Riley, you know my dog, woke up this morning not feeling so good. Usually he and Layla have a battle royal of wrestling and tear through the house like George Bush through a gay marriage. But not this morning. Riley was really lethargic, and didn't want to play, and followed us both around wanting some extra love. This was the exact behavior he displayed last year just before getting really sick, and had to have lots of surgery, and well Diane and I were pretty freaked out. I was pretty relieved to get this message on my voice mail from Diane, " well, Riley looks much better, much more energy than this morning, but I'm still afraid his intestine might be getting jammed up again, until I see him take a shit, I'm still gonna be worried. I have the dogs out, I'm just watching them, Okay, here we go, Riley is sniffing, he's walking in a circle, he's squatting, oh yeah, we got dog shit, things are passing, I think he was just having a rough morning. So anyway, you have a good ride, and I'll see you tonight." Great just what I needed, blow by blow from my wife, a voicemail on my work phone, over a minute long detailing my dog taking a shit. Wow. I don't think that can ever be topped.

Tuesday Night Titians this week was in my opinion the fastest all year. Todd (el presidente) set a brutal pace all night, and never seemed to let up. Hot on his wheel were Buddy the leg breaker, Matty (run forest), Jay Jay, Once a week Paul, Biddle (ty domi of cross), Les international man of mystery, Fort James, Slick Rick, Green Trek Jon, Amazin� Andrew fresh from Sweden and me. Todd (el presidente) rode inspired tonight, on the Judge he with small group in toe, opened a small gap on Fort James, Les, and I. We joked about catching Todd on the climb, but it was a big effort to bridge back to that group. With Buddy the leg breaker on Todd's wheel, this was gonna be a super fast ride. After the judge Les got a phone call, and all I heard was "I'm not in the office right now..." Next thing I knew Les had to roll, he was bummed. So were we. We made a b- line to white clay, where we flew through the skills trail; this time I successfully cleaned the rock garden where I jammed my junk a couple weeks ago. Green Trek Jon on his gray single speed, was the man this night, as he kept having to stop to make quick repairs, I'd say to myself this is the last time we'll see that dude, and then "bam" he'd be right there again. The dude is riding so good. Coming down Shock and Awe, Todd (el presidente) opened up a gap and was able to get away from the group. That was sick, we were flying. For the record, I was behind Biddle (ty domi of cross) and he was like butter. I didn't even bother picking my own line because his was so good, I just did what he did. It was killer. Again, I was suffering bad, and kept telling myself, hang on for one more section, and then call it a night. Finally we made it to the border trail. The l'ape de d'huez of Newark, Delaware it ain't really that long, but wtf we live in Delware. Buddy and Matt convienitently bailed just before the climb, leaving me second wheel to Todd (they had been out for 3 hours already). I slipped up the left side of Todd and set what I thought was a strong pace. My goal was to get over the top, and try to stay seated the entire time. Just before the first steep section Slick Rick attacked up my left, as we hit the steep, Green Trek John came around and quickly bridged to Slick. I felt like I was going backwards, and expected to be passes in mass, but I wasn't. Slick Rick and Green Trek John quickly put 45 seconds into me. All day I talked about following them when they attacked, but when it came time to belly up to the bar, it just wasn't there. Kudos to them. They rocked it At the top as is started to flatten out Jay Jay, came up on my wheel, I offered to let him pass, he kindly refused. That was hard. Not state college hard, but still very hard. After this, Todd (el presidente) moved back to the front, and ripped the down. Up the final climbs I could pretty much tell he was blown. On a couple of climbs I could have attacked him, but as hard as he worked tonight, as good as he rode, it would have been, well, disrespectful. I tucked in behind him. If you live in Northern Delaware and you ride a single speed, you should thank Todd, whether you know it or not, It's probably because of him. Thanks for making my life better Todd. We rolled into the parking lot at the Pike Creek Baptist Church and called it a night. Me, I was thinking about this lime tree I have and how good this fine Corona was gonna taste.

respect
fm