Real Men Wear Spandex

Friday's Events:

Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour of California Winner, on the comeback trail.

This should be George Hincapie. Hincapie. Hincapie?

I'm fascinated by his name.

Lance. Need I say more?

Levi Leipheimer, The Leviathan. He owns this race.

Got to have more cowbell.

Darn it, we forgot the cowbell!

The Tour of California hit our small town today. And wouldn't you know, Ernest left his cowbell at home. But he was busy taking pictures...he hopes to use one for the school paper. I'm not a sports person, but there is something quite exciting about a world class event coming through your town. This was a time trial. We watched some riders take off, then walked to the finish line a block away and watched others finish. Then we walked up past the 1K point, and watched them come around the corner shown above. It was a fun day, and fortunately didn't rain any more than a few sprinkles. I was prepared with my rain coat, but the HH, Ernest, and his friend Ern were manly men so of course they didn't have jackets.

Finally, enough cowbell!

I picked Ernest up at school today. He was late, so I walked towards his classroom. What is that funny noise, I wondered? It got worse and worse. Clang-a-CLANG-A-CLANG-A-CLANG-A! Herds of middle-schoolers all shaking.....COWBELLS!

They had been to an assembly for the Amgen Tour of California, which will be in our town February 22. Every child got a souvenir cowbell. Give a child a noisemaker, and of course the child will make noise with it.

So I can truthfully say, I have finally heard enough cowbell.

More Cowbell

Rock Band is very popular here. Yesterday there was a group: As I expected, Ernest was asked to sing, Frank played guitar, his friend (I'll call him Unicycle because he rides one) drummed. Ernest sounded really good! My favorite was "Don't Fear the Reaper." The singer gets to do the cowbell by tapping on the mike.

Centerpiece, number 2

"The Centerpiece" may become a new feature on my blog.

Drumsticks appeared on the table this week, courtesy of Frank and stage band. Then Ernest wanted more cowbell. So I told him where to find one.


Our cowbell does not sound as good as this one...

By the way, Blue Oyster Cult was my first rock concert! With the Handy Husband, who was the Handy Boyfriend back then. This was years before Don't Fear the Reaper.