John gave us a shout to let us know the skinny;

"Heya Stevil, no bacon, Danzig or Metallica for you today. Personally never really cared for Metallica anyway. Nope, not even a spot about Budweiser (better in a bottle than in a can). Sorry but this is about cold hard life lessons.

My friend Wayne from Breakaway Bicycle Courier was hit Friday afternoon while working in downtown MKE. Hit hard. The driver of a roofing company pick up truck decided to race oncoming traffic with his left turn and kerblammo, sends Wayne onto the hood, and his skull not into the windshield but into the foot of the ladder on the top of the truck. His skull was fractured in 10 places, cracked his C1 vertebrae, and he had to undergo two emergency brain surgeries, first to clear the newly formed air pocket in his cranial case, the second to eliminate the clots forming in & around his grey matter. Needless, NOT FREAKING GOOD. He wasn’t wearing a skid lid. REALLY SERIOUSLY NOT FREAKING GOOD. There were a lot of worries among a number of us. Saturday was a day of sweaty palms/nervous laughter/spontaneous tears/talking with friends who’ve not been seen or heard from for a bit of time.

He was talking a bit, just a bit. He could move his fingers and toes. Hope.

Yesterday he was able to put together more complete sentences, after they took him off the super uber duper painkillers and got him on oxycontin. He was drinking water, ordered jello, had a smoothie. He was talking much more coherently, fidgety, looking forward to getting out on his bike again, happy to have the catheter removed. He’s getting moved out of ICU today. He’ll likely have a bit of trail ahead of him to clear out (repeated himself a couple of times, but one of the things he repeated was that he was buying a helmet), and have a headache like the worst hangover you’ve ever experienced, only for a week or two. Brain injuries are like that. But it looks like he’ll be up, riding, walking, talking. F’in miracle. He wins the race for most metal in his body with the addition of the Ti plate in his skull. I resign myself from that race, DNF.

I think of how many bullets he’s dodged (ask anyone who’s known him well or long enough. There’s a laundry list). I think how many I’ve dodged, both working and playing on the bike, then I think of all the other friends and how many bullets they’ve ducked or just gotten winged by. That’s a lot of rounds, a lot of risk. Statistics say it was going to happen to someone I know at some point, and it’s going to happen to someone else too, and it’ll happen to anybody who reads HTATBL. No good.

Boils down to this: wear a helmet, each time and every time. I’m guilty as all get out of this, so I’ll be the first to holler “Hypocrite!” but I’ve unfortunately gotten a taste of the lesson by proxy. This lesson will likely carry on down to a lot of folks here in MKE, and I suspect that more brain buckets will be seen on the streets. But hell, if this rant can hit one individual elsewhere upside the head, make the light bulb go pop, and prevent them from having to experience what the fluid looks like that drains from a skull and into a small bulbous reservoir hanging at chin level on a person then, hey, worth it. Wayne is lucky and so are all of us that know him. We can write dumb PSA’s like this, rather than write something from a bit of a darker place. No obit today I’m pleased to say.

Be safe. Be prepared. We critters are inherently fallible and can do dumb things that can truly harm or kill someone else or ourselves, be it as drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists, but we can minimize some of these actions’ consequences by taking a bit of control, assume a bit of personal responsibility. Wear a lid when you’re on the bike. Simple.

Next time the recipe to create bacon infused vodka for the best dang bloody mary you’ll ever have in your life. For real.

John"

I dont know what to say. Were all so glad that Wayne has a thicker skull than most and that he didnt end up becoming a statistic.
Now listen, Im probably the last person who should preach the virtues or protecting ones brain. Nearly the entire time I messengered, I neglected this one vital step. In fact, during hundreds of hours of road rides I tended to go without. Ironically, I only wore one in possibly the most controlled situation I could have, which was while mountain biking, but eventually, for some unknown reason I began hearing my clock tick, and for the past six or seven years Ive never left home without one.

The only argument I can offer is this;
I will never understand why someone might protect their bike by locking it up. A bicycle, which can be replaced, and not take the extra effort to protect their brains- something that obviously cannot.

..But again- this is not the time or place to preach. Wayne, if this message gets to you, we hope that each day that passes, you get stronger and healthier, and once you are up and running, give me a shout and your head size, and Ill do what it takes to ensure that you dont need to go helmetless again.

I would also very much like to thank Peter DiAntoni for the use of the above photo. I actually spoke with Peter Tuesday night and he said that despite the numerous fractures in our heros skull, hes on his way home and for that, all of his friends, immediate and other wise are very grateful.

Now to get onto some news that was breaking a few days ago. Is it a yes or a no? (Again- editors note. When I originally linked the 'no', it was a Yahoo sports article that stated in no uncertain terms that there would be no association between Mr. Armstong and the Astana team. What a difference a day makes, huh?)

I guess well have to keep our eyes peeled to People Magazine to be sure.

Another media channel that is near and dear to our hearts is Fox News. It looks like its finally getting good.

We recently had a special guest appearance in the warehouse that came in the form of DanO from Shifter Bikes.

We put him to the test to see how well he could handle a big dinner, alcohol of a few varieties, homemade peanut butter cookies, and then come into work the next day and help put clothes away.
He handled it like a champ, and if he didnt live a billion miles away, might very well have a job with us.

In regards to Joes recent book signing in Minneapolis this past Saturday, probably the only image that needs to be conveyed is this one of a bouquet of donuts resting comfortably in a vase of whisky.

The rest of the evening was very likely, just as awesome.

And before we break away for some Wednesday night whatever, an email from Nicholas;

"Heres the story: I had a cooky college english teacher who one day locked us in the classroom and put this in the VCR......yes, VCR, which shows how rare this clip might be. Thanks to the wonder of the youtube machine, and somebody who obviously thought that this clip deserved to be seen by the rest of the world, it finally surfaced.

The following clip is from the documentary titled 'Hands on a Hard Body', and if you can track down the full length documentary it is well worth it.

Description:

1) Bible Belt
2) Toothless Rednecks
3) Truck Giveaway to whoever can keep their hands on the truck for the longest time.
4) Toothless Rednecks

enjoy"

Gawldamned, I love Amerikuh.

By the way, theres something happening in San Francisco tonight related to The Dfl.
If you know, (and youre not buried under an unprecedented workload) youll go.

Oh, by the way.. The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse are drawing real damn near.