My 1st poker run(Gonads n' Strife)

Brent and Sandie were gracious enough to coax me(didn't take much) into to going to a bicycle poker run in Reno to benefit the Make A Wish foundation. They picked me up and supplied the cruiser bicycle. Although it's not necessary to have a cruiser it seems that's what 90 percent of the people ride. I hadn't been on anything with a coaster brake in probably over 35 years. With your normal bicycle almost nobody even cares what you ride but with these cruisers, it's almost like the car world. People will comment on things...'nice seat..nice paint job...nice this, that and the other'...and the cool thing is most of these bikes are cheap. Cruising and beer drinking. I was thinking if we were the last to make it back...but in time for the drawing that would be perfect. We might not have been the last but we timed our beers well. I suppose after a few paychecks I will need to see what kind of cruiser may best suit my going slow and beer drinking needs. There was one incident in downtown Reno. As the pack thinned out there were probably 10 of us in a bunch approaching a stoplight. Some guy with a radio station bumper sticker that said, 'Love 93' or some other shit on the back came from behind honking. So at the next light Sandie and ignorant ass driver got in a legal battle over how many abreast is proper. I think 2 but I'm not sure. After 3/4 of the words were exchanged he blurts out, 'I hope you get hit by a car'....I'd almost rather have someone throw me the finger or call me a wuss than say that...Probably a good thing the light turned green, Brent wasn't too happy with that and had I heard it I wouldn't have been either. But in a way that seems to be the norm with cyclists and motorists. Maybe all the cyclist of the world should unite and raise some money to supply the motorists with Valium. Seems the line from Cool Hand Luke applies to this issue, 'Failure to communicate'. I'm a cyclist and a motorist and I can't recall 1 time that I felt delayed by any cyclist anywhere. Sometimes they make me nervous as do motorcycles but as far as being slowed down to the point of being late for something....Never....So when I've had enough and start an outlaw bicycle chapter with leather jackets complete with lower rockers we'll see how many people sound off. Something about this war talk turns my stomach. Enough..............Thanks again Brent and Sandie!

rest of the pics live here.....

http://picasaweb.google.com/srussel459/GonadsAndStrifePokerRun

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22078619@N04/sets/72157605131521750/

Todd Sniders story of pitching a no hitter on LSD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sugCwMxwPRk

Dock Phillip Ellis, Jr. (born March 11, 1945, in Los Angeles, California) is a former professional baseball player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, among other teams. His best season was 1971, when he won 19 games for the World Series champion Pirates and was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game.
However, Ellis is better-known for several bizarre incidents:
Beaning Reggie Jackson in the face in apparent retaliation for Reggie's monstrous home run off Ellis in the 1971 All-Star game in Detroit.
No-hitting the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970 despite being, as he would claim in 1984, under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game.[1] Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his girlfriend told him he had to pitch a game against the Padres that night. Ellis boarded a shuttle flight to the ballpark and threw a no-hitter despite not being able to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher. Ellis claims catcher Jerry May wore reflective tape on his fingers which helped Ellis to see his target. Ellis walked eight, struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou.[2] During the game, Ellis is reported to have commented to his teammates on the bench between innings that he was pitching a no-hitter-- in spite of the superstition that discourages mentioning a no-hitter while it is in progress. Because the no-hitter was the first game of a double header, Ellis was forced to keep track of the pitch count for the night game.[3]
According to Ellis:
I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me.[4]
Attempting to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup on May 1, 1974. In an effort to prove a point to teammates, Ellis hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in the top of the first. The clean-up batter Tony Perez avoided Ellis' attempts, instead drawing a walk, and after two pitches aimed at the head of Johnny Bench, Ellis was removed from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh. Ellis' box score for the game reads: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.[5]
On May 5 1972, Dock Ellis engaged in an argument with a security guard who barred him from entering through the players' gate at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium and then maced him. The guard maintained that Ellis had failed to adequately identify himself, "made threatening gestures with a clenched fist," and was carrying a half-empty bottle of wine. Ellis denied that he had intended to punch the guard or was holding a bottle of wine and claimed he was denied entrance (and maced) despite showing his World Series ring as proof of identity.
Ellis went on to play for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers, then ended his career back in Pittsburgh. He finished with a lifetime record of 138-119 and an ERA of 3.46.
Ellis collaborated with future U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall on a book, Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, which was published in 1976. Although Hall knew of the LSD incident, it was not included in the first edition of the book; Ellis was playing for the Yankees when the book was published, and Hall worried that George Steinbrenner would react negatively to such an admission.
Dock Ellis retired to Victorville, California and a career as a drug counselor.[6] He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 2007 and currently sits on the list for a transplant.[7]

Happy Mothers Day......

I sure do miss you but I know you were ready to move on. I hope you know I'm doing well and there are some folks who are watching out for me.....And of course Les and I watch out for each other as best we can given the distance. There are not too many people on this earth like your youngest...or your oldest for that matter. Thank god for me..hahahaha....I start a new job tomorrow and when I found out, you were the 1st person that came to mind to call. And it hits you kinda funny when the most important people in your life aren't around to hear these things....but there are important people in my life and I think you would approve of the ones you haven't met....Happy Mothers day momma...I love you....

2/3 of the way to the top

Yesterday Patrick and I decided to see how far we could climb this doubletrack that follows Ash Canyon to the top. We had no idea how hard it was or how far. From what we've been told we made it about 2/3's of the way. Felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Next time we shall crest this thing. Few pics of fun and suffering. Patrick reminds me of Cool Hand Luke in a lot of ways. Man of few words but tough as nails. I'm afraid to have him over for eggs.

When we were younger.

Some misc pics and docs I scanned in. The 4 1/2 viewers of this blog will understand. The distress note was from Gene Gene who happened upon a friend who could hold her liquor. Gene is still a solid friend and the time we lived together was a time that seemed effortless. The condo mentioned in the complaint letter housed many roommates. It was the unspoken meeting place most weekends. Debauchery, but nobody ever got hurt that I'm aware of even though 1 night a friend of a friends boyfriend(who nobody knew...but he was 1 big dude) started a fight that ended in my bedroom. He was sadly outnumbered and as I remember it no worse for the wear when we let him up. I can still remember sitting on my bed as my other friends(Louis and Gary) were on top of him....and I was thinking, 'what's he gonna do when they let him up...he went home peacefully'. 2 of my neighbors got in a brawl in the hallway late one night and I'm sure I was blamed for that noise but I had nothing to do with that. Part of the problem with this condo was that the day I moved in I realized that a classmate of mine had also moved in right next to me and he had a whole set of different crazy friends. My pop on the left(baseball uniform) taken in 1962. Dad won the photo of the year contest in the National Enquirer for 1985. Some cake and laughter for me. Sleeping with critters is always good. Added a few pics I found to the top of this post. Rays(guy in hat on back of atv) bachelor party. We only discovered the guy hosting this thing had a 4-wheeler after we were drunk. I think this was taken 12 years ago and they are still married with lots of kids.

More here: http://picasaweb.google.com/srussel459/BlastFromThePast

Virginia City from the southeast side

Took the road bicycle out today for the 1st time since I moved here. I figured Monday would be a good day to do this climb as opposed to the weekend. All went well. I made it, albeit slowly. Few pics from the climb.