Man, whatta a week!

So....I came back from the extended JDRF bike work fest/Interbike show w/ dead legs and a fat gut. Too much time in planes and airports, too much bad food (and too much food in general!) and not nearly enough saddle time makes Mike a s-l-o-w boy! So......in typical Clark fashion I tried to flog meself back into some semblance of condition by riding my ass into the ground last week. Not sure that I succeeded with the first goal (the fitness part) but I for damn sure accomplished the latter!
After doin' a Cyclo-cross presentation for the Macatawa Cycling Club meeting on Tuesday (by the way....it's startin' to get to me that I miss the Tuesday Night Ride 'cuz I hafta go to the Club's Board Meeting and talk about rides!) I rode w/ Da've, Aaron and Jeff Wed. before work onthe fixxie. thur night I did my first Crazy Bastard ride of the year.......forcing that 25# glow-in-the-dark fixxie over 38 miles of hilly dirt roads out there jusy outside of nowhere. What a hoot! The the Friday Morning bagel Ride w/ Jeff, Da've and JJ, then Jess and I did the Sprint Ride on the tandem on Sat morning, then Lin and I did the JDRF ride on the tandem Sat afternoon, (40 hilly miles in the Ada area) and then, after the gig Sat night......I met CD and his bud Dan-the-tri-guy-that-wants-to-be-an-all rounder @ Yankee Springs for some hot trail miles. I finally got to ride my Seven w/ the new wheels and fork and brakes. It's awesome. Ted built up my wheels w/ the pink King SS hubs and DT rims and I got a schweet Pace carbon rigid fork. I'm runnin' a 33 x 16 gear and it felt okay, given that my legs were kinda blown.

Things @ the shop are good. It's still been plenty busy, what w/ the weird "August in October" weather. The rides are still well attended and we have lots goin' on for the winter.

One development for '08 is that we are pretty much officially done w/ Bianchi. It's been coming for years as we do less and less w/ them and I think it's time, you know? It's always a drag when you make a change, but we're pretty dang determined to offer the best "menu" we can find, and I think we can do better. Stay tuned!

So..........for the most part Bike Life remains a rare and wonderful thing. The shop is rocking, the Death Vallet Ride is less than 2 weeks away, there's a 'cross race nearly every weekend, the Pineapple Bob Classic is this coming Sunday, new bikes and frames are rolling in almost every day..................it's all good. Lots of really cool project bikes have happened or soon will too; Gunnar Crosshair 'cross bikes for Bob L, Frank Y and Brian W, a sweet Gunnar Roadie for Maria V, Sevens for Matt B and Luke N, Co-Motion tandems for Paul T-for-Texas and a couple in GR and a freakin' bee-yoo-ti-ful Co-Mo single for one very lucky young lady right'cher in Holland. Lotsa cool stuff goin' on and goin' outta here!

(Note: the preceding paragraph should in no way be construed as an indication that we think that only way-high end bikes are cool! All bikes are cool!)

Can't wait for the P. Bob! Can't wait for Death Valley! Can't wait for the Chilly Chili Ride! (11/11). Man..............life is good.
MC