7.6.08

Race was a blast despite not finishing. It sucks not being able to find things in your own town. I need to dedicate more time to riding around new sections of town and how to get to them.

Hank before the race and our bikes



This is why you needed the u-lock



The manifest was just addresses with no map, so I was completely lost. The stops we made it to were rad, and we got tattooed. We missed the shirt-screening stop, though. So that was a real bummer. FM.24.08 is on the horizon. Training starts ... now.

Mess with the Bull, get the ...

... Horns!



I gave those babies the old chop and flop, and I am much happier with them now. Also, I added a brake. I was going to go on a long diatribe about having a brake vs. not having a brake and how everybody should shut the fuck up about it especially when they don't even ride bikes blah blah blah. I don't think I am up for it now. I like the brake, and I feel more comfortable riding a lot faster with it. For me, it works. It is kind of a bummer aesthetically, but it isn't like I have the prettiest color-coded bike anyway.

I went for a long ride tonight. I was by myself since I don't have anyone to ride with right now. I jumped on the PATH in Downtown Decatur and headed for Atlanta. The PATH is kind of a joke since it doesn't seem to go too far in any one direction before it runs out and you are back on the street, which is fine by me but the city likes to think it is some kind of answer to a real commuter-style cycle path from the outlying areas to Downtown Atlanta. It would be if it was one continuous "path". Instead, it goes for a few miles and then abruptly ends with no real signs telling you which way to go to get back on it at any point. Anyway, I took the PATH till it ran out and then took a ride through the Kirkwood neighborhood, which is full of beautiful, old houses. But since I am not too familiar with that area, I rode for a while till I thought I was going to get lost and got back on Decatur to head into the city. Riding on Decatur, I was passed by an ambulance, and I got a good look at the patient in the back. She was an older woman with an oxygen mask over her face. A trip in an ambulance anywhere on a Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. isn't going to end up very good. There was a car tailing the ambulance pretty close. I wonder if it was the woman' family or just some asshole. I hope it was her family or at least someone who cared.

I was going to go over to Octane Coffee, but I managed to get downtown right when some kind of doings was getting over at the arena or whatever is right downtown by the CNN Center. It was a mess of cops, cars, and horse shit (literally). Of course Edgewood, which turns into Marietta and the direction I needed to go, was closed down and the cops were being dicks and yelling at me for trying to ride on the road past their motorcycles. Well, I tried an alternate route, zipping between cars for a few blocks, which was a blast. I ended up going in a big circle and right back to the same intersection, so I just headed back to Midtown where I stopped by the Majestic and said hi to Shawn for a minute then headed back to Decatur. All in all, a night out on my bike is as good as it gets. Hopefully, I can get Lori on a better bike soon, and we can ride together. Then everything would be perfect.

My goal was to take a bunch of pictures, but the ones I took didn't turn out. Maybe when it's less hectic.

Sunday Morning

Lori and I went for a quick ride today before I had to go to work. We ran into our friend Shack, who is an awesome tattoo artist and works at Ink and Dagger in Decatur.

Lori taking a break from her Schwinn cruiser and watching the train.



Me on my IRO.

Missed Another Race

I didn't get to Skid Row III. I was ready to go, but the rain scared me off. Oh well, next time.

Not much else bike-related has been going o, so I stole these pics of Hank's KHS Flight 100:







Also, here is a picture of Jimmy on his Mercier Kilo TT:



Hank returns from Florida next week, I picked up a Freight Baggage hip pack for camera portage, and the weather is getting badass. Get ready for picture season to begin.

Fixed Fight II and Upgrades

I went down to Tampa/St. Pete for Fixed Fight II this weekend. Unfortunately, I went down Hankless. It was a total bummer, but circumstances beyond our control were abundant. Before I headed down, I made some equipment changes. I made these last weekend before the Bikes to Rwanada race, but I had some trouble with my chainring and didn't clear it up in time to race. Anyway, I added some old drop bars Hank gave me and I got a new chainring from No Brakes.





Both the drop bars and chainring are kind of cheap filler parts till I get some dough for better parts. I'm looking to go with all black hardware. After this weekend seeing all the decked-out bikes down in St. Pete, I am excited to start working on my bike. I need a new wheelset, headset, crank, stem and bars. I stopped by 66 Fixed in St. Pete and picked up some Krog lights. The store has great gear, and the owners are super nice.



Alas, I came in 45th in the race, which was about as fast as I could go. I ended up sticking with Chris and Jen, whom I rode with in the Broken Hearts race up here. I couldn't believe I kept up with them. I'm glad I did, though. There was no way I would have found any of the check points without following them. I picked up my second spoke card.



There is an alleycat this weekend for Skid Row III. I'm planning on riding, but we will see how it all works out.

OP (better late then never)

So, like three weeks ago now we went to Orange Park, FL, for Easter family fun time. Orange Park being my grandmother's home and my birthplace. My grandmother has lived in the same house for about 50 years, and it was pretty cool having just about our entire family there for the weekend. Orange Park is also where I grew up. I lived there till I was 12 and then moved further south.

Since I have started riding bikes again, I thought it would be really cool to go back to OP and ride around the places I used to ride around as a little kid. Lori and I rode a little bit, and of course, I forgot the camera. But she got to see my elementary school and baseball park before I dropped her back off at the house. I then took off for a tour of the town. Riding on flat land is sooooo much different from up here. I rode about 15 miles without breaking a sweat. OP is small, heavily over-developed with the worst kind of generic crap megastores and fern bars, and the traffic is terrible. But, it is home and not without its charm. Mainly, the river area, which hasn't changed at all, ever. And this is where I took the only pictures of the trip.







You can see the Buckman Bridge in the background. That is Jacksonville across the river, which I am looking forward to riding sometime. Overall, it was a pretty good trip, and I'm glad we took our bikes. I definitely suggest riding your home town if you have since moved away. It is therapeutic.

I have done some work on my bike, more about that soon and the upcoming races!!!!

NEW BIKE!

So Hank and I wimped out on the Birmingham race. We woke up at 7 a.m. ready to go but looked outside at the gently falling snow and said, "No fucking way". We are from Florida after all. Instead, we slept till 4 p.m. and then rode to the bar. But what did I ride to the bar? Well, I rode my new IRO, now fully built. It was quite the ordeal. I took off work on Thursday to go to Sopo and strip my old frame and transfer everything to the IRO. I got there at like 8:30 and barely got everything I needed specialized tools and know how for before they closed at 10:00. I cant give enough props to everyone there who helped me out.

I needed some new chainring bolts, which Hank picked up for me on Friday, and I installed Friday night when Hank made it to my place around 1 a.m. That night involved installing my cranks and chainring, which was bent to all hell, hammering said chainring back into some sort of round shape, and shortening a chain with a hammer, screwdriver, and a lot of angry phone calls at 2 a.m. The end result is both beautiful and tragic.





Actually, I'm not at all sure what is tragic about it. I just threw that in for poetic license. That night also involved a trip to Kroger and going to bed at 4 a.m. knowing we would need to be up and on the road to get to the race by 7:30. Who the hell starts a race at 11 a.m. where they want people from out of town to show up? Oh well, Fixed Fight is on the horizon.