Back to Boobs
Yeah, I read the comments...
There is very definitely snow up here in Mammoth Mountain. I drove into town a little after three yesterday, just in time to beat the evening storm. Not a lot of snow fell, but the wind was fierce and the temp was just cold enough to take my breath away when the wind hit me just right. I wrote for a few hours and then bundled up and walked from the condo down to Roberto's for dinner. Nothing like refried beans and a large margarita on a blustery night.
The temp is up today and a lot of the trails just have a little sprinkle of powder on them. I'm going to head out later and see if I can put in a decent run without having to spend too much time on the roads. Supposed to snow a whole lot more over the next few days, so I want to run while I can.
I've been coming to Mammoth for a couple decades, and my family has owned the condo just about as long. Among other happenings, this is where I trained for the Raid Gauloises back in 1995. I can still clearly recall learning how to ice climb on a snowy face just above town, climbing several hundred feet up a near-vertical wall. Scared the living daylights out of me, mostly because one of my teammates had neglected to bring enough rope, so we climbed without protection. Not smart -- and never to be repeated.
On that adventure racing note, news came out yesterday that the Primal Quest adventure race has been cancelled for 2007. Between you and me, I don't see it coming back. Putting on a major expedition competition takes big bucks, and Primal Quest had a few cash flow issues. With the Raid Gauloises reduced to a series of shorter competitions, and Eco-Challenge no longer in business (Mark Burnett found out he could make a lot more money on Survivor and he got fed up with the whiny nature of many competitors, who would stop their race to rant at him), the suspension of Primal Quest isn't good news for the sport.
Frankly, I'm surprised it's hung on so long. The sport is big and wondrous, but has long been too ponderous to become an institution. The beginning of the end was the introduction of sprint races, which were wonderful little events, but took away AR's international mystique. No... the beginning of the end was when it lost the funky expedition vibe the French had cultivated in its early years (there was nothing like pulling into a transition area with a French team and watch them sit down to share a bottle of wine and smoke a Gitane). Adventure racing has always faced a number of obstacles -- primarily high insurance costs, middling television ratings, and mind-boggling logistics. Sure do wish it would make a comeback, though. I'd love to see Mark bring back Eco. As a journalist, it was always a good chance to fly halfway around the world, sleep in the mud for a week, and take a few helicopter rides.
Onward. It weighs heavily on me that I have not yet mailed the NY marathon prize winners their awards. Too many trips, too much procrastination. I'll do it when I get back...
Finally, marathoner Meb Keflezighi, who lives up here in Mammoth, suffered a terrible family tragedy recently. Check out the link and contribute your financial support if you can.
Keep pushing... always.
My sides hurt.
But you know, anal retentiveness in many ways beats anal explosiveness with a stick.
Loved the wine and Gauloises in the transition area... isn't that how we all carb-load before a race? Those French... I tell ya, they are what they are...
It will be interesting to see what Google ads are generated by today's title. A few minutes ago there was some kind of silicone product. Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: Camille | November 28, 2006 at 01:10 PM
Theresa, I would have given you the heads up, but I'm still BUGGIN about Marty "the fly boy" Dugard (the Doogster? the Dooog?) KEEPIN IT REAL in the land of hip-hop. Not to DISS Martin as I'm sure he could give any & all THE 411 on hip-hop cardio. Actually the more I CHILL, the more I'M DOWN WITH THAT. And that, my friends, is the entire extent of my hiphop vocab! I feel old.
I also like Chris Horner, although until last year I didn't know more than his name & that he was a very successful US-based cyclist. I agree that his video interviews during the Tour this year were great as was his rider diary on cyclingnews.com (?) for the Vuelta - especially when he got cranky about coffee or food & when describing his hugging of his somewhat homophobic teammate at the airport. Funny.
I also noticed that possibly "Sara" or a gutless anonymous made a late comment to Friday's post & seems to have Floyd confused with DICK Pound... :)
Posted by: susie b | November 28, 2006 at 01:17 PM
Oops, those were Gitanes, not Gauloises... but they're all French Marlboros to me...
Posted by: Camille | November 28, 2006 at 01:36 PM
Hey, it's easy to read the word "boobs" in a paragraph about hip-hop, considering...
I spent a good deal of time shovelling snow this morning, then came in and read about Mammoth (where I spent many years on the slopes since it was the only great skiing "near" So Cal) and am licking my chops at the opening of ski season at Big Sky next week. I know this blog is more about cycling and other endurance sports, I can't help but be excited...yay for snow!
Posted by: Yvette | November 28, 2006 at 01:58 PM
Back again. I just wanted to impart some work-day humor for your drives home. My company has over 1000 employees spread over 8 buildings at my location & this morning, one of the T1s was down, so one of the buildings was "cut off". My boss in Telecom (who usually does not do this himself) sends out a company-wide email to alert all of the problem. He concludes by saying to call the Telecom Helpline if any questions & "we are sorry for any INCONTINENCE this may cause." :) As you can imagine, the Helpline phone rang off-the-hook today... The last time I giggled this much at work was when Verizon was having me rate a recent install and their final question (I SWEAR) was "Can you imagine living in a world without Verizon in it?" I laughed so hard I fell off my chair.
Posted by: susie b | November 28, 2006 at 02:04 PM
Great story, susie!
I envy you, Dugie. Please let us in on the secret of how to live a life like yours. And did you permanently abandon the wilds of the UP for Socal?
Sad to hear about the demise of adventure racing. I found it to be compelling TV -- the EcoChallenge in Morocco will never be forgotten.
Endurance athletes have the fortitude to endure. Perhaps that has something to do with making them all-rounders, rather than specialists.
Posted by: Gladiator | November 28, 2006 at 03:02 PM
Susie, maybe your boss' comment was a Freudian slip... ;)
I'd like to think that adventure racing is starting to take on a more local feel even with a general international demise. In my area (Bozeman, MT) there are a few adventure races each year, at different times, and their popularity is increasing. It may not be as enthralling, and maybe not journalistic-worthy on a grand scale, but they're fun!
Posted by: Yvette | November 28, 2006 at 03:16 PM
Susie b., thanks for the support on my goofs. And I had to go back and check the post from Friday, I missed that last evil comment, and she didn't even put her/or whoever's name on it. If you are going to trash someone, you should at least leave your name. We all remember this summer when we had too many anonymouses, that we had to refer to them as the time they posted!
That story from work was great!!
And I don't have a problem living without Verizon; but I have to laugh that I becoming so dependent on my cell phone that I did the unspeakable. The last time I visited my sister, she had one kid, I had the other, and we were calling each other from opposite ends of Wal-Mart!
Posted by: Theresa | November 28, 2006 at 05:38 PM
Margarita's at Roberto's? I'm jealous. Love that place after day on the mountain! Enjoy!!!
Posted by: TIM KNIGHT | November 28, 2006 at 08:22 PM
Boobs? Takes on a different meaning in AU.
Posted by: Andy | November 28, 2006 at 09:26 PM
What does 'boobs' in Australia mean? I thought it meant the same all over the world!
Finally, home from work, and I reading the post and comments again. Susie b., you could make a rap song from that hip-hop stuff you were telling Marty! I'm impressed.
Posted by: Theresa | November 28, 2006 at 10:23 PM
The American Heritage Dictionary lists two definitions for Boob:
1 (slang) - A stupid or foolish person; a dolt.
2 (vulgar slang) - A woman's breast.
I assume in Australia definition 1 is still primary. But in America its now more common usage to intend this 2nd definition. Another example of how much we are changing (and in some ways dumbing down) our American English.
Posted by: Mike N | November 29, 2006 at 08:13 AM
Mike, the English language has been constantly evolving from its conception, usually becoming simplified, which shows that the "dumbing down" is nothing new. And I'm also thinking there's an animal named booby (boobie?) in Australia. Hence the booby trap.
One could also argue that our language is "smarting up" all the time. We add new technical and scientific terms constantly, depending on historical developments. So maybe it all balances out.
I don't believe people are generally dumber now than they were, say, in about the year 1550 or so. Which reminds me of a movie of that era we watched last night which I thought was really great. If you like to watch movies in French and don't mind subtitles, check out "Queen Margot." It's about Henri de Bourbonne and the Protestants and Catholics fighting in France in the 16th century.
Posted by: Camille | November 29, 2006 at 08:54 AM
Okay, I looked it up; the booby is a tropical sea bird.
So maybe bras are modern booby traps. See, our language is still evolving, and not necessarily in a bad way. It's all in your perspective... Think positive!
Posted by: Camille | November 29, 2006 at 09:00 AM
Addendum: In the movie, Henri is called Henri de Navarre, who become Henri IV who enacted the Edict of Nantes. For the easily offended, I'll warn you that this movie is very bloody and the royal siblings are incestuous (not shown but implied). But that's realistic, that's how royal blood was kept "pure" oftentimes in those days.
So, where were we? Oh yeah, boobs...
Posted by: Camille | November 29, 2006 at 09:58 AM
Can't believe I'm getting in on this but I must challenge the definition as put forth above by the American Heritage Dictionary. Boob is slang for breast but it is anything but vulgar. My daughter says "boobies". Tits? Now that's what my wife would say is vulgar. My sister -in - law is married to an Aussie, and he would concur.
Now, if I could only remember how all this is related to endurance,athletics... I'll defer to the fairer gender.
Posted by: Larry Maxwell | November 29, 2006 at 10:12 AM
I suppose it's related to endurance athletics for all of us who have had to wrestle ourselves out of a sweaty running bra :)
Posted by: Amy | November 29, 2006 at 10:27 AM
Okay, from boobs, booby traps to Bicycling magazine! This new issue is pretty darn good. There is an article on the "Flying Pigeon" bike that has been used as the primary transportation since the beginning of the Mao revolution. Great story! It's not noted on the cover, but it's page 60. And of course, the author talks about how the bike is no longer primary, and cars are rapidly covering Beijing. Not dumbed down at all, or at least I didn't think so!
Posted by: Theresa | November 29, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Yes, Queen Margot is excellent, albeit extremely bloody as Camille stated. When I saw it a few years ago I remember thinking how barbaric life used to be but then was reminded how in some places it's not so different today.
Posted by: Yvette | November 29, 2006 at 11:59 AM