Large Fella on a Bike

Johnnie-we hardly knew ya

*

Got Karma?

Should I... Should I Not?

Ok, I'm trying really hard to be good...

First there was/is the whole eating out thing.  Still haven't broken that pact... every meal has been made here at home.  Money saved so far... I'm guessing about $260.00-$300.00 since we started this on March 20th.

Then of course there's the issue with that money savings-even at just a mere 300 bucks-that I could be plotting & planning ways to spend.  But I'm being good there too...

well, sort of.

And this is the part where I reach out with open arms [cue cheesy Journey tune] to any & all that happen to happen by here and read this.

I quite happily own 2 cycles.  One is my Bob Brown Custom and the other is a Rivendell Atlantis.  More correctly stated, I ownED a Rivendell Atlantis but sold it just 2 days back on Saturday.

The impetus (or so I thought) for selling it was to... ummm, shit how do I admit this... ok- buy another cycle!!  Urgh!  Yes, I had come across  what was & is a great deal on a very lovely, custom (for someone else that would also happen to fit me too), built by an incredible builder for a much respected marque... and all at a great price.

So I jumped.

I promised Amy that basically if I got a fair price for my Atlantis it was a "six-one half dozen of another" proposition as the prices would be exactly the same.  Basically a trade, a swap per se.

Well my plan came together perfectly and the execution was flawless.  I got the guy selling the cycle I wanted to hold it for me, I got the price I wanted on my Atlantis and then BAM... I got broad-sided.

Broad-sided with guilt, practicality & that GD thing of wanting to live more simply... *&(*&&%^&%&^%&&**&##!!! notions.

I have an incredible cycle... anyone who has seen my BBC is usually 210% filled with envy and a serious case of bike lust too.  Much, much more importantly-I am satisfied and extremely pleased as well as happy with the amazing work Bob did for me on the cycle.  Add to that, I am also very committed to putting an end to the much dreaded & life altering, "Anal Retentive BOB-Rivendellian Bike Disorder" that seems to strike one & all who eventually own the cycle of their dreams and therefore hardly ride it.  The disorder that makes its sufferers end up having to buy 21 more bikes to use for everything from A to Z, all in some weird attempt to NOT use the one bike that was actually designed for them... or at least gives them the most pleasure to ride!

My original plan when I took delivery of my BBC was to use the Atlantis for bad weather riding... basically a pricey beater bike. Bob himself kind of screwed that plan up when he urged me to ride the cycle that he handcrafted for me.  He promised that it could take it... that all the nicks & scratches would only add to its flavor and beauty... that the paint could handle it all and that anything that could possibly wear out could & would be easily repairable/replaceable.  He made a strong case for all this (and I'll write about this someday soon as perhaps it will become food for thought for those of us out there who covet and cherish to the point of letting our finer things control us & our lives) and more.

So with that in mind my Atlantis kind of became a living room ornament of how far I'd come in a year.  How much knowledge I had amassed and processed.  A pretty cycle sitting in the corner that was a testament to my Good Taste.  I wasn't really proud of this and certainly didn't plan for this to happen.  I felt bad in fact that such a great cycle was sitting & not doing much.  The weird part was this, about the only good thing about still having it and not using it was that it made me feel somehow tuned into the Rivendell philosophy in a very genuine and supportive way.  Strange... really.

So now, finally onto the problem...

The Atlantis is sold.  The cycle I sold it for (& because of) is mine if I still want it but I also could do this with the Atlantis money-

1.  Put it in the bank and try to forget about it.

2.  Easily pay off all the upgrades on Amy's "Atlantis ChickBike Upgrade" for her Anniversary Gift & have some leftover.

3.  (And this is where it starts getting tricky... ) Use it as a nice heaping chunk of down payment on a Custom for Amy to be built by BBC.  Bob and I have already talked about a very fancy lugged Atlantis/All Rounder-type for Amy with extremely ornate lugwork.  This is SUCH a possibility that Bob-while quite busy with other orders-has promised me that he can & will deliver 1 completely handcut lug with all the details (based on prior conversations between me  & him about a theme) by May 2nd, in time for her Anniversary Gift... a sort of, "Look at what's to come... " kind of gift.  I would then send the lug back to him for the building process whereby he would probably have the cycle ready in the late Fall/early Winter of this year.  Very tempting.

4.  Buy the other cycle which was the original reason for all of this in the first place, go back to having 2 cycles (but all the baggage that comes with that for me) and shut up.

The upside to all this so far... Feeling this in control of money & the spending of it is pretty cool.  Well, sort of.

Trying to convert

My brother is a know-it-all kinda guy.  He means well and I love him for it.  He's one of those fellows that you can just never, ever tell something new to without him saying "Yeah, I knew that" or "Yep, I heard that" or "Yes, but... ".

He's either a Class A bullshitter or spends 29 hours a day reading up on everything to... well, everything.  I never once in my 41 years have seen him with a look on his face or in his eyes that says, "Oh, I didn't know that!".  Never, ever... not once.

All that said, I really want him to dig into my reality on cycles & cycling.  He's the one who is largely responsible for my initial rebirth back into all things Cycle but past that it's been a trip strictly between Me, Myself & I.  I've gone it alone without him.  The reason... he's into the racing thing.  Urgh.

He is all about the carbon/aluminum, STI, lycra, chamois, alien helmet, clipless thing. 

But inside, in my honest estimate, is a practical cycler just begging to get out.

I want to be that person that helps him find/re-find that person he once was. 

Here's my plan...

1.  At least get him a free copy of the Rivendell Reader and full accompaniment of their literature.
or...
2.  Get him a year long membership with all the benefits that come with just such a thing.
or...
3.  Go with #1 or #2 above and buy him a Brooks saddle (but that's a hard one as I'm certain a B.17 will look quite odd on his Colnago racer cycle plus he'll probably reject it as such).

I never hear him talk about riding anymore.  When I did hear him talk about riding all I heard was stuff like butt butter, saddle sores, etc... nothing pleasurable, nothing about the ride, the scenery, taking a camera... stopping to vibe out under a tree and eat a sandwich.  No mention of the simple pleasures in all of it.  Just stuff about bonking, bars & gels.

Now I hear nothing from him about riding... just work stuff, family stuff and working on his motorcycle.

If I were wealthy I would love to buy him a new Rivendell Atlantis and build it up for him with all new/nos stuff but I don't have that kind of dough.  I'd gladly give him my newly for sale Atlantis  but it's way too small for him... he's 6' 1" so I would guess he would need something in the 60cm & up range according to Rivendell's sizing methodology.  My 56cm Atlantis would be like a bmx bike underneath him. 

Even better... have a custom Riv, or Curt Goodrich or Bob Brown made for him but that's really day-dreaming financially.

Back when I started riding again in early 2004 he helped me pick out my ride-a beautiful vintage Trek 520 tourer circa 1985-and while he was excited for me he seemed so utterly unimpressed about the cycle itself.  It didn't bother me then or really make much of an impression on me at the time but now, looking back... it's disheartening because maybe he just sees a cycle like that as a, "Been There/Done That" proposition and nothing more.  Not sure.

What can I get him, first to let him know I appreciate everything he's done for me over the years as my brother and second... to nudge him lovingly into a different space about cycles & cyclers?

Thoughts?  Opinions?  ...all gladly accepted

For Sale... perhaps

99.9%  100% certain I'll be selling my Rivendell Atlantis so if you've got a jones on or know of someone that does by all means drop me a note via email or by responding here.

**EDIT- IT'S OFFICIALLY FOR SALE... **

                   SOLD!!                                                                         

The details-

2003 Toyo built Rivendell Atlantis
56cm (56cm c BB-t TT/57cm TT)
largest size offered for 26 inch wheels (great for touring/trails/roughstuff, etc)
frame/fork & headset only
Shimano Ultegra headset
less than 50 miles on the frameset
frame/fork paint... superb condition/no scratches/no dings/no dents

Grant at Rivendell just raised the price on the Atlantis to $1400 effective 4/4/05 (currently they run $1300). 

Mine is basically new so $1000 seems fair and I'll include shipping in the price too (lower 48)... so in reality I'm asking $950.  Seems like a really good deal.

The photo's-

rear dropout

rear

fork

side triangle

left front

left back

This is a great riding cycle... if you don't know about the Atlantis read more Here.

Almost got Shwarma'd

Just got back from almost getting mashed by a Lincoln Towncar-for hire (a regular kind of car around these parts... as common as taxi's).

I was riding to the market to get some groceries when this guy who looked like he had been driving a real, live camel just a couple months ago in Egypt was driving beside me in his for-hire towncar. 

He keeps edging over, and over, and over and I'm yelling, "Hey!  Hey!  Hey!  SEE ME?!?!  HEY!!" at the top of my lungs.
Finally he's so close I can basically make out the thread count in the stitching on the passenger seat and I take my fist and punch his passenger side window as hard as I can which apparently scares the shit out of him as he swerves away from me and crosses over into oncoming traffic and almost gets plowed by a city bus.

Mile later he catches up to me and pulls in front of me to cut me off and stops dead.   While he's removing his seatbelt and getting out I grab my Zefal pump, stop and dismount. This guy is maybe 5 feet 3 inches and 120 pounds... wearing a turban and sandals too (it's lightly snowing out).   

I'm a big boy... much bigger. 

I lean my bike against me and do my best Billy Jack stance with an end of the pump in each hand and say, "We have a problem eh?".  He calls me a "Crazy American Fucker", gets in his car and splits.

Sissy

The Pooch was nearly violated

Last night in a moment of weakness we-ok, me-tried to break the Seal, The Pact... the PLEDGE.  Yes, I started crumbling worse than Vern Troyer's little weakened hips... I started to falter over our "New Way/New Day" plan for not eating out.

We hadn't shopped... mistake Numero Uno and when I started getting my taste on for dinner and couldn't find anything more than some frozen wieners, stale dawg bunnage, a wrinkled onion and some brown mustard I got slack jawed and weak in the knees.

I asked for... Thai.

Amy & Chloe, like some kind of one/two punch, home-intervention machine came to my rescue and firmly said, NO.

We ate hot dogs with chopped onions & mustard and for a beverage of total delight... drank water.  Yeah Baby!  El Sucko Mealio.  Not even a beer to be had in our dry abode.

Upside, this morning while erupting on the throne like Mount St. Helens from all the greasy nitrites in my unhappy colon I could at least smile in my steely fortitude that I didn't buckle.

Chick Bike Pt. II

Finally getting the details sussed out on Amy's anniversary gift.  I think she's going to be extremely surprised as well as pleased with what I'm going to do...

1.  Her Atlantis is going to get a repaint at BBC.   I'm going to jack the same Imron red that John P. has on his new & quite lovely Rivendell  Suluki...

2.  Bob at BBC has a complete set of Atlantis decals on standby for me and will throw 'em under multiple layers o' clear coat.

3.  We will keep the cream details intact, of course.

4.  A new front wheel with a Shimano DH-3N70 generator hub, 3-cross laced to a 36 hole Sun Rhyno-Lite rim.

5.  She'll be getting a Schmidt Lumotec (metal toggle) headlamp, Chronometro Nob and Peter White/Shimano Flight Deck lamp mount too.  I decided against the E6 for two reasons-One: Amy just won't ride that often at night and Two: so that I could budget in the next 2 items...

6.  A beautiful, handmade basket

7.  A set of SKS mudguards... which she has been begging for.

All said, it should be a complete transformation of her existing Atlantis.  Stay tuned for details as they surface...

Dinner...

Over the years I always feel guilty about the lack of fish in my (our-as a family) diet and it's not for any reason like not digging it either.  I just forget how much I love it.

As I said, I love fresh fish... Chloe seems to and Amy suffers through it like a true camper.

My Mom insisted on it 2 times per week when me and my brother were growing up.

Last night I made an old favorite (part of our, "Eat Only Food Made At Home Campaign!") and thought I'd share it to anyone here that might be interested...

Cod poached in Sauce

4 medium fillets cod, skin removed, gone over for bones
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 glove fresh garlic, chopped
1.5 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
nice pour of white wine-see below (NOT cooking wine... something you'd actually drink)
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, rinsed & dried, finely chopped
9 turns of pepper mill
2 three-fingered (thumb, index & middle) pinches of kosher salt
.5 cup of nice oil-cured olives, pitted & cut in half lengthwise
1 tbsp of medium-sized capers, drained & rinsed
-----------------------------
Puttin' it altogether...

Set oven to 325
In a large oven-proof pan add oil over medium heat
add onions and sweat them until just translucent
add tomato paste and stir until paste infuses with oil & onions, add garlic and remain on heat for 2 more minutes
turn off burner
add white wine, stir
add cod along with salt & pepper
spoon sauce up & onto cod fillets
sprinkle remaining ingredients onto the cod fillets
-----------------------------
finishin' it off...

lid the pan or cover with foil
place in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes (ovens cook differently so be aware of not over cooking the cod)
--------------------------
service...

1 cod fillet per person, removed from pan to plate with spatula carefully as to not break them or spill off toppings
spoon remaining sauce from pan onto each fillet
this recipe goes wonderfully well with...
a very simple saute of fresh asparagus or green beans, olive oil, salt & pepper over very high heat for 4-7 minutes or until the asparagus/beans start turning vibrant green (i prefer my sauteed fresh vegetables just cooked through-hot on the outside and warm in the center... you may want some other degree of doneness... but do try it this way at least once)
and...
a starch of new potatoes, boiled & drained and dressed rather simply with some butter (or extra olive oil), kosher salt & fresh pepper

For thirsting...

you won't go wrong with a medium-bodied, non-aggressive Chardonnay like Kendall-Jackson and their SBGE (Santa Barbara Great Estates) all for a little less than 20 dollars.

Bon Apetito

They never told me...

My latest form of insanity has been the seemingly endless and impossible pursuit of having our 5 year old daughter Chloe understand Time.

She's very curious and very much wants to understand ALL things related to time, schedules, duration, etc.  Amy keeps telling me that eventually our efforts will pay off and everything we've been teaching her, explaining to her will gel and she'll understand.

Me, well I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown about it.

The concept of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow are like trying to scale a vertical wall made of smooth granite while naked & covered in olive oil.  Beyond that Chloe wants to know about the number of days until things.  For instance, like how many days until Easter or Christmas or her birthday.

Add to that when we say something like 2 days until such & such a thing happens and she'll say "today?" and we'll say no, today is one day or day 1 and then tomorrow is another day or the 2nd day or day 2 and the day of "insert event in question".  She shakes her head knowingly and then an hour later get extremely pissed at us when she casually mentions how great "such & such" thing will be today.  She's getting confused with the number 2 and the sound of it in words like TOday and TOmorrow.

URGH!!

Latest bit of insanity is this...

Chloe's been wanting some glow sticks... yeah you know, those beautiful, well made gems that you snap, they light up, they burn out and then sit in a land fill for the next 356,000 years... yeah those.

So in a moment of wanting to be a King to her I sit her next to me at the computer and we go to the Oriental Trading Company website (the leading supplier of all things Chinese & Cheap in America) and we go through every glow stick they import.  We make our selections and in the end Chloe is extremely happy to know she'll be getting 3 dozen different kinds of glow sticks.  Enough that the average NYC rave goer would be fluorescent green with envy.

That was Saturday and according to the website they should arrive here this Wednesday, tomorrow.  And you know what?  I just KNEW that this was going to create a shitstorm...

Chloe looks at me on Saturday and asks when they will be here and I say hopefully Wednesday.  She asks her obligatory follow up question, "How many days is that?".  I say that today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday, the day after Sunday is Monday... blah, blah and she nods approvingly.

But I know this isn't the end of this at all.  No way.

Sunday she asks, I answer... all seems fine.

Monday she asks and I answer and things seem to start getting tricky based on her responses.  I tell her today is Monday and hopefully if the Mailman finds them in his pack he will have them here on Wednesday... Wednesday is 2 days after Monday.  Monday and then Tuesday and then Wednesday.

Finally the shit hits the fan last night.  I go to bed at 3am and she gets me up at 3:30 to ask when they will be here.  I, bordering on the edge of exploding, tell her one more day, go back to sleep.  She says, "Ok, that's great... they will be here later today".  Much closer to a meltdown I say, "No Chloe... one more day means we go through today, Tuesday and then tomorrow,Wednesday they will be here".

She starts sobbing and says that she doesn't like me as her daddy and wants a new one, a better one.

I go Defcon.

I sit upright and say "today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow... today is Tuesday and tomorrow is Wednesday and that's that... PERIOD!!"  I start yelling now, "You want a new daddy... fine, this one is sending the glow sticks BACK.  Yep, I'll tell the mailman he can return them because the little girl who lives here doesn't deserve them and says hurtful & mean things to people".  And then I say, "Chloe I'm sorry but I am so tired of having this same talk about days and how many days to this and how many days to that... I'm done with it, NOW GO BACK TO BED!!".

She's crying, Amy sits up and looks totally baffled as to what the hell is going on (she just got back from working 12 hours) and I've had enough and feeling like I'm going to just fucking catch on fire from the inside out and spontaneously combust.

Finally I sleep.

This morning I crawl out of bed and Chloe sits up and says she's sorry for making me yell and be angry at her... that she loves me and only wants me for her daddy.   She throws herself at me in a big embrace and while I'm hugging her and whispering in her ear how much I love her and that I'm sorry too for getting upset, raising my voice & yelling... she says in my ear,

"I think we need to tell the Mailman he needs to leave my glow sticks and not send them back later today, ok?"

The Hard Facts

I just finished up having a long pow-wow with Amy about our spending, our budget and money in general.

Starting now, today, this moment... this very minute-we are not going to eat one single meal out or get delivery or take out until April 20th.  Call it an experiment or whatever but I call it, trying to control the bleeding.

It has been driving me increasingly insane how Amy's salary plus my residuals from recordings put us around $88k per year for our income but yet we are constantly on the verge of being broke.   Between her and me we figured out that we spend nearly $12,000 per year in eating out.  That's nuts and must stop.  That's doesn't include any... ANY groceries!  Yet we drive around, when we drive at all, in a Volvo that has an exhaust hanging off of it, almost dragging on the frigging ground that sounds like something between a Yak in heat and a steak sizzling on a grill.  Sad.  The suspension is shot, a tail light and head light are blown out (we use the high beams for driving, even in the city), 90% of the exterior trim is gone from other cars whacking ours when they park in front or behind us, all 4 hubcaps have long ago blown off due to potholes... in general the car looks like complete shit.  Put it this way... if it was a bike I'd cry over its condition.

Where the *&^% is our money going?  I guess the answer is, Down the toilet quite frankly.  So starting now we are going to use ourselves as test subjects to see precisely how much $$ we can save by buying all of our food in grocery-form and actually cooking it at home on our dust-covered stove.