I was just topping out on my last climb of my Wednesday hill workout when I saw a cyclist headed the opposite direction. As we neared each other I recognized the gangly stature as the one and only Cody Tail Brooke. We circled back around and after I returned from anaroebiaville, we had a nice conversation. I hadn't seen Cody for any length of time since Roger's Ride across Florida last October. He's good friends with a couple of my kiddos and a really great guy. We conversed about the upcoming season and all the good karma amongst cyclists these days in our area. Both of us expressed how much we are looking forward to the time change and the group rides coming just around the calendaric corner. (new word, means: turn of the calendar. It's actually a Slavic word having to do with; "watch out".)
Anyway, just as we were parting ways, he noticed my machine. I was riding my bike I built mostly from parts I had laying around in boxes, I explained. I even had an extra set of the old Rolf wheels and a Ultegra crankset from back in the '90s. Cody liked the paint job, saying something about being "luscious", then asked about the name rojocci. (Pronounced: roe jockey. Get it?) I told him the name was an entire fabrication of some initials and my favorite color. (Rojo for those of you less fortunate than my bilingual self is Spanish for the color Red. Oh yeah baby...Red! Great color.) And this steed was painted a deep metallic red that is almost black. Sweet! Uh, luscious! In the bright sunlight it looks like you can see down into it. As we turned to leave, he smiled, "Groovy!"
On my way home I was just soft pedaling trying to ease the legs back into reality. It also gave me time to ponder this sweet ride I call the rojocci. Yeah, it's heavier than my titanium Lynskey, but it is very durable and I actually like that it weighs more. I train on the heavier machine and race and do group rides on the lighter one. Oooo...a method to his madness! Plus, the cheaper rojocci gets trashed while the Lynskey stays fresh. (And hopefully lasts longer, that thing was expensive!) I laughed out loud as I thought about "groovy" and "luscious". Then it came to me like a beam of dull hazy light...this bike was Groovilicious! (I think I'm in love!)
The more I thought about this new word, the more applications I came up with for it's use. (I do some of my best thinking on the bike. Not that this was my best, mind you.) You know, groovy meaning cool or awesome and luscious meaning full of lush or oh yeah baby! Like, "Hey man, that bike is totally groovilicious!" Or, "Dude, where did you get those groovilicious sunnies?" I had a plate of spaghetti the other night that was definitely groovilicious. (And the lovely Mrs Graves undoubtedly qualifies for the groovilicious moniker.) It's a new way of communicating...more expressive, more defined! Therefore, it has been decided...
Tomorrow's ride on the Lillian Loop is entitled: Groovilicious!
Don't miss one mile of it! We start at 8am leaving from Fish and Wildlife heading west into a bit of a headwind according to the weather forecast. Speaking of, looks like low 50s at start time and we'll finish up with temps in the upper 50s with sunshine aplenty! Should be a great ride and I hope to see everyone there! However, if you can't make it, try the WFW Sunday morning "Around the Bay" ride leaving at 8am from Bagelheads on Gregory. Better yet, ride both!
"Hey man, try those poppyseed bagels, they are unbestinkingleivably groovilicious."
See you out on the road,
Bob
You can imagine my surprise and dismay when I recently discovered that my one time word creation was in error! It appears that the "groovilicious" confabulation was actually coined back in the early 1970s by those within the Funk music movement.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you born after 1980, Funk was a new and very popular genre among the youngsters of that era. Hits included titles, "Atomic Dog"; "Play that funky music white boy" and the ever popular, "We want the Funk!", written and performed by George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelics. George's performances was unforgettable to all that saw them as he usually wore nothing but a giant diaper!
The word "Groovilicious" appeared as an album cover in the 1970s. (For those of you born after 1980, an album is a 12" plastic disc that was played on a phonograph. For information on what phonographs were, see the movie, "Edison The Man", the story of Thomas Edison the inventor of the phonograph. The movie is in black and white. For information on black and white, see...oh forget it.)
Apparently, there is a more recent reference to Groovilicious by somebody named "Shakira". Go figure.
I know, more information than you ever wanted to know about that.