Don't let up

Thieves

Apparently someone was not so keen of our Obama sign in Katie's front yard. When I went to the local campaign office, they were out of signs and said that operatives from the other side were stealing Obama signs in this area.

Well that's pleasant.

Here is how tonight went--

Me: Katie, some asshat stole our sign and they're out of them at the campaign office down the street. That's it, let's make one ourselves.

Katie: Um, ok.

Hours later, a sign emerges from the Room of Craft. A sign to which my contribution was moral support:

The scene after the race

After the Chagrin River Cyclocross Challenge, that is:




marriedtothesea.com

Pay By the Mile Car Insurance

So far MileMeter auto insurance is only available in Texas. Here is a quote from the company's website:

We were frustrated with car insurance, so we started our own company. After years of dealing with insurance companies as frustrated consumers, we decided we should stop our complaining. So we created car insurance that anyone can understand and anyone can afford. We like to think of MileMeter as "the cure for car insurance."

We believe in good stewardship, so we created auto insurance buy the mile. When a society drives less, fewer vehicle tailpipe emissions occur, fewer traffic accidents and injuries happen, and we can use fewer acres for parking lots. We've invested ourselves in creating a socially and environmentally responsible product that could improve our air quality, reduce our land impact, and improve traffic safety through the financial incentive to drive fewer miles.



It's pretty surprising that this concept is new. I hope the idea spreads across the country. I'm not so sure, however, about those patents he spoke of in the video. Actually, I hope he doesn't secure them (and he probably won't) if he is trying to actually patent the idea of "pay by the mile" insurance. More competition is always better for the public.

Weekend at the races

Yesterday's Cross My Heart and Hope to Die cyclocross race in Willoughby, Ohio did not disappoint. The Spin crew had a great course, good music, and even good weather. It seems like everyone showed up for this race. Everyone, except for my game and my desire to race. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Today was Race #1 of the Orrville cx series held at Wayne College. These people always put on some very nice races. I felt much better today and took 6th out of 17 (or so) in the "A" race. One spot out of the money, but I'm not complaining.

Also, I may have mentioned this before, but I'm rather offended that Blogger's spellcheck program does not recognize "cyclocross" as a word. This is nothing short of a travesty.

In case you missed it...

This article from the Plain Dealer does a really good job of discussing the recent setbacks encountered by mountain bikers trying to obtain access to more land for trails within the Metroparks. The building of new trails is apparently at odds with the Metroparks' mission of conservation.

However, several golf courses, miles of horse trails with no restrictions on when they can be used (and they are often used in extremely muddy conditions), and a new building in Parma's West Creek Reservation that requires bulldozing and paving through woods must be consistent with the park's "conservation" mission.

Something smells rotten here.

Heroes

Ok, not really heroes, but still. It was great fun watching the pros race this weekend at the Cincinnati UCI Cyclocross Festival. We got to see some of the best of the best race, up close and personal. Powers, Compton, Wicks, Gould, Bishop, etc. They arrived in cars and minivans, without entourages and bling. They lacked obnoxious attitudes, and probably make less money than most people reading this blog post right now. Yet I would rather watch one of these races up close than a Lakers game at courtside or a Yankees game from the dugout. Go ahead, call me a snobby Europhile. You are probably right.

In Saturday's race, Georgia Gould flatted, ran to the pits, and received assistance from Katie Compton's (her biggest rival of the day) mechanic. A little different environment from pro baseball coaches intercepting pitch calls from opposing catchers or Bill Bellichick illegally videotaping opponents' defensive signals.

They also tore up the courses that we mortals merely raced upon earlier in the day, all three days. You think that you took a section pretty well when you raced until you see one of them annihilate it without batting an eye. Good stuff.

CX photos/results

Photos are now up here from last week's Race #1 of the Bike Authority/Team Lake Effect series and the Leroy race held today. Unfortunately, we did not arrive early enough to catch the "C" races at these events.

Thanks again to all of those who volunteered to make these races happen.

Results from today's race are already up here. (Congrats to Robert on his win).

Personally, I like the idea of dogsledding...and bikes.

Kathy Dahlkemper is a Democrat running for U.S. Congress against incumbunt Republican Phil English. Here is an attack ad against her put out by the National Republican Congressional Committee. It is quite impressive, to say the least.