Another One Bites The Dust

Earth as seen by the Apollo 8 crew on Dec. 24, 1968.

And the world just keeps on spinning.  If the Mayans couldn’t see their own imminent demise, then what chance did they have to see ours in what was, from their point of view, a distant future?  I’ve lost track of how many doomsdays I have survived.  There will be more, I feel certain.  But I have no supernatural understanding of things to come, just an assumption based on experience.  Despite a history of failure the prophets will continue to conjure their lies and fantasies, then promote them to us out of religious zeal or (more likely) a desire to separate us from our wallets.  If you’d like to get in on the fun, I have two suggestions.  First, don’t set an exact date.  Second, make the imagery of your apocalyptic vision so impossibly weird that even the people who are too smart to believe in its literal truth can debate what you really meant.

If yesterday had been the last day on Earth, then at least I would have gone out well.  I spent the evening in the company of several of my finest cycling friends.  We weren’t riding, but we were reminiscing about the past year and looking forward to the next.  Of course, much of the new racing schedule is still unknown.  WORS announced its 2013 dates way back in August, parts of the ABR and Wisport calendars are available online, and I know a couple of WEMS dates that haven’t yet been published.  There’s nothing yet from the WCA, but that’s not the end of the world.  The WCA is always among the last organizations to announce its schedule … even though most of its events fall on the same weekends, year in and year out.

I’ve never done a WCA road event, so why should I care about that schedule?  The answer is Cheesehead Roubaix.  I would prefer not to schedule it against a nearby WCA race, because some of the people I’m trying to attract to my event would likely go to the race instead.  Sunday, Apr. 28, is still the most likely date for the 2013 edition of Cheesehead Roubaix.  I wouldn’t mind settling into a predictable pattern, always scheduling the event on the Sunday before the first WORS race.  My ride is a good fitness test, even if there are no hills on it to compare with the challenges at the WORS season opener in Iola.  Stay tuned; I will have an official announcement soon.