..  I met this guy today, a head producer for BET, who, “BY LUCK, I SWEAR! BY ABSOLUTE LUUUUUCK!!” got the only footage of that black comedian guy that wrecked that 1.5 Million Dollar Ferrari this past week.  “You don’t understand WHAT MY WEEK HAS BEEN LIKE!!”. (no).  He put some sort of pencil camera in the car then posted some guy on the track that “is not right” with a camera and done.  Movie Magic.  He earned mils for some dumbass’s misfortune and is airing some ‘world premiere shit’ on Wednesday.  I know nothing of this, but know enough to know that I just don’t get it…just don’t get this place, or him, or that.  I feel like I’m some sort of alien here.  Just soaking it in. And maybe becoming all the worse for it.

I’ll be in Ojai tomorrow.  Oh, shoot.  Speaking of aliens.  I am hoping something will take hold.  I need some sort of super something…I just had this flashback to me and Liza at Ojai two years ago when a cross-eyed woman ran up to us and mentioned that Lance was there.  I turned to Liza and mentioned that I usually don’t trust cross-eyed people and she shouldn’t either, then was proved wrong by my own personal experience, as usual, as Lance WAS there.  Insignificant little story…

I posted a few new pics to the paparrazzi page.

And with that, Happy Near End Of Cali to all y’all.

BB

.

Them rivers sure is diff’rent here (Insert babbling Crick from Montana).

In LA, they even pave the rivers.

In Tucson, it’s just paved sides, not the bottom, too.

Montana is all dirt. 

..Huh. 

BB

A hug and special thanks to the Brown family for housing me and my teammate, Dale Tye.  They gave us gifts…. these things called Ugly Dolls.  Each doll is ’special’ in its own way (read, ‘Nutter’) and they characterized each one of us on Hub, giving us who they thought we were. The kids were darn close! It was the sweetest thing. 

I googled Ugly Dolls and found this, “Contrary to popular post-millennial opinion, being ugly is not always a disadvantage. Because despite today’s image-obsessed media, ugly sells. In fact, we reckon ugly is the new beautiful. Why else would physiognomically- challenged multi-millionaires such as Mick Hucknall and Andrew Lloyd Webber be such babe-magnets? Apart from the millions of pounds thing, of course…The point is, what one person considers ugly, another considers beautiful. With this perennial dichotomy in mind, we’ve been on the lookout for something that’s fabulously “ugliful” (yes, we made that word up), and wouldn’t you just know it, we’ve gone and found a complete tribe of them!Uglydolls are a bunch of quirky, colourful characters that have taken the US by storm. Disappearing off the shelves faster than you can say “Cabbage Patch” these huggable, limited edition creatures have created a frenzy of excitement Stateside, and are now set to do the same thing across the entire globe…”  You can even Wikipedia the cute lil buggers.
I was given Peaco.”Peaco is very shy, on the outside; on the inside, he is a wild man (you can see it in his eyes)….” The story about Peaco is that he is shy until he does what she loves the most which is DANCE….Nancy, our host mom and new buddy, had to add in that Peaco sometimes drinks to get un-shy.

In any event, The Browns were great and exemplify one of the things I love about being on the road and racing.  I’m set to head to the Southeast Series in Georgia at the end of April next.  Back on the horse, then, eh?

ugly and proud,

BB

As I was decending back into the fray of downtown LA this morning, I was thinking about how different my lives are.  I had to bail on Friday’s stage of Redlands, a plan I knew and agreed to, since it was manditory (was it?!!) that all teams start 5 or face DQs.  I was running an experiment to see how running every day would translate to bike racing.  Turns out, training equates to about 40 places, give or take. When I dropped my chain after making it through my ramp anxiety (I took myself out off a starting ramp once and have never been the same), and the crowd moaned cuz the chain shot out to the right, I wanted to tell them, “really.  It’s ok.”…. There you have it.  On a positive note, I think I’d rather earn money and finish in the bottom quarter these days than face living in a shopping cart and finishing in the middle somewhere, like I always ever have at Redlands.

But back to me.  I work in the Fashion District and was thinking about how strange my two lives are from one another.  I tried to hone in on some similarities after a weird, not-so-weird thing happened this afternoon.  I walked outside to see a guy laying on the concrete bleeding inexplicably from his face.  I thought he had been hit (like a cyclist would think…) and was asking him and everyone around if he was ok.  He wasn’t.  No one spoke English, but I came to the conclusion that the security guard on the phone with 9-1-1 was the guy that beat him up.  Not sure why or what, but I went back inside once I got the scoop.

But cycling and the Fashion District.  I came across the business history and personal letter of the guy that owns the company Rock and Republic Jeans.  His place is near me, I think, and after reading the letter that came across my friend, Dawn’s desk, I like him immensely.  He was a high-level cyclist—-turned designer of cycling kits for a club team— turned designer/owner of one of the most popular, high-end, most stylish, brands of hot jeans on the planet—turned sponsor of a pro men’s team.  He credits cycling for a lot and gave back.  I like that and hope to do that someday when I have more to give.

And here we arrive at my Critique of Fashion Week, Redlands 2007-

What is hot:

Rock and Republic.  Look at the cars, the street wear, the kits.  Black is hot. Will be hot. And, is HOT. But damn, those guys look good.

Tibco.  Kind of the girly version of R & R.  The design is sweet: baby blues, azure blues, pinks and strong whites.  VERY SLIMMING and yet, practical, too.  Those girls look good.

Health Net.  These kits get better and better every year.  That aqua is strong. Look like lighting bolts in a cartoon.  And…..black, again.  Always a skinny look.

Toyota United.  Good, but a bit too military during a controversial time.  I fear for their safety if they were ever to race abroad.

Kenda.  black and red.  And, it still looks good.  That lil tropical flower reminds me that Bermuda is not far off and that is nice.

WHAT IS NOT HOT:

Aaron’s.  Ugh.  Red, all red. On women. No good.

Jelly Belly.  What used to be my favorite, with all those wild beans, now looks like some sort of 80s ski-slope neon during the pre-sublimation days.  Are those logos ironed on?

BMC.  Looks like they attempted the R & R look but feel short like Hilfiger designing for Wal-mart…right idea, but still looks cheap.

Kodak Picture Gallery Sierra Nevada.  I am on the fence about this one because on one hand, they look like wheatfields, which are nice and peaceful, but yellow and windy.  On the other hand, they look like wheatfields. They are camoflagued.  Beware the Kodak guy getting away on that wheatfield stage day….don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Back in Redlands this weekend for more studies,
BB

I had a teammate several years ago, Maatje Benassi (I knicknamed her “be-nasty”) who had a thick accent I really loved.  She referred to Redlands as “Rreht-lens” and it’s been called that for me ever since.  I’ll be at Rrehtlens tomorrow, as one of the only people I listen to, my director Bega, mentioned I might want to start. That’s about how he said it, thinking I prolly wouldn’t.

Ok.  I’ll start.  I’ll give ‘er hell and laugh about how running translates, or not, to Mount Roubidaux  along with some of the best teammates in the world.  The best thing I can do for my team this month is make sure they don’t get disqualified for having a team of four then feeding them on Sunday. Now that’s worth leaving the ‘real world’ for.  F— the real world.  I already don’t like it.

Holla, if you wish,

BB

I hate that phrase.  I was thinking about it in the shower. It’s EVERYWHERE.  I was thinking about it on my bike, today, too.  Busy signals used to be my pet peeve.  LOL is now on the top of the list and here’s why-

It’s cheesy.

Anyone who has ever watched NBC’s Dateline: To Catch a Predator knows what I mean.  They have actors recount the manuscripts of the pedophile and the young girl or guy where “LOL!” always comes out creepy: like a nervous childish, “ha….ha…..uh..ha?” or the child predator, “hehehe”.  ewww.

So that brings me to every person under the sun screaming via their e-tools, “LOL!”.  No.  It sounds like, l-o-l, not like laughing out loud at all.

I wonder when we just stop laughing and start saying, “LOL! LOL!” in casual conversations.  lol

Lame. lol.

BB

…and I use ‘girl’ purposely.  My friend, Dawn and I have similar temperaments: that naive sort of ‘change the world so that I can rule it’ sort of enthusiasm and/or angle.  The other day I had talked her into this idea I had, as I am sometimes in need of a co-conspirator, about LA Fashion Week downtown.  I had heard the buzz regarding things regarding fashion (I am in the fashion district) and how they are seeking to bring it back to the district.  I got my hands on an email and decided that I wanted to check out the meager scene that I know nothing about: the world of fashion.  I wrote (more…)