Tradition Vs Obligation Vs Ritual

Work is an obligation. Unless you do something you like till someone pays you. Then it's a balancing act between obligation and ritual. A good ritual leaves you cleansed. Traditions can involve rituals. Traditions are not repeated daily, because they're reserved for special occasions. Buttering your bread the same way each morning is a habit. Brushing teeth is a habit/obligation/ ritual. Habligationul. Waiting for the bus is more obligation than anything. I think for some people tho, it's part of their daily ritual that moves them from one day to the next.
It's time for the traditional SpringClassics. Three weekends of mounting playground ponies on stakes before setting out on the urban road ride from filthadelphia. The Spring classic is a 25yr tradition. It's a tradition/ ritual. Rituadition! Rain or shine, the same loop as always. 11 of us left the water tower, and before mile 4 we were down to 10. Consider it a group ride. Consider this tho, one week cross bike might be the weapon of choice and the next is slick tire dominance.
Somewhere between Manayunk and Jenkintown.

Dirt Channel.

Biding my time?

During these times of convalescence I'm finding the time to catch up on a few back episodes of LOST. In some way's it does for the mid 2000's what Twin Peaks did back in the day. Of course it's not nearly as creepy or awkward as a David Lynch production. So though it will never satisfy that dark side of my id, it has definitely managed to keep my brain spinning, with complex character structures, and a narrative that flashes back, repeatedly revealing new details that intertwine the lives of the passengers before boarding the plane.
What's fun is trying to figure out the the "Name Game".
Jake Shepherd: He's the doctor, reluctant Leader: Shepherd=Flock care giver
John Lock: Hunter, sees the potential of other characters: John Lock=JohnLocke seventeenth century philosopher. "Locke was the first philosopher to define the self through a continuity of "consciousness".
Charlie: heroin addict: Charlie=slang for heroin.
Sawyer: Troubled southern boy: Sawyer=Tom Sawyer
Kate Austen: Fugitive, Smart, independent, not overtly sexual: Kate Austen= Jane Austen? Might be a stretch

Okay enough of that. This is how you spend time in bed for three days. Oh and I've found a new love for BikeSnobNYC. Hilarious. Worth the read.
Sam, I should call, but it feels like forever away to the other side of the city, when everytime I get in the car I like i'm just as likely to hit the gas as the brake. I feel loopy.
And yes it's much better to do drywall in the cool than the itching powder enhancing effect of sweaty summer.

Sick!

The first racing of the season is down the drain. I've been a real flake lately. I signed up for the Mas or Menos in Texas a few weeks ago. Then realizing the amount of money it would be, and finding out that the 12hrs of Razorback was being replaced by 12hrs of Santos I decided to go to FL. That's home! Stay at my parents, eat some good food. Seemed like the right choice.
Then I had to get ready for this..Drywall. So I spent the week not getting much sleep, working a lot then trying to ride my bike on a normal schedule.
So I could stop living in a place like this. I realized that there was no way I was ready to go race a 12hr race and recover. My fitness is no where near where it was at this time last year. I've been on the bike a lot, but not as much, or as consistant , as last year.
So then I figured okay, I'll skip 12hrs, go ahead and go to Texas and get in a shorter race, stay a few extra days and stay on a good training sched. I made sure Ernesto still had a place for me to sleep, and I talked to the promoters letting them know I wanted to come. That was Tuesday. By Tuesday night the nagging headache I had earlier in the day became a debilitating mind splitter.
So I've been in bed for going on three days now. No racing, no riding, no working on the house. It's rather depressing. Can't say this year is really shaping up as neatly as past years. I haven't been writing a lot because it's been a little depressing, and who wants to read about it? Me I guess.