A case in point: Yesterday's "Crazy Bastard West" ride wasn't the best one ever by any means! The seasonal roads were an impassable mess of ice ruts, frozen snow, thinly iced over puddles and that meant lots of walking, pushing, falling and wet feet. BB's crank arm fell off at the farthest-possible-point-from-the-cars and we had to push him back (on gravel and pavement) until a rescue car arrived and it was cold and windy.
In other words - we had a blast!
'Tis true............11 "grown-ups" endured all that crap when they could've been doing a whole buncha other stuff and all agreed - once we got back to the coffee shop - that their days were made and another Great Ride was in the books.
Go figure.
Take my bike for a walk in the uneven, well-nigh-unwalkable frozen snow? You bet.
Push buddy B for 3-4 miles 'cuz his bike broke? Sign me up.
Thaw my fingers out around a cuppa hot chocolate while doin' the post-ride wind down w/ good buddies? HELL yes!
We'll see you out there next Sunday, huh? Same time, same place. It'll be a hoot. Trust me.
Don't forget the first riode of 2009! Here @ the shop at 1:00pm on 1-1.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
'Whole Lotta Things That I Have Done - I Ain't Never Had Too Much Fun"
That's a lyric and title of a Bill Kirchen song (that's him playing that signature guitar run on Hot Rod Lincoln) but I gotta say that if ol' Bill had been w'/ the Crazy Bastards on their last 2 rides he might've had to re-think that song!
The last 2 Sundays we've met down in Hammy-town and headed into the Allegan Woods area on 'cross or mountain bikes in search of snow-covered dirt and "seasonal" roads. There've been at least a dozen of us - all bundled up and ready to get all wet and cold. Folks look at us as if we're full-on loonies as we kit up and roll west outta the parking lot of the market - especially a coupla Sundays ago when those big wet flakes were falling faster than plows or windshield wipers could keep up - but we just grin and pedal on 'cuz we know something that they don't...............and that is the simple fact that riding a bike w'/ your buds is ALWAYS better than not riding - even if it means falling on your ass several times and/or freezing your toes off.
There was one point on that first ride where 4 of us were down in the snow -I had my front tire slide out in the rut I was following down a 2-track, Alan was too close behind me and piled into my bike, Dave hit the ground as he passed us and Kirk wiped out tryin' to get around the pile. We all lay there in that soft and welcoming snow and laughed our asses off. I remember thinking to myself as I got up and brushed myself off ..."These are grown -ups! And not just bike shop guys - some of these dudes are respectable members of the community - the kind of guys that have jobs w/ real offices and a closet full of shirts /w collars and shoes that you can polish! You know - adults! And we're back here falling down and getting up and laughin' 'til our sides hurt."?!?!
That's when I knew that we were on to something. Just another reminder of the Power Of The Bike I guess. You may think that your bike(s) are just that - bikes. Not that there's anything wrong w/ that - the bicycle is one of our finest inventions and the most energy efficient vehicle ever devised - but it's more than that. It's a time machine and it'll take you back to those perfect, care-free, sun-filled days of your youth when your sneakers and your bike and your buds were all you needed to be Superman (or woman!)
Good Buddy Ross and I were talking as we rolled back towards the cars and he said that the best way to describe the silly kick of rides like this was that it feels like we're Getting Away With Something. It's true - the odds are that our moms would not approve...so we got that going for us!
These rides are apt to keep happening but there are several other events coming up ('Cross race! Fun-Raiser!) that'll keep them from being a regular event. Wanna hear about them - drop me a line (mike@velo-citycycles.com) and I'll make sure you get word. Keep in mind that these rides call for a 'cross-esque or mountain bike, a good collection of cold weather gear and - most important of all - an adventurous spirit and the surgical removal of your whining gene.
As mentioned above - there's a ton of stuff goin' on - this weekend sees the band playin' on Friday and Saturday nights, the race on Sunday, the big Mel Trotter Benefit Party on the 17th (gig #3!), the "Holiday Ride" next Sunday, all added to the regular menu of indoor and outdoor rides, yoga class....Man! So much for the concept of an "off-season" huh? Screw that! Let's just keep it in the big ring!
Hey - if you get a sec feel free to join me in writing a letter to the editor of our local paper (the Holland Sentinel) and let them know what you think of their "Miss" editorial about folks that commute by bike in the winter! Turns out that they're against it. Wankers. (Be nice, yet firm!)
See you out there...be safe, ride lots, stop in the shop if you have a mind to...it'd be good to see you!
The last 2 Sundays we've met down in Hammy-town and headed into the Allegan Woods area on 'cross or mountain bikes in search of snow-covered dirt and "seasonal" roads. There've been at least a dozen of us - all bundled up and ready to get all wet and cold. Folks look at us as if we're full-on loonies as we kit up and roll west outta the parking lot of the market - especially a coupla Sundays ago when those big wet flakes were falling faster than plows or windshield wipers could keep up - but we just grin and pedal on 'cuz we know something that they don't...............and that is the simple fact that riding a bike w'/ your buds is ALWAYS better than not riding - even if it means falling on your ass several times and/or freezing your toes off.
There was one point on that first ride where 4 of us were down in the snow -I had my front tire slide out in the rut I was following down a 2-track, Alan was too close behind me and piled into my bike, Dave hit the ground as he passed us and Kirk wiped out tryin' to get around the pile. We all lay there in that soft and welcoming snow and laughed our asses off. I remember thinking to myself as I got up and brushed myself off ..."These are grown -ups! And not just bike shop guys - some of these dudes are respectable members of the community - the kind of guys that have jobs w/ real offices and a closet full of shirts /w collars and shoes that you can polish! You know - adults! And we're back here falling down and getting up and laughin' 'til our sides hurt."?!?!
That's when I knew that we were on to something. Just another reminder of the Power Of The Bike I guess. You may think that your bike(s) are just that - bikes. Not that there's anything wrong w/ that - the bicycle is one of our finest inventions and the most energy efficient vehicle ever devised - but it's more than that. It's a time machine and it'll take you back to those perfect, care-free, sun-filled days of your youth when your sneakers and your bike and your buds were all you needed to be Superman (or woman!)
Good Buddy Ross and I were talking as we rolled back towards the cars and he said that the best way to describe the silly kick of rides like this was that it feels like we're Getting Away With Something. It's true - the odds are that our moms would not approve...so we got that going for us!
These rides are apt to keep happening but there are several other events coming up ('Cross race! Fun-Raiser!) that'll keep them from being a regular event. Wanna hear about them - drop me a line (mike@velo-citycycles.com) and I'll make sure you get word. Keep in mind that these rides call for a 'cross-esque or mountain bike, a good collection of cold weather gear and - most important of all - an adventurous spirit and the surgical removal of your whining gene.
As mentioned above - there's a ton of stuff goin' on - this weekend sees the band playin' on Friday and Saturday nights, the race on Sunday, the big Mel Trotter Benefit Party on the 17th (gig #3!), the "Holiday Ride" next Sunday, all added to the regular menu of indoor and outdoor rides, yoga class....Man! So much for the concept of an "off-season" huh? Screw that! Let's just keep it in the big ring!
Hey - if you get a sec feel free to join me in writing a letter to the editor of our local paper (the Holland Sentinel) and let them know what you think of their "Miss" editorial about folks that commute by bike in the winter! Turns out that they're against it. Wankers. (Be nice, yet firm!)
See you out there...be safe, ride lots, stop in the shop if you have a mind to...it'd be good to see you!
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