Large Fella on a Bike

Bound to, All...

So much hate, so much misalignment of so many, so many differences and paths... how can we ever agree, get along or even hope to see eye to eye.

I know the answer [and so do you]... Love.

Love for one another.
Love for life and the living of it.
Love for hope, and the hope of better & more love tomorrow.
Love for breath.
Love for and of peace.
Love for understanding that even in the vast plains of difference, love binds.

I am tired of fighting, and fighting grows me to new heights of tiredness.

You are what you are, and I am what I am... but you and me [black, white, religious or no, Republican or Democrat or whatever, male or female, small or large, fast or slow, rich or poor] are bound.

Bound by this life, this planet, this time on this planet, together... and make no mistake -You- that time is Now.

I am no such and such, nor hippy, yippy, yuppy new puppy... and I make no such assumptions of you as well.

To want, need or desire more than Love, a place to sleep, some food to sustain, some laughter to revive the spirit, perhaps a bike to ride and smile on/at... what is left to desire of?

Desire fuels many great and noble things/Desire beats the deadest of pathways straight into bleak, starless nights.

I fear and reach out for Desire---->One hand wide open, the other... closed, flesh clotted white with pressure, pressure and:

abject fear.

These things I try my outright, level best to never forget.

I hope the same of, You.

[Chloe and me are going for a ride and then to purchase ingredients for a surprise dinner of roasted mushroom lasagna for Amy tonight... because she has worked 5 hard days this week.  She is weary and tired, and we love & honor her.  More than anyone can know or comprehend, we love her]

Keep Ridin'... Always

Hmmm?

...maybe after I've turned 89 years old, can't think for myself and have gone completely senile [and Amy weighs 300 pounds, fashions herself in polyester pantsuits and wears bright red lipstick].

And I hate Life.

Keep Ridin'... Always

I'd like that gig, please?

The i-BOB List perplexes me.  Perplexes me like I get perplexed when I attempt to crush an ant between my fingers and no matter how much I squeeze, the first 2/3/4 times, that ant can still walk away.

I go to my i-BOB folder in email in the morning, 119 new emails, I scan their topics... flush, gone to the trash folder.  I check email 2 hours later, 87 new i-BOB emails, scan the subjects, flush-->to trash.  I gather Chloe, we ride and are out of the house for 3, 4 maybe 5 hours... get home, check email, peek at the i-BOB folder, 93 new emails: scan the subjects, flush to trash.

Is there anything -in the Universe- that warrants this much time suckage?  I don't think Quantum Physicists can flap their gums this much about black holes, lil' green men or which of the world's biggest telescopes ownz the others.

Honestly, the few times I've inquired directly or indirectly about the perpetual emailings of this list, I've been told nicely [and not so nicely too] that these poor folks are stuck inside, at their day gigs, and that this is their release from the mundane.  And judging from many of these folks showing off their bike collections... well, with that much time to email that many emails, and still have a gig + those bikes... I'd like me one of them jobs too, please?

Oddly, while their prodigious emailings do go down on weekends, when one would assume they are out rolling hard on the byways of America on any one of their lugged -n- steel steeds [after making it thru yet another soul-cracking week of sucking it up for the Man], I usually have to kill off 40 to 100 something emails per Sat & Sun.

Oh, why do I stay subscribed?  Fair enough... because their unique ability to thoroughly dismantle any subject into micro/nano-fractions is absolutely fascinating & funny [as well as sorta sad] to me...

and as difficult to comprehend as that damn ant between my fingers.

Keep Ridin'... Always

FreeRide Minneapolis '08...

Dig it...

it happened & it was great fun.

Let the madness begin...

[Click thru for more]

And a slideshow.

Keep Ridin'... Always

Taken to Smiling...

Most folks--weekend warriors, the dreaded "Pathlete", commuters, DUI cyclists, punkz on BMXs, Out-n-Abouters, Fixie Fashionistas, the 'Old English', Moms & Pops--all of 'em & more... why the frowns whilst riding??

It's not that difficult to ride a bike, let alone ride one at 8/11/14/16 [or with the proper tailwind up your arse] 18/19/20mph.

Me, I try to smile... but the more I see all of you frowning, the more I smile.

Don't be this guy:

Be this one...

Smile, and the World smiles with you.

Keep Ridin'... Always

Contemplations on Newer Things...

The last 4 to 6 weeks has brought about many changes for me: some that seem [upon reflection] to be a natural progression and others, well they seem far-flung to be sure.

#1.  The Grande El Dumbino & XtraCycle.  This steed and carrying enabler combo is just a ridiculously great thing.  The carrying/cargo capacity mixed with ride is fantastic.  I found myself extremely curious once we announced that we were getting a Big Dummy and would receive email after email telling us that chances were great that it would quickly become our favorite ride.  I was skeptical at best.  Don't get me wrong, I thought it was serve its purpose well but beyond that... suffice it to say, I thought most of these well-wishers were simply falling under the spell of "LookAtMyNewToy-itus" [i.e. of course it's GREAT: it's new, it's in demand, it draws attention & it's mine].  But, after rolling on it exclusively for 2 plus weeks now... the best compliment I can pay it is, 'It feels and rides like a bike', and that's the ultimate compliment.  Add to that: it can be as fast as you can be on it, hauls lots of stuff, looks funny in a great way, makes people smile even more than a regular bike [except when you pass Roadies with it], has this great feeling that it instills in you that while you're out-n-about you're covered with nearly any errand that arises -planned or not- / situation -planned or not-, and last: is extremely comfortable to ride a lot and for long distances.  Almost forgot... it also tracks phenomenally well too [not sure why, but "No Hands Riding" is extremely easy loaded or not... maybe the wheelbase, tire width, something else?].
The single worst thing about this steed residing in our arsenal?  The guilt I feel daily when rolling out, and yet again leaving behind my BBC custom [still stripped naked of its pedals... which went over and onto the El Dumbino].
I'm sure the purely new blast of 'Newness' will lessen with time, but damn, I must say: I have to figure out a way to get my BBC to be this comfortable, and soon.  If anything, I think the El Dumbino illustrates how much my body has changed-as the BBC was built for me at 501 pounds and so much has come to pass since then.
The El Dumbino has my attention so deeply, so completely, that I'm thinking thoughts of "2nd one, as a Him & Her's" and "lugged, custom longtail/cargo frameset".  And you know that's bad... very bad when you start looking at the bread involved in that kinda thinking.

To anyone reading this who may be contemplating a Surly Big Dummy /XtraCycle or an XtraCycle SUB conversion... I can say this much for certain, Stop thinking and make the plunge.  These things not only make "CarFreedom" possible and a reality... they make the transition fun and with an almost zero learning curve.  Plus: it's just a lot of pure, simple, good fun.

#2.  Clipless.  Riding clipless on the El Dumbino is even better to me than riding clipless on a 'short/trad-tail'.  Two nights ago I took the El Dumbino out for a "Max Down-Throw Down" ride.  Total weight on the El was 461 pounds.  That was: Me, Amy, Chloe, groceries, 6 bottles of wine and one case of beer.  Being clipped in for that was not only comfortable but essential while pedaling out of the saddle on hills and when getting going from stops at intersections.  I loved it, Chloe loved it, Amy was nervous as hell and thought me seriously insane-but she hung tough and didn't try to jump off.  We even made it up to 19.2mph on a flat, and 42.5mph going down a hill [while Chloe screamed with joy and Amy was chanting "Okay, slow down... okay, slow down... okay, slow down... OKAY, SLOW THE %$@#! DOWN!!!"].
The feeling of being 'connected' to the pedals was profoundly different and better than with our initial setup of Crank Brothers "50/50" platform pedals [Amy has since had me install those onto her BBC and digs them very much].  And again, climbing a hill and starting out from a dead stop... the connectivity of clipless was fantastic.

#3.  Brevet.  I've been checking and it seems there are two brevets in Portland, OR within a month or so after we arrive there... it's time, I think.  The original plan for my 1st brevet here in Minnesota, back in May, that didn't happen, has left me feeling very bothered and bugged.  I don't step away from things easily nor lightly.  A few folks think I bailed on that... they're wrong.  My sights are set on dreams & pacts [typed about or not, they are intact] and I have plans.
In retrospect I made two HUGE errors in mid-April:
A.  Changing so many things on my bike [leading out of its Winter-Setup and into its Spring/Summer-setup... too many changes/too near the brevet & too many days spent to reverse those problems one by one].
B.  And my absolute refusal to adopt and intake any additional fuel into my body as I ramped up my riding miles in preparation for that 200km brevet.

Those errors have been sussed out [regarding the bike], consultations have been made and seen thru regarding my body [w/two respected Sport's Dr.s: one locally at The U and the other in NYC], a better understanding of things and how they operate have come to pass, and I feel very ready.
The only real downsides are these:

I really wanted to ride my first brevet here in Minnesota; I think some comrades who helped with getting my whip ready for that brevet [directly and indirectly] were let down by my not doing it; and now, well now I'm seriously considering doing these Portland brevets on the El Dumbino [which isn't a downside per se, but seems odd... again in that 'the BBC has seen me thru so much' guilt kind of way].

To Old & New Dreams.

Keep Ridin'... Always

Pre-Ride Fuel?

...Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from the Titanic soundtrack [in pics/click for epic'ness].

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...the Dark Healing Power of Soft Pop [Mission Accomplished, it's time to go hammer some Roadie Ass on the Greenway with The El Dumbino].

Keep Ridin'... Always

The 505 & The 651 in Da Houze->

Couple days back I get an email and then a voicemail from The Tarik mentioning that he'll be in The Minneapolis on bidnizz and 'did we want to hook up for a ride, hang, etc?'.

Hell, yeah!

Tarik is Good People and I dig his blog [plus, as a 2nd grade drop-out, I need all the PhD's that I can find as friends in my life].  So he ends up coordinating both me and The Quad-B for a hang.

After some initial snafu'ing on how to get him from his hotel in the Land O' Malls [Bloomington] on his Bike Friday, we set into motion a plan where he'd go north, then northeast, then north, hook a turn at the wall, go north some more, head east until he came upon the Elder Scrolls, go west, dogleg southwest, head back north and then be at our crib.  Worried that my directions were nearly as complicated as my technique for hummus making, I rode out and intercepted him on the Minnehaha Parkway bike path [and while there, waiting for him to ride by, had a Somali family offer me a heaping plate of KFC w/cole slaw, mashed purtators, gravy, 2 pieces of chicken and a biscuit... they saw me looking their way -at a nearby picnic table- more than a few times while keeping my eyes peeled for Tarik who would be heading toward me from their direction, and the father came over with this plate of food and said that I "looked hungry and lonely".  He offered me the food and said to "please come and sit with them".  Amazingly nice, took me completely off guard and made a nice place in my heart that folks in general are still Good... I politely declined and explained that I was waiting for a friend (who just so happens to build nuclear bombs for the government)].

Soon after... Tarik rounded the bend and after saying "Howdy" to one another, we rolled back to LFoaB HQ for the merriment to commence.

Arriving back, BBBB was already there waiting with the girls... we hung for a bit and then rolled out on a group/family ride.

We wanted to show Tarik the more than 4001 Arby's locations in Minneapolis, and he was impressed.  We also showed him the Mighty Mississippi River, The U, that aluminum plated museum building on the campus that Gehry built and then the half-built stadium.  And then he showed us how his Planet Bike "SuperFlash" can pop off his back pocket and break into ten thousand pieces on University Ave.

We arrived back here again and ate food and drank things malted and yeasty. 

[see ** below for pic explanation]

Bob and Tarik got ripped out of their gourds on tap water and started Smack-Talking one another about structural engineering stuff: Bob picked up our ignited Tiki Torch and hit Tarik across the small of his back and then Tarik used his Heat-Vision to melt Bob's B-Stone RB-1 into a recumbent.  Yep, it got ugly.  After they got that out of their systems, we sang Disney songs until 1am.

We gifted Tarik with two new Schwalbe Marathon 20-incher tires to replace his nearly bald tires on his Bike Friday and two -also- new 20" tubes.  Yep, we're kind that way.  Bob got a belated B-Day gift of a mid-1970's wall phone that he's been eying at our crib since we found it last year at a yard sale.

Fotos for insurance purposes [Click for Big]

Bob & Tarik ponder my request for the world's 1st Carbone Fibre thong.

Word Association Game: their reaction after I said "Grand Performance Bike Shop" .

The Chicks w/the Boyz

Chloe snaps off a pic while shouting, "Wendy's or Chipotle??" [Tarik & Amy apparently think it's code for 'Smile'].

Good Times.

**On a disappointing sidenote: The Hurl was supposed to attend but couldn't because he got confused as to what month it was and found himself out-n-about in St. Louis Park 'Trick or Treat'ing'**

Keep Ridin'... Always

"Check Your Pulse...

...it's proof that you're not listening to the call your life's been issuing you"
-JM

[not whining nor complaining... just observing thru honesty]  At my largest, I used to think about something like that opening line actually it would force itself into my thoughts [that opening line above], more or less, constantly.  The thought that my body & mind were speaking to me and telling me, "Time is ticking down... it's a limited engagement Scott, you've got to find something, jump aboard and dive in"... well it was a profoundly disturbing thing.  In your twenties and thirties people shouldn't be having moments day to day being pressed into thoughts of their mortality.  It seemed unfair to some degree [but what is fair, when we all get our own thing[s] that we have to deal with?].  I'd try my best to hurry the thought out of my brain.  The thought itself had a life of its own though... it would come when it would come, and regardless of how much diversion I shot at it, it left when it was ready to leave.

I've had so many people tell me that I am unrecognizable from the heaviest that was Me-leading back to 2 years & 8 months ago [when I decided to listen to that thought].  And the truth of the matter is... for a couple months now, I'll ask Amy if it's bizarre or worse to find one's self brushing their teeth and looking in the mirror and not be able to recognize the face they see looking back at them.  I only see familiarity in the eyes in the eye sockets and my teeth, otherwise, there isn't much I can relate to as familiar. 

I'm prone to saying these days to Amy & Chloe, "apparently my brain is slowest on the up-take with all this that has come to pass".  In other words, my brain cannot seem to fully wrap itself around what it takes in when looking back at the physical form it calls Home [or sees when looking down and can see stomach, legs and feet--instead of stomach and ground minus legs and feet because those were shadowed by stomach].  Amy will often tell me, "You're fine.  Someone who has done what you've done, and in such a short amount of time... well it's like you're a war veteran, it would seem to me that your brain needs a debriefing to get fully up to speed on what's occurred".  I love her for that... because first she makes it seem not a big deal that I cannot really recognize myself [something that seems to me not good nor overly normal until she puts it that way] and in that sentence she reminds me that a lot has changed and no, my mind hasn't fully or really had a lot of time to acclimate to it, any of it [and again, she just wraps it up nicely into a 'don't worry about it' kinda thing: one of the many reasons I adore & love her].

Mostly though, I keep the medicine cabinet door open while brushing my teeth these days.  It's easier.   

 

Keep Ridin'... Always

Yes, There Shall Be A Party...

...and it will be here, and you'll be invited, and we'll be hosting, and it'll be great/fun/happy & then sad/bittersweet/uncomfortable as hell [for Amy, Chloe & Me]...

and it'll be in early September: and if you're local, please expect to attend.

We are trying to get either Wendy's or Arby's to cater the ketchup & liquid cheese fluids, and StarBucks for beverage service.

PS... Brian F. I lost your contact info.  If you read this please shoot me off an email: I am trying to honor all my promises for rides with various local folk [and we never got one in].  Thanks.

Keep Ridin'... Always