RIP Wouter Weylandt

No Manic Monday today. I've been quietly getting absurdly geeked up for the Giro d'Italia ever since what was, in my opinion, one of the best Classics seasons in recent memory. That all came crashing down with the news that Wouter Weylandt, of Team Leopard-Trek, had passed away after a horrific crash on one of the final descents of today's 3rd stage of the Giro. Ironically, he won last year's 3rd stage in Italy, and to quote Bonnie Ford of ESPN, I'm sure he would want to be remembered thusly:

Having grown up crewing for my father in sailplane competitions, I've lost close friends to sporting accidents. It's not something you get used to. In spite of the fact that I'm little more than a Fred, and very much a fanboy of these amazing athletes, I firmly believe that the cycling community is truly bound by love and understanding of the sport. A member of my extended family - of my extended peloton, if you will - however distant, has left us.

Wouter was 26, and a helluva rider. I read that his wife is expecting a baby in September, which pretty much makes this a complete kick in the gut. My most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to his family, his friends, and his teammates, past and present.

Ride in Peace, Wouter...

Happy Anniversary

I've been racking my brain all week about a post in honor of my wife for our wedding anniversary, which just happens to be today. I had visions of heartwarming passages, anecdotes and snippets that would do justice to the woman I'm lucky enough to have bamboozled into spending her life with me. I spent so much time thinking on it, that I neglected my regular weekly posts on Monday and Wednesday. I figured it'd be worth it once I pulled something together for today.

A funny thing happened, though. Everything I put down just didn't get the job done. How do you express, in text, what it means for a person to be your rock, your pillow, your shrink, your reality check, your biggest fan, your cracking whip, your best friend, and much more all rolled into one?

The truth is, I don't know. I've spent the week putting down thoughts, but nothing does the trick. It's just impossible to encapsulate the breadth and depth of what my wife means to me. The past four months have brought it into ever starker relief. You don't ever really know how much you need somebody until you need them.

I guess that's the best way to describe it. Quite honestly, I don't know what I would do without my wife. I'm so happy she's with me, and I'm hopeful she won't wise up and move on.

With that, I'm copping out with a Quote Machine and a couple of my favorite pics. These people simply say it better than I could ever hope to. Happy Cinco de Mayo to the world out there, but an even happier anniversary to the person that keeps me going every day.

Wednesday Quote Machine: Spotlight on Townes Edition

I have an ever growing playlist that I keep of songs that I intend to learn how to play. Sometimes I forget about it and it goes neglected for significant periods of time. Yesterday, while working the the yard, I put it on and was pleased to find I've been good about learning many of the tunes I recently set out to master. There was one surprise, however. I forgot that I had included "To Live Is To Fly" by Townes Van Zandt. Like many times before, it stopped me dead in my tracks.


This simple, achingly thoughtful song is Townes at his best, and it's easily my favorite of his, so we're just gonna let that be this week's edition of the Quote Machine. Based on the responses from a couple of weeks ago, this may be a bit obscure for the four of you reading here. Do yourself a favor and seek out some Townes Van Zandt. He's widely considered to be one of the most influential songwriters in country and folk music, and he personally mentored the likes of Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams before he passed away.


Like many of the great songwriters (Dylan jumps immediately to mind), his strength is in the writing and not in the performance, so I find his songs better performed by other people for whatever reason. Immediately off the top of my head, I can think of versions of this song by Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and the Cowboy Junkies that each make the song sound like their own. A great way to hear Townes the first time is to check out Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt. Steve Earle also recently released his own collection of Townes songs, and once famously said, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

Manic Monday: Spring Is Here Edition

Spring seems to have finally taken hold here in the Upstate of South Carolina. Most of the bad pollen has come, and the semi-regular rain has done a decent job of knocking it down. What does that mean? Time to get outside and do stuff.

This week, we're covering Easter, yard work, questionable taste in movie stars, and others... Off we go.

MIA

Missing: Bo's Legs

Last Seen: mountain biking on Paris Mountain on Sunday, April 17, 2011.

Items have been missing the past two days after getting completely demolished on the C1 ride at Donaldson on Tuesday, followed by struggling to even keep up on the weekly pre-yoga social trail run.

Whereabouts: unknown. Have attempted recovery of missing items via compression and yoga, but results have been, to date, mixed at best.

Missing items have been known to be elusive at times, but can typically be found somewhere on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and northern Greenville County. If sighted, please post comment below to inform owner of their location to facilitate a speedy recovery.

Regards,

The Daily Honesty Staff

Wednesday Quote Machine: Ok, You People Suck, So We're Gonna Make This One Easy Edition

So, my little contest last week garnered a grand total of two responses, and nobody got all of them. Granted, some of it was pretty dang obscure but at least my boy Keith got the Avetts, U2, and Prince, which were the hanging fastballs of the bunch. For the record, here are the answers:

1. "I And Love And You" - The Avett Brothers
2. "Both Hands" - Ani DiFranco
3. "With or Without You" - U2
4. "Purple Rain" - Prince
5. "'52 Vincent Black Lightning" - Richard Thompson
6. "Mary Queen of Arkansas" - Bruce Springsteen

Granted, 2, 5, 6 were pretty obscure but, given the fact that the titles of the song are in the actual quotes, I thought somebody'd get one or two of them. Anyway, we're gonna bring it down a notch. Same rules as last week, and same prize (undetermined), except this week we're doing movies. First person to name each movie correctly, search engine-free (honor system, people), wins...

Manic Monday: Time Warp Edition (revisited)

Crap. Second week in the past month or so I missed Monday. So, we're taking a time warp back for a quickie edition so I can try to keep up appearances around here.