I don't mean that in a negative sense, at least not exactly. The last coupla weeks have been crazy busy even by my semi-twisted standards as the Holland Hundred approached, we had a JDRF fund-raiser attached to it, we had 3 band gigs and the shop was swamped w/ work while Ted and Matt were outta town. Lotsa meetings, lotsa details, lotsa e-mails and phone calls and running around.
Whew!
Somewhere in all that I managed to get the first-but-by-no-means-last "Dawn Patrol Century" off the ground too. 2-3 weeks ago I mentioned to Greg and Aaron that if we were willing to get outta bed before dawn we could try and get 75 miles in some Friday and then join the Bagel Ride to finish up a pre-workday century. Yeah...I gotta learn to just shut up once in awhile, y'know? But there we were - 6 morons lit up and rollin' south @ 4:45 am last Friday. Greg, Aaron, KP, Ross, Chad and myself w/ a full moon and lotsa deer as our only companions. We rode the 67 mile loop of the HH, then joined a big (by weekday morning ride standards) group back @ the shop for another 25 miles. I had 95 when we pulled back into town and not being a slave to the little black box on my handlebars I was perfectly content to be halfway through my first bagel when Greg and Aaron rolled up after riding around downtown making sure that they had both done their 1st ever century.
'Twas a hoot.
Saturday was the Holland Hundred, so little sleep for Mrs Clark's favorite son..........I was @ the park @ 5:40am and stayed there (w/ the exception of a quick SAG run) 'til about 4:30. The rain was a huge drag......but we still had 1200+ riders and that's prety dang cool. The comments about the ride, the route, the organization and the park were pretty good...at least as far as I know. I have lots of ideas for '09! After stopping by the JDRF Post Ride Bash @ New Holland it was home to change and load the band gear and then off to the Saugatuck Brewery to play 3 sets. The crowd was great, especially considering that Barry could use a little more climate control down there @ this point. (Translation - it was hot as hell in there!).
Hoot # 2.
After a little sleep I headed up to Montague Sunday mornin' w/ J2 and Ross for the JDRF Ride. We did 46 hilly miles on some way-cool roads up thataway and then hung out by the pool. I was the judge of the salsa contest (good work if you can get it!) and although no one else knew it...I considered myslef the judge of all the desserts as well, and proceeded accordingly. (Burp)
All in all................a helluva weekend!
Now it's Monday. The HH is in the rear-view, Ted's on his way home.....things might just mellow a tad. I'll be in Asheville in 3 weeks @ the next JDRF Ride, then Montana, then it's September and that means the Bike Show and then Death Valley. Good Lord, I better get to it!
Next time............."Rants per Week - what's a reasonable number?"
MC
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Two Rookies
So...there were at least 2 brand-spankin'-new riders in our race @ Grattan tonight. (It was fun, it rained, I felt fine. That's another story, not as good as this one) It was very interesting watching the 2 of them deal w/ their first Grattan experience.........and it got me to thinking.
One guy - let's call him the "Guy in Pink" (Not the actual color of his jersey) was a COMPLETE menace! I watched him terrify everyone in the pack as he wobbled and lurched all over the track. Now......my intention IS NOT to 'dis the Guy in Pink - it musta been kinda freaky for him, out there w/ 50 other racers blasting around tight haripin turns @ 25-28 mph, haulin' ass down the back stretch @ 30+, etc. Grattan may be billed as a "Training Race Series" but it ain't exactly easy. He was strong too, our Guy in Pink, strong enough to be towards the front of the group which gave him many chances to scare the bejesus outta everyone several times.
The other guy couldn't have been more different. Let's call him....oh, I don't know......"Ross". (Not his actual name). Ross looked like he'd done this a million times. I was proud of him....he was smooth, held his line in the corners, looked and rode like a seasoned vet. Even when that dude sorta leaned into him in that S-curve and he was caught 'tween 2 riders he just dealt w/ it. Most guys - even non-rookies - woulda gibbered and screamed and then would've had to pull off the track to scrap out their shorts. Assuming that they lived.
Not our man "Ross". (Not his real name)
Here's my point. ( You were hoping I had one, and would get to it, yes?) Good ol' Ross-not-his-name is one of "our" guys. Shucks, odds are that if you read this crap you've ridden w/ him, maybe even lots. He has "grown up" as a cyclist wrapped in the arms of the cycling community that is centered here in Holland and.......if I may be so bold......here at the shop. He's been brought up right. He's learned how to be a rider, a safe one, a good one, hell...even a kind of fast one, and he's learned that by riding w/ all of us. Whatever you wanna call this extended Velo City / MCC / JDRF / HUP United / Crazy Bastard family of riders that semi-calls Velo City home is who "Ross" (Not his real name) learned from. We did good, we taught him well and he did us proud.
It makes me feel good and I sure wish that Guy in Pink (not his actual jersey color) had ben lucky enough to meet folks like "Ross" did. I'd feel a lot better having to share the track w/ him then!
Ride (and rock) on!
MC
One guy - let's call him the "Guy in Pink" (Not the actual color of his jersey) was a COMPLETE menace! I watched him terrify everyone in the pack as he wobbled and lurched all over the track. Now......my intention IS NOT to 'dis the Guy in Pink - it musta been kinda freaky for him, out there w/ 50 other racers blasting around tight haripin turns @ 25-28 mph, haulin' ass down the back stretch @ 30+, etc. Grattan may be billed as a "Training Race Series" but it ain't exactly easy. He was strong too, our Guy in Pink, strong enough to be towards the front of the group which gave him many chances to scare the bejesus outta everyone several times.
The other guy couldn't have been more different. Let's call him....oh, I don't know......"Ross". (Not his actual name). Ross looked like he'd done this a million times. I was proud of him....he was smooth, held his line in the corners, looked and rode like a seasoned vet. Even when that dude sorta leaned into him in that S-curve and he was caught 'tween 2 riders he just dealt w/ it. Most guys - even non-rookies - woulda gibbered and screamed and then would've had to pull off the track to scrap out their shorts. Assuming that they lived.
Not our man "Ross". (Not his real name)
Here's my point. ( You were hoping I had one, and would get to it, yes?) Good ol' Ross-not-his-name is one of "our" guys. Shucks, odds are that if you read this crap you've ridden w/ him, maybe even lots. He has "grown up" as a cyclist wrapped in the arms of the cycling community that is centered here in Holland and.......if I may be so bold......here at the shop. He's been brought up right. He's learned how to be a rider, a safe one, a good one, hell...even a kind of fast one, and he's learned that by riding w/ all of us. Whatever you wanna call this extended Velo City / MCC / JDRF / HUP United / Crazy Bastard family of riders that semi-calls Velo City home is who "Ross" (Not his real name) learned from. We did good, we taught him well and he did us proud.
It makes me feel good and I sure wish that Guy in Pink (not his actual jersey color) had ben lucky enough to meet folks like "Ross" did. I'd feel a lot better having to share the track w/ him then!
Ride (and rock) on!
MC
Monday, July 14, 2008
Cool Ride w/ a Weird Side-Story
Feeling kinda weird about our ride before the ride yesterday and it's turning a great day into a sort of strange one.............................
Here's the deal - 8 or 9 of us met here @ the shop @ 7:30 to ride down to S-tuck, pick up B. and H. and get some miles before joining the "official" ride preceding the 'Yoga for Cyclists' class that H. was teaching. After dealin' w/ not 1 but 2 mechanicals before we even left the shop we were all rollin' west down a very quiet 8th street. As we coasted past the cop shop (well...some of us coasted) I see a guy on a recumbent comin the wrong way up the street. (It's a one-way) Not only is he riding up a one-way street - he's goin' curb to curb, slaloming up the street like a 9 year old on a Sting-Ray.
I almost said something to him for riding up a one-way.....noy sure why I didn't.
Then he does a big 180 and stars riding w/ us. Well...not WITH us exactly, but ahead of us, behind us, alongside us, etc. It was kinda weird, none of us knowing him, him being on a 'bent, you name it. Hell - he stayed w/ us all the way to Fennville! ('bout 30 miles). Hung on too, mostly.
I felt bad 'cuz I never chatted him up. That's not like me and I'm not sure what the deal was. It's not becuase he was on a 'bent I don't think. K.O. on the JDRF team rides one and he's plenty cool. I think it's 'cuz when I first saw him he was pulling that dumb-ass move and I'm so damn sick and tired of seeing other riders pulling one dick move or the next...all of them making it tougher for the rest of us.
I know.......that's not you. You behave, right? Me too. It's those other guys, I know that. Except................is it? Can you say that for damnsure? I hope so, 'cuz if you can't you're part of the problem just like our 'bent buddy. Oh sure.........riding huge "S" curves up a one way street is "worse" than jumpin' a 4 way stop or cuttin' onto a sidewalk to beat a train.
Except it's not.
You're either playin' it straight, or you're not as far as I can see.
I know it's hard sometimes. I know that it's inconvienent to hafta sit @ a red light when there's no one in sight or go 4 blocks outta your way 'cuz of the one way streets. So what? It's the rules and it's the only way that we are ever gonna be able to stake our claim to roads that are rightfully as much ours as anyone elses.
Think about it at least, okay?
(Full disclosure Department - Yes, I jumped the stop sigh @ 24th and Country Club for the sole reason of grabbin' the City Limit sign. Guilty as charged / Guilty as Hell. I could tell it was clear from everyone else's body language but still..........a numb nuts move on my part and I'll cop to it.)
Holland Hundred this Saturday! It's gonna be HUGE! We have over 750 registered and we're expecting that many more as day-off registers. Good Lord! See you there!
MC
Here's the deal - 8 or 9 of us met here @ the shop @ 7:30 to ride down to S-tuck, pick up B. and H. and get some miles before joining the "official" ride preceding the 'Yoga for Cyclists' class that H. was teaching. After dealin' w/ not 1 but 2 mechanicals before we even left the shop we were all rollin' west down a very quiet 8th street. As we coasted past the cop shop (well...some of us coasted) I see a guy on a recumbent comin the wrong way up the street. (It's a one-way) Not only is he riding up a one-way street - he's goin' curb to curb, slaloming up the street like a 9 year old on a Sting-Ray.
I almost said something to him for riding up a one-way.....noy sure why I didn't.
Then he does a big 180 and stars riding w/ us. Well...not WITH us exactly, but ahead of us, behind us, alongside us, etc. It was kinda weird, none of us knowing him, him being on a 'bent, you name it. Hell - he stayed w/ us all the way to Fennville! ('bout 30 miles). Hung on too, mostly.
I felt bad 'cuz I never chatted him up. That's not like me and I'm not sure what the deal was. It's not becuase he was on a 'bent I don't think. K.O. on the JDRF team rides one and he's plenty cool. I think it's 'cuz when I first saw him he was pulling that dumb-ass move and I'm so damn sick and tired of seeing other riders pulling one dick move or the next...all of them making it tougher for the rest of us.
I know.......that's not you. You behave, right? Me too. It's those other guys, I know that. Except................is it? Can you say that for damnsure? I hope so, 'cuz if you can't you're part of the problem just like our 'bent buddy. Oh sure.........riding huge "S" curves up a one way street is "worse" than jumpin' a 4 way stop or cuttin' onto a sidewalk to beat a train.
Except it's not.
You're either playin' it straight, or you're not as far as I can see.
I know it's hard sometimes. I know that it's inconvienent to hafta sit @ a red light when there's no one in sight or go 4 blocks outta your way 'cuz of the one way streets. So what? It's the rules and it's the only way that we are ever gonna be able to stake our claim to roads that are rightfully as much ours as anyone elses.
Think about it at least, okay?
(Full disclosure Department - Yes, I jumped the stop sigh @ 24th and Country Club for the sole reason of grabbin' the City Limit sign. Guilty as charged / Guilty as Hell. I could tell it was clear from everyone else's body language but still..........a numb nuts move on my part and I'll cop to it.)
Holland Hundred this Saturday! It's gonna be HUGE! We have over 750 registered and we're expecting that many more as day-off registers. Good Lord! See you there!
MC
Sunday, July 06, 2008
"Spokes in the wheel.........."
4 of us went down to ride @ Fort Custer on the 4th. Aside from getting caught by the World's Longest Running Race through Richland on the way there and inadvertantly becoming part of the Richland Independance Day Parade on the way home....one thing has stuck in my mind.
As you top out on that tough little switchback climb on the Green Loop you are greeting w/ a lovely memorial stone. I don't know who "Erin" was but she must've had some friends to whom she meant quite a bit. The quote on the face of the stone has stayed w/ me - "Friends are spokes in the wheel of life". I like that. A LOT. It makes me think of why I ride at all and how little riding I'd do w/out the friends and buds I have to share it with. (Hint - not very damn much!)
I figured out about 30 years ago that all the things that I spend my time doing are all for the same reason......to hang w/ folks that I dig. I don't ride alone hardly ever. I would not be a solo musicial if the band broke up. I'd never take a job (like being a sales rep) where I was alone a lot. Don't like it much. Never have. Now - that might mean that I need to like myself more......I guess I'm cool w/ that. Besides - kinda late, ain't it?
So..............thanks for bein' a spoke in my wheel, that's all I'm sayin'.
Bike Life is great, by the way. The shop is full-tilt-boogie-crazy-madness ROCKIN', the Holland Hundred is 2 weeks away(!!!!!!!) and there's a JDRF ride nearly every weekend. 5 weeks from rignt now I'll be finishing up my first-ever stint as Acting Head Coach @ a JDRF Ride down in Asheville. (Way nervous about that!) 2 band gigs this week, lots of milesthis weekend.......it's all good. Ted's off to his Big Time Pro Wrench gig on Wed.....damn, I hope his toolbox gets here from Sonoma tomorrow!
Phew!
I hope you are having a great season.............see you on (or off!) the road!
As you top out on that tough little switchback climb on the Green Loop you are greeting w/ a lovely memorial stone. I don't know who "Erin" was but she must've had some friends to whom she meant quite a bit. The quote on the face of the stone has stayed w/ me - "Friends are spokes in the wheel of life". I like that. A LOT. It makes me think of why I ride at all and how little riding I'd do w/out the friends and buds I have to share it with. (Hint - not very damn much!)
I figured out about 30 years ago that all the things that I spend my time doing are all for the same reason......to hang w/ folks that I dig. I don't ride alone hardly ever. I would not be a solo musicial if the band broke up. I'd never take a job (like being a sales rep) where I was alone a lot. Don't like it much. Never have. Now - that might mean that I need to like myself more......I guess I'm cool w/ that. Besides - kinda late, ain't it?
So..............thanks for bein' a spoke in my wheel, that's all I'm sayin'.
Bike Life is great, by the way. The shop is full-tilt-boogie-crazy-madness ROCKIN', the Holland Hundred is 2 weeks away(!!!!!!!) and there's a JDRF ride nearly every weekend. 5 weeks from rignt now I'll be finishing up my first-ever stint as Acting Head Coach @ a JDRF Ride down in Asheville. (Way nervous about that!) 2 band gigs this week, lots of milesthis weekend.......it's all good. Ted's off to his Big Time Pro Wrench gig on Wed.....damn, I hope his toolbox gets here from Sonoma tomorrow!
Phew!
I hope you are having a great season.............see you on (or off!) the road!
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