On my way to Iola on Sunday I saw a new development in Plover. In the past a new Best Buy and Super Wal-Mart would be exciting…but Plover is now a terrible place. Before it was just a water park and a Burger King and was all good. Now when you are 10 miles south of Stevens Point all you see is pavement, stores and warehouses. And once you get in Stevens Point you see a big old empty (for lease) Wal-Mart building. Now I like Wal-Mart almost as much as your average deer hunter but I hate seeing buildings cast aside to build bigger Wal-Marts. Much the same as the Wal-Mart in Rice Lake, they not only left an abandoned building, they also abandoned tons of businesses that thrived because Wal-Mart is there…thus creating a downward spiral. Plover is even worse as they built these businesses seriously 50 feet south of the Stevens Point border essentially just stealing Stevens Point money. Plover is now my least favorite city in Wisconsin, a position that has formerly been held by Wausau, Bloomer, Hayward and Barron. Now I am not a hippy and want golf courses banned and never eat/shop/enjoy chains. I just wish local governments would stop battling each other for the right to Wal-Mart’s money. Now hopefully when they build the new Target by our house they have a Taco Bell or something cool like that!!! Viva la Fitchburg...

Why do people in new Volkswagen Jettas think they should listen to Johnny Cash? Yep, I’ve listened to the Man in Black my whole life but two yuppies in Iola had to bump some Boy Named Sue before my preride thus getting it stuck in my head. I guess when a movie wins an academy award it gives everyone the right to listen to something that those same people probably made fun of me listening to 10 years ago. Oh well, maybe when they make a movie about Ace of Base I can be cool once again.

Driving home from the race I saw an SUV with a rack on the back with about 12 5 gallon buckets all open on it and tied down. Each bucket was tied down with the open side up. I assume they weren’t empty or they would be stacked and in the back of the SUV. What is in these buckets that they need to be separated and opened and need to travel? I thought maybe live fish. I doubt it. I assume if it was driveway sealant they would be covered or left. Anyone know?

New Shimano crank baby (probably just a new drive side…but beggars can’t be choosers.) Here are the 3 points of his e-mail.

1) Absolutely. To Hammersley?
2) Another JRA, eh? Mind if we get that crank back so we can do a post-mortem on it?
3) C’mon—really—how high was the ramp off the loading dock??? We’ll still send you the replacement!!! Promise!

They already warrantied the XTR cassette I broke last year (that one was 100% a warranty issue) and twice my WHR-535 wheels that I ended up just retiring. Shimano customer service=top notch. Companies should pay me to ride there stuff, I think there is a testament to a product if I haven’t broken it yet. I’ll have to come up with a list of Mark’s approved parts and a list of everything I’ve broken in the last 3+ years.

Well sorry for rambling, I was trying to recreate my thoughts of this weekend and I am sure if you are still reading you are now dumber for it…I wish the rain would go away so I could do some crit tonight. I bet it isn’t sunny and upper 60’s in Baraboo either…