Blue Ridge Cyclery Racing: Things to do in Tucson when you're still alive.

Three-fer-Thursday out here in Earallysville. You heard me; three.

Those of you already familiar with the now-notorious (or at least, gaining notoriety) two-fer-Tuesday training regimen that Kev 29er has adopted, you probably know what I'm referencing. For those who don't, Two-fer-Tuesday represents the two hard workouts that Kev29er does every Tuesday in January and February to be stronger than the rest of us when March rolls around.

you don't just inherit a body like this. you build it. the rig frame though?much easier to come by .

Three-fer-Thursday is the natural progression of that discipline, pushing the boundaries of reasonable training methods in an effort to not only OVER-train but also embody the great spirit of cramming that, for example, makes our public universities so prestigious. Welcome to the United States of America.

And, let's transport ourselves for a moment back in time; welcome to Target. This is a real conversation I overheard between two Target employees last week:

Dude #1: Come on dude, seriously? Betty White instead of Katy Perry?
Dude # 2: Yeah, dude, Betty White is beautiful.
Dude#1: But she's like 100 years old. You can't mean that.
Dude#2: Doesn't matter. She's timeless.
Dude#1: Seriously?
Dude#2: Think about it. You get with Katy Perry, and 50 years from now, what have you got? Nothing. No one will remember who she is. But Betty White is forever.

Set aside for a moment what this says about Target's level of customer service (all good things, of course.) The personal significance here for me is that conversation became my inspiration for building back up the silver bullet.

the last time the silver bullet rolled. Pantani Ride 2010.

There's just something about old bikes that I can't get enough of. Additional inspiration? The 5,000 feet of climbing on the Pantani Ride between the base of Fox mtn and the final rally back down Simmons gap - rare moments that I'd rather not have a full suspension behind me.

So I've set about cleaning her up and getting the stuck bits spinning again. And wouldn't you know it, I wish I'd actually cleaned some of this grime off a year ago. The good news is that things are coming into focus, an old friend with an even older fork has come through in a big way, and I will soon be able to present to you the bike formerly known as the Silver Bullet but now called...Mrs. Betty White.

for the sake of proper build-up and tension in the plot, I will withhold the picture of my Pantani Day ride until February 12th.

Let's move on. I've got news, much of it out of date or rapidly becoming so.

With a return trip to the penultimate sections of the Pantani Ride today at 11 AM to train and strategize, Erico Moortani has established himself as the man to beat on February 13th. If you want any chance in hell of getting around that loop in front of him, I recommend you either join him at 11AM today or schedule some time of your own to grunt and suffer up there in the cold.

Oh, and even bigger news. Last night was a 54 degree full moon in January. Around here, that's like seeing Bigfoot - rare, but not altogether unexpected. Anyway, we had sticky singletrack, a big silver dome going in and out of the clouds, short sleeves, disconcerted skunks and possums, the whole wonderful experience. That made night ride #2 of the week for me, but when the sky is like that and your dad says rally, you rally. Some things, well most things, are more important than rest days.

Saturday plans? I know I promised. Let me under-deliver in the most brief, unapologetic way: I don't know. Looks like snow tonight, and then freezingfreakingcold. Those conditions are not conducive to the plans I previously made but didn't disclose. So we'll see.

To close on a somber note, I probably don't have to tell you about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, US Congresswoman and all around nice lady, being shot down in Tucson last week by some lunatic who probably doesn't get out and ride much. I also probably don't have to rattle off the countless ways that sucks for her, for her family, for Arizona, and for our country and world in general. But I feel I should ADD one more way that it sucks so we all know what's at stake here.

Gabrielle Giffords rallies.

singlespeeds are cool. Congresswomen who RIDE singlespeeds? Off the charts.

It's easy to sit back a bit on our haunches here on the right coast and carry on - that shooting took place a long way from here in a world we don't often see. But Mrs. Giffords is one of our own.

On an enormously positive note, Mrs. Giffords is doing her best to persevere, and yesterday she stood up and looked out the window.

Not really sure why, but I thought I'd hijack some pictures of me and my old crew from my buddy's website (hi Kirk) on a road trip we took down to Tucson in 2004. It's an amazing place. Lots of laughs to be had down there, and it's not so far away.