A whole pot of brain stew.


That is to say a proverbial stew concocted to feed your brain. Not a stew made from brain meat. And though I initially did look for that image, after perusing a couple of google search images for ‘gross stew’ I opted to stop in my tracks.

With that, I wish you a good morning to you and yours.

As we did on Wednesday, I have an assortment of unrelated things and stuff to post here for your consideration which I will begin to do now.

While it certainly was a pleasant surprise to have The Lance pimp my stickers just prior to his podcast last week;


I wasn’t nearly as surprised as I was when I got a bump from noted animal activist, fitness nerd, and adult film überstar Nicole Aniston;


The internet is a funny place.

A few times over the last year I’ve had people ask me if Ms. Aniston and I know one another personally which we do not. I suppose she crossed my path somewhere along the way, and possibly having a penchant for stickers, and bike blogger douchebags (same diff) placed an order for some goods.

I appreciate the traction, and place no judgement. Good hearted people come in all shapes, sizes, and with an assortment of occupations… And just like my old friend Bill Lindsey used to say, “bikes are like friends. You can’t have too many nice ones“.

Anyway, between rubbing virtual elbows with former professional cyclists, and adult film stars, I reckon my rocket ride to the top is just about complete.

And speaking of rubbing parts with the famous and rich, as promised in Wednesday’s post, Captain Dave got the opportunity to ride bikes with Floyd Landis and Dave Zabriskie on that day, as well as head over to River City Bicycles to get the scoop on Floyd of Leadville’s new line of CBD supplements.

In Dave’s very own words, as well as with an assortment of images from his phone, this is pretty much what went down;

Special Report for All Hail The Black Market, from Captain Dave on location in Portland, Oregon.

What a glorious day for a ride.

Floyd Landis and Dave Zabriskie came to town to promote the launch of Floyd’s of Leadville’s new product, a CBD hemp oil capsule for pain relief and anti-inflammation, designed to do the work of Ibuprofen, but delivered in a way to eradicate the side effects of Ibuprofen. Pretty slick for those of us who senselessly beat the shit out of ourselves in the trenches in whatever sport we may choose to engage in. And let’s face it: Ibuprofen, while effective, really isn’t that good for you.

This product boasts the following attributes:

Floyd’s of Leadville CBD Hemp Oil Daily Supplement softgel capsules use the best anti-inflammatory strains that takes the edge off the pain and gives you an edge over the competition. As you can expect from a Floyd’s of Leadville product there’s no preservatives or additives – just natural CBD hemp oil. Floyd’s of Leadville CBD Hemp Oil is the edge you’ve been waiting for.

Floyd’s of Leadville CBD Hemp Oil is a daily supplement softgel capsule
20 mg of cannabidiol (CBD)
480 mg of hemp oil
Essential fatty acids (Omega – 3, 6, and GLA)
Anti-inflammatory and stress formula
Relaxing effects
No preservatives or additives.;

In a former lifetime, I wrote about professional cycling. I was fortunate enough to cover races all over the US and even a few in Europe. I met a lot of great folks and a lot of not-so-great folks as I collected interviews and race reports, and Dave and Floyd back then were squarely in the former category. Always gracious with their time, down to earth, solid dudes.

And to any casual fan that knows the winding, terrible, life upheaving road that lead them to this place, I am happy to report they are still of the same characteristics today. There’s a contentment hanging above them both at having put the past behind, and an excitement about the future and the future of Floyd’s Leadville.

Sponsored by the estimable duo of bike-impresario CD, and Dave Guettler of River City Bicycles (a Portland icon shop), I tagged along with the boys and a few other luminaries (Jeremy Dunn of The Athletic being one of them) on a beautiful summer day’s ride in the Rose City;


Stories and jokes were had as we rolled out to a local favorite: Saltzmann road. Packed gravel, shaded, no cars;

A few hours, hills, and bags of fresh Oregon cherries later, we reconvened at The Athletic where we relaxed and shot the shit about the past, the current Tour, their new venture, and particularly this product.

I’ll leave the genesis of the whole thing to the words of the man himself:

“As a professional cyclist, pain management becomes a way of life. I suffered many injuries that come with my sport, but it was a 35 mile per hour crash that changed everything. I hit a hole in the road, violently sending me to the ground, leading to a hip replacement at the age of 31. Two weeks after my first hip surgery I was on a plane flying to Europe to continue racing for my team. To control and mitigate the pain I turned to opioids – powerful drugs with numerous side effects.

After my disqualification from the 2006 Tour de France and subsequent ban from professional cycling, I started to rely on opioids, not only for pain relief, but as a way to escape my depression. I had won the Tour de France, considered the pinnacle of sporting accomplishment, only to have it stripped from me. I was left to pick up the pieces of my life and try to redefine myself. I was no longer a professional athlete in one of the most popular sports in the world. I was now a disgraced former athlete with numerous lingering painful injuries, falling deeper into depression.

These circumstances may seem unique to me, but you don’t have to be an athlete to suffer from chronic pain or depression. Many people are also coping with depression, stress, PTSD, and other psychological issues. Traditionally doctors are quick to prescribe addictive opioids or drugs that in the long term cause more harm than good. I knew there had to be a better way other than falling into a pill bottle and never emerging.

As a resident of Colorado I discovered cannabis as a way to tailor my pain management and take control of my life. Soon I was no longer dependent on habit forming pills with their negative effects on my health. In fact there were many, positive effects from cannabis: I was pain free and for the first time in a long time. I started to feel happy. Floyd’s of Leadville is the result of a long journey from chronic pain and depression to once again enjoying life.”

Gotta commend these two on their quest to relieve pain and enhance people’s lives through better, healthier products. The cannabis revolution is in full throttle, and for good reason.

Firstly, I’d like to note that in that one image of CD shooting a photo of Floyd, he wasn’t actually taking a poo emoji. I included that myself.

Secondly, I’d like to echo The Captain’s sentiment about both Dave and Floyd’s journey to find, and develop a healthy route to pain management, and I look forward to getting my arthritic hands on some;

I trust both their experience, and perspective.

Lastly, I would like to thank CD for looping me in on this project, and to Captain Dave for not only donning a stretchy suit and getting out on the ride, but for penning his perspective of it all for our consumption.

Finally, I have a little bit of fodder from the lovely and talented Laura of Soulrun Incorporated;

Hey Stevil!

Hey, I’ve got some great things going on right now in the sweatshop that I was wondering if you might share? I’m real psyched on a collaboration I’m doing with my good friend Alyssa Severn. We are making a special line of collars designed by Alyssa and made by me called the Mavis & Hitch line.

Here’s a little blurb on its origin from Alyssa-

Mavis & Hitch started off as a way for me to share photos of my dogs and post about foster dogs or dogs who were in need of rescue or help. Eventually I realized that I wanted to create a community that wanted to be dog dorks with me- helping dogs whenever I could, sharing the trials and tribulations of rescue as well as the wins. I knew that I’d need to be able to support my rescue efforts, but don’t like asking for straight-up donations. So I started doing fundraisers of different kinds by designing and selling things- greeting cards, calendars, stickers and clothing. So far, over the course of three years with the support and love of an incredibly generous community of followers and friends, I’ve been able to raise over $15K for rescue dogs and offset the costs of vetting, transport, and care.

Alyssa is truly a good soul and a great friend to me. So, for the first ten M&H collars sold, 100% of the proceeds will go to Mavis & Hitch. After that a portion of the proceeds of the collars sold will go to M&H. We’re real excited about this and hope to branch out with more pet gear such as leashes, dog beds, etc;

Here is the link to them in my shop.

I’ve got some other great gear in the shop too! Tote bags, cobra buckle belts, shop aprons and a few tool rolls.

Other than that we’ve spent the last few weeks in Moab riding in the hot sun which really isn’t so bad:-);

Thanks a bunch Stevil!!

If there’s one thing ever said about me aside from the fact that I’m aloof, kinda neurotic, and generally pretty moody, I hope that it involves my undying love of the fuzzy buddies in need.

Certainly I can’t foster bunches and bunches as I don’t have the room, or the hours of the day, but until I do, I can at least help promote other’s efforts in fighting the good fight.

If you’d like a fetching (no pun-thing intended) collar for your buddy, place an order, and rest well knowing that the monies are going to help support some babies in need.

It is with that our bowl has been cleaned, and we can pop open our belt, sit back, and wait for our second serving whenever we meet (meat) again.

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One Response to “A whole pot of brain stew.”

  1. tsp July 21, 2017 at 1:41 pm #

    “Anyway, between rubbing virtual elbows with former professional cyclists, and adult film stars (same diff), I reckon my rocket ride to the top is just about complete.”

    FTFY.