The image above is, from left to right, Angela Higney, Michele de Gennaro, Colette Marx-Neilsen, Lynn Veronneau, from 1992. Individually, they were administrative assistants and/or spouses of researchers at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (which is now home to the Higgs boson-researching Large Hadron Collider). Collectively, they're part of a musical group of sorts called Los Horribles Cernettes, a joke band from CERN, with "hits" such as "My Sweetheart is a Nobel Prize" and "Daddy's Lab." The image is a photoshopped version of this photograph and was originally intended to become a CD cover for the Cernettes' 1992 album. And if that is all that happened, the image would be not worth mentioning.
But as it turns out, that photoshopped picture of a half-joke musical act is special. About twenty years ago, it became the first photograph ever used on the World Wide Web
Before turning in to read for a bit, I brought my bike inside the mud room for the night and the rear tire seemed fine. Cora Lee was driving Clara into Steinbach on the morrow, quite early. Rosita has to be at the hospital for some tests by 7:30am so they will need to leave here by 6:00am. I will get up before they depart and check tire again. If it has lost air by morning I had already decided that I was going to drive into Steinbach with my car to take it to a bike shop I found on the Net. If they can't fix it, I'll go on in to Winnipeg. Such is the life of an elite biker!!! If I have to go to Wpg, I'll put car on auto pilot and ride from the city to the spot where Sarge and I ran out of gas in 2007!
In fact, when I took a look at my tire in the morning it was very flat so I knew I had a car trip ahead of me. Had breakfast with Dusty and Greg as he and Dustan had stayed overnight. Left around 9:30am and made my way to Steinbach. Had little difficulty finding Source for Sports and left my rear wheel to be repaired. Didn’t even need to take my bike off the rack. Drove into town and had a looka round since I’d not been through Steinbach for probably almost twenty years! After I cruised Main Street, I drove towards the town water tower and snapped a few pictures of it. Ever since I became aware of such edifices, as a kid, visiting my grandparents in Rivers, I’ve always been drawn to these structures.
Had packed a bit of a picnic lunch before leaving Falcon so pulled into a shady spot on Main Street and enjoyed my lunch listening to a very interesting radio documentary on a high school program, targeting North End aboriginal youth, which aims to introduce them to careers as health professionals. Quite an inspiring story. Lunch finished, I drove back to pick up my wheel. Friendly young man who worked on the flat told me that he couldn’t find a puncture, as such, but there seemed to be some sort of flaw around the base of the valve. I asked him for the inner tube as I will show it to Sara and her crew back at West Point Cycles when I return to Vancouver. Not a big deal but it seems that the flat was due to a structural defect rather than an actual puncture on one of my rides. Nevertheless, thanked the lad after I paid for the work and he replaced the wheel.
Made for Falcon and decided to stop at Geppetto’s, a wood craft outlet on the highway, about 16K west of the turnoff to Steinbach. Had never ever been there before so decided it was time. Most of the products were more or less what one would expect from such stores in cabin country: plaques extolling fishing or beer drinking or else bemoaning mosquitoes or lazy husbands. I liked a number of small metal sculptures, hens and roosters, but when I learned that they were fabricated in China, not by local craftspeople, they quickly lost their appeal.
Back in the car I pulled into Ace Bay about 1:45pm, just ahead of The Sisterhood. All went well with their trip and they were having a spot of lunch as I readied myself for a short ride. Wanted to test out the replacement tube so made for the South Shore. All went well so decided to make for West Hawk. Bit of a struggle with another strong head wind but once I was there I decided to up the distance, shooting for 71K by the time I was back. To do so, I needed to do four loops from the town site to the exit to #1. Chose this section to add distance to the odometer as it has a very smooth surface on the wide shoulders and bluffs on both sides of the approach so they provide a bit of shelter from the wind. On my second loop I heard a car honk behind me and it was Greg and Dustan just back from Kenora. Left them to go for a hike near the fish hatchery and while I continued with my rounds.
Heading back to Falcon I was delighted to have a trailing wind and I was determined to raise my average speed, (It had dropped to 19.7 on outward bound leg, due, primarily to very, very strong, prevailing easterly), by “sprinting” whenever terrain and my legs allowed. Pleased to report, Dear Reader, that I was able to come in at 21.9 over 71.3K by the time I was back. Pleased that both repair and ride had gone well, I was still a tad disappointed as I had hoped to go for a longer distance, 110.3K, before the Deflation Blues started to play themselves out. Nonetheless, just have to work harder over next few days!
Had a bit of a laugh, just before dinner, (perogies and farmer’s sausage and fresh salad fixings from zdusty’s garden), when Cora Lee realized that she had left all her keys in a shopping cart at the Super Store in Steinbach. When she drove Rosita to the hospital she took Durston’s vehicle. After tests they did most of the shopping for the weekend there. Stuart and James and their families were coming the next day and would probably stay overnight. At any rate, on her key ring she has a piece of metal which you can use instead of a quarter for a shopping cart. (I thought it was a daft idea when she showed them to me in Vancouver!) Not needing them to start the car she didn’t realize that she had left them in the cart, in the parking lot! Fortunately, they were found, (The Scatterbrain phoned as soon as she realized what she had done.), and we'll pick them up en route to Winnipeg next week.
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