Big Bikes

Answers and Goodbyes

Above: Gran Prix of Gloucester '06, Photo by Jason Girouard. Read on, it will all make sense (doesn't it always?)

Q: Why The Paragon and why The Singleator?

A: Had to switch horses in mid-stream so to speak. That's all I'm going to say on that.
Riding Single-ated Fisher Paragon for the time being.
It is not an EBB bike, unfortunately. Got a new Ferrous on the way. Hopefully have it together for the 50.

Q: How did I get so Haitian?

A: I trained under (and by under I mean he would often be on top of me with his knee on my throat while he punched me repeatedly in the sternum)a great Haitian master.

That and I'm pretty much the only "Blanc" who's gone to Haiti since Papa Doc died for something besides Mission Building or some other humanitarian pursuit.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...I just went to party.

Q: What's my VT 50 gearing?

A: That's a very personal question. I honestly haven't decided yet. Last year I went with 32 X 18 on the 29, about a 52" gear. Seemed to work out OK. Different gears work for different folks. Some people can spin and win over guys in bigger gears. Some guys need to mash it out. Troy Michaud won the thing on a 36 X 16 on 26". I wouldn't try that at home.

Q: Why the photos of the Pink Bike?

A: The Pink Bike was never my thing, it was Eric Roman's. Eric used to ride for I.F.. He was wicked fast. He stopped riding for them and sent the bike back. I started riding 'Cross in '06 and needed a Single Speed bike, I.F. sold me E's old bike. There wasn't really any time to get the thing painted and I didn't have the money anyway so it remained Pink.

I placed a sticker over Eric's name on the top tube and rode the thing for two years. One day I thought "Why the hell do have that sticker there?". I took it off and went "Oh ya". It's like you were dating a woman with another man's name tattooed on her lower back...and you put a sticker over it...and then...stupid analogy. The truth is the bike never really belonged to me, Eric designed it, it was painted "Eric Roman Pink", and I'd heard from mutual acquaintances that Eric really missed his bike.

One of my favorite photos of me racing a bike ever. Nationals, Rhode Island '06. Photo by Chris Milliman

So I ran into Eric a few weeks back in Fairfax, CA before SSWC and talked about the bike, talked about how I'd love to get it back to him. He told me that he was a poor grad student at the moment and couldn't buy it back. Subsequently we worked out a deal and today I boxed the frame up to send back to him.

I'm sad to see 'er go, but happy things came full circle and that The Pink Bike is finally going home.