This blog began with an earnest attempt to catalog some of the things I think about while I ride. I’ve focused on taking random thoughts from the ol’ noodle and firming them up a bit. But, I’d also like to dive into the pandemonium. I’m hoping to give a more accurate of some of the …
For time immortal (or, roughly 2006, when fixed gear and brakeless riding became a hot trend in cities across the globe), you find the sporadic article highlighting endemic parts of “city cycling culture”. This includes topics such as, what is a fixed gear, why do these cyclists ride dangerously, from where does the culture draw …
Having scouted the route out the day before, I discovered that a policed road block had been put up, re-routing traffic away from a key stretch of the original route. Damn. I spent that afternoon deliberating over way to do. Originally, I was unable to imagine how the route could be shortened dramatically, keeping entirely …
CDCX is a go tomorrow. I have a firm understanding of the temporal nature of the area of the race. I decided today to have one last crack at the route, to insure that there hadn’t been any large changes to the roads. Alas, I was met with misfortune and discovered a key stretch has …
With the CDC骑 race/ride series out in the open air, I’ve felt the pressure to get all my ducks in a row, and begin the process of scouting and designing the race routes. Sunday proved sunny and warm(ish), so it seemed an opportune moment to ride the upper stretch of the intended CDCL route (part …
I’ve been doing a regular ride in an area slated for destruction. On my most recent ride through the area the idea struck me: Why not run an unsanctioned race/ride through here? I’d thought about this before, a half dozen times over the years, always excited at the opportunity to introduce people to this wild …
In the West, within the cycling community there’s always an organic appreciation for sport and the value of competition. It’s prescient in everything from grassroots alleycats, to larger, more corporate races. If you decide to race, you’re likely to be forever marooned in a cycle of money-spending to fuel your improvement within the sport. Races …
Every bunch ride has what I classify as the “bike mom”. The nefarious but vital services of a bike mom are similar to the pro peloton’s domestique but with a touch more care, coddling and attentiveness that comes in lieu of a support vehicle. It’s a role of planning, sacrifice, love and care. And it’s …
It weighs on me like a lead vest, lying pronate in a doctor’s office waiting for the click-whir of an X-ray machine. What are we looking at? Anticipation is the run-up to a distinctive moment, a grand reveal that holds thousands of potentialities but a singular result. Anticipation is excitement and doubt. It’s anxiety. It’s …
Frustration. It chases me like a pack of dogs up a hill. I’m easily frustrated. With anticipation’s furlough, fury boils in its place. Frustration pushes me to the edge and howls at me ceaselessly for my inability to jump. It’s the same recipe for anticipation, except loathing replaces anxiety. Frustration is the excitement of the …
Failure. Racing is practicing the art of failure. Deciding to race is actively placing your fragile ego in an environment surrounded by goliaths with foam-padded bats who have every intention to maul your sense of self-worth. Failure is the process through which you supersede your frustrations and allow yourself the opportunity to gestate. Gestation is …
Achievement. To succeed is to be wholly elated with an outcome. It is a feeling of accomplishment, a flawless agreement in the causal chain. If I prepare and if I train, then I will deliver a result commensurate. I have trained hard, ridden fast and far, and to be the fastest is the only desirable …