The question was asked: “what happened to Shawn?”
When my clock radio that barely penetrated sleep at 6:30 Monday said “Shawn Marmion” and “suicide,” it rattled me from sleep well before I had to rise. Since I was bustling around by 7:30, I couldn’t tell if I missed the repeat or if it had been edited,but I thought “that’s not just news for them… they lost a friend.”
I met Shawn at the Ride to the Depot , in the dawn’s early light of my first century, a solo effort. He was about the first person of many to pass me, and spent a good five miles encouraging me… managing to convey not patronization or confusion, but admiration for “doing 100 miles in sneakers on a hybrid!” and conversing with respect for my dawning strengths, instead of cruising past and waving. I was so impressed with his kindness that I made a point of figuring out who he was from the registration on the ride.
The second time I encountered him was on my first “ride with the fast people,” in a memorable paceline where I averaged 21.3 for 30 miles. (I’d never topped 18 before.) It was when the front of that group peeled ahead for a final sprint and he hung back to pull the rest of us in at that ridiculous, euphoric average that I remembered the assorted comments he’d made along the way, some encouraging and some just making sure communication was happening with a new person on board. I thought, “Oh! It’s that Shawn guy!”
I only saw him a couple of other times. When his son was killed … shit. Irreconcilable. And when I heard the news Monday morning, I thought… I *know* he’s touched a ton of people… and they’re reeling now. Which is why I wanted to be riding with “the contingent…” I like the chaplain’s words because they are valid as well as comforting. My friend who was at the service said ” he said simply that it wasn’t Shawn who took his life. That wasn’t Shawn, the man who had lived 47 full and productive years. Something took the Shawn we knew before the moment of his death. Shawn will be missed.”

I’ll remember Shawn on the dawn of the 30th when once again I’ll be tackling a century, at the Ride to the Depot that’s happening this year in Fritz Miericke’s memory, and if there’s somebody plugging along in front of me, I’ll pause and go for more than the surface comments. Fritz and Shawn, both, saw more in all kinds of people than most of us … are able to? bother to? It’s those extra kindnesses that live on.

Welp, I was very busy at work but part of my heart was out with the riding and triathlon contingent at Shawn Marmion’s funeral. If you love some one, let ‘em know…

and here’s a first: a youtube link at the heavily, haughtily moderated bikejournal.com forum about someone who really “enjoys cycling” … welp, they may link but I won’t … a lesson in seat adjustment, indeed! Ahem, best viewed in privacy or not at all adn well, it is of course sexist and inappropriate in a special European way.

http://bikingtothemonastery.blogspot.com/

Sometimes the calling has pedals

Rode with the women’s ride last night (the men stood me up ). I *like* riding in a group that really slows down for the corners where you can’t see around the corn, and when a car’s coming, we go single file (with the other groups, cars coming or going – they gotta go ’round… whcih makes sense when there are 14 of us ’cause single file we’d be half a mile long sometimes, but I still *prefer* being in a group of four and neatly folding over). We still went fast.
Besides, they reminded me that Sunday is the Coal City Bike Psychos Century ride, which I put out of my mind ’cause of the LIB meeting, which got postponed. Sweet!!
(But… I still like riding with my guys better. They also stop for corners and give room for cars, but I can make more sense out of the conversations )

The end is now in sight

… I saw a wooly caterpillar today. A very, very dark wooly caterpillar.
It was still 90-ish degrees. It was a hot caterpillar

Gas jumped a few dimes to close to three bucks a gallon. I reckon it’s been a month since I bought some (and that was for the rental car). Gotta figure out the bus route for the just in case case.

Something made me think… oh, yea, that person emailed to say that “Women who ride” was *so* getting off the ground, and I’d see info about it soon… well, it was a while ago, but it looks like it’s started! (May, August, whatever ) I can see why it was tough choosing… and no, Trek still doesn’t have competent web design… but the ladies are at Women who Ride (just don’t expect to get back to the main page from within )

Posted this pic on bikejournal.com and got the reaction “Port-a-potties in a cornfield?? Isn’t that redundant??”

Topped 6000 miles for the year & 825 for month yesterday; remembering somebody posting that they’d done 1000 miles in 24 days and thinking “now *that’s* beyond my reach.” Mebbe, mebbe not…

Make your own church marquee
(note the address: www.churchsigngenerator.com )
See a small collection here

The Buzz wrote up the Bike Co-op – very sweet little piece of journalism. It’s nice (and rare) when a reporter gets an accurate “feel” for a place, instead of projecting his/her own definitions on it. I love the picture of the pile of wheels

Yesterday I was cruising back from a ride and a skater powered by me. I accelerated and clocked him at 20 mph. (No, he couldn’t sustain it, but that’s power. Don’t know if I was a rabbit or he was doing formal intervals. I’m sure it felt good to pass me, though!)

what does “ride and maintain” mean? It means why do commuters make do and improvise? And I maintain it’s only because we have to. It’s certainly not my natural inclination.

So. I want better lighting – hey, I want better sounds, too. It should be really, really easy to put together a little electronic MP3 gizmo with my favorite sound effects. If it were anything remotely resembling my natural inclination I would do so. (I’ve gathered some of the stuff to do it with. The inclinatin hasn’t sloped me down there.) Yes, I can purchase a flogging foghorn or assorted high decibel cacophinators. There are other options which would be a whole lot more fun.

And the bottom line is most stuff is made for fair weather riders. My Gazelle is clearly designed to be like a car – park it wherever, it’s fine. Drive it through whatever, it’s fine. I don’t have to clean everything up if it gets caught in a sprinkle. I want that to be true for my sweet Xtra.

Forgot to mention the Friday parkingl lot scenery – myriad cars at Hobby Lobby … nope, they’re wearing cubs jerseys and getting out of their cars and… there’s the bus! No wonder those silly guys won