Adrenalin Junkie

I haven’t used this blog in a long time. In fact I ashamed to say that I forgot I even belonged to the this community page.  My life in the last year has been turn upside down, then turned on it’s side, then brought back to the up right position.  This year I went for a new career to bring me to new places. While trying to fulfill that hope, I found a career that would not only relocate me to another wonderful city, but allow me to travel all over the place and ride some amazing asphalt and dirt.

Since March I have been employed by a cycling tour company called Trek Travel.  This new job has brought to amazing places such as Spain, France and just about every state of the USA in that short time.  Most of my time has been spent in the South of France. I gotta tell you the road riding is amazing. Every one owns a bike and uses it. It is a refreshing situation.

I will soon call Madison, WI my new home.  But for now I call my suitcase and the warehouses I work in  my home. I work with amazing people that create amazing experiences for people that pay to ride their bikes in amazing places. Needless to say I am happy person.

Some day I will return to Boston. She will always be my home and I will always miss riding the crazy streets and amazing dirt that Massacheusetts offers.

Cheers from France and where ever I might be next.

This is a pic of an oldschool VTT bike that still rides great. The paint job helps.

I meet a lot of people that are associated with cycles in some way. They are all different… some good, some bad, and some in between. You never can judge a book by its cover but you can guess what kind of tale you will be reading by the condition of the binding. Some of the best most amazing people I have met have been the most unsuspecting and worn characters. They look one way and they totally spin your cabasa around and show you what the human race is made of. Interesting folk and wacky ideas that just might work for the story.

Most of these flesh bags have so much substance that it is clouded by other substances. When you dig deeper and learn more they seem to rise like bread.  Even when you both feel that you read each other and are on the same level.  Another level appears, like Tetris, they never seem to end. This is what makes people like them so friggin’ amazing and interesting. I judge a good friend, not only by there caring and loyalty, but by their ability to continue to show you knew things. Not just about the world but about the things you love best. Even if they do not love the same thing.

Luckily I have enough friends , that are like this, that I can’t count them on my fingers and toes. I continue to learn from them. In terms of life, yes. Bikes are my life and these people always teach me more about bikes. Wether they influnence me to build a berm, cut a housing a certain length or ride stunt that I never would have before,  ride my bike faster, be a better fixed rider, or simply feed my hunger to ride more and more.  They are there to make my life better on a bike. These people make my life, my cycling, better.

 Cheers to my friends! Riders or not. You all have a place in my bike world. All are welcome! Admission is free!

Many things have happened since I last wrote. I took a break for a while because of the increase in work hours. Which now means an increase in riding hours. For the last monthish I have done nothing but work, ride, eat, sleep, work, ride, eat, sleep and so on. When I say eat I mean put the fuckin’ feed bag on. I eat like a zombie…with out fill or care. It tastes to good to stop.

Food, or fuel, is key for any human’s life. Some of us just choose to use it responsibly (you know who you are). Fuel helps us think correctly, move with ease, and recover quickly.  It makes the days better and the hour quicker.

The same can be said for passion. I am not just talking about the sweaty noisy passion that we all strive to achieve. But the passion that runs our lives.That little tick that strikes us when just pedaling isn’t enough. We have to get over the edge to feel it.

My new passion is dirt. Okay maybe it’s and old passion renewed. Either way I need to smell it. I need to feel it between my fingers. I need to sculpt into amazing creations to launch, heeve, and pich over. The need to knead it to suit a bicycle and help it gain speed. The need to feel FLOW and GROOVE.

I/we did 10 hours of “trail maintenance” the other day in our secret locale anf I can’t wait to rip it on Bessie. Jump line to a long downhill pump track. I hope “Beerrrmmmies Python” is as good as I vision it to be. We will see soon enough.

Cheers!

This year I have been a super motivated rider/commuter. At the beginning of the Winter I decided I would ride through it all. As much as I could. This has happened. I feel amazing and have definitely felt the Zen that I had mentioned in my previous entries. There were a couple days were I don’t even remember riding to/from work because I was in such a state of focus. My “ZEN” has reached a new level. And I can’t wait to transfer that to the dirt.

BUT I am human. We actually had a glimpse of spring. Snow melting and salt drifting away due to the rain. It put a massive smile on my face and I could smell the dirt and the life of the coming season in the air. I had less of a salt taste in my mouth, it was more the flowing beer and steak at a BBQ after an epic MTB ride taste.  So I won’t lie or shade the truth. I am now officially depressed about the weather situation. Grinding through my commute like a novice on his first muddy NE ride (slower and slower as I ride). Tuesday I didn’t even want to touch my bikes. I couldn’t even bare to look outside…at the snow that accumulated. Erggghhhh!

I look forward to the weekend and again a glimpse of things to come, but only a glimpse. There is no way Mothah Nachah will bring the melt…that quickly. She’s a beautiful lady but really knows how to twist the knife, like most women. I will do a road ride, but unfortunately I know I will still need fenders.

I love NE and will always. She knows how to make a hardy American, that is for sure.

The final word on this….Patience…ooops another one….Hope!

Winter in New England. Sometimes I think the reason why everyone thinks that New Englanders (Bostonians in particular) are grumpy, grouchy and rude is becuase of our wonderful winters. I guess there is some merit to that thought. Think about it. If you woke up everyday in a different bed that had a different plushness with different pillows would you be very happy?

On the other hand what about the old saying that “variety is the spice of life”. This statement blows me away everytime I say it. If I was stuck in a perpetual 20 degress fareinhit or 90 degrees I wouldn’t be happy either.  Although living in some places that have a nice 70-75 degree average with a light breeze would be pretty damn sweet. But I go back to the variety statement. I think I would get bored with it.

I have lived in this climate for 27years. Every summer I complain about the humidty and heat. Every winter I complain about the blustry cold. The spring and summer months I, of course, find something to complain about. With that said I wouldn’t change New England and it’s climate. It is who I am. It is who WE are. We are tougher than everyone else because we are able to put up with everything that it involves. So what if we are grumpy and rude. Wear your badge proudly. Show those out of towners what it’s all about.

Next time you walk out your door to swing your leg over your top tube and curse the cold. Remember the years before that you made it through. Remember the slushy gray days that you plowed through on your two wheeled sled. You made it that day. You can make it today. Wear that F****** badge proudly!

Above picture: A fellow commuter that commutes year round. He has outfitted his bike with some unorthodox fenders and accessories. These are fenders from a Honda Quad. A bit heavy but does a better job than any other fender I have ever seen. Bravo my friend!

Something has been brought to my attention and I unfortunately have to put a disclaimer out to you, the people that read my blog. For which I am grateful that someone out there feels I am interesting enough to actually read my babble.

I write about my experiences with repairs and builds. Not about the people that own them.  I really want people to understand that this site is in no way an attack on those who owned or own these bikes.  I want you to understand that I write this blog to educate you, my fellow cyclists. To express my concerns as a mechanic. And to also share some of the awesomeness that I am exposed to day to day. In fact I have choosen and will continue to choose the particular experiences I write about, because I think that those people would be happy and proud of there “accomplishments”. To break a frame in half or completely corrode a frame is certainly and achievement and not many humans get to go through that. Know that I mean no harm or ill will to anyone. Anyone!

The above picture is a good example. This person, a good friend, rides their ass off constantly. One of the very few people that commute and ride year round. They were hit by a van (another story for another day). The bike is completely totaled. Did I mention it was a very expensive purty bike? They adored this bike and a man in a four wheel box of death plowed right along into them. Garrr!

In a way I am envious of these people. Of course I have broken my fair share of parts and bikes. But these people have ridden so hard and so much that they have actually surprised me. They have left me in awe. You my friends are certainly marvelous!

Keep riding hard and rocking out with you bike out!

Music is something that is so powerful to me that I treat it like food. When I here what I like I can amost taste the groove. It empowers me with so much energy that it beams forth through my pores. Like the sweat beading on my upper lip after consuming habenero sauces. It proves to be the driving force for any activity I do. Cycling in particular.

What I wonder is how powerful music really is. Not to myself but to others. I never got how my father could listen to talk radio that just drones on. Espacially when there are musicians that make those subjects interesting with a simple guitar riff or drumline. I realize that these talk jocks have their own opinions and spin on matters of the universe. But they are just not interesting. When I was a kid the only way that I would actually sleep in the car is if that babble was on the radio.

The only person/artist that I can stand to listen to for hours without actually seeing him jump around, scream, sweat and ramble is Rollins. He keeps it interesting by throwing some wacky stuff into your brain, mixing it like bingo numbers and then blows it up with some C4. He realizes that people don’t want to be drowned by the same crap over and over. You gotta drown people with vivid, real, meaningful and meaningless crap.

Anyways, give music to your family and friends. Even if they don’t like it, at least you gave them a chance to ship off to a distant place in their heads that they may not have ventured to before.  Go explore for yourself and you never know what might empower you. Give yourself a Music Mustache. Your bike will love you for it.

A few posts ago I mentioned I planned on riding through the winter as much as possible. Well I have been doing pretty good. I do have to admit that I have chosen to take a couple rides from friends here and there for various reasons. Usually not because I don’t want to ride (I do want to ride. I swear!).  I won’t give excuses. That is silly. I have reached low temperatures ( 10 degrees actually temp, feels like 3 deg) I have ridden in snow and sleet. Ridden on unplowed roads that would be walked easier. I have yet to feel the need for my DH goggles. But that is the only piece of equipment that I haven’t felt the need to use. I hope I won’t but if needed I am ready with my tare-offs.  That brown Sh*t that flings up from your tire and smack your eye….burns. This only happens in the really slushy stuff.

Soon it will be 2009. I have dubbed ” The Year of Exploration and Change”. Well this may not be a good title for your ’09 but it will be for me. I have done things the same way for the last 10years. My relationships the same, my riding…the same, my work…the same, my life has been the same. The same cycle of moving forward to only step back. The same cycle that has also gotten me where I am today. A place I a pretty damn proud of. I have accomplished all that I set out to do 5 years ago. But I am not as happy as I could be. I am not as accomplished as I would like to be. If I was I would be devastated…with nothing to live for. That would be depressing.

My riding through the winter is a precursor to what I want. I want to be stronger, faster, and more willing to push myself past my limits. Want to feel the pain of freezing skin and numb limbs. I want to feel the grip of winter in  my lungs and the love of freedom in my heart. The steel box with 4 wheels has limited me. Not for exploring the world but exploring my mind. We are slaves to the auto industry.  Even more our minds are slaves to the mindless stop, go, shift, park, honk, yell, curse life that is the current state of humankind. We rely on these machines so much that we never think of what out mind might do if we actually exercise…in the outdoors. If we actually stimulate ourselves past the rear-view mirror.

I sit here at the computer. Every few minutes looking out to the street were there are little pawns. Lined up waiting at the lights. Some people come into the shop saying that they have been there for more than 30minutes. Normally traveling form the highway to the next set of lights can only take 2 minutes…literally. I really can’t wait until I get out there and ride past all of them. Yeah they are in their warm cars listening to music. Oh wait…I am warm( I love technical fabrics) and I am listening to my Ipod. I guess I am better than them huh? HAHAHAHA I have beaten you!

Cheers to you all! I hope you all have great Holidays. Get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Cars are Coffins!

This past week I haven’t done as much riding as usual. I have cheated on my bikes and took a couple rides (from friends that drive) during the nasty weather. I know…I’m a wuss. I plan to make up for it though. I have decided to not stop pedaling, on my commutes home, until I can’t pedal anymore. Longer MTB loops and more mileage on the skinny tires.

My dream machine is back with some new bits on her. Bessie now has some new hardware and a shock that has been tuned (Push style) to how I want it to perform.  With the new Ti spring it has lost a few grams and will feel better, longer.  She is like a new bike. She pedals well no matter where the shock is in it’s stroke. Feels plusher and more sensitive.

My 1×1 will be turned into a fixie this week. Gonna have to do some changes in fit and style of components. Not sure of how far I am going to take it. Unfortunately $$ is a bit scarce so I won’t be going all out like I do with most of my bikes.

Myself and two other friends went to “The Summit” on Saturday. The roads were closed going to the location, because of the deep freeze that we had during last weeks NE style weather. So we just hiked our supplies in and worked on some trails. We eneded up moving a lot of branches and demolished trees off the trails. We also started a new trail that will eventually have a good size wall ride and a massive drop off of the same rock. This trail will proabbly be our favorite. It will have so much flow, a few kickers, a few table tops, and a few other obstacles that are yet to be planned. It may also be one of the longest trails we have made. It will connect our “Lumber Yard” to some of the original trails they were there when we started.

The photo above is from a friends hangout. He has all sorts of sweet artwork and will his hangout will hopefully be the home of some sweet original bike artwork by yours truly.  He has some sweet modification tools.

Well I am off to suit up for the MTB commute home.  With the amount of lights I have and the energy I have, I won’t be home until midnight.  Enjoy the next couple days.

Prost!

Beardcicle: \ ‘bird,si-kel\ (noun). a pendent mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water or sweat from ones face/beard. often found on hardened commuters of the cycling kind that use beards as a form of face protection.  This does not include boogers, bugs, or beverages.

I wish I had a camera to take a pic of them this morning. It was great, my beard was thick of them. My beard is not that thick….yet. I gotta tell ya though, without that beard my face would have been a bit more crispy when I arrived at work today. The ride started with chubby flakes of snow. About half way through it turned into these icy daggers that were forced into my eyes and face by the 20mph wind. I really expected to have a bloody face when i stopped riding . It sounds sick but I enjoyed every mile.

Also while riding in today I was into my pedaling and syncing every pedal stroke with the music I was listening to. Really in a trance. Every song that came on made me really think of my cadence. It certainly wasn’t my fastest time, but I think it made me look at the road more to make sure that each beat was on time. I even found my self wiping around obstacles to the guitar riffs of Pantera’s “Cemetery Gates”. Man on man can Dimebag Darrell shred.

I left for work early this morning. In hopes to get to my destination early so that I could take my shower, and get pumped up with some coffee. All while listening to some good tunes. I suggest the band Department of Eagles. Chill music with lots of feeling.  The green river was flowing as well. Yippie!

Went trail building with the crew yesterday. We got closer to finishing our bridge.  It is now approx’ 100ft long. Most of it is done we just have to put some supports the rest of it and it will be rideable. Some more work on the trail will finish it and hopefully by then we will have pics of, not only the trail, but of me huckin’ the knar off of the big drop (big for us).  i 16+ feet big to you? Looks smooth and it looks easy…but…well you know…E-brakes have been a worry. The pics I have kind of suck so I will post some in the future.  Stay tuned.