It may have been five years in the making, but the trip was so worth it! Mark and Jonathan finally were able to meet up in California to do some hiking in Yosemite.
And no trip to Yosemite would be complete without a ‘Ansel Adams–inspired’ shot.
“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” – Elizabeth Foley
It’s never an easy time and we know too well the sadness you’re feeling. Marisa & Walt, know that all of us are sending the biggest hugs to you today.
THE EULOGY - by Carol Kufner
Look not where I was
For I am not there
My spirit is free
I am everywhere
In the air that you breathe
In the sounds that you hear
Don't cry for me Mom & Dad
My spirit is near
I'll watch for you
From the other side
I'll be the one running
New friends by my side
Smile at my memory
Remember in your heart
This isn't the end
It's a brand new start
This day…and every day…is Mother’s Day.
Thank you for the love, guidance, and patience throughout the years.
After just commenting on the great cycling coverage provided by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwan, their names pop up once again as it relates to a new film to premiere on May 15th.
I am hoping the film tour schedule will expand to include Canada, but for now, those living in California have a leg-up in seeing it first. Chasing Legends is being released to a very select group of cities in California. It focuses on the professional cycling team of HTC-Columbia and the Tour de France.
image from press info found at www.cyclinglegends.com
Check out the trailer:
Data submitted by Paul (Garmin Forerunner 310XT)
Special thanks to the feed station support crew near Mt. Albert and those ensuring a well-stocked refrigerator at the finish line.
“Look at them. They’re like goldfish out there'” each one sucking air as they “turn themselves inside out”. The “peloton makes natural selections” as it “stretches across the road like a long sausage”. And, at the front…well, he’s “an absolute beast of a man”.
“His face giving nothing away. He is in complete concentration but I imagine that his ears are twitched back just listening for the whistle of a tire on the pavement -- the sound of an attack.”
The ride would be arduous and the weather at times was “something of a damp squid”, but the boys were “feeling quite frisky today”. With the lightning behind them, all but one rider mindfully repeats "Don't look back. You know what's going on back there, because you just left." Focus on the task at hand.
That lone rider gives the sky ‘the look’ as if to say “well, are you coming or not and the answer is NOT!”.
Up ahead, the “crowd is cheering for their pin-up boys”! The lead-out man knows “he's done his job at the front and now he must concentrate on getting his enormous carcass up the rest of the way.”
Despite this being “a pedigree group of men, they are holding on by the skin of their shorts”. “It’s a viciously cruel sport”.
It was only a few kms ago that they were “passing a field of white cows. This region…is known for its bovine....Of course, none of that matters to any of the riders, except that they might like a nice steak at the end of day."
But the rider at the back knows what that means. He is “crawling all over his bike” to stay on the next rider’s wheel. He knows that the title of lantern rouge means that he’ll be doing dishes and clean-up after dinner. That’s enough incentive to be “stamping on those pedals” and stay with the lead pack.
With the finish line just around the corner, “the shadow boxing is over”. Their “grimace is turning into a smile now”. “The crowds are going berserk”
These “riders know how to win in style” and they have “added another page to this fairy tale that just keeps going on”.
What a Tour de Muskoka! This is “not a made for television event”. You need to ride it to truly appreciate it!
Today, each rider wears a badge of honour with some bragging rights…”tomorrow he’ll wear little more than a pained expression"
Forget about tomorrow…where’s the BBQ?!
L to R : Dave, Paul, Mark, Martin (photo by Stacey)
special props to Liggettfan site for compiling so many great Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwan quotes.
The second annual Tour de Muskoka (TdM) is today! These guys are crazy! There will be at least 260km of riding today with the option to bump it up to a triple century ride if the legs and weather cooperate – a possible 300km?! Yup, they’re crazy.
“…is he a superman or a fool?" Thank goodness for chamois cream!!!!
“They said this tour was too short. They said this tour was too easy. …They were wrong!”
L to R: Mark, Dave, Paul , (Martin will join them along the route)
The array of now-infamous LIggett-isms and Sherwan-isms from cycling coverage over the years will find their way into TdM history as well. Stories will be told for years to come to children, to grandchildren, to great-grandchildren, or to any captive audience willing to listen.
Ahhhh, the glory days, when “dancing on the pedals in the most immodest way” was seen as, well…not really immodest at all.
Here, in the early morning hours, the riders are “circling like caged lions waiting to get into the start house.”
And they’re off. Tour de Muskoka is underway.
“It’s a great day for a bike race!”
"The race has no respect for reputation, you’re only as good as now.”
Weather, so far, is perfect…but then again that’s how it all started last year as well. It wasn’t until later in the day that the clouds moved in and the rain began.
"Bridge to engine room - we need more power. There is no more"
Should the weather take a turn for the worse, and they find themselves in a “wee spot of bother”, they’ll have to “reach into their suitcase of courage”. But, for now…go get ‘em!
Just checked a few weather updates in some towns along the route and right now, winds are light from the south for the most part, so it should make for good riding conditions for the first leg at least. Hope the boys enjoy “a nice slice of tailwind” where they can “tap, tap, tap out a rhythm" and ride “on all cylinders today”.
“I think you bring out something special in a rider when you throw in a few cobble stones!". Alas, no cobblestones on the TdM route today, and there is “no reason to rush into hell”, but guaranteed at some point, each of these riders will be “pumping those two pistons they call legs” and “riding to a high level of superb-ness”.
"The history of the…” Tour de Muskoka “…was chiselled into these walls of rock by men willing to ask more of themselves knowing that this time, for some, the answers from their bodies would be...no more".
But for these four riders, “the heads of state have come to the fore”. May they ride today “like the halcyon days of Eddy Merckx!”
Note: all quotations above have been attributed to either Phil Liggett or Paul Sherwan (Google ’Liggettisms’ for these and other now-infamous quotations)
