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Notes from the road: Dandelions, clock-floggers and gooey goatees

By Bryan Jew, VeloNews assistant managing editor
Published: May. 30, 2003
Nowitzki and Voight: Separated at birth?
Nowitzki and Voight: Separated at birth?

Sometimes I wonder about this town I live in. A couple of weeks ago, a letter was published in Boulder’s Colorado Daily. It began as follows:

While on a walk recently, I came upon hideous-looking, twisted, tortured, distorted remnants of living beings. I encountered this scene, block after block. It looked like a war zone, in many ways it was. The stench burned my mouth, my sinuses, and my lungs while inflaming and swelling the lining of my brain. I often experience an un-coordinated walk after such exposure as well, compounded by profound exhaustion. I saw the twisted scene as an astute commentary on the twisted and warped priorities that reflect my society's hatred of living beings that do not conform to destructive norms of who does and does not "belong."

I encounter this scene daily, especially in the Spring and Summer. The tortured living beings are Dandelion flowers, bright, cheerful, edible, medicinal and nourishing heralds of Spring and the Earth's regenerative, life-giving power.

Uh, yeah. In that case, I confess: I’m a killer of “living beings.” No, I didn’t carpet-bomb my lawn, but trust me, after recently spending one to two hours a night, every night for a week, picking dandelions from my front lawn, I wasn’t finding them so bright and cheery.

But then, this is Boulder, where prairie dogs are more important than people, and mountain-bike trails go to die.

It is home, though, and we take the good along with the wacky.

* * *

Boulder is also home to the newly crowned first couple of the clock, national time trial champions Kimberly Bruckner and Chris Baldwin, who won their respective events last week in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania.

You would think that Bruckner would be able to keep close tabs on fiancé Baldwin when they’re racing at the same event, but she only found out about Baldwin’s win when the Navigators’ team car pulled into the parking lot of the Seven Springs resort (about four miles from the time trial start/finish).

“I figured he had either won, or was random [for drug testing],” said Bruckner of Baldwin, who otherwise would have headed straight to the airport following his event.

The pair was rightfully proud of one another, but Baldwin played down the human-interest aspect of a couple sweeping the titles. “It’s kind of sickening. Makes your teeth hurt,” he joked.

* * *

On a more serious note, Magen Long’s performance in winning the espoir women’s title at Seven Springs was inspiring. Long’s mother had passed away the morning before the time trial, after a long battle with kidney failure. After the race, Long was notably absent from the awards podium, but totally understandably so.

Long went on to win the Snake Alley criterium and finish seventh at Quad Cities over the Memorial Day weekend.

* * *

One last TT note: When 7UP-Maxxis rider Jason McCartney crossed the finish line in 47:42, team director Jeff Corbett was astonished, exclaiming, “Did you see that?” It wasn’t McCartney’s time, though, but rather the “goatee” of drool and snot on McCartney’s chin that Corbett was pointing out. Corbett later confided that the team mechanic won’t work on McCartney’s bike following a race until McCartney himself has wiped it down.

* * *

Following another of my desperate solicitations for column ideas this week, tech editor Andrew “The White Rat” Juskaitis suggested that I start the Bro Tour for eating establishments. So, based on my totally subjective criteria, here are this week’s rankings from Pennsylvania.

1. Max & Erma’s in downtown Pittsburgh. Ten-ounce burger, anyone?2. The Seven Springs breakfast buffet.3. The Summit Diner in Somerset. Diners always have to make the list.4. PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Would have scored higher, but I jumped the gun, going for hot dog and Bud as soon as I got through the gates, without exploring the multitude of possibilities, including Manny Sanguillen’s barbecue behind the right-field bleachers. I did, however, score a Bob “The Gunner” Prince bobblehead.

* * *

And finally, I have to throw in this example of athletes apparently separated at birth: Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and elite national road race champion Mike Voight.

* * *

What to watch for:

Wachovia Week. The name may be different, but the racing will be just as intense as the First Union and CoreStates series of the past. It kicks off Tuesday in Lancaster, continues Thursday in Trenton, NJ, and wraps up Sunday June 8 in Philadelphia at the USPRO Championships. VN.com will have a preview on Monday.

I’ll be hitting the road again, heading to the East Coast, so if history is any guide, the Colorado Rockies should be due for about an eight-game losing streak starting next week.