For Wouter Weylandt - Maybe Alone on My Bike

MAYBE ALONE ON MY BIKE

by William Stafford

I listen, and the mountain lakes 

hear snowflakes come on those winter wings 

only the owls are awake to see, 

their radar gaze and furred ears 

alert. In that stillness a meaning shakes;

 And I have thought (maybe alone 

on my bike, quaintly on a cold 

evening pedaling home), Think!-- 

the splendor of our life, its current unknown

as those mountains, the scene no one sees.

O citizens of our great amnesty: 

we might have died. We live. Marvels 

coast by, great veers and swoops of air 

so bright the lamps waver in tears, 

and I hear in the chain a chuckle I like to hear.

Wide World of Sports, Eddy Merckx, Cycling and Me!

I wrote the following blog on July 29, 2009 and posted it in my Facebook Notes section -- upon seeing Paul Sherwen's post via Facebook/Twitter this morning, I decided to bring it to my blogspot -- most of you have previously read it, but here it is again ... if for nothing else but my own rememberings and amusement on this day of the great Milan-San Remo 2011 Classic

Paul Sherwen:  ON THIS DAY – Eddy Merckx won all 7 of his Milan San Remo wins on March 19th - 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975 & 1976.

AND let's remember the very first winner in 1907 - Lucien Petit-Breton (France)

... now onward to "old" material!

********
I have been asked, several times, how I got interested in cycling, so I thought a little note was appropriate. I always have been a sports freak and I alway participated in any pick up game of any sort I would find and also was on my high school varsity basketball, volleyball and track teams and college volleyball team. I loved to participate in sports, watch sports live and on TV, so the question for those “of my age” is: who remembers the ABC TV Series Wide World of Sports? This show introduced me to sports that, as a child living in the Southwestern United States (mostly West Texas), I would never have been introduced to. WWS was also accompanied by the Olympics, when they rolled around every so often, in expanding my sports brain beyond football, basketball and track!

One of these sports that I was introduced to was cycling and one cyclist in particular, Eddy Merckx. At best WWS would show 15 minutes of the Tour de France and even less of some of the “other” races they might show - because it has been a slow sports week! But, this was enough as a young girl of 12, who loved the romance and drama of man (and team) pitted against other adversaries, elements and terrain itself, to be absolutely hooked into the world of cycling.

Eddy Merckx's show of tenacity, intelligence and courage sucked me right into the sport of cycling and I craved more and more cycling. I have images burned into my mind of the “Cannibal” climbing the famed mountains of the Tour de France, on much smaller and dirt roads. I believe, that in addition to my parents who taught “us” to fight at all cost in the face of adversity, that I learned even that much more about courage and tenacity from Eddy and the riders that followed.

Later I cheered for Bernard Hinault and then American Greg Lemond as they battled tooth and nail and I was sad when Lemond had his accident and all thought his cycling career was over, and yet it wasn't and I cheered his courage and tenacity as he battled Laurent Fignon for those tiny 8 seconds. (Of course, my opinion of Lemond has been tarnished as the years have past - but one thing that can't be denied, he was a large part of cycling coming to America.)

As I drifted along watching WWS, the Olympics, nightly news and any other news source I could find about cycling ... all the sudden something else happened! It seems a young American rider was starting to make a name for himself in Europe - was it really possible, then I saw him ride, I saw that fire in his belly and eyes and thought to myself “Hang on, this could be very fun!”

Welcome to the Lance Armstrong era, I remember once again being “sad” when I heard the news of his cancer and remember thinking “well that's it, game over” (my Mother had died from cancer, so in my mind - no one every defeated that disease) ... and we know the rest of that story!

Episodes of joy in cycling development - I remember my sheer happiness (and screaming and running to my husband and telling him about it) when I found my first race ticker ONLINE! How is that possible, this wonderful bit of technology called the Internet allowed me not to have to wait and scrounge for news about cycling, or find magazines where the news was 2-3 months old - I could following it online LIVE with the tickers that could occasionally be found ... AND then ABSOLUTELY-- What? Live TV coverage, unheard of ... and now, as we all know just about any race, any time on the internet and not just our ticker ways ... live streaming coverage!

Cycling and I have come long way since a young girl sat on the edge of her seat and watched those beautiful 15 minutes of cycling coverage on Wide World of Sports ... to now when some days, I'm totally on cycle information overload -- what a fabulous overload to have! So, anyway, hope you've enjoyed my little rambling trip down my cycling memory lane -- when I say I've been into cycling for many years, I really mean MANY years!

Note to Non-Cycling Friends: So, if you ever have the want to learn more about the beauty of cycling .. just give me 2 or 3 days and I'll fill you in on the best sport in history!

Side Note: The “other” sport that WWS (and the Olympics) got me hooked on .. yeppers, hang onto your saddles -- Curling! Another game of tactics, teamwork and nerves of steel!

*****

Have a Supermoon Day my Buddies - go forth be Great and Conquer!

It Takes a Team

As I started to scurry about with my day, random thoughts of the Tour de France have filled my head and I had to stop and do a short bit of typing on one thought in particular:

I loved seeing Team Radio Shack taking the podium for the No. 1 Team ...... Team, Team, Team - and yes they are a Team of dedicated professionals willing to do whatever it takes ... whether it is to work for the Team leader, the will to allow another to take over as a Team leader and even for that leader to pass that role on to yet another Team rider ... yet in the end it is the Team benefiting from everyone's hard work.

This, in my humble opinion, speaks volumes towards Team #28 and how many people a cancer patient/survivor, or the families of those who have not survived , need a great Team around them to beat this obnoxious disease that is taking the World by storm.  People who accept Team mates and have much loving support around them - stand a much better chance at winning, than those who choose to, or have to, go it alone ... no one should ever have to go it alone - that is just sad.

So, not only did I love seeing The Shack on the podium for the Team win - I enjoyed seeing them all sporting the Team #28 jersey - take it to heart WORLD WE NEED TO KICK CANCER'S BEHIND!

I also don't choose to ridicule the UCI and their decision - I mean it provided more EXPOSURE for Team #28 than it would have otherwise :-) as I stated on Twitter ... it is darn shame they didn't make them change the bib too, I mean those weren't their regular "shorts" ... see, now I go to the silly side of me :-)

As always I will have a few more parting random observances of mine - as to a few things I so enjoyed seeing this year:

1.   Vino happy - yes, I know many do not like him and never did .. particularly when he blood doped .. but for some reason I've not been able to disengage the little scrapper from my heart - of which he broke, even after last year's obnoxiousness .... anyway, it is good to see him moving on and being happy again (unlike Landis and LeMond - who seem "hell bent" to remain bitter and drag anyone and everyone into their pit of dispare.)

2.  LOVE all the characters on side of roads -- I've picked out a few of my favorites and the next race I attend will be sporting some of the decore myself :-) ... hum Austin Livestrong Challenge, I'm running -- wonder what I can come up with for that??!!

3.  As commercials went, Road ID - a fabulous idea and the bunnies with the snakes and the majority of the whale commercials .. isn't that weird, they were some of my favorites and I know can't come up with the name of the insurance company!  Sorry guys :-)

4.  Last and not least -- did I say short at the beginning?  Anywhoooooo, I loved seeing the "old" ladies on the side of the road clapping as the Tour passed their homes.  I mean, stop and think of how many years that has happened for them, how do they feel - what do they think ... a couple of times they showed them, really almost made me tear up.

In closing ... looking forward to the future -- yes, Alberto and Andy going at it BUT BOYS BE WARNED there is young talent coming up that are chomping at the bit to take your glory!

LIVESTRONG my friends and become part of TEAM #28 ... Let's Kick Cancer Butt!

Marfa, Texas - Come Ride With Us

In the true fashion of a goofball, I vid'ed a drive through Marfa, Texas for ya -- aaahhhh come on ... you know you're dying to see the place Lance is always talking about (although I'm sure he has his very own "special" place there!)  Not too long, but I guarantee - it may be a little entertaining (or not!)

Vid 1:  We started it as a complete "tour" but then ran into just a small snag :-)

Then we finally found the snag ... and it was closed!!!

AToC Stage 2 Versus Coverage - Cycling

Okay, so yesterday's LIVE coverage of Stage 2 of Amgen's Tour of California was less than stellar - I've seen many negative remarks about Versus and AToC's organization called "amateurs" by the cycling community wanting to watch the race - United States and Internationally. Before I try to organize the jumble of random thoughts on this running around in my brain, let's state the absolute reason there was no coverage until the finish line.

I am also a pilot, so I can speak to what the problem was - motorcycles following the race need to send the signal from their camera to an aircraft of some kind - mostly helicopters overhead and they also usually then relay the signal to a fixed wing aircraft - higher - that relays the signal to be broadcast. Actually a complicated little procedure all to give us LIVE coverage.

Okay, so that said - the problem for Stage 2 coverage was the weather (and "NO" to the person who disparingly wrote, more or less ... you can't tell me that California weather is worse than Giro and we have coverage of the Giro ... no, not worse - different.) Giro's stage yesterday ran along the coast, with no mountains -- AToC's stage was up and over.

The Federal Aviation Administration has rules all pilots must follow and one of them is that you cannot fly into KNOWN icing conditions (without all sorts of ubber expensive deicing equipment on the aircraft) -- at 10,000 feet over Stage 2 ... there was KNOWN icing conditions -- THUS no TV coverage for we poor little cycling slugs on the ground.

So for AToC's Stage 3 (and I haven't checked weather for today's stage - yet!) running along the coast ... if it is rainy and cloudy -- we will more in likely have TV coverage because the same set of FAA rules apply, but the conditions for flying will be absolutely different - yet somewhat like yesterday's Giro stage.

So, no AToC and Versus are not to blame for no TV coverage for us yesterday -- blame the FAA! Even at blaming the FAA, they are not being mean to "us" but the rules are set in place to keep pilots from killing themselves -- and we all know that sometimes pilots "pull" "stupid pilots tricks" and kill themselves and their plane, anyway.

Okay (again) that being said - if you haven't ever been to a race LIVE, when you have the opportunity to go -- brace yourself. Unless you go park yourself at the finish line by the big screen TVs ... what you saw yesterday is about what you see (unless it is a time trial, criterium or the race ends in several circuits). You can see the riders "start" ... then they are gone; jump in the car and if you are lucky you can beat them up the road a bit ... see them wiz by; and if you are lucky again you can jump in your car (and pray not to get stopped in traffic) and maybe catch them at the finish line (or you can park in one place and see them wiz by once) -- following a live race live ... is tough - fun, yes BUT tough!!!

We cycling fans have really been spoiled rotten in the last several years with the coming of age of being able to watch races online and on TV --- remember before that all we had were race tickers (and I remember being so ubber excited when I found my first race ticker!) ... but before that, in the way back age :-) you got to read about the races in "next months" cycling magazines.

So "buck up" accept Versus did their best - know that AToC is a fabulous race with fabulous race organizers ... and did you hear that race officials from the Tour Down Under are actually visting AToC this year to learn from AToC ... things like rolling road closures ... sorry I drift --- anyway, it is human nature to complain ... but some complaining so went into blaming that my brain had to get "it" out!!!

Have a fabulous cycling day all my buddies -- I mean where else but online and on TV could we today "watch" the Giro from Italy and Amgen's Tour of California from the comfort of our office, home ... or wherever you choose to view them today!

LMBO - Live and Let Live - Part Deux - Cycling

Okay, not exactly a blog ... just a repost that really made me laugh myself right out of my chair ... thought I'd share! This is taken directly from VeloNews Ticker for Giro's Stage 1 - always different levels of knowledge ... Pelkey does a good job of responding to someone absolutely clueless and adopts a great attitude in the "meanwhile":

4:42 [Comment From Charles in Charge Charles in Charge : ]
Was Lance in any of the crashes? Sunday May 9, 2010 4:42 Charles in Charge

4:42 C.F.Pelkey: Only if he happened to be a spectator and got hit by a bike. Armstrong and RadioShack are not here. Sunday May 9, 2010 4:42 C.F.Pelkey

4:44 C.F.Pelkey: Voss is taking a charge out of the break. Given the level of cooperation, he's just as well on his own. He'll certainly be doing more work now, since he's spent the last 20k sucking wheels. Sunday May 9, 2010 4:44 C.F.Pelkey

4:46 C.F.Pelkey: Rick Flens (Rabobank) looks like he's on his own. He looks pissed. He did a lot of the work in the break these past 20/25k and had little help from the other two. Sunday May 9, 2010 4:46 C.F.Pelkey

4:46 [Comment From Guest Guest : ]
Must you post comments from people who have not a clue? Sunday May 9, 2010 4:46 Guest

4:48 C.F.Pelkey: I try to post questions that are representative of those I am getting. My hope is that after a day or two, all readers here will have achieved the same level of knowledge that you have and we can all be dismissive of others who write in as being clueless. Sunday May 9, 2010 4:48 C.F.Pelkey

Live and Let Live - Cycling

It was a dark and stormy night (Thanks Kent, great opening line!) when I arrived in Silver City, New Mexico for the Tour of Gila - but if you read the last blog, you know that! :-)

A simple observation, at a bike race - of any kind - there will always be different levels of knowledge by people attending and hand-in-hand with that statement, I will add, there are just as many different “reasons” for attending that same bike race. So, if you have the opportunity to attend a race, examine your reason in advance and live up to it without fear of retribution from anyone -- because, after all, it is your very own reason and level of knowledge -- own them! (I suppose this probably applies to any chosen activity, not just cycling!)

My moment of clarity at Tour of Gila was before the start of the Pro Men’s criterium. As the riders assembled in the “holding pen” before they being allowed out for warm up on the course - I gathered a couple of autographs that I had wanted for a while and took some photos, whilst roaming in and out of the riders. Then I went to stand on the sidewalk were I put up the photos and the pen and checked the camera - etc. At that point a young gentlemen, probably in his 20s, was standing behind me with, what I determined was probably his father and grandfather/uncle. Very politely the young man asked: “Excuse me, can you help us.” (I, of course, said yes.) “We are here to see Lance....” (Then rather apologetically added) “....but we don’t know what he looks like.” (Moment of Clarity: These folks wanted to see an iconic figure they’d never seen ... had they ever attended a bike race - probably not - had they heard of Lance, definitely yes ... did this make them unworthy of my assistance - definitely not, different levels - different reasons!)

I, of course - being “Mommy” to the world, when asked :-) told them that he, and the boys, would be the very last to show up at the holding pen. I then found the photos I’d taken and showed them to them and explained what “the boy” would be wearing and which direction he’d be coming from (because I’d noticed where he went, of course) ... I would have stayed longer, but it was time to reposition myself, after all :-) I truly hope they got to see Lance.

I almost told them that Dave Z., Tommy D., Taylor Phinney AND a whole “slew” of other riders were standing right in front of them, but that would have made no difference to them - they knew one person they wanted to try to see. Should I fault them for that, no - I’m sure if we’d visited longer, there was something that they knew about or knew how to do - that I myself, would have been astonished with.

Others: the professional photographer, who obviously knew what she was doing and who everyone was ... however, at the Time Trial -- was overheard yelling (as she snapped photos) “Go _____________” :-) and then she said to us “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t show favorites.” Well, I question why the hector not?! Sure, she may have been there for her job, but everyone has their favorites ... so live and let live! (I found it cute and endearing, myself.)

The row of young men sitting on the rooftops of houses, no camera in hand - just enjoying the hector out of the criterium. Did they know the riders, that I don’t know - they definitely had no plans to snap photos :-) but they were enjoying the race in the way they chose.

The rather loud and pushy woman at the RadioShack bus (umm, no not me!) who waited the entire 2-1/2 hours, with me, before they showed up. Yes, I passed judgment on your character, and for that I apologize, because in retrospect (and after eavesdropping on her conversations with her friend) it was the first time she would be seeing Lance and trying to get an autograph and she was extremely nervous. Her friend kept telling her “It’ll be alright, just calm down.”

Also in retrospect of my last blog - was I “hard” on Henk and Floyd, well maybe so. Why? At the criterium, there eventually wound up being at least 15 policemen at the RadioShack RV, were there some anywhere else - no, there were volunteers elsewhere, but no “protection” for the rest of the riders ... Lance effect. So, I suppose it could get irritating to the other riders and DS, but let’s face it people - the man draws a crowd and Silver City has been most appreciative for that!

As to Floyd, Live and Let Live -- I mean there are days that I hate to go to my job too and don’t perform my best. So, ya know - if you want to diss me and ride at the back of the peloton, I’m sorry for thinking the things I’ve thought about you. (But he still has to do something spectacular to make up for his grumpy attitude!)

So, in closing kudos to the people of Silver City, who love their race - and year after year treat their “tourists” and riders with equal respect and kindness! AND go to races for your reason and your reason only ... LIVE AND LET LIVE!

Riding In the Car to See Boys - Cycling

Once again I decided, at almost the last minute, to attend a "little" cycling event called the Tour of Gila in Silver City, New Mexico. The 550 mile/seven hour drive over (well 7, when one's foot is ... umm ... heavy) was most interesting. Shall I say the wind was blowing? No, I mean really, really blowing 60 mph gusting type of blowing and I knew I was "toast" when the signs were out that read: "I-10 closed between Las Cruces, NM and Deming, NM" ... and why wasn't that good? That was my route into Silver City, NM -- BUT, I knew a back way in ... but I digress, this is "fodder" for another blog.

Silver City was very cool, as in very, very cool ... well okay cold -- especially with the really, really blowing wind :-) AND I haven't mentioned yet that I was camping at the KOA ... now putting the tent up in the wind and with night falling was an interesting thing ... but my buddy called as to where she was and I discovered she was sleeping in her car ... so I let go of the tent - I estimate that by now, it is probably over Brazil :-) ... and I slept in the back seat of a Cobalt - I now confess, I should have continued to put up the tent, because after the first night in the Cobalt, I remembered why I wanted out of the womb!

So disregarding the negative weather effects, we arrived at Stage 3, the Individual Time Trial, bright and early on Friday and here are a few highlights of the day:

(1) This was the first time trial I'd ever been able to make it to, trust me - they're fun.

(2) The snake that was happily (and simply) trying to get warm on the side of the road - but he accomplished terrorizing everyone, with not an ounce of effort on his behalf (I think he used Lance's "look" on people as they walked by).

(3) The Mom that brought her three very small boys decked out in Discovery kits and those kids sat patiently there yelling "Go Lance" at every single rider ... then her "motive" was obvious when Lance did come by, she had them posed on the side of the road so she could take their photo with him and the RadioShack car in the background -- I'd like to see those "kids" in 20 years!

(4) AND THE BEST having my photo made with Johan in his "Ride" jacket -- then being able to get a print that evening (thank you Walgreens) and getting him to autograph it the next day!

Moving on to crit day for some random thoughts:

(1) Helping the young girl that came up to stand by me at the fencing by the RadioShack (Mellow Johnny's) RV, she had a really cool print of a bike race and wanted Lance to sign it, her Dad left her at the fencing and backed out of the crowd (he was a very tall man) so I took her under my wing :-) However, Levi was the first to come autograph and he headed right to her and stopped I told her to give him her pen and she said, in a small voice "No I only want Lance." ... I had to reply to Levi "Sorry Levi, she says she only wants Lance." AAAARRRRGGGGGGG, I hated that! Then he looked at me and I said, of course I have one from yesterday for you to sign and handed him my pen and photo! (Then when Lance did come out of the RV, I went into my loudest voice of Lance please, please for this little one - and he did come over and signed her print .. then she was happy and left - I, of course, stayed!)

(2) I did also get Lance and JMac to autograph their photos from the day before, so that made me happy.

(3) My "little walk" with Johan :-) ... and that's the way I choose to remember it! I had the photo from the day before and was waiting, but when Johan came out - the crit was going to start in about 20 mins, so he really didn't have that much time ... he signed a few autographs but had gone the other way from me. So when he walked out of the enclosure and around the back of the RV, I left the other direction to go find my buddy (who is not a huge RadioShack fan) as I walked down the sidewalk and was starting to put up the photo - out of the corner of my eye, coming up from behind I saw Johan, so I kept walking and put the photo and pen out in front of him and said "Please" ... not real subtle, I admit ... but the man is so nice he stopped long enough to autograph and we continued to walk down the sidewalk (obviously we were going to about the same place) and another fan then stopped him and I continued to walk around the corner when I saw Ro ... and she had a look on her face that won't soon be forgotten by me! I turned around when she said "Johan is stalking you now?" (or something to that effect) ... sure 'nuf he was there ... so, I count that as my little walk with Johan! He, of course, continued to his destination :-)

There are other great stories, but this is getting longer than any blog should be - so I will save them for another time ... but I got great laughs with Dave Z, at the expense of Tommy D :-) Jonathan Vaughters was very nice when I asked for a photo with him and I could go on and on ... Ivan Dominguez is ever so much as nice and funny as I thought he would be ... Rory Sutherland, Axel Merckx and on and on! :-) I can certainly attest to the fact that 99.9% of "the boys" in the peloton are very, very nice men, who simply ride bikes for a living and they are accommodating (as they can be) to their fans and seem appreciative of them.

I will now delve into the negative, because I realize there are just negative and grumpy people in the world -- but why would any cyclist (or ex-cyclist) want to diss a fan? There are a few, two of which I will name - that I won't bother to bother ever again (because I'm sure that we will be in the same place again, one day), I mean why would you be grumpy to the few remaining fans you might have?!

The first is Henk Vogels, who when I was taking his photo in the car before the start of Stage 5 told me "You don't want my picture *pointing* Lance, Levi and Johan are over there, go take their pictures instead." It was not like I was even asking him to get out of the car, or include me in the photo - I simply wanted a photo of a rider I watched when I was younger ... so don't worry Henk, I'll never snap your photo or pay any attention to you again. On the other hand, Frankie Andreu was out of the car, speaking to Henk and when I snapped a few pictures of him, he was most cordial.

The other is Floyd Landis - who totally dissed me at last year's Tour of Gila by totally ignoring me as he rode away from sign-in and I asked for a simple photo ... so, I made a point to find him to try to get an autograph from him (had an "ok" photo from the TT) because I had respected him as a rider ... when I saw him sitting with his team (Dave Z was also there and was standing - who I saw first) and I turned and went "Floyd! I have a photo for you to autograph too please." ... his immediate response was "You're wrong, I'm not Floyd." (I may have thought this was an attempt at "humor" but for the fact that he dissed me the year before!) I got the autograph anyway (now to be used on my dartboard) because I put it in front of him -- but don't worry buddy, never again!

So not to end in a negative tone ... I will simply at the drop of a hat Ride in the Car to See Boys ... clad in lycra, that shave their legs and go really, really, really fast -- thank you Silver City for a Great Tour of Gila!

More Cowbell

Facebook Comment exchange:

Me: “Be prepared for the weird :-)”

Chris: “Weird ... like my phone suddenly lighting up with a strange and random picture of a cowbell? :))))”

Me: “LOL ... um, that would be a "yes" C ... weird just happens sometimes!”

Hate to say but that wasn’t a random occurrence – and it was all Ro’s fault, she started it. :-) Okay, I hear those of you that don’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about (and isn’t that normal?) “HUH?” I know this will come as a total surprise to some of you (*snicker, snicker*) but I’m a full-fledged, self-confessed, cycling fanatic (and geek) and have many friends who also fit in that category (Rosemary (“Ro”) and Chris (“C”), being only two of many – yes, there are more than you think)!

Ro and I are going to be trekking to Silver City, New Mexico tomorrow for a race that begins today known as the Tour of Gila, a great American race in its 24th year, it being my fortune of attending for a 2nd time – fabulous!

Lance Armstrong rode this race last year, along with Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner (great names in American cycling) and they helped elevate the race's profile. This year’s version will see Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer riding (in Mellow Johnny's kit ... long story), again along with their Team RadioShack teammate, Jason McCartney (who rode for Saxo Bank last year).

This year there will be more competition on the International Pro level by the likes of Dave Zabriskie (Tour de France yellow jersey wearer and four time U.S. Time Trial Champion), Danny Pate and Tommy Danielson of Garmin-Slipstream making their way to the compete in this classic American race (riding in DZ Nutz kits ... once again THANKS UCI ... long story!)

AND for the first time, I'm actually going to get to meet (hopefully) one of the best U.S. sprinters ever - one with a moving personal story AND he is an "almost brand-new" American Citizen, Ivan Dominguez aka "The Cuban Missile" ... I may just pass out!

So, what are two very passionate cycling fanatics (geeks) to do in preparation for the trip except grab their cameras and (1) find the very best chalk for marking asphalt, and (2) find the very best COWBELLS – and compare them?

Ro's Cowbell

My Cowbell

….now if you don’t “get” “More Cowbell” – you really must watch the SNL More Cowbell skit … it is just the ticket, any fan of “anything,” needs to yell MORE COWBELL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qWCOJPwdXw

P.S. Thank you Rosemary for the inspiration for today's blog - cycling geek! :-)