Siclista Weekend Warrior Challenge 7/13/08

Siclista Weekend Warrior Challenge 7/13/08

By: Cesar M. Galvez Jr.

Congrats to the winners as well as the finishers of Sunday’s Siclista Weekend Warrior Challenge. The stimulating route originates in Newark Java to the infamous Old La Honda (OLH) ascent, then back to the point of origin. Here is the synopsis.

At 8a.m., the enthusiasts rolled at a conversational pace. It was peaceful until four ambitious bunch breakaway as they approach the turbulence plagued Dumbarton Bridge (DB). On one hand, Jack precariously heads the leaders. On the other hand, the peloton maintains its complacency. There is strength in numbers. Thus, the peloton can easily reel the leaders in and swallow them alive. This group is confident that the attack was too early. Shortly thereafter just a few miles after the DB descent, sure enough the quartet was caught.

Rodge distresses the peaceful peloton. He sets a gutsy pace to grab the first Green Jersey at the Arastradero’s final hump. Grinding a very heavy gear, he demolishes anyone who tried to outpace him. Unfortunately, he calls it a day leaving no chance to defend his title. A word of caution, they are ought to test you again next time around.

They are now in Portola Loop. Jack attacks again. This guy is so aggressive; he redlines his heart rate every effort he takes. Organizers scrambles for an award dedicated to him. He initiates the Red Jersey—the most aggressive rider.

Spencer, the newly-wed, is not his day. Every time he attempts to cover attacks or endeavors a sprint, his chain drops. He blames his prodigal brother, Jr., for tampering the precise adjustment of his rig.

A hard left to OLH, the peloton scales the biggest ascent of the day. A rider with a noticeable climbing prowess is no other than Jerry, the other half of Nancy, wins the Polka Dot Jersey. The Maharlikan spins his way up OLH. He is the first one to crest. To celebrate, this victorious mountain goat even turns around at the summit and descends to check on laggers.

I call him the luckiest man alive because his significant other rides bike with him. Of course, Nancy receives the Pink Jersey. She withstands any male pedal power to this day. Indeed, she outperforms most of the guys on flats and climbs.

The rest of the leg is the rolling Skyline Boulevard down to eerie 84 East then back track to Newark. I enjoy this descent, so I lead. I catch three slow moving motorcyclists. I pass all of them and became their rabbit. I carve the hairpin turns and sprint straight-aways. I hear their engine roar and so I push some more. Man, that is exhilarating.

On our way home, we face a hurdle: the turbulent DB. This time it is cross and head wind. However, it did not stop Jack and John M, the Red Jersey and White Jersey (best young rider) laureates accordingly. On the other side, it was flat but still experiencing violent winds. It was Jack and John M head-to-head to the finish. However, Gonzalo, another Green Jersey victor, snags their aspirations.

Special thanks to Roy, Romy, Tony Fuji and Tony Madone for pulling the peloton together to work as a single unit.

Folks, this is just a precursor to a more challenging ride ahead. I will post the details of Spencer’s Potluck Road Ride soon. Backed by popular demand, the route is Stevens Canyon, Redwood Gulch, Hwy 9, Skyline Blvd, Pagemill, Foothill, Stevens Canyon, Celebrate Spencer’s wedding.

Participants: Roy, Spencer, Jerry & Nancy, Romy, Rodge, Tony Fuji, Tony Madone, Cesar, John M. & Jack

South Border - another good Filipino group of entertainers

if i el i pee i en ohh

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More South Border on youtube. The sounds from youtube does not give the true, crisp and not skipping sound from a CD. If you decide to buy their CD, I highly recommend the Platinum Edition episode III.

Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83

I have to post this just because...
Bozo is dead

Bozo according to Wikipedia
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By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.
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His publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press he died at his home.

Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.

"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.

"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Harmon said.

Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children's records in 1946. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records.

He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.

"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said.

Susan Harmon, his wife of 29 years, indicated Harmon was the perfect fit for Bozo.

"He was the most optimistic man I ever met. He always saw a bright side; he always had something good to say about everybody. He was the love of my life," she said Thursday.

The business — combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances — made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets.

"I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo.

The Chicago version of Bozo ran on WGN-TV in Chicago for 40 years and was seen in many other cities after cable television transformed WGN into a superstation.

Bozo — portrayed in Chicago for many years by Bob Bell — was so popular that the waiting list for tickets to a TV show eventually stretched to a decade, prompting the station to stop taking reservations for 10 years. On the day in 1990 when WGN started taking reservations again, it took just five hours to book the show for five more years. The phone company reported more than 27 million phone call attempts had been made.

By the time the show bowed out in Chicago, in 2001, it was the last locally produced version. Harmon said at the time that he hoped to develop a new cable or network show, as well as a Bozo feature film.

He became caught up in a minor controversy in 2004 when the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee took down a plaque honoring him as Bozo and formally endorsed Colvig for creating the role. Harmon denied ever misrepresenting Bozo's history.

He said he was claiming credit only for what he added to the character — "What I sound like, what I look like, what I walk like" — and what he did to popularize Bozo.

"Isn't it a shame the credit that was given to me for the work I have done, they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn't do anything for the last 52 years," he told the AP at the time.

Harmon protected Bozo's reputation with a vengeance, while embracing those who poked good-natured fun at the clown.

As Bozo's influence spread through popular culture, his very name became a synonym for clownish behavior.

"It takes a lot of effort and energy to keep a character that old fresh so kids today still know about him and want to buy the products," Karen Raugust, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a New York-based trade publication, said in 1996.

A normal character runs its course in three to five years, Raugust said. "Harmon's is a classic character. It's been around 50 years."

On New Year's Day 1996, Harmon dressed up as Bozo for the first time in 10 years, appearing in the Rose Parade in Pasadena.

The crowd reaction, he recalled, "was deafening."

"They kept yelling, `Bozo, Bozo, love you, love you.' I shed more crocodile tears for five miles in four hours than I realized I had," he said. "I still get goose bumps."

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Harmon became interested in theater while studying at the University of Southern California.

"Bozo is a star, an entertainer, bigger than life," Harmon once said. "People see him as Mr. Bozo, somebody you can relate to, touch and laugh with."

Besides his wife, Harmon is survived by his son, Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.

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Associated Press writers Polly Anderson in New York and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this story.