Is he an arrogant dick? Of course. It's requisite for competing at that level. But we have super mondo non-PRO recreational arrogant dicks right here in Spo. And if you want to talk king of dicks, just look at Cavendish or Contador. They put the words in all caps.
Today, the superhuman became human. The end of an era. I'm a little sad but rather than be all WAY sad, I'm reflecting on all the great thrilling moments he's given us. Killing Marco (RIP) in the surreal moonscape and giving Jan 'the look' and blowing him off the back, just to name a couple of the most famous. I have totally devoured the OLN/Versus TdF coverage, which was truly revolutionary, and I couldn't put down a certain book about a guy coming back from cancer to rule the sport. Those USPS days were just the f'ing best ever. Some of those early morning live telecasts are more than memory - they are taste and smell that will forever define for me an event that occurs thousands of miles away, across an ocean, that I will never attend or understand but that I think I know all about. Dude, that was some fantastic shit.
On to Parkways . . .
Patty's been pouring a lot of energy into helping organize the annual Spokane Scottish Highland Games. Parkways was an opportunity to help get the word out. She met up with some of her peeps that came out to march on a hot day and blow their pipes.
She bent the hell off the ears of anyone willing to listen. You gotta love the passion.
This band was pretty damn sweet. It was seriously tempting to just park our butts there and screw the whole motion concept.
Mobile recycling station. Rad.
Movin' and groovin' in the streets.
We bumped into my nephew Matt. He's an avid cyclist/free spirit who just figures out how to make shit work for him. He buys into about zero percent of the bike marketing hype. I think he'd love summer bike camping and I'm turning the screws.
Him? Blades. Her? Folder. What a couple.
Cutest kid of the day. Scarred for life by some idiot stalking him and taking his picture.
Two Wheel Transit tent at Corbin . . .
Climbing wall at Corbin . . .
Movin and groovin at Corbin . . .
Jacque, rockin' her Schwinn Fairlady. (She lives in Seattle now, but we were lucky to have her back in Spo for this event - she was in town for another in the endless string of oral surgeries to put her back together from her accident.)
Bike decorating constest participant . . .
I ran across Greg and Nikki who were volunteering at an intersection. We couldn't help ourselves and staged an impromptu Xtracycle mini-rally/love-fest.
Patty, Jacque and Matt at the end of the road . . .
Summer Parkways #1 was cool and fun to be a part of. Uncharted territory. I think that most people didn't know much about what to expect and showed up with a "What Happens?" frame of mind. Now, wheels will be turning (pardon the pun) with the possibilities. #2 will be different.
Wow. Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers for your vision in bringing this to Spo and adding another significant dimension to our growing cycling scene.
3 comments:
I felt bad for Lance too! He has had an unbelievable string of bad luck this tour.
I think it is gutsy to be on top and love the sport enough to want to stay in it. I hope he does it as long as he can, even if he leaves at age 60 a domestique. Somehow, I find that more courageous than a guy who leaves at the top of his game, causing us all to wonder, "How would he have done if he stuck to it?" With Lance we know.
Yeah. I suspect he is, in a lot of ways a jerk, but he's not my friend, or brother, and so it doesn't matter to me. And frankly, like you said that goes with the territory.
Now I am off for a ride, the first since we came home!!!
Hi there, thanks for showing up and covering our first event! If you'd like to submit your photos to our library, please send to summerparkways@gmail.com. It looks like you took a lot of good ones!
If you'd like credit for them, please also include first and last name of the photographer for each. Thanks and we hope to see you next time!
Thanks, Pat, for your kind obituary of Mr. Lance Armstrong. He brought emotion--whether joy or anger--for all those who followed the sport. I wish his teammates well.
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