I don't want to like my bike.

For the last 10 years, I've been riding steel bikes, and for a lot of that rigid (and fixed, for about 6 years.)
After the untimely death of my Wily last summer, I've been riding a "temporary" replacement, a '10 Gary Fisher Rig.

First aluminum frame since my short-lived Bianchi BUSS. First suspension since my White Bros., about 7 years ago. First mass-produced frame since the Karate Monkey.
I figured that after the Shenandoah 100, I'd ditch it for another steel frame, preferably custom.

I really want to hate it. And anything that's bad, like the creaking EBB, makes me cringe.
But I have to admit- this thing rides really well. I rode a technical, rough, fast ride on Sunday with a guy who's 15 years younger than me, and waaaay more talented. The bike handled great. I, on the other hand, couldn't quite get it together to clean some sections that I know I can. Not the bike's fault. This trail requires rhythm, and once you goof a section it's really easy to be off your game.

This thing's not going to impress the MTBR e-lluminati; it's mostly stock, just like all the other Rigs out there. it's not special, or unique, or particularly cool. Which makes me start to rethink my wanton desire for a By:Stickel, or a Coconino, or Black Cat, or Hunter, or Retrotec or...

Why do I fall victim to the bike lust? I spent many, many years telling customers in the bike shop not to listen to the hype about high-tech materials or the latest-and-greatest technological advances in grips. I've told them that the tried-and-true technique of riding what you like should inform buying decisions. Now what happened to me? Is a custom frame going to ride noticeably better? Will I have any better time on a snazzy, one of a kind, hand built by a master frame?
Probably not. I know I'll get another custom frame eventually, if nothing else than there's a lot of really neat ideas being welded together out there, and I appreciate the art and craft of it.
But maybe I shouldn't be in such a hurry...

El Paso Puzzler!

Alright, today is the first official training day for the Puzzler after a week of caution-to-the-wind eating over the Thanksgiving holiday.
If you've just heard, I'm racing this beast to raise money for Anna's Fans and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
50 miles, more than 8,000' of climbing? 2 weeks after the holidays? Am I nuts?!?!
Show your support and make a donation to these 2 charities. Reference this blog, and maybe you can will me through it!

Loss.

I just found out that a good friend lost his oldest daughter to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia at the end of October.
We'd been out of touch for several months, not because of a falling out, but because we both got busy.
I don't even know what to say. It's heartbreaking to think about what they must be going through, losing their little girl like this.
I've decided that I'm going to race the El Paso Puzzler in January, hoping to raise some money to help offset some of their hospital bills, as well as for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
If you're interested in helping out, or even just want to hear about what kind of pain I'll be going through racing a single speed mountain bike for 50 miles, through Franklin Mountains State Park, with over 8,000 feet of vertical, stick with me.
And feel free to donate, and tell them that it's through this race if you wanna. Or keep checking in for a MyFaceSpaceBook page where you can donate.

5 Friends Uncensored

Seriously.

What's up?

In the middle of 30 rides in 30 days with D, getting ready for my first 24 hour race with a team igger than 2 people, lusting desperately over new 'cross bikes, and hoping that some how, some way, I'll be able to go to Portland for the SSWCXC '08

Scorching

No, not the temperature here in Texas- actually, it's quite pleasant here right now.
I mean the term sometimes used for riding fixed-gear bicycles off road. Sure, most of you (o.k., 3 out of the 4 of you who actually read this thing) are familiar with it, but for for anyone who stumbles across this who isn't, well,it's riding off road on a bike that has one gear and doesn't coast. There. Concise and to the point...
Anyway, all of my bikes are fixed gears, and I'm not really sure why. There's a lot of stuff that you can hear on interweb forum and such about the why, often using terms like "zen", "flow", and "gerbil". Except for the "gerbil". Usually. I don't know about any of that, but I do know that I just really enjoy the challenge of it.
Not that I was such a great rider on a geared, freewheeling bike that everything was boring, or even that I could ride through everything. But it does make it harder, although that really makes no sense logically. Logic, schmogic.
I'm now rambling. So let's get back on to where I was going. I have 3 bikes- a road bike, a custom hand-built mountain bike, and a first generation Surly Cross-Check cyclocross bike. And it's this bike that I want to write about.
This is an old bike, by bike geek standards. Not in the cool, retro, collectable, "I've got the full history of this bike including the builder's geneology" sort of way. It's a cheap Taiwanese made steel frame. And it's been abused. In the close to 9 years that I've had this frame, it's been used for a nuber of things. It started life as a commuter in Denver, with a swap to cyclocross duties on the weekends. Then it got relegated to ugly weather duty. Ice, snow, downtown slush, snow melt, mud, you name it.
Whe I was bitten by the single speed bug, it was converted to a solitary cog and chainring combination. I even remember the first ride, in the mountains around Summit County, where I was working neutral mechanical support for a race. Good times.
I was riding the Cross-Check with The Rick from a Swanks show at the Flying Dog Brewery one night, and while trackstanding at a light in Lo-Do, a prick jumped out of a Ford Explorer and hit me in the eye with a beer bottle. For no reason. I insisted that the bike ride to the hospital with me in the ambulance. At the hospital, in the property room, a cop took it home, thinking that I would give it up. Of course, I could never do that. It's my bike, after all.
When we moved to San Diego, the Cross-Check sat lonely for almost a year. No need for cyclocross in a part of the world with no winter, and I had a couple of nice road bikes, and a pair of nice mountain bikes. No real need for it, right?
I started riding it again to commute to Poway, which included a few miles of dirt. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding it! And when I got the wild hair up my ass to try a fixed gear off road, guess which bike I opted to fix? Yup. And it was good.
Alright, this has gotten a lot longer and misty-eyed nostalgic than I had planned. Let's just leave it at the fact that I still ride it, and have a great time doing it. Some believe that you can't have fun on a bike unless it's the latest, greatest, newest technology. How about pulling out your oldest bike, and take it out on something you aren't sure it'll survive. You'll thank me.

Terligua bound...

Kinda excited for this one... actually riding my bike a bit more than once a week, and looking forward to playing in the desert. Of course, I'm pretty sure the desert wants to hand me my ass.

In other stuff, I recently had a blast from the past crop up. See, when we lived in Sandy Eggo, I had this guy call the shop I managed, and ask if I'd be willing to get some guys together for a photo shoot at the Big Laguna Trail east of town. This was for an article about Sandy Eggo in Men's Journal, but I figured, what the hell. I got some guys together, we rode, stood around, rode 30 feet, turned around, rode the same 30 feet, stood around... If you've ever been a part of a photo shoot, you know what I'm talking about. I'd done a few for my buddy Rick before, so I knew what I was in store for.

Anyway, that was about 4 years ago, and the story didn't get picked up by the magazine. Just the other day, though, one of the guys who was out there gets a hold of me, and tells me that the photographer needs to get in touch with me to get a model release form. Crazy. I never thought of myself as a model.

So here's a picture of the ride, low-res but you get the idea.Kinda excited for this one... actually riding my bike a bit more than once a week, and looking forward to playing in the desert. Of course, I'm pretty sure the desert wants to hand me my ass.
In other stuff, I recently had a blast from the past crop up. See, when we lived in Sandy Eggo, I had this guy call the shop I managed, and ask if I'd be willing to get some guys together for a photo shoot at the Big Laguna Trail east of town. This was for an article about Sandy Eggo in Men's Journal, but I figured, what the hell. I got some guys together, we rode, stood around, rode 30 feet, turned around, rode the same 30 feet, stood around... If you've ever been a part of a photo shoot, you know what I'm talking about. I'd done a few for my buddy Rick before, so I knew what I was in store for.
Anyway, that was about 4 years ago, and the story didn't get picked up by the magazine. Just the other day, though, one of the guys who was out there gets a hold of me, and tells me that the photographer needs to get in touch with me to get a model release form. Crazy. I never thought of myself as a model, and heres why:

So here's one of the shots:

It's low-res, but you get the idea.

It's a beautiful trail obscured by unbeautiful men. Probably why Men's Journal refused to run the story. Maybe if we'd had Matthew McConaughey...