Raymond Johnson @ downclimb.com

RAGBRAI 2022 I feel obligated to keep my 22-year blogging streak intact here, even if what I'm about to say isn't particularly meaningful to anyone. So here it goes. The year got off to a rough start. On New Year's Eve 2021, I came home after evacuating from the Marshall Fire. The fire destroyed over 1000 homes nearby, and the flames came within sight of my building. I spent that night at my sister's, sleeping in a recliner next to my ailing mother. Mom died less than two weeks later, finally succumbing to the stroke she had suffered the previous July. Really, nothing was great for mom after dad died in 2019, but it was nice to have her here in Colorado for a few years and I can't thank my sister and nephew enough for the care they gave her in those final months. It was hard for everyone. My work at the Department of Education kept me exceedingly busy. I felt like the whole year was a constant state of never getting caught up. The last time I took a Friday off, I wo...

Muhammad Ali died late last night. To say I saw this coming wouldn't tell the whole story. Several times, over the past few years, I found myself suddenly struck with the thought, "Ali will be gone soon." It was the kind of thought that hit me as I lie in bed, unable to sleep, but unable to focus my thoughts. I wasn't seeing the future, and I'm not particularly sentimental about the dead. But the fact that my subconscious would do this to me should give you an idea of what Muhammad Ali means to me. Early Memories As a young boy, I had a few pieces of sports equipment: a bicycle, an old baseball glove passed down from my dad, and a pair of boxing gloves, which I used to hit a heavy bag fashioned from my dad's old Air Force duffle bag. My interest in boxing was initially driven by the Rocky movies, but I remember the first Ali fight I ever saw: an ESPN replay of the first Ali-Norton fight, from March 31, 1973. I'm going to guess I was 11 or 12 years old w...

Coming into the Olympics , I had a hunch that these games were going to be remembered for the performances of the U.S. women. Maybe it had something to do with the local media attention on Missy Franklin , or my native state 's attention on Gabby Douglas and Lolo Jones , but it seemed there was a lot more talk about our female Olympians than there was for the men. ( Michael Phelps  is the obvious exception. Remember, NBC thought it was worth skipping part of the Opening Ceremony so we could listen to Ryan Seacrest ask him about his fear of spiders.) Now through 13 days of competition, it appears my hunch was right . U.S. women have so far won 51 medals to the men's 38 (neither figure counting the bronze won in tennis mixed doubles), and the women have struck gold twice as often as the men , 26 to 13. Give yourself this quiz: Name a male U.S. Olympic gold medalist who isn't a swimmer . (crickets) Give up? It's not easy, because there have only been three: Vincent Han...