I thought I lost the magic… then I found it again… then I lost it again… but now I think I’ve found it again. Maybe I need some of those mood stabilizers. Yesterday I had a good day… almost too good. Hope it’s still there Sunday.

BikeChain posse was in full effect yesterday. We even outnumbered the Higher Ground borg. Afterwards we headed back to BikeChain HQ for some grillin’. I carried the camera around the whole time and all I got was this picture.

They take record profits (among other things) and now want to be paid again. That’s double dipping. Wake up America. We’ve been taking in the arse for 8 years. You can’t see it? Does your anus hurt?

Or in other words:

The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies — who must soon vacate the White House — are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday’s New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

“Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

“Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

“At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

“Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury’s proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions.”

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to “consult” in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this “collapse” is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn’t know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can’t figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this “bailout” package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

I like Greg LeMond… I know he means well… but it always seems like he goes about it the wrong way. Here’s a video of him at the Lance Armstrong press conference at Interbike.

He just comes across as kinda crazy. Frankly his argument is kinda weird to me too. He says that performance alone is an indicator of doping. Or… if you get faster you must be doping? The Drunk Cyclist thinks Greg has a valid point… so maybe I’m just dumb.

I think the DNA passport thingy-ma-bob sounds like a better idea.

Big Worm used his “My First Workbench” to make peanut butter/honey/blackberry preserves sandwich.

Tim enjoyed some 2girls1cup.

Gary enjoyed some 2girls1cup.

I was hoping for something more along these lines.

I rode yesterday morning in a brisk 60 degrees. Did a few hard efforts and got a little Ice Lung. Maybe there’s some acclimatization that has to happen when there’s a sudden drop in temperature and humidity. Maybe I’m a big pansy.

I’ve got the race bug. I’d like to go to Fort Clinch Sunday to race but things have been a little whacky with the Smith routine lately. It feels like we need a nice steady boring weekend to get things right.

Or I could throw the family into the truck and head over? Probably not. Maybe? Hmmmmm.