Big Bikes

I'm A Mess

I leave for North Carolina to do The Swank at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Half my bike is already there, the other half is still here, in pieces: the just overhauled yesterday hub is sitting in front of me on the desk; the fork is completely dismantled, lying on my bench at work, waiting for seals and wipers to be sent over from the other shop. One issue is that the new rim will come in sometime today, anytime really, could be this morning, could be late this afternoon, I don't know. I'm expecting a call when the rim does show up, at that point I will hop on The Ugliest Bike Ever and hammer over to Newton to retrieve the rim (and the seals and wipers for my fork) and then hammer over to Allston to build my wheel and reassemble my fork.

OBR posted this quote today: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

I say: "poor planning is the mother of adventure."

And wow, what an adventure I am going to have today, riding around the suburbs of Boston putting the pieces of my bike-puzzle together.

And now! Bay Circuit photos with captions:



Sketchy water crossings were the theme of the day. After Bill took a dive off the first slippery-ass bridge, I was a little gun shy (when I saw him go down, I walked the rest of the bridge, probably saving myself from a cold swim). Andy rode the above left bridge in its entirety, this involved a Philippe Petit type maneuver over a slanted and slimy 2 X 6...I walked it. To make up for my otherwise neutered riding throughout the day, I made the first attempt on the "Dangerous Bridge" (it said so right on the map). My theory was that the submerged , off-camber and dilapidated boards were probably moss-free due to the half a foot of fast running water coursing over them. My theory held fast and the entire group was able to traverse the bridge after I demonstrated that they were not going to die...or get very, very wet and uncomfortable.



I love New England in the fall. I used to associate the cool air, the orange leaves all over the ground, and the warm afternoon light with skateboarding. I took up skateboarding in the fall one year, many, many years ago, and was just glued to that board every afternoon after school. Now I associate fall with long group rides with friends I might not see otherwise all year (and not doing Cyclocross). The wheels are way bigger...that must mean I'm way more mature.



We ran into a few beaver dams. I think it's funny that humans get pissed at beavers for "wrecking stuff." The way I see it, the beaver is just acting human. I can't think of another animal that, like humans, changes its environment to suit it wherever it goes. There is a very small portion of the planet which we can inhabit in our natural state. Let the beavers have their damn dams...damnit! Accept for those consarned Evil Beavers.

Roger tries to make sense of a map that looked more like it was made by termites on acid.

Kenny talks to a local, trying to get us back on track. She told us what we were looking for was "The Old Hojo Trail." "On Sundays, we used to walk through the woods to the old abandoned bridge, and cross the highway over to the Howard Johnson's. " As soon as she said "Howard Johnson's," I developed the most overwhelming craving for Indian Pudding with vanilla ice cream.




Two reasons why Andy Sanidas deserves a Nobel Peace Prize:

1.) The night before the ride, he drove down to the halfway point of our ride and dropped a giant bin of food, water, and root beer out in the woods.

2.) Even after six hours of riding, he will still try to ride over an enormous horse jump. He's one of those guy that's XC racer quick, but then, out of nowhere, busts some sick, Danny Macaskill move.

Oh, that link to Danny Macaskill up there, if you haven't seen it, click on it. It's the ad he did for S1 Jobs. It is beautifully shot and scored. I made the mistake of watching it before hopping on the Superfly to ride to work the other day. Danny Macaskill I am not.

Heading out to NC in the early, early AM, may or may not get a post up for tomorrow, and if I do, it's gonna be WEAK. Not sure if I'll be posting from down south, I may have to bottle it all up and save it for late next week, we'll see.

Swank!