Linus and Lucy

Aside from being the cute brother - sister team from Charlie Brown fame, Linus and Lucy is also the name of the popular musical theme most recognized as the "Charlie Brown Theme". Written and released in 1964 by Vince Guaraldi it has been used in virtually every Peanuts special and in many Jazz clubs across the world.

Now in 2008, it has been bastardized and otherwise made a mockery of by up and coming New Age Metal Blues Fusion Guitarist - Duckman.

I sat down early Saturday morning with my Strat and started screwing around with some scales and that led to "Sweet Child O Mine" by Guns N Roses and then I set my sights on butchering Linus and Lucy.

I Googled and found the tab for it and messed around with it until I got the main phrase pretty well then I started doing these variations on the main theme. First I cranked in a load of distortion and some chorus on my amp and dropped my tuning a half-step to come up with this thick, chunky sounding tone (think Charlie Brown meets Metallica with a pinch of Godsmack). It sounded pretty cool.

Then I went the whole other way and went to my clean channel with just a little distortion and slowed the tempo way down and bent every 12th note or so and came up with this bluesy sounding piece that Nathan really liked (although he like the metal version better). I don't think the dog cared for either one because she was hiding behind the couch.

Before I knew it, I blew 4 hours playing and my fingers really hurt.

What's that got to do with cycling? Absolutely nothing which is what I needed on Satuday. I took the whole day to rest because my legs were starting to feel like dead wood and I want them to be fresh for the races coming up.

I did go out yesterday to Steele Creek Park yesterday for some riding. I chose Steele Creek for the long, steep climbs that are there plus I never ride there and it's nice to mix it up every once and a while. The trails there are mostly good although they have some problems in places from being laid out wrong (there's a lot of steep fall-line stuff that is eroding for example). Still, despite poor design, the trails have been there for a long time and there's some fairly new stuff too. It's a good place to ride. I took it easy and tried to ride the climbs and stay well within myself (something easier said than done on a singlespeed) and my legs told me that the rest did me some good but I need some more so I didn't push it.

I am scheduled to ride every day this week and how hard or long will depend on how I feel but I suspect it will be mostly easy with one fairly short, hard day stuck in there somewhere.

Peace Yo.