So I went on a 290 mile ride with the Co Sport Bike Club. As a result I can no longer feel my posterior. Great ride and I actually stayed out of dead last this time, though not by much. There was another guy riding a bit slower than me through the turns (although on the uphill straightaways he always caught up) giving me some sort of an accomplished feeling. My poor little 500cc Bike was struggling to keep up the pace on the uphill sections. I kept on saying "Common baby just a bit faster!". John (the guy that was behind me) jokingly told me that I am going to be a crazy rider when I get a bigger motorcycle. I think he was just a bit annoyed that his 996 Superhawk was getting outrun by a noob on a 500. Not a big deal. I actually hope to ride with him again, It was kind of cool having someone to compete with for a change. Usually everybody is so much faster than me I am left riding by myself. As always it is great getting to ride with the guys from the club. Everybody is always friendly and welcoming, even to crappy newbie riders like myself.

As to the title of my journal, I had a bit of a scare on Coal Creek Canyon Road (CO72). I went into the right-hander going into the railroad crossing going a bit fast and hit a patch o sand. I didn't low side but I flew into the oncoming lane right over the railroad tracks. If the sand wasn't enough, the bumpy tracks almost kicked me off my bike. I went a lot slower through that section on the way back. Smooth....

On another note, I am going to keep that cat that wandered into my apartment. Her name is now Lola.

Nuff said.

I was standing around outside my apartment on the phone with the dilrd yesterday. We were talking about what we were going to do for Halloween when I had to stop the conversation.

Why?

A random cat had just sort of wandered into my open apartment. I hung up and went through my open sliding glass door to confront the intruder. Seeing it's exit was blocked, the cat ran into my room and under my bed. That is just about the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me at this place. I tried to coax him out with some baloney (what? that's all I had in the fridge) which worked to some degree but I couldn't get him to leave my bedroom. He (I don't know the sex for sure but this will do for now) didn't hiss or bite at me, he just kinda sat there. Dilrd showed up shortly after and we managed to basically force him out of my room. He went straight underneath my couch. He eventually got used to us and started wandering around and bugging us for attention. I guess I have a cat now...

...I put some posters around my apartment complex and on crags list so if he has an owner they can find him. Given how friendly he is I would assume that he had owners at one point. I also think he is pretty young, given his size. I went out and got a litter tray and some food for him. I'm holding on to him for now until I can find his owners. If I never find them I might just keep him. While everybody else was getting candy on Halloween I got a cat.

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. I will post pictures eventually.

Time to jump back from my last depressing journal! Good news everybody, I am way behind on everything! I owe so much stuff to so many people I think that only death can save me now. And honestly I am actually feeling oddly good. I think I may have actually cracked under pressure. WOO! Time to go run around in sub freezing weather with only my sneakers on! Oh, wait, I don't actually own any sneakers!

AAAHA HA HA HA HAH AHA AH SDAHFALIShdr fwoaiteoih2a;sedhfpoawepohaps h8aep98f yap9w8ey npao9y[p89a[ojoqy029e0fa h sdoia!

I'm gonna go sleep now.

Oh and I saw that mouse in my apartment again! I'll get you yet!

Death has become such a empty thing our modern culture. Mass Media constantly shows us scenes of death, be it in movies, TV, news, and books. A common action movie will often push body counts in the hundreds. In many ways many of us have become some what desensitized.

And yet it is very real.

Today I joined a group of riders from the Colorado Sport Bike Club for a ride from Co Springs up through Deckers and on to Pine. It was fantastic getting to ride with other people. However I will say this; they all are much faster. I was easily the youngest guy there and also had the slowest bike. That's not to say that my bike is slow by any means, I can do a quarter mile in just under 12 seconds, I was just riding with a group of way faster bikes. Even on the open road I had a couple of moments where I needed a little more power than i actually had. Still, I was able to keep up until we hit the swerves. And then they were gone. Flat out. I could not keep up with these guys. I did the best I could, however, I do not have the skills to ride that fast and actually stay on the road. I wasn't dead last; there was one girl behind me. She could have easily kept up with the faster part of the group (she has decent track experience) but she prefers to go slower on open roads. Had a scary moment where I wasp somehow got inside my helmet while I was pushing 70mph. I flipped open my visor and got rid of the little bugger, but it sure was scary. I hate bees and wasps and such. I still had a great time up to pine where we stopped at a local restaurant, Zoka, for some lunch. Nice to get to know some of the other riders from the area.

Coming back the group split up between the fast riders and four of the slower ones. I was kinda full from lunch and didn't feel like pushing myself to keep up with all the pro's so I took up last place and rode just hard enough to keep up with the slower group (which was still pretty fast anyway). As we got toward the middle part of Colorado 126 I noticed that a lot of the passing riders were signaling to slow down. I figured it was just a speed trap somewhere up ahead. Dropped my bike a gear and just let the engine take me down the hill. It was nice not having to push too hard to keep up for once since they had slowed down as well. Then I saw the flashing lights of emergency vehicles up ahead.

The wreck primarily involved two riders and peripherally a third who's bike I did not see (I believe they got his up by the time we arrived, and as far as I know he was comparatively uninjured). This is what I was told from the people who were in the group that had this accident.

The group had been coming down the hill rather fast (like our group and every other group out there). The first rider involved had apparently fixated on a patch of sand on the road and slammed himself into a guard rail. He and his bike bounced off and went sliding down the road. The Girl immediately behind him didn't have enough time to stop. She slammed into his bike and went flying off the road into the gully below. She flew a couple hundred feet before impacting the bottom, some 50 to 100 feet below the road way. She didn't die in the impact and was unconscious and still breathing when the other riders got to her. However by the time the paramedics arrived she had died. They could not have done anything anyway, I believe that she had broken her neck in the fall. I do not know how the third rider was involved or if there even was a third rider involved.

When we came upon the wreck I was not even aware that anyone had gone over. We stopped and asked (stupidly, as if the paramedics weren't already enough) if there was anything we could do and at the same time asked exactly what had happened. I saw the guy that went down first; he was a bit bloodied up from the slide, but otherwise fine. Someone asked about the other rider, which is when they told us what had happened to her. We all ran over to the guard rail. She was down there, lying face down. I was stunned. I couldn't quite come to terms with what I was seeing. One of the other guys in our group, exclaimed, "oh my god, does any one know CPR?!". I think someone laughed at that. Poor girl was long gone. I felt a little nauseous, and had to go back over to my bike. Listened to some people talk about the accident, then went back over for another look. I just couldn't believe what I was looking at. Shook me to my core.

We left pretty soon afterward, given that the other part of the group had gone ahead without stopping and that we didn't want to keep them waiting. We took our time. You don't see something like that and take off full throttle again. I was so stunned I forgot to hit play on my ipod and didn't even realize it was off until we were back in woodland park.

Even as I am writing this I am still having a hard time coming to terms with what I saw today. I couldn't help but think that that could have just as easily been me. It is a strong reminder to how easy it is to get hurt when you push the limits. The human body is so strong, and at the same time, so weak. That is the way of life. Most of the other riders took off to cripple creek but me and another guy (who's back was bothering him) rode back down to the Springs. I was just too sunk to be up for any more riding. I doubt this will keep me from riding again. I will be back on my bike again tomorrow, just as I have always done. However, I do think I will be more careful the next time I am with a group. One cannot let things such as this prevent them from living their life. Instead, one must keep on going, or in my case, keep on riding.

Rest in Peace my fellow rider. Have a good time carving up those mountains up in rider heaven where there is no sand on the roads, no slowpokes in minivans blocking you, and no speed limit. I wish you well.

On a much lighter note -->[link]

And you guys thought I was bad when I am drunk.

WOOT! So I just got back from a Flogging Molly concert at Red Rocks, on Saturday. Seeing that it is now 7:15 on Sunday, you might be asking why I am just now getting back. The answer is simple, I have done nothing but sleep and play video games since getting back around 2am last night. For some reason after doing anything really epic, I always get this urge to do absolutely nothing afterward. I am glad I am back up and running: I have homework due tomorrow.

Flogging Molly at Red Rocks was a great concert [link] . They had some great opening acts, and played an awesome show. Red Rocks is by far one of the best outdoor venue. Seeing someone there is an experience unlike any other. Just bring some bottled water, you have to hike up to the venue because its carved out of rock formations west of Denver. It's not really even a hike (I have had shifts at Safeway that were more exhausting) but my friend Zach and his buddy Kevin were all out of breath. You also my need to climb up nearly 200 stairs to get to your seats. Just adds to the experience. Next concert I see there I will take a hint from some other people who came before us and grill out in the parking lot before the show.

The concert was disappointing on one level though: it made me realize how bloody spoiled I have been with previous shows. At Flogging Molly, we were assigned to row 56 (WAAAAAYYY in the back) and worked our way up to about row 35 but we were still a long way from the front. It was fine, because at Red Rocks, everyone has a good look at the stage and they even have a monitor to show you the band up close. It was just kind of new for me to not be upfront with the band. Then I went and saw RCPM [link] I was third row back and got to meet the band. When I went and saw Reel Big Fish [link] I had awesome balcony seats right above the stage. When I went to Pychostick [link] I was right below the stage. I have seen so many acts with awesome front row seating or a equivalent that even seeing a awesome show at Red Rocks holds just a bit of disappointment unless I am right there with the band. Call it a sickness, call it a waste, but when it comes down to music, I got expensive taste.

I got a shirt and a Vinyl copy of their album Drunken Lullabies. Add to the collection.

Toot Toot!