carpediemracing 

Stuck in the San Diego airport since 9:00 AM local time. It's 7:30 PM and I have 3 more hours to go before we board. Good thing is I have a laptop. Bad thing it's a public network so I don't feel like logging into email etc. So BF it is. I can't find any more posts I feel like typing responses too or reading through 50k pages of already posted posts.

stranded in SD
cdr

Pharmr

shimano or campy???

Tequila Joe

Underwear or commando?

wanders

I would have been drunken and disorderly about 8 hours ago if I were in your situation. And incapable to read or type anything. You show great restraint.

Bikelyst

How's your mom?

Nachoman

I'll waive as I bike by.

BlessedHellride

CDR,
I enjoy reading your blog. How did you get into bikes and racing?
I'm going to bed, but this will give you something to write about and me something to read at work in the morning.
Have a safe trip home.

CCFISH81

Go to the last thread I created a few threads below this. Should I buy that bike?

carpediemracing 

I replied... listing is gone. Based on the thread it looks like an older Cannondale? With dents?

cdr

botero.

Do you love me? What do you think of my avatar?

Pasqually

Last time is was in San Diego, down near the trade halls was a art gallery (?) called "some really weird $hiit"

They had a cow pat with grass growing out of it in the window and a 2 headed turtle in the back room. I think It was $1 to see the turtle.

Not much to do with road cycling really. But I was stuck at a boring trade show for 3 days, sort of like being snowed in at Denver airport overnight playing hacky sack with soldiers from the 1991 gulf mess that just wanted to get home.

Geoff326

clemens doper? I say yes.

eb314

One time I was at the airport with my track team (we were coming back from a meet in Mobile) and they canceled our 7:30 pm flight from (Pensacola?) I think it was Pensacola. Anyway, they canceled our flight and we were booked for a 5:30 AM flight. No big deal right? Just go sleep in a hotel and come back, right? Wrong. They said there were no hotels, and furthermore we had to leave the gate because it closes at night (we'd been waiting there since 7:30 until about 10:30 watching the flight get delayed over and over again until it was finally canceled.) You know the place where you check your luggage, with the big scales and queues? That's where we had to sleep, on the floor. And we didn't have our luggage because they sent that out, plus all of the food places were closed by the time we found out that our flight was canceled. They did get us pizza, but sleeping on the carpet-less tile floor wasn't justified even by pizza.

So it could be worse!

RT

Ever been in a Turkish prison?

kudude

should I sweat out my flu?

carpediemracing 

You guys are great.

Campy. I don't speak Japanese well enough to get along with Shimano (i.e. I brake when I shift those stupid things). I think I was unfairly influenced by my first racing friends who insisted on Campy only.

When cycling? Commando. I won't comment in other situations.

cdr

botero.

How many times have you crashed racing?

waterrockets 

Can I win a M35+ race this year? I've traditionally done better than my fitness would indicate. Current profile:

ZeCanon

Races are often won in the last 5 seconds, so I'd say "yes."

geist

carpediemracing 

My mom deserves a separate post.

She, unfortunately, passed away Aug 9, 2003, due to colon cancer. No offense taken, it's not like I tell everyone about it all the time. I think she is doing fine though, if you ask me

However, in keeping with my blathering posts, I'd like to step on a soapbox and talk about my mom. I owe her a lot and I don't think I'd be a cyclist if it wasn't for her.

I ended up the person spending the most time with her while she talked about her mortality (cancer, diagnosed in 2000). My dad simply couldn't let go and my mom didn't think he'd be able to do so - so she asked me to make sure that we didn't prolong her suffering needlessly (operations, life support, feeding tubes, etc). When it was apparent that she wasn't going to make it, she and I had a very deep talk. I told her that she should feel okay about giving up and simply enjoy the family around her. She was doing a lot of exercises to try and keep her strength up but with various tumors she was exhausting herself instead. We were all there, her 3 sons, daughter, my dad, and her long lost sister. The sister is a story in herself - she and my mom met when they were 47 and 45 years old - the sister survived Hiroshima as a small girl, found near the epicenter (or whatever it's called) and whisked away by relatives (my mom was living with her paternal grandmother so she wasn't there). Basically everyone on my mom's mom's side was killed.

However, before anyone goes nuts about atomic bombs, my mom said it was the best thing that happened in WW2. If they hadn't been dropped there probably would not have been a Japanese culture. As a little girl she was training to fight the "American barbarians". Since little girls can't kill very well, they were training with bamboo spears which would be coated with feces. The army people figured the US soldiers would back away from a mass of 7-10 year old girls with gross bamboo spears. The army planted mines where the girls would herd the soldiers. No telling what would happen to said girls when the mines went off. My mom endured daily B-29 bombings (she lived in a major city). Her father was a noted scientist who had done a lot of work with the Japanese military so he was "asked" to teach in the US - MIT, Caltech, UChicago. He brought his second wife and his daughter. My mom loved the US so much she persuaded my dad to join her (he'd been tutoring my mom's little brother). They never left except when asked by my dad's employer.

Anyway, at the same time we were having this very deep talk, she asked if I'd be defending my 2002 CT State Crit championships (they were held in late July I think, in 2003). She always thought of her kids, no matter what was happening with her. I told her I was skipping that race and that I'd go back and reclaim the gold medal some other year. I also promised her that I'd win the Bethel Spring Series for her, again, in a future year. In 2004 I got 2nd in the Series. In 2005 I won the Series. In 2006 I won the CT Crit gold medal (by placing third in the race). I made clips of the races to pay tribute to my mom.

2005 Bethel Spring Series final (not a helmet cam, taped by my brother):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkgmQWyipQo

2006 CT State Crits, Cat 3:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fiMfxE14yaQ

I may have put my mom up on a pedestal but I don't think so. I had always loved her and always cared for her. She taught me to live my life with dignity, that anything is possible, supported my various unusual (for my family) ideas, and appreciated my occasional impractical ideas. For example, when I decided I'd buy my first new car, I initially thought about buying something practical, a Civic or similar, $15-17k. But when I saw the then-new 350Z I decided I really, really wanted it (it'd cost about $30k). Since it takes me forever to make up my mind, it was a year before I even ordered it. But before I did anything, I ran the idea by my mom. If she did as much as frown, I'd have skipped it and gotten a more practical car. But she smiled and asked if I would promise to give her a ride in the car. So I went and ordered it, and ultimately I got one of the nicer ones (an extra year of money saved). Sadly she was never well enough to ride it in once I actually had the car, but I asked my dad to carry her ashes in the car. So, in effect, I got to give her the ride I promised.

cdr

GuitarWizard

Joey, do you like movies with gladiators?

adam

Always wondered about using public networks at airports if it's safe logging into your work and/or personal email. I usually do it though.

GuitarWizard

Should be fine if logging in through a VPN connection to check work stuff.

SushiJoe

No. I refuse.