I'm related to Ben Richardson

here is the proof, found it on the interweb today:

Solomon Turpin (quite possibly my kin), born: Pulaski Co., KY in 1854; died: Somerset 1910. Buried in Somerset, KY. He may have gone by name of "William" as that is name listed on his daughter's marriage license to Edward Gerrard in Warren Co., OH, 10/17/1908. Daughter was Elizabeth Turpin b: 1888 in KY. Solomon's wife and Elizabeth's mother was Lucinda Ford, b: 1858 in KY d: 1917 in Montgomery Co., OH, buried in Somerset, KY. Solomon Turpin & Lucinda Ford were married 6/13/1878 at the home of her parents Elijah T. Ford and Mary Ann Hopper from TN, in Russell Co., KY. Bond signed by James Burden.
Have some information on the other children. Would like to identify Solomon Turpin's parents. Will share pictures, etc., data I have in exchange for anything you may have on these ancestors of my husband. There are some Taylor and Richardson (quite possibly Ben's kin) connections possibly in and around Danville, KY., as well as Somerset, Pulaski, Russell Counties.
Thanks,
Carole J. Troup

Cherokee Classic

Umm, it was fun, hot, and dusty. Anthony is at the beach so I'll recap his race. He started out with Ben hot and heavy. Josh Gerlach and the mike stevens were chasing, I don't know if they were together or not. Josh had a wreck pretty early on cause you could see dirt on his jersey in the photos. Ben had a couple wrecks and anthony slipped away. He sang Flight of the Concords songs to himself as he and his get-away-sticks did what they do best, got away. At the end of the third lap he was thinking more about his packing list for the vacation trip to north carolina that was going to begin minutes after the race finished. He was trying to remind himself to pack sunscreen and his digital camera. During the fourth lap he slowed down for a minute to fart, then he took a drink of gu2o and then began pedaling some more. He also had a crash because he was trying out a new line and thinking about his motorcycle while trying that new line and subsequently the branch or sappling or whatever it was caught him by surprise. It wasn't enough to keep him off the top of the podium though. The end.

I got into the woods sooner than I should have so I let a gap open pretty quickly, I think it was McShane in front of me and I didn't want to be right behind him anyway because last time I rode behind him was winter at Waverly and he was going down more than a vegas hooker. Someone behind me said, c'mon clarksville, so at pulled the gap back a little and then at the top of hogan's fountain I pulled over and let a group through. Once they started to ride away I was like, oh, maybe I should try to get on a wheel. But man it was fast through that section and it was a new section to me. Then I had a small group behind me, 3 riders I think. When we got to the kymba downhill I opened up a good gap but anna jean/niki pulled me back in the flat section before the climb up toward cochran. On that climb I dabbed a bit so I let the three riders go through. See what a nice guy I am. Then I think it was only Bo King and the sport class behind me, slowly I would let many of them through also. My second lap was even slower than the first, the third lap was probably the best because Dulin yelled at me with disappointment (deservedly). And the fourth lap brought some leg cramps, prolly because I pre-rode a lap and sweeted a lot during it. I think it is dumb for me to stop on each lap, unzip my cooler, get a water bottle out, zip the cooler back up, take a big drink and then ride. Obviously, I wasn't very motivated. I think I need to start at the back and try to hang next time. All and all though, I had fun out there.

Laws? We dont need no stinkin laws.

The "cycling lane" on Second Street seems to be more of a suggestion than a rule now. It was nice, our bike friendliness lasted all of, uh, maybe a year? The sharrow markers on 2nd Street bridge are even fading as fast as the memory of Chips Chronan and the accident that spurred their creation.

But, thats a shared lane, I'm talking about the "bike only" lane that goes all the way from Oak to Broadway (because that 1.5 miles was really needed?). As pathetically short as it is, clearly just eeking out enough distance to meet federal requirements for some cash-ola, it is still a designated bike lane. Well, unless you are in a really, really big hurry it seems.

I have seen people driving the whole distance almost every day now, bowing out only to miss the occasional parked car or hover-round utilizing the lane (which I find really amusing for some reason). Even our beloved law enforcement officers are getting in on the action. In fact, this cop followed another car for almost 1 mile last week. I thought "Oh good, hes gonna site this chick." Nope. After she turned right, he just accelerated down to Broadway. At the light I asked why he was driving in the bike lane just to be ignored. I was pissed. I filed a report and am sure that absolutely nothing will be done, well apart from my anticipated, and totally unrelated, receipt of a moving violation in the next few months.

I was going through St. Matthews on bike one afternoon not long ago only to be almost run down by an officer blowing through a neighborhood stop sign. So I followed. He proceeded to blow through the next 8 or 9 signs (as did I, but I was on a mission of justice, so it's cool). Where was he going you wonder? Being the crime addled mean streets of St. Matthews, the mind races as to what the emergency could have been; murder, rape, robbery in progress, duck being harassed by some skateboarders in Brown Park? None of the above. He was in a hurry to get back to the station. I took a picture of the plate and car #, thanked him for his ability to both follow and enforce laws (well, as good as I could after sprinting my butt off for the last 12 or so blocks).

I know cops have a tough job, one I don't want. But geez, is not driving like a meth fueled redneck in a supercharged Nova SS asking too much? Polly is, so in the meantime I just want my bike lane back.

Clarksville Ateam mid week update

It's Wednesday, get back to work.

What I learned this weekend, part 2

I learned you can ride off a bridge and have yet another helmet cracking crash (I have no brains left) and still have more fun doing 9 laps of an mtb crit than I ever could riding circles with roadies.

Oh, and I'm now a gold medalist, a Bluegrass State Games gold medalist (the short bus cousin of the Pan Am games – thats a really short bus). Regardless, Ben made me work for it. I rode off the bridge on lap 1, chased my butt off only to crash hard when I was about to bridge up. That fueled some aggression and I was able to catch him with 3 laps to go and grab the win in the last 2.

Whew. I am starting to feel pretty beat down. I think I have some good form right now, but a total lack of sleep in the last few weeks and the cracked rib are taking a toll. (I planted a food hard in a corner in Cherokee yesterday and let out a loud welp as the shock rang through the rib. I think the troll about 20 yards down trail believed it to be a mating call.) An easy week of training followed by what is sure to be an absolute beat-down in Cherokee will be rewarded with a week of beaches, mountains and maybe some white water (I never tire of trying to kill myself). It's gonna be a good couple weeks, and hopefully, a real sweet 2nd half of the season.

Lots of racing yet to come. See ya there.

What I learned this weekend

Apparently, some roadies feel that you can avoid accidents by anticipating them. I tried to explain that it's no longer an accident if it can be anticipated, but hey, I'm the one who was almost taken out by not fault of my own, so what do I know, right? Pay for a race, get a little free advice thrown in. What an idiot. Another quick reminder of why I rarely put a race number on the road bike.

Anywho…the crit was OK. It was fast as heck and and just as monotonous, almost 40 freakin laps around the same course. Geez. Sorry, but you have to simple minded to find that crap fun. I made some moves, went for a prime, covered some breaks and tried for the big W, and prolly coulda scored at least a top 5 had I been smarter, but it didnt work out. Thats cool. I'm pretty satisfied considering it was my first road crit in almost 6-7 years.

On a semi related note, we went to see "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" (http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/) at the Village 8 yesterday. Great movie, (Floyd is in it so you get your little 2 wheeled fix). I think he may have been a bit biased towards the use of roids, but there was some good info in there, like the fact Carl Lewis tested positive for banned substances the same year Ben Johnson was disgraced. Whoops.

Frankfort is lookin like it will be dry and fast next weekend. I’m too tired to think of an amusing close, so make up your own joke or just giggle at this…

I'm a fancy lad

Much in the same way you sometimes just really have to put on a nice dress and go dancing from time to time (you do, don't you?), just as I ripped on the roadies, I will join them this weekend. I mean, heck, an NRC event 1 mile from my house, might as well go join in the fun.

Pressure is on though. I mistakingly invited people, important people, (maybe more important than you, but not as important as Neil Armstrong, he went to the moon. I wonder if Michael Collins is pissed he stayed in the ship. Who is Michael Collins you ask? Exactly), to come down and watch. Fish is getting just a bit outta water here. I know what I can do on a CX bike or MTB, but a 2-3 crit? Not sure how this is gonna play out, you can't just pound people into submission as easy on the road bike. But after a Kashmir buffet for lunch and lasagna for dinner, I might be able to just fart people off my wheel.

Anyhow, throw on a nice dress and come down and watch me go down in flames, should be fun.

Muscatatuck DINO

Well, it was fourth of July weekend, and man it was a bang. This week, we (by we I mean me and the flys buzzing around my office) are doing a photo recap of the race. Well, captioned photo. This and (ugh) 5th place sums it all up;



I was really hoping to win this one. I love the course and felt my build-up was good. I think I would have challenged had it not been for the unfortunate circumstances before and during the race. But hey, stuff happens.

NATZ!

So every local roadie over the age of 30 is justifying the large lot of time and money they spend away from their families by trying to win races against other accountants, dentists, doctors and lawyers within a 5 year age span (oh the drama!). While I am happy an event of this caliber is taking place in my fair city, it ranks up their with the 2010 Equestrian games as far as my level of enthusiasm is concerned.

However...

Not one to miss an opportunity to get a set of stars and stripes by beating 5 other guys in a race, (I have come to understand, in the local cycling community, the more "National Championships" you win, the bigger jerkoff youre allowed to be. The rewards come quick too, I can beat up children after only 3 titles. I can't wait.), we are entering the Tandem Unicycle road race. Word on the street there are a couple circus bears that are hungry (so to speak) for the win and are heavy favorites. They sleep at altitude for 6 months of the year, so they will be, uh hem, animals. The bears seem to be our only real competition so far. Scouting reports have come back with this shot of the only other team that will be lining up.



I think we can take em. We also might line the course with salmon related snacks that will hopefully distract the bears long enough for us to build a big gap and give them a little stitch in their sides. If the race goes well, the downtown hotspot "The Connection" will be sponsoring us in this event in the future. Wish us luck.