BEING RESCUED

As some of you locals know there was an incident of a rider not stopping to help another rider. A lot has been written about that but this blog has nothing to do with that. I will say I hope it blows over and there are no hard feelings.
This blog is about me (no duh) and being rescued. If you don't know by now I ride a lot. I started riding a lot when I was 13 ( I started being hungry all time when I was 4). When you ride a lot things happen. Spokes break, tyres go flat, keys get lost, the sun goes down, the energy runs dry.
The first time I was rescued was in 1964. We were on a tour in Central California. It was my last day. I was trying to get from Rio Dell to Cupertino. With about 40 miles to go I had a spoke explode on my rear wheel on the freewheel side. I had no tools to fix that. So I called Mom. She was working, but after work out she came. This was a pretty big deal because my Mom never really did get used to driving in the Bay Area. It was rush hour. I probably wasn't the most apreciative son as I had waited at a gas station for about 7 hours. That is long time for a 13 year old. But I got home, and mom didn't mind too much.
The last time I was rescued was today. Mom is still around and would have come but I called Kathy. After the last blog she has a soft spot for me and it was getting dark. I waited today for the sun to warm. Finally at 1 it seemed ok. But that didn't leave quite enough time to go 110 kilos. Especially when I had to fix a broken chain. No tools no parts. I went back the 20 feet from where I had stopped and found both parts of the quick connecting link lying in the road. They are not supposed to come apart. Lucky! After I got to Highway 20 and it was 4pm with 30 miles to go, I pretty much knew I wasn't going to make it. I did get to Ward Road. The sun was so low I couldn't see anything and I was thinking the cars behind couldn't see me. So out came Kathy. With a smile on her face. How good is that?
She doesn't always come with a smile. I can't blame her. A few years ago John, Ben and I rode around Waldo Lake. Great ride. But when we got back to the car I could find my keys. Ben and John hitchhiked to town and I called Kathy. That sounds cool but you see I had the car. We are one of the few families with one car. She was busy, but she rounded up Gary and Susans Nissan, and she came to get me. I know, all of you are asking why didn't you use the spare key? Well I hadn't gotten around to a spare yet. I now have one of those small plastic keys sewed into my chest. Kind of like a man called horse ( a movie about the sun dance). It hurts most of the time but it is a good reminder about not loosing your key.
For a while it seemed that the main thing about being married was getting rescued. Kathy tried to explain to me that really wasn't part of the deal.
I could go on and on as there are really quite a few more but I think you get the picture. I sure appreciate all those times. I keep thinking it will be the last.
Don

VALENTINES DAY

It wasn't very warm on Valentines Day this year but it was sunny and not much wind. We went for a bike ride together. Kath loves it out east. She doesn't get out there as much as I do. I have bicycle disease. That means I ride whenever I have a chance. It means my favorite vacations include a bike. It means I race. It means I have worked in a bike store (Sunnyside Sports) most of my life. Most everything I do has to do with bikes.

Kathy is normal. She likes to ride, she has been to Spain to ride with me. She has some really nice bikes and likes to mountain bike and road bike. But not like me. So on Valentines Day it was special that we went out together. She is my favorite riding partner. She is smooth, looks like a pro. She never drops me. Sometimes she will ride next to me but only when it is safe. She will tell me what flowers there are and what the plants are that we are smelling and just how beautiful the country is. Everytime I ride with her it is special. Like Valentines Day every time.

We used to have a tandem. That was fun, but Kathy likes to shift, steer and basicly be in charge. I like that. I would rather ride with her than be on a tandem with her. Someone asked. How do you ride with her without the tandem? I told this person I had been training quite a bit and could keep up with her pretty much all the time. I have this idea this person wondered how I, a bike racer, could ride slow enough to enjoy myself with Kathy. Well it is simple, I simply pedal at the correct cadence in the correct gear so my speed matches her speed.

We had a great ride on Valentines day. Did about an hour, her pace, we dressed warm and had a hamburger at the Pilot Butte drive in afterwords. I hope she wants to ride again soon.

Don

SPELLING RHYTHM AND MORE

Spelling is not my strength. I lose every Scrabble game I play. I used to think it was some defect in my brain. No spelling gene. About 12 years ago I decided to learn Spanish for real. I had taken Spanish before but it didn't stick with me. I did pretty well in Spanish. I can now read fluently and speak almost as well. I can spell in Spanish, every word. Wow, I thought I can spell better in my second language than in my first. That is because Spanish is simple. It is spelled as it sounds (almost always).
Then I started to write this blog. Writing in a blog is not as demanding as writing in english class. There is no teacher grading your paper, and a blog is expected to be a bit informal. I don't like to appear illiterate. Since I started to write in Spanish, and never misspell a word, I have had higher expectations in my English. I use spell check on the blogger. I guess that is cheating but I use it anyway.
My last few blogs I haven't found any spelling errors. Then Kathy showed me how to spell rhythm. So I checked the spell checker and realized it wasn't working. She was kind and said rhythm was a hard word. Probably greek or something.
So I will continue to write. I will try to spell as best I can, or maybe I will escribir en español (castillano). En Español es muy facil que deletrear. Pero nadie puede entender nada.
Donoso

SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW

I went skiing with Damian and James this morning. They are known bike riders, but they are skiing. They have to, they want to be in shape and there is no outdoor cycling right now. Oh I still ride to work. Kind of a test and kind of fun. But it is too slippery and too dangerous to go out on a real ride. Skiing is the thing. When I talk about skiing I mean nordic skiing. That was the reason I came to Bend for the first time and why I moved to Bend. Nordic skiing. Lately we haven't had to to ski .We have had some pretty warm and dry winters. Last year at this time Damian and I went for a 100 mile bike ride. This year if you want to stay in shape skiing is the thing. I am lucky, I am good at it, (I have been nordic skiing since 1970 and specificaly skating since the early 80s), I teach it (I have been coaching since 1994), but more than that I love it. I like the motion, the rhythm the feeling when you are doing it right.
Damian and James are picking it up. They made a choice this year to ski more and it shows. Since I went with them a month or so ago they are getting a feeling of the rythym and motion. That is what makes it fun, not the hard work. Snow shoveling is hard work, not much rhythm though. Here are two photos of my front yard. See what I mean, not much cycling this year. Go out and ski. That will make the winter much shorter.
Don