"Thinkin' about a revolution......"

...of the pedals, that is. Actually - what I've been thinkin' about is the "Fixxie Thing". My Main Man Maynard wrote a piece on what he called the "fixxie cult phenomenon" on his blog a few days ago (what's that? you don't read his blog!?!?!??! Go to www.maynardnet.blogspot.com right away! I'll wait.) and I was moved to respond. I got an e-mail back from him basically pattin' me on the back for backing him up and there we were.......2 olde fartes bitchin' about "kids these days".

Yuck.

Here's the thing.....I DO sorta think that the whole "messenger" thing is just another fad that's gonna go away and I DO kinda feel like all these dudes w/ the knickers and the trucker wallets and the tats and the artfully-destressed Chrome or Timbuk 2 bag and the Chucks and the brand-new-but-looks-like-I've-had-it-forever lugged track frame are m-a-y-b-e missing the point a bit. And I DO doubt that many of 'em will be riding 2 years from now, even after bein' a rider no longer is a sure path to hipness and street cred. And I DO like to think that I could still dust 'em if I had to!

But...................they ARE riding. A lot. For transportation. For sport. For fun. Do I wish that they'd be a little better about traffic laws? I do.

Still................they're out there riding and there was a time-not all that long ago- when that would've been more than enough for me.

I sort of get the same feeling that I've always gotten from the "Free Ride" crowd.....w/ their ugly bikes and ugly clothing and "Extreme" everything, riding around w/ their saddles way too low and their shinguards. I worry that their version of our sport isn't sustainable...that they'll either run out of areas that they can carve jumps and drops out of or hafta quit 'cuz they're all to beat up to ride. I tell myself that's the reason that I don't dig it but there's an element of jealousy that I hafta own up to 'cuz those dudes can do AMAZING shit on a bike! Still....are they gonna be riding when their 40? 50? 60? We'll hafta wait and see.

I like what BikeSnob NYC said recently: "The technicolor skinsuit of cycling is truely a busy one and we all occupy a different part of it. (Although we all try to stay as far a possible from the chamois") [What's that you say? Not familiar w/ his work!?!?!?! Man, why are you reading THIS blog when you could be reading THAT one!? www.bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com!] What he means (I think) is that there's a lot to dig about life on 2 wheels and you oughta avail yourself of a nice fat chunk of it.

So.....I'm gonna ride my bikes and not worry about what everyone else is up to. Hope that's good w/ you.

Speaking of good................lots' o' good stuff goin' on here @ the shop. Got a coupla new Velo Citizens that we're excited about...Greg is a soon-to-be Hope grad and Tri-guy and Matt is a teacher (not another one!) from Holland that's gonna be helpin' Ted, Aaron and Berger out in the workshop. More about them later. April is almost here and hopefully that means that this ass-like weather is about over. The Fisk Knob TT is this weekend, then I make a run out to Midland to meet a buncha new JDRF teammates. Our team is 60 riders strong and Team Rides commence in just over a week. I made some progress on the aHolland Hundred - it's gonna start and finish @ Smallenburg Park so it'll be closer to Downtown and I think that's gonna rock. Our new website is close........sometime in Apriol for sure and it's gonna be a great season.

So let's get to it, shall we?

Here's a quote from Desmond Tutu. I know it'll annoy fans of fishing and thayt's not my intent. I find it irresitable just 'cause the source is so random! So w/ apologies to fishing cyclers everywhere..........

"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he wil lrealize that fishin gis stupid and boring."

(Feel free to address all your pro-fishing rants to jeff@velo-citycycles.com, he handles all my correspondence)

Later, MC

Kinda early to be this tired!

One of the risk/reward deals in doin' this whole BikeLife gig is the whole "seasonality thing". It gets almost TOO mellow in the shop from Christmas 'til about now and then.....as soon as the sun makes itself known again..........BAM! Full-tilt-boogie-madness ensues and the next thing I know - it's October!

This week is a good case in point. It seems like I've been runnin' me arse off all damn week and I have the funny feeling that it's nothing more than a glimpse into my immediate future. (Don't get me wrong here....as my loving wife is oh-so-quick to pont out most of my stress is self-induced and therefore not eligible for sympathy. That's not the point...and feel free to "skip a bit, Brother" if you don't wanna read about my week. On the other hand, if you're wonderin' what I've been up to....here ya go...)

Sunday - Work our JDRF booth @ Van Andel for the Griffin's game.
Monday - Drive to GR to meet w/ new National JDRF Head Ride Dude. Then the shop and then band practice.
Tuesday - Shop then a meeting w/ Ted and Jeff from 5-6, the bike club Board Meeting from 6:30-8:00 and the general meeting from 8:00 - 9:30
Wednesday - Workout /w John and Jess, then @ the JDRF Office in GR (My "day off"). Then to AnnArbor w/ Lin and #1 Son Sam for a concert. (Got home about 2am)
Thursday - Shop, then to GR again to participate in the Rapid Wheelmen Bike Club's annual Bike Show meeting.
Friday - Just the shop. Hard to believe!
Saturday - Lead the Indoor Ride @ the shop @ 8am. Then do the Bike Shop Guy thing all day (which was way busy) then back to GR to do the JDRF booth @ Van Andel again.
Sunday - Sleep in (hopefully) and then get down to the shop for the Pineapple Bob Classic ride.

So.....if I missed callin' you back I have a semi-good excuse, y'know?
Gotta go!

Oops! Too long Since the Last Entry!!!!

Man! How do Stud-Bloggers like Danielle do it? (www.daniellemusto.blogspot.com) How can they find so much time to update these damn things? Hell........Maynard writes for his frickin' supper and he still sometimies lets 3-4 days go by w/out a new post. (www.maynardnet.blogspot.com) It's not that I got nothing to say...as anyone that knows me will attest to with enthusism...it's just hard to get a chance to have a few minutes, y'know? So you put it off, you make a mental note to "get to it tomorrow" and the next thing you know your buddy J2 is givin' you crap during your "50 minutes of Pain" workout w/ Jess about how long it's been.

My bad.

I have a good friend waaaayyy up in Alaska. She busted my heart about a million years ago and then we were able to forge a strong friendship out of the pieces. My life's ambition is to someday start a letter to her that doesn't have to start w/ some variation of "Sorry it's been so long since you've heard from me...."

It's not you, that's all I'm saying.

There HAS been tons of cool stuff goin' on and BikeLife is sweet and fine. We had our 10th B-Day party here @ the shop last weekend and to say that it was an All Time Show Stopper would be stressing my limited grasp of understatement! There were at least 150 folks crammed into our little world for the better part of the evening...........we went through about 15 pizzas, a keg of New Holland's finest, tons of chips and dips and salsa and cookies and veggies and 2 E-normous B-Day cakes! We had about 600 bux worth o' schwag that we gave away, thanks to our reps from C-Dale, Rolf, Co-Motion, Tifosi, Salsa and Profile and The Veloras rocked the house for the el finale Grande! I ain't never seen a live rock band in a bike shop before - ever - and I'm pretty damn glad that when I did..............'twas here! Thanks to everyone that made it, (even if they were tired and on the couch) and thanks to everyone that's been a part of the shop's history thus far. I am much obliged.

We are really ready to get the season rolling w/ the JDRF Team too! I can't wait! I had a meeting w/ the New National Head Ride Dude and he's got some BIG ideas about the future. It'll be cool to see how many of 'em he can pull off. He has some big-time connections too......the new guy helpin' JDRF set up the Ride routes works w/ Medalist Sports, they of Tour of California, Missouri and Georgia fane. How cool is that? The Team grows every year and @ this point we still have a few open spots in Death Valley and Asheville so whatterya waitin' for?

The shop seems ready for the season, pretty much. A ton (literally!) of Yakima stuff rolled in yesterday. (I was @ the JDRF office - sorry Boyz) and this next 2 weeks will see an avalanche of goodies from Pearl, Sidi, Craft, Twin 6 and several others that I oughta be able to remember but don't. (Late night last night.......went to Ann Arbor to see Steve Earle. At least that's the excuse de jeur) I could still use m-a-y-b-e one more new Velo-Citizen, and Ted has yet to find himself a new wrench-type-person but basically we're set. Got the stuff, got the staff...............bring it on!

I'm fired up to see the new shop t-shirts. I have 3 different ones comin' soon, sort of a reprise of the 3 favorite quotes from past shirts. I know...I'm breakin' my rule about how our shirts are a one-time limited edition get'em-while-they're-hot sorta thing. It's is my rule after all! (Besides..... my original VCC tee w/ the Abbey quote is gettin pretty ratty!) They'll be here next week. A re-working of the shop jersey is in the works as well...........same design /w the colors moved around some. That'll be here in late April.

The Fisk Knob Time Trial is comin' up on the 30th of the month. A buncha us local types will be goin' over for the traditional Kick-Off of the road race season. Entires are limited to the firat 180 so if yawanna race.....get on it! We have entry forms at the shop.

This month's Fun-Raiser is the justly infamous Spring Pineapple Bob Classic and it's this Sunday. (The 9th). P-Bob rides involve some gravel and/or dirt roads but nothing that a good 'ol road bike can't handle. The weather forecast isn't bad, considering, and I reckon we'll have a good turn-out.

It'd be good to see you there!

Gotta go..............I promise to do a better job keeping up, but I promise that to Cherie-in-Alaska all the time!

Still...............to quote Lyle Lovett 'What would you be if you didn't try?"

MC