St. Patrick's Day

Every year at this time, I am reminded of Will Stanton's famous declaration that "There's no mayonnaise in Ireland." I wonder if the snakes took it all with them when St. Patrick drove them into the sea.

Yeah, OK, whatever. While I'm sure that St. Patrick was a decent enough fellow, there's plenty of scientific evidence showing that there never were any snakes in Ireland. It appears that he really didn't do much other than a lot of preachin' and convertin' of heathens. And I'm not sure those accomplishments really merit parades and whatnot. And as for the pinching of folks who have better fashion sense than to wear green, well, that's just downright wrong. If you're thinking about trying that with me, you'd be wise to consider the possibility that I might possess a concealed carry permit. I'm just sayin'...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not at all opposed to letting the Irish celebrate their shamrock-eating roots. And I firmly believe that responsible adults should be allowed to consume green beer if they so choose. But I have absolutely no desire to hear any crappy Irish "U2" or "Riverdance flutes n' fiddles music." The Emerald Isle may have done the world a service by inspiring Lucky Charms, but their music sucks.

Regardless, I hope that you enjoy your St. Patrick's Day, and that the approach of Springtime is bringing you joy and delight. I know that I am excited to see the arrival of some decent weather, and am aching to get back outside for a good season of training.

This past weekend was decent enough. I had a good 7-mile run on Saturday, and rode the bike for about 30 miles on Sunday. The fun part was testing my new bike rack on the back of the car. I am pleased to report that it worked impressively well.



It's heavy (more than twice the weight of my mountain bike), so it's a bit of a chore to lug it out into the parking lot. But installing it onto the trailer hitch could not have been simpler, and loading the bike took mere seconds. Everything appeared to remain completely secure throughout the drive out to Waterton.

I was a little skeptical about the claim that the rack would fold down to allow the rear hatch to open without interference, but sure enough, it did.



The other nice feature of the Kuat rack is the built-in work stand. You can hang your bike to do maintenance before or after your rides. I'll probably use it to clean the mountain bike after each dirt session. Pretty handy.



Anyway, as you've probably guessed, I've been swamped with activities and tasks, and expect to remain buried until about the middle of April. I really do appreciate you stopping by to check the site, and will post updates when I can. I have a couple of really good quizzes in mind, and would love to share my review of the ballet based on William Shatner's music -- but those will have to wait until I can find a bit more free time.

In the meantime, enjoy your St. Pat's Day, have a green beer if that's your thing, and feel free to listen to all the annoying music you want. (Just keep the volume low, OK? Thanks.)

Have a great day!