Back In the Saddle

I'm back from my vacation in parts unknown and the only thing I have to show for it is a new-found hatred of drivers from a state that shall not be mentioned on these "pages". At the risk of disparaging an entire population whose vastness of cultures and demographs would preclude any sweeping if not unfair conclusions being made, I simply offer this idea: Save money by selling cars in [------] without turn signals since nobody uses them anyway. Like a sixth finger, embryonic vestigial tail or a Sonny Bono, they're useless appendages whose removal or subsumation would be highly recommended. It is an idea that could potentially get GM back on its feet. Signal-less SUVs! But enough of rants and raves, on to cycling nuggets. First of all, Dicky's Blog reminded me that the Tour Divide is currently underway. Get the lowdown on what this insane mountain bike "race" is all about here and follow the racers and hear their harrowing tales here. A quick tip: Quickly press play on all of the audio bars at once, and you have a cacophony of race updates that quickly turns into a Steve Reich phase-styled minimalist composition. Seriously, it sounds wackkkyyy!!! Also, why does nobody call in with a fake accent or concoct wild tales about the backcountry? "We headed towards Lima when suddenly, for no reason at all, I started speaking Latin backwards, my head spun around a full 360 degrees and I vomited black bile on Chris Plesko. But the legs feel really fresh!" Or better yet, slowly recite the last 50 pages of Ulysees waiting until the very end to reveal your location. Just sayin'... Secondly, we got our first shipment of the super-special 110 year anniversary Selle Italia Flite saddle (shown several months ago after our Italian friends dropped by and showed us a sample). It's got the unconditional forgiveness of leather coupled with the haughty condescension of titanium rails. Now that's Italian!