More to come

The parent company of WFMY News 2 is considering a Blog policy that could put the likes of Eric and me blogging on the station's website. Until that time I'm going to stop posting to this site and accepting comments.

There will be more to come.

Thursday Ride

Great weather, friend willing to take a day off, time for a ride.

Since I'm relatively new to cycling I've been wanting to push my distance. I've gone 40 miles once before and I wanted to do it again. Even though the friend had only been out 3 times this year he was willing to go along. It's amazing how much easier it is when there are at least two on a ride. Thanks Jeff.
40-miles 17.2 mph.

Oh, and by the way, if you're the female cyclist who wears the Cycles De Oro Jersey, who was riding on Pleasant Ridge Road today around 9:30... I know you're a serious cyclist, but that doesn't mean you can't take a moment to wave at some rookies!!!

Invade-away

Am I missing something? Alamance Burlington School System adopted a random drug-testing policy for extracurricular activites and parents are livid.

We we at the meeting this week and didn't hear any parent who spoke FOR the program. One parent even said she would not sign the consent form because she thought it was tatamount to handing over her rights as a mother. However, we went to a gym and talked with kids who PLAY these sports and found kids don't mind. We even found kids who want to be tested. They want to have a level playing field. They want people to understand they are not like the 4-dozen Alamance County kids busted for drugs last year.

Drug tests have become an evil necessity of society. Professional teams require them. Amature athletics require them. Corporations require them. In fact the company I work for requires a test before a hire is official. Don't like it: Don't apply here. I didn't mind. I've never had anything to worry about nor hide.

As a parent of a teenage athlete I don't understand why those parents believe a drug test is invasive when the students we spoke with don't mind. It only invades the cloak of those trying to side-step accepted rules and laws.

"Popcorn"-Barrel Projects

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools will pay $1-million to fix roads around Glenn High School to make way for Dell. We started working on this story Tuesday during our afternoon story meeting. We found it interesting that the Corporation that is getting more than 270-million dollars in incentives from the State/County/City is not chipping in for these new roads.

What we found: Dell asked that Union Cross Road be widened to make for better access to and from I-40 and Highway 311. Understandable. It's a growing area and would need to be widened as part of growth anyway. As part of that deal, Dell leaders suggested Glenn High School relocate the entrance to lessen the amount of traffic on Union Cross Road. The school district agreed and asked Dell to help out with the $1-million price tag. No luck.

We asked the district why Dell wasn't ponying up the funds since the road wouldn't need to be widened, the entrance wouldn't need to be moved, if Dell wasn't coming. To which we got the sense that no one wants to be the "bad neighbor" to the new kid on the block. The system rep even told our reporter it won't be a major deal. They (schools) will take a little from here, a little from there. "We'll cut down on popcorn."

My question is this: Why can't districts cut down on this "popcorn" when it comes to budget time. This is the time of the year when districts go through elaborate presentations as to why they need greater-than-rate-of-inflation increases. I will grant you there are issues (like gas prices) that put a strain on budgets. But if these system leaders can make up a million dollars this easy there must be some more "popcorn" to cut.

Tuesday Ride

Overcast and breezy but I still got out for a few miles. I planned on doing hills today but after a couple I wasn't feeling too good. Ended up doing a 22-mile route. Happy with my time though: 18.2 mph. Not bad for a windy day.

Happy Birthday Yuki

If you're ever hiking in the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, and if you think "there's no way my son could catch one of those lizards," and if you think... "I bet him $10 that he can't do it," and if you end up a little lighter in the pocket and a boy is begging you to take a Horned Lizard on the plane back to NC, and after you get it home find out it can't survive in this climate, and if you then find out it was illegal to transport it out of Arizona, and if your son is now attatched to the little critter thinking he can work on Reptile and Amphibian Merit Badge, and if you settle with him that he give it to a Natural Science Center and in turn you'll buy him another reptile, and if he should pick a SNAKE...
I hope it's as cute and fun as our little Yuki.


Happy Birthday Yuki!!!!
Yuki is a Snow Corn Snake. (His name comes from the Japanese word for snow.)

I like it FLAT! When I'm Riding.

Here's a big thank you to the one who controls the weather!.
All week I listened to Eric (and last night, Rachel) tell us it was going to be raining and windy for today's Tour De Cure to benefit the American Diabetes Association. When riding buddy Jeff picked me up I was glad I brought a jacket. But by the time we were unloading our bikes I had dumped the jacket and had the long sleeved jersey. It was a little windy but the sky cleared for a great ride.


Jeff getting ready. He wouldn't turn around.

I opted for the 50k (31-mile) version. (The ambitious cyclists, like Greg Kerr, went on the 100-miler. And then there was the middle route that was 100-k or 62 miles)


Start Line

I just like this photo of my bike.

Alongside Jeff. You can't see his bike but it's sweeeeeet!


Riding a bike at 20 miles an hour and turning around to take a photo can be a challenge!

We got in a couple good groups and were moving along at a good clip. I don't know the roads in Winston-Salem well enough to document them, but we went straight, we turned left, right, and went straight again. (Know where we were?. Me neither!) There were times when we had the line of four of us doing about 25-27 miles an hour. Yes, it was flat... (or maybe even a little downhill) but it felt great. Then the hills. I'm very fast.... downhill. I've come to the conclusion that I have a bike designed for the downhills. It's not very fast going up the other side though.

As we took one more of those right turns we were back at Bethabara Park. We had only gone about 20 miles so we should have had another 11. We stopped to look at the map to see where we needed to go and as soon as we got back on the bike to start I heard a BANG!. I looked back at Jeff and his face showed it all. He blew out his front tire. On what, we don't know. But that ended our day. Lucky for us we were just a few yards from the car. If you're going to have a flat.. that's where to have it.

Flat!!!!

Overall... A very good Tour De Cure. I will do it again next year. And then I'll challenge myself to the 100-k. Especially if it's flat. I mean the course.

Blog Article

Get your hands around the blogosphere!!!

Thanks for the Ride

Stains of the fires are still fresh on Franklin Street. Vocal chords haven't healed. Duke, State, Wake fans are still cussing under their breath.

Tick.. Tick... Tick... 1:30 pm. Friday, April 22nd.

The Carolina Blue haze, Tarheel fans have been living in, is breaking up. The cursing of opposing fans turned to cheers as three more of the Heels announced they will parlay their title to riches in the NBA.

To Felton, May, Williams, (previously announced McCants and graduating Williams, Scott, Manuel and others) Thanks for the ride!

Objects in Mirror...

Want to touch a nerve? Tell someone they're to blame for high gas prices. But get ready to hit the ground running like you're peddling away in your Flintstones car. The 'blamed' is sure to chase you down and..... (sorry... trying to stay away from the graphic)

On the serious side, who (or what) is truly to blame for the elevation? Gas companies? Foreign governments? Our government?
Ask 50 people and you'll probably get 50 answers.

But let's analyze it this way. When the price topped a milestone, say $1.00 a gallon (if you can remember this far back) what did you do? When it reached $1.50 a gallon? Most Americans complained-- and then went on with life. They mowed their lawns, they drove to the grocery store, drove back and forth to work, ran the errand to pick up the item we forgot at Lowes, and took the family on vacation. When they didn't drive- they flew. Maybe they talked about how much they were paying for gas, but that's all they did: talk (and pay).

How do I know this? Now prices have topped $2.00 a gallon and we're still buying it. And we're still buying the much-maligned, "gas-guzzling," demonized, SUVs. "SUV Popularity Falling" paints a picture that no one wants to buy the hugh vehicles anymore. But if you read the article closely you find it supports the concept that people are still buying the big vehicles. It judges popularity by the time SUVs spend on dealers' lots. Since the time has increased, the article surmises, the popularity has decreased. But, earlier in the article industry insiders said SUV sales are up, again, by 7% while demand for cars is up less than 3%. We want our SUVs and we're willing to pay to fill them up.

Don't be too quick to say: "But I have to get to work. But I have to buy food for the family. But my family deserves a vacation." I'm not arguing that you don't. But have you explored an alternative? For example, my wife makes a trip to Costco every few days. We buy the staples: milk, eggs, some fruits and veggies, and meat. A friend heard she was making a trip and asked if she could go along. Two people, shopping with separate lists, IN THE SAME VEHICLE. Can you believe it?

There's outrage over higher prices, but have the outraged jumped on mass transit? Considering Amtrak has never been self-sufficient, I don't think so. And don't tell me you would if Amtrak went where you want to go. Been to Raleigh? Charlotte? Did you consider hopping a rail? On the local level, when was the last time you were on a city bus? When was the last time we tried to organize a car-pool?

We can continue to complain and search for those to blame. But in our quest let's look for (1) who is buying it, (2) who is using it.

What do we see?

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!