When we moved from NC to Seattle, the mover justified his exorbitant fee by saying you couldn’t really move any farther across the country without requiring a boat. You require a boat. Ouch.

Yes please on the book. But don’t mail it to Mass. because I’m in North Platte, Nebraska as I type, en route to Hawaii, mid-life relocation madness. Wife, dog, cat all in a Honda FIT hauling ass for the West Coast.

Haleakala outside the house, who doesn’t need a 39 mile 10,000′ climb nearby? It won’t help my climbing unfortunately.

How has Bobke stuck around? The guy’s IQ increases noticeably when he stands near a lightbulb. Mediocre road rider, crappy mountainbike rider, horseshit commentator, but somehow he remains one of US cycling’s biggest personalities.

I guess I shouldn’t say he’s so dumb if he’s smart enough to make himself successful.

Regarding A Dog in a Hat, I can’t wait to read that. I remember reading an old Bob Roll story about him running into Joe (??the author) in a Belgian book store and being shocked to see this guy who was surviving as a solo American pro racer Belgium. Roll thought it was an extraordinary achievement doing that because it was so hard. Few Americans are tough enough to go there, stay there and be successful at it.

I don’t know how any pro does it. The whole TdF at an average speed of 25mph? Are you shitting me? I can do 25mph for about five minutes. All freaks of nature.

I am really getting a kick out of the way the Dutch riders are being portrayed; their unabashed use of those drugs fits perfectly into my view of Dutch culture (which is to decide for or against something, but if you decide for it, you accept it and are not ashamed of your decision). I love it.

I’ve been having a great time reading his translations of what the Flemish are saying. Flemish, of course, is basically a Dutch dialect and the phrases etc he keeps using are things we typically say, like calling someone a stupid chicken; I have been called that more times than I care to count.

On that note, some of his actual Flemish sentences have grammatical errors in them, and I wonder if it’s a reflection of Joe having learned the language through exposure and he has some misunderstandings or whether that’s actually how the Flemish speak. If it’s really the way the Flemish speak, then that explains why the Dutch look down on the Belgians.

I got a kick out of that book. Not as much for the doping stories but the overall culture of Belgian cycling and kermis races that it painted. Interesting too how riders buy others riders out of wins, takes some of the excitement out for me and makes me wonder how that practice is continued higher in the pro ranks. At the same time I can see how that lifestyle would be so alluring to a young cyclists looking to turn pro and cut his teeth in the pelotons of Europe. What could be more fun, in your early twenties, than living on the cheap in Europe and being ensconced in cycling culture?