Thursday, June 26, 2008

Go Mandi!!!

Go Betsy!!!

Lots Going On...





Sorry for the lack of bloggering lately. Had plenty to do as of lately. Starting a bike shop, riding, gardening and racing. I finally got to participate in the 24 Hours of Big Bear. I have been wanting to race there since Laird moved the race three years ago. So how did the iplayoutside/WVMBA Dream Team do: WE WON!! Its good thing being named the dream team and all, we definitely had some pressure on our shoulders. But we all (Jason Cyr, Chris McGill, Andy Weidrich, and Me) pulled through. We turned solid consistent laps for the entire 24 hours especially after the sun set. I must say I had a super good time and even though Laird fleeced us I would like to do it again. A special thanks to the team support staff: Mandi, John Harpold, Mike Bo-Yes, and Andy Asshole. They kept things light and fun, fed us, roused us and kept our bikes clean and working great.

A week later found Mandi and I in Calhoun County at the County Park for another Appalachian Classic. That's 10 Ap Classics in a row for us. The 2008 edition has got to be the best one yet. JR Petsko did a bang up job making sure the event was fun, memorable and very very hard. The festivities started on Saturday with time trial starting at 2pm. We arrived just in time. We were a bit delayed do to a flat tire on the go cart (hyundai). Time trials are hard and no fun if you ever have a chance to do one don't. To short, to intense. Almost immediately after the TT it was time for the bike polo. The folks from up in Athens brought there A and B squad and totally schooled all the down home West Virginians. I def did not bring my A game and fell over several times, took out my own teammates one several occasions and got schooled by a girl(my wife). Mandi is a polo natural and Kelly Shaw from up Athens way is phenomenal. I can't wait to play again someday its was a super blast. Then it was time for the short track, what a full day. Singlespeeds and shorttrack do not mix. But it was fun. I only got lapped by JB four times! I did get the biggest air off the big six foot roller so my day was saved. Mandi mixed it up with the other expert women and the sportys so her race was a bit more exciting and very confusing. After three laps I had no clue who was winning and who was lapped. After the short track it was time for some live music. The WEEDHAWKS are awesome! They were funny,entertaining, and very good musicians. The libations were flowing freely and I must say Mandi and I both had a killer time. Can't wait to see Weedhawks again someday. To bed.

Sunday was XC day. Three laps of the same old Ap Classic course with a few new twists and turns thanks to JR. My race got of to a very rocky start. I collided with Dowain Ford on the gravel path leading to the first trail. It was totally my fault. I need to use my brain when I race, I might learn one of these days. My first lap sucked, my second lap sucked less and my third was great. I ended up third in the hotly contested Singlespeed class. Mandi's race went about as good as mine. She had some mechanical problems and didn't feel very spunky. Overall it was super fun weekend, wish they could all be like that.

This past weekend was also very full. I participated in The Davis Health System Tri on Saturday. It is definitely a huge departure from MTB racing but it was fun. I was on a team full of ringers, what you thought I did it solo. I rode the bike portion on a borrowed road bike ( I no longer have one) and set a course record. Not because I am an exceptional road rider, far from it, but because it was almost all climbing. The team set a course record also. I would tell you my teammates names but I do not remember. I met them the morning of the tri. The tri was a good time but tri folks are nothing like MTB folks, there a little weird.

Sunday was MTB race day again. This time it was very close to home. Davis was host to the WV State Championships again this year. The guys at BWB have been busting there butts on the trails off Camp 70 road and had them in excellent condition until we raced on them. It rained a lot Saturday night and the trails were super MUDDY, SWAMPY,BOGGY and FUN. Hardcore power riding conditions to bad I am not a power full rider. I held my own though and once again finished third in the SS class barely getting edge out by Mr. McGill. Mandi had a great race. She finished closer to Betsy than she has in years and beat lots of dudes that usually beat her. The after race food was the highlight of the race. Sirianni's pizza, best pizza and pasta salad ever. Then we hung out behind BWB shooting the shit and drinking beer until 9pm. It was a great time. WV MTB folks are the best.

Next week is the Tour de Burg in Harrisonburg Va. Mandi and I have been wanting to do it for years and we thought this year should be the year. But we have changed our minds. We have decided to stay close to home let the car set and do some bike camping and have big adventure near home. I can't wait.

Peace, JOEY.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Monday, June 9, 2008

One More...

A real update will be up tomorrow...

More...

Cassie Smith ripping it up at Big Bear.

24 Hours o'Big Bear Video Footage

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Why there is no exit strategy and never will be...

151 Congressmen Derive Financial Profit From War
Ralph Forbes
OpEdNewsMay 28, 2008

Who profits from the Iraq war? More than a quarter of senators and congressmen have invested at least $196 million of their own money in companies doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) that profit from the death and destruction in Iraq.
According to the latest reports, 151 members of Congress invested close to a quarter-billion in companies that received defense contracts of at least $5 million in 2006. These companies got more than $275.6 billion from the government in 2006, or $755 million per day, according to FedSpending.org, a website of the watchdog group OMBWatch.

Congressmen gave themselves a loophole so they only have to report their assets in broad ranges. Thus, they can be off as much as 160 percent. (Try giving the IRS an estimate like that.) In 2004, the first full year after the present Iraq war began, Republican and Democratic lawmakers-both hawks and doves-invested between $74.9 million and $161.3 million in companies under contract with the DoD. In 2006 Democrats had at least $3.7 million invested in the defense sector alone, compared to the Republicans’ "only" $577,500. As the war raged on, so did the billions of profits-and personal investments by Congress members in war contractors, which increased 5 percent from 2004 to 2006.

Investments in these contractors yielded Congress members between $15.8 million and $62 million in personal income from 2004 through 2006, through dividends, capital gains, royalties and interest. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who are two of Congress’s wealthiest members, were among the lawmakers who garnered the most income from war contractors between 2004 and 2006: Sensenbrenner got at least $3.2 million and Kerry reaped at least $2.6 million.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees which oversee the Iraq war had between $32 million and $44 million invested in companies with DoD contracts.
War hawk Sen. Joe Lieberman (IConn.), chairman of the defense-related Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had at least $51,000 invested in these companies in 2006.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who voted for Bush’s war, had stock in defense companies, such as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon, but sold the stock in May 2007.
Of the 151 members whose investments are tied to the "defense" (war) industry, as far as we know, not one of them offered to donate their bloodstained profits to the national treasury to offset the terrible debt they have imposed. Has one of them even offered to donate one cent of their war profits to lessen the debt that increases more than $1 million a minute?
When our boys and girls are wounded the government bills them to return their reenlistment bonus. They have to return any pay they received while they were hospitalized. They have to pay for their helmets and uniforms that are destroyed in the hell of war. But they keep on fighting for these politicians’ right to keep their war profits.

• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) $3,001,006 to $5,015,001
• Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) $250,001 to $500,000
• Rep. Kenny Ewell Marchant (R-Tex.) $162,074 to $162,074
• Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) $115,002 to $300,000
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) $115,002 to $300,000
• Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) $100,870 to $100,870 • Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) $65,646 to $65,646
• Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) $50,008 to $227,000
• Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) $50,001 to $100,000
• Rep. Stephen Ira Cohen (D-Tenn.) $45,003 to $150,000

There never was an exit stategy only lies & war profits. While they profit we pay in higher taxes, cut services & higher gas prices.

We now have an exit strategy & it is called: General Strike 9/11/08.

"Sooner or later all freedom loving Americans will realize that the only way to stop those who would bleed our nation dry, dismantle our constitution, and dissolve our national sovereignty is to say I will not work for you, buy from you, fight for you, or die for you, until the criminals are gone from the halls of our government."