Occupy Visitation

 Click on the pic to enlarge.

Giant South American Anaconda attacks Metairie.

Left side 2/3 way up the LOCH NESS Monster...

Loch Ness Center Of page.

Bike escaped and took my pic in Big Bird Jersey, right hip pad for still bruised hip.

Occupy people

Occupy headquarters for Economic studies of international monetary affairs.

Can't have an occupy without a Bar B que.

Central steering committee for international exchange rates.

Philosophical arm of occupy threading the needle of Socialism, Communism, Marxism and making the Horseshoe to Machiavelli.

A distinguished leader. .

preparation of meeting of the minds, what to do when it's 30 degrees tomorrow.

Can we bring this half empty Vodka bottle into the Ozanam inn.

tailgaters.





tailgaters

tailgaters



 Archie and Drew preparing for the Game.

Saturday and Sunday weather was perfect , a little windy, but great, did 35 miles Sat and 25 Sunday, Still have a few bruises from two week ago crash but healing up nicely, wore a football pad on my hip in case I fell on it again , afraid it might deter healing.  Something about 210 pounds slapping the cement at 20 miles an hour that's adverse to muscle tissue healing. Visited the Occupy people, thought I'd get a reception or something, after all I have a job, I'm a Veteran, I live in a house in the same city year round, I work to make changes in society through education, how I raised my children, how I vote, and expressing my views in the civic activities I'm involved in.  But nooooooo!.  No red carpet for Gary. . There wasn't even the gumption to ask me for a dime.  I too have aspirations of living in a refrigerator box on Camp St. living on cheap wine and winston cigarettes, but I have to wait till I retire to partake in the  vigily high , continually downtrodden and eternally pathetic lifestyle. My son promises to drop off wine and cigarettes when I text him from the box. Karl Marx had some great ideals but that was at a time when tierney and monarchy reined the populace.  So I say hand out Visa's to Somalia, or Haiti, or Uganda., throw up your little tent city and enjoy life to the fullest.
I'll stay here in Metairie, in the AC and the Heat with running water, toilets, basins, beds and a big ass tv. ha.    Beware of the Giant South American Anaconda roaming West napoleon. . I think he could eat a car if he wanted to.  The quarter was quiet this weekend.  Don't know why .
Next trip I try to capture a live Chubracabra...... stay tuned. . .
gary

The Wounded Rider .

Here I sit, inventorying the damage, listening to Neil Young, periodically dropping a pain pill, a Valium or a antibiotic, thinking about the 50's when they'd dunk a guy like me onto a vat of Mercury for it's healing powers. It's not the bruises, I know their short lived, the cuts turn in to battle scars, the ribs will stop pulling when I breathe. The most painful aspect is impact with cement, unforgiving, brutal, solid, cutting, how can an element that serves mankind in so many good capacities be so brutal to its' makers? I've yet to hit a sidewalk or street that's had any mercy on me, no softening, no breaking , no absorbing, just oooooof! , out with your lungs ,the solid hit on your bones , muscles, appendages, you raise your head and first wonder what the hell happened then realize it don't matter now, take inventory of bones ,  stop blood flow,
don't have to worry about picking up your bike, someone will stop and do that for you.
Stand up , stretch out, check systems for operation , humble yourself, acknowledge that maybe your  not invincible, check your bike ,will it take you home? can you take you home? or do you make that pitiful call, "come and get me "please", a fate worse than the crash.
Gravel, dirt, road debris, cover your wounds like a bad bandage. I ask the lifesavers if they caught the incident on video, they never do, such an event should be recorded for study, to enable reliving  the pain of impact over and over and over and over. I knew I was due,  my bad Karma had risen to unspeakable levels. I'd like to have said I fell so hard it knocked my shoes off ,but since they were still strapped to the pedals, facing different directions,  that didn't happen. Just like a Tarzan movie all the animals stop making animal noises, the dogs, cats, rats, birds, nutrias, chubracabras, coyotes, all are silent for they know the flubby giant has slapped the earth. They pause without attempting to pick up the bike.  Ok, so no bones are broken , the bleeding stopped, you've cleaned out the debris from your wounds, some of your humility has returned, only cause you did it all yourself,  check out the bike,wheels are round, handles still up, seat still on, brakes work , time to go .    In a documentary about snake handlers,  one was bitten 17 times by poisonous snakes and continues to this day . One bitten 7 times did die. These men are obsessed with their hobbies. The obsessive bicyclist is the same possessed soul.  The obsession commands you to fit it's needs, no fear of pain, injury, or even death.  Obsession and compulsion harbor in your Psyche, shift your gears, drive you like a  diesel truck, they have no mercy, conscious, or feelings , they delicately balance you on a tightrope , one side sanity, one side hell. It drives you to hell at it's  notion.
I can only take the ride so I do . There's no ridding this demon, you can't remove it because it's you.  A parasite created by your own emotions and fed well by your fears and anxieties.
It's appetite is never satisfied , wants more and more and more, unrelenting it insanely controls your perception of reality , so once again , beware, what you see may not be what you saw, what you hear may not be what you heard,and what you think may not be what you thought. .
 I close with Caruso doing Vesti la Gubba...
gary
 .

Vacation Rides......

First I'd like to congratulate my friend Frank for winning gold in the Louisiana Senior Olympics in cycling.   Franks older than me and in better shape than most 19 year olds.  If you think working out 7 days a weeks will par you with Frank , think again, it would take more.
Frank also achieved another goal but I can't tell you about it,  it's military related and not for the public. . .

Another friend of mine Chad wrote an article for Louisiana Sportsman, about their Duck Hunting trips , the prologue was excellent , way to go Chad.  their posse is my son Neil, Chad, Charlie, Nat, the Coach,Hal, Chads father in law, Chads son Dylan, and Truman Gandy.

On vacation this week,  Rode last Sat and Sun, Mon, Wed, Thur, today ( Sat ) . Marie and I spent Friday on the Natchez and in the quarter, ate supper there, strolled around,  watched for potential murderers, kept our distance and had an escape route always.   The weather was great, the river ride was great, the atmosphere was great , had a good time.  Thursday did a 50 mile ride, same route as usual for 50, River  Levee, Audubon, quarter, city park , lakefront, Bonabel  boat launch, W Napoleon to Lafaniere , finish miles there then home.. Today my goal was the same do 50 and take off tomorrow for rest and relaxation. 
I figured out how they moved McDonough 11 , they put the rails through the bottom floor, removed the bottom floor and dropped the school on the rails. No lifting. No bottom floor .
The school is now 2 story not 3 unless they rebuild the bottom floor.
 St Marys Church is next to the Ursuline Convent ,near St Mary's Gym.,  I sat there waiting for some enlightenment , the door was locked , no Constantine today.
Today's ride was interesting,. I ran into Frank on the Levee, we stopped and chatted, Franks the kinda guy I can talk to about the writings of Candide, Russian History, " The Art Of War",
Joseph Campbell, Hemingway and the quadratic equation.  Today we discussed the laws of balance, not Bernoulli, not Newton, how important control of your front wheel is to balance. When you lose control of your front wheel your going down.  If you fly in an airplane there;s a calculated risk, if you drive a car there's a calculated risk you'll get In an accident, if you ride a bike your going down sooner or later and in my case regularly. In the words of Bob Roll, ( Tour de France Rider)  "Crosswinds and Scar Tissue".  I was making the turn from the WWII Museum on to Camp St. the very most tip of my left handle grip touched a triangle 5 ft tall Men at Work sign, down I went , oooof! was my last words.  Opened my right forearm, got a hip pointer, and bruised some ribs, several people rushed to my aid,, I wanted to sit there and take inventory of my bones, they wanted to help me up, and one seemed to feel that putting my bike upright was related to my well being.  I thanked them profusely , dusted myself off, cleaned up my arm and went on my way. Continued on my way to the quarter, headed up Canal st to take Bayou St John to City Park, there's a path on Jefferson Davis Pkwy, I take it regularly, to keep cars off, a cement block is at each street crossing, plenty room on each side to go around it, when I got to Orleans Ave. I was watching the traffic as I approached the street.  At a good clip I hit the bumper, cavitated , left foot trapped in  the pedal strap, entangled in the bike, struggled to get out of it, reopened left forearm, damaged left thigh, rehurt right hip, bruised more ribs, skinned knee,  damaged bike, and had to ride 10 miles to get home. Again 4 people stopped to help me, it must have been and exciting crash, I asked if anyone had it on film, no-one. The nice people that stopped offered all they could, and one person felt again that uprighting my bike was paramount to my recovery, I thanked them profusely. I sat there a few minutes , took inventory of bones , no breaks,  just blood all over. I decided the ride was over and headed home ,  managed 35 miles, thigh hurt all the way home.  As time went on legs tightened up, the pain level increased and I forgo a Valium for a Vicodin, a hot bath and an hour later with heat pads stuck everywhere , bikes in the shop ,  about time for my next Vicodin,  and I'll be hobbling to church tomorrow.  It's been a while since I went down this hard, but  it's part of the  deal,  I'm thankful no bones were broken , thats 5 weeks in a cast, by Monday night I'll be on my spare bike tempting fate, maybe next time it'll  be in the grass and not on cement. . . Ask me why I wear a helmet.
This is a sobering blog, not very inventive or twilight zoney, reality was bad enough...
gary

St Mary's Church at Ursurline Convent. Didn't help .

Window front on Decateur

After the 2nd fall.

Don't forget the knee.

Notice my struggling marks in the dirt.

SJ Peters. . . What an education .

McDonough #11 without bottom floor.

Blew this open twice...

Take a good look at this picture.

Skyline at dusk from in the river

St Louis Catheral from in the River.

MS Tour 2011

Click on the photos to enlarge them.... 

Sunday Morning takeoff...Out the Park

Big Open Spaces

These are Cattle, cows and bulls.

heading to a hill.

Saturday  Lunch time

this is not a cow, it's a coyote disguised as a cow waiting to pounce on a unsuspecting Chihuahua.



Graveyard



Pine trees , chubracabra habitat..

Sunday Lunch

Sunday Lunch

Sunday Lunch

Sunday Lunch

Some guy following to close behind me. .

Rest stop

Jonathan, my bike mechanic.

Jonathan in action

Verified validated genuine Big Foot Footprints.

Hill Climbing





Smart Drafting

Over the top

Eric , my bike mechanic.

This is Franks summer home

Franks Summer home.

That is a coyote disguised as a cow, notice the colors, the camo,  the non chalant attitude of the villian waiting to pounce on the first Chihuahua to swagger by.

more hills

click here for Saturday Finish in the Park.

This hill behind me

graveyard.

Crossing the finish line Saturday

Crossed the finish line Saturday

The Lone Ranger and Tonto's horses , Silver and Scout.

Silver and Scout.

Looking for a summer home...

What a Hill, got nose bleed.

They keep coming

Thighs feel great.

Crossing the top

Going down easy. .

Horse Ranch

Beautiful



Rolling hills



Home on the Range

Another Hill

And another hill

Red Dirt means your in Mississippi

Scanning for Chubracabra

Sunday Morning Start out the Park . Click here for video...

monster hill

Verified, certified , photo of a chubracabra

Volunteer escort lady. . .

gates to the Ponderosa



Saturday Lunch



More Coyotes

Big Foot Prints , verified and certified,

rest Stop

Eric the mechanic helping the downtroden

Saturday Lunch

Hay barn

Open Country

Eric my Mechanic

Another HILL .

another HILL

Cows

My fans following me .

Me following the crowd.

Trudging down the road.

1/4 of the Motorcycle Volunteers.

Sunday Morning

Crossing another River. .

Sunday Morning Starting line.

Gaining on me. . Good.

Turn here, Directors.

Log Cabin

View from the top of my Helmet taken by my subconscious riding in a lawn chair.  

Sunday Morning Start

Beautiful homes.

up and down, up and down,

Verified , sighting and photo of Big Foot.



Country.



Saturday rest Stop

I skip the first rest stop and this is why, latrine line.

What a Mansion

Climb that hill.

Cabbage patch , they grow dolls there.

early Saturday

Another River to Cross.

Saturday Starting line.

Leaving Hammond

Crowd behind me leaving Hammond

Sunday Leaving the Park

Escorts Ready

Leaving Hammond

first mile off the main road.

Enormous starting line Saturday 

Riders stacked behind me .

Working our way to the line.

Sunday in the Park Starting line.

Start in the Park

                       

Oct 1,2 MS Tour 2011

Stats: 

Saturday - Actual riding time 6 hrs 14 mins, for 76.64 miles, North wind, uphill ,, Total time 6hrs 50 mins, Avg speed -12.2mph  Max 27.0mph 

Sunday - Actual riding time 6 hr 5 mins, 78.62 miles,  Total time - 7 hrs 12 mins, light North breeze, downhill , avg 12.9  mph,  Max 28 mph 

Road Kill :

4 Opposum

2 Squirrels,

2 Vultures,

1 Raccoon

1 Turtle,

no Rabbits , no snakes,  no dogs,, no cats, no chubracabras, no Owls.

Sightings, :

1 Big Foot,

1 Chubracabra

4 Coyotes, disguised.

3 Chihuahuas - disguised.

Road Conditions - Good - Except Sunday Detour, rough...

Weather - Great , Cool in the morning , warm in the noon and after.

Riders 1200 start

No Mechanical issues thanks to my Mechanics Jonathan and Eric.

No strategy issues thanks to my mentor Vlad.

No nutrition issues thanks to Gatorade and Muscle Milk.

No support issues thanks to bride Marie. 

Saturday the start was tight, we turned off the main drag, headed north into a sturdy wind.

Legs were fresh and felt like thoroughbreds, anxious to bust out the gate, waited all year for this, ready to get it on. I gave my self a good pace, about 15 mph, fast for me , I was keeping up , it dawned on me, I surveyed the field ,I'm  surrounded by skinny people half my age. The next thing becoming evident , the usuals weren't usual,  no Flying Elvis' , no Roller Derby Girls, no Old Men that get Fat over Winter, no Buttwatchers, 1 land Shark,  instead there were more corporate sponsored teams,  well outfitted,  well trained, fit , reminded me of the Tour de France.

As I approached the first rest stop (which I pass up) a rider about 20 feet in front of me was trapped by his team , his bike cavitated , later I heard he went off with a broken arm.

In response I raised the volume on my MP3 Player in case he started screaming or crying like a girlie.  The Sun enveloped us , the chill burned off,  stopped at the 2nd rest stop, pee, cookies, grapes, back in the saddle.   8 Miles later the ambulance is blocking a portion of road, I slowly go around finding a rider laid out on the ground semi conscious,  he left in the ambulance.   I've fallen enough to know the last thing you hear is OOOOFFFF ! as you slam the ground ,air is forced out your lungs. , you can count on it, next thing you do is take inventory ,count the broken bones , look for blood then try to get up ... As the elevation increased so did the burn in my thighs, the color of the earth, the wildlife, farms , Big Foot prints everywhere, I knew I was gonna get a picture today. Rest Stop 3, I visited with one of my mechanic's, Eric , he gave me ,my bike, a quick look over ,a blessing to continue on .  Felt great at lunch stop, no concern what so ever about lasting or finishing, able to race the clock. Grabbed a turkey and cheese sandwich, ditched the bread, ate the meat and cheese, some cookies, Bananas, nuts, tried a energy drink, tasted like Chubracabra urea , chunked it, went back to my Gatorade. I was going through a wooded area, not many bikers around me. a motorcycle escort just passed, I smelled it , similar to that of a road kill animal sweltering in the sun , about to burst , It was a Big Foot,  got my camera ready, scanned the left and right, I spotted him on the right and quickly snapped a shot before he disappeared into the shelter of the woodlands.  It just wouldn't be the tour without a Big Foot picture. . A Mile later I heard a high pitched screeching and gnarling, luckily my camera was still in hand , clicked a rarely seen Chubracabra, (Mexican Goat Blood Sucker), I've been tracking them all over , this was my first picture. Every pasture had a black and white cow stationed , they're actually coyotes in cow costumes waiting for an unsuspecting Chihuahua to walk by,  nature has it's way and I don't interfere. At the 50 , 60 mile marks the hills are extremely high, saw the third victim., a rider went off the road into the ditch, the ambulance techs were checking him for a concussion , he was standing so I think he was all right. I climbed Godzilla Mountain no problem since I had a portable oxygen tank with me .  I looked down at the clouds and wow, , almost hit 30 mpg going down holding back .  I could smell the finish line ,, my legs started pumping harder,  I turned into the Park for the roller coaster ride,  see the video, it's a rush. Plenty cheering and clapping by kind people that are there to spread information, help victims and raise money for MS .

My time was great, I felt good, not tired, ready for tomorrow. .. .  After dinner Marie and I walked in the mall to keep my legs loose.  Slept great Saturday night, arose early, loaded up , Marie dropped me off about a half mile before the starting line. I rode in and hit the breakfast line,

grits, biscuit, yogurt, had time to warm up a little then maneuvered into a comfy spot of the starting mass, going out the park Sunday morning is tight and fast, I hang to the right , if it gets ugly I'll ditch it.

We emerge the Park unscathed and turn right into the sunlight , well appreciated, warm, MP3 player time, motivation in a matchbox,  started with "Soul Sacrifice " by Santana, the Woodstock Version, will motivate anything.  Carlos says he was on Mescaline at the time and thought his guitar was a snake trying to bite him.  I understand..I face the sun for it's rays to embrace my skin , make me feel warm, trivial, minuscule, realizing, I'm 60 years old on a 4 billion year planet, inhabited for 3 million years, kept alive by a nuclear explosion  92 million miles away. I'm a piss ant in the South American Jungle...I  pedal faster, just because .

Next song gets me in a grove , pleasant, relaxing, Joanne Shaw Taylor "Heavy Heart" from the album "White Sugar" , she can play the blues big time, groves me into a grove.   Stopped at the first stop , usual long line at latrines , grabbed a couple of cookies and carried on.  Sunday morning is hills right away, climb,climb,,climb, the weaklings walk across the top, embarrassing,

occupying my mind with the scenery, animals, woodlands, rivers, I also have my best legs contest, at mile 25 abandoned that ,,, the leader was a guy in a red jersey and green bike,not how it started out.  Mile 40 I had run short of Gatorade, no problem, I have a few dollars on me, I'll stop at the next country grocery and get a Gatorade to take me to the next rest stop, lunch.

I topped a hill at a y in the road, pulled onto the gravel pad at the fuel pumps, parked the bike , walked up to the door and paused,  it was a screen door, big metal handle with an advertisement for Royal Crown Cola , naturally it squeaked when I opened it, the floor was wood, dried and dusty, slowly I looked around , on the left two men playing checkers on  a pickle barrel, one turned quickly to acknowledge me with a toothless smile, gruff unshaven face and a funny looking semi baseball hat. The other man was older , gray haired , dirtier looking and didn't raise his head.  The amazing thing is they looked familiar.  I approached the wood plank counter and asked the clerk for a Gatorade, he adjusted his white apron glanced  at the  checker players,  spun his toothpick to the other side of his lips and says "no Gatorade", "how about a Powerade" I reply, "no Powerade either" , he grunts out, "OK" I then suggest "bottled water" ? "no bottled water" he informs me " we have a coke machine right there" as a final reply... I scoot to the left and I'm facing a coke machine with a opening top, water running inside, I've used them before, I reapproached the counter, the clerk had my change ready. I  inserted the coins and slid a coke to the opening that flipped up for removal.. I didn't ask about deposit on the bottle, I drank it down and took another glance at the gentlemen at the pickle barrel , where have I seen the before?

I gave a big thanks to everyone and marched out the screen door letting it slam behind me. 

I'm refreshed , climb in the saddle and pulled  back onto the blacktop,  on the side of the grocery and old truck was parked out of sight, what I saw brought it all into focus, it was a  40's tow truck , single cable , rust colored , dust covered , it was the truck in "Deliverance".

and those 2 men were the Griner brothers who drove the cars to Antry..  I peddled my ass down the road and swore that's the last time I start the day with 2 Valiums and a glass of gin.

Pulling into the lunch stop I took some deep breaths, grab a PBJ , removed the crust and wolfed down the rest.  some cookies,  orange wedges, plenty Gatorade, took a pee and decided to get out these hills , I pumped and pumped and pumped ,  next stop visited with Jonathan and Eric my bike techs , chit chatted a little looking for some reality,  put a few peanut packs in my jersey, and headed down the road, the picture people made me happy they had about 4 shots of me and I had 4 shots of them taking shots of me. The hills are lessening , there's a little tailwind, I'm cruising about 16 to 18 mph, I'm flying,  I knew I 'd have good time today but there was a detour that added 4 miles to the route. No problem ,I trained for anything. 

We got the the last stop in Pontchatoula at the Church in the middle of town, I'm relaxed, the finish is around the corner.  I'm riding like I'm gonna win, I see what I think is the Tangipahoa River approaching, camera in hand I want a good shot with out stopping,  I get a shot as we approached, on the bridge I spot some canoeist, I shoot the shot , then look down and see

and aluminum canoe , yes,  Ned Beatty is in the front, John Voight is in the back and Burt Reynolds is lying unconscious in the middle . Hey,, I just blinked my eye and kept riding , I got a picture, that should give my mind a jolt. . Rod Serling may come back from the dead for this one, or maybe Norman Corwin. Now I'm worried that the finish line will be at a flooded river.. 

I turned the last corner where it all started yesterday ,, the crowd was cheering, clapping, Marie was waiting for me, everybody was happy , it was time to go home..   I didn't mention anything to Marie about Deliverance or she'd hide my Valium,  I was relieved when I reviewed the pictures of all the country and animals and riders, my jaw dropped when the canoe was in the river but no Burt Reynolds or Beatty or Voight it was Captain Kirk in the front , Dr McCoy in the back and a Spock unconscious in the middle.  I can't win. . Gotta watch those flashbacks.

It was a great tour, well organized, plenty support, I raised 600.00 or so dollars for MS, and I' signed up for next year.   I'll ride easier through the winter then come April ,the Crescent City Classic we get to crushing in those miles again. 

Thanks to everyone for your support, your interest and encouragement. 

gary