logistics associated with starting a new riding group?

On 28 Feb 2007 12:17:10 -0800, "Prisoner at War"
wrote:

Except we're talking about Poles and Russians here. At least Hitler
was Catholic!

'Was' in the sense of being raised Catholic and not specifically
denying the religion loudly until being elected Chancellor. You would
have to ignore far too much that he said post election to claim he was
a Catholic in any sense of the word.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Prisoner at War wrote:
On Feb 27, 10:43 pm, Bill Baka wrote:
I figured that out. It must have been really nasty living there at the
turn of the century.

Yep -- when you've got both the intelligensia *and* the poor trying to
get out of a place, you know it's the pits.

This I believe.

It's kind of hard to imagine anyone running TO the Germans.

Except we're talking about Poles and Russians here. At least Hitler
was Catholic!

I just can't picture Hitler as a Catholic.

I get sort of the same effect with the ski helmet so sometimes I will
ride the sidewalk in heavy traffic areas.

How odd. Heavy traffic is usually very predictable and slow. It's
ironic but I tend to ride on sidewalks less with heavy traffic (unless
it's the kind that prevents me from actually riding, like when a
tractor trailer wants to make a turn, or taxi cabs loading and
unloading, etc.).

Should I mention that heavy traffic around here is not as bad as big
city traffic but we have worse drivers. The reason I go sidewalk
sometimes is that I have been almost flattened by drivers turning right
in front of me, mostly the ones going to Wal-mart. Playing pedestrian
and getting off the bike to walk across the intersection is the safest
thing I can do there.

Of course that means riding
slow and sometimes getting off the bike to walk at the light, but
swallowing my bicycle pride I do get there eventually. The sidewalk
routine works as long as I don't go over about 8 MPH so people on foot
are generally pretty nice to me.

And then there are the Nazis who think nothing of lecturing even a
5mph sidewalk bicyclist while conveniently silent on the unleashed pit
bulls.

Yeah,
I ran into 2 kids with a pit bull bigger than both of them combined.
Fortunately it realized it was on a leash so it didn't try to come after me.

Were you able to lodge an "Asshole" complaint?

Speaking of complaints and assholes, you know the ol' customer service
department motto: everyone's got one.

No, I have no personal animosities towards the guy -- the lead the
rides on their own time, after all -- and from an official POV, I'm
sure the Board would have had to play the lawyer about things and
concur that, yes, one should have a water bottle, just in case.

If it's a charity ride like the one I have there is not only a pit stop
every ten miles but also 3 or 4 county sheriffs riding around to make
sure that everyone is OK. I stopped and sat on a little bridge over a
creek and a sheriff came up and asked me if I was OK. I just said yes
and pointed to my stash of juice in the back racks and a "Thank you" and
he was on his way.

I hear you there, since he can't ban you from use of a public road, you
can just tell him to (insert four letter words here).

Though I must say I was surprised that he didn't try to one-up me by
arguing against my being right behind the leader. It's still a public
road, yes, but to have been second in line the whole day could have
arguably been interfering with their right to the road as a coherent
unit -- namely, a club doing a club ride.

Anyway, I'm glad the silliness didn't escalate too much further,
though there are hard feelings against me now from some of the club
leadership (hehe). One fat but tall dude even bumped me twice on
purpose on another occasion. Since I'm such a friendly guy, I took no
notice of it myself until he mentioned something about helmets. Then
I realized the guy was trying to grind an axe for his pal from some
other ride.

Well, if he was fat and probably only in marginal cycling shape you
could have left him in the dust.

****ing bike club politics, eh! Speaking of which...I wonder how the
two Montauk Rides are coming along this year for the 5BBC? Surprised
the New York Times hasn't covered the little spat. There's supposed
to be two competing 145-milers on the same day this year!

That should be interesting.

It costs from $20 to $25 dollars and we get a printed tee-shirt for the
money. Being a charity ride it is well worth the money and I think some
of the local businesses put up matching funds. Over the last few years
it has turned into about a thousand person social event. The only catch
is that we have to have helmets to get the shirts. Sort of a weird way
to enforce helmets, but it works.

What people don't do for free tee shirts!

Yeah, but I now have a nice collection.

I always do, sort of perpetually swimming upstream.

Just headwinds, no problem.

Heh. We had some 15 MPH sustained winds here for the last few days and
when I went out to ride I rode into the wind thinking I would get a
freebie on the way back. That didn't happen since the wind decided to
change direction. Can't win them all.

Still going strong.

Good to hear. If you are well, I am well!

Bill Baka
Me Again.

di wrote:
"Bill Baka" wrote in message
.. .
Don Wiss wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 03:30:08 GMT, Bill Baka wrote:

And yet people wonder why I don't like him as president.
All show and no go.

What about all blow and no go?

Depending on who you talk to he either sucks or blows. Age difference I
guess, but either way he stinks.


I have to wish him health though, since Cheney is next in line.
That is enough to give someone nightmares.
Bill Baka

Prisoner at War wrote:
On Feb 27, 10:30 pm, Bill Baka wrote:


Sad, but true. I hate passing a huge debt to my kids and grandkids since
it wasn't their fault.

Well, it's like a perpetual Ponzi Scheme...if there's an endless
supply of "bag-holders" down the line (the endless generations of
great-great-grand-kids), no one's really holding any debt, are they?

Not to mention the fact that, if things turn out as bad as you fear,
those great-grand-kids will probably be Chinese anyway! Haw haw
haw.... ;-

Questionable. I'm surrounded by Mexicans since it is A.) California and
B.) an agricultural area.

Umm, not paying China would be a pretty big problem since we allowed all
our manufacturing jobs to go there while the CEOs who did it continued
to make money for their shareholders and get millions to do it.

So what?

Seriously...it's like what Africa does every few years...somebody
there just decides to "renegotiate" their terms...because otherwise
the government just won't pay, that's all.

I'm telling you...when it comes to money, never put it past the
lawyers to come up with new twists on old rules....

What bothers me is that we have lost our manufacturing base and the
semi-skilled workers that went with it. In 1970 I was able to buy an
American made Kodak, a British motorcycle, etc....

At my level of influence all I can do is vote. I lean Democrat but not
hard line like some. I would love to see Arnold in the white house but
he is not eligible since he wasn't born here, so it will be interesting
to see how president Hillary handles things.

Arnold, eh? Hmmm...I'd love to see him only because it would be so
entertaining, but I'm not expecting much from the guy. I suppose
he'll be good for business (his own, for sure) and since he's
Hollywood maybe gays will finally get their military service on their
terms, but that's about it....

He may be Republican but he just stated on television a few nights back
that even though he was a Republican he considered himself to be a
public servant for all people, and not a party slave. How many
Republicans have ever said that? It sounds like he is trying to distance
himself from the disaster that is Bush.

And if you're expecting him to deal with China -- heh, good luck. If
even Nixon and Kissinger believes in China so bad, there's really no
hope. Just look at G.W. I don't think China's the kind of thing you
can just control. I mean, the Mongols barely lasted one generation
before they all went native.

It's a wait and see kind of thing right now.

Something I know all too well. It would be nice to get an actual bicycle
friendly president in the white house to get some legal teeth into some
bicycle promotion. Tax credits for commuting to work under 10 miles or
so, or something to that effect.
Bill Baka

Yeah, isn't it ironic that G.W. is supposed to be such an avid
bicyclist. I'm still wondering what the guy really believes in
besides tax cuts for the rich.

Funny how that works. I'm sure if he could pocket large amounts of cash
he would promote bicycles. Money talks and right now it is the oil industry.

Well, at least some of those richie riches are financing his
opponents.

I think he has opponents in his own party, not to mention the fact that
many voters, just totally hate him.
Bill Baka

"Bill Baka" wrote in message
.. .
di wrote:
"Bill Baka" wrote in message
.. .
Don Wiss wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 03:30:08 GMT, Bill Baka wrote:

And yet people wonder why I don't like him as president.
All show and no go.

What about all blow and no go?

Depending on who you talk to he either sucks or blows. Age difference I
guess, but either way he stinks.

Wasn't talking about the President.

Depending on who you talk to he either sucks or blows. Age difference I
guess, but either way he stinks.
???????????

Just remember, if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.

On Feb 28, 4:39 pm, Bill Baka wrote:



Questionable. I'm surrounded by Mexicans since it is A.) California and
B.) an agricultural area.

Heck, so Mexicans will wind up owing US T-Bills to your
ChiComs...hehehe!

What bothers me is that we have lost our manufacturing base and the
semi-skilled workers that went with it. In 1970 I was able to buy an
American made Kodak, a British motorcycle, etc....

Yes, but why does that bother you? I mean, your grandfather probably
grew his own tomatoes, etc. So what?

He may be Republican but he just stated on television a few nights back
that even though he was a Republican he considered himself to be a
public servant for all people, and not a party slave.

Aw, come on, I thought you were saltier and crustier than that, Bill!
That's what they all say. As Crassus asked Caesar in the movie
"Spartacus," "whose Rome? That of the mob, or ours?"

How many
Republicans have ever said that?

Um, I seem to recall "morning in America" and "compassionate
conservatism"....

It sounds like he is trying to distance
himself from the disaster that is Bush.

Bingo. So why take him so seriously. He's an actor -- and a
politician! From California, too, good God.

It's a wait and see kind of thing right now.

But isn't wait-and-see just what the alarmists are against? The time
is now! ChiComs will be in San Francisco before long!

They've been screaming some variant of that since the Gold Rush.

Funny how that works. I'm sure if he could pocket large amounts of cash
he would promote bicycles. Money talks and right now it is the oil industry.

Yeah, isn't that something. At least one historian has argued that
the bicycle helped fuel colonial expansionism, before the automobile
came along, due to the greatly increased demand for rubber. Folks
don't realize how extensive bicycling used to be around the world.
Most powers even had bicycle troops; as late as WWII some of the
Germans were bicycling through Poland and Russia.

I think he has opponents in his own party, not to mention the fact that
many voters, just totally hate him.

At least the dude is self-effacing, though. Gotta admire a guy who
can laugh at himself, like during a Yale commencement speech when he
referred to his mediocre grades or a black-tie fund-raiser where he
joked about not finding WMDs.

Bill Baka

Prisoner at War wrote:
On Feb 28, 4:39 pm, Bill Baka wrote:


Questionable. I'm surrounded by Mexicans since it is A.) California and
B.) an agricultural area.

Heck, so Mexicans will wind up owing US T-Bills to your
ChiComs...hehehe!

What bothers me is that we have lost our manufacturing base and the
semi-skilled workers that went with it. In 1970 I was able to buy an
American made Kodak, a British motorcycle, etc....

Yes, but why does that bother you? I mean, your grandfather probably
grew his own tomatoes, etc. So what?

We have given up our manufacturing base, so if we get into it with China
we're screwed. And yes my grandfather had a huge lot in Chicago and my
grandmother tended the garden. There were always fresh veggies and
fruits when I went to visit.

He may be Republican but he just stated on television a few nights back
that even though he was a Republican he considered himself to be a
public servant for all people, and not a party slave.

Aw, come on, I thought you were saltier and crustier than that, Bill!
That's what they all say. As Crassus asked Caesar in the movie
"Spartacus," "whose Rome? That of the mob, or ours?"

What, I'm registered as a Democrat but that doesn't force me to vote for
an idiot who happens to be a Democrat.

How many
Republicans have ever said that?

Um, I seem to recall "morning in America" and "compassionate
conservatism"....

It sounds like he is trying to distance
himself from the disaster that is Bush.

Bingo. So why take him so seriously. He's an actor -- and a
politician! From California, too, good God.

Yeah,
I can't imagine ANY republican candidate wanting Bush associating
himself with their campaign. Bush is poison these days.

It's a wait and see kind of thing right now.

But isn't wait-and-see just what the alarmists are against? The time
is now! ChiComs will be in San Francisco before long!

S.F. is the land of the strange, where half the people are queer anyway.

They've been screaming some variant of that since the Gold Rush.

Funny how that works. I'm sure if he could pocket large amounts of cash
he would promote bicycles. Money talks and right now it is the oil industry.

Yeah, isn't that something. At least one historian has argued that
the bicycle helped fuel colonial expansionism, before the automobile
came along, due to the greatly increased demand for rubber. Folks
don't realize how extensive bicycling used to be around the world.
Most powers even had bicycle troops; as late as WWII some of the
Germans were bicycling through Poland and Russia.

We do have bicycle police in the cities, just not a whole lot of them,
but they are in far better shape than their car driving, donut dining
counterparts.

I think he has opponents in his own party, not to mention the fact that
many voters, just totally hate him.

At least the dude is self-effacing, though. Gotta admire a guy who
can laugh at himself, like during a Yale commencement speech when he
referred to his mediocre grades or a black-tie fund-raiser where he
joked about not finding WMDs.

I watched him a few years back where he bent down and looked under his
desk and said "Nope, no WMDs there." He has no presidential dignity and
came off as a total buffoon.


Bill Baka, (again).

On Mar 2, 2:41 pm, Bill Baka wrote:



We have given up our manufacturing base, so if we get into it with China
we're screwed. And yes my grandfather had a huge lot in Chicago and my
grandmother tended the garden. There were always fresh veggies and
fruits when I went to visit.

So now you go to the supermarket for them. Big deal. I'm sure they
used to do their own laundry by hand, too. So what?

The country's only screwed if there's nothing to replace that
manufacturing base. And who the heck wants to be a cog in the
machine, anyway? You thank your lucky stars that this economy is
moving more and more towards an information economy where it's design,
not manufacturing, that's the order of business.

What, I'm registered as a Democrat but that doesn't force me to vote for
an idiot who happens to be a Democrat.

Yeah, but you seem to think Ahnold is super duper....

Yeah,
I can't imagine ANY republican candidate wanting Bush associating
himself with their campaign. Bush is poison these days.

I don't understand how so many people could have ever voted for him.
The way he blinks and smirks tells you he hasn't a clue but is still
going to try to put one over you...you know what I'm talking about?
He has that mannerism, the facial gesture that goes, "holy ****, he's
got me -- but I didn't get where I am today by letting facts get to
me...."

S.F. is the land of the strange, where half the people are queer anyway.

Makes you wonder why all the conservatives were ranting about Red
Chinese landing there, then, during the '60s.

In that respect, I found it amusing how the rest of the country
rallied around New York, Sodom-on-the-Hudson, because of 9/11.

We do have bicycle police in the cities, just not a whole lot of them,
but they are in far better shape than their car driving, donut dining
counterparts.

I haven't seen an NYPD officer on bike patrol in the longest time. I
used to see them biking around doing patrols on bikes, but now the
only time I see them is at a parade or something like that.

BTW, I'm acquainted with a bike cop and he was telling me how they get
trained to do stunt-like things, such as biking down stairways.

I watched him a few years back where he bent down and looked under his
desk and said "Nope, no WMDs there." He has no presidential dignity and
came off as a total buffoon.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to.

It may be the postmodern reader in me, but I don't find anything
particularly undignified about that. I understand why some do, and
why there was a ruckus over it at the time, but I think it's good for
us not to take the Presidency too seriously. Heck, that's how we got
into the WMD mess in the first place. I think great evil is able to
happen in part because folks want so much to believe in the "dignity"
of the office that they will allow all manner of silliness, like the
undermining of many democratically-elected governments over the
decades.

On Feb 28, 3:42 pm, Curtis L. Russell wrote:


'Was' in the sense of being raised Catholic and not specifically
denying the religion loudly until being elected Chancellor. You would
have to ignore far too much that he said post election to claim he was
a Catholic in any sense of the word.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...


Okay, so he pioneered American Catholicism, where you pick and choose
what to uphold.

No, the dude got his sense of theatrics either from a Jewish forebear
(I'm only half-joking he his paternal great-grandmom was a live-in
maid to a rich Jewish family with a horny teenage son; they paid her
money throughout her life, and it's been speculated that that was for
child support, though naturally it could have been generosity, too; no
one knows the motive, but the act had fueled much anti-Hitler
speculation in the German press before he assumed power) or, most
likely, his immersion in "Catholic mysteries" or ritual, same as
Goebels (who was another Catholic altarboy, though one with a PhD in
PHILOSOPHY!).

Anyway, most Europeans tend to be westward-looking, or want to be, and
Nazi Germany was much admired in its time. The ol' popularity contest
can be a very funny thing.