Prowomenscycling.com has a report and a replay-video of Sunday's road race in its entirety, courtesy UCI (as are the videos shown above).

Enjoy the video!  Nice, upbeat version of a classic Gershwin ballad... it didn't take me very long to put this together, but I needed something to cheer me up a bit, so here you go.

"Fuck the Internet and everything it stands for, I'm outta here...  later!"

OK, that was a little harsh... glad I got that out of my system. :-P

Seriously, I have an elderly parent whose health is declining, so i'm going to be offline for a while.

See you soon!  

To Mark (a.k.a. "BoyInBOYCOTT") - you will always be an inspiration and a role-model to me & all you have touched along the long and winding (and sometimes treacherous) journey of life, even long after you have left this Earth, and it has been a GREAT joy & privilege to have felt your presence on the interwebs!  Peace out, brother!!

This man was a legend in jazz bass... and I was a longtime fan of his, and Charlie Haden was a big influence on my playing as well.  Sad to hear of his passing today.  Let us remember the man and his music!  Peace out, Charlie!

The top women’s race of the year, the Giro Rosa in Italy, finished up on Sunday, July 13, atop the iconic Madonna del Ghisallo – one of the most legendary climbs of all cycling – Stage 9 went once more to the great British climber & time-trialer (& a former ITT World Champion) Emma Pooley (Lotto Belisol). But the race overall this year was about the near-complete dominance of a single team – Rabobank Liv – and it’s leader – a living icon in herself, the Olympic & World Champion Marianne Vos, who with the help of such strong teammates as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Anna van der Breggen (who also finished 2nd & 3rd overall, respectively, completing a full GC-podium sweep for the Dutch team), survived the final 2 mountain-stages to claim her 3rd Giro victory. 

The 2014 Giro Rosa (Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile, formerly known as the Giro Donne) kicks off tomorrow (July 4) with a 2 km individual time-trial prologue in Caserta, in southwestern Italy (on the Mediterranean coast between Rome and Naples).

Today we celebrate one of the most creative and eclectic personalities in the history of jazz. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of his sudden death this weekend (from complications of diabetes, at age 36) in a (then-West) Berlin hotel, we look back at the life and music of Eric Dolphy.   

This cat blew rings around other horn-men with ease, and was quite versatile.  His main axe was alto-saxophone, but he was also accomplished at flute and bass-clarinet. Charles Mingus, who know Dolphy from way-back to his formative years in Los Angeles, where they both grew up and paid their dues in various bands from Satchmo's, Duke's and Hamp's (Mingus) to Chico Hamilton's and Gerald Wilson's (Dolphy), knew how to hone Eric's gifts into his compositions & arrangements, and the two had a very close & fruitful relationship - so much that Mingus was devastated for weeks when he heard the news of Dolphy's death (barely weeks after leaving the Mingus sextet on tour in Europe) during the summer of 1964.

Peeves... I have a few.

Censorship over overzealous "enforcement" of copyright-laws.  Granted, as a musician, songwriter and photographer I see both sides of this particular issue, but nonetheless any song, image or text can be reproduced under the Berne Convention of 1971 and the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 concerning the "fair use" of 'protected' material as long as it is for non-profit usage (for example, as a blog-comment with an embedded photo provided such an item is used to illustrate or enforce a point of view, or the posting of a video for purely educational &/or entertainment purposes).  

No beating around the bush, here's Strava data on several recent rides I did:

Early morning on Friday, May 23
Saturday, May 24
Sunday, May 25
Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day)
Early morning on Wednesday, May 28
Earl evening on Thursday, May 29
Saturday, May 31
Sunday, June 1

UPDATE: I've posted a pop-up page of my latest Strava ride-data here.  This updates automatically whenever I upload new ride-data from my Garmin GPS to Strava).

2014 USA Pro National Championships, from Chattanooga, TN.

Tour Tracker w/video:  http://usapro.thetourtracker.com/

As of this posting (4 PM on May 26) the Men's Road Race was in-progress.  Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare Pro Women's Team) has made US cycling history this past Memorial Day holiday-weekend by winning both the women's individual time-trial on Saturday and, earlier today, the women's road race - add that to the criterium race she won in August of 2013, Powers becomes the first woman to hold national-titles concurrently in all 3 road-disciplines governed by USA Cycling - she will defend that criterium-title in a few months.  

Goodbye, Courtney.  Wherever you are...

Well, that cat of mine disappeared again over a week ago, and this time I'm pretty sure it's for good.  No sign of her (or her remains, though), so I can't confirm one way or the other.  

Round 5 of the UCI Women's Road World Cup took place on May 18 on Chongming Island, near the mouth of the Yangtze River just outside of Shanghai in China.  Other than a suspension-bridge the course was pan-flat, which made this the "sprinters' round", and, given her success with bunch-sprint victories so far this year it was won by Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano). 

One of the all-time greatest folk- & progressive-rock bands, and a true "fusion" band in every sense of the word was - and still is - Jethro Tull. 

The outfit that was (& still is) led by Ian Anderson (foreground, at left) since its inception in 1967 went through rather numerous personnel-changes over the years, and despite all those changes the band has only had two electric lead guitarists (Anderson is quite proficient on acoustic guitar & harmonica as well as vocals & flute) in its entire history:  of course there's Martin Barre (who joined Tull in '69 right at the cusp of their ascent to prog-rock success, and remains with Tull to this day) - but before Barre, there was a more blues- & jazz-centric guitar-manster - his name is Mick Abrahams.  

Strava details below:
May 8 - Fort Caroline area of Jacksonville, Florida
May 9 - Arlington and Fort Caroline areas of Jacksonville, Florida
May 10 - Coastal areas from Mayport Ferry (Ft. George Island) N to Fernandina Beach, Florida

Three rides I just did this past weekend...  Strava details below:
May 1 ride (A1A, Ponte Vedra Beach thru Guana River State Recreational Area) 
May 3 ride (A1A, Jacksonville Beach - Ponte Vedra Beach - Vilano Beach to US1 N from St Augustine to Nocatee, then Hwy 210 E back to Ponte Vedra Beach)
May 4 ride (Baldwin Rail Trail, and environs)

The 1980's was, to me, when I came of age and was thrust out into the world... it was also when I joined my first band (called "Oaken Dagger"), went to art/photography school in Fort Lauderdale later in the decade, and subsequently was immersed into the South Florida lifestyle in all of its sun-drenched & misogynistic glory.  I wrote a lot of tunes then, used my Nikon camera (at one time I had 2 or 3 of them, and a shitload of lenses & accessories) to create art, make money, get laid... you name it, that was me during the 'Eighties.

Strava data here.  Sorry, no slide-show this time...

Strava data here.  Also, for last weekend's rides: Saturday and (Easter) Sunday.

The fourth round of the 2014 UCI Women's World Cup was a showstopper!!  All the bigs of the women's peloton were here, including (starting their 2014 road seasons with this race) the reigning 2012 Olympic and 2012-13 World Champion Marianne Vos, and the former (2009) Women's ITT World Champion, Emma Pooley.  Both have previously won here (Vos a record 5 times! - including 2013), plus top American all-rounder (and 2012 race-winner) Evelyn Stevens.

My good friend Sarah posted this on her blog prowomenscycling.com to help raise awareness that road cyclists have the same right to use  the public roads as motorists do.  Of course we cyclists (amateur/recreational, club racer, pro, whatever!) have certain conditions i.e. ride on bike lanes where existing, ride no more than two abreast if in a group, follow the same road rules as motorists etc., but that being said NO motorist, to the best of my knowledge, is permitted by law to deny or impede in any way access to the road to cyclists.

If only the knuckleheads in Jacksonville, Florida would only get the message... still, we on two wheels make our presence known, whether they like it (and us) or not!

Preview video featuring past winners such as Marianne Vos, Emma Pooley and Evelyn Stevens, plus top contenders Elisa Longo Borghini and Tiffany Cromwell.

Pics from my latest gallery-post put to music (a 17th century Dutch "galliard")... enjoy!

Red Top Mountain State Park, NW of Atlanta, GA along Allatoona Lake.
Direct link to the gallery is here (in case you're unable to view the embedded slideshow).

Video highlights of the 3rd round of the UCI Women's Road World Cup in Flanders (western Belgium), won by Ellen van Dijk (Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team).  Van Dijk, the reigning Women's ITT (individual time-trial) World Champion, won the race in a late solo-attack.  World Cup overall-leader (and Van Dijk's teammate) Lizzie Armitstead in 2nd, Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) third.

Details at prowomenscycling.com!  Listen also to (& read) Sarah's exclusive interview with Ellen.