Large Fella on a Bike

Bag O' Mixes>

Girls gifted me with a fairly ginormous box of Swobo'Liciousness the other night, after summoning me mysteriously to World Cup Caffe [which by the way beats the living snot corpuscles out of the Ultra-Bitter/Ultra-Tiny double espressos they call double espressos @ Stumptown] with a rogue text of "Meet us, like NOW-@ World Cup on Cedar Hills".  So I obeyed, and rode there hard.

Wowzer.  Wool knickers, Cottonwood jacket, Wooly Zipper Hoodie and a green Winged-Goat technical shirt!  Too much, and all after fellow-Bro-in-Saddle: Jim had sent me a large box of hand-me-downs of some really nice & usable stuff!  Too cool.

I threw the wool Swobo knickers on right then & there [avoiding the Policia by having the good sense to leave me wool tights on] and Amy grabbed a coupla quick pics with her phone of my new dudery:

Extremely warm, repels water like wool should [found that out in real time after exiting the caffe shop in the pouring & quite windy/cold rain... 20 minutes after returning home, they were dry as new] and look great... these are keepers.  Truth be told, this all happened the night before Thanksgiving and I haven't stopped wearing them.  They are VERY comfortable.

While all this was going down, Chloe fashioned some shades for her mom & dad:

"Yay Babbee... dig it"

The next day, Thanksgiving Day, I went on a longer ride after making our feast, and upon return, we dug inward:

Round #1: Heirloom Acorn squash stuffed w/Artisan bread, wine, shallots, wild mushrooms & fresh herbs...

Round #2...

[from 12 o' clock around clockwise] stuffed mushrooms w/fresh herbs, Shitakes, aged-oak sherry & shallots|Cranberry compote w/blood oranges, orange & lemon zest, vanilla beans and champagne|smashed Yukon Gold potatoes w/roasted garlic, chives & flat-leaf parsley|sweet potatoes w/balsamic, walnuts, raisins & chiles | and last... sauteed green beans w/fresh lemon, garlic oil & lemongrass.

The girls love[ed] it [they are still eating it nightly as leftovers, I made way too much].

What else... oh, we move Tuesday & Wednesday off & out of The Tron and into PDX [finally].  So that's a good thing as we can finally see and experience what we came out here for.  Finally.

Amy took some covert snaps of me rawking The Barracuda [perhaps one of the single most Air-Drummistically friendly songs ever recorded -and the only playing I do anymore these days]:

Once taken, I proved my allegiance to the healing power of The Rawk:

"Oh, when Ann & Nancy could power down HARD... "

Mission Accomplished [refreshed with the dripping goodness of Mike DeRosier blatantly ripping off John Bonham-but doing it convincingly]...

Rolled a 10-miler with the girls today [on the most friendly route I've been able to devise on my daily rides] and had a great time even though Chloe kept announcing that there are "just simply too many humans and their cars alive in the world today".  We survived, and it's fitting that they got in one good ride before saying 'So Long' to The Tron O' Beaver.

Down the Hill and Off to Portland next.

Keep Ridin'... Always
 

"Daddy, how old do I need to be...

...to start dating?"

To which her dad responds:

Keep Ridin'... Always

Lots to be Thankful For[Three]:

It was 3 years ago today that I made a decision to Live instead of the alternative.  In that time, how do I begin to run all this down... so much has happened.

I have a rich life, a life filled with grace and joy/day to day discovery and adventure... a life with depth and friendships, love and blessings.

I am not a religious person, and frankly believe -deeply- that all organized religions are responsible for more angst, death, control, fear, war, overall badness than nearly any other single thing Man has ever cooked up... but, that said, I am a deeply spiritual person.  And within that spirituality I know when things mesh too strongly, too deeply, too obviously to not take notice.

I have my Girls: Amy & Chloe-who have/still do/always will-venture into thick & thin with me, by my side... as fearless as Chick-Warriors get.  None more Fearless, ever.  And yes...

All because of a plan cooked up in a 501 pound man's desperate mind.  One last stand, one last chance.  And now, 3 years later... in Portland, Oregon [a place I am falling in love with, day by slow day], 300 + pounds of Me gone forever-like so many bad memories that will never let me forget who I am/where I came from: the scar tissue will outlast any accomplishment I ever accomplish, but that's the way it's supposed to be you know.  'The scars live on inside each & everyone of us to show the roads traveled: the scars are maps of where we've been, and been through".

A Life Taken By Bike, By The Horns, By No Mere Accident: that is the only life for me.  The roads, and the friends found on those roads, beyond infinite grace.  I'd trade nothing, NOTHING, for one stitch of it.

I owe so many that paying it all back is beyond impossible... so, I go forward with the Debt of one thing and one thing only: Forward Movement.  It's guaranteed, I guarantee it.

I'm here, I'm alive, I have movement, I can walk, I can breathe, I can laugh and cry/be happy & be pissed... all of it & more.  How can I argue that result??  How can anyone argue that result?

Thinking Ahead: I need to do more, be "More" on it, be more in "It" and I'm trying to figure that out.  I really want that, need that.

A very shortlist of things that need Thanking:

1.  All my friends [you should, by now, know who you are... because if you even sense that you are, You are].

2.  My bike and its builder [and one of my greatest friends/comrades ever BBBB].

3.  People who encourage, judge, read, occasionally -piss me off- with their ______ of me [You].

4.  That I have a brother and dad who are out there, alive, doing well and that I think about & love very much... but, I don't see enough.

5.  That my mother-in-law got thru her surgery the other day [but seriously wish & hope that she starts taking better care of herself and stops eating the food of a teenager, and also sees the gifts that come from walking away from things instead of toward them].

6.  And that I fall in Love with Life more and more each & every day.

Oh, and that I absolutely adore riding a bike, all the time.    A L L  T H E  T I M E.  It continues to save my life by the minute/by the mile.

I am not denied anything but what has denied me the privilege of Living.

Thankfully, Me.

Keep Ridin'... Always

 

Shimano MW80's...

Just got 'em today from Merry Ol' England [by way of SJS Cycles] and -after installing some new Crank Bros cleats- went out in the cold of Beavertron [coldest day so far, which by Oregon standards is cold, but I know way better-from Minnesota standards] for a nice 35-miler.

I like them.  I stopped twice, and actually needed a third stop as well but didn't, to dial in the cleat position... I wore the red SmartWool socks [what I wore last winter in The Minneapolis, think SmartWool calls them their 'Expedition Sock'] and had a few moments of cold toes, but truth be told: I probably had the shoes over cinched.  After all the months of my Lake shoes being too loose over the arch of my feet and bottoming out the clip-ratchet, the ability to actually have a super snug shoe [due to Shimano not using a clip-lock and instead going full-on Velcro bliss for the MW80] was too tempting and probably cost me some warmth as a result of cutting off the circulation to my toes.

Some Fotos:

I think I'll like them a lot over time because they seem to not be as hardcore/winter/full-on as the Lakes [which might be overkill in this environment of The Oregon: cold-n-wet vs. mega-arctic & blisteringly windy of The Minnesota] and because they cost over a hundred le$$ but have a lot of the same goodness that the Lakes and Sidis offer.

A shot of me from the ride [33 degrees, Hwy 10, mile 22, wet roads & wondering if it would turn to black ice w/no Nokians in sight]:

...it didn't.

And a shot from the Shimano pic-taking session [which I apologize for... our digi-camera pooped out and my new iPhone 3G -as with my old iPhone V1 [that is now Amy's new iPhone V2.1] takes very 'Great/Not-So-Great/Downright-Crapola' fotos depending on the situation--and taking shoe pics in the kitchen obviously qualifies as a 'Downright-Crapola' situation] which actually has me in my CRC shirt, but I cropped it out because The Hurl shows The LFoaB little love these days with his new found ways of endless jabs, snaps, barbs and PJ Harvey'isms:

...but I still like The Hurl anyway.

Keep Ridin'... Always

Need A New 'Script...

Over the last year or so I've been noticing that when I read something I'm either pulling it in closer/or pushing it away, much further away.

I've been wearing these same glasses since 2002 and Amy told me, "Yo, Einstein... your eyes are now 45 years old, and those glasses aren't".

So today I am off to look into some new frames as well as the obligatory eyeball exam for a new, and I'm certain: new/worse/stronger lens prescription.

I'm thinking about some of the following:

Classic, Thoughtful, Iconic [sorta like me, if you think about it... long enough/I said: long enough].

Ray Bans... pricey though [and I hear thru the grapevine that Ray Ban only makes available to the public what Mr. Depp deems unworthy of his mug]

One of my heroes [seriously]: totally bad-ass glasses too [the ones I'm leaning hardest toward]

Classic... and we're both from Liverpool and know someone named Yoko

I think I might actually be able to pull this look off...

Lennon V1.1

And last:

Yeah, I know... be hell on night rides, but damn: the lace on that skirt would be killingly great on my bike.

Keep Ridin'... Always

RainMates, Considered->

Bought a pair of RainMates, which are the Smythes of Lincolnshire next to the RainLegs which are the RainMates bastard cousin thrice removed and therefore from Sheffield, from Todd & Martina @ CleverCycles [who still won't show The LFoaB any link love, but hey I forgive them, for now]... and thought I'd do a mini-review of them since I've been using them lately for riding, riding in the mist, riding in the rain, riding in the rain & cold, riding in the mist & cold, riding in the rain, cold & mist and last: entertaining Amy late at night -after hours, so to speak- by wearing them w/nothing underneath while I cook and/or vacuum.

They are pretty well thought out.  Speaking to their durability, I haven't a clue as I've not owned nor used them enough to know... but I'm guessing they will last as they seem well constructed and are a 'Specific-Use-Item' [sorta like a rain jacket: you use it when you need it, otherwise you don't].

Wearing them with my usual wool tights and knickers, they keep me dry and warm.  Actually if it's above 50, too warm... I sweat pretty heavily with them on, even though they aren't a full pant and are a chap [think Village People & "YMCA", there ya go]

Few things that could use further refinement, and for the scratch they go for would be a fair upgrade [but they are Euro-Made or at least Euro-Developed & Sold so that probably explains the price i.e. USD having its arse handed to it by the Almighty Euro-Note and/or Sterling Poundcake]: the snaps should be rubber coated.  The inner-knee snaps 'Bing & Ting' on my toptube as I roll [or maybe that's because I have too low of a Q-Factor on my cranks/or my knees are too aero/or maybe I should rubber-coat my frameset?]... but in any event that would be nice.  That said, it'd cost their company an additional 0.2 cents for all the snaps on one pair of RainMates to be coated and therefore crank the list price up by 21% I'm guessing. 
Also, the right leg band, on the shin flap, velcros from the inner-calf to the outer [w/the reflective tab] and that makes perfect sense to this cycler... however, on the left leg: that same leg band velcros outer to inner, and that makes no sense.  Maybe it's just me and my love of symmetry but, I do not understand why you would do that from a design point of view/or, for that matter, risk having excess fabric [in this case, the end of the band] be available anywhere near the drivetrain [even if it is the non-drive side] of one's whip.  Maybe it's as simple as my pair are screwed up and other RainMates aren't like mine?  No idea.

'Nother Thing... every time I use them I always think the connecting straps that go from your inner-thighs in, back thru your groin region & around behind your thighs before snapping into snaps on the sides of your hip/thigh area, well I always feel like this is going to create discomfort or chaffing or something bad in the crotch/saddle area... but so far it hasn't.  I do notice that after sitting and standing, with the RainMates on, I can feel those same straps pulling up & into my chamois -which with my past well-documented chamois/ManOnion issues always concerns me- but again, like I said, no problems.

When you don't need them, they roll super-tight & small for easy storage in your saddle bag, handlebar bag or messenger bag... and they have the 'I-haven't-used-this-yet' feature of being able to snap up into a closed/locked position while they stay on your waist.  This I can't comment on as I've always had a religious aversion to Fanny-Paks and, therefore, cannot bring myself to explore this option.  But I must add, Todd @ CleverCycles showed me this option, and did look sexy as all get out [but I also know that Todd regularly uses Fanny-Paks when he drives around town in his Hummer H2].

Can't really think of much else to add... they are good: they keep you dry [in a super monsoon scene, I'm sure full-on rain pants are the way to go, but for the Commuter/Rando/Practical kinda soul, these seem solid] and warm [at least for me below 50 digits/and too warm above that number].

50 bucks at-->CleverCycles

Dig...
 
[taken last night, 12-midnight'ish, somewhere 'tween Beaverton/Aloha & Hillsboro, Oregon]

Keep Ridin'... Always

All, For a Buck...

hell, make it two:

"Very nice TA cranks you have there, Miss... may I please inquire as to touching them?"

"Oh my goodness... is that a Chris King bottom bracket: May I sniff it?"

Keep Ridin'... Always

Paying Lip-Service/

/To Being Serviced By Lips.

Many years in the NYC area, and being outspoken, and being opinionated, and reasonably unintelligent, and a musician, and a jazz musician, and a jazz musician who had his calling for the 3-week old dog turd at the bottom of the jazz-musical-hierarchy-tree known as avant garde/free/open music, and having then... lived life for many, many, many more years as a large & larger person than ever as a smaller person [hey, I still check chairs before I sit on them/still walk sideways thru doors even though I needn't have to/apologize when anyone sits next to me because I still assume I'm overlapping into their personal space due to my girth]...

well, all of that/this & more... well, it's made me a person who openly:

Bitches.
Moans.
Celebrates.
Laughs.
Gets pissed.

Mainly though, I Push, Hard for things to be better.
Expresses Much: both Good & Bad.  I appreciate things in ways I don't see many other folks doing, and I take less for granted than most.
...and much, much more.

All that said:
Thanks for the advice [when it was & wasn't offered]; the well-meaning psycho-analyzing [when it was & wasn't offered]; and even the well & not-so-well meaning accusations [when they were & weren't offered].

Few other notes:

1.  Amy & Chloe initiated the idea of relocating again, not me.
2.  They hate not being able to ride and feel safe, and I feel for them.
3.  Me?  I ride every-single-day regardless of where I reside or the weather or the traffic.
4.  Cycling [or Cyclering, or Bicycling] Nirvana doesn't exist, but that's no good reason to not keep aiming for it [after all: according to the Doctors, the Specialists, the Learned among us... I was supposed to be dead 3 years ago, so this life I have currently, well, it's Gravy.  But with all Gravies, it's not without its occasional lumps too].
5.  I glean what I can from the Net, otherwise I spend far less time on it than some [you wanna see some folks who claim to ride lots but spend serious time talking about stuff on the Internets... check out the I-Bob List -those folks can fill an Inbox faster than Nigerian SpamMail].

and lastly,

6-->

Keep Ridin'... Always 

Bay, what you say?

Amy got another job offer from her travel nursing agency earlier today, Bay area [again, but we are much closer this time around]... specifically Walnut Creek or Oakland/Berkeley.

The gig has a start date of Feb. 1st [Amy's gig here ends Jan. 26th].

Thinking, w/free housing this could become sorta fun.

Plus... wonder how much I can hang out at Swobo,  Rivendell and XtraCycle before they collectively call security on me?

Come on PDX, give us some $@#!%^@%$ reasons to stay & love it [maybe our Dec. 2nd move into town will do it?].

Keep Ridin'... Always

Khmer Rouge or Target Pimp?

You make the call:

Either way, a shower cap would have been preferable Amy.

But, thanks for the hair work: maybe now the hills will be easier to conquer?

Keep Ridin'... Always