New year, same us.

2026. What will you hold in store for us? New beginnings? Epic bursts of creative bounty and wonder? More of the same absolute horrorshow bullshit, but worse? Only time will tell, but thus far, it seems like the latter has already taken the lead. 

Though all of that negative Nancyness aside, did everyone catch the Zilvermeercross In Zonhoven this weekend?

The men's race was absolutely inspired and if this is in fact MVDP's retirement season, I'm gutted for Wout extra double. I'm screaming all the way around.

And how about the Zonhoven World Cup?

Not a single lesson Pineapple Bob ever extended to me regarding riding in sand would be applicable in any of these situations.

Man, cyclocross is just the best. I had some friends over there texting me through the weekend, and my FOMO was white-hot.

If you haven't watched them, or you would like to introduce cyclocross to someone in your life who might be unfamiliar with the format, either of those two races, or this year's Superprestige Diegem would be excellent jumping off points. I've not enjoyed watching races so much in years. Make a crockpot full of stew, sit back and enjoy a few hours of watching other people suffer.

Typically I've long contended I'd rather do than watch, but elite cross is the one rare exception.

Also- As I was whiling away my evening in front of the television this weekend, I came across the following documentary about MVDP which I encourage the viewing of as well;

He is a generational talent, to be sure.

In other news, San Francisco's legendary venue Bottom Of The Hill recently announced that after 35 years, it's closing up shop; 

I've seen hundreds of shows there for decades, and this is a huge loss for the community, but I guess times change, and owner Ramona Downey's son Max Schaaf;

-had this to say about it;

"My mom's historic venue its closing. Not forced to shut, but by choice, mostly. I'm sure she would have kept it open if San Francisco was more like it was than what it has become. 

Covid trained people to stay indoors, get their entertainment from their telephones, shop online, versus locally, and just prefer a lazy kind of convenience. These cities are closing condominiums over culture. Every billboard driving into San Francisco is promoting Artificial Intelligence."

Let not one of us forget that our scenes and communities are what we make of them. Ignore or neglect independently owned businesses, venues, etc. and they will go away. The cities have become suburbanized, and while my effort to stem the tide may not amount to shit, I'll be damned if I play a passive role while it happens.

Finally, as I have done hundreds of times before, I would like to direct you to the brand newest episode of Revolting, if we had one. I thought we did, but because I split for the week, it slipped through the cracks;

We'll do better eventually. Until then, we'll keep staring into the mirror. We're bound to like what we see eventually.