This crazy mashed-together & mixed up thing I call "BikeLife" gets crazier and more mixed up every day it seems like! The running joke @ meetings is that I need a cap w/ at least 3 "fronts" so I can rotate it to tell folks which "we" I mean when I say that "we" oughta do this or "we" need that. There are some meetings where that cap would spin so much that it'd wear a groove in my scalp! JDRF, VCC, MCC....they all combine and seperate like 3 rivers that join for awhile and then split off again downstream. And every once in awhile you can toss the band in there too.
Still - I don't thing I'd have it any other way!
Lots' going on, 'natch. The Ultimate Cycling Challenge was last weekend - a 24 hour indoor relay ride to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation. (Whoever he is). We had 3 teams - JDRF, a shop-employee team and a Velo City squad. I did 8 hours at differnet times throughout the event, mostly in one hour chunks. There WAS that 11pm - 3am shift.......that last hour went by s-l-o-w! ( "Dont' look at'cher watch! Don't look at'cher watch! Don't look at'cher watch! Ohhh DAMN - you looked at'cher watch!") It was cool to see a coupla hundred folks goin' nowhere fast and raising 40K for the L.A.F.
This Sunday is the Handmade Show in Indy and I can't wait! It's gonna be awesome, even if I hafta miss a ride!
Dang - the sun's out and it's supposed to hit 40 today! Could it be that Spring is actually gonna show up this year?
The JDRF stuff is keeping me busy - lots of planning for all the Rides, the Tech Support, all the Team stuff.........it's a damn good thing that I love it so much 'cuz sometimes it's kind of a pain in the ass! We have a great team again - a goodly % of my favorite folks I've met through JDRF!
The staff for the season is taking shape - just gotta fill in a few gaps and tie up a few loose ends. It' sux not havin' KP on the schedule but she'll be around and Rhonda's gonna be great.
It's hard to figure out what to expect w/ all the economic gloom and doom out there......I don't intend to take it lightly in ANY WAY but we're gonna proceed here @ VCC as if things are gonna be okay. Not great, but okay. The suns' gonna come out, the roads and trails are gonna dry out and folks will be on their bikes. And we'll be ready!
Ride on!
MC
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spring was here (for a sec anyway!)
Man! Was that sweet or what!?!?!?!?!? 57 degrees and sunshine? On 2/10? I'll frickin' take it, thank yew very much! My good bud J2 hit me w/ a text @ about noon - "Ride 2:30-ish?" My first response was that I couldn't get away.......I'm kinda pretty much buried in shop stuff, JDRF stuff, wondering-who-I'm-gonna-work-with-this-year stuff, you name it. I told him to count me out but thank gawd he came by and talked me into it. I rode home, kitted up and off we went, west and south into the howlin' gale that we owed the warm temps to. Oh - did I forget to mention that we were riding about 17K of demo Seven carbon bikes that are still here from the Seven Rendezvous? I did? My bad! (I'm not the world's biggest carbon frame fan to say the least but that V11 is sweet! It had Sram Red on it as well - nice enough I reckon, if you can't have Campy!)
Damn glad I went, and I owe it all to J2! You da man, man!
Speakin' of the Seven Ron-day-voo.....it was a huge success. We had at least 45 folks there, gave away some cool tech tees and displayed over 30 Seven bikes and frames! Joe-from-Seven was way impressed w/ the turnout and the whole deal. We'll do it again sometime, you just wait and see!
The other BIG NEWS around here of course is that manana' is Ted's last day. The commute from GR has f-i-n-a-l-l-y gotten to him and he'll be @ Ada Bike Shop as of next week. A good change for him methinks and I hope it works out. We've worked together for a long time - it seems weird to contemplate him not being here.
But - shit like this is a regular part of any bike shop and has been a constant thread in my life. I'm excited about Berger takin' the reins in the workshop - he's a great wrench and I know he's excited. It'll be a drag for awhile - especially for me - but by mid-April my guess is that we'll be rockin' it harder and stronger!
Soup Ride this Sunday - big fun!
Ride on!
MC
Damn glad I went, and I owe it all to J2! You da man, man!
Speakin' of the Seven Ron-day-voo.....it was a huge success. We had at least 45 folks there, gave away some cool tech tees and displayed over 30 Seven bikes and frames! Joe-from-Seven was way impressed w/ the turnout and the whole deal. We'll do it again sometime, you just wait and see!
The other BIG NEWS around here of course is that manana' is Ted's last day. The commute from GR has f-i-n-a-l-l-y gotten to him and he'll be @ Ada Bike Shop as of next week. A good change for him methinks and I hope it works out. We've worked together for a long time - it seems weird to contemplate him not being here.
But - shit like this is a regular part of any bike shop and has been a constant thread in my life. I'm excited about Berger takin' the reins in the workshop - he's a great wrench and I know he's excited. It'll be a drag for awhile - especially for me - but by mid-April my guess is that we'll be rockin' it harder and stronger!
Soup Ride this Sunday - big fun!
Ride on!
MC
Monday, February 02, 2009
Off the back AGAIN....dang!
Man, at the risk of repeating myself - how do all them Blog-studs do it!?!? I really wanna keep up w/ this project (putting aside the whole "why?" thing for the moment) but I swear.......it's kind of a challenge!
Lots goin' on at the shop. Let's see if I can deliver a re-cap in somewhat chronological order:
I went down to Greenville SC on a scouting trip 2 weekends ago. I know a decent # of folks there through my work w/ JDRF and I was hoping to take a shop trip down there in March. Plenty of good rides there to be sure, but the main thing I learned is that there ain't no flat ones! Jeez......every good local ride involved headin' outta town and then up and over something big enough to have it's own name! Great climbs, sweet switch-back-y descents...it'd be a great place to put a nice edge on your fitness @ the end of a long winter! As it happens, recent events have made it less-than-likely that I'll be able to pull it off, but still....it was worth a shot and good to get outta town for a few days.
JDRF stuff is rocking hard! Velo City will be the official provider for the tech support @ every Ride this season, so that's new. A big deal and a considerable source of stress for Mrs. Clark's favorite son but there's nothing new about that! Our Team has 55 riders registered for either the new Killington Ride in August or Death Valley but it's not to late to get on board! (Man, I gotta start fund-raising!) We added a 2nd Coach to help me out so that'll be good. (Yay Nicole!)
The shop has been kinda busy, actually. We have this "Seven Rendezvous" coming up this Sunday, the Indoor Rides have been drawing a solid 18-20 riders, Yoga Class has been going well, we're still ridin' outside on Fri. morning and Sunday afternoon.........lots goin' on! I'm late getting the newsletter out 'natch, but that'll happen within 48 hours, mark my words!
Hard to believe, but I'm up to my ears in 2009 Fall/Winter clothing decisions. Kind of a drag, when you get right down to it. I understand that they gotta have time to get stuff made and all but sheesh! (Gotta say though...the new Cannondale stuff looks pretty good. I really like the LE jacket I've been riding in all winter!)
I sent my beloved Seven Axiom back to the factory for a re-finish and it looks wicked awesome! Nice to see the original ti finish again! It'be be one sweet fixxie for the Spring!
So - the big news shop-side is that Ted's leaving later this month. I totally understand - the drive is a drag. (Hell - I wouldn't do it!) and there's a position open @ Ada Bike Shop 'cuz the last wrench they got from me just left. Still - it's always a drag when key staff leave.......not to mention friends. For sure my least favorite part of this gig! Fear not - your bike will be in good hands even if I'm not 100% sure whose hands that might be at this very instant. (I have some stuff going that's not solid enough to discuss right now)
MCC meeting tonight - then I hafta go to the Rapid Wheelmen meeting in GR on Thursday w/ my JDRF hat on. There's a Fitness Fair @ GVSU this week, the GR Bicycle Film Festival on Saturday, the Seven deal on Sunday...all this in addition to the regular rides and such.
Like I said.......lots' going on!
I guess I better get to it, huh?
Talk to you later, MC
Lots goin' on at the shop. Let's see if I can deliver a re-cap in somewhat chronological order:
I went down to Greenville SC on a scouting trip 2 weekends ago. I know a decent # of folks there through my work w/ JDRF and I was hoping to take a shop trip down there in March. Plenty of good rides there to be sure, but the main thing I learned is that there ain't no flat ones! Jeez......every good local ride involved headin' outta town and then up and over something big enough to have it's own name! Great climbs, sweet switch-back-y descents...it'd be a great place to put a nice edge on your fitness @ the end of a long winter! As it happens, recent events have made it less-than-likely that I'll be able to pull it off, but still....it was worth a shot and good to get outta town for a few days.
JDRF stuff is rocking hard! Velo City will be the official provider for the tech support @ every Ride this season, so that's new. A big deal and a considerable source of stress for Mrs. Clark's favorite son but there's nothing new about that! Our Team has 55 riders registered for either the new Killington Ride in August or Death Valley but it's not to late to get on board! (Man, I gotta start fund-raising!) We added a 2nd Coach to help me out so that'll be good. (Yay Nicole!)
The shop has been kinda busy, actually. We have this "Seven Rendezvous" coming up this Sunday, the Indoor Rides have been drawing a solid 18-20 riders, Yoga Class has been going well, we're still ridin' outside on Fri. morning and Sunday afternoon.........lots goin' on! I'm late getting the newsletter out 'natch, but that'll happen within 48 hours, mark my words!
Hard to believe, but I'm up to my ears in 2009 Fall/Winter clothing decisions. Kind of a drag, when you get right down to it. I understand that they gotta have time to get stuff made and all but sheesh! (Gotta say though...the new Cannondale stuff looks pretty good. I really like the LE jacket I've been riding in all winter!)
I sent my beloved Seven Axiom back to the factory for a re-finish and it looks wicked awesome! Nice to see the original ti finish again! It'be be one sweet fixxie for the Spring!
So - the big news shop-side is that Ted's leaving later this month. I totally understand - the drive is a drag. (Hell - I wouldn't do it!) and there's a position open @ Ada Bike Shop 'cuz the last wrench they got from me just left. Still - it's always a drag when key staff leave.......not to mention friends. For sure my least favorite part of this gig! Fear not - your bike will be in good hands even if I'm not 100% sure whose hands that might be at this very instant. (I have some stuff going that's not solid enough to discuss right now)
MCC meeting tonight - then I hafta go to the Rapid Wheelmen meeting in GR on Thursday w/ my JDRF hat on. There's a Fitness Fair @ GVSU this week, the GR Bicycle Film Festival on Saturday, the Seven deal on Sunday...all this in addition to the regular rides and such.
Like I said.......lots' going on!
I guess I better get to it, huh?
Talk to you later, MC
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