"Never stop playing"
That makes for a mighty fine mantra, if you ask me.

Which you didnt.
So well move on...

I found this while perusing the web today-

"Here's an opportunity to ask the kind and benevolent folks at Google to add 'bike there' as a choice to Google maps along with 'drive there' and 'take public transportation there.'

Sign the petition here.

Anything to make it more attractive for folks to ride, right?

Then we have a correspondence from our homie, CVO in The Southland;

"(This is) Cousteau, from Lincoln.

she came down to pv to keep me company for a few days, she packed along a bob trailer, 3 slime tubes, floor pump, spare cables, and a star wars jersey for me... She's the goods. You might not remember having cheladas with her at the 101 the eve of the hff... but we were all a little crunked up that night.

keeping it real in Pv man,

you made fun of me for gettin my gay ass ankle bracelet,
so it sounded like you needed one...

see ya at hff-08"

I dont know what it is about it, but the level of dedication and friendship those Nebraska-ites show for one another, as well as have shown to me over the years makes my heart swell.
A Star Wars jersey? If you know CVO, that right there is love in the form of lycra.

Now then- this from Brian leaves me absolutely speechless;

"I won’t take up a bunch of your time Stevil…but I know that ya’ll are fans of products that come from one magical animal.

1) Take 1lb bacon (picture shows 2 because I don’t share)
2) weave it together
3) bake
4) Once its in the oven make sure your defibrillator is turned on and is close by
5) while it’s still warm form it into a bowl
6) turn it over and add breakfast buddies to it
7) smile

Have a good day"

I feel like I just got punched in the face by God.

Truth be told, I just might be exchanging my Cinelli hairnet in for a bacon bowl this season.

Like the hairnet it barely protects your noggin, but unlike the hairnet, its delicious.

And then along came DPow!

"Stevil,

there is a proud tradition of racing tiny bikes here in madison. some friends found a 16 inch kids bike called "thunderjet" then we found another bike exactly the same. Over the last few years we've had time trials, dual slalom, jets on ice w/studded tires, thunder bi-athalon, thunder pull, thunder joust, thunder pitfall, etc. tomorrow in honor of leap day, we'll be racing "thunder leap" where allegedly the tiny bike will be ridden down a ramp, through a feed zone and leaped over a bonfire...sadly I need to fly to Maine tomorrow morning, but it sounds like someone will certainly get some blisters where blisters shouldn't be. just look at the poster...

the back drop of the poster is a positively rancid lemond jersey signed by all the winners, and it hasn't ever been washed. The bikes themselves have both been pissed and bled upon, and are usually so sticky with old beer some folks never even want to ride them after signing up...god bless tiny bikes. We do this because this is exactly what the terrorists hate, and to stop it ever would allow them to win.
Have a good weekend.

dpow"

Guns, condoms, and tiny bikes? What could possibly go wrong?

Hey, lookit what I just got.

Somebody call me. I love talking on the phone again.

No offense to anyone from the Central Valley, but if Bakersfield was California's butthole, then Modesto might as well be the armpit.

However, after watching this clip, Modesto has just inched up the scale of favorability.

The previously mentioned Simon and Tim have done all of the damage they can while wrenching for the big S during the week of The Tour of California, and have graced us with some work that goes well beyond inspired;

"Oi, thanks for the good craic in santa cruz. I still have your sweatshirt ( I can put it in the post ) and it smells. Below is my first contribution to the bummer life. Photo #1 - Before mad pinting session. Photo #2 - after mad pinting session.
Thats all I got,
Simon out."

What can we say? Those fellas are artists.

On the business side of things, Id like to announce that Swobo now has a live chat feature on the lower right hand corner of our website so that if you find yourself with a query in need of an immediate response, you can getrdone quick style.
And dont bother writing in as Heywood Jablome. I already tried, and they were on to me.

As far as my previously mentioned false hero worship of Jan, out with the old, and in with the new, I always say. Dave Zabriskies moustache is as good of a reason to have him join the ranks as any I can think of.

Welcome aboard, Dave.

Well, its time we sign off. This weekend I will be squeezing every last drop of juice out of my free time, and will most assuredly be getting rad on two wheels all over the place, as my very unpleasant spelunking expedition is scheduled for Monday.
As far as the old adage of 'there is nothing to fear, but fear itself' goes, I have a new one that is specifically germane to my particular situation.

But to quote Buford T. Justice: "The god damn Germans got nothin’ to do with it."

That being said, I might be down for the count for a piece, so I look to all of you to keep a candle lit and your wheels crossed up in my absence.

From all of us here at Swobo-

Goodnight, good luck, and good gravy.