Mooseknuckler Cycling Alliance

There’s no mud here, and the rocks are really soft. Just ask Danny………………………..

Last week I noticed some photos here that showed a rider with no helmet and I commented about it. I also notice as I ride trails, roads, and paths that there are a lot of riders without helmets. It’s just plain stupid. Put the damn thing on your head. A helmet has saved my life on more than one occasion. On a ride this weekend, my wife was riding a portion of trail that she has rode a hundred times or more and never thought twice about doing, and had a horrible crash. She just lost control and went over the bars. Her head slammed into a rock and destroyed her helmet. The helmet saved her life. Had she not been wearing it she would be dead. She did end up with a concussion, and many stitches inside and outside her upper lip. She will be ok, but the helmet is toast as the above picture illustrates. It took less then a second for her to be in another world and change the ride we all thought was going to quick and uneventful. Please, wear your helmet, or die…………………….

Right now. I never thought about how weak this phrase was until today. Our language is so ambiguous, so full of gray areas, so inaccurate, that its semantic value of the present tense does not mean right now. Shouldn’t I be able to ask, “Where are you?” and have that mean right now. The verb to be conjugated in the present tense can mean just about anything. Not only is it weak in time, but also in place. “Where” can mean, not only place in the sense of reality but also place spiritually, place in action as in “What are you doing?” and so forth. I don’t think there is a phrase that cannot mean more than one thing. I’m not sure I like that, but then again if everything was exact there would be little point in writing. (more…)

Have you ever noticed the peculiar way people from Park City introduce themselves?

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First Observation

7:30 a.m. I step out into the frigid air with but one thing on my mind, heading back to bed. Unfortunately, I have a class to be to, and the bed won’t be returned to until tonight, most likely rather late. I had already done my morning weather check by peaking through the front curtains and checking snow accumulation. Today, there was nothing new on top of the cars. Without too much thinking, I wonder around the corner of the house to where my bike awaits. I flip it around and head towards the street. As soon as I round the bend, I finally look up at the sky. It’s clear, that kind of clear that only happens after a good storm and all the muck we put in the sky is washed back out. The glow from the soon-to-rise sun is peaking over the Bear River range and the moon, in its sliced stage is glowing the brightest form of white. (more…)

Today I learned about Ernie Pyle. We discussed his war correspondence and style in one of my journalism classes. Dr. Sweeny our fearless deparment head throw the question out to the class of why we thought this style of journalism is no longer seen. Christy, yes Alley Cat Christy, responded by saying that it was much more dificult for reporters to get into those positions and the government held a filter that censured everything coming out of combat areas and in her opinion was why we didn’t always hear about deaths, suicides and other misdeads until months or years later. (more…)

The snow was coming down heavy in big fluffy clumps. These weren’t the type of snow flakes that dance on the air as they come down, rather the ones that fall like big rain drops, thudding to the ground under their own weight. I was riding through it as usual, thinking that the 15 degree weather was much warmer than the 8 degrees I’ve been riding in. It felt almost balmy this morning. (more…)

I pulled up next to a car at a light on my way home from work. I was on my bike. My breath was floating through the air in big white tufts. I had only ridden a block and a half and my hands already hurt through my winter gloves with the aching of cold hands. My beard was frozen. The little crystals hanging from the hair formed from the moisture in my white breath being exhaled from my warm interior. It was just after six. I had my lights on so cars could see me without any problem and I was waiting to get going, mostly I was just trying not to freeze the little flesh on my back side I refer to as my ass. (more…)