Well, i know I have not made any blog entries in a very long time (9 months!), but this has happened mainly due to the following reasons:
So, feel free to drop in and visit http://www.icycling.gr anytime! 
Check out Specialized’s “Innovate or die” competition here, and also take a look at the crazy inventions the contestants are presenting!
Fascinating, to say the least…
Shimano finally upgraded their Durace roadgroup to carbon fiber status! Are these cranks super-sexy, or what? Eye candy, to say the least…
(I don’t always blog about stuff that has just come to my attention or just popped into my mind. Sometimes I enjoy taking a ride down memory lane. This is one of those cases…)
During all my years of riding & racing bikes, I have met many interesting people, and become friends with a few of them. Quite possibly the most interesting person I ever met through cycling was a young rider named George Hiotelis (a.k.a. “Agrioskylos”=Wild dog).
George was extremely outgoing and always cracking jokes. He would stand out in a crowd, even though his stature was average and his only distinguishing characteristic was a scar on his upper lip. Everybody wanted to be his friend.
The scar on George’s face was a battle scar, probably from his first-ever serious battle on two wheels: Many years ago, “Wild dog” took part at one of the most difficult and dangerous races the Greek MTB Downhill scene has to offer, the 3-5 Pigadia DH at Naoussa, Northern Greece.
I’ m not really sure if he even owned a mountain bike back then or if he was riding a loaner. Anyway, the clunker he was riding was as basic as a bike can get, and it probably didn’t even have a suspension fork. He was wearing an open-face helmet and some really cheap protective gear, no better than the stuff you find at toy stores. When his turn came, George positioned his bicycle on the starting ramp and hearing the signal, he was off.
Given his junky equipment, his speed was impressive.
At a certain point, after a few hairpin-turns, the inexperienced rider made a serious error in judgment and found himself flying at high speed. The fall was painful, to say the least: He landed face-plant into the ground, seriously injuring his face and knocking out his front teeth! His whole body was scratched and bruised, needing several stitches. A girl ran towards him, trying to help. George, still dizzy and confused, asked her what had happened -his eyes were covered in blood and he could not see for himself.
“Don’t worry, you’re good, it’s nothing serious!” the girl said, trying to keep him calm. He grabbed her shirt and yelled “Tell me the truth you bitch!”. Immediately after, the paramedics arrived and took him to the closest hospital where he was attended to & kept for a few days.
Did that scare him? Maybe yes, but as they say “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway”, George just bounced back, becoming stronger, faster and even more determined. I envied him for his courage and resilience.
Sometime after that incident, he showed up at a Cross-Country race in Penteli, where we were introduced and very soon became friends.
One day, I was offered a spot on the Greek Mongoose racing team, and joined in. After just a few races, I recommended George as a teammate and, guess what: He was accepted! With both of us being on the same team, we became practically inseparable: We trained together everyday, traveled all over the country together, hung out together. We were like brothers, and people who knew us would refer to us as “the twins” (after a while we even started wearing the same stuff!).
Even though he was a sponsored rider, “Wild dog” was never too serious about results. Not that he lacked in that field, since he was a constant top-ten finisher. It was just that results were not his top priority. If he would see a beautiful girl among the spectators at a race, chances were he would stop and talk to here, or ask her to meet him at the finish line!!! If we were sharing a hotel room getting precious sleep before an important race, George would let out a loud, banshee-like cry at 4:00am, freezing the blood in my veins and having me wake up with a heartrate of 190bpm. He’d then burst into laughter, saying “Gotcha!”.
I won’t even begin with story about how he once had a girl call me everyday, pretending she was a secret admirer and demanding to meet me someplace private…
Besides his eccentric sense of humor, George was also full of respect for his friends. One particular incident comes to mind, that I don’t think I will ever forget:
The year is 1997 (if my memory serves me well) and we revisited Naoussa, the place of “Wild dog’s” near-fatal accident. It was a weekend packed with racing, with Saturday being the day of the Downhill and Dual Slalom events, and Sunday being the big day, with a 42Km cross-country race. Our sponsors were expecting results and we really felt like like giving it 110% on that day.
It was during the last of 6 laps, and we were at 10th & 11th position, racing wheel to wheel, neck to neck (our tires and handlebars touched quite a few times). We were speeding down a narrow trail and I was on his rear wheel. My speedometer was displaying something that looked like more than 30Km/h, but I could not afford to look at it for more than a few milliseconds. Suddenly, there trail became a little wider, and I decided to overtake one of the craziest people I ever rode with (smart thinking!). “Let’s go for 9 & 10!” I shouted, hoping we could both up our tempo even more.
George did not follow, but it was for the best:
Leaving my teammate behind, I reached such a velocity that I wouldn’t even dare to blink, to avoid crashing into a tree! On the next switchback, my front tire was caught somewhere and sent me flying down the trail, performing a spectacular front-flip. Everything was slow-motion, and I could hear the water in my Camelbak squishing around in the bladder (it probably saved my spine during the fall!).
At that point, I saw my bike with the corner of my eye -it was also flying down the trail… but wait! It’s coming my way! With a loud thump, the one of frame’s protruding cable stops hit my right ankle, causing major pain!
Before the dust even settled, George had caught up to me: “Aletch (he couldn’t pronounce the “x”), are you ok?” he yelled rolling by. Instead of answering, I got back on my bike ad started pedaling like Lucifer himself was after me. Did my teammate take advantage of this situation, bagging a certain 10th position for himself? No! He only slowed his pace, waiting for me to catch up.
I caught up to him just 100m before the finish line. We were now side-by-side, and I extended my hand towards him. He gave me his and it was a spectacular photo-finish, with us doing a victory handshake! I don’t remember if I thanked him for waiting, but I certainly meant to. Most riders would have said “serves you right, sucker”, but he didn’t.
When the results were announced, for qualification purposes they had me in 10th position and my teammate 11th -he didn’t even frown!
Surely if George was here, he’d do a much more colorful description than mine. Unfortunately, he isn’t. He was killed by a reckless driver a few years ago. Following the “don’t be sorry it’s over, but glad that it happened” motto, I can only say that it was a privilege not only to have met George “Wild Dog” Hiotelis, but also have him as a teammate and best friend.
Godspeed buddy…
Watch Moto Razr2 / STG @ YouTube
Watching TV the other day, I caught a glimpse of this amazing commercial. I am no “Moto” fan, but this is a “Grade A” clip. Music is by the Shiny Toy Guns (song: Le Disco). Reminds me a little of the Matrix movie…
If you were unlucky/careless/stupid enough to get your cell phone wet, check out this article at the Cell Freak. Hope it helps! If not, maybe you’ll think twice about buying an expensive phone next time…
ermjyx.gif (click link to see)
Is this the coolest emoticon ever, or what? Viva Firefox!
Another Marvel comic to hit the big screen, expected May 2008. As a life-long comic book & Sci-Fi fan, I can’t wait! Last year it was the Transformers, and I had to wait until July 12th this summer to see the movie. So, I guess this is the movie I’ll be waiting for in 2008…
http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/1570
Gas Water station on strike? That’s ok, I’ll just save on a whole €5 bill that a full tank would cost me and instead drive down to the beach, fill up a canister of saltwater and take my car for a quick spin. No, not my current one, it still burns unleaded gasoline. My next one probably, or the one after that. Or maybe two cars after that… Oh well, I hope this happens n my lifetime! 
Read the Yahoo! Sports article
Studies show that professional cyclists such as those that take part in the Tour de France are a “special breed”, having hearts 20%-40% larger than average people. What is yet unclear though, is if these people had bigger hearts to begin with or their hearts developed to this size…
