Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Good Weekend!

Sure..the long stretch of incredible weather finally came to its (inevitable) end, only after completely yankin' the moral right to bitch about the l-o-n-g winter out from under us all. Man - it was SO nice for SO long that I plumb wore my ass out makin' sure that I didn't waste any off it and I was (shhh....secret!) ready for a day off.

Saturday was way busy @ the shop, after KP and I did our debut as a tandem team on the Sprint Ride first thing in the AM. It was cold.........WAY cold....so the turn out was light but that's not gonna stop me from tellin' you that we took one hard-fought sprint in the middle of the ride. (Greg said later "I passed Kelly but not Mike". Not good enough, dude!)

Sunday was the Pineapple Bob Classic Redux.......we tried it in March but the road conditions kept us on the pavement and it ain't a P. Bob w/out gravel so we did it again. Routemeister M2 came up w/ the loop to end all loops and his assertation that "there will be tears" put the call out to all the crazies and hard men/women. We had about 30-35 riders, including a small-but worthy contingent of Bastards from GR (Surly, Wedding Bells, Big D) and 2 tandems - KP n' me and Berger w/ Mike L in the tail gunners' seat. KP and I ened up takin' the short cut back as we were comin' in w/a group that found themselves a tad off the pace but back @ the shop the sandwiches, cookies, chips and various adult beverages went down good and folks were having a good time. Good enough for me.

The other Big Deal that happened over the weekend is that our brand new website went "live". Check it out..........I dig it. (www.velo-citycycles.com) Still work in progress but a nice change from our last one - which was fine but had been up for a year or more and we wanted to re-do it.

6 days from now Dennis and I will be in the desert. I can't wait. I've ben roamin' around out there since the late 80's...I've watched the sleepy little town of Moab grow and change, mostly in an other-than-good way. I've watched Moab go from the "oolest place ever to ride" to "overrated" to "old news". I've taken close to 100 people out there for their first time, I've made 30+ trips and every time I approach town on that twisty road along the river I find myself wondering if this is the trip where I'll think to myself as I leave "Okay....that's enough.....I don't need to come back here any more." I'm afraid that's going to happen - although it hasn't yet. The thought that we're gonna re-locate out there somewhere in the red rocks and under that impossibly blue sky has been a constant for me since my 2nd ever trip out there and I'm afraid of life w/out that thought y'know? The desert got it's hooks in me - deep - a long time ago and it hasn't let go yet.

And I hope it never does.

I think it's gonna be a hoot bein' out there w/ Dennis. I LOVE introducing someone to the area...especially if there's a good chance that they'll "get it" and I'm pretty sure that he will. I haven't been on a mountainbike since last winter and I'll be on a Cannondale Demo from my rep that I've never ridden before so that'll be interesting. I'm gonna take my laptop (insert appropriate exclamation of shock and wonder here ______) so maybe I'll check in from out there somewhere. You never know.

JDRF rides are happening, the club's Monday Night Ride starts while I'm gone, the shop Tuesday night, Thursday morning, Friday morning and Saturday morning rides are rolling.......Grattan starts next week...Man! There's a TON of stuff going on!

Best get to it!

MC

"Racing, on any level, seeks a balance within us. For every moment of hassle and pain there is one of revelation and joy."
Mike Ferrentino

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

It happened Again, Dammit!

Hard to believe..........................

There we were, along the side of the road, fixxing a flat. (Yes, that's 3 rides in a row where I've been in that situation - helpin' someone w/ their bike problem. Maybe it's me?)

Just like on Sunday there were 3 of us. (My wife Lin on our tandem, person w/ flat tire and no tube, me)

Just like on Sunday we were all set....just finishing up.

Just like on Sunday a fellow cyclist rode by as if we weren't even there. This time it was a mature, fit gent w/ a full beard and a Carmichel Training System jersey.

Thanks for nothing, jackass!

Ironically............."nothing" is exactly what we needed - I had a tube, we were all set - all we needed from you was concern and camradre, both of which would've cost you NOTHING, not even time. (Speaking of time...he was goin' slow enough that even after we finished up and got rolling we passed him 2 intersections later, so he wasn't exactly goin' for a P.R.)

Yeah...I waved. (We were pulling out from a street crossing the one he was one, not overtaking him) Had we been comin' up from behind I probably wouldn't have been a big enough person to abstain from shouting "WE'RE OKAY, BUT THANKS FOR CHECKING ON US!" in his ear as we rolled by so it's probably just as well, huh?

This shit has to stop. And I'm not referring to having to stop for co-riders busted bikes. That's part of the deal, like waiting for folks off the back and taking your pulls @ the front.

Still...yesterday was a fine 2-ride day and that's a hard thing to spoil, even for a jackass w/ a personality disorder. We had a great ride in the AM, Ross, Da've, Pineapple J and I and then a HUGE turnout for the shop's Tuesday Night Ride. Good Lord...there musta been 45+ riders here! Lin and I were the leaders of the Red Group, we had 2 other tandems, a trailer-cycle and 3-4 other bikes. Way cool to see so many young'uns on the ride......be they on the back of a tandem, Trail-a-Bike or on their own.

I'm gonna do the Hutchin' Lake Loop this afternoon, we'll see who shows up. Tomorrow it's the morning ride, ditto of Friday, the Sprint Ride on Saturday and then the Pineapple BoB spring Classic on Sunday! Hoo-Haw! What a kick-ass week!

See you on (or off!) the road!

MC

Notice that I didn't mention Moab? (Well...almost anyways) Buddy DiD told me that I was sounding kinda obsessed.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Four Assholes

Sorry if this post is less-than-cheery on a beautiful Monday morn...........I wanna get this outta my system.

It SHOULD have been a perfect ride yesterday. Check it - a perfect day weather-wise, one of those mid 70's, no humidity, low wind kind of days that remind us why we put up w/ all that other crap to live here. A great group to ride with, namely 13 members of my JDRF Team, some of the best people I know. A great loop, provided by one of my All Time Best Riding Buds Doez.......all the ingredients were in place for a sublime day.

So....what went wrong?

Here's the thing..............as we rolled west outta GR we passed a single rider goin' the other way. Lin and I on our tandem were about 6 riders back in the line so I was the 5th or 6th to wave @ the guy. He didn't even acknowlege us.

Asshole #1.

Later, as I was changing Cindy's 3rd flat tire (!!) a group of three "serious" riders went past us. One was in an all pink kit, which made me wonder what a previous winner of the Giro d'Talia was doin' in the town of Tallmadge, and at least one of the other guys was in a Discovery jersey. There we were.....alongside the road, messin' w/ a bike.

They didn't even look.

No "You guys all right?"

No "Got what'cha need?"

Nothing.

Assholes # 2-4.

How is it that one of the most noble and beautiful ways to spend your time, one of the coolest sports there is attracts so many selfish assholes!?!?!??!?! I was bitchin' to Doez about it (we ran into him on the ride) and you wanna know what he said? He said "That's Grand Rapids for you." he said that he WALKED 3 miles on that same loop pushing his bike w/ a 2nd flat and had hordes of riders go by him

W.T.F.!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Tell you what..............if that had happened to me I'd still be on a crusade to kick ALL of their asses!

Now.................lemme make something clear here - We didn't need help. I'm a huge advocate of riders being self sufficient, grown up and prepared. I've spent a goodly part of my life doing what I can to make that the case. That is not the point here. The point here is that assholes # 2-4 had no way of knowing that.............they just didn't give a shit. Asshole #1 was just too self-absorbed and impressed to say "howdy" and as sad as that is................it's not nearly as sad as rollin' by a group of fellow cyclists that MIGHT need help 'cuz you just can't be bothered.

So................on the EXTREMELY unlikely event that any of yesterdays assholes read this..........piss on you from a considerable height. You suck and what you did yesterday was, to coin a phrase, a dick move. As my bud Ross would say (since he won't allow his kids to say "you suck") ....you "inhale vigorously".

No....you suck.

The rest of you.................how 'bout sayin' "hi" next time? Or at least waving? Why is it that the majority of the motorcyclists feel enough kinship w/ cyclicts to wave and other cyclists don't?

I'll never understand.

Friday, April 18, 2008

"Life is so Sweet..........

....it makes you bounce as you walk down the street." (Billy Joe Shaver)

So...it's 3:30 inthe morning and I'm here @ the shop. What's so sweet about that, you ask? (Damn good question there Bubba......glad to see that you're payin' attention) Well.......it's Friday and I've had 4 great rides already this week and am looking forward to 3 more, the shop's been buzzin' as folks get used to the idea that Spring is finally here to stay, I've decided that my M.B.W. Sofa King is the best looking bike in the world, I have a new C-Dale Six/13 to race on (assuming I get the dang thing together!), I'll be in Moab 3 weeks from now, last I checked I'm still sharin' my life w/ the Lovely and Irreplaceable Miss Linda and...........I have some Form.

"Form". Hard to define, even harder to get. It's the word that pro racers use to describe the fact that they have achieved their fitness goals and that they are ready to kick some ass and take some names. Now......DO NOT get the idea that I'm suffering from the delusion that I have anything near that kinda form!!!!! I never have and I never will. But.........."Form" is different for every individual. Me having "form" is feeling like I can keep up w/ my riding buds - most of whom are younger 'n me - and that I can ride my fixxie and hang in (okay...and maybe even take a sprint now and again). As my buddy Maynard once wrote "Hey, guys like me call that fitness!"

Sean Yates, the big Brit that rode w/ the "Slurpies"* and the Motorola teams in the late '80s and early "90s called it "Stompin' Form" and usta say that he had it mebbe twice a season. That meant that he felt he could ride for the win those 2-3 races a year. Me? I settle for "Shaving Form", that point where it seems like shaving my legs doesn't seem like a silly affectation...that I have reached the point in my season where I feel enough like a roadie that I can "dress the part", y'know? When I got home from my second ride of the day on Wed, a hilly 46 miler w/ Surly, Doez, CD and Gid.......I scraped a winter's worth of hair offa my beat up old legs.

Shaving Form. Ahhhhh.

Other than that......not much to report. One dissonate note is that Jeff's moving on. Back to the restaurant world from which we stole him away. A drag, but he's gonna be happier (probably) and that's always good. That makes me 0 for 2 on the Cruise Director front but we'll keep on keepin' on and we'll get 'er done. (You have 'til 5/3 to stop by and see him here, after that better make reservations @ Boat Werks. (Maybe he can help them w/ their spelling!)

So............join us for a ride. (Tues Night, Thur Morn, Fri Morn, Sat Morn) or the next Fun-Raiser (Pineapple Bob on 4/27) or just swing by and say "Howdy". It'd be great to see you, y'know?

'Til then.............................here's one of my favorite "He wasn't talkin about cycling but he coulda been" song lyrics, courtesy of my all time #1 favorite songwriter:

"Now days I got me two good wheels
and I take refuge in aluminum and steel.
Takes me out there for a little while and the years fall away with every mile."

(Steve Earle - The Other Kind)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Let's Get it on!

As I type this Marvin Gaye is expressin' that very sentiment. I suspect that he just might've been referring to a s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y different type of riding than I am..........but still, it seemed appropriate.

So...is Spring "here"? That seems to be the question of the week. It's "Spring" Break after all. (You can tell by the number of familiar faces we HAVEN'T seen 'round the shop this week!) We rode in shorts last weekend...even if I needed toe-covers and a wool beanie yesterday....and dammit...........it's TIME FOR IT TO BE SPRING!!!!!!!

So it is.

There, that's settled!

It's been a pretty good week for riding thus far - we had the first JDRF Training Ride last Sunday and had 23 riders! That's the biggest 1st Ride turnout EVER and bodes well for a great season for the Team. We're 64 strong @ the moment and there's still a few spots left for Death Valley and Asheville if you are still on the fence. I rode before work w/ Aaron and KP on Tuesday and Kelly and I did 36 yesterday in the wind and the chill. I'm lookin' forward to getting the 'cross bike and the ATB out this weekend for the GR BMX Track benefit race on Sunday - mostly 'cuz I' wanna ride my 'cross bike on the track! We're doi'nt he first official Friday Morning Bagel Run tomorrow and the Tuesday Night Ride commences as of next week so it might as well be Spring, that's all I'm saying.

A month from now I'll be in The Promised Land (Moab and Fruita) for a week of gnarly trail riding w/ buds DP and (hopefully!) FY. I can't wait! This'll be my 30th or so trip out there and I'm not any closer to being tired of the area than I was 20 some years ago. It has me in it's grip - hard - and I don't know that I'll ever get free. Or want to. Hopefully I can hang on 'til we can move out there sometime in the next 7-8 years!

Lotsa other stuff goin' on............I'm up to my ass in Holland Hundred planning, getting ready to host the MS 150 riders, doin' what I can to get the JDRF Ride Program up and rocking (when they ask me anyways!), trying to get Kelly and Greg trained up for the season, working on BIke Club stuff, trying to get some miles in.................and somewhere in there I'm supposed to run the shop, be Linda's husband, Kate and Sam's dad and remember my guitar and vocal parts for the band. no worries about being bored, that's for damnsure!

Still.............as my long-suffering spouse has made crystal clear on numerous occassions......no whining about self-inflected stress!*

Hard to argue w/ that. Besides...she's way smarter than me!

Later, MC

* "I'm addicted to stress that's the way that I get things done" Jim's Big Ego

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

UNDEFEATED!

Yep...........I'm gonna hang up my racin' shoes for the year. After my "victory" @ the Fisk Knob Time Trial this weekend I figure that this is the only way I'll EVER have a chance to go through the whole season w//out a loss. Given my general level of competitiveness...which ranges from "Barely adequate" to 'What's HE doing out there?"...it takes some pretty special circumstances to get me across the line first. One thing that works about once a season out @ Grattan is a bunch sprint and some dude thinking to himself that the chubby old dude on his wheel can't be a factor, can he? (And who could blame him for thinking that, after all?) Still.....about once a year I time it right and get to the line just ahead of the rest of the field...and the reappearance of my lunch.

The other way is to implement the plan that I employed this past weekend........namely to be the only entrant in my (or in this case...our) catagory. New Stoker Mike Luepke and I smoked the rest of our competition to win the tandem class on Sunday. Okay......so 44 of the other 175 racers had better times than we did......they weren't in our class so we win! And I got the hardware to prove it!

The day was a blast and the "Velo City Effect" was in full evidence. I counted 16 riders from the general V.C.C. / M.C.C. sphere of influence and that's what it's all about, y'know?

Alas......I had to skip my favorite part of racing - namely the hanging around afterwards shootin' the shit part - and hop in the van and hook up w/ 4 JDRF homies and dash for Midland for a meet-n-greet /w some of our new Team Mates up that-a-way. Nothing like riding hard for 48 minutes and then gettin' into the back of a van for hours of driving to promote recovery! Actually....come to think of it that IS like "nothing" you wanna do!

Otherwise things are cool @ Ye Olde Coole Bike Shoppe....Spring is for sure right 'round the next bend and folks are excited about riding. We have a coupla new Velo-Citizens, the outdoor rides are startin' up soon, the Indoor Rides are over and I have a coupla new bikes to play with. That's always fun! I'm riding an actual road tandem on the road these days as opposed to my trusty-but-mutt-like converted Burley off-roader. The new Cannondale enjoys the same undefeated status that I am currently wallowing in.....but it's more likely to retain it! Man does that thing feel fast! I'll also be racin' on the road on a gaudy new C-Dale Six /13 frameset for the summer and that means one thing...............my Seven is gonna be my fixxie for the year! Hee Hee! How over the top is that?!

Anyway..lotsa stuff coming up, cool rides, more races, a trip out to The Promised Land* for Mrs' Clark's favorite son next month..........I can't wait!

Time to ride!
MC

* Moab and Fruita 'natch!