this weekend...

i didn't race. it was too nice of a weekend, and i didn't want to spend it "racing." took a long day trip down to west virginia to gamble. there will be racing this coming up weekend. i'll put it up on the homepage.

went to the lime spider this weekend for some local music. first time at the bar. nice bar. good beer. drank arrogant bastard the whole night. from the tap. nice.

i would like to make a comment about local music. it sucks. i have not heard a local band in the last three years that i have said, "i would like to see them again." no one is original anymore. they all sound like someone else, or they are just so boring that after two songs i'm done. this may sound slanted, but the driven high is the only original local band. their music is theirs, and not someone else's. all their songs sound different. they are not repeating the same old sound.

for the second time i saw horror of 59. misfits rejects. danzig did that 20 years ago. do something else. just because you put a couple of skulls and tombstones on stage doesn't make you "horror." it makes you bad.

the shrill? what? and they did. a woman on "drums." i put this in quotes because it's one big drum with a couple of cymbals. boring music. the lead singer put fake blood on his face. i'm not sure to what end. and he left fake blood in the sink in the bathroom. clean up after yourself you dick. your mother doesn't live here. some sort of "horror billy" that sounds like every other horror billy band.

didn't stay for the last band cd truth. i'm really not into seeing a 15 year old local band. i can't even stand a 10 year old national band. get over it. nobody cares.

think for yourself you bastards. originality makes a band.

to the next step

i have moved my "single speedness" to the next level. i have come into acquisition of a fixie. here is just a taste...

where do i start?

i might be an old man trying to hold onto old glories. i did the orrville c-cross race sunday. this was my first c-cross in at least 5 years. so i signed up in the b class. the class that i used to race in. my other reasoning was that i've been on the bike a lot this year. of course i brought my single speed. i'm getting ready. signed in. the c class started- as many laps in 30 minutes. we'll here are these people racing through the muck, and no one was cheering them on. what the hell? a couple of claps here and there. so i started cheering for every one that went by. hey! they're out here. they're doing their thing. i'm supporting. for the simple fact that it makes them feel good that somebody is cheering them on. someone they don't know.

i really don't talk to people at these things, for reason i'll get in later. however a guy pulled up in his truck wil a beautiful piece of machinery on the back. a moots psychlo-x. nice.

i pulled up next to the race official. just hanging. here are the start of the reasons...the c class was about over. just one more rider to come in. a teenage boy. couldn't have been more than 14. the race official makes note of this, in an annoying way. i make the statement; at least he's out here riding. what a jerk. just do your job, and take the times.

our race begins. 45 minutes. we take off through a field together towards the first barrier, and run up a hill. i was in it. we get into the single track part in single file. doing good. i'm keeping up. down and around. over some bridges. through some woods. single speed is doing just great. however there's a strange sound coming from my crank/bottom bracket area. over the second barrier. it opens up on a road. i hear clicking. shit. everybody else is shifting. shit again. they all take off. i'm dropped. not even done with the first lap yet. shit. get back into some woods and make my way around a baseball field to the start/finish. 8 minutes for the first lap. i travel on. i come back around to the first barrier. i hear my wife calling my name. shit. she is right next to the barrier. have to look good in front of your wife. i didn't. i tripped over the barrier. bike on my shoulder. left hand hitting the ground. legs flying. shit. gained composure. ran up the hill, and kept on trucking. i go over the second bridge. and i hear someone coming. yes, i'm in last. so that means i'm getting lapped. this guy is good. flawless form. the only thing moving going up a little hill was his legs. no upper body movement. solid. this is only the second lap. on the third lap i get lapped by others. i start hearing. holy crap, he's on a single speed. go, single speed. that makes me feel good. they know what i'm doing. i'm riding through this crap on a single speed. i get through my third lap to get one more in. good. i'm hurting. my legs were stiff. i noticed that they guy out on the course that was taking pictures for the event didn't even get one of me. not that i want to be noticed, but the fact that i suck means that you can't acknowledge me? everyone that passed me were really nice about it. sometimes they're jerks. so the riders were nice. but as my wife had her ear open, there were a lot of jerks. i noticed the a class getting ready. some of these idots are too serious. we are at a park in orrville ohio. there was a guy on a trainer. what the hell?

dear "racers"
you are not a pro. you are not racing in belgium (where the pro's race c-cross). you suck. not as much as i do, but you still suck. why take it so seriously? there is no need to be an arrogant bastard (unless you're drinking one). i ask a question: why did you ride a bike to begin with? did it have nothing to do with fun? i know that's why i ride. first and foremost. if you don't ride to have fun, then you must want to compete. great you bet me. some guy from cleveland. i'm proud of you. being pro or on a "team" is more than just getting a discount from a shop. once that shop can't afford to keep the team, then what do you do. you're nothing but a glorified employee that doesn't work there. nice. i would have to say that you failed in your dream to compete. to be a "pro." guess what? you suck.

i'm not sure if my wife will go with me to another one for a while. which is fine. after the race i was talking to a girl that got a pic of me sucking. she's going to bring it next week. oh yeah, i'm going back. a girl that was racing in the first race, and she said "thanks" to me for cheering her on. hey, you're out there riding. it's the least that i could do. you ride. i give support. that's the problem. no one gives support to others. try it sometime. give support.

you ride, you've got my support...

what a season...

to ride. a crisp is in the air. the leaves are changing colors. you may need a jacket. even a skull cap. you get out on the trail, and it's covered with leaves. nice. hey, where did the trail go? found it. this way.

so as the leaves turn color; you know what season it is. not the end. remember the cycling season never ends. yet it is a start of a season. cyclocross season. nice. i've recently got rid of my c-cross bike, but the single speed works just great. so that's what i'll be using this c-cross season. the first race of the season that i'll make it to is up on the homepage.

other than building up my fixed gear bike, i'm having naughty thoughts about building up something else. john locke was right. we are never free. we are always bound to our desires. once we meet one desire, there is another one to take its place.

a side note...today i was riding up hillside rd. from canal. great hill. i'm making my way up and it curves left, up some more, and then curves right, and up. anyway as i'm pedaling up the hill, a freaking dog comes casing me. i thought that it would stop. chain. fence. something. nope. just kept coming. i begin to pedal faster, and away from it. away from it means crossing the double yellow line into on coming traffic. luckily no cars. i finally ride away from it, and it runs home. i put this out there. next time i will kick it. i wear toe spikes. it will hurt. i'm not talking about a "cute" little dog with his tail in the air proclaiming "pet me. pet me. please, pet me." i'm talking a barking dog. teeth showing. ready to bite my leg. as thomas hobbes stated...i've got an absolute right to self-preservation. i will use. my leg is more important than your dog. keep it leashed, or fenced in.

get out and ride. feel the season...

the most important thing to a single speed rider is...

beer. it is the corner stone of riding. it's what we think about while we ride. the beer after. as i'd like to call it "my recovery drink." other riders get done with a ride, and they down some mixure of stuff. when i tell them that i'm going home and having a beer, they often look at me with disgust. what? a beer? look, what does beer have? carbs. and lots of them. what do carbs do? give you energy. hops. good stuff.

you just got done with a ride. your sore. your muscles need recovery. beer does just that.

now i'm not just talking any beer. but good beer. no mass produced domestic beer. anything by great lakes. i put a link on my home page of stone brewery. that's the stuff. arrogant bastard ale. i just had their 9th anniversary ale. good stuff. this beer is not for the faint of heart.

the choice of beer is up to you, but make sure there is taste. substance. make sure you drink it properly. if you are drinking a bottled beer, put it in a glass. the beer is not ment to be had out of the bottle. you pure it in a glass. you allow a head to form. this releases the flavor, the taste, the smell of the beer. don't drink it yet. let the beer stand for about five to ten minutes. all beer is not created equal. experience the beer like people experience a fine wine. savor the taste. smell. the taste of the beer is affected by your smell. drink. enjoy. beer is good. recover with pleasure.

i just want to make a side note...i made a post a while ago about a magizine that i was disapointed in. well, in their lastest issue they gained my respect back. a small article on my favorite frame builders. moots. the makers of the best ti frames. period. if anyone tells you different, their tools. they don't know.

raise a glass...

i'm cheap...

so here it is my homepage as it were...
www.geocities.com/divine_gear/mypage.html
i'm cheap, because it's free through yahoo. i'm going to try and use the blog for any personal info and ideas, and use this homepage for riding info., like where, when, & stuff like that. so if you want to ride check there often, or if you want to orgnize a ride email me and i'll put on the homepage.
my links are almost the same on both, but on the homepage i put some on that are worth checking out.
i'll see how far i'm able to take it...
thanks for reading, and keeping up.

i'm just like a...

kid in a candy store. i have been loaned a fixed gear bike, and i'm having so much fun with it. i was out in my drive way the other day in the rain riding it. trying to do track stands. holding onto my house while i tried to go backwards. holy crap is that hard. road over my cousins house that live just a few blocks away; keeping in mind the advice that was given me..."remember to keep pedaling when you look behind you." its true. while we ride our bikes; we tend to stop pedaling, and coast when we look behind us. what an experience.

so now i've found my winter project...build up my own fixed gear bike. in fact i just ordered the frame set. so i'm off and running.

also here are some pics from my adventure race last month...

this is randy and i getting into our canoe. the only time that we were in the running. second place. that didn't last long.


us running to the second check point


us at the last check point; waiting to get our ticket punched. last place. good times.

remember...keep the hammer down and give 'em hell.

change is good...

i'm sitting here right now, because its raining outside. i'd rather be out riding, but mother nature is not letting me do that this early anyway...i digress.

i was involved in a conversation the other day with a friend of mine. an old friend. a good friend. we have reached certain conclusion in our life's. mine just recently. i will not tolerate negativity, or bad energy if you will. it is of no use to me. i deal with these people that are part of my hermeneutical circle that put out this negative energy. its a waste of time. and i don't have much of it these days. all i hear from these people is complaint after complaint. i'm done. i will call you out on it.

i'm not the same person i was just a couple of years ago. and i've got to tell you something...i'm damn proud of that fact. i wouldn't want to be that person. it's not change...it's progress. a move forward. if you are the same person that you were just a couple of years ago, i feel nothing but pity for you. this means you haven't progressed into anything new. your stagnant. nothing has changed.

life is beautiful. life is perfect. there i said it. perfect. it's perfect, because it can't be any other way. if you feel that it's not, then change it. quit complaining and change it. nothing more. nothing less.

for all i know this is all we have. i don't mean this life. i mean something more simple. this moment. the past is just that. past. the future? the future is nothing. if you think that it is something your wrong. that would just be your projection of the dead past onto something that is not yet manifested. so that leaves this moment. this day. this hour. this second. this moment. breath in. breath out. present moment. perfect moment. live it. be it. own it.

what's the point...

of tubeless tires? i ask my self this question as i was building up my newest moots over the summer. well, i figure, new bike; let's try some new gear. i always love new forks on my mountain bikes, so that wasn't an issue. i spent sleepless nights thinking about hydraulic disc brakes. should i do it or not. i know that they are a pain in the arse to set up, and god forbid if anything happens. i just can't repair them at home. i believe in being as self-reliant as possible. things that i know that i will only need to worry about once in a great while, like bottom brackets, headsets, and things like that i'll "outsource." i was assured that hydraulic brakes have come a long way and i won't have the problems with them like when they first came out. so i went for them.

so i come to the point of tubeless tires. no worries about rims; they are able to run tubes and tubeless. what i know about the advantages of tubeless i am able to count on two fingers. one: less weight. well, i'll just take that piss before i ride, or stop eating the crap that i do. two: you are able to run the tires at a much lower tire pressure and not worry about pinch flats. sounds like a benefit. how often have i said "gee, if i could just lower my pressure just a little more i could get through this?" i do ride a lot during the winter, so i thought o.k.

major down side...i received a flat last saturday. it was the best kind of flat that you could receive. i noticed it when i got home. so it didn't effect my ride. well how do you take care of a flat on a tubeless tire? find the problem spot. patch the inside wall. did that. let it sit over night. put the tire back on the rim. are you getting this whole self-relianance thing? now comes time to air it up. i've got two manual pumps. manual pumps are slow. meaning that they don't fill the tire with a lot of air quickly. so as i'm trying to fill the tire, the air is just escaping out of the side of the tire where it meets the rim. great. so i grab my co2 pump. co2 is not cheap. its more expensive than using manual power. the co2 works. great. but do i want to waste the money on a co2 every time my tire goes completely flat? no.

conclusion...tubes rule. patch. fill. go. self-reliance.

good times...

had a great ride on saturday. a friend and me went down to vultures knob on saturday. there were rumors of a couple of other friends of ours meeting us there. i get out early. i don't like sitting around. i've got to get out, ride, ride some more, and get home.

so we get out there about 8am. we went out for a lap before our other friends got there. felt good. this was the first time on a bike since my adventure race. the course was dry and fast. some mud holes. crash one: down hill. tight 180 degree turn. my front wheel didn't like the line. i'm going over the bars. stop myself just before being dropped off the hill. splits. no worries. back on the bike. crash two: quick, twisting down hill. grassy. next thing i know my bike is going one way, and i'm going another into the grass. some scraps on my leg. no worries. back on the bike. i keep on hearing a clanking. i stop and noticed that a spoke came lose. crap. i make my way back to the car. where's my spoke wrench for this wheel set? at home. damn. we make it work.

a little later our friends show up. i haven't ridden with my one friend in quite a few years, so it was real good to see him, and ride with him. we cracked jokes. got set up, and went out again. there was a different feeling to this lap. i knew. we were going to mess around. nothing serious. having fun. what bike riding should be. pictures were being taken. good times were being had by all. i pick out the next picture spot, and get there before everybody else. next thing i hear..."mechanical." great. i make my way back up from where i was from. wheel problems. not me this time. two broken spokes. how did this happen? whatever happened, it happened going up hill. "fixed" the problem. took some great pictures. i'll get some up when i can. no more problems. finished the run. got food.

it was so great to ride with an old friend. trying to get people to ride like we used to is a hard thing, but i think some of it is coming together. its a good thing. fall has hit. a chill is in the air. leaves cover the trail. what more could you ask for?

next weekend i'm looking forward to a masochistic day in the saddle. more to come...