Dan Action

Been Gone, Yall. May 20, 2007

Whoa, let’s just pretend I’ve been in space for a while. You know Carl Sagan would. Now that some nice weather got up to New England, I don’t feel too bad about writing about being in Florida.

I’ve been down here since the week after ‘cross nationals. January was a hectic month. Dru & I were trying hard to get the shed I was to be living in done pretty fast since I had company in the from of Frenching Action with Hannah coming down from up north mid-month to begin our deep-south tour. Tour brought me away from Gainesville for two weeks or so. We played shows in Tampa, Pensacola, New Orleans, Cleaveland, MI, Chattanooga, TN, Asheville, Valdosta, GA, and here in Gainesville. Tour was soooooooo rad! It’d been quite a while since I’d been on tour, and I ‘ve got to tell you, it was our first tour, and even our first time playing shows outside New England, and it went so well I kept expecting the disaster to wash over us. It never happened, we just kept playing either awesome or weird shows and had a ton of fun.

Hannah stuck around here in town for a few weeks afterward which was so nice. After a couple weeks in a van we were pretty sluggish when we finally started riding. No matter, I was so excited to be able to show her some of the routes I used to ride down here. Like so many roads in the south they are lined with live oaks making a canopy over the roads as they wind on through horse farm country. Winter is also the time where a lot of Gainesville ex-pats come back to town, either their folks live in FL. still, or they, like me, know how to get away when the cold comes to their newest adopted home. Either way it was super nice to see so many folks and get to ride with some old friends like Suko and Elly.

Training Races.

January in Gainesville also brings a four race training series. Hannah and I figured “What better way to whip ourselves into shape?”, so we went out. Now, you might think that living in Fl. there is no winter, therefore, no reason to stop riding or get off form. Well, that’s the fucking truth. I raced the 1, 2, 3 race and pretty much hung on for dear life as the pack careened around another somehow familiar industial park crit course at 30 mph. I went for as long as I could, which wasn’t too long really, then dropped out. Hannah fared better than I, actually finishing her race; the 1, 2, 3, 4 women’s. Having our respected asses handed to us got us out riding way more miles. I was damned if I would let the next race play out the same way, base miles or not. When the weekend rolled around again, I was feeling a ton better and able to make some moves in the race. I managed to stay with the lead group for the majority of the race, but I kept hearing a weird rattle on the bike, it was definetly me, too. I pulled off and checked everything out. Lo and behold my front brake had worked its’ way loose and was shaking around in the fork. Totally fucked up. I tightened it up while getting to say Hi to an old riding friend and took a free lap which put me in the chase group with five laps or something to go. I realized I had been working pretty hard before I stopped, because when I went to put the hammer down to try to bridge up I didn’t have that much left in me. A few of us were working together well, but stopping really seized the old legs up or something. When we got 1 to go I quietly pulled off and rolled around for a while. Hannah’s race went even better for her. They were starting categories off staggered, so with her being a four, she started first off. When she was caught by a couple of threes, they made a good bid for trying to stay away. They held off the rest of the pack until four to go, then were caught. Hannah recovered and stayed in for the sprint. Not to mention she won some grocery gift certificates in a preem. Ice cream time!Well, I’ve got to admit, I’m not to good with navigating this blog.

Let’s see I guess that brings us to February. Hannah took off somewhere in the first week to prepare for her trip to Nippon. I was pretty sad to see her go, but I’m pretty sure that’s the way to maintain a healthy & rad relationship; letting each other go do what they need to do. I started working at Recycled Bicycles down here and upped my riding time a fair amount. I got on the ‘cross bike pretty often, as there are a ton of trails within the city limits, and they rule. There’s sand everywhere down here. I still hate it, but I know it will do me good to just keep riding it for when ‘cross season comes around. The shed got pretty well finished after some long problem-solving weekends, so I have my own room now, it’s super cozy. Come check it out, we’ll make dinner. I’m getting pretty tired, so I’ll have to catch you up on the past few months later. Some good current news though, I just got back from a week long trip to Providence. It totally ruled the school. Travis Magoo and I played our first show last night under the title Fourth World. It went so good. We’ve gotten an awesome dialogue going between us lately when we play together. The show went well. I’m the MUMMY!