting for the 5:30 hit, Dan and Mack quietly warm-up while Keith is on the phone booking another gig.

Plant Sex

Is there any nutritional value to pollen? Just back from a ride and it feels like I ingested a pound of pollen.

Atlanta's pollen count is 5,000+ particles per cubic meter of air recently and a reading of 120 is considered extremely high in the Southeast. Relief might be days away because there is no rain in Atlanta's forecast for at least a week.

Art World

Several jobs this day starting with a quartet playing for hundreds of youngsters in a middle school cafeteria and ending with a trio outside playing for hundreds of out-of-town business men and women in the courtyard of the High Museum of Art.

Art World

Painter

Trio - Mack, Dan and Paul

Macabre Mar 25

Eighty degrees?! Directly from winter to summer, no spring weather here.

Almost all the usual Macabre riders were at the big local race in Gainesville. This was Theron's comeback after three weeks on the "injured reserve" list. Jim only recently mastered this ride and had a good day in the saddle. 54 miles @ 2:41 = 20.1 avg

Theron, Jim and Dan

Ride On

Pulled out the old TT bike yesterday and pre-rode the Thurmond Tanner course they'll be using this weekend at the Georgia Cup race in Gainesville. The Hot Tubes TT bike, like my MTB bike, should have been retired years ago but maybe it has one more race left in it.

Heading out now for a recovery ride on the new GTC-dale. Jude's Grandpa Doug will be coming with, first ride in weeks for him due to a cold/flu thing.

Someone posted a video of the Macon MTB race and you can see some short clips of my pitiful trail riding skills at 4:59 and 6:59. Don't laugh too hard. Basically I'm OK if I'm pedaling... but downhills and technical stuff I'm white-knuckled and puckered so tight I'm about to implode!

"The Ultimate Sandbagger"

I raced with the Sport 50+ category this afternoon on a long and, to me, a hard course. From the start Bill Whidden and Mike Stabler took the lead while I was in third with several riders on my wheel. A couple miles into it Mike took the lead from Bill and the pace picked up. I messed up in the fast tight corners and lost several places to the riders behind me. Once out of the tight stuff I worked my way back up to Bill who was in second place. About an hour and twenty minutes into the race I finally caught up to the leader, Mike. He and I battled for a few miles but I ultimately finished 21 seconds in the lead. Pretty close, I thought.

But no... at the podium presentation, the announcer calls me "the ultimate sandbagger" in front of all my friends and family.

OK Whatever... and even though it may have been in jest and done with love, making fun of Byron "Bud" Merritt, who is one of my heroes, calling him "DFL" (Dead F***kin' Last) -- C'mon show some respect dude. I think they should stand Bud on the top step of the podium, all by himself, and everyone should applaud, salute and bow to this man who is still racing mountain bikes at 61 years of age -- and doing a mighty fine job too!

More photos from Bev

GSC #1

I rarely practice and even more rare do I participate in mountain bike racing, but tomorrow is the first race of the series and I will be there. I pre-rode the course on Thursday and it is technical, so experienced MTB racers will have an advantage.

Georgia State Championship series
Mountain bike race at Arrowhead Park in Macon, Georgia
http://www.goneriding.com/

No.2 Expressions

Sometimes I jot down a note or make a shopping list and the pencil just sticks to my hand... for a few seconds or maybe longer, lines appear freely without a representational motive. Sometimes it's merely the act of drawing I enjoy.

There is a personal vocabulary of marks, strokes and gradients and they are influenced by intuition, energy, and emotions. Is that abstract?

Anyway little doodles like these have littered our home for years and end up in the trash can eventually.

Amelia Island

Daytime TV

In The Air

A scent of flora
Wing flapping creatures
An aura of breeding, renewing of the cycle of life

Macbre Mar 11

Steve Simpson showed up for this Yargo-North High Shoals edition of Dans Macbre.

(L-R) Steve Simpson, David, Brian, Tim, Dan, Derek Larson, Jeff, Marshall and Wojtek. Photo by Bonnie.

Bethlehem Bobs

Here's some photos from the Friday ride with the Bethlehem Bobs. This is the 'retired guys' ride that goes every M-W-F morning/afternoon year round. The group lost a bunch of regulars recently so Grant and I helped fill out the peloton today. Big Bob has survived several heart attacks (while on the bike) and now has a pacemaker, the other Bob is 80-something and never misses a day.

We start out on Manger Avenue, then go down Angel Street, take a right on Holly Street, left on Shepherd Street, right on Mary Street, left on Joseph Street, right on David Avenue... I'm not making this up folks, it's a real place!

Time to Spring Forward

Daylight Savings Time is extended for 2007 and begins at 2am on Sunday, March 11th. Don't forget to move your clocks forward one hour.

Good Fit

Several rides on the new 58cm CAAD9 convinced me the fit is good and this bike is a keeper, at least for this season.

The medium helmet looks better on my head but just barely fits and there is not enough room for a cap or headband underneath. The large size is really big but it will be fine. Overall it's a comfortable helmet and a cool design and I'm glad we got them.

Some of the Decibel helmets in my garage

Hey Jude

Happy Birthday.

Macabre Mar 4

Sunny, cold and WINDY, the group was small but mighty.

(L-R) Shey, Dan and Jeff also Tracy joined later. Photo by Marshall.

Twenty-Seven Years

Bev, Rachel and myself joined Ruth and Nick in Alpharetta for a birthday celebration and dinner. A couple more photos here.

New Team Stuff

This was the maiden voyage for the new bike. I liked last year's CAAD 8 just fine and this year the CAAD 9 is incrementally improved. More photos in the gallery.

Cool Lid

Ordered fifteen new Specialized Decibel helmets for the team.