Man, there's something special about the first real mountain bike ride of the year! Now........we've been riding all winter. The trails have been dry and I got out to Bass River w/ Rach, Ted, Lee and Max-the-dog 3 mornings in a row last week alone. This wasn't even the first time we'd ridden @ Yankee...Rach and I met down there before work last month w/ her roomie John. So it's not that we haven't been gettin' out.............but...........still.............today was different. For one thing, we weren't squeezing in a quick lap and rushin' off to work. For another, the cast of charactors was different. Nothing against my fellow velo-Citizens, they're among my fav folks to ride with after all, but it was different and cool to plan a ride, look forward to it all morning, show up down there not knowing who to expect, etc etc etc. Just felt like the beginning of something, y'know?
So..........'twas Chris K, Tator, Rick P and Mr-n-Missus Doez gathering there in the crowded parking lot. The trail is in great shape right now, dry, fast and hardly any sand. Sadly....that will not last. Regular Yankee riders are all too aware that it gets ridden into a beach-like state by June or so. Still-the MMBA does all it can to protect the trail and as long as we all do everything we can to help.............it'll be okay. Hopefully.
(Note to the butt-head that just had to pass Tator and I on the short loop and couldn't muster up the breath to let us know he was coming........bite me! Dude..........I'm 49 yrs old, 30 lbs overweight and on a single-speed. Passing me ain't gonna get'cha a pro contract! I've been passed by tons of dudes and dudettes.....all ya gotta do is say something like " When you get a chance can I get by on your left?" or something like that. But no..........you had to practice your "race passing technique" and come up on Tator all silent like. You're lucky he didn't put'cha in the weeds. As it was you had to go off-trail, always a lame move, and then you had to do the same thing to me. Jack-hole.)
Still.....a great ride on a great day in great company. No complaints from this boy! (Except that my fitness is still hibernating or something.)
Lots going on @ the shop. Still wrestlin' w/ the new computer project. I just this second made it my personal goal to make that the last mention of the whole software thing. Why should anyone care? We'll see how I do.
Gotta get the next newsletter out this week. If you're reading this and you don't get our Rider's Reader in your e-mail inbox every month...let me know @ velocity587@hotmail.com I send out nearly 1000 of them each month and I sure wonder how many fight their way through the maze of spam filters, cyber-weirdness and other obstacles to actually get read by folks? (Why does this subject conjure up pics in my head of Woody Allen dressed up like a sperm cell in that silly movie?) They are also archieved on both of our websites, FYI.
Hopefully we'll see our first batch of Macatawa Bike Works frames next month! Man, that's gonna be so cool ! Can't wait!
My record remains intact.............I have yet to ride a single mile outside on a single bike w/ gears. All my dirt riding's been on my single speed, all my commuting on "Putty", my one-speed city ride and all my road miles have been on my fixxie unless I've been on the tandem. ( Big whup, eh?)
And on that somewhat self-important note..............
Vaya con Dios mi Amigos
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Two good rides, lots more comin'!
So far so good this month, ride-wise. We had 25-30 today, meetin' at the shop for the March "Fun -Raiser". Given that it was St.Patrick's Day this week............and the fact that I'm runnin' low on ideas for the series........we called this one the "Sean Kelly Ride". Thanks to Dave from the Curragh there was post-ride Guiness for all, just the thing to wash down the all-to-domestic snack assortment that I grabbed at the last minute after finally admitting to myself that I didn't have the time or the gumption to make anything Irish-esque like potatoe soup and the idea of Lucky Charms cereal just wasn't cutting it. Oh well......I heard no complaints! It 'twas chilly enough to feel like we were in the Celtic Isles-with a fairly nasty wind outta the N.W., just the thing to make you work it on the way back into town. I reckon we racked up 26 miles or so. ( 42 k for you Euro-philes) I had new-rider-on-the-block Elizabeth on the back of the tandem, and I made sure we grabbed her first sprint sign on the way into East Saugatuck. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Last Sunday we had 20+ gather for an impromptu ride that I called when it became obvious that we were gonna get one of those early spring days that you just have to grab ahold off. I saw lots of bare legs ( I'm not sure it was that warm!), and.......once again......a good ride was had by all. Keep an eye on club-velo.com to stay in the loop as far as rides and such, that's what it's for.
Ran into KW @ lunch, he gave me a great idea for a future Fun Raiser........how does the Home Brew ride sound? I don't partake myself, but Lee, Ted and Drew on the staff are often heard talkin' about their latest batch and I know more than a few other rider-buds that would want to throw their cap into that ring. I'm thinkin' July or so........just to make sure everyone has a chance to get a batch ready. Stay tuned!
Lots going on in the little world of Holland's bike biz........Cross Country Cycle completed their move and Holland Cycling&Fitness got purchased by the Klomp family in GR. They run the big Kentwood and Grandville Trek shops. Seems like a good fit, the Holland shop kinda looks like a smaller version of the ones they have in the GR area. I was glad to hear that they're keeping John around...he's a good guy. Best of luck to Jack, whatever he's gonna do next. Best of luck also to Laura and the gang over at the new-and-enormous CCC......I hope it works out better for them than it did for me.
As for our little chunk of that world......the computer project rolls on, albeit it s-l-o-w-l-y. We;ve been plenty busy and it's good to have Rach,Tom and Doez back in town after their respective ski trips. Lee and Ted are kickin' butt in the shop, keeping up w/ the steady stream of repairs and sold bikes. There are a ton of folks lookin' at and pickin' out road bikes!!!!That's way cool, but I wanna see some new offroad riders too! I'm getting pumped for the Lumberjack and some of the endurance ATB events that are coming up.
Anyway........be sure and let me know what'cha think about what we're doing or trying to do @ the shop.........there's not much point in us busting our butts trying to do stuff that no one cares about, y'know? Stay tuned to the three websites and watch for info coming up on April's rides, the big Pearl Izumi Sale week, the frame project.......and plenty more!
Talk to you later!
Last Sunday we had 20+ gather for an impromptu ride that I called when it became obvious that we were gonna get one of those early spring days that you just have to grab ahold off. I saw lots of bare legs ( I'm not sure it was that warm!), and.......once again......a good ride was had by all. Keep an eye on club-velo.com to stay in the loop as far as rides and such, that's what it's for.
Ran into KW @ lunch, he gave me a great idea for a future Fun Raiser........how does the Home Brew ride sound? I don't partake myself, but Lee, Ted and Drew on the staff are often heard talkin' about their latest batch and I know more than a few other rider-buds that would want to throw their cap into that ring. I'm thinkin' July or so........just to make sure everyone has a chance to get a batch ready. Stay tuned!
Lots going on in the little world of Holland's bike biz........Cross Country Cycle completed their move and Holland Cycling&Fitness got purchased by the Klomp family in GR. They run the big Kentwood and Grandville Trek shops. Seems like a good fit, the Holland shop kinda looks like a smaller version of the ones they have in the GR area. I was glad to hear that they're keeping John around...he's a good guy. Best of luck to Jack, whatever he's gonna do next. Best of luck also to Laura and the gang over at the new-and-enormous CCC......I hope it works out better for them than it did for me.
As for our little chunk of that world......the computer project rolls on, albeit it s-l-o-w-l-y. We;ve been plenty busy and it's good to have Rach,Tom and Doez back in town after their respective ski trips. Lee and Ted are kickin' butt in the shop, keeping up w/ the steady stream of repairs and sold bikes. There are a ton of folks lookin' at and pickin' out road bikes!!!!That's way cool, but I wanna see some new offroad riders too! I'm getting pumped for the Lumberjack and some of the endurance ATB events that are coming up.
Anyway........be sure and let me know what'cha think about what we're doing or trying to do @ the shop.........there's not much point in us busting our butts trying to do stuff that no one cares about, y'know? Stay tuned to the three websites and watch for info coming up on April's rides, the big Pearl Izumi Sale week, the frame project.......and plenty more!
Talk to you later!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Yea though I walk through the valley..............
Oh my Gawd, it's every bit as bad as I imagined, if not worse. 9 lost souls spent way too much of their semi-nice Sunday confined within the walls of VCC World HQ, tryin' to implement the long-awaited and feared new computer system. What a drag. I wasn't at my best, given that I was up playin' music next door @ The Curragh the night before 'til long past my bedtime. Add that to the fact that I was dreadin' this whole project and......................well............let's just say that my leadership skills weren't exactly all they could be and leave it at that. So, among other things this is a semi-public apology to everyone that had to put up w/ me all damn day.
While I'm at it I oughta send out a big thank you to Chris, Doez, Mel, Lin, Sam, Tom, Da've, Ted, Max-the-dog for helpin out and to Katie for gettin the pizza.
We have miles to go, it'll be weeks if not months before we get a handle on this thing but we'll try to keep what it's doin' to our mood a secret. ( Let us know......gently......if we're starting to slip, okay?)
On the other hand...........the weather is flirtin' a bit, I heard numbers that started with 4's and 5's for high temps by later this week. I'm gonna try and get out tomorrow morning and roll the fixxie around a bit.
One thing we are WAY excited about here @ the shop is the birth of our own little private label bike line! Yup........we've been workin' on it off and on all winter and things are f-i-n-a-l-l-y officially rolling! Look for the first batch of frames bearing the Macatawa Cycle Works logo to be here in 6-7 weeks or so. The first model is a road frame set up for either fixed-gear or single-speed set ups called the Sofa King to celebrate our little home-grown Fixxie cult that we call "SoFA". ( The Society of Fixed-gear Advocates) The frames are being hand-built right across the lake by the craftspeople @ Waterford Bicycles. Hopefully this'll be the first of several frames that we cook up w/ these guys..........they build great frames under the Waterford and Gunnar lables and we're proud to be working w/ them! So basically what we're talkin' about here is a 100%-hand-built-in-the-USA frame for the price of a Surly! That rocks w/ a capital "R"! I can't wait to get mine. I'm gonna mothball my trusty Viner track bike that I bought in '86 and ride all the time as soon as I can get my paws on a Sofa King!
That's the big news. There's a Macatawa Cycling Club meeting tomorrow night..........we're going to try and get some goals set for the season. Anyone that cares about riding in this neck of the woods oughta be there!
Gotta go and make sure we have enough aspirin for the rest of the week. Hope I can keep Ted from killing me over this computer mess.
Wish me luck!
While I'm at it I oughta send out a big thank you to Chris, Doez, Mel, Lin, Sam, Tom, Da've, Ted, Max-the-dog for helpin out and to Katie for gettin the pizza.
We have miles to go, it'll be weeks if not months before we get a handle on this thing but we'll try to keep what it's doin' to our mood a secret. ( Let us know......gently......if we're starting to slip, okay?)
On the other hand...........the weather is flirtin' a bit, I heard numbers that started with 4's and 5's for high temps by later this week. I'm gonna try and get out tomorrow morning and roll the fixxie around a bit.
One thing we are WAY excited about here @ the shop is the birth of our own little private label bike line! Yup........we've been workin' on it off and on all winter and things are f-i-n-a-l-l-y officially rolling! Look for the first batch of frames bearing the Macatawa Cycle Works logo to be here in 6-7 weeks or so. The first model is a road frame set up for either fixed-gear or single-speed set ups called the Sofa King to celebrate our little home-grown Fixxie cult that we call "SoFA". ( The Society of Fixed-gear Advocates) The frames are being hand-built right across the lake by the craftspeople @ Waterford Bicycles. Hopefully this'll be the first of several frames that we cook up w/ these guys..........they build great frames under the Waterford and Gunnar lables and we're proud to be working w/ them! So basically what we're talkin' about here is a 100%-hand-built-in-the-USA frame for the price of a Surly! That rocks w/ a capital "R"! I can't wait to get mine. I'm gonna mothball my trusty Viner track bike that I bought in '86 and ride all the time as soon as I can get my paws on a Sofa King!
That's the big news. There's a Macatawa Cycling Club meeting tomorrow night..........we're going to try and get some goals set for the season. Anyone that cares about riding in this neck of the woods oughta be there!
Gotta go and make sure we have enough aspirin for the rest of the week. Hope I can keep Ted from killing me over this computer mess.
Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)