First of all I want to say that Sarge was a name given to me by Patrick who unlike me served in the military and flew helicopters. When I first started riding in Carson most of the facility guys were green(so to speak). At first I was just happy to be riding at lunch let alone be riding with a handful of guys that never complained. At certain intervals I would suggest things because I was careful not to come across as some know-it-all-biker idiot. I would suggest that maybe we shouldn't race from the very start of the ride and that maybe if we didn't do that we could ride farther. These suggestions weren't really a conscious thing. It happened over time. I'm no bicycle wizard but I always carried enough stuff to get me home. Some of the guys didn't(in the beginning) so I was quick to help with a flat or broken chain. Eventually I got comfortable with this group of people and started to yell and joke with them about almost anything bicycle related..... and one day...Sarge....When I moved back to Maryland in 2004 I didn't really do a whole lot of riding. I kept in touch with J-Mo almost the entire time and as I was dealing with other things he never stopped riding. He got new Sarges and started riding farther and eventually commuting. I just want to thank him for keeping me in the loop even when I was 2600 miles away and continuing to keep me in the loop when I moved back mid March. I'm now just happy to be one of the pack and I say that with all sincerity. No offense to Patrick but Scott R will be fine if there are more than 1 of us around.
In an effort to be wishy washy this is a pic of my sister Leslie(taken the night before I headed west) who is the most important person on this earth to me. Here are some excerpts from a birthday blog she wrote to me last year concering when we were kids...I suppose Sarge really is buried in there somewhere but I'm happy to let it go...................
He decided to toughen up his little sister and made her do "stuff" that she might not have been exactly ready for. Instance #1--"Les, just ride this skateboard down this big hill (although you don't ride skateboards)...do it.. you can do it!" Les takes her big brother's encouragement, starts down the hill, and doesn't understand why the skateboard is wobbling at a frightful pace the faster she goes.. ..she goes flying off of it and nothing but the pavement and her skin is there to stop her. Scott greets her with happy celebration as he scrapes her off the bloody road.
He eventually started to like his little sister slowly. He met her at another physical challenge telling her to get on a bike and jump a creek. He psychologically prepared her and told her "Mike Siglers little sister would do it". So Leslie got a good running start on the bike, hit the ramp, went over the creek and flew gracefully over the handlebars having them crush her right in the diaphram. She lay on the ground and Scott met her exuberantly as she tried to breathe. He said she did "good" and she was thrilled with his approval as she gasped for air.
In an effort to be wishy washy this is a pic of my sister Leslie(taken the night before I headed west) who is the most important person on this earth to me. Here are some excerpts from a birthday blog she wrote to me last year concering when we were kids...I suppose Sarge really is buried in there somewhere but I'm happy to let it go...................
He decided to toughen up his little sister and made her do "stuff" that she might not have been exactly ready for. Instance #1--"Les, just ride this skateboard down this big hill (although you don't ride skateboards)...do it.. you can do it!" Les takes her big brother's encouragement, starts down the hill, and doesn't understand why the skateboard is wobbling at a frightful pace the faster she goes.. ..she goes flying off of it and nothing but the pavement and her skin is there to stop her. Scott greets her with happy celebration as he scrapes her off the bloody road.
He eventually started to like his little sister slowly. He met her at another physical challenge telling her to get on a bike and jump a creek. He psychologically prepared her and told her "Mike Siglers little sister would do it". So Leslie got a good running start on the bike, hit the ramp, went over the creek and flew gracefully over the handlebars having them crush her right in the diaphram. She lay on the ground and Scott met her exuberantly as she tried to breathe. He said she did "good" and she was thrilled with his approval as she gasped for air.
........................................
Cheers to friendship, tolerance and understading....As in life, these things are most appreciated in cycling.
4 comments:
Yeah, "The Sarge" has probably run its course. How about "Corporal"? You don't have to say yes just yet. Try it on for a few days, and see if it sticks.
Or since this is your second out here, and it's kind of like a 2nd coming, why not "Jesus"? "Hey Zeus" isn't bad either...
Napoleon Dynamite: Whatever you feel like you wanna call me. Gosh!
Ah yes...encouragment the Russel way. I'm taken back to an incident when we first started riding in MD, where he wanted me to ride thru a deadly rock garden. I declined and that's when he shook the timbers and told me to just do it. I believe I got my front wheel in and fell. The weird thing is I would do it again, if he told me too.
If I recall that incident correctly there was an inordinate amount of chatter/bitching about rocks.....I never got you hurt except for that one time and that wasn't a biking thing. Jeff has a bike to fit you perfectly when you decide to come visit.
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