well it sure has been crazy....

I have been busy. started a new job just a part time one waiting tables again. Man I really like it much better behind the bar, then out on the battle lines.

The monster crosser is coming together, finally. She should be ride worthy next week I am hoping. I will have pics sooner than later, like the one of my new tattoo, i know I promised these awhile ago, but better late than never. that sure has been the motto of my year. better late than never. It seems that i will never race again, life just seems to take over sometimes and take a direction of its own. Not to say that I have not been on the bike, just not that far from home. I think that i will be doing some cross racing, ala fixed, once that thing is up and running and I have some miles under my belt. fixed off road, I am excited. If not a bit intimidated. My friend Matt came to town we got a ride in at tiger mountain, good times. I still need to get out to Kachess ridge, maybe sunday. anyone out there in.

My upcoming weekends are loaded full of things. My brother comes out and i get to take him to Vancouver, maybe I will get a ride in. The weekend after that it is off to tahoe for a wedding. I plan on getting one good ride in at least while I am back there.

congrats are in order for my friend Gregg, he ripped it up at this years E100. congrats stubbie coming in in 11 hrs and 50 some odd mins.

Rich Dillen, my hero, has legs and the mental capacity to suffer and suffer and not back down. Trans Rockies, e100 and now the Shenendoah 100. Rich you are an inspiration to us all. Keep it up.

Lately I have just been getting my commute miles in about 20 to 30 a day, 30 being at the high end of what i have been doing lately. soon i will be adding longer rides in on the weekends I hope, i want to be fit again. Next year is looking like I will focus on 3 to 5 races and that is it, maybe a few shorter distance ones, but mostly the longer ones, especially once the season gets going, I would like to do a couple of rides with the Randoneers, but we shall see what next year has in store for me.

Enough rambling, it is time to get going, pics of the monster crosser coming soon. later and as always keep pedaling

ON second thought last night was a meeting put on with the city about the planned bike improvement, they are actively tring to get more people to ride bikes for not just commuting but for trips to the store and such,errands ya know. So they held a meeting to get imput from cyclists about what they wanted to see. Turns out Seattle is quite the bike city, although we still have a long way to go but in perspective we are doing quite will. I will have a link up for those here in seattle to go and fill out a survey if they so desire. I urge you to do it. Bikes start a revolution one pedal stroke at a time. do it.

this weekends blowup...

So I thought that getting another job would help us out, well it has only made things more stressful, in the sense that adding more hours to the work week always seems to do that. That and it is just a huge ball of wax, and at another brewery so I feel that I am spliting loyaties. I am thinking that I may just have to stay at the Big time, I have a special place in my heart for it and it is so familiar. The thought of working tons again doesn't really excit me..................................

I was just interupted by a phone call from the navigation blunder that is Keith, he's down the coast surfing and flying kites. Hope he got the pink one. Got some good advice that came via his grandfather "the best way to spend money is not to make it" time is valuable, and there is more than just making money for the sake of being involved for the idea. Not to say the current job is without its issues, but the are known and familiar. So I think I have the answer to my quire.

So this weekend, the plan was set to complete the triple crown, did it happen, no is the answer. Many issues conspired to make it and ugly affair. I just had no power in my legs, I thought that would go away. I started my navigating towards Crystal Mountain and the Cyrstal mountain loop. Horses have done a good job of completely messing up the trails. That and the 60 days of sun with no more than 3/100 of a inch of rain. To say the least the trail condtions were dry, and loamy. So we had the dust and I have never walked my bike so much in one ride, steep, dusty, loose trails will do that to you. Did I mention how hot it was, so I fell apart is basically what happened, later in to the ride of course. The view from the top of Crystal of mount Rainier was like no other, the descent was awsome, long, not so technical, but tight single track. I finish the first loop and feel a bit better, the sun was getting to me but I thought now I know what is ahead it will get better. See Danielle and get out on the next loop up Corral Pass Road, feeling alright, then I am forced to walk and the heat is draining me. More pedaling more walking. "do you want a ride" NO. Wow I must really look bad, I certainly feel bad. Ahhhh the top of the climb, lets keep pushing I need to be done. My vision is now doing funky things. Clif shots are doing nothing, solid food wont go down. Good times. Then the cramps kick in, my calf, my hamstring, my quad, oh whats that my groin and my forearm. Now the descent down ranger, fun, but my arms hurt so much that I am having trouble holding the handlebar. more good times. Finally I am done with the descent, did I just write that, i did. Cruse back to the car and crash out, I am cooked. I have felt bad before but never so soon in to a ride. total stats were 37 miles with 7900 feet of climbing. I felt bad. I made some mistakes, but I overestimated my fitness and my recover from whatever got me last year, I need to take it slower. EVery new experience is a chance to learn right. There you have it, my crazy life. thanks for reading and keep pedaling.

and sometimes....

I post twice in one day. This is a short one thou. Check this out fixed impressions, and after listen to this. My friend the Gonterian, who when I get back to VT I plan on hooking up with and riding is doing some cool stuff. I have never met the man himself in person, we have a mutual friend the Vulture, I look forward to meeting him, when we are geographically in the same spot at one time. No pics of the tattoo yet, cant find the cord to connect the camera to the computer. This is what happens when you have one camera that two people share. Soon I promise. After watching the Gonterian video i really need to get my monster cross bike up and running. Should have gone with the gut feeling I had about the person getting me the parts. Well I am thru waiting and planning on getting the final parts as soon as possible. I really want to ride that thing off road, sooner than later. So check the video out, I think it rocked. I am already for more. keep pedaling.

Check out some more fixie footage, this is of the street variety, go to cadence clothing and check the video section out. I like it. Black and white. I cant wait to see Mashsf.

And coming in a bit a movie about 24 hr racing done by the Off Road to Athens guys and Gripped films. I get the link here in a bit.

why is it so hard to post regularly

It's funny, I never seem to post as much as I would like. It seems to be a blogger symptom. Life happens and regular posting is a thing of the past. There always seems to be so much going on. So many variables and situations. To make an analogy, its like juggling, when you only have a couple balls in the air not so hard, but when you have a couple balls, some chainsaws, and a knife or two up in the air it gets a little tougher. Then there are those tasks that take time and energy and at the end of it all the only thing you have to show is a better outlook on life, that is if you are lucky. It seems to me that we all live in our own interpertations of the world and we take them out on each other. It really is and individual experience of the world in which we live. Trying not to take it all personally is really a challange at times. So there you have it, hope it make sense. Now to what has been going on.

Last saturday was the Vibrator out on Vashon Island. I had no idea what to expect or what it was going to be. Originally it was supposed to be the 3 of us. Me, Pete and Keith. You all remember Keith, the directional challanged one, well last weekend he was gimpy. His ankle which he messed up while walking in a parking lot, sober as the day he was born, still is bothering him. Now that a story worth telling to those around you. Reminds me of a friend who had to tell us all he broke a rib while in the shower, he slipped, that was the long and the short of that one. So it was Pete and I, we rushed to make the ferry, and litterally made it by being the last ones on, we bought our tickets at 12:50 for the 12:50 ferry, good on us. Got to Vashon hung out with the group, started the informal time trial, but missed a turn so we just cranked it out and went to the campground. The Vibrator is an off road time trial of sorts, informal in nature. I was supposed to be back to go to a pot luck, had the race gone off on schedule it would have been no problem, but it started a little late. Pete and I pre rode the course, which was rolling and super fun. We each had a few PBR's before the race, and then were off in 2 min intervals, then one min and finally 30 second intervals. I rode well, on the Vulture, she had wings that day. I think I had the fastest time, and Pete had an excellent ride, finishing on a flat. we left before the results were finalized. Made the ferry, got home and then went to eat by myself. sure was glad I rushed home.

Wednesday, Brady was in town for the Tattoo convention, so I got some new ink. Hope to have a pic up soon.

This weekend I am going to hopefully go out and do a big ride off 410. Hopefully the Cascade Triple Crown. If it all works I will have a gps unit and google earth of it up next week. thats me. September is filling up with too many events. A friends Wedding, my brother is coming out and I am taking him to school in Vancouver, Danielle's sister is going to school in Vancouver as well so I think that we are taking her up to school too. So there you have it. Life happening. Keep pedaling.

One of the best weekends ever

That's right, you read it hear first......
I work nights, so when an event like the Dead Baby Downhill comes around I take the night off to enjoy the festivities. I had heard about this race before even moving here. The Downhill race itself is very short, I however chose to participate in the alleycat portion skipping the downhill for a longer event. I will tell you up front this is an event not to be missed, it was other worldly, dare I venture to say futuristic, it had a very Mad Max feeling. I think you get the picture. I forgot my camera, but I have pictures taken with a friends camera, at the moment I am having trouble locating them. I have located them, they appear to be in a zip file and I am having trouble uploading them, so you may have to wait for photographic evidence until later, but I will attempt to tell the story of the entire evening now.......
It all started with a few phone calls, and then it was off to meet my directionally challenged friend Keith at the Big Time Brewery, my place of employment, for a beer. I did mention that he is directionally challenged thus we figured it would be safe if we met at an easy to find location. Let me tell you Keith has no problem finding a bar, and after all it is the exact place that we met each other, so it was only fitting. But I digress. Beer almost gone, growler filled for the next stop, hanging out with Dustin at Cadence Clothing, and my boss steps in and I am forced to talk shop for the next 20 mins. That over we are off, first stop a bank downtown, the bank that I belong to is good however they aren't the largest bank, and have a limited number of locations. Dodging traffic with Keith in tow, we make it to the bank. Mission accomplished. I was impressed I took some awful lines through traffic and Keith, again being directional challenged was forced to follow, he didn't feel like getting lost in his own backyard. I am having a little too much fun with this right now, Keith thanks ahead of time for being a good sport about it. I hope that you are laughing as you read this.
Back to the day. Cadence for a beer with Dustin, by the way he is producing some great threads, order them up. Off we go to an address on a paper, somewhere is south Seattle. Stop for a bite to eat, not the best idea, the vietnmese food would be a hindrance later on. Note to self, spicy food on top of beer before a race is not the best combo for success. We find the Club house, do some investigating, pay our 20 dollars for water bottle, which doubled as the only way to get beer later, food tokens and shirt. What a bargain. Find the manifest, plot out course, I am getting better at navigation, but still don't know the city all that well. Wait a bit, then the 7 pm sharp start is more like 7:15, I was impressed. We are off. Next alleycat I am running on a geared bike, I think, fixie and I am off the back a bit. We race towards town, and our first stop. Planned Parenthood to get a condom. It is near danielles parents house so I know kinda where it is. I am in good position. I leave, make a navigational error, but get back on course towards the back of the pack. Get to the next stop, drop some beer money in the hat. I know where the next stop is, get there in good time. I am off, thinking do I stay in the alleys or get back on a more traveled path. I opt for the more traveled path, wrong answer, run through a couple lights and here a siren, look over my shoulder, thinking do I make an escape, no I just stay put. He write me a ticket for running a stop light, 81 dollars. It could have been worse, that was for one, not three. Well I figure my race is over, but I will continue on to the last checkpoint, which is hard to find, then another navigational error and I am on track. 5 mile time trial to the party. I make it,not dfl, but down the ranks. So much of these races are navigation, that and not getting pulled over. Good times. So now we are at the party. Pbr flowing. There are some bike powered rides, swings, slot machines, a sationary bike with a leather strap on the wheel that was rather painful. Few drinks, live music, clowns, funny bikes, etc. What a scene. So I tried to ride a swivel bike, started to get it just as I do, slam I am on the ground being tackled by a clown, go times. Tall bike jousting the rumor circulates that it is happening in the alley. We get out there, and the foot down game is about to start, I think this could be fun, until I get in to the ring and everyone else is on a kids bike, I am a target, I go down, I picked up a nice raspberry on my left elbow, think cheese grater. It is healing, but slowly. It is getting late, I joke about riding home with my eyes closed as thing happen in threes and I got a ticket, got tackled by a clown and ripped my elbow open. Keith hurt his ankle, before being drunk, so I limped him home, and that was that. One for the record books.
Saturday was pretty uneventful, hung out with Danielles family.
Sunday, Keith and I had planned to ride, but he had to bail understandably, Pete our other friend, who has a new girlfriend, hadn't returned my phone calls so I thought it was going to be uneventful as well. Well before I got up Pete had called a couple times and wanted to ride. I wanted to ride Noble Knob a trail that I had heard great things about, the drive was an hour and 45 mins, we decided we wanted to do it. It is absolutely amazing and I will leave it at that. Lots of climbing and amazing views. I don't want to say much more because it was that special, I want it for me.

The trip to Tahoe is shaping up to be a great one. This weekend I think I am going out to the Vibrator on an local island. Life is good. Last week was big miles, this week a little relax is in order. Slow and steady is the way back to health. Thanks for reading and as always keep pedaling

Dead Baby Downhill

Today is the day. The Dead Babies are a local bike club and they put on a totally illegal rece today and an after party that I am told is not to miss, lots of beer, tall bike jousting, and an all girl bicycle cheer group from Portland called the Sprockettes. ala the Rockettes. I have heard that there will be bicycle powered amusment rides, this should be one hell of a night. I took the night off just for the occasion, after all we only do live once and this is going to be a blast, who needs work anyways, I always say that it sure is over rated this work stuff that we have to do as part of life. So my day is going to be interesting. Keith and I are riding over, he is unsure if he will race, what could be better than a downhill race through the streets with lots and lots of other people on a fixie. Insane, I think not. Sure I am rambling right now, but what else is one to do when they have all the words so eloquently situated,but when they are put to paper they dont sound like they did in my head, what is that all about. After all I am a genius in my own mind, just ask me. I hope you are laughing now, cause I am. But I digress....
So this movie looks interesting. I meet some of the Black Label guys in Reno a few years back, they really know how to put on a party. Make sure to check out the trailer. It is worth watching. With all these films about the underground coming out Klunkerz, mashsf , there are more, but they are escaping my overcrowded mind right now. I feel the need to make one about singlespeeding, I would love to make a film about the lives and the backgournd on singlespeeds, history, the worlds, endurance racing. It would be fun. Now I have no background in film, nor do I have funds right now, but I just might get a wild hair, and try to start compiling footage next year. I sure an rambling right now. Throw your ideas out.
Nick Martins site has a interview with Chris E of National and World Solo fame.
I am going for a good mountain bike ride this weekend, again in the 410 area, I would love to put a race on in this area and am exploring all the possible options, slowly, but I am getting to know the area off 410 quite well these days.
That is all for now, time to drink some more coffee, and then run errands so that I can be free this evening of all worldly attachments, living in the moment. I again had this urge today to race again, long, punishing to feel that satisfaction of finishing, to get back in the saddle. I learn so much about myself while suffering, that I crave it like a drug, it has a very calming effect, I miss it. Another idea, shirts with a picute of a bike that says my drug. Probably already exists somewhere, but I could make my own, that is when I learn to silkscreen. I am learning to sew soon, taking a class. as alway keep pedaling.

I am feeling the itch

I am feeling the itch, however slight it may be, to race again. Not to be the fastest guy out there, because I can tell you in a long endurance race I would suffer. wow, thats a news flash, I mean everone suffers, but I would be in the pain prison at a lower level than I was used to. I think. That is why I am getting the urge to race a 24 hr race solo or a 100 miler this year perhaps. I just got back from Northern Idaho, where I had the pleasure of riding some sweet singletrack. Each day I rode about 15 to 20 miles of dirt in about an 1 1/2 with 2500 vertical gain. I had the pleasure of riding with Matt C. Who I knew from racing. He used to live in Auburn, but now lives in Idaho. It was great to ride trails with him. The first day his hub exploded on him, forcing him to walk it back to the car. We heard this creaking noise and simaltaneouly both said "that doesn't sound good" and then he went ass over tea kettle. He completely destroyed the bearing in his American Classic hub. We were about 2 miles in to the ride, so I continued up while he went back to the cars. Matt is an amazing rider. Wish we lived a little closer so that we could feed off each others energy and push each other to ride harder. The next day we met up agian to do another ride that was pretty brutal for how short it was. a 7 mile 2500 ft climb, 3 1/2 on singletrack which was the bulk of the climb, then a fast descent for 2/3 of the way down followed by a insanly technical high consecence section. All the single track I rode in idaho was ribbon thin, never more than eight inches wide. It was amazing. I wished I had more time to do more rides there, but alas I had to go back to work and the real world.
Back to the racing, if not this year definatly next year. I would like to do the Wilderness 101 and the Shennendoah 100. The Creampuff, is at new area this year so that is on the list. I need to get back to park city to do the e100 again, or at least see boris. This year has been very unstructured and focusing on recovery, I am still a little hesitant to push it too soon, as "the illness" is lingering, but seems to be on its way out. My focus will be fun fun fun, I need to get in more dirt riding longer distances to see how the body feels after it, I will also be putting in more road miles, in fact I am going to go and get in about 50 as soon as i am done with this post. Life is about to get hectic for a bit here, work will be taking over, but i have some good brakes coming up in mid september.
Speaking of mid september, I am going to be getting back to tahoe, where the altitude will hurt me and riding with an old friend and racing partner. I just got an email from him, Keith and I havn't talked in awhile, but I was overjoyed that he contacted me out of the blue to see what I was up to. He seems to be doing real well now, he is sking again and has a new found balance and acceptance of it all it seems. I cant wait to see him and chase him around some loops he has up in tahoe.
I pick the wrong person to get parts from for the offroad fixie, he is taking his sweet time, I am trying to be patient, but it is not so easy, hopefully two weeks, I knwo I keep saying that, but this is the way it sometimes happen when you dont plan ahead well. that and the fact that I am paying two mortages is sucking my dry and making it hard to find the money. So there you have it. Sunday I think I am going to explore in the 410 area again, and see how many miles I can put in. as always keep pedaling.

so i about too..

go on a rant, cycling related but not really. Those of us that ride for pleasure should also ride for utilitarian reasons as well. I have been wanting to see Al Gore's movie and titled An Inconvient Truth for awhile now. Sunday I had the pleasure of doing so. I consider myself quite aware of global warming and its issues, and I learned and was inspired by this movie. Inspired to get involved in any way that I can. Global warming is a touchy subject, there are those who say "it doesn't matter, it is all twisting of fact, we are not doing damage" and there are those that say " it is too late to do anything, so why bother." I think that we are at a very critical time, that things are going to change, we are quite possibly change the way we live. America has a great opportunity to stand up and make an example out of itself, if the government wont do it then the people will have to do what the government is unwilling to do. I could go on and on. Do yourselves a favor, see the movie, especially those of you out there that think we as americans can continue to live as we do for the remainder of time. Please do yourselves and your fellow americans a favor, go and see this film. Check out this site as well.
Swobo is going to be making bikes.
Cadence clothing is in the process of getting jeans made. Dustin is also putting out some great one of a kind clothing. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him on friday for a few hours, watching him do tricks on his fixie, like one foot over the bar skids, reverse circles, well you get the picture.
I have been tossing around my own t shirt ideas and some other stuff, i have been getting parts ready for the monster cross bike. Brandon , www.trackdaddy.blogspot.com , wants to put on and endurance race here in washington, I would love to see this happen and have offered my assistance,etc.
we should all give thanks for having cycling in our lives, it is a great honor to be in your ranks. Cycling has brought me friends, like skateboarding did years ago, before skateboarding got so big that we as skaters didn't instanly bond. I get that bond now from cycling. I think that we as cyclist should feel connected just because we ride. I sometimes feel that we dont feel this bond, as I get snuffed by riders, but I consider them the unlucky ones and choose to focus on people like Dustin and Micheal and Justin and all the others I have met that are instantly brothers. This is my message to you. be a brother or sister to all those on bikes, bikes are part of the next revloution. as always keep pedaling.

my first race in awhile

my first race in a while was yesterday, at the greenwater gamble. It was the 7th race in the Indie series, a washington race series that starts in February and finished yesterday. Greenwater is a small town up near Crystal mountain along Hwy 410 it is home to some of the greatest trails in the area. The Sun Top trial, Ranger creek, noble knob, the crystal mountain loop. This used some lesser known trials, as well as part of the sun top loop where used in the race course. It was a great race course, lots of roots, lots of twisting and turning, some hike a bikes you get the picture. Originally we were supposed to complete a start loop and 3 large loops, they changed it to one start loop and 2 large loops for the single speeders. We caved in very easy to the change. I had not exerted myself at race pace in a long while, so the shorter distance was welcomed. There were 5 of us in the singlespeed class. It was hot, and muggy. We started a 2pm. and were off down a flat gravel road for a bit. spun out. single track brought relief, that and passing. I had planned not to gas it, but that went out the window as soon as we started and I was in full race mode. I almosted paid for this, but began to settle in towards the middle of the second and last lap. I almost went for the third lap, just because but decided that I must build slowly back to race fitness, and I knew that I could do it, but it is better to ease back in to it all. I was happy to finish in 1 hour and 36 mins and in first place. However on the first lap I was chasing another guy who flatted at the top of the climb at the entrance to the single track and that helped me out, because I think he may have been the stronger rider. After the race we enjoyed the river and then head home. It was a sucessful test and gave me a bit of confidnece in my fitness.
Today I am going to see Al Gore's movie An Inconvient Truth, I have been wanting to see this movie for awhile. I am convinced that we need to be aware and respectful of the world in which we inhabit and that changes in lifestyle are coming.
Next weekend I am headed towards Spokane to ride with my friend matt, he has some good loops planned for us. he will kick my ass, and it will be good times.
as always keep pedaling.

so i dont really have and excuse...

for not posting in a while, other than the fact that I have been lazy in updating my blog. that and I havent been feeling very creative, still trying to get the creative jucies flowing. Pictures would be nice, but I just cant seem to remember to take them. that and I fear falling on my camera. I dont fall, crash all that often, but it would only be appropriate if when I brought a camera a major crash insued. call me paranoid or supersitious or just plain crazy. that was established quite some time ago.

the tour has been and interesting one this year. what happened to floyd yesterday, was nice while it lasted to think that a former american mountain biker would get the yellow, and prove that there are other great american cyclist other than lance armstrong. I admit it has been fun to watch the tour without knowing that lance has a strangle hold on the competition.

I have been riding and plan to race here this weekend, I think, the weather is supposed to be miserable hot and my race starts at 2 pm, great time of day for me, due to the fact that I am not a morning person, but really hot time of day as well. I put in a good effort yesterday on the mountain bike and felt moteratly strong, I am a little sluggish today, but then again I am still waking up. I am pretty excited about racing again, just for the fun of it. I am sure the competative bones in my body will rise to the surface, but I am just going out to have a good time and enjoy the course. I will probably race it rigid, but I may throw the suspension fork on if, well just if I feel the need. that or just back out on racing it rigid. I am tossing around the idea of racing the 24 of moab, but it is still very tenative at the moment.

Dicky won, that is so rad, it would be great if he could post after every stage, rich make your mark brother. I love his blog, it is always a hoot to read.

so that is the update, the monster cross parts are being purchased this week, and it should be rolling real soon. pic as soon as I get it built up. I am stoked. thanks again wade. as always keep pedaling.

As promised an image of the tattoo that I got to remind myself that being sick was a part of the journey. Motivation "I will rise again" is what it says and I plan to do just that. I will return but even stronger than before. I have been getting more and more miles in, and feeling better. This is positive. The order of the day is to have fun. No fun is no fun. A little redundant if I do say so myself. There is a larger story to the tattoo, my best friend in high school is now a tattoo artist, this is some of his work. He was involved in a major accident 5 or 6 years ago that left him very damaged. He has since recovered, but to help him get through it all he got a sparrow crashing with the phrase " I will fly again" he restructured his life after his incident and became a tattoo artist, a dream of his. I am currently trying to find my way back, and have, while not job wise, but emotionally and spiritually reached a different level of understanding and being in the world because of my illness. I will soon have some more ink to show off as Brady is coming back to town for the Seattle Tattoo Convention in mid august. I am tossing around many ideas, but have not settled on one yet. www.inkademic.com

The parts for the monster cross bike are taking longer to acquire than I would like. It will happen when it happens.

On Saturday I went and rode the Sun Top loop near Crystal Mtn. Super steep climb followed by a ripping descent. I had been having brake problems for awhile, and the day before the ride thought I had it fixed so that I would at least have a back brake for the descent. The problem was it had leak some fluid and air was in the line, probably near the caliper, so you can imagine what happened by just adding some fluid it seemed to hold. I am on old Deore disc brakes that I have used for the last 3 seasons, they have seen better days. I just got some Avid juicy carbon brakes that will be on the Vulture tomorrow. I can not wait to use them. Power awaits me. Isn't it funny how new parts make you ride harder and faster than before, even if it is just a mental thing. I have some rides planned within the next couple of weeks, more on that later. Now just commuting longer distances to work and trying to stay ahead of it all. As always, keep pedaling.

support...

We should all support Team Dicky, win the RaceFace ultimate challange. Why you ask? Well a little history is in order. Before I got ill, I wanted to do this race and had every intention of doing it. My body, mind and soul were decicated and it took a lot for me to back out. I had to. I just couldn't ride. This was real, I felt like I wanted to die, I couldnt ride 3 miles without getting tired. I kept thinking it would pass. Well it didnt. I am still recovering this year, I am getting stronger and can ride a bunch more, but I am no where near where I was. So with saddness I had to backout. Causing Rich of team dicky to have to find a partner with little time. I wanted to be part of the team, the first singlespeed team to ride and complete the trans rockies. I still am not happy with myself for dissappointing such a strong rider. It just doesnt sit right with me that I had to dissappoint a fellow cyclist. I dont quit, and felt weak in doing so, but I had to, I was a shell of what I needed to be. So rich I support you and am still sorry about letting you down last year. everyone needs to vote for team dicky. rigid singlespeeds in the trans rockies, what could be better. I ripped a local ride yesterday on the rigid singlespeed, sore today, but there is one way to get in shape keep riding rigid. I am rambling, I am still upset for last year, I have come to terms with it, but it just doesnt sit right with me. I would like to get to the trans rockies again. If my recovery goes right I will be strong again. I got this tattoo awhile ago to help me realize that I can do it, I can come back from being fucked up beyond all recognition. well I will post it when I get the camera back from my girlfriend. Again rich I am sorry for last year.

riding.....

riding and hiking, and being away from all that connects us to the everyday. Last week I left for the Olympic Pennisula, to get away from it all, feel the sand on my toes and relax, or at the very least not do the same routine for a bit. Mission accomplished. I hung out with my dad, step mother and girlfriend. We did a lot of walking on the beach, there are some really amazing beaches out there. I went swimming on the first day, man was it cold, reminded me of being a child and spending time in the ocean in Maine. We went to the rainforest, we did at least 3 different activities a day. At times a bit draining, but all in all good. Did some riding on the trails out there, but so much of it is wilderness and we all know what that means, no bikes. I am feeling better on the bike, still not putting in the huge miles or hours, but more and more consistnet miles and hours each week. so that is a positive thing. This weekend will be a good test for me as we are planning to go ride the Sun Top trial, lots of climbing and then the next day the Ranger Creek trial, lots of climbing, all from the same camp. good times. about 20-30 miles a day with 4000 feet of climbing each day. this will be a test for me right now. old me would do it all in a day, recovering me will take it a little slower than that. We plan to explore a bit to see aobut connecting the crystal mountain loop in to it. The tripple crown of route 410, here in washington.
well all the fixie riders are out of the GDR, I was really looking forward to seeing them all cross the finish line, but alas, maybe next year some one will do it. Just showing up at the line on a fixed gear is amazing enough. Kent is putting on a ride for Dave Nice to raise money, I am hoping to have the monster cross bike built up and ready to ride that day, it is on the 30th of July, i hope that day is free, or I will have to clear it so that I can participate.

I hope that Rich and his teammate get in to the Trans Rockies. checkout racefaces site.

Get Cranked mag in your town. This is a local mag put out by some cool cats. You should get it in your town, or shop, or damn just get it.

lots on my plate.,....

It may be some kind of blessing in disquise that i have not been able, due mostly to life circimstances at the moment, read that I just moved, changed jobs, and have a house that I am trying to sell, that I have not been able to race this year. I am trying on a new hat, that everything happens for a reason. I got ill for a reason, it is supposed to teach me something, when I learn the lesson I will be able to move on, and maybe just maybe it will make me a stronger, better person, cyclist, human being. So each day I am looking for the silver lining, I hate to be that guy that used to be fast, used to be strong, used to be, I dont want to live in the past. Certainly all those experiences have helped me to grow and change and have been good, and are still part of who I am, but now I am who I am. I get to commute to work on a bike, that rocks. I dont get to mountain bike like I used to, but I am working on getting two or three mountain rides a week in, so far it has been about one. Last weekend the weather broke here, it was beautiful, what did I do, flew to reno on no sleep and cleaned my house up to get it ready to sell. Lots of work, but I did get to see the lake tahoe, some friends and eat the best sushi on the planet at Hiro's sushi in Kings Beach. silver lining. MInd you life is all about perspective and perception. I tend to see myself as less than right now when in some ways I am more than i was before, just in a different arena. I am not the mutant singlespeeder at the races, but I am coming back and I will rise agian, I am making plans, loose one for next year, and some for later this year, lets see what happens. I would like to do one tour, a couple big races, 100 milers, I would really like to get to Boris' 12 hour race. So I am coming back ever so slowly. I feel better on the bike, but I am also a bit more flexible in the training, and listen a bit better to the body for now at least. so there you have it, my brain fart of the day.

In other news I am feeling a bit sad today, Dave Nice aka Cellarrat, is out to the GDR his bike was stolen while he slept along side the road. I can not imagine how that must feel. Dave my heart goes out to you. there are a lot of people on your side and you will be rolling agian. Scott Taylor at a bike shop in Denver has set up a paypal account for those wanting to donate to get dave back and rolling. Lets show him we all care about him. Lets all be family, like we are. Those who ride should show a kinship. I found myself putting limits on it i.e those that have done a 24 hr race or this or that, but those who ride are part of a family. so those wanting to give should paypal money, any amount will help to scott@salvagetti.com

so awhile ago....

So awhile ago I wrote about fixed gear bikes are they the next hot thing. It appears they are, but is that necessarily a good thing. For those of you who dont know I am part of the Twin Six family. I like what these guys are about and what they are doing. I wont even try to pretend that I know the history of how messengers started riding these bikes. as part of a counterculture, those looking for the next thing to market may find it in the messenger culture. The rebels those who decide to live by their own rules.
I like fixies a lot, and after spending time on one it becomes very apparent why they hold such a dear place in the heart of those making a living delivering packages. They are simple, you are connected to the bike with your legs, thus minor adjusments in speed can be made with out using brakes, you are, at risk of making too mcuh out of it, one with the machine. So one of the other members of the twin six family wrote an opinion of the month about just the subject. The popularity of fixed gears and what it is doing to the messenger community in Milwakee.
I remember when skateboarding went big, it changed it, it made it harder to skate the streets because parks were built and why the hell werent we there. Similarly with the newspapers taking an interest fixed gear bikes they are brought in to the consiousness of all able to read the paper. The lawlessness of the machine gets highlighted. The law states that a bike must have breaks, most fixies dont, hence the long arm of the law now has some ammunition, and due to the exposure in the papers, they have the education of what to look for to determine what the bike looks like. So with the popularity comes the backlash. I am not a messenger, but riding fixed here in seattle certainly has its benefits, I dont ride fixed all the time and brakes can be tempermental, and minor adjustments to speed are not as easy to make, is it for everyone, no. Is it just for messengers, no. Just fly under the radar. Here is a link to James Lalonde's article, while your there poke around a bit. Keep it simple.

On a side note, I am selling a 26 inch rear wheel. new never been ridden. It is an white industries eno disc hub laced to a ritchey rim. unsure of spokes or nipples used in the build as it was built by my old team manager. if intertested make an offer,we will go from there. over and out, keep pedaling.

In theory....

I should be able to post more. But life takes over and I even have trouble getting an email off to old friends. Some may say I need to learn to manage my time, but after being sick I have a new found appreciation for doing things in their time. Some things just take longer than you wish they did, but then again perfection is not possible. Or is it? Does it really matter, imperfect may be perfect. Well I wont bore you with that babble of new age nonsense. New age or not things just happen when they happen and that has to be good enough. Dream and figure out the details later. Or maybe the dream is just good enough. There I go getting all new age again. Or is it just matter of fact. Ring a bell Pete. Peter Peter the...... Well those that were there can finish the rest of that sentence, or should I say adult nursery rhyme. I'll give you a hint think one with the natural order of things. Good times. So enough with the inside jokes.
My dad and step mom are in town.

Raam is about over, and the great divide race is about to happen. Good luck to Dave, matt and rudi, representing the fixed side off life. The build is in effect just trying to get all the right parts here. The color is exactly what I asked for. Wade really is the man, I can not wait to get out and hit the trials fixed. I am concerned that I will spend too much intimate trail time, i.e face in the roots, dirt, mud or what have you. And how will my body hold up over the miles, more so how bout the legs.

On the health front I am feeling better, and better, but still not whole. I almost said better, but that wouldn't have made a lot of sense. Here I go again. When ever I say that phrase"here I go again" I cant help but being reminded of Whitesnake, a car and a red head in white wrything around on the hood of a car. Yes I am feeling my age right now a victim of growing up in the 80's. "on my own goin down the only road I've ever known, like a twister I was born to walk alone, I made..... So I am riding more, and more miles, thank god for Whitesnake, not really, it reminds me of being on an endless climb with a wander mind and having that filling it urging me on faster and faster in an attempt to make it hurt so bad I forget about the stupid sound loop that I am playing in my mind. Oh I have spent many hours with Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train in my head, and I cant say I always enjoyed it. I have played whole albums in my head during a race before. Its tolerable in a race, but in real life at work it can push me over the edge. Back to the world

so hopefully the off road fixie, I haven't yet named her, with be internet ready here in about 2 weeks. Sorry for the delay. I know you are all just holding your breath in anticipation. Well don't. I hope everyone finds the humor in that sentence and doesn't label me some kind of ego maniac.

So family is the theme this week, my parents are here, keiths parents are here. I am told father levitt went down on the road and has some battle scars. Heal up, heal up.

I rode trails again rigid and am thinking about staying that way for awhile. cialis really works. haha, rigid is simple, roots hurt and line selection is key. I imagine if I get really accustomed to it going back to a suspension fork will only increase the fun. Its all about skill building. So I have more energy and am dreaming of racing again, but probably not until next year, I don't want to rush anything, and only then for pure shits and giggles.

Looks like Rich of team dicky had a rough weekend, next time my man, next time.
so the weather looks to be getting better and soon I am hoping that life will stop taking over and I will have time to really get out and ride and recover. Patience it never has been my strong point

What am I supposed to learn....

I am trying to come up with one of those life is.... sayings to sum up in a few words succinctly how life has been feeling lately and am at a loss for the correct words. There is the ever present and over used "life happens" which to me describes just that. This life that we lead comes with inherent resposibilities and they happen, is one definition. Things take longer than we as a collective want them too. Plans change. Schedules change. What is the saying "the best laid plans fail, fall short" something. Life has a way of providing road blocks, or challanges, puzzels if you will to slow us down, and possible teach us lessons. That is if we listen and pay attention. Patience is a Virture. How many more uphemisism can I throw in here. Anyways life tends to throw situations our way to teach us more about our selves and just quite possible more about the collective human condition. We are as much as I hate to admit it only human after all. I would love to be mutant freak, and not bound to the same collective restrictions, but at the end of the day, I am faced with the fact of being a human after all. Sometimes while out riding in traffic I feel above it all and on another plain, but then I get to work and have to deal with boss, and the customers and all of this has a way of bringing me back to earth. There is simple not enough hours in the day to do everything I wish that I could do. So being part of the collective is the answer and understanding personal motivation may help me understand the motivations of others and might just possible make it easier to come to terms with being human. Well now that i have totally made no sense and danced from topci to topic, a glimpse in to how my brain works, I will attempt to describe what is happening.

Communication, now I think I am quite good at it, but as of late that has most definately not been the case. The real question is: Is it what I say or might it be what I expect people have heard. So Sunday we went for an what was supposed to be an epic ride and that is was, but not for the same reasons that i initail thought. I was under the impression that the route had been ridden in its entirety and therefore would not involve exploration. wrong. first 6 miles amazing ups followed by amazing downs, then lots and lots of fireroad, gravel road and pavement with many stops all the time lost. oh yeah then some hike a bike insert 2000 vert in under a mile and a half. riding in 6 inches up mud more being lost. ok you get the point. a 3 to 4 hour expected ride turned in to a 8 hour where are we going fest. But we got back on track adn the final descent was out of this world.
Tuesday: The day I was supposed to get my bike frame back from the painter. Car trip to, lots of traffic. Frame looked awsome paint just what I wanted. had a long conversation when I dropped it off about taping of the head badge, understood, 1 of a kind,etc etc. Well you can imagine where this is going. Head badge got painted. fuck, now they have to re do it. there is an hour and a half wasted in the car, for a conversation I thought was well understood, it was noted every where.
I wont bore you with more, but that is they way it has been going. What am I supposed to learn, not so sure, but under all this I am looking for the silver lining. because there is always a silver lining under all things, or am I just supposed to change my level of expectation, ask more questions and maybe be that guy, the guy that asks to many questions and wants to control the outcome too much. This post was less bikeing related and more just a vent if you made it this far you are a trooper, if not you really missed out. as always keep pedaling and enjoy

6/6/06

that was yesterday. I had a great day, while enjoying the Supersuckers live I heard the greatest thing about the whole 6/6/06 thing he was talking about telling his mother about the day this and that and she said "its just stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. it like the easter bunny, santa claus and all that, and if it werent for that stupid movie the omen(the first one) no one would even know about 666." I had a good chuckle and just thought I would share that little moment with you.

So yesterday I participated in an alleycat race, in the daylight this time, with two stops, I did better but made some navigation errors. I really dont care how fast you are if someone can plan a better faster route than you they will win, that is unless you take the same route. I am still new to this city and the checkpoints are not always the easiest for me to find. That said this is how it all went down. The race was to start at 6pm at 666 stewart st. a fiction address. As riders started to appear from traffic we moved to a near by park, those that knew the promoters call them and they eventually showed up. 6 dollars was paid, and we were given 3 tickets, one for a beer, one for a hotdog and the other a raffle ticket, that was for a PBR bike. We crossed the street to a parking lot the 1st checkpoint was announced and we were off to Mobius Cycles. This is where the fun begins, just after 6 in downtown traffic we tore off, splitting lanes, running red lights, as you can imagine when 45 riders take off at once headed to the same place just a short jaunt away mahem is the order of the day. Not havign been to mobius I hung back a bit and followed we made it there in no time, ran up two flights of stairs, did a shot of the nastiest burbon ever, got a cd, and back to the bikes with the next checkpoint, where 520 and the arbortetum meet. Here is where I made a slight navigation error, avoidign climbing up and over to Madison I went towards the udistrict and around, slight navigation error. More running of red lights and going all out. I was aboard the fixie so top speed was a little limited but not much. Arboretum, bridge to no where, chug a rainer, grab a doll part and off to the Summit ale house. Not know where that was I mad the biggest error of the day and went all the way up to the top of Captial Hill instead of around it and up the other side. I ended up 6th, the winner, VT SEth was get this on a BMX bike. 36x12 gearing, but none the less on a bmx bike. oh the shame. AFter that I waited around, met the cadence clothing guy and then went off to the supersuckers and Zeke show. good times were had by all. Cant wait to do another.

Monster cross history...

This is my brief understanding of what a monster cross bike is: a bike that accomadates up to 44 or 45 cc tires, on 700 rims, usually has drop bars, can be geared, single or fixed, but for the most part is of the one speed variety. The term was coined by wade as far as I know as a way to talk to costomers about what they were asking for and to have a common ground for discussion, with them. Here is a link to an mtbr fourm talking about it: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?s=763305814b65232ac5dbe4005990e599&t=192307

As for the story of mine and how it came to be. I ordered a bike from wade, the skull bike, just over two years ago, a 29er single. I was hooked on the vulture, best ride I have ever had. Wade really works some magic. At the time I wanted to help promote Vulture cycles, to help spread the gospel, but there existed no merchendise to do so. I took it upon myself to help a brotha out, I had shop jackets, hats and socks made for wade and vulture, with Jessica, wades woman, we had wool jersey made recently, so it is coming together. Wade wanted to show his appreciation so he presented me with a frame of his choosing, a monster cross frame with no rear brake boss and a front disc brake. I am forever greatful, and eager await getting it back and built up so I can take an off road fixie ride.
My health not being what I wish it was will keep those trips relatively short for the time being, but I think that it will be another great way to enjoy the trails, and challanging at the same time. I have yet to get the parts totally down, but I am going to keep it simple. It is probably only a few short weeks until I get to have a ride report for everyone. I need to get out and enjoy the local trails soon. Life has been happening and keeping me from getting out as much as I would like, but sometimes thats just the way it is.
As far as the post about irony it was just an observation, as are many things posted on this blog, it is a way for me to put things in perspective, sometimes my writing is my thoughts as they come out, I sure do wish that all my parents ability to write had been passed down and I could put thoughts to paper or in this case thoughts to screen in a more artistic manner, but then again this is practice to becoming a better writer, it is fun, it will be fun to look back on. Memories. All the hats we wear throughout life, all the experiences life is so dynamic, and I have these great thoughts and ideas and sometimes I hit the mark and can express them and other times what I imagine things and ideas to sound like is nothing like what they come out like. Life is not a spectator sport. sorry for all the cliches. Irony exists, and what was said the other day was just half a thought, and as dave nice said we do have to pay for tires and bike parts that were shipped half way around the globe, and like he said, beign aware is more than most people are doing, it is a starting point. as always keep pedaling.

Ironic?

the other day I had the pleasure of driving my bike to the powder coaters, such irony in driving to do bike related stuff, but to ride the frame there would have taken more time than I had. I always find it a little akward to put a bike in a car and drive it someplace close by. I can't really even justify putting my road bike on my car burning some petro to get to another place to ride my road bike on roads. There is just something about it that seems so counter productive, so just not the thing to do. Of course to sample somesweet singletrack I just about have to put my bike on a car and drive, this I have come to terms with, I would really love to live someplace again where this was possible. In Reno I could leave my house and be on trails in 5 mins or less, same in tahoe. Here in seattel I have to drive a minimum of an hour to get to some worthy trails, and longer a lot of times. So there is irony that I have to use gas to enjoy my bike, if only cities where designed with bikes and offroad use in city. Think about it systems of trials in greenbelts, less roads and more dirt, it could have been possible, and there is probably some way to have more trials in city, it just takes shifting towards allowing bikes in parks, and making bike specific trails. I know I am dreaming but with out dreams where are you really. Back to my above point, there is irony in the fact that we as cyclist think that we are doing much more than the average citizen and are somehow better, that our riding of bikes somehow cuts down on our gas consumption, when in fact at times we burn more gas to get to those places that we want to ride our bikes. The only trips that conserve or cut down on our gas consumption are those that replace a trip that we would have taken in a car. Think about it. I am in no way advocating that we dont go riding or that we are bad for this, it is just there is inherently some irony in the whole equation. My current riding partners and I always car pool, as two of are for the most part carless ourselves, that leaves one or two others to do all the driving. but it eases my mind to know that we are not all driving to the trailhead individually. That is what I thought about as I drove my girlfriends car to the powdercoater on Friday, and I will have to drive back to get it when it is done.
So the rain is still here, will it ever stop for a good stretch of time I hope. I have a few pics of wade building my bike that I may put up later, I may just wait until it is powdercoated and built and then share all stages of pic that I have. there you have it.