chapter 71: perspective

Today I had the privilege of working the delaware special olympics cycling event at lums pond.

Fort James got me involved in this event a number of years ago, and very frankly it is one of the events I look forward to most every year. In a world full of local joe primadonna or mountain bike moe who has never promoted a race destroying a group that has put on more races than the same paper asshole has done, I find this event to tower above the rest.

Very frankly, the athletes are all awesome; they make the event for me. Aged from 14 to 45; they compete in their individual events, and as you cheer for them, you can see them light up with joy. You can see the energy and excitement about racing, about riding their bikes. At the finish line all the racers cheer for each other wildly. Hugging is encouraged, and although everyone is driven for the top spot, the greater goal is sportsmanship, and pushing the boundaries of their personal limits. There is no biggest dick contest, there is no politicking, or attitudes, or anything, just folks who love to ride their bikes, and love to race their bike for the joy of racing. For me that reminds me why I love to race. It drives home what is really important for me. And it's not chasing points, or making cowardly shots from behind the computer screen. It's the camaraderie, the competition, enjoying my friends, my rivals. Whether it was Elizabeth who would smile ear to ear as you cheered for her, or Donald who would cheer back to Diane and I as he past each lap. Or Danny, who yells to his pacer mark the shark, "don't make me come up there ..." This was outstanding day.

In chorus with this event, FSVS put on a dualathalon and donated all proceeds to Special Olympics Delaware. Classy. An outstanding organization, our community, our region would be worse off if not for their efforts, and based on today, and other past successes, they get a couple get out of jail cards from me. My tolerance for email cowardice and disrespect is very small.

Jay Z, president of FSVS had the crack up quote of the day for me when he said, "well, it rained so my trained moto officials couldn't make it. I ended up with, well some gangster motos. I gave them directions, they said they got it. The first runner jumped on his bike; the gangster motos took off and proceeded to turn the wrong direction, leading the leader with them. Yeah, I'm gonna hear about that one later."

Following the Special Olympic Event, the DCCofD had a little event too , we rolled through the outer trail of Lums and over to the soccer fields where we chased each other around for a little while. It was pretty fun. I think I threw up in my mouth just a little bit.

In other news Dan the man has 2 matching VanDessel cross frames with carbon forks for sale in a size 58cm.c-t 56.5 TT. Used one season and will sell for cheap. Includes full carbon fork, headset and seat post. Best offer. Contact me if you have any interest, I'll get you in touch with Dan. He will sell frames separately.

To close out a great day, Diane and I hit the half moon in, she had a crab cake, I had Chilean sea bass. Tasty treats across the board. Now we are going to canoodle and watch some TV.

respect
fm