Monday, March 31, 2008

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Poetry

I recently started getting Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" delivered to me daily by email. The "Almanac" begins with a poem, and it's really no surprise, but I have a very different taste in poetry than Garrison Keillor. So I thought I'd start posting a few poems I might choose if I were in charge of the poems at "The Writer's Almanac." Of course, I'm going to have to respect copyright, so I'll start with something from the 12th century. I've wondered if Pablo Neruda might have been familiar with this one.

Absence

Every night I scan
the heavens with my eyes
seeking the star
that you are contemplating.

I question travellers
from the four corners of the earth
hoping to meet one
who has breathed your fragrance.

When the wind blows
I make sure it blows in my face:
the breeze might bring me
news of you.

I wander over roads
without aim, without purpose.
Perhaps a song
will sound your name.

Secretly I study
every face I see
hoping against hope
to glimpse a trace of your beauty.

--Abu Bakr al-Turtushi

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Remembering Matt and Kristy

The cycling community has really pulled together over this horrible incident. Joey did the Tuesday night Golden Gate Park ride with the Roaring Mouse team, and it was good to see our friends from that team. There are all sorts of events and memorial sites up.

Remembering Kristy

Remembering Matt

We'll miss the memorial ride on Sunday, but here's info:

Team Roaring Mouse Cycles and Third Pillar Racing Team are holding a joint memorial ride this Saturday March 15th, to honor the lives of Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson, our two teammates killed on Steven's Creek Canyon last Sunday while on a training ride. We welcome friends, family, fellow cyclists and all those whose lives have been touched by Matt and Kristy. Our ride will include a visit to the site of the crash site for those to share their memories.

When: Saturday, March 15th

Where: Leaving from Foothill College
12345 El Monte Road,
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Google map to location: http://tinyurl.com/2b6qvb

**We kindly request you do NOT drive out to the crash site during this time, as we need to keep cars to a minimum in the area, given the road conditions.

Time: Meet at 2:30pm, ride by 3pm

Length: 30-45 minutes to the crash site. Base pace (ie, mellow). No drop.

Route:
Start @ Foothill College (Parking Lot #1, near the football stadium; see link above for map)

- Left on El Monte
- Right on Foothill Expressway
- Continue on Steven's Creek Canyon
- Return

Route directions via Google: http://tinyurl.com/2pc8pf

**Press are welcome to attend, however we request respect during our ride. It would mean the most to us if press were to accompany us on their bikes, as we are all cyclists this week.

Monday, March 10, 2008

A Tragic Loss


The Bay Area Cycling community is in shock from the loss of two of its own yesterday. From the SF Chronicle:

Sheriff's deputy hits cyclists, killing 2

(03-09) 20:42 PDT Cupertino -- A rookie Santa Clara County deputy sheriff patrolling a winding Cupertino road Sunday morning veered into the opposite lane of traffic and struck three bicyclists, killing two, including a rising star in the Bay Area cycling community, authorities said.

Authorities did not release the names of the riders who were killed, but friends identified them as Kristy Gough, 30, of San Leandro and Matt Peterson, 29, of San Francisco. The third cyclist, whose name was not released, was listed in critical condition Sunday night at Stanford University Medical Center.

Gough was a professional triathlete who recently took up road racing and who friends said won every race she entered this year. She and Peterson, also an amateur road racing cyclist, both won their divisions in a March 1 road racing event in downtown Merced.

My condolences to all who knew Kristy and Matt and best wishes to the unidentified cyclist still in the hospital. As they say, be careful out there people.


I didn't know Matt or Kristy, but I'd been hearing about Kristy, and I know a few of Matt's temmates. It turns out their teams met for a training ride at the same spot Joey and I went for a training ride yesterday--Canada Rd. But Joey had been sick for a couple days and we did an easy and shortish ride, not venturing up into the hills. Matt had just won his first race--the Merco Criterium, and Kristy, a champion triathlete, just started racing this year. Here are her USACycling results--8 races, 8 wins.

03/02/2008 - Merco Credit Union Foothills Road Race - Road Race - Cat 3/4
1 Kristy Gough 274487 00:00.0 649 Third Pillar

03/01/2008 - Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic Downtown GP - Criterium - Cat 3/4
1 Kristy Gough 274487 00:00.0 862 Third Pillar

02/24/2008 - Original Merced Criterium - Criterium - Cat 3
1 Kristy Gough 274487 00:00:00.00 804 Third Pillar

02/17/2008 - Pine Flat Road Race - Road Race - Cat 4
1 Kristy Gough 274487



02/16/2008 - Cantua Creek Road Race - Road Race - Cat 4
1 Kristy Gough 274487 00:00:00.00 905 Third Pillar

02/16/2008 - Snelling Road Race - Road Race - Cat 3
1 Kristy Gough 274487 00:00.0 906 Third Pillar

02/10/2008 - Cherry Pie Criterium - Criterium - Cat 4
1 Kristy Gough 274487

3rd Pillar

01/26/2008 - Early Bird Road Race - Road Race - Cat 4
1 Kristy Gough 0

Unattached

Friday, March 7, 2008

Finally!

Yikes, it's been almost 3 months since my last blog! This part-time editing job and raft of gigs with various folks has kept me pretty busy. Plus I just got out of the habit, I guess. I could go on and on about all the things I've been doing, but--boring. So I'll just mention a couple cool albums I've heard recently.

First off, Petri Hakala's Trad. Petri is an amazing mandolin player from Finland, and on this solo CD he plays, you guessed it, traditional Finnish tunes, on mandolins, mandola, mandocello, and guitar. I've had the pleasure of playing with Petri in the past and he's right up there with the best American mando players. His tone and fluidity are fantastic and he even plays a Gilchrist, which most players seem to regard as the best newly made mandolins. The CD is solo in that nobody else plays on it, but Petri overdubs other parts for a very nice sound that doesn't stray too far from the traditional polskas and waltzes. His guitar playing is a revelation for me--I didn't even know he played guitar--but it's his clean and crisp mando playing that is the main attraction.
David Grier has also released a solo CD recently--Live at the Linda. In David's case, it is entirely solo, just David and his 1946 Martin D-28. It will come as no surprise to anyone who's heard David that this is a phenomenal guitar record. There's no one who can do what David does with such taste and ease. What I love about this CD is the tone of David's guitar, which is difficult to render in a live setting. It may be due to the fact that David is playing a D-28, rather than his previously favored D-18, but David's tone on this CD is the best I've heard, remarkably lush and rich. It's enough to excuse the covers of "Killing Me Softly" and "America the Beautiful" and the bad jokes told between songs. Actually the "Glass Eye" joke is a good one.