Excitement in the mail : Cycling License



I put in for two licenses at once.  It was time for me to renew my driver's license and I decided to go the distance and get a cycling license so I can race this year.  After filling in all forms and sending what had to be sent in the mail, this meant waiting at the mailbox for several weeks.  The big question was which would come first.  After waiting two weeks which one came first?  The cycling license!  It's only a piece of paper that you must tear out from a larger peice of paper, but it was definately more exciting than getting my new drivers license in the mail.  And... the cycling license came with a sticker. 

The sticker which comes with the license is pretty large I'd say about 4x7 inches or so.

I usually don't care for stickers but I have a binder for school that was waiting to be stickered.  It came with something else too but I was so excited to get the license that I kind of passed over the rest of what was in the envelope.  Here's a picture of someones license.  My looks exactly the same and after looking at the pictures online it appears that from year to year the only thing that changes is the color of the strip and year. 

Someones 2014 cycling license

Here it is blue and on previous years it was red, green, white, etc.  I think I was expecting it to be slightly more sturdy but i guess it doesn't have to be since you have to get a new one every year.     Now that I have my cycling license I can race without getting a day pass everytime I race (even though I've never done an official race).  That will hopefully change this year since I've made the goal to make getting the license worth it by entering a number of races. The new driver's license came in the mail a week later.  The conclusion here is that the US Cycling organization is better than the California Gov. 

No this is not me.  It's Ima Cardholder ;)

The drivers license it a better looking document.  I guess the US cycling organization isn't worried about people making fake racing licenses like the gov.  So if you want a nice piece of mail get a cycling license.



What Did You See While Cycling Today?! I Saw...

Three of these

Two of these

One of these

One of these

and one of these

Yes that is a truck very close to going over the side of a cliff.  There were also multiple other usual sites like squirrels and cars and other cyclists but for my three year old son this would have been the ultimate cycling trip (maybe if there was a construction site along the way too).

I saw the a Highway Patrol car (now SUV-referred to as CHP below) coming up the road as I was going down which was only slightly strange becuase the road is little traveled but thought nothing of it.  I gave the officer a nod and carried on.  A bit down the way there was a car stopped with another CHP in front of it.  People were standing around and then the next obvious site was a Fire Engine (kind of hard to miss).  And to the side of the road, the side of the road that has no side i.e. it is a cliff and trees, was a white truck half in the trees half on the road.  A fire fighter was pulling out chainsaws and I figured they were going to have to do a little work to make it possible for the tow truck to do his duty.  And on the other side of the fire truck and tow truck was another CHP.  It didn't look like anyone was hurt, probably just a little shaken up.  I didn't stick around and watch, just shimmied on by.  They must have dealt with the truck pretty quick because it was taken care of before I was headed back that way in about 30min.  The point here is to get out and ride! It's exciting and fun as long as the excitement does not invovle oneself too much!

That Person with all the KOMs on Strava in Your Region : Ian Boswell

On the way to the Paskenta Century Ride my brother says to me, "Hey you know that guy with all the KOMs on Strava?"  Yes, I see it every time I look at my stats after a ride. Ian Boswell. He continues, "Do you know who he is?" Nope. I do not. My Brother continues to tell me that Ian Boswell is on Team Sky! Yes that same Team Sky with the past two years winners of the Tour de France i.e. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome! I asked him how he found out and he said he was looking up stuff on the Paskenta Century Ride and while reading it mentioned Ian Boswell wouldn't be attending because he was in Europe training.  He recognized the name and did a search and quickly found outh that Ian Boswell was signed to Team Sky in 2013.  Pretty cool.  He also saw a tweet by Ian about big events going on in the U.S. which read:Ian Boswell ‏@theboz91 Feb 1

It's a big sporting day back in the USA today, Paskenta Century and some Superb Owl game. Let freedom ring and Budweiser flow!

(If you want a bit of a laugh about the Superb Owl game check out this link to the Colbert Report http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/432521/january-27-2014/superb-owl-xlviii )

Check out who's at the top of your Strava lists. Maybe you'll find a local rider gone pro.  Anyway, now I'll have a rider to follow this coming season.  Don't know if he'll be in the Tour de France or Giro d'italia but it will probably get me to follow some of the lesser known races.  I may have just become a Team Sky fan.  We'll see.