This post has nothing to do with bikes or racing!

I have seen Rush in concert 6 times on 4 tours in 5 states. I have been listening to them for close to 20 of their 35 years as a band. Maybe not as impressive as the average Rush fan; but for a 31 year old female from suburban upstate NY, who also loves hip hop, that isn't half bad!

Rush Concerts attended:
1993 Counterparts Tour - Worchester, Mass & Albany, NY
1997 Test For Echo Tour - Denver, CO
2004 30th Anniversary Tour - Hollywood, CA & Las Vegas, NV
2008 Snakes & Arrows Tour - Las Vegas, NV

They only had an opening band for the two shows I saw in '93, and both times.. it was CANDLEBOX (ummm......). I come to find out that the other band touring with them on that tour was Primus! Darn, would have been way better.

In any event, the best show by far out of the 6 was 2004 at Hollywood Bowl. It has been a long time since I had seen them in concert but man there is someting about that venue. The sound was fantastic and any seat is a good seat! I looked out over the crowd and nearly EVERYONE was air guitarting, drumming and singing. It was pretty much a crowd of die-hard fans, and then we had Greg, who after that show gained more appreciation for the band and their music.

Last weekend, Greg and I headed to Vegas to see Rush perform at Mandalay Bay, in a slightly smaller venue than the last time we saw them in Vegas (MGM Grand Arena). Still it was nearly sold out and the fan-base/crowd had aged even more (surprise surprise!!) The average concert-goer was a 45 year old male, balding with a belly. Walking from Luxor to Mandalay Bay, I counted the Rush t-shirts. It reminded me of our last time seeing Rush in Vegas. We went to Excalibur to play some cheap blackjack and discovered this is where all the Rush fans were hanging out! Makes sense with Excalibur's sci-fi/fantasy theme... :)

Greg and I tried to figure out another band that would pull in roughly the same audience. We looked around at the T-shirts in the crowd and decuded that SLAYER would probably be the winner. Although we did see several shirts for a British Hard Rock band called UFO.

Band t-shirts we picked out from the crowd (Metallica being the only band I technically like):
- UFO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_(band))
- Grand Funk Railroad
- Metallica
- Slayer

Highlights of the concert include, but are not limited to:

• $7.00 huge cups of cheap wine
• Watching the people in line to buy $40 RUSH t-shirts (nothing smaller than size mens M! I miss my bootleg cheapo t-shirt from the 1993 tour!)
• South Park characters pretending to be Rush playing Tom Sawyer!
• Non-stop air drumming and guitaring and singing along! (i can hear you all laughing at me)
• Fav songs including: Dreamline, Freewill, Tom Sawyer, YYZ, and any Neil Peart drum solo!

Yes i had Neil Peart signature Vic Firth drum sticks back in my percussion days. Of COURSE! And I have all of the sheet music to one of the Rush complilations: Chronicles. Spirit of the Radio was my all time fav on the piano/keyboard. Fortunately my piano teacher let me play contemporary, pop, rock, jazz and only minimal classical! Ahh those were the days!

Ok now you can laugh at me.... You may only understand if you, too, are a Rush fan!

Matt and Joy Show Goes Global

Ok the real news is that Wendy Simms has read Joy's blog and has since posted the most fantastic comments and answers on her own blog. You must read it! Since Joy, Matt and I all work within 1/4 mile of eachother there has been alot of buzz in the vicinity.

In other news, Idyllwild Spring Challenge was this past weekend. I was very excited to ride the course again after the pre-ride (loved the real technical riding!) I learned alot about race tactics to say the least and had to get creative at times. In the end, after somewhat of a slow start, I found my legs, and took 2nd place, which provided a nice cash purse I must say. Unfortunately Joy double flatted while she was holding a steady 3rd place (I was in 4th at that time). But after getting the flats sorted out (including some running and stop and go which never helps the legs), she hammered and held a solid 5th and some cash-money. Carolyn "Cpop/Undercover Carolyn" Popovic took the W and blew all of us out of the water! :)

It was nice to race on a Saturday and just do a recovery ride on Sunday! I also proceeded to do some clothes shopping at Victoria Gardens.

Was really great to see everyone as always! Next stop: Firestone Nationals (5/17-18). We will all be staying at the new usual spot: Days Inn Windmill -Buellton!

Also tomorrow is Bike to Work day at ESRI. I better represent! And next week I will be helping Team CICLE out for Pasadena Bike to Work Week.

Some pix from Idyllwild:

ummmmm how can my legs still be so pale?
the socal ladies with their marble slabs (as joy likes to call them) and loot

The Matt and Joy Show

Well, clearly Matt and Joy's blogs are way more entertaining than mine! That is to say the least. However, I think I may have inspired them to put pictures on their blog headers.

I need to come up with something more interesting than just talking about racing in this blog, or just delete the whole darn blog altogether.

Saturday is Idyllwild Spring Challenge. Naturally, I feel a bit run down with some coughing and some sinus issues. Lovely! Hopefully a combination of my massage today, herbal suppliment blasts, lots of water, good food (maybe not the soyjoy bar i just ate... very suspect) sleep and no hard efforts on the bike until the race should help.

Uff da!