Bringing Sexy back

So the NYT did a short blurb about the hipsters and their love for Justin Timberlake. I have to admit that a few years ago, I did take a shine to the former Syncer. I have always liked a few of his songs, but never enough to actually buy an albumn. I remember once at a bar in Philly I played a JT song on the jukebox after trying to convince a very musical friend of mine how amazing JT actually was. He was half way convinced that it was a fluke that JT had a good song, and half convinced that my time spent with teenagers has torn apart my former staus of "Music Snob". I kept my JT love to myslef unless the song came on and I started to shake the moneymaker, but then I get an email from a fellow music snob (and former bike courier),Tony Pointless,that he was interviewed in the NYT for a feature on JT.
Check it out. While you are at it, check out his band R.A.M.B.O. with songs like U-Lock justice,Chinese Resturant Mosh Pit, and Kids Who Mosh Like Assholes Must Make for Selfish Lovers how can you go wrong?

Fixed gear on NPR

NPR did a story about fixed gear bikes today. Same typical no brakes, couriers, etc. It was cool that they interview AZ
link 1
Link 2 in the spot. Click here to get to the story.

Is it cold?

Where I grew up, it was not always this cold, but I guess I was used to it, since we did have some cold winters. It seemed once October or so hit, it was just straight up cold till March or so. There was just no question about it. I have been spoiled living in Philly and NoVA, but damn it is cold. I saw a high of 24 today, but I think that was inflated. I had the day off since I had to go get my shoulder looked at, but more on that later. I spent most of the morning putting my home network in a closet. I had to run some wires and drill some holes, but it looks much better in there, than sitting on my nightstand in the bedroom.
I did some dishes, and other stuff I generally do not want to do after getting home from work. I was going to ride to the appointment, but I did not want to have to remove all of my cycling layers to have x-rays or whatever. I know...a cop out, but it was 9F when I was leaving for the Dr!
I got home from the Dr. and even though I had to go over to the hospital to have x-rays done, it was all over in less than two hours. Not too bad. I decided that I needed to go for a ride on the 29er, as I have hardly had time, and it has been too cold to do more of a ride than just around the block. I got all wrapped up, and got on the bike. The first two blocks were a bit rough on the small sections of skin that were exposed, but once I started moving it was great to be on the 9er. I think once I get used to it, the bike will be tons of fun to ride around town and on the dirt. Hopefully it will be warm enough soon so I can get a good day out on the bike.

The first picture was taken at a school in fishtown with great artwork on the outside.

The second shot is from a legal Graff wall around Cecil B. Moore and 2nd street.

Who said this is not the city of brotherly love?

I made an appointment to see the Dr. after a student was wondering what was wrong with me, when I was curling up in pain but not really doing anything. It is not hurting since I went riding last week, but I still have some pain. I had the x-ray and to my totally untrained eye it looks fine. I will see the specialist on Monday. I will keep us all updated.

Snow and Dark.

I ended up going the ride with Ben I was talking about. I got a text from him early asking if I wanted to go. As I have most of my parts on the 29er, I asked for a demo bike to ride from the shop. He came back at me with...how about the Team Replica Rush? I could not turn down the opertunity to ride that thing, so I agreed. More on the bike later.
As we would love to have had a longer ride, we had some issues. We were going to meet at 6:30 at the Valley Green inn and get moving.
Ben had to close the shop, and I had to fight Philly traffic to get out there in time. Neither make for a very specific time. I took a crazy route through some of Phillys worst hoods to avoid the highway traffic. I got to Brian's house to grab his bike, and remembered that it was a Lefty fork...and it does not fit on the rack. Not intending to have many problems and knowing that Ben always has tools, I left mine at home instead of going back in to get them. So, at that minute I was caught without tools and a bike that does not fit in the car. I figured, I have made bigger bikes fit, let me get this guy in the back seat. As I was trying to get it in the car, i realized that Brian was rocking the fancy pants Time peddals. I ride with SPDs these days. Not a good mix. I called Ben to see if he had an extra set of peddals and a wrench. More or less a shot in the dark, unless we are talking about some hardcore shop guys.
Luckily he had the peddals, but no wrench. We tried to make it work with a park multi tool but all the peddals we had to change were all put on by gorillas(us or other shop guys). After some really worn out hands, and frustration, we decided to go back to ben's house to get some peddals.
We got to the house, switched them over and played with his dogs a bit and we were back on the way.
The bike was AMAZING! I am the worst Cannondale critic, but this was the bomb. The only problem was I could not get the sag exactly right and the tires were really skinny and did not have much for tread. Besides that, the rush takes just enough of the edge off, and the Lefty fork is great. I was just blowing through things that I normally have a hard time on my steel hardtail.
We had to cut it a bit short as he has a wife home starting contractions, and I have to teach in the morning. The full moon, the snow, the cool bike, and a good friend made it a great night.

She is here.

So my 29er arrived a day early! Thanks QBP and the boys in brown!

I stopped by the shop, shot the bull, chased all the threads and then headed out.

We had dreams of going for a night ride tomorrow, to celebrate one of the guys and the upcoming birth of his second baby(his wife is due friday), but I dont think I will make it. It is supposed to snow a bunch, be butt cold tomorrow night, and my shoulder is effed right now.
I guess I will have to skip out on the ride. Hopefully we will have many oppertunities to celebreate Ben and his kids. Good luck buddy.

Ben Riding a stunt down at White Clay, Delaware over the summer.

I def am not going to make it to the ride tomorrow night, since I built up the 29er, and that means my IF is now a frame and a seatpost hanging from the rafters in my basement. If i had wheels and a front deraliurer, I would go, but it would be hard to keep up just carrying a frame in the woods.

Sort of sad for the IF, as she is my baby, but a new beginning for some of those parts. I am going to rebuild the IF. Will it be a single? will it be a geared 26inch bike? It all depends on how much I enjoy the 29er world.

I am waiting for my wheels, but they are not going to be in till friday. I will also need a bottom pull front der that fits the Surly. Hopefully one of the shops will have it.

I will be back on the stick tomorrow as far as exercise goes due to the fact that our contest started today at 3:30. I have been doing smaller workouts at the house and still really watching what I take in, so I don't go off the deep end trying to keep pounds on for the weigh in. I am SO going to win.

Coming along

Last post I talked about how i wanted to drop some tons. So far I have dropped over 10 lbs. Being a bit sick last week I am sure helped on the road, but I have been busting my butt so far. I am doing spinning between 2 and 3 days a week, running 2-3 miles a day (except Friday) and I lift weights everyday but Wednesday and Friday. Days that I spin, go light on the lifting.

I am working with low weights and high reps. I do different body parts, but sometimes I will do the same body part two days in a row. I will post my true work out schedule when I get it totally down. I feel that it is working, and I am sure the eating right is dong well. I cut out the peanut butter and threw in the oatmeal instead. I am sure that helped. Turkey and Chicken are doing more for me than veggie burgers and cheese ever did. Not that I dont support the things I said before, but the lean protein is where it is at. Stay away from that fried chicken.

At work we are doing a biggest loser type challange. We start tomorrow at 3:30 and end the last wednesday in May. I am so winning this shit, it is going to be sad for the other folks in this program. I will keep you updated as the time goes on.

Jess (my wife) and I went to a friends wedding the other night. It was the first wedding we have been to since our own. It was pretty cool to be the "old pro" at the wedding instead of the guy who made a half ass attempt at catching some part of womans undergarmet.

The wedding was great and totally my style. The groom owns a real bikers motorcycle shop and the bride works at a tattoo shop and desings jewlery. Both artists in their own right, but very traditional. It was a good mix of the two. What I pictured of my wedding if we didnt go the direction we went with ours. Picture a girl with full sleave tattoos in a traditional gown with a train and all. Groom with neck work poking out of his tux. Good stuff.

I would never trade my wedding for the world, but Paul and Chrissy really know how to throw a party! They even used a picture from our wedding for their program.

Oh bikes...I ordered my 29er finally! I have made a bunch of extra $$ on ebay and finally got some money from my HP grant that I won, so I ordered the frame. I picked up some decent wheels, and I am going to tear down my IF to build the Karate Monkey as a geared bike so I can use it to commute to work, and hit the trails at Wiss on my way home. I will hopefully have it on the road by next Tuesday. I would imagine my wheels will come in on Monday. I am going to build it up mostly Thursday night when I get it, but wait for final adjustments until I have my own wheels. I will post pictures when it is done.

Say it out loud.

As I talked about before, I have been working out like a dog. I am running a bunch and lifting three days a week. I am doing all sorts of different stuff. I really want to be fit enough to make a shot at racing cyclocross. I also want to gain some speed on the Mtn Bike. I feel that I am pretty much as fast I am going to get without losing some weight. I could tweek some specific technical skills, but the speed gain is going to come from dopping this extra tonage.

A real motivator was a customer who came into the shop and was asking about some rides, and some clothing. After talking with him for a while, he sort of made a up and down look at me and said...You actually ride? I wanted to rip his fucking throat out, I just said if he would like to join our Saturday group ride, I would be happy to show him how fast I was. After a few months of Satudays....he has not shown up.

Some other motivation comes from two (1 2)guys I have ridden with who dropped some weight and really shoot out of the gate now. Most of the guys I ride with are from the shop and they are just rockets. I have always been able to hold my own, but I want to be the person who is doing the waiting and not the person who people are waiting for.

So as Chris Carmichael says...If you really want it, say it out loud. I AM GOING TO LOSE 30LBS. by April 1st. My secondary goal is a total 60 by September 1st. Keep an eye here for my updates. This is not some New Years bullshit.

I have been on the bike off and on besides commuting. I built a new 1x9 cross check for riding around town. It is for the really cold days or when the trail is iced over when I will take the train both ways to work. It is also for crusing around town doing errands.

So far it is running pretty well. I am having a bit of a chain issue, but I think I just need to buy a new one when I stop by the shop.

I am on my self imposed time off from the shop. When it gets slow around there, I ask to be sent home for the rest of the season. For the years I have worked in the industry and taught, I have taken the winter off. It is nice to get a break from the shop, but I feel like I miss out on some of the bro deals and I don't keep up with my bikes as well as I should.

As CES and MacWorld are going on this week, there was a great announcment by Motorola that they have a bike that will charge cell phones. It is for emerging markets that do not have as much power available as the US

Jessica Simpson a courier?

I saw this post on the philly bma site. Check http://jessandashlee.com/jessica-simpson-bike-messenger-on-blonde-ambition-set/

Big Snake with a helmet

On CNN.com today there was a mention of a biker being stopped in their tracks by a giant snake. Well...if you get there in time, and check out the video. The cyclist is wearing a really bad looking backwards helmet. Just really really bad.

On another helmet note, and I guess a bit late, I had to get a "stand in" helmet when I was up visisting with my parents for the hoilday. I knew it was going to be nice after the storm we had here on the east coast, so I took my cross bike up there, and I knew i would hit the road on Friday. I was all geared up and ready to go, until I could not find my helmet anywhere. I am not one to ride without a helmet, but I am also one not to miss out on a ride. I put my campy cycling cap on, and headed out the door for my ride. I realized that I may have had a helmet in the basement, but it was an older bmx helmet, and I didnt want to rock that one. I knew that Sickler Cycles would be open for me to get a helmet. I rode the three or so miles over there, making sure that I didnt do anything dumb enough to end up eating applesause through a straw for the rest of my life.

I got to the shop, walked in and said give me the cheapest helmet you have asap. The lady looked at me, my bike, and my gear and asked what helmet I had now. I told her that I own two pneumos and an eclipse...but they were back in philly. SHe understood my plight, and got me set up.

I dropped the name of the shop I work at, and talked some shop, and got a trek helmet for cost.

I think it is more or less a cop helmet, but it protected my brain for the day and got me out for a ride. I took some shots while riding to Wilkes Barre .

I dont know why my mouth is looking for bugs in the picture, and I can tell you taht my Specialized glasses go much better with my Giro helmet, but I was surly safe in that cop helmet.

I found out that we have a great trail in the Wilkes Barre area. It is on top of the dike that is keeping the Susquahanna river from flooding all of Kingston, and a few other towns on the West side of the river.

It goes for a few miles, and I saw a few folks using it, which was great. At least I know it is there for the next time I get to go and ride there.

I got to check up on some of the damage from the week before when my hometown was hit pretty hard with flooding, when a dam/flood pipe exploded and let tons of water and debris come down. The very pretty and brand new library in town got hit pretty hard, as well as a doctors office, the phone system, and some otehr businesses.

Nite RIde.

I have never actually gone on a night ride that was not part of a race or something similar. I went by myself last night. It was half in the dark, and half light. I know there are crazies living out in the woods I ride in, so I was sort of spooked riding in the woods in the dark alone, even though it was only 5:30. I think I would like it with more folks joining in. I am a big dude, but suprise can take down almost anything.

A quick shot on the bike with no flash on. I really think I want to get a headlamp. Two lights upfront provided a good amount of light, but I would really love to see where I pointed my head, as where I ride is mostly very twisty and tight.

Last night I also took my jump back into the world of eating animals. I have not really ate meat since sometime back in middle/high school. I had some shake and bake chicken from jess. Today I had tuna at lunch in school, so I guess I am jumpping in face first.

Why make the switch? I have been a vegetarian forever as it feels, and I dont think that my food options are leading my to the best choices there are. Through studying nutrition and what not, do not lead to vegetarianism as the best choice for what I am trying to do as far as fitness gains and what not.

I am sure "Vegan" Rob would disagree with me, but that dude is crazy minus the vegan fueled endurance mountainbiking.

Mens Health.

I am a big fan of Mens Health. I think it is a great mag when I finally take time away from reading about bikes. Always good food, weightlifting, and other work out ideas in there.
The top 100 tech goodies were in the new mens health. I was amazed to see how many bike goodies were in there.
They were:
Crank brothers Power Pump Ultra
Camelback MULE SCIO
Orbea Orca Road Frame
Pearl Isumi MP3 shorts
Smith Optics V Ti Sunglasses
Shimano SH-M300 Mountain Shoes
Selle SMP Strike Composite Saddle
Scott Spark Limitied Mountain Bike
Sram Force Double Tap Shifters

I guess cycling is getting bigger and bigger now when we see this many good bike goodies in a mag like mens health.

Cyclcross.

I found it funny when I went to New Hope, Pa for a Cyclocross race and ran into this plate after my entry from yesterday. The race was held on private land. It is nice to see that much uninterupted land in the area of New Hope! The homeowner was pumping a good mix of celtic/highland music, the wind was blowing, and the ground was wet! Good day for cyclocross. I did hear some people complain about the mud, but I dont understand why they would be at or in a cross race if they did not enjoy the mud.

I am def ready to train for next cross season, and will be looking forward to racing next season. I have alot of work to do, but I will make sure I am strong and fit enough to do this type of racing. It will be good for me to get fit, and this is a great reason to do it. Over the winter of riding to work, spring mountain biking and the whole summer of commuting and riding will leave me a great place to have a good cross season. I don't want this to be too picture heavy, but I think I the photos I have of the race speak for themselves. First barrier with the peloton coming.

Not the first mud, but the best mud. The course comes out of a false flat wheat field, back around, into some really technical stuff around a tree, and right into this mud pit. After this pit, you were in the clear for some good sprints, and some pretty flat racing and then back through the start finish. One of the racers near the front. There was a pit spot right here, where many riders dropped off their bike, and ran about 20 yrds, since they were going to hit this barrier shortly after coming out of the pit. These two barriers dropped you off to a sharp uphill turn, through some semi paved flats with switchbacks, back past another pit, and then through the field. Stella really enjoys cyclocross. She is outside, sees other dogs, and I am happy.

One thing I noticed about this race was there were not too many folks that were not racing or cheering on a specific racer there. It is right before a big holiday week, but I sort of expected to see a few more people there. At least those who were there were really into it and quite supportive.

Hardcore Plates

While listing to the Fredcast, Dave mentioned that the folks in my second favorite state in the union are trying to get a cycling friendly license plate. If you are a resident of Colorado, sign the petition to get this thing going! Maybe when I finally move out there, I can get one as well.

Shortly after I left Virginia, one of the groups got together and was able to persuade the folks in Richmond to devlop a share the road plate. Virginia has to have the most personialized plates of any state or commonwealth. Mine said BIKEDRK (bike dork). It as a favorite past time of mine to read them while sitting in traffic in the greater DC area. Last night Jess and I went to see American Hardcore. I grew up in hardcore and punk rock of the early 90s, and some of the bands I looked up to looked up to the bands profiled in the movie. I can not say that I am a huge fan of Black Flag, or Bad Brains, but Minor Threat, The Cro-Mags and some others that were in the movie have helped shape who I am today.

The movie was good, and I enjoyed some of the footage and history. I found out how some of the real history went down, and I also learned where some folks were from, and their backstory. What I didnt like about the movie was how much they talked about Black Flag and Bad Brains. Dont get me wrong, I wasn't there, but Jesus, it seemed like that was all there was when you look at the amount of footage and time devoted to those two bands.

I would really like to see/make a movie about the next part of the Hardcore Movement...like post 86 to aprox 92-93. Bands like Sick Of It All, Cro-Mags, Project X, Slapshot, Inside Out, Judge, etc. That is more my time, and what I feel, really shaped what we have these days.

I think it was Vinny Stigma or John Joseph, one of the NYHC guys who went off at the end of the film about the current breed of "punk rock" and how it is nothing like their generation.

I the words of Mike Jude, You and your crew would never have made it through the days we hung out in 1982 - Judge, New York Crew

current TV

no I am not going to rant about the shit that is on every night, but the great channel that is current.tv If you are like me and generally hate tv, check this out if you get it on your local boob tube, you will be addicted.

Bike Kitchen

San Fran is a great city for bikes which goes along well with the vibe of the city. THere can not be a better match for San Fran than the bike kitchen. They have been working at this for a long time, and seem to have a great thing going on. They are in the mission district of San Fran. They have folks come in and work on their bikes, and learn new skills. They run a womans night and my favorite, since I am not invited to womans night, is build your own Pannier Construction Class. It costs the price of a good pair of bags, but you get to make your own, and you can make multiples. How cool is that. I would love to learn how to do that. Maybe I can convince Roland from RELoad to take me as an apprentence some day...when ever I have days of free time.

Bicycle Revolutions

It has been a while coming, and I really wanted to do it for a while, but I finally got chance to see my friend Brian's new shop last night.

While I talked to him from the beginning about ideas, and everything and saw him working on cleaning out the old place, I never got chance to stop by since I moved out of that neighborhood. I moved out of that hood about a week before he opened the shop. After that I shortly started working for the shop I am with now, and as everyone in the bike industry knows, spring and summer is crazy time.

With some errands in that neighborhood, and the time to spare, I got to stop by and say hello. He is doing great work with a small space and a nich market. It is way different than the shop he used to work at . It is a nice small shop with a rotating amount of artowrk on the walls, some really cool different stuff you dont find in a typical shop, and a few custom rides on the wall.

As for bikes He carries Redline, Breezer, all of the QBP brands (Surly, Salsa, Etc.), and Uno bikes (sun) from J and B improters, and soon will carry SE bikes(who are doing some rad stuff these days). He also has a litespeed and an Eddy Merckx hanging up for good measure.

The shop at My Space Bicycle Revolutions, 712 S. Fourth St., 215-629-2453.

Just a quick picture of the front window. Looks really cool!

Lights.

While looking around the blogosphere, I have come over a ton of people talking about lights recently, as it is that time of year again. I recently got new lights from work, and I wanted to really try them out tonight. They are really just lights to be seen with, not really for seeing too much. I have lights for seeing, but I think they are a bit blinding to folks. Since I live in the city, it is pretty much bright all over.

The lights I got are

cat eye lights that run on two watch batteries (no looking for crazy batteries for cameras or anything) and are turned on by using a magnet. That is on a laynard. It works by using the laynard and the actual light to fasten it the bike, helmet, etc. It is great so that you can attach it to whaever you want as long as it is going to fit.

The fit on the bike was pretty good, as it is tool free, and can go over anything at all. I had to put mine over some cables on the front of my bike. You can see in the front picture that is attached over the cable. The rear is just around the seatpost, but it can go anywhere.

The lights functioned well, and I think if I lived somewhere with less light, I would have seen how bright they actually get. I rode allover downtown, then went to a pretty dark park on my commute. Over all, I am very happy with them. I think I may get a few more pairs for other bikes. They are about $24 for a pair(they come as individuals and white is more expensive than red) from your LBS.

My wife made it big time

While looking over the blogosphere last night, I checked out the Surly Bikes blog, and saw a rant about a bike that my wife helped buy for the company she works for. They are a high end clothing and homegood store, so bikes is not really their thing at all.

I think the bike is cool, and the reactions some folks have about it is down right amazing.

I finally started back to the gym last night. I will be there two days a week, so I can ride the other three. I may step it up to three nights as it gets colder, but we will see. I am a bit sore, but I am looking forward to getting out of work so I can get out and enjoy the warm weather we have been having. My goal is to race a bunch of Mountain and Cyclocross next year. I want to loose a bunch of weight and make it work. My boy Joe did it, and I think I can as well if I get something to look foraward and work for.

The picture above is my bike last year at the stables at valley green on a commute home. I love the fall. I think my bike looks great with that stable as a backdrop.

I have some new lights to check out tonight, and I will post some pictures later from a night ride around the city on my errands to the video store and the costume shop.

Election Day

Election day, and I work in a school. So I get the day off! Cool stuff. I wanted to do a bunch of stuff, but it was so nice out, I decided I wanted to go for a ride. I went to Wiss. and decided to go a different way than I usually go. I rode this route over the summer at the poker run. I found some new trails that I have never been on before, and rode some stuff backwards from the way I was used to riding it. Over all a very good fall day on the bike. I felt strong climbing, and moving around in the woods, which is great since I am looking to get stronger in the woods on new terrain so I can race a bit next year, like I used to.

I love my bike, but I would like to ride a full suspension or a 29er off road. Working at the shop lets me "borrow" all sorts of bikes, but I think there is a Specialized Brain Equiped bike in my future. Hopefully by next spring I can get one!

The elections went my way as well. Everyone I voted for won, which I of course thinks is great.

This are some shots from the top of the valley.

Cyclocross

I have been to two world championship races, at least five US national champ races, bunches of mountain, road, and courier races but I never made it to a cyclocross race in my life. I guess I always thought there were none around, until I came upon the MAC series. I went down to the far southeastern corner of PA to see some cross action. It was a bit wet, but pretty nice out. I took my dog with me to the race. She had a great time, as there were a few other dogs there, and we were outside!

We made it there for the mens elite race, and since i had a "date" to go mountain biking at the green later in the night, we were only able to stay for one full race and the start of the womans race.

The race had a great feel to it. There were wide open sections on the course, but then some really tight decents, and a "spiral of death" on the course as well. I didnt get down to the spiral, since the dog was a bit to handle while walking around the course. I did take some pictures of some racer bikes that I was drooling over. I really liked the amount of small builders like IF, Sachs, Vanilla, etc. I am into those kinds of bikes, so it is nice to see them in real life. I actually really like to see how people set their bikes up. I keep a mental note of how they set them up, and then I can let my customers know how certain things are done, or trends we are noticing. I dont know if everyone does it, but I am a true dork about it.

I did get chance to see some of the bikes the folks at Wissahickon Cyclerly are making. They had a road bike, a city bike, a 29er, and a cross bike there. Engin Cycles seem to be well made. They are made in Philly, so that is cool with me. The folks at Wiss really love blue.

If you are a record dork like me, Uglypictures.us is a great animation. The video is all over youtube.com. I don't think it is 100% work safe.