Interbike Report, Day 1

Okay, first lemme state for the record that I've been here in this Hellhole called Las Vegas for about 30 hours now.................and that's enough! i really don't like town at all and if it wasn't for the bike show and the JDRF Death Valley ride this dump would never again see the like of Mrs; Clark's favorite son!



Still...............here I am, and here I stay, 'til early Friday morning at least.



I came here fresh offa doin' the tech support in Whitefish MT for a JDRF Ride to Cure Ride. Brother Berger from the shop and I flew out on Wed, re-assembled about 65 shipped bikes, tuned up the other 85 or so, drove sag on Sat and packed 'em back up that night. Worked our asses off! Still...........what a great thin gto spend some time in the presence of the extra-fine folks that make up a JDRF Ride! Everyone rocks! The riders, the staff, the volunteers.................200-some passionate, dedicated, fun people doing a great thing. I love it!



jeff from the shop along w/ his buds Chuck and Joel comprised the West Mich team..they had a blast too!



Anyway....................the title of this here post is "Interbike Report", not "Ad for JDRF" so lemme get to it:



Today was Day 1 of the Outdoor Demo, which happens about 25 minutes outta Vegas @ a place called Boulder City. A small city of Pop-up tents and trailers pops up for 2 days of test riding bikes on the gnarly singletrack and the smooth asphalt. I rode the new Cannondale Scapel.......it gets a new rear end w/ 4 inches of travel w/ almost no pivots. I dug it..............smooth, climbed well, the sus did it's thing w/ minimal fuss. (Can you tell that I'm not really a big full-sus guy?) Still...what a great michigan bike! Plenty o' travel for our trails, still light enough to race.



Next bike was a new brand.............Pivot is thebrainchild of the guy that ran Titus forever. They have 2 frames, a 4 and a 5.5 inch travel dualie. I took the 4 incher for a run on Trail #4. (4 is the longest and most technical of the trails out there. I figger I oughta ride 'em all on the same trail, yes?) 'Nother nice bike...........but more "suspension-y" than the C-Dale and I was lukewarm on that. The same company that is bankrolling Pivot also plans to import BH from Spain, in an obvious attempt to be the next Orbea. I rode a fancy carbon one, it felt like a high-end carbon bike but hardly broke new ground.



I found myself @ the Salsa booth talkin' to homeboy Joe and the next thing I know I'm out on the trail on a Mamacita, their Scadium/carbon 29er. nIce rig and I was diggin' the hardtail but it didn't fit all that good and had the widest bars I have ever seen and that was messin' w/ my head. Still............we'd be all over Salsa if we hadn't found Niner, and we still may be someday!



I had to go by the niner booth 4 times to get a ride on their full-sus R.I.P-9. Obviously I'm fairly comfy w/their hardtails but the RIP was on my list. (Besides......I know I'd catch tons of crap from Ted if I didn't ride it) Despite my well-documented ambivilance for both 29-rs and full-sus...............this bike was a blast! The rear suspension wasn't so obvious, despite it's 4.5 inches of boiiing and it kinda rocked! They have a new one for '08, the J.E.T, and it'll be a better Michigan bike w/ 3' of travel and a pound less frame weight.

By this point my legs were feelin' the effects of 5 days of wrenchin' w/out riding in MT and 4 loops of the 4 mile Trail 4. I walked the Expo for a bit, ran into the guys from Loose Spokes in GH, Bob from The Bicycle Shop in Gaylord, Chris Kegel (Fellow JDRF guy) from Wheel adn Sprocket in Wis, etc. Then I figured "Well.I camout here to ride so ...." I grabbed a bike from the Mavic tent to try their fly new RXS wheels. prett swank......hollow carbon spokes on the front and left side of the rear, 1400 grams and dollars. They spun up super fast and were laterally stiffer than the Rolf Elans I currently run............ but those are 100 grams lighter and 400 bux less and stiff enough for my Wide load arse so I dunno. Sweet though.

That was it for me. I ditched the lycra and climbed on the shuttle. 8 hours out in the desert sun and wind and dust done did me in. There's an early morning road ride out to Lake mead that Danielle and I are gonna do, then I'll hang @ the Demo for a bit. I'll get some pictures for ya'll.

Time to finish the hike to my hotel and ditch this trashy tee shirt shop / 'internet cafe"!

Later, MC

TIME FOR 'CROSS!

What is it about cyclo-cross? It's painful as all hell, I totally suck at it, it involves running, which I prefer to a root canel, but just barely and ..........well.......did I mention that I suck at it?

Still............every time that Fall rolls around and we start gettin' the 'crossers out I realize that in some ways 'cross is my favorite time of year. There's something sweetly subversive about a 'cross bike. There you are........sittin' there as if you're on a road bike but you're lookin' for gnarly shit to ride over and through! It's like you're getting away with something, y'know? I love it.

I love rubbing embrocation on my legs and wearing shorts when I oughta be wearing knicks.

I love the scene........it's casual and serious at the same time. Some dudes are there w/ their new 2500 dolla CX'ers and then there's always some guy on an old Schwinn World Sport w/ flat pedals. (And all too often he's ahead of me!)

I love the sound of the cowbells and the crowd yelling "Hup Hup" as we roll past.

Besides...........you get to rub weird smelly Euro-goop on your shaved legs and no one thinks that you're weird...........how cool is that?!?!?

The 'cross season is well-and-truly underway 'round these parts, there were 2 races last weekend and from now on there wil be at least one every other weekend 'til it all wraps up here in H-Land on 12/8. If you've not checked it out................yaoughta!

All the details @ www.kisscross.com and www.tailwinds.net

Lots goin' on here @ Bike Central. I'm off to MT for the next JDRF Ride on Wed and then I'll be going straight to Vegas for the Interbike show from there. I'll try and post reports on the show every day or so.

Hard to believe that it's Showtime again! Man.......it's been a crazy season! Mostly good......but crazy for sure!

Gotta go...............talk at'cha later!
MC

ODRAM!!!!!!

Man, what a blast! We had our first-ever Velo Ventures production yesterday as we took 15 "clients" (+ me!) up to the One Day Ride Across Michigan for 150 miles of 2 lane roads and (alas) headwinds from Montegue to Bay City. Jeff and Aaron took real good care of everyone as we worked our way across the state. 'Twas a full and long day..........we gathered here @ the shop @ 4:30 am for the trip up to Montague for the 6:30 start and between eatin' dinner near Bay City and way too much construction on I-75 we didn't get back here 'til just after midnight. Still.......we had a great group of riders, zero mechanicals or issues, everyone rode the entire distance, lunch was great and seeing the van waitin' for us for fill-ups or snacks every 25 miles was perfect. We'll do it again...............plus lots more!

I'm way pumped that we f-i-n-a-l-l-y have the Velo Ventures project off the ground! I was startin' to wonder if we ever would, y'know? It's a big part of where we want the shop to be in the future and even though ODRAM was a relatively small project the fact that it was such a raging success bodes well. Whew!

Damn...............I love a day when I just ride and ride and ride! It was nice not to feel that I was personally responsible for everyone too. Don't get me wrong.............I LOVE the JDRF gig but the rides are more "work" than "ride", y'know? yesterday I was just one of the pack. I dug it.

Hard to believe that I'm only 9 days away from headin west for the next JDRF Ride and then on to Vegas fpor the interbike show. Tons to do! We have lots of extra-cool bike projects goin' @ the moment.......Matt, Luke and Opal's Sevens, Maria, Bob and Frank's Gunnars, 3 Co-Motion tandems and a single...........plus all the regular stuff and an avalanche of "buying season" stuff. All of it needs lotsa baby-sitting.

I know............"whine whine blahblahblah." Fair enough, I'll shut up.

Legs feel pretty good for having 1.5 centuries in 'em. Lina dn I are gonna take the tandem over to the North Side to the Herman Miller JDRF team cook-out later today. That'll probably be plenty of riding!

Be safe!
MC

Okay, this nonsense has got to stop!

I mean it! Either I'm a "Blog-guy" or I'm not, dammit! If I'm gonna have a Blog I'm gonna hafta do a helluva lot better job keepin' it fresh thatn I've been doing this summer. So......here goes:

It's been a full and challenging summer here at VCC. Theres' been plenty of biz (and thanks for that!) but an unprecedented amount of staff turnover and some other growing pains made for a summer that wasn't as stree-free as we'd like. Still...........a lot of cool stuff happened, we have some new riding buds, there's a lot of sweet new bikes out on the roads and trails and all in all.............'twas a great summer! Ted, Berger and Aaron got married, we got to meet and hang w/ Pea's main squeeze Ella, 12 Hours of Pando was a hoot, the Holland 100 was a monster success, we (sorta) got Velo Ventures up and runnin', the Velo Valeo Vixens Tri Team is a huge success, our fav pro racer had a helluva season in our 1st year of sponsoring her ( go Danielle!)..........the list of Cool Stuff goes on and on.

I was in Whitefish MT a coupla weeks ago doin' the first of the 3 Fall JDRF Rides w/ a 20 rider team from Herman Miller. What a blast! The ride was perfect, the team rode outta their minds, much Good was done, much $ raised to help put a whuppin' on Type 1 diabetes and the "goose bump moments" were plentiful, as always at one of these events. I gotta tell you.......being involved w/ JDRF has become a big part of my life and an ever-increasing part of who I am. It's such a pleasure and honor to be the Coach of the West Mich team. The next ride is Whitefish #2 in a coupla weeks.......I'll actually be the 'Bike Guy' this time 'round.........then the big Death Valley Ride in mid-October. Ted is ridin' DV as well, since his now wife Sarah is a 3 year vet of the program and his new step-daughter Sophie has Type 1 (as well as his In-laws!) Jeff will be in MT w/ us later this month.

Pardon me for mentioning this...........but you can help all 3 of us reach our fund-raising goals if you are so inclined. Itsa piece of cake...........go to ride.jdrf.org, hit "donate" and find any of us. (You gotta use "Michael" and "Theadore" if you're lookin' for me or Ted!) Thanks!

Grattan is done for the year. I f-i-n-a-l-l-y got my shit together and won the last race. We had our 1st cyclo-cross practice last night and I'm way psyched for 'cross! (I'll still suck @ it, but maybe a tiny bit less!?) ODRAM is this Saturday and we have 17 riders signed up for the Velo Ventures sag service. I'm leanin' towards the fixxie.......it'd be 60 miles longer than I've ever ridden a fixed gear (152) and I really wanna do it. I guess I hafta decide pretty dang soon, eh?

I go directly from Whitefish to the Interbike show in Vegas. Hopefully I'll have enough internet access to do nightly posts from the show.

Okay, enough for now. I promise to do a better job of keepin' this current. I have no idea why anyone would care to read it in the first place, frankly, but if yawanna...........it'll be fresh from now on!

Ride on!
MC

Long Time No Blog!

Yeah....sorry 'bout that! (At least.....I apologise to the 2 or 3 of you that actually read this!) It's been full-tilt-boogie crazyness here @ Cool Bike Shop #1 and I've had lots better luck thinkin' 'bout bloggin' that doing it! The little Blogger-Dashboard-Thingy sez that it's been since April since I checked in..............hard to believe but we all know that computers are smart and don't lie, right? (Heavy sarcasm mode - off)

So..........what's gone down since then, eh?

Well........we did a quick trip to the desert for a dose of that sweet Fruita singletrack w/ a red rocks/cowboy blue sky chaser in Moab. 3 days of great riding w/ son Samuel, Doez, Gid and CD. Well worth the drive and the effort. I gotta say..........the riding @ The Bookcliffs north of Fruita is basically the coolest stuff ever! And that's coming from a self-admitted Moabaphile that's been visiting that area for 20 years now. Not a helluva lot to gaze in wonder upon in Fruita mebbe, but the riding is 100% Prime! (If you go.......do not skip a visit to the Hot Tomatoe Cafe downtown...my new fav.)

Lots of changes @ the shop..............Rachel and Jacque G are gone (or almost), joining Lee in the unexpected and unprecedented Spring Exodus. On the other hand....Jeff's been awesome, Da've and Sandy are kickin' serious arse and the rest of us are takin' our pulls @ the front whenever we can. We hired New Guy Aaron to help Ted in the shop... he might look familiar to you if you've been hangin' out downstairs @ The Outpost in the last year or so and we think he's gonna be a great addition to our little family. Biz has been good and the response to our Weekly Rides, Fun-Raiser Series, Bike School offerings and other "projects" has been great. (Details? Check the website!)

The party we threw for the MS-150 riders last weekend was a total blast. We musta had 300-400 riders stop in for snacks, deals on clothing, bike repair emergencies and/or to avail themselves of our resident C.M.T Joy Wilkins and and the restorative power of her massage skills. ( I call her every time I'm hurtin' extra!). We're already makin' plans to go bigger and harder next year!

The JDRF Team is gettin' together, riding and fund-raising and it looks to be a banner season. In our 3rd year we have nearly 60 riders, making us a "Top-5" team in the U.S. of A. and the first ride in Whitefish MT is only about 8 weeks away. (Yikes!)

The Holland Hundred Tour is only 5 weeks away........I gotta get my butt in gear and get some work done on the route!

Jeff's busy gettin' the First-Ever Velo Ventures trips off the ground...........we're runnin' behind but that's cool. We're get 'em goin' and make sure that we lay the groundwork for the future this season.

The band is gettin' busy too. (Figures!) We're playin the Fenn Valley Winery OPen House for the umpteenth time this Saturday.......at least part of it. For the forst time we're sharin' the load w/ another band, Natchez Trace, and we play from 1-3pm. (The weatherman sez 40% chance of rain. The weather's been perfect for every year that we've played. Coincedence? I think not) Then later that day we're doin' a trio thing @ The Curragh next door, so it'll be a busy day!

Speakin' of busy days...........the Lumberjack 100 was last weekend and I finally have a Finisher's Medal after 3 tries! 'Twas a l-o-n-g day but I was able to avoid the cramps and dehydration-induced dementia of past efforts and was able to get this particular monkey offa my back. Feels good. Danielle won, despite her stated intentions to do it for training and the conditions were civil enough (86 degrees, some cloud cover off and on, lower humidity than in years past) that the completion rate was 65%, which was last years' drop-out rate!

Okay, that's gonna hafta do it for now! At least I'm semi-caught up and I'll do a better job of stayin that way, okay?

Okay!

Later...MC

April! Snow! Yuck!

Man, I really don't like it when we get crap weather during Spring break. Much better to have great weather to rub the noses of everyone that went south in. (Guess I need more development as a human, eh?)

Still.........lots of cool stuff goin' down around here. All the weekly rides start next week, the club meetings have been good, plans are firming up for the Fun-Raiser Series, the Holland Hundred, the Ride of Silence, and tons of other fun stuff. It's gonna be a great season and I can not wait!

Big news 'round the shop is that we hired Jeff Wert as the new Cruise Director! He's gonna be awesome to work with, is fulla ideas and keeps saying that retail hours are gonna be a piece o' cake after the restaurant biz. We'll see about that. Still..........it'll be great to make some progress on the Velo Ventures project!

Sent out the Rider's Reader today, so there are 1300+ of the little devils working their way throught the maze of the 'net tryin' to deliver the goods to our mailing list. ( I always get a mental pic of Woody Allen in that "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex" movie, dressed like a sperm and riffin' on the old "You're scared too Sarge?" scene from countless WW2 movies.) Hopefully some of e'm make it.

Rode Owasippe Sunday...I'd forgotten whatta hoot that trail is! Kinda digging the niner too.

The JDRF team is ramping up for a big year. We have folks going to both MT rides and Death Valley. I gotta get to work!

It's gonna be a great season, I can hardly wait. Let's get to it!

You'd think I woulda learned........but no.

I think mebbe I oughta get my head examined. You'd think that after doin' that team relay 24 hout indoor thing that I'd know better than to decide at the last minute to do last Sunday's 3 hour indoor workout on my rollers.

You'd think that, but you'd be so wrong!

Here's what I was using for "logic", by the way. A 3 hour indoor ride sounded soul-crushingly boring, even w/ riding buds, so I figured that the rollers would help w/ that. In the back of my head I was also thinkin' that my ratty old Minoura rollers w/ a bazillion miles on 'em would offer less resistance than the fluid trainer and that sounded good as well. Besides......I haven't been on my rollers all year, and I don't think I've ever ridden 'em for more than an hour, so that made it a done deal, right?

Right!

I know, I know............not so smart.

We did the ride, it was hard-as-Hell. It was the Spinervals "Tough Love" DVD w/ good 'ol Coach Troy and his band of sweaty subjects alternating seated and standing intervals for 180 l-o-n-g minutes. Ugh. Even w/ the lighter resistance of the rollers all that out of the saddle stuff took it's toil and I was doin' the "Hey my quads are killin' me" walk 'til about Tuesday night.

Only rode off of them 4 times, which ain't bad for 3 hours, right?

Otherwise, 'twas a quiet week here @ VCC. The big (and not-so-great) news is that yesterday was Lee's last day. I know it was coming, the fdrive in from Middleville all winter was weighin' heavy on the man and I was afraid that he'd break before the weather did so he could ride in. It's been great to have him in the house, we'll miss him and we wish him nothing but the best, even if he is gonna be spinnin' wrenches for those wankers @ Ada Bike Shop! (Joke) (Sort of)
What's the plan, you ask? Da've's gonna throw in w/ a bunch more hours on the sales floor, that'll free Rach up to do smoe wrenching, which she's actually damn good at and we're sniffin' around a bit for a new face or two. Never fear...........we got it covered!

The weather is kind of a drag, typical Michigan Late Winter tease-and-switch trick. I fall for it every damn time too. New website is up. Not done, but up. I did the little bike shop deal @ The Rapid Wheelman club meeting in GR last night, that was fun. Lots to do......JDRF stuff, Macatawa club stuff, band stuff, shop stuff, home stuff.................whew!

Our son Samuel is almost 3 weeks into his Appachian Trail hike. He calls every 4-6 days or so and he and his trailmates (Boyz 2 Maine) are doing great and having a blast. I'm jealous as Hell, 'natch. Send any extra good karma you got his way, will ya?

Speaking of karma.............I thikn we need to create the word "bikema". As in it's "Good Bikema"to take your pulls @ the front and "Bad Bikema" to not wait for someone w/ a flat. Hmmm.....might be the next VCC tee!

Gotta go..............thanks for reading, assuming that you did. Later, MC

24 hours of indoor training is plenty!

I'm guessing that no one's thinking that I oughta be surprised to find that out, eh? Last weekend I spent a l-o-n-g day @ Ultimate Fitness here in Holland riding to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation w/ about 150 other folks. The shop was a sponsor so we had a team (MC Hammer and the Velo Vixens....catchy huh?) and we had a JDRF team there as well, doing the 12-hour event. What a hoot! Live bands, videos, a DJ (yuck!) and 26 teams grindin' away on trainers or spin bikes lookin' to achieve higher conciousness via sweat and sleep deprivation and to do the Good Thing and help put a whuppin' on the big C.

The VCC team was Rach, Jessica Ossting of Valeo Personal Training (hit the link on our new website), Carmen Hannah of Team One Services (speakin' of the new website) and the Bocks...Nate and Elizabeth...in addition to me-own-self. We all rode a bunch...EB had 80 miles on her odo.....hung out and had fun.

The JDRF team was Ted from the shop, his main squeeze Sarah, David, Mary, Joe and Rob...Death Valley vets all. ('cept for T, and he's goin' this year!) Oh.....and me.

What a cool event! Well run, well supported, lots of fun and they raised over 21 grand for the Good Fight.

When it comes around next season..................you oughta do it!

Let's see....what else is goin' on? The Soup Ride last weekend was a good 'un. We had plenty of soup since we only had 9 riders by the time we started dishin' up the soups. It was kinda cold I guess, but I was hopin' for a bigger turn-out. Still.............'twas fun!

Crazy Bastard Rides are goin' strong and are still my fav rides of the week. The indoor rides are consistantly drawin' 9-14 riders every Wed and Sat and we've been doin' some Super Sunday Special Suffer Sessions every 2-3 weekends too. (Details on the website). It's kinda sunny as I write this and that'll probably kick off the first stirrings of Spring Fever amongst the troups......hope we're ready!

I was in GA this time last week, droppin' off my son Sam for his Appalachian Trail adventure. He and his buds ( "Boys 2 Maine" ) are a week into the hike as of now and havin' a blast. I'm so jealous! We stayed @ a Hostel that would be perfect as a basecamp for a trip to ride the Tour of Georgia loops that are right there. Maybe next month?

On the less-than-great news front Lee gave me his 2 weeks notice last Friday. Sigh. I know it was just a matter of time....the boy just ain't built to commute 60-80 minutes one way to his gig....but it's still a bit of a drag. We'll miss him! (Still..........if you know someone that's lookin' for a wrench gig........now'd be the time to step up!)

Still...........Bke Life and more precisely Velo Life is good. We're ready for Spring to get here but resigned to having to wait a bit. The shop's ful of cool stuff and it's gonna be a great season! We (and when I say "We" I mean "Us and you and everyone else") just gotta hang in there for 4-6 more weeks and then.............Look out!

Later, MC

One Cold-Arse Ride!

These pics are from a Sunday Afternoon "Crazy Bastards West" ride out in Allegan Woods. That's Jasker in disguise on the upper left, CD, Me, Surly, JJ and Berger on the upper right and one of my infamous self-portraits to the left doin' the "Beard-sicle".
















Last Thursday Night I went to GR for the Crazy Bastard Ride that I try and do every week. (www.cbcross.com - but be forewarned of the chance of encountering adult language and rampant outbreaks of surliness and attitude!) The weatherman was callin' for temps in the 'teens so I was anticipating a small-ish turn-out.

Not.

As it turns out, 'tis weather that most folks would pass on riding in that pushes the CB buttons....Im shoulda known. I joined 10-11 other riders for a 2+ hour jaunt on the frozen dirt roads out along the eastern edge of Grand Rapids. We had a blast, there was a minimum of whimpering and whining and the post-ride chili @ The Honey Creek Inn went down oh-so-fine!
I was thinking that there might be some small level of interest in me goin' through the gear I employed ot stay warm @ 15 degrees..........for those of you that don't currently ride this time o' year but are intrigued by the idea.......so here's what was and wasn't workin' for me on this particular ride:
On my head I had a fairly thin lycra-fleece balaclava, IE one of those "hood things" that go under your chin and cover the lower part of your face. Not the thing ot be wearing if you stop @ a 7-11 perhaps but a must in temps below 32 or so. Some of my riding buds were wearing fleece neck muffs or some such thing, but my head was fine. A little more coverage wouldn't have hurt....I was a tad worried about a coupla dead spots on my cheekbones, but they came back okay.
On my upper body I was able to go fairly light....a sleeveless baselayer under a wool long sleeve and then my Pearl Izumi Vento jacket, since discontinued. A pity too, 'cuz that dude is way warm! This set-up was perfect, I even unzipped a bit once in awhile to cool off a bit.
I had Pearl Amfib bibs over knickers on the bottom half. First time I've done that and it might've been just a tiny little bit overkill. Kinda bulky........but warm!
I had Smartwool liner gloves under my Pearl Amfib gloves.......my fingers were numb 'til I warmed up then they were great. So great in fact that I gave the liners to Gid 'cuz his hands were not comin' back 80 minutes into the ride. Then my fingers got cold again, of course, but I made it back.
My feet were the only part of me that was uncomfortable for the whole ride.....I was tryin those disposable insole heaters but I was still hurtin' pretty much the whole ride despite the wool socks and booties. I'd say over half the dudes I ride with in the winter have some kind of insulated winter riding shoes and I might hafta try 'em. ( Actually I ordered some over-the-top Sidi rechargeable insoles.......I'll let'cha know how they work!)
So...that was the set-up. Worked pretty dang good when you think about being out in 15-ish degree weather @ 15 mph or so for 2+ hours. Still tryin' stuff, but I think I'm gettin' it down pretty good. My friends Dan and Danielle go out for much longer rides that that and they do okay too, so it ain't that hard!

Lots of other stuff goin' on, of course. The indoor rides have been rocking, we've been throwing in Sunday rides in addition to the scheduled ones on Wed and Sat and that's a special little slice of Hell to be sure! Join us here @ 8:00 on Wed night or Sat morning and we'll also be here @ 1:30 on Sunday this week.

The next 'Fun-Raiser" is 2/11.....it's the 2nd ever Soup Ride! 2:00 here for a road ride, then soup and beer and such. How could that be a bad thing?

Hard to believe that it's nearly Feb already! Damn...talkin' about how time flies is so cliche' but it's so hard to avoid! At this rate we'll be knee-deep in the season before we know it! And there's so much to do!

Ted's building up a sweet Gunnar Sport right now......I just glanced over to take a peek at it. It's a bee-yoo-ti-ful silver to blue fade, Rolf wheels, Ultegra compact........damn nice bike. They do good wirk over there in Waterford Wis and I'm glad we're hooked up w/ those folks.......even if it is hard to get off the phone when Richard calls!

Okay.....if I'm reduced to talkin' inside-industry gossip it's time to go! Talk at'cha again soon.

KIT CITY BAY-BEE!!!!!!

Well, the long-awaited day is here and so are the brand-spankin'-new VCC kits! Man, we've been waitin' for-frickin'-ever for this stuff seems like! My pulse rate was up as I opened the box...........what if I didn' like 'em, how bad would that suck?

No worries................the jerseys rock, the bibs are prime-o-licious and the arm-warmers are...........................well.............................let's just say they finish off the kit just exactly right.

Can't wait to be seen sportin' it!

Lots' going on. Seems weird to not have had a Fun-Raiser for so long but there's one comin' up on 2/11. We had the first Special Sunday Super Suffer Session last week, there were 9 hapless souls here for 90 minutes of Coach Troy nonsense. Big fun!

We had a huge turnout for the JDRF kick Off Party last week as well. I think we're gonna have a big team full of cool people. It never fails to mess w/ me when I have a sec to contemplate just how awesome a program this is! I feel awfully fortunate to be able to be a part of it and that's no jive. I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the year, training manuals, training plans, ride schedules..........man, I better get on it!
(By the way.....if you are wondering what I'm talkin 'about here, check out ride.jdrf.org for the scoop on a very cool way to ride your bike and make a difference @ the same time.)

The Crazy Bastard Rides are more fun every week, it seems like it gets more fun as the conditions get "crazier"! Go figure! Check out the website @ cbcross.com but be warned.....they can be surly! Consider yourself warned.

The shop is rocking, at least for January. Lots of new bikes to build including a gorgeous new Co-Motion tandem, Cannondale 29'ers, lotsa road bikes, the way-cool Amsterdam town machine from Electra and lots more.

The indoor training rides are rocking like never before. We've had as many as 14 people lined up drippin' sweat on our sweet new shop tile floor and stinkin' up the joint. Wanna join us? C'mon down! 8:00 wed night and Sat mornings and the more the merrier.

I'm glad we're gettin 'some winter, even if I'm not doing much skiing these days. It was kinda cool being able to ride outside w/out 500 bux worth of gear, and I rode the first 16 days of the year, but I still like a bit o' winter, y'know? Still..........I'll be ready for Spring in a month or so.

The big exciting news 'round here s our 100% RE-VAMPED WEBSITE! by the end of the month it'll be up and rocking w/ new words, new pix, fun stuff and the ability for you s\to sit @ home in your PJ's (maybe like right now) and satisfy your hunger for VCC stuff right then and there. How cool is that?
Okay, gotta go, time to meet the 2 bee-yoo-ti-ful ladies in my life for dinner. Lucky me!

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring or at least being curious (or maybe bored!)

Later............MC

A new year (and a confession)

So..............2007 is finally here and we've all (hopefully) survived the hype and the parties and all that crap. I've never been a big New Years' Eve party kinda guy and don't reckon that I ever will be................but it was nice to be w/ friends as we closed the books on '06 and looked ahead to '07.

The thing is................'06 was a GREAT year! Danielle and I were talkin' about that very thing as we rolled into town towards the end of the New Year's Day Ride last Monday. Both of us agreed that we'd be more-than-happy if ought-seven turned out to be as good as ought-six was.

Now....having said that.....I want more, naturally. More riders on our JDRF team, more folks @ the shop rides, more buddies ridin' more bike more often. A little more business here @ VCC World Headquaters would be fine too, natch, but in general Bike Life was a rare and fine thing all last year and we're very grateful for that. (We're grateful for you too, if you played any part in that!) I think it was my main man Edward Abbey that said that "uncontrolled growth is the idealogy of the cancer cell" and I try to keep that in mind and remember that bigger isn't always better and more isn't always what'cha want or need.

The big news @ the shop is that we're almost done w/ re-doing the service area so Ted, Lee, Berger and everyone else that picks up a wrench'll have a cooler and more efficient area to work in. New flooring (installed by part-time wrench and full-time hanger-outer Doez) and a new workbench/counter/bar cooked up for us by riding bud/JDRF rider/semi-hanger-outer John J were the first 2 big steps. Once we get the workstands mounted up to the system I stole from the Chili Pepper shop out in Moab...........we're good to go!

Lotsa cool stuff rollin' in...........the first load of Electra Amsterdam town bikes is here and they look every bit as cool as when we saw 'em in Vegas. Kind of a pisser to assemble what with the lights and rack and "fender skirts" and all...........but way cool. The VCC kit is en route as I write this and we'll see it this week, hopefully. ("Kit" in this context is bike talk for custom shop jerseys, bib shorts and arm-warmers but you knew that, yes?) We've delivered a coupla Niners, folks are lookin' at road bikes and as we head into the "quiet time" around here there's plenty to do!

We're kinda back to square one on the whole "Cruise Director" position. Julia took a shot @ it but it wasn't to be so we're lookin' for that unique person that wants to be involved w/ a cool bike shop and manage our new touring company and also what passes for 'marketing" around here. It could be a full-time gig for the right person.......or it might be 2 part-time gigs. Regardless......if you have any interest get ahold of me @ velocity587@hotmail.com so we can talk about it!

The January newsletter goes out tomorrow. I'm a little tardy 'cuz I wanted to wait 'til Ted got back from vacation and pick his brain about Tool School classes for this winter. If you don't get one by late Thursday (1/4) shoot me an e-mail at the address up there in the last paragraph and I'll get'cha one!

It's time to get crackin' on the JDRF front too. We have our big "Celebrate 2006 / Kick Off 2007" party comin' up on Tuesday 1/9 in GR. If you have any interest in joinin' the fastest growing JDRF team in the whole dang US of A consider yourself invited to the bash! Again.......lemme know by e-mail if you wanna come (so I can RSVP ya) or if you have questions about the whole deal. You can check out www.jdrf.org/ride too.

Man..............I've been runnin off at the mouth (fingers?) so much here that I almost forgot about the "confession" part of this post. Must be 'cuz I'm so ashamed over what's laying so heavy on my heart..................but that's the point of confession, right? At least partly. So......here it goes:

I quit riding my bike to work in about October and have been driving.
I know...............I know...............I know better than that and I suck. I have no excuse. I got seduced by the Dark Side, which in this case is represented by my "new" car.....a '94 Jeep Wrangler. It's just a car, y'know? Just a damn fossil-fuel vehicle. But.........I had a soft-top Jeep back in the day and i've always wanted another one. It pushes what few car buttons I have and when I drive it I feel like George Hayduke in the Monkey Wrench Gang tryin' to elude Bishop Love's search and Rescue squad down near the Maze west of Moab. (If that doesn't ring a bell.....run don't walk to the nearset library or book store and get The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey and read it. Right now. I'll wait). It's a dumb car that fails the main test of a car's viability'cuz it sucks at carryin' bikes and yet I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
I am weak and I apologise to my sport, my town, my country and my world.
It's a new year..................time to examine my weaknesses and shortcoming and try to do better.
I'll ride to work tomorrow. I promise.
Thanks to Zac-from-Seattle for reminding me to put my muscles where my mouth is.
Thanks to Rach and Lee for showing us all how to do it last year as they racked up mega-mileage commuting here from GR and Middleville.
Thanks to everyone that rides when they can, 'cuz every little bit helps.
Thanks again for a great year in '06..........let's have another great one, okay?

Later, MC

The Last Fun-Raiser of the Year......must be December!

Man, it's been a helluva year when I take a sec to think back on it! it's been busy-like-mad here @ the shop and the rides have been bigger 'n better than ever, the JDRF Rides continue to grow (Montana and Death Valley were both awesome in completely different ways) , the Kokopelli Trail trip was an experience and a memory that's better to "have" than to "have been doing", our trip to the bike show was the usual hoot and 'cross season 'twas more fun than ever! (More painful too!)

We had the last Fun-Raiser of 2006 here yesterday. I called it the "Pavement Pounding Pizza Party" and we had about 50 riders anxious to take advantage of the mid-Dec sunshine. (Which we lost about halfway throught the ride)

I swear........half the group musta been from GR! Between Danielle bringin' her buds and me gettin' to know all those Crazy Bastards (www.cbcross.com) we see more from the Big Town every ride! Kinda cool. Hell.......more of the VCC staff lives in GR than in Holland so maybe it ain't that weird, huh?

We did 20-ish in a pretty nasty SW wind then demolished nearly a dozen large pizzas from Subs-n-More and lotsa refreshing frosty beverages from our good friends @ The Curragh Irish Pub next door.

Speaking of The Curragh.......they're the first biz in downtown to offer valet parking. That's right......head on down to check out'cher favorite bike shop on Friday night and they'll park your car for you! Just pull up out front. (And maybe stop in there for a snack when you're done over here!) No word on valet bicycle parking yet, however.

The long-awaited Velo City Pub Glass is here. A full Imperial pint mind you, not one of those sissy 16 ouncers. They rock.

The even-more-eagerly-awaited VCC kit is 5 weeks away and we cannot wait! Stop in and check out the design next time you're in the area........we think you'll dig it.

Man, there's just a ton of stuff to do and a ton of stuff going on! That Gerry Barnaby dude from Channel 41 called Rach about an article they're doing on bike commuters, the JDRF team for '07 is starting to form, cool bikes and bikestuff rolls in every day...........I need to learn to do w/ out sleep!

We're lookin' for prospective Velo-Citizens for the upcoming season, natch. Gimme a shout or stop by if that little nugget of info tickles your fancy at all.

Gotta go...............thanks for reading, thanks for caring about the shop, thanks for ridin' w/ us!

Don't forget the New Year's Day Ride here @ 1:00pm!

MC

The 'Cross season is over (for this boy at least!)

So....we went over to the "east side" for the State Cyclo-cross Championships this past Sunday. The Third Coast had a decent representation.........HUP-sters Mossimo, Doez, new-friend-John-from-Kalamazoo and myself, Crazy Bastards Surley and Jeff, Jason from Slingshot and Scott ridin' for Founders, Mr kissCross his-own-self, Tom from the W.M.C.R. and Slingshot Pro and Crazy Bastard-ette Danielle were all racing plus we had CD, Brother Jurrian, Sweet T, Krisanne and M2 ringin' the cowbells. A buncha us lined up for the 10:00am "C" race and off we went. Damn, it was cold and gettin colder every minute! I was the only one the entire day to race w/ bare legs, but I had a bunch of embrocation slathered on my legs, not to mention my toes, earlobes and lower back. We did 4 laps of a long and fairly flat course that wound all over the grounds of the Waterford Raceway. (Looked a lot like Grattan) There was a bitchy run-up following some barriers, a little singletrack, a stretch of roadway and a lot of grindin' down long bumpy grass straights. Hard..... but not a killer. After 2 laps everything sorted itself out loke it usually does and it was pretty much a painful processional to the finish line. I flet better that last week........which ain't sayin' much at all.......but still pretty much brought up the rear. We done good though..........Mossimo was 7th (I think) overall, which was good enough to make him the FRIKKIN' STATE CHAMP in the 35-49 class! Surley was good for the #2 spot on the podium in the 50+ class and I was one lone spot off the podium in 4th. Rats. Doez and Rick/aka Snake/aka Mr. KissCross both had good rides too, finishing up there towards the middle of the pack overall.
In the "B" race we totally embarrassed John-from-Kalamazoo w/ our fervish shouts of "HupHupHup!!!" anytime he was in sight. He was in a chase group w/ Jason and 2 others and they stayed together 'til the bitter end.
Then, after a trip inside to thaw a bit it was time for the Elite Wmn / Masters event. Danielle and Scott lined up and off they went. Danielle settled down about 4 laps in..............she's more used to those "all day sucker" events after all.........and she was 3rd overall and #2 in the state when the dust settled. Scott had a good race but I'm not sure where he placed. Looked good though.
We watched the big boys through squinting eyes over chattering teeth...........it just colder and colder all dang day. Then it was off to the local pub for chow and fluids and then a long and semi-sketchy drive home. Long day, but a good one.

Here's the thing................I am in love w/ the idea of 'cross! I think it's so cool and I wish I was better at it than I am. Dudes that I beat all season long on the road crush me at 'cross every damn race and I keep sayin' that I'm gonna be ready for the season next year.

Yeah......that's right.....I'm gonna be ready for 'cross next year! Yeah, that's the ticket!

We'll see.


Lots goin' on @ the shop..............gotta ride this Sunday, gotta get the Newsletter out, gotta get ready for the Holidaze. Bike life remains good.............hope all is "groovey and flowing" on your end. (To quote Bob Roll)

See you later!

Fixin' to have a great day!

So....wednesday was one of those "bonus" days that we sometimes get 'round these parts late in November.......unseasonably warm, lots of sun.......all the good stuff. I had the day off and I've been instructed by the staff in no uncertain terms to "stay the hell outta the shop on your day off!!!" so I thought I oughta get a buncha riding in.

I met Rach, Berger and Julia @ the shop for the morning ride (it's okay......it was before we opened!) and we rolled east. 'Twas chilly @ 8:30, we all had full tights, booties and such on but a lovely morn as we cruised around out Overisel way. We had 3 fixxies on the ride which gave us a chance to give Julia crap for being a "coastie" and a "shiftie" but she's kinda new so we took it easy on her. Musta not taken it easy enough though, as karma gave me a boot in the ass by havin' Berger strip the threads off of his (mine!) track hub about 5 miles from the shop. Now......what that means to you non-fixed types is that he couldn't pedal and that I had to push his arse back to the shop. Rach helped up the big climb on Country Club but our boy Berger is what we used to call "full grown" back in the day and combined w/ the fact that I was already pushing a fairly stiff gear on my Sofa King...............it was plenty of load on my old knees.

Still ......we had to detour to the bagel joint, natch.........it was pretty flat by then!

Back @ the shop I traded the Sofa King for my latest fixxie....the "Glow Worm" and headed east to meet Danielle @ Townsend Park for some dirt roads. (The Glow Worm is my old Surly Cross Check, set up as a fixxie and painted fluorescent yellow. And when I say "fluorescent", I mean it!) We rolled outta Townsend Park and worked our way east and north, neither of us knowing exactly where we were going but havin' a blast on all those sweet hard-packed dirt roads. It was so sweet to be comfy in knicks and a l/s jersey too! We did a coupla hours and then ran into Crazy Bastard Brethren Mark and Bill as we got back to the park. Next thing I knew.............we were riding back out w/ them and did another hour or so. As we split off from them and turned back towards the park I commented that I was "officially tired" and Danielle was kind enough to pretend to agree. All in all I was lucky enough to get almost 5 hours of riding in, all off it fixed, on 2 different bikes w/ 6 different riding buds.

See what I mean when I say that Bike Life is grand?

And grand it is! There's so much goin' on @ the shop that I can hardly wait for 2007! If you haven't made a habit of checkin' Danielle's blog yet.....yaoughta! (www.daniellemusto.blogspot.com) She' gonna be great to work with and to ride with and she's so in tune w/ what we wanna do and be as a shop that this really feels like a no-brainer match up. I just wish that she'd asked me sooner!
The shop is fillin' up with coolness from Gunnar, Niner, Cannondale, Chrome, Seven, Electra, Bianchi......you name it. The Tuesday Night Dirt Road Ride (aka crazy Bastards West) has been a hoot and the next Fun-Raiser is scheduled for 12/10. There's just a ton of stuff comin' up and I can hardly wait!

So.........'Black Friday" I hate that crap! I know that we're a retail store and all that but this nonsense of talking about the "post-Thanksgiving selling season" is such a drag. And don't even get me started on the idea of camping out overnight to get a deal on a TV or a Play Station. Gimme a break!

Okay.....Rant Mode off and I'd better shut up before I tick someone off (again). It's gonna be a great weekend.......there's the last 'cross race of the series this Sunday here in town (www.kisscross.com) and that 'oughta be a blast. Hopefully the good weather has dried up the area and the boyz were able to design a fun course.

See you there!

Long day!

This is a self-portrait that I took after another l-o-n-g freakin' day on our self-supported Kokopelli tour last August.

Dang! Whatta a big weekend!

Y'know........big weekends aren't all that unusual for this boy, but this last one was XL even for me. I did my first 'cross race of the season on Saturday, the usual mud-n-slop-fest @ Manhattan Park in GR. I love the idea of cyclo-cross....which makes the fact that I suck @ it so much kinda hard to take.I've been outta town and/or injured for the first 3 races in Buddy Rick's KissCross series (www.kisscross.com) and I was lookin' forward to making the last 2. I had no illusions about my fitness and low expectations.I was just hoping that I wouldn't be last or hafta drop out. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in the middle of the pack and enjoying myself once we got the race started. The course was great.......lotsa mud, some boggy single-track, a big downhill that fellow Crazy Bastard MD had broken up w/ a set of switchbacks, a hard-all-Hell run-up on the same hillside that featured a chunks-blowing mudbog @ the top, a little pavement.........6 laps was plenty for Mrs Clark's favorite son to be sure but the bike worked aces, I kept it upright and rolled in 24th outta 40-ish. Fellow HUP-sters Mossimo and Doez were 11th and 30-somthing-ish respectivly, aforementioned Crazy Bastard Dettman was in the top 15 I think and newly-sponsored VCC rider Danielle was 8th overall and 1st woman. I hung 'round for the A race for a bit, watchin' Russ slay all and Nate kick arse in 2nd and hit it for home. I rode in shorts and took the opportunity to conduct an "Embrocation Comparison Test" I had just gotten 2 new kinds of heat cream to try, SportsBalm, which all my West Coast "cross buds swear by and Qoleum, which MD uses and I have comin' in for the shop. I did up one leg w/ each in the hope that I could tell you one was better that the other but........the results were inconclusive. Both were okay, I coulda used a bit more heat but I was okay. More tests!

After a bike-wash session and a rest it was off to the Sandbar in Saugatuck for a Last Call gig. Good night.......great crowd, lotsa friends showed up, we played pretty good, big fun! Made for a l-o-n-g day though, since we played 'til about 1:40AM and it was nearly 3:00 before I got home.

Sunday was the Chilly Chili Ride @ the shop. What a blast! Someone told me they stopped countin' riders @ 70! Big crowd, mebbe the biggest Fun-Raiser ever! Lotsa folks from GR......thanks in part to Danielle and fellow Crazy Bastard Jim talkin' our rides up w/ their buds.Thanks guys! The route was good.....26 miles goin' east from the shop, down PawPaw and around past Ridgepoint and up through Overisel then over to Graafschaap and back in. There were the inevitable splits and different groups but who wants a pack of 70-some riders on the road anyways? There was the typical "We show up for the rides but never set foot in the shop" performance from the Jade crew but that's cool......more food for everyone else.I do wonder what's in it for them, though. There were 11-12 pots of chili and soup waitin' here when we got back, not to mention lotsa brownies, cookies, cornbread and beer courtesy of our friends and neighbors @ The Curragh next door.(Thanks Dave!)Everyone hung out here for a coupla hours, shootin' the shit and talkin' bikes.......it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The next ride is the Pavement Poundin' Pizza Party on the 10th of December. Mark your calendars!

I got a chance to finally debut my glow-in-the-dark dirt road fixxie on the last Crazy Bastard ride last Thursday night in GR.The ride was faster-n-usual but I was able to hang, pretty much anyways. The paint job doesn't actually glow w/ the light of all the high-end headlights on everyone's bikes but it did look cool and all dangerous-like leanin' up against my Jeep before we headed to the Inn for the post-ride repast. I was testing out a new light: the "Joystick" from U.S.E. It's about the size of an El-Mark-o marker, totally self-contained and burned for the 2:15 duration of the ride w/ light to spare. It rocked.

Lotsa other cool stuff happenin' @ the shop........got some sweet Gunnar frames in...Jane's extra-sweet Seven touring bike went home, lookin' all gorgeous-like in natural ti, black and pink...there are lotsa Chrome bags in route...the new shop kit is being produced as we speak...Lee got my Niner s/s finished and I'm gonna get a chance to ride it asap...........Man, bike life is good!

Rememeber, if yawanna get our e-newsletter lemme know at velocity587@hotmail.com and I'll hook ya up. You can always check out www.club-velo.com too for up-to-the-minute scoop on shop happenings.

Later...........MC

Death Valley Days (or is that "daze"?)

So.........how to explain our team's trip to the '06 Death Valley Ride to Cure last weekend? Like every JDRF ride I've been lucky enough to attend it was such a powerful and emotional experience that I have a hard time describing it. ( As you know however, that won't stop me from trying!)

There's a lotta words here and it won't hurt my feelings if you feel the need to (in the words of Brother Maynard) "Skip a bit Brother".

39 riders and support folks set out for Death Valley via Sin City last week. The majority of us flew in on Thursday and caught a shuttle bus from the Vegas airport out to the Furnace Creek Ranch, which is nestled in a sweet little oasis full of mequite, cottonwood and palm trees smack dab in the center of DV Nat'l Park. It's about 200' below sea level as well. The West Michigan team is one of the largest (and the fastest growing) in the country and despite the name of our chapter is comprised of riders from as far afield as Chicago and Detroit. Thursday was my first chance to meet some of them that I had only communicated w/ via e-mail or the phone so that was way-cool. It was drag that 2 of our long-time riders who had been fighting injuries all season had to drop out on the eve of the ride but other than that the team seemed ready for the ride. We spent Friday engaged in a variety of pursuits all calculated to make Saturday go smoothly........a short "tune-up" ride, lying by the pool, lunch, a big pasta dinner, etc. We hung out together for a bit after dinner and I held a brief team meeting to get an idea of what everyone's plans and goals were for the big day. The weather had been perfect thus far........nice and cool in the mornings and at night, clear as a bell and completely windless.

Too bad that wouldn't last!

I got up Sat morning @ 4:45 and headed for the breakfast buffet. Gotta have time to digest, y'know? The first thing I noticed was the heat........right then, almost 2 hours before dawn it was alreadt hotter that it was @ 10:00 in the morning on Friday. Uh oh. Then I forgot about the temp when I realized that the wind was blowin' like stink! The flags were snapping on their poles all over the ranch. "Gonna be a l-o-n-g day" I said to myself as I met up w/ members of the team and we started fillin' our plates and bellies.

And so it was. We rolled out @ around 6:45, 250-some riders bound for Jubilee Pass and dreaming of finding a cure for diabetes. I drifted towards the back, as I'm inclined to do whether coaching or....alas... racing) and watched most of my team, including asst. coaches Rach and Patrick roll up the road. It was good to know that they'd be keepin' an eye on the fasted folks so I could bring up the rear and make sure that everyone was safe and having a good ride. WE got to the first breakpoint in good shape and the second one, Mormon Point was a good place to fuel up. It was hot, about 90, but everyone seemed to be dealing w/ it well. The wind was at our backs, so I kept reminding my riders that, despite what I'd been telling them all summer, they weren't gonna be halfway when they reached their farthest point away from the start. (Note.....most of the JDRF rides, including DV are "out and back" routes) Some of the folks I was with were startin' to feel it as we drew near the 45 mile breakpoint that denotes the start of the climb up to Jubilee Pass. A few decided to turn around there and I started up the climb w/ Eiko, Steve and Katie. It's a real climb......7+ miles @ an average grade of 6% so it tends to wear on you. Katie was a little dehydrated so we decided that it'd be best for her to go back to the breakpoint and recover. The rest of us kept on grindin' up to the welcome sight of the aid station that waits just this side of the sign marking both the pass and the turn-around point. I sent my riders down and stayed up there w/ some other coaches and spent some time riding partway down and helping other riders get to the top 'til we recieved word that everyone that was planning on doing the full ride had finished the climb. At that point I headed down the 35-45 mph descent, hell-bent on catchin' my riders and helping them get home into the 20-30mph headwinds that were our destiny for the rest of the day. I stopped to help a rider from NYC w/ a flat tire so by the time I got to the breakpoint @ the foot of the climb my team mates had taken off. Asst National Coach Tim and I gathered a group of 6-7 riders and formed a paceline into the wind. Everytime our speed went over 10 mph it came apart so I went to the front, checked my cyclometer and settled in for a long pull. We lost riders at every subsequent breakpoint and ended up with a surplus of coaches and just a few riders as almost everyone called it a day as we drag-assed our way in. I caught up w/ Rachel @ the 10-miles-to-go water stop and sg\he was riding w/ Mark and Eiko, the last 2 members of our team still riding. It was gettin' dark at this point but they dug deep and we got them in just before "dusk" became "dark". I waited w/ all the other coaches @ the turn-off to the ranch so we could all ride in w/ retiring Head Coach Jay Handy and we rolled in @ about 6:30 or so to a lot of cheers and tears (and beers!)

After a quick shower it was off to the palm grove for dinner and celebration. In what will no doubt be revealed as a mis-count I was voted "Most Motivational Coach" for the ride and much food and drink was consumed and merriment and fellowship was observed being had.


Here's the thing that I wanna tell you.....................I've spent a decent chunk of my "adult" life going out of my way looking for those "goosebump moments", y'know? Those few times that the hair raises up on your arms to let'cha know that at that moment you are where you should be, doing what you should be doing and with who you're supposed to be with. I've had a few while rock climbing back-in-the-day w/ my buds on the Ragged Edge Climbing Team, on rides in Moab, during a gig now and then...............but by definition they are hard to come by, right?
Well..............in Death Valley that weekend goosebump moments were everywhere ! To spend 3-4 days surrounded by 250 passionate and commited people is a real charge for this boy! I'm really fortunate to be allowed to be a part of the JDRF thing and I can't wait for next year! I wanna thank my team again..............you guys completely rock and I was so proud of each and every one of you in Death valley, Whitefish and Asheville.

There's gonna be as many as 6 rides in 2007, contact me if you're curious!

Other than that..............bike life is sweet and fine. There's tons goin' on here @ VCC. Julia Miller has joined us in the "Cruise Director" role........her gig will be to take over all the rides and tech support and to estart working on Velo Ventures which will become our Trips and Tours division. We're lucky to have her. Ted and Lee are en route to Iceman as I type. I hate that race but I'm still jealous-as-all-hell that they're racin' and I'm not. I'm totally excited that we're signed on to be Danielle Musto's sponsoring bike shop for 2007 too! She's the perfect rider for us to be involved with.......a nice person, fun to ride with and faster'n crap! She's the #2 ranked endurance woman mountainbiker in the country and we're gonna have a blast workin' w/ her!The Pineapple Bob Classic was just that......a classic! We had 40-ish riders and I got lotsa comments that it was the best P-Bob route ever from many veterans. The Chilly Chili Ride is coming up on the 12th and that'll be a biggie too. I'm workin' on the Nov Reader, tryin' to ride and get ready for my '06 KissCross debut (I'm gonna suck!) and completely enjoying al the dirt road night rides I'm doing w/ the Crazy Bastards in GR and the new ride we started on Tuesday nights from Hamilton. Plus the band has gigs the next 2 weekends. (www.tlcb.com)

My guess is that if you're still reading this you skipped a bunch and I can't say that I blame you! There's just a lot to cover, y'know?

Talk to you later, come riding w/ us!

"What's new?"

Man, there is so much new 'round here that I don't know where to start! Howzabout we start w/ all the new stuff that we're gonna have here @ the shop for this winter and next season? Here goes............

Niner bikes in the house! As a group we'ven been struggling w/ the whole 29R thing all season. Ted absolutely loves his Salsa Dos Niner but I've been unimpressed to say the least. Rach got a Karate Monkey but doesn't have have a ton of miles on it, Doez is on my side of the fence and Lee, as per usual, wisely listens to everyone else and keeps his thoughts to himself. (He's kinda Zen that way) So...one of our major agendas @ the show was to ride as many 29R's as we could get our butts on, both to decide how we felt about 'em overall and to find the cream of the crop.
(By the way..........for those of you who may be wondering whatinthehell a "29R" is.......good question and I'm glad you stopped me. 29R's are mountainbikes w/ bigger wheels, the rim size is the same as a road wheel and the outside diameter, nominally anyways, is 29" 'stead of the standard 26. They've been around for about 6-8 years, neither catching on or going away. After the initial buzz wore off they became pretty much a niche...........kept alive mostly by smaller builders and single-speeders. And then lately........re birth!)
So, out in Bootleg Canyon we tested 29R's on the crazy, rocky trails out there outside o' Sin City. Cannondales, Salsas, (Salsas? Is that a word?) and.....Niners. The results were painfully obvious. All four of us felt that the Niner frames out-handled everything else we'd ridden, that day or ever. As a result.....currently there are 8 Niner frames hangin' here right in front of me. One of 'em's mine and I'm really lookin' forward to gettin' some real miles on it.

Here's a semi-funny thing and a small confession- I was hoping that we'd all like the Salsa frames the best. It'd be easy to be a Salsa dealer......we deal w/ their parent company every week and in a big way, I dig the names (Mamacita! Dos Niner! el Mariachi!) and we like the people behind the bikes. But..............why spend all that money to go out to the show, close the shop for 4 days and then try to ignore what we learned? How stupid would that be?! So............Niner it is. These guys have been makin' 29R frames since Day One and that's all they'll ever build. Great frames, great colors, the EMD 9 is only 500 bux and the AIR 9 is the lightest 29R frame on the market @ 3.2.#. We think that they're gonna rock!

What else is new? Well, despite still semi-reeling from the bummer news aboiut Burley we are more-than-excited to be doing more w/ Gunnar and Co-Motion! Look for Gunnar frames hittin' the doors in the next coupla months and Co-Motion tandems and frames right behind 'em. We'll be offering a variety of build kits for all our frames so we can offer you a better selectiojn of prices and features than you can possibly get when buying "off the rack". Can't wait!

The new wool L/S jerseys are ordered and might be here before Christmas. The new first-time-ever VCC jerseys-n-bibs are in the last stages of the design process and will be here sometime this winter as well. It's time for a new t-shirt too.

Another brand new and top secret project has us looking for a new Velo-Citizen as well. It's not your typical bikeshop job description and it'd be best to contact me if you are at all intrigued. Suffice it to say that it's a full-time gig..but not focussed on wrenchin' or talkin' to folks on the floor.

Another new thing that I am totally excited about are my new favorite rides. I've been doing a dirt road ride one night of the week w/ a group of duds in GR that call themselves the Crazy Bastards. Basically the idea is to ride on dirt roads after dark all winetr long. I have a complete bladt o both of the rides that I've been on and am plannin' on makin' as many of 'em as I can. Still..........it's kind of a drag to hafta go all the way over to the Cannonsburg area erevy week so Brother Davison and I are gonna start Crazy Bastard West rides on Tuesday Nights starting in November. Check @ the shop for details.

Don't forget the Pineapple Bob Ride comin' up here on the 29th! Always a classic!!! I'm off to do the JDRF Ride in Death Valley this Thursday...........we have a team of 38 riders! That's almost 3 times as many as in '05! What a cool deal!

So, sorry about starting this off w/ so much commerce. I try to keep the shop stuff a little seperate from the other stuff but sometimes....................it's just all balled up together y'know? There's so much cool stuff going on, so many rides and things to look forward to....man, I can't wait! It's been a great season here..........in every way. Sales were great but just as important....we had fun, got a lot of folks out on their bikes, got a couple of new projects off the ground and did good work. That's hard to beat!

Gotta go........talk to you next time. I will write about the Kokopelli, I promise!

4 stories of cleavage!

That about sums up Vegas for me.........now that they've figured out how to turn the entire side of a huge casino into a billboard there she was...........starin' us in the face everytime we walked outta our "hotel" onto the strip. I'm not sure exactly who Toni Braxton is but I can tell you that she' was lookin' good up there, all 50-60 stories of her!

Anyway.......somewhere in there in the midst of the glitze and cigarette smoke and blatent attempts to turn Mr's Clark's boy into a lesser being was a bike show. We went w/ a smaller agenda than in years past. After all, we've had a great year and that tends to make you a little more open to the status quo, y'know? ( I think they call it the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" syndrome). Still..........our quest for Cool Bike Shop-ness knows no limits and we will not be thwarted in our drive to discover same so off we went to the Outdoor Demo on the first day of the show. Our main focus was to ride every 29'er mountainbike that we could perch our chamois' on. After all..........Ted's a huge fan while Doez and I are sceptics to say the least. So, all day Monday we rode 29'ers from Cannondale, Salsa and Niner, interspersed w/ the occasional road bike or full-sus 26" wheeler. Much sweat was given up, many free paper cups of energy drink were consumed and more than a few precious minutes were wasted hangin' out @ the Crank Brothers Hospitality Tent tryin' to cool off and snag a 'burger! It was at least 10 degrees cooler than in years past, only 86 or so, but still the heat and the trails extracted a tole on all 4 of us. ( We were hangin' and travelin' w/ Shop Bud Chris D who was there w/ a different company). At the end of the day the results were clear-as-a-bell......the Niner frames rock w/ a capital "R"! They rode the best, hands down. They rode so well that even I, the shop's resident nay-sayer and skeptic, was schemin' about how to fit one into the fleet asap.

Day dos found me @ the Demo all by my own self as the boys decided that they'd had enough dust and sweat to last 'em for awhile. Given that I thrive on such an environment I boarded the shuttle bus for one more trip out to Bootleg Canyon. I caught more of the "History of Colnago" video this time 'round.............I was half asleep the first time. I left my riding gear back in the room this time...........I had ridden everything I wanted to ride on Monday and the Demo is so much busier that the trails are over-run and you hafta wait forever to get a bike anyway....... my agenda was to walk the Expo, take pictures, be outside and talk to folks that I hadn't seen for a year. Mission accomplished, I headed back to Sin City to hook w/ the boyz.

Day 3 had us lining up w/ about a gazillion other bike-geeks waitin' for the doors to open and unleash another year of wonder and new-ness on us. (Or vice versa!) Again, devoid of a massive agenda we were free to roam, searchin' all the aisles for "cool bike shop stuff". And we found some.............Phil Wood's cool little tool so we can replace the iffy stock bearings in your outboard bb w/ kick-arse Phil ones, sweet new 29'er rims, tires and forks, all the cool new sweetness that Seven has comin' out for '07, more lights and shorts and food and carbon fiber weirdness than you can imagine......blahblahblah. We had dinner that night w/ good buddy Zac from Seattle. He's the only person in the world that's worked for the Highwheeler and Seven Cycles and now he's got a sweet little shop out there in the "PNW" and is Seven's #5 ranking dealer for '06 even though he opened up in March of this year! (It strains my humanity to the near-breaking point to write that w/out muttering under my breath!) After dinner (rockin' enchiladas along the canel w/ gondoliers singin' opera...........gotta love Vegas!) we went out to walk off dinner and get a glimpse of the "life" of your average Vegas visitor. Man.......a little of that goes a long way!

Day 4, the last day for the Velo-Citizens, second-to-last day for the show. We had appointments w/ Seven, Electra and QBP so we weren't as free as before but we managed to fill in the gaps and polish off the rest of our agenda. Ted and I are both testing custom footbeds to see where we wanna go in that department, I ordered some new racks so we can fit more bikes in the shop and gathered up info on the next edition of the VCC wool jersey. I bought a big honkin' Chrome messenger backpack to haul all the catalogs and schwag back home and scored some unbelievably ugly custom armwarmers from old bud RH @ Sugoi that I can't wait to wear. We checked out Bianchi's new models, (Felice Gimondi was hangin' round the booth), the new Dutch-inspired Amsterdam cruiser from Electra that's gonna be a big hit 'round these parts, went back to the Niner booth a coupla times, saw Eddy freaking Merckx walking down an aisle all by himself like he was just some dude instead of being EDDY FREAKIN' MERCKX and in general immersed our tired selves in all things bicycle.

I love it.

If and when I don't wanna go to the show..................you'll know it's time for me to find a new gig. Here's the thing.............it's gotten to the point that shopfolk don't need to go to the show, the "big boys" like Trek and Specialized have been tryin' to render the show moot for years w/ their own little dealer parties and it's gotten to the point that even semi-little shops like ours have seen everything from companies like Cannondale and Bianchi well before Interbike rolls around. So..........why spend a buncha $, hafta close the shop and go somewhere I hate (Las Vegas, bay-bee!!) to go if we don't have to? Because.............it's a celebration of our sport and our industry and the best way to see every-damn-thing there is about it! I can't even imagine not going! Where else am I gonna see Eddy and that absolutely gorgeous Soulcraft frame w/ the internal hydraulic lines or that perfect Vanilla tourer in the Brooks booth? How else am I gonna visit w/ Zac or Rick H or Steve N or John T? Or get to see the spanking cycle @ the Paragon Machine booth(you had to be there) or all the crazy folks that make up this crazy biz?

So.there you have it...... my "Vegas Report" Sorry if you lookin' for more insight about FSA cranks or Michelin tires.............what I remember is finally havin' a face to go w/ the voice when I talk to Kelly @ Pearl or how the Dirt Rag booth filled up w/ messenger wanna-bees the minute they started pouring beers towards the end of the first day. Man, I did not have the right costume on for that party! Stay tunde for more as it occurs to me.

Next blog................Kokopelli Report. (Hopefully, instead something or someone ticks me off first!)

Current favorite fortune cookie fortune: "Declare peace every day"

Later..................MC

West Michigan's flat 'til ya got a bad knee!

So........I rode my bike this morning. Me and 'Burger met @ the shop and rolled around some. I know, I know......you're thinking "So what? This lucky bastard rides almost every day!" Well.....here's the thing. I came back from our Kokopelli Trail tour w/ a messed up knee and haven't been able to ride since I messed it up back on 9/2. ( The story of the trail is a whole 'nother blog! Maybe later!) So, I missed goin' to Asheville for the second JDRF ride and I've been limping around the shop w/ a "sprained knee", an attitude and a fitness level that's dropping faster than gas prices. (what's up w/ that, anyway?) I have the feeling that "sprained knee" is doc-talk for 'we can see that it hurts but the X-rays are negative.')
Anyway.............I got the go-ahead from the doc to "go for it" as of Tuesday. It rained us out yesterday so we went today.

I want to tell ya'll how good it felt to get out, to feel the wind in my (leg)hair and turn the pedals and all that.

I wanna wax poetic on the sights and sounds and smells of riding out Overisel way on a nice morning.

I want to sing the praises of my mighty Sofa King as it bore me down the roads of Allegan County.

I want to, but I can't. Fact is...........it hurt like hell. I was prepared for what the medical community likes to call "discomfort" but I wasn't ready for the stab of pain w/ every pedal stroke.
Whine whine whine, eh? What a sissy. Hey....I was riding and that's more than some can say and I think I oughta just shut up about it right dang now and be grateful for the fact th

There. That's better.




I'm gonna ride tomorrow morning too, if yawanna join me!

There is one condition, however. There's a phrase that I am completely tired of hearing and I'm liable to take a swing at the next person that says it to me. That phrase is "Well, you're not getting any younger!" and I am so sick of hearing it! For one thing..........whointhehell is !!!!!???? What a patently absurd thing to say! No one's gettin' any younger, dig? And the funny thing is.........the dude that usually lays this lame observation on me is invarably aging @ a faster rate than I am! What's up w/ that, exactly?

Anyway, enough of that. Bike life is grand, it's been a great summer, I'm pumped for Fall and the s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y mellower times 'round the shop. The bike show is in a coupla weeks, then we're off to Death Valley for the big JDRF finale, the 'cross season is right around the corner, the band's giggin' again, the Fall Fun-Raisers are set...................man, there's a lot going on!

Remember, check out www.club-velo.com to get on our e-mail king list or drop me a line at velocity587@hotmail.com if you wanna join the roughly 1200 souls that get a copy of the Rider's Reader in their inbox every month. ( okay.....hard sell mode off)

Keep in touch, keep riding, keep yourself safe and sound, come here the band.
Mike

Someone's Gonna Hafta Explain it to Me.........

I can't figure this one out at all. We ride @ Bass River a lot in the morning before work.......Rach, me, Max-the-dog, sometimes Ted and Lee and various "Guest Stars". ( We love havin' "guest stars!!!). It's a nice little trail, fun to try and go fast but also great for more beginner-type riders too. Anyway.......here's the point that I'm havin so much trouble getting to: Max likes to swim in the pond/lake/bay/bayou/inlet/whatever it is that's just down the road from the trailhead so we also end up down there @ the end of the ride. It's bee-yoo-ti-ful down there in the mornings.........the sun shinin' on the water, birds flying overhead, quiet and peaceful........I can't imagine ever gettin' tired of it. I also can't believe the amount of trash and crap that other users leave on the beach! What kind of bottom feeding, low-life, chamois-licking, saddle-sniffing, mouth-breathin', wanker jackhole do you hafta be to leave your food trash and beer cans on that lovely little beach!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I swear that I'll NEVER understand if I live to be a bazillion years old. How could you have enough poetry and humanity in your soul to appreciate the place in the first place yet not enough to keep you from trashing it?
Look.......I know that no one readin' this is responsible. I promised Rach that I'd put it here so she doesn't hafta hear it every time we ride there. ( That sound you just heard was her sigh of relief). And yes.............we leave that little beach w/ our jersey pockets crammed w/ other people's gross trash every time and deposit it in the trash can @ the trailhead. Thanks for asking.

Okay. Rant Mode off.

Bikelife is so good these days! I rode w/ old bud Bret (Math Prof Rock Star) N. this week. We usta work together @ the 'wheeler back in the day. Rode this morning w/ Rach, Heather and Jim, we had a good turnout for the 2'sday night ride and we leave tomorrow for the Montana JDRF ride. The shop is rocking and I'm starting to get glimpes of all the 2007 stuff. I've meet w/ reps from C-Dale, Bianchi and Pearl in the last week or so............lots of cool new stuff. The thing is.......we always say that! And it's always true. And we'll be sayin' it again a year from now and it'll be true then as well. New stuff is fun but it isn't the point, right? Stuff is a means to an end..............the way we get to enjoy this glorious sport and share it w/our friends.

Man.............I'm startin' to sound like Rach! I gotta get outta here!

I'm done talkin' and thinkin' about Phoyld and the tour. Man...........how can we go from one of the most glorius days in the tour to the punchline of a lame Jay Leno joke? What a massive drag. Even if Floyd figures out that his "defense of the week" defense ain't cuttin' it and takes Lance's advice to shut up....................too much damage has been done, too many folks have given up. If he's clean.........it sux for him and if he's not.................it sux for everyone.

So.....keep on truckin', be safe, be smart, earn your right to the road and the trails by behaving properly and maybe we'll see you 'round the shop sometime, eh?

Are you part of the problem, or of the cure?

There's been more mentions, letters to the Editor and articles in our local paper about cyclists and car-bike conflicts and such than I can remember ever seeing before. The thing is..........the overall tone is more positive than negative and that's a Good Thing, eh? We've been bangin' the drum a little louder than usual here at the shop as well, 'cuz improving the relationship 'tween us and our fossil fuel obcessed brethren is on us, not them. The biggest problem that I see is that we riders are too busy pissin' on our own feet to make much headway. All it takes is one bozo runnin' a red light or riding up a one-way street in front of a buncha motorists to set us all back. You either are a vehicle or you are not, there is no in-between. If we want the rights and respect attributed to other vehicles then we have to behave just like they do! Simple as that. Otherwise it's anarchy and we're fair game. They're bigger and faster and quite often in a bigger hurry than we are and we need to claim our space and protect it. But that means giving up the convenience of cuttin' onto the sidewalk when there's traffic or a red light and that seems to be more than some of us can resist. So there they go.................lycra-clad and well-equipped, dodging cars, runnin' 4-way stops, cuttin' through parking lots and sending out the cyrstal-clear message that "it's all about me and you can go screw!". Big surprise when that attitude doesn' t fill the drivers w/ joy and eagerness to "share the road", eh? Same thing when a group of riders that oughta know better blocks a country 2-lane by bunching up and taking the whole damn lane. Michigan Vehicle Code, ( You know the one.......the same one that proclains that we are entitled to our share of the road?) states that two-abrest is the maximum number! Two! And here's something you oughta know....................10 people in a double paceline that's echeloned looks like 6-8 across from the back, (and probably is).

Look.................I've ridden the roads around here my entire adult life. Lots of miles. I also have fewer car-bike nightmare stories than pretty much everyone I know. I've blathered on and on about this before but the condensed version is that I hardly ever get hassled and I think that's 'cuz I act exactly as if I was driving a car. I really do. Always. I think it gives me a vibe that drivers get on a sub-concious level that I'm not to be messed with. Not that I'm all big and scary or anything, 'cuz I'm not. More that I belong there, I know that I belong there, that I'm not askin' them for permission and that I'm not gonna go away.

Until we all act like real-live grown-up members of the mobile society that we live in we're never gonna be accepted as a valid user group. We'll just keep getting marginalized, endured, tolerated and mis-treated 'cuz they'll be hoping that we'll just go away quietly.

That would blow.

Word on the street is that there was a Critical Mass Ride last week in Saugatuck. Buddy Andrew alerted us to it and asked us to spread the word. CM rides make me nervous as hell, the idea is great but all too often they seem to de-generate into silly bike-power displays that don't help or even address the problems of cyclists at all. I might be talkin'outta my arse here, 'cuz I wasn't there. If there's someone reading this who was.....................gimme the scoop.

So................Floyd's B sample was positive and he got dropped by his team. No surprise but a monumental drag all the same. I'm gonna stop caring as of right-damn-now.

There.

I do not care.

Not one bit.

Floyd who?

Okay.................maybe I still care a lttle. I'll hafta work on it.

Still full-tilt-boogie crazy at the shop. I spent 7 hours w/ Jason-the-Cannondale-man yesterday gettin' all the scoop on the '07 bikes and clothing. The line looks good, maybe even great. They keep it in the big ring there in Bedford PA, that's fer sure.
Lot's of travel comin' up for Mrs' Clark's favorite son................Montana JDRF ride in a couple weeks, then the Kokopelli Trail w/ Rach and Patrick, then JDRF Asheville and the bike show in Sept and then JDRF Death Valley in October. Lotsa cool rides happenin' at the shop too. Grattan is winding down and I think I managed to hold onto my podium spot despite a truly lousy race last Wed. The next "Fun-Raiser" is a week from tomorrow (8/13) and will be a road ride followed by a cook-out behind the shop. Details @ www.club-velo.com

Anyway....................bike life is grand even if my legs seem to have lost their snap. Lots of good stuff happening and more to come!

Ride on!

Phyold Landis is the "Anti-Lance"!

Holy crap! What a tour! What a blast to follow! Whereever you fall on the "I'm so sick of that Texan I could barf" scale you gotta admit that not knowing what was gonna happen from day to day is a helluva lot more fun that watchin' Team Discovery and their resident Mutant From Outer Space lay waste to one and all! I was becoming a Floyd-fan before le Tour started, based mostly on a semi-hilarious interview of him by compadre-in-crime David Zabriskie that convinced me that, if nothing else...........Mrs' Landis' favorite son was unlikely to show up on the arm of a super modelat a Hollywood premire. The man's a bit of a flake and a free-thinker and now we all know that he's got some full sized coconuts under his kilt as well!

Bravo Floyd! I hope his hip-replacement deal goes well and if he's the next major player to fall victim to any kind of drug scandal.....................I'm done payin' attention for-frickin'-ever!

Believe it or not there's lots of other bikestuff goin' on besides that race over there. We've been crazy busy here @ VCC World HQ, Ted and Lee are still pretty much swamped w/ service work and tryin' to get some new bikes built. HorseBurger's been an asset in that regard too. New Velo Citizen Sandy has been a big help too. She comes to us from many years @ Gazelle Sports and she's splittin' time 'tween here and Running Circles in GH while she looks for that elusive full-time teaching gig. We're glad she's here!

JDRF ride are going well, we leave for Montana in a couple of weeks and then it's Asheville in Sept and Death Valley in Oct. Somewhere in there is the bike show and our self-supported attempt to ride the Kokopelli Trail late next month. Man...I better figure out whatinthehell bike I'm riding!

It's been a great if sometimes stressful summer. The shop is so busy and that's cool.....it's obviously good to know that folks get what we're tryin' to do and all.............but sometimes it's so nuts in here and we get so behind that I worry that we're missin' stuff and lettin' people down. I hate that idea and there's plenty of things we could do better, that's for sure!

Gotta go................more later. Ride lots!

"Oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay....."

Thoughts from the 2nd ever Lumberjack 100...................................

First Lap: "Turn the gear, turn the gear, turn the gear!" " Man, this trail rocks!" " Hey, that looks like Mossimo! Mebbe I can catch him! Mebbe I can stay w/ him 'til the end of the lap!" " Man, it's hot, but it's gonna be okay, I think." " Drink, hydrate, drink!"

Second lap: "Okay, I got Doez beat, Moss has dropped out..........so I'm #1 HUP rider. It feels like I'm gonna finish for sure, just gotta stay hydrated and keep those cramps away." ' Turn the gear, turn the gear, turn the gear" " Damn, these climbs weren't half this steep or long last lap!" "I still think the S/S is faster but not havin' any suspension is tearin' me up!" " Man......I'm gettin' goosbumps on the downhills!?! Hmmm.........I like a godd descent as much as the next guy but they usually don't make my nipples this hard. Weird..........isn't this one of the signs of heatstroke or heat exaustion or heat stress or heat death or something?" " Keep drinkin!"

Third lap: " Uhh...............not good, getting r-e-a-l-l-y sleepy. Mebbe I oughta grab a nap by the trail for a sec. Wait! If you go to sleep you'll freeze to death! Just like a Jack London story! Stay awake!" " Screw turnin' the gear, just keep going" " Man, this sux. I havne' tseen anyone for an hour or so, I wonder if they'll find my body frozen by the trail if I don't make it?"

Short story is that I had two great laps and then the wheels fell off. Despite a more-than-usual-for-me focus on hydration and nutrition I fell prey to the heat and finished my 3rd lap delirious and shivering. Thanks to Krisanne and Mel and Chris and my homies for convincing me that 3 laps was gonna hafta be enough that day. ( It wasn't a huge struggle!) The race rocks! Rick and his crew put on a first class event and you oughta do it next year. I can't wait 'til next year! ( I'll probably do a sus fork on the S/S though!)

Why So Many Jerks?

I've been at this whole bike thing for a while now and there's one thing I have yet to figure out.............why are there so many jerks and wankers out there on bikes? Now.........I'm not talkin' about you of course. Or me, or our friends. You and me...........we're good guys, right? We "share the trail" right? We wave and say "howdy" to other riders, even if their attire and bike would seem to indicate that their level of involvement in the sport is at a different (and probably lower) level than ours. We ride responsibly, on the road and off..........right?

Right!

It's those other guys I'm talkin' about. (It's always a guy too!) There we were last Sunday, me and my JDRF team, doin' a training ride outside of Ada. As we rolled easy outta Ada Park bound for Saranac on Grand River Drive this tool on a shiny new custom ti bike blew by us w/out a word of warning or hello. I'm not gonna say what bike it was, but it was a big custom builder who's name starts w/ "S" and it wasn't Seven. Anyway............my point is that sayin' "hello" as he went by would've been so damn easy to do! We still would've been impressed w/ his drive and fitness and outfit. (Or.....at least as impressed as we were anyway). Hell........this particular jack-hole musta had to pull over and pee, 'cuz he passed us again about 20 minutes later. Pretty studly there dude.........you managed to pass my wife and I on our tandem as we rode w/ my team member Karen. She bought her hybrid about 3 months ago so she can do a ride to raise money for diabetes research since her daughter has Type 1 diabetes. Good job passing her, musta been a bitch chasin' us down.
We saw a buncha folks on that ride........some waved and smiled when we did.........some didn't. My wife, who's much nicer than me in general, kept askin' me what the "non-wavers" were thinking as they ground by us, usually alone, on their aerobars and pushing a huge gear. I wasn't able to answer her.
There was a guy in the race last Wed. on the same brand of frame. ( Let's assume it's a coincidence) He had me thinking about how much of a difference there can be between pedaling a bike and riding one. He was strong enough to stay w/ the pack...........but he was way scary to ride near as he wobbled and wove his way down the track.
In the same vein there's obviously a big difference between purchasing a bike and riding one. I guess that's what I'm tryin' to talk about here.............the whole "tao of cycling" thing. (I copped that phrase from a great article from The Ride magazine. Read it on the Stories page of club-velo.com ( Yes.......I did get permission!) There's so much more to this sport that how fast you can go or what your average heart rate is or how cutting edge your bike is! I worry that too many riders are missing out on a lot of really cool aspects of this thing we call cycling..........and that'll lead to them dropping out as they get bored. Now..........there are a few dudes we might not miss, like the guy at the beginning of this rant, but if you start from the premise that more people on more bikes more often is a Good Thing.....and I do.......then we gotta keep the riders we have, right?
I'm just not sure that hammering down Grand River as fast as you can and ignoring everyone else will become a lifetime thing. That's all I'm saying.

On the other hand....................bike life has been good. Lots of rides, lots of time spent in the saddle w/ friends. Grattan has been fun and fast, the Tuesday Night Shop Rides have been a success, the trails are in pretty good shape, I sometimes feel that I am too, it's all good.

AAAAHHHH.........Pineapple Bob!

What a great freakin' ride! Okay....maybe is was a little windy comin' back..........since you couldn't hold much more that 16-17 mph and there was no conversation 'cuz you wouldn' be able to hear anything anyone said anyway...........but still, we had a great ride! There were only 13 riders and that was a bit of a let-down...... not sure if it was the unseasonably brisk temps, the howlin' wind, the fact that a buncha folks dont' get the point of ridin' on dirt roads w/ skinny tires or what, but those that showed had a blast. Bike-wise steel once again ruled the day! Oh sure.........the Doez's were on ti, there were a couple of aluminum frames (one 'cross, one mountain), and D.D. from my JDRF team was on one of them new-fangled carbon bikes.......but there was a lotta steel! We had one tandem, one fixxie, one single-speed, one ATB, four 'crossers and the rest were yer basic road bikes. There was one flat. No other issues arose and the post-ride salsa, bean dip, chips, veggies and beer went down g-o-o-d!

Thanks again to The Curragh Irish Pub for the beer and other refreshing adult beverages. Dave @ The Curragh is a big supporter (and occasional participent) in local cycling events and his roots run deep in the cycling community. Stop in there some time and thank him and have my daughter Katie Jo pour you a perfect pint!

We ended up w/ 30-some miles, maybe 10 of it on dirt. 'Twas a hoot!

I think I'm gonna skip the Fun-Raiser for June...there's so much goin'[ on every weekend already and rider numbers for summer F-R's are never good. The July one's gonna be a big deal though..............the First Ever Night Ride and Homebrew Taste-Off! It's gonna be on Saturday 7/22 so you home-brew types start mixin' or wbrewin' or whatever it is you do and bring a batch o' your best down for the taste-off! We'll provide the pizza and the prizes. We'll roll out around 6:00 for 45-50 or so, you may wanna have lights for the end.

Other than that............not much to report. Still no word on the Sofa Kings, dammit! Can't be long now. Sounds like we might need to go to Plan B for the next batch.....maybe just have W-Ford wet-paint 'em. It'll cost a little more though. We were "idea-ating" over salsa today about Macatawa Bike Works Model #2...should it be a 'cross frame or a 29'er S/S? Seems like the timing would call for a 'crosser since it's likely to be late summer at least before we get things rolling. Anyone out there have a vote?

The Holland Hundred is only like 7 weeks away and I somehow ended up Co-Chairing the Route Commitee. If you have any thoughts about past HH routes or suggestions please share them w/ me @ velocity587@hotmail.com so I can make sure that the route kicks ass.

Other than that...........the near future is full of rides, Grattan races, the Lumber Jack 100, Tuesday Night rides, Sprint Rides, gigs and all the stuff that makes me agree w/ Lee when he says "It's a good life".

The Giro's been fun to follow and le Tour oughta be blast too!

Hey...why don't we have a "Blessing of the bikes" like the motorcycle guys? We're at least as cool and at least as much in need of a blessing don'cha think? Who do I hafta talk to about this?

MC...........over and out.

Pineapple Bob a-comin' !! HOOOOboy!

Okay, just got back from layin' out the route for Sunday's ride............I think it's a good'un. Lots of gravel still out there in S.E. Allegan County, you just gotta look for it. If it's windy there's gonna be some l-o-n-g stretches...........but whatterya gonna do? I don't have the exact distance 'cuz I was backtrackin' some, call it 42K. ( 25-ish miles for you English types) The weather forecast isn't bad and maybe we're gettin' to the end of this weather pattern finally. We got rained on last night @ Grattan but the track didn't get all greasy-like as it's done in the past and everyone stayed upright, in our race anyways. I hope we have a good turnout for the ride.......and I hope there's some good salsas and dips for post-ride feasting. Yum-yum!

Still no Sofa King frames! Arraagghh! I talked to Richard @ Waterford a couple days ago and he was still waiting for the powder=coat dudes to get their heads out and ship them. Soon......soon.

Crazy busy @ the shop, Ted and Lee are really humpin' it tryin' to keep up w/ all the repairs and builds. Can't even imagine life @ VCC w/out those 2 dudes. (Don't tell them I said that!)

Tuesday night rides are going well. We're getting 9-10 riders down @ Yankee and had 16 for the road ride this week. When are we going to see you, hmmmm?

It's Nat'l Bike-to-Work Week and I've only ridden to work once so far! That's lame. It's interesting that I pretty much ride every day unless I have after work riding plans, huh? ("That's ironic if ya like that sorta thing!" Name that movie quote first via e-mail and win a prize!) velocity587@hotmail.com

The new Velo City and S.o.F.A. t-shirts are in! Bitchin' too!

Ted and Rach have birthdays this month, feel free to bring them cookies or cake.

Next week: Why it's called "Pineapple Bob"

Gotta go............be safe, ride lots, have fun.

Tell me that you're not THAT guy!

I hope you're not that guy, that's all I'm saying. 'Cause that guy........he's got a lot to answer for.

Perhaps an explaination is in order here....................2 or 3 times in the last coupla years our shop and our industry has been plagued by an avalanche of hysterical news articles about how ridin' too much will cause men to suffer from permanet ....um......dysfunction.........y'know? (Jeez, I hate to even write that!) Predictably that leads to all sorts of concern, discussion and such 'round the shop, as wary riders of the male persuasion clog the front door tryin' to get in and buy the latest saddle promising to prevent this worst of all possible conditions. It's a sexy ( ironically) and attention-grabbing headline to be sure and the news mags and the "20-20" type programs eat it up.

But here's the thing.................there's a guy out there somewhere that caused all this. Think about it for a sec.....this guy keep riding through discomfort and numbness. When Little Willie didn't "rise to the occasion" one day..............he kept riding. Didn't change his position, didn't try a new saddle................just kept riding. He rode through temporary dysfunction, he rode through numbnesss, he rode through it all.....................and now...............it doesn't work.

Now...................lest you think that I am unsympathetic.....not true! I feel for you Bro, really I do! But still, I can't help thinkin' about that old folk song about the preacher in the flood. The one that turns down rescue from a canoe and a Coast Guard ship and finally a helocopter 'cuz he's so secure in his belief that God'll rescue him. The preacher finally drowns and when he confronts the Big Guy up in heaven God says, " I sent a canoe and a boat and a helocopter........what'd you want me to do!?" This numb Willie deal is a lot like that, dont'cha think? Mr I'll Keep Riding No Matter What had plenty of warnings before things got serious and checked out for good.

To my mind, someone that rides through discomfort, through temporary numbness, through temporary dysfunction all the way to permanant dysfunction is no great loss to the gene pool.

Now...........having said all that............there's no doubt that some guys ( and women for that matter) , have a history of struggling to find a saddle that's just right. Keep trying! All our saddles have a 30 Day Trial Period so you can keep checking them out 'til you find the right one. As a Bike-Fitter Guy and as a shop that holds proper fit in high esteem..............we suspect that a lot of saddle issues are actually position issues: You have a way better chance of diggin' your saddle when your bike fits properly. The bike biz is way too focused on putting band-aids on problems instead of preventing them. It's a helluva lot easier to sell saddles w/ increasingly bizarre designs that it is to train bike shop folk in proper fitting and how to actually listen to and serve the customer.

Oops....................okay, Rant Mode off.

Anyway..............I just hope you're not that guy, okay? 'Cuz if you are that guy....................we need to talk!


'Til next time...............................adios!