This strikes a chord I like.

Back when I lived in Houston a small group of us would do a ride on Sundays we called the eastside loop.  It wound through what’s known as the Second Ward east of downtown, Houston’s barrio.  The area is a mix of industrial and older residential, mostly Hispanic.  English is a second, maybe third language.  We liked it because the streets are wide and on Sundays, mostly empty.  The only people out were the church goers at Our Lady of Guadalupe and a few early risers looking for breakfast tacos at the Mexican restaurants along Navigation Blvd.  

At the corner of Harrisburg and 75^th St. there used to be a custom low-rider bike shop that sold rigs like the ones in this video.  I used to love seeing them sitting in the window with their miles of curved chrome and bright metal-flake paint as we rode by on our carbon race bikes.  Occasionally, we’d see a dude riding one of them through the neighborhood.  They’d always smile and wave, a recognition that, like the video says, although you might be completely different from me, we’re still here rolling down the same boulevard.  Good memories.

While we’re on the subject of cycling, I probably should report that this past weekend was the 2023 running of the Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheid, The Netherlands.  In the women’s race the locals were treated to an all-Dutch podium with Fem van Empel riding away from her country women Puck Pieterse and Lucinda Brand.

In the men’s race, the expected showdown between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert delivered in spades, with MvdP coming out on top for his fifth world championship.  

I’ve raced plenty of cyclocross and had my fair share of sprint finishes, usually for some heroic mid-pack masters finish.  I always hated them, mainly because I wasn’t that good at them.  But man, they’re entertaining to watch.

Lastly, for anyone keeping track, this is post number 100 on Seeking Timberline.  Granted, a somewhat low-effort post but considering at the outset of this thing I wasn’t sure if it would even last a year, a fairly significant milestone, right?