I was pretty bummed because I felt that I was ready mentally and physically for this race. I probably won't go up in November if it's rescheduled, but just train harder this winter and get myself ready to do the actual 100 mile endurance road ride instead next year. I did go for a short ride out at the trails this evening instead though. It wasn't the longest or greatest of rides, but at least the trails weren't too wet. I had my haircut after work, so that started me getting to the trails late, but I had brought my headlights just in case. I ended up not needing them, and during the ride somehow managed to lose the front 'cap' of one of the lights. I think it was jarred loose while I rode, but then I took a nasty spill on some roots that had been eroded more than usual leaving a nice 'trap' for my front tire to get wedged into. That wasn't too bad, but the time I spent looking for the cap to my light, which I thought I lost at that point, made the time the sun was up slip away faster. I had also been going slowly through the trails instead of tearing through them as usual because with no riders on the trails recently, there were many banana spider webs spun across the pathway. It's a bit unnerving to tear right through a web that covers your face and arms, wondering if there's a spider that came with it crawling around mad because you went through it's web. Yuck. Fortunately, I only had a spider on me one time and I think it was shocked enough by the sudden destruction of it's web that it didn't recover enough from it's fetal position and I managed to flick it away into the bushes. Here's some info about the spiders, although the ones here don't seem to be as big, but I did see a good-sized one today. So, after hunting for a lost part and brushing webs off my face and arms, I ended up only riding 4.5 miles. One cool thing I did see was a deer dash in front of me. I was slightly startled because it was close, but it was definitely much more scared than I was. Probably one of the few times that a deer can safely roam freely in that area. Usually there are hunters blasting away from early fall through spring with some kind of firearm, and one can't forget bowhunting season as well.

It may be just as well that I'm home this weekend and not far off in Texas. It looks like Hurricane Katrina may be bearing down directly on us come Monday afternoon. Right now it's heading towards the west and is forecast to eventually turn north, but the latest track as of 10pm Central Time tonight had it hitting us directly (the western coast of Mississippi- literally right on top of us) on Monday night. I guess we'll be boarding up the windows for sure on Sunday, no waiting around this time. We'll have to get up early to do it so we can beat the outer bands as it comes ashore. I talked with my parents this evening, who are somewhat concerned, although I think I gave them a bit of a sense of relief because the last info that they (and I it turns out) had seen was that it was forecast to hit Pascagoula. Now that it's moved further to the west, I'm sure I'll be hearing again from them later this weekend. I doubt that we'll leave, but it's something that we'll have to discuss when Kelly gets home from the Southern Living party she went to at her friend Cathy's.

After Phranc it only took about 15 minutes before John Doe and Dave Alvin came out and sang a couple of slower songs. Then the rest of the Knitters came out and picked up the pace with some great alt-country sounds. They all seemed to be having a good time and John and Exene had some entertaining dialog going back and forth. The music was great...upbeat and a lot of fun. They included at least 3 X songs which sounded great as country tunes. They ended up playing for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I stayed 'til the end, heading home at around 1:20. I got home by 2:30 and slept in a little the next day before going to work...but was still brain dead most of the day. I'm getting too old for this. But it was definitely worth it!
                                 

And now for something completely different...here are links to a series of articles from the NY Times on the intelligent design vs evolution debate. The first article talks a bit about the organization spearheading the debate, the second gives a little more insight into evolution, while the third discussed scientists and religion.

The song for today is from X...of course! John Doe has such a great voice and is still a pretty good looking guy, even if he is getting old. His voice blended with Exene's was always a highlight of X's music. Add the great guitar of Billy Zoom and the steady beat of DJ... Still one of the best bands to come out of the punk scene. This song has always been one of my faves, even though the lyrics are disturbing. Hope you like it!

Ta ta for now...