Dedication

"There are few people who have made their mark on life quite like monk Hua Chi. He has knelt to pray so many times that his footprints remain deeply, perfectly ingrained on his temple's wooden floor. Hua, who is about 70, has been performing a strict daily ritual at the site in the monastery town of Tongren, in Qinghai province, China, for nearly 20 years. Every day before sunrise, he arrives at the temple steps, places his feet in his footprints and bends down to pray a few thousand times before walking around the temple. The footprints are 1.2 inches deep where the balls of his feet have pressed into the wood." - Is It A Miracle?

Real Men of BAMFness: Svein Tuft

I don't really know exactly where to start. This guy is so badass it is painfully awesome. The NYTimes did a brilliant job chronicling his BAMFness in the article, "Canadian Rider Has Made An Unorthodox Climb To The Top." At 18, he was riding across Canada on a $40 Thriftstore bike with a homemade trailer attached. In the trailer? Some camping gear and his 80lb. dog named, of course, Bear. What else could it be named? Maybe BAMF. But "Bear" is pretty good. More proof of BAMFness? He drank from streams and ate beside an open fire. Or hopped trains across Canada, resting as the land flickered by. That was 13 years ago. This past year, in August, he won a silver medal in the Time Trial at the World Championships and finished 7th in the TT at the Olympics. He didn't know who he was, so he hopped on a bike and set out to find himself. I think he has.

© 2009 Graham Watson

ST, you are a BAMF.

SitRep

So I've been away for a long time. What have I been doing, you may be asking. Or perhaps at this point I was in absentia for long that you no longer care. Hopefully, the miracle of RSS will allow me to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the interweb graveyard. To quote Miracle Max, I was only *mostly* dead, well at least as the blog was concerned. In the spirit of being completely honest, I was just feeling a little overwhelmed by my computer, which occasionally seems to glare at me like an ignored stepchild. It was like I'd spent my whole life introducing it as "this is my adopted computer, Mac." For those of you who haven't seen the Royal Tennenbaums, I'm sorry for you, since your cinematic life experience is currently incomplete and also because you will have no idea what that joke is in reference to.

On the topic of unresolved business, I'm still very much up in the air about a bike sponsor, and about sponsors in general. I've got several promising leads, but so far, it seems to be a tough road that I'm traveling. On the topic of things that really matter, I am much closer (I think) to finding a new coach. Hopefully a formal bit of closure on that later in the week. Since all these posts about new things that I don't have is a bit disappointing, I will share you with something new that I do have - a new pair of shoes that I bought. They are very snazzy and match the color scheme of the blog, something not to be undervalued. Without further adieu, I present my Puma Complete Roadracers:




So now that I've artificially added substance to this post, I feel much better. I've also been testing out some other new gear, including some new suits from Kiwami. I also have one of John Cobb's new VFlow Plus saddles, but I haven't ridden it yet. I also got myself a pair of the Blackburn Flea lights (front and rear) since sunset still approaches quickly when you are riding later in the day. So hopefully this will help keep people off of my tail. That's pretty much the extent of my exciting forays into the world of gear, which is probably my most favorite thing in the world. Wait, that's not true, I'm also testing out some SRAM Force kit to see how it stacks up against 2009 Rival. So far, it's much less "mechanical," which is not necessarily good or bad. Seems more like Shimano than Rival, which reminds me much more of the very authoritative and mechanical shifts of SRAM Red. Probably has to do with differences in the springs. Not sure yet. Front shifts are better, that's the most noticeable.

I've got myself confirmed for a couple races - California (Oceanside) 70.3, Boise 70.3, and Ironman Canada. So those few are certain. Still up in the air about Wildflower; a lot will depend on what happens the weeks before in terms of traveling.

That's really it. I suppose I ought to return to the 'Twitch and then getting ready for the continuation of my big run focus. I promise to be better. Maybe I'll go on a posting spree to keep my February average up.

Real Men of BAMFness: Yoshihisa Hosaka

I am not sure if the world is less BAMF, or I have just been lazy, but it seems like it has been a while since we've had a real person of BAMFness. Fortunately, it appears it was just a temporary glitch in the matrix, as Yoshihisa Hosaka came through in a big way for BAMFs everywhere en route to a 89th place overall finish at the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 1. His time for the marathon was very fast 2:36:30. Now, I know what you are thinking. 2:36:30? That is relatively pedestrian. Most Kenyan marathoners could do that on leg. And yes, that might be true. What makes Mr. Hosaka such a BAMF? It's simply really. He's 60. SIXTY. Six-Oh. That's right, at an age when many people (but not you Mom) are listening to Robert Wagner encouraging them to reverse mortgage their home, waiting anxiously for the latest AARP bulletin, and popping Geritol, Mr. Hosaka is smashing records and running 5:58miles. Oh, he trains 30km (18.6miles) per day.

YH, you are a BAMF.

Thanks to Japan Running News for pointing out this BAMFness.