Results of the climb...

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Howard Kveck wrote:
> > I used to know a guy who said that you could ride through H Coe, if you didn't mind a lot of
> > dirt trails. But I always thought he was as nutty as a fruitcake, so I took that one with a huge
> > grain of salt.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/shw0

Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!! They went a different way than I would have thought. The guy I
mentioned said he would go right through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like it might be
do-able on the 'cross bike with 28 road tires.

> > (Here's a way off topic one for you, Robert: I wonder if you'd seen this Sy Hersh article in
> > the New Yorker? It's a bit of an eye-opener,
> > imo: <http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?031027fa_fact>
>
> Yes, I read it over the weekend. It's consistent with a long pattern of behavior that comes under
> the heading "hubris." There is a decidedly anti-evidence, anti-analysis, anti-science,
> anti-expertise bent to this administration. In some ways we are experiencing our own version of
> China's Cultural Revolution, where ideology was thought to solve all problems.

There's not much to add to that. I'll bet the recent habit of pointing the fickle finger of
blame in the CIA's direction will come back to haunt them, though. GHWB doesn't seem too
impressed, either:

<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/18
/bush_srs_message_to_bush_jr/>

--
tanx, Howard

"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes..." Repo Man

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Robert Chung]

Howard Kveck wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Howard Kveck wrote:
>>> I used to know a guy who said that you could ride through H Coe, if you didn't mind a lot of
>>> dirt trails. But I always thought he was as nutty as a fruitcake, so I took that one with a huge
>>> grain of salt.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/shw0
>
> Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!! They went a different way than I would have thought. The guy I
> mentioned said he would go right through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like it might
> be do-able on the 'cross bike with 28 road tires.

Here's a write-up of one Hamilton ride: http://www.google.com/groups?selm=DqsHEK.Asz%40hpl.hp.com

>>> (Here's a way off topic one for you, Robert: I wonder if you'd seen this Sy Hersh article in
>>> the New Yorker? It's a bit of an eye-opener,
>>> imo: <http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?031027fa_fact>
>>
>> Yes, I read it over the weekend. It's consistent with a long pattern of behavior that comes under
>> the heading "hubris." There is a decidedly anti-evidence, anti-analysis, anti-science,
>> anti-expertise bent to this administration. In some ways we are experiencing our own version of
>> China's Cultural Revolution, where ideology was thought to solve all problems.
>
> There's not much to add to that. I'll bet the recent habit of
> pointing the fickle finger of blame in the CIA's direction will come
> back to haunt them, though. GHWB doesn't seem too impressed, either:
>
>
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/ 18
> /bush_srs_message_to_bush_jr/>

I hadn't seen that. What do you think of this headline from WaPo: "Bush says attacks are reflection
of U.S. gains" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23470-2003Oct27.html)?

Here's a paragraph that made my head vibrate: "While Bush argued that the latest violence ... was
vindication of the administration's approach, Pentagon officials conferred about how to prevent such
attacks..."

 

[Van Hoorebeeck]

Yesterday (concidentially) I heard a first hand testimony from a Red Cross trucker. He was
particularly bitter about W's 'winning the hearts and minds' talk. What he saw , were not the CNN
order-keeping images, but mainly soldiers who are nervous and unable to communicate with the locals
, which often ended in beatings and shouting with the words "F*ck", "Iraq" and/or "Islam" . I guess
they needed to feel understood over something at least.

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Here's a write-up of one Hamilton ride: http://www.google.com/groups?selm=DqsHEK.Asz%40hpl.hp.com

JB has a pretty good eye for indentifying flora and fauna. I completely agree with the "day
after" approach.

> What do you think of this headline from WaPo: "Bush says attacks are reflection of U.S. gains"
> (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23470-2003Oct27.html)?
>
> Here's a paragraph that made my head vibrate: "While Bush argued that the latest violence ... was
> vindication of the administration's approach, Pentagon officials conferred about how to prevent
> such attacks..."

In denial? The more attacks there are, the better we're doing? Yeow. I realize that they're
trying to put the best face on it, but still... It's some of the strangest logic I've ever seen.
The attacks Monday AM seemed quite well coordinated and, 'Rube Goldberg' weaponry aside,
horrifyingly effective. Can you imagine how huge it would have been if they'd succeeded in
killing Wolfowitz?

--
tanx, Howard

"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes..." Repo Man

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Sonarrat" <[email protected]..> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I finished the ~7-mile climb in 56:38. And they misspelled my (real) name... grrrrrrrrrrrr.

I've been thinking, why don't you train on Metcalf Rd to San Felipe and back down Silver Springs to
Heyer and back to Monterey Highway?

That is one butt-kicking circuit and doesn't have much traffic on the most important part of it.

 

[Robert Chung]

Bart wrote:
> He was particularly bitter about W's 'winning the hearts and minds' talk.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=457997

"Crucially, over the past few months there has been a shift in Iraqi opinion that bodes ill for the
future of the United States and its allies in Iraq. At the time of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein,
Iraqis were evenly divided on whether they had been liberated or were facing an old-style colonial
occupation. The majority had always hated Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.

"Just after the invasion, 43 per cent saw the US-led Allies as "liberating forces." A poll earlier
this month showed that 15 per cent now see the Americans as liberators. Iraqis who see them as
occupiers have risen from 46 per cent to 67 per cent."

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Tom
Kunich) wrote:

> "Sonarrat" <[email protected]..> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > I finished the ~7-mile climb in 56:38. And they misspelled my (real) name... grrrrrrrrrrrr.
>
> I've been thinking, why don't you train on Metcalf Rd to San Felipe and back down Silver Springs
> to Heyer and back to Monterey Highway?
>
> That is one butt-kicking circuit and doesn't have much traffic on the most important part of it.

That is a good loop. Metcalf on a hot day can be tough, however. No shade at all, and
consistently steep (average is 10-11%, I think, for about a mile or so). Still fun, though. Twice
I've seen cannibalistic squirrels on Metcalf... Leavesley/Gilroy Hot Springs/Cañada is another
nice one that's a bit further south.

--
tanx, Howard

"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes..." Repo Man

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Bart wrote:
> > He was particularly bitter about W's 'winning the hearts and minds' talk.
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=457997
>
> "Crucially, over the past few months there has been a shift in Iraqi opinion that bodes ill for
> the future of the United States and its allies in Iraq. At the time of the overthrow of Saddam
> Hussein, Iraqis were evenly divided on whether they had been liberated or were facing an old-style
> colonial occupation. The majority had always hated Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.
>
> "Just after the invasion, 43 per cent saw the US-led Allies as "liberating forces." A poll earlier
> this month showed that 15 per cent now see the Americans as liberators. Iraqis who see them as
> occupiers have risen from 46 per cent to 67 per cent."

Somehow, I don't think Gen. Boykin is helping on this front...

--
tanx, Howard

"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes..." Repo Man

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Sonarrat]

"Howard Kveck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Howard Kveck wrote:
> > > I used to know a guy who said that you could ride through H Coe, if you didn't mind a lot of
> > > dirt trails. But I always thought he was as nutty as a fruitcake, so I took that one with a
> > > huge grain of salt.
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/shw0
>
> Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!! They went a different way than I would have thought. The guy I
> mentioned said he would go right through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like it might
> be do-able on the 'cross bike with 28 road tires.

If you ride up Dunne (on the pavement) and keep going through Holiday, you'll reach my house after
descending that ridiculous hill, looping around and climbing up Holiday Ct.

-Sonarrat.

 

[Tom Kunich]

That's the climb that used to be in that early spring century isn't it? I think that there was a
climb up the front of that hill overlooking the valley that got pretty steep and then you could
relax as you shot through that valley past the turnoff for the Hot Springs.

There was something wrong with it the last time I did it though - they routed you down Hillside or
some such that had a lot of afternoon traffic all driving stupid.

"Howard Kveck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Tom
> Kunich) wrote:
>
> > "Sonarrat" <[email protected]..> wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > I finished the ~7-mile climb in 56:38. And they misspelled my
(real)
> > > name... grrrrrrrrrrrr.
> >
> > I've been thinking, why don't you train on Metcalf Rd to San
Felipe
> > and back down Silver Springs to Heyer and back to Monterey
Highway?
> >
> > That is one butt-kicking circuit and doesn't have much traffic on
the
> > most important part of it.
>
> That is a good loop. Metcalf on a hot day can be tough, however.
No
> shade at all, and consistently steep (average is 10-11%, I think,
for about
> a mile or so). Still fun, though. Twice I've seen cannibalistic
squirrels
> on Metcalf... Leavesley/Gilroy Hot Springs/Cañada is another nice
one
> that's a bit further south.
>
> --
> tanx, Howard
>
> "It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes..." Repo Man
>
> remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Sonarrat" <[email protected]..> wrote:

> "Howard Kveck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...

> > Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!! They went a different way than I would have thought. The guy
> > I mentioned said he would go right through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like it
> > might be do-able on the 'cross bike with 28 road tires.
>
> If you ride up Dunne (on the pavement) and keep going through Holiday, you'll reach my house after
> descending that ridiculous hill, looping around and climbing up Holiday Ct.
>
> -Sonarrat.

Hmm, so I can hit you up for some water next time I'm down that way (heh)? Since we'd been
talking about it a little and I hadn't been out that way in about 7 years, I rode down to and
around the Uvas/Oak Glen loop (110 miles for me) on Sunday. It's still a headwind on the way back
out and there's still no place to get any water out there: some things never change. (The dumbass
who decided to set off on that one on a PB&J and three raspberry newtons still needs a kick, ha!)

--
tanx, Howard

"Danger, you haven't seen the last of me!"
"No, but the first of you turns my stomach!"
Firesign Theatre

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, "Tom Kunich"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> That's the climb that used to be in that early spring century isn't it? I think that there was a
> climb up the front of that hill overlooking the valley that got pretty steep and then you could
> relax as you shot through that valley past the turnoff for the Hot Springs.

It might be part of a century, but I couldn't say whether it is or not, as I don't follow those.
I can't remember any markings painted on the road, but it's been around 7 years since I got out
there. I can be more specific on the route description: Leavesley hooks up to Roop Rd., which is
a fairly steep climb for a mile or so. Roop becomes GHS just after the summit.

> There was something wrong with it the last time I did it though - they routed you down Hillside or
> some such that had a lot of afternoon traffic all driving stupid.

Well, that last bit doesn't narrow it down much, since that describes EVERY DAMN ROAD IN THE
COUNTY!!!! Ya know?

--
tanx, Howard

"Danger, you haven't seen the last of me!"
"No, but the first of you turns my stomach!"
Firesign Theatre

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Howard Kveck wrote: GHWB doesn't seem too impressed, either:
> >
> >
> <http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/
> 18/bush_srs_message_to_bush_jr/>
>
> I hadn't seen that. What do you think of this headline from WaPo: "Bush says attacks are
> reflection of U.S. gains" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23470-2003Oct27.html)?
>
> Here's a paragraph that made my head vibrate: "While Bush argued that the latest violence ... was
> vindication of the administration's approach, Pentagon officials conferred about how to prevent
> such attacks..."

A friend sent me this piece:
-------------------------------
Some (further) irony for your day...

In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George H. Bush, Senior, wrote the
following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.

"Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human and political costs.
Apprehending him was probably impossible.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in
effect, rule Iraq.... there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our
principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling
aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the
United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression
that we hoped to establish.  Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably
still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

If only his son could read.
------------------------------

Of course, there's always this: <http://www.theonion.com/3942/news1.html>

--
tanx, Howard

"Danger, you haven't seen the last of me!"
"No, but the first of you turns my stomach!"
Firesign Theatre

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Robert Chung]

Howard Kveck wrote:
> Of course, there's always this: <http://www.theonion.com/3942/news1.html>

When did the Onion switch from satire to straight news?

 

[Nev Shea]

Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Of course, there's always this: <http://www.theonion.com/3942/news1.html>

Here's the official story:

http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2003/092403.asp

 

[Stella Hackell]

Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> In article <[email protected]>, "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Howard Kveck wrote:
> > > I used to know a guy who said that you could ride through H Coe, if you didn't mind a lot of
> > > dirt trails. But I always thought he was as nutty as a fruitcake, so I took that one with a
> > > huge grain of salt.
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/shw0
>
> Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!!

Did you tear your T-shirt when you said that? It doesn't count unless you tear your T-shirt.

>They went a different way than I would have thought. The guy I mentioned said he would go right
>through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like it might be do-able on the 'cross bike with 28
>road tires.

The point was to ride the length of Coe. The fact that we could take the train most of the way to
teh start was also a selling point.

Thanks for posting this URL, RObert. It was good to re-read the story and remember what a special
ride that was. (And how nervous I was!)

Stella

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Stella Hackell) wrote:

> Howard Kveck <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...

> > Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!!
>
> Did you tear your T-shirt when you said that? It doesn't count unless you tear your T-shirt.

HA! Actually, my reference was to Washington on the show "White Shadow", practicing for that role
in the school play. I don't think he could afford to tear his shirt. (Damn, that's ridiculously
obscure... Why do I remember that ****?)

> The point was to ride the length of Coe. The fact that we could take the train most of the way to
> teh start was also a selling point.

Well, you definitely did the length of it. Sometimes I forget just how big that park is. The way
across from Dunne would be far shorter.

> Thanks for posting this URL, RObert. It was good to re-read the story and remember what a special
> ride that was. (And how nervous I was!)
>
>
> Stella

I'd never seen those posts before, since I never spent time at RBRides, so I was glad to see it.
I can't believe you did that on 21mm tires.

--
tanx, Howard

"Danger, you haven't seen the last of me!"
"No, but the first of you turns my stomach!"
Firesign Theatre

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Sonarrat]

"Howard Kveck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Sonarrat" <[email protected]..> wrote:
>
> > "Howard Kveck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
>
> > > Now that's cool. STELLLLL-LA!!! They went a different way than I would have thought. The
> > > guy I mentioned said he would go right through the front way, off Dunne Ave. It sounds like
> > > it might be do-able on the 'cross bike with 28 road tires.
> >
> > If you ride up Dunne (on the pavement) and keep going through Holiday,
you'll
> > reach my house after descending that ridiculous hill, looping around and climbing up Holiday Ct.
> >
> > -Sonarrat.
>
> Hmm, so I can hit you up for some water next time I'm down that way (heh)?

Sure. And as for tomorrow, watch for me riding my GT around Morgan Hill, wearing a gorilla suit. If
it doesn't rain.

> Since we'd been talking about it a little and I hadn't been out that way in about 7 years, I rode
> down to and around the Uvas/Oak Glen loop (110 miles for me) on Sunday. It's still a headwind on
> the way back out and there's still no place to get any water out there: some things never change.
> (The dumbass who decided to set off on that one on a PB&J and three raspberry newtons still needs
> a kick, ha!)

I tried to go down Foothill and back without water once... that was not good.

-Sonarrat.

 

[Robert Chung]

Stella Hackell wrote:
>>>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/shw0
>>
>
> Thanks for posting this URL, RObert. It was good to re-read the story and remember what a special
> ride that was. (And how nervous I was!)

Thanks for doing the ride. I've been carrying it in my memory bank since then. I particularly liked
the Rashomoning of Eric's post.