"And so... And then..."

As a child, my brother used to say that when he was in the middle of telling a story he was making up. He used it as sort of a placeholder while he decided which direction his often fantastic stories would take him (and whatever adult would listen). This blog recounts reality the way I see it, but I haven't been writing lately because I haven't felt I had anything to say. Mainly, that is due to not really knowing what is next for me. It helps me to have an idea of where I am going with a story in order to fill in the middle parts. My life seems to be a lot like this; without a clear finish line, I find it difficult to head in any one direction. I hope that out of this lack of direction may come the clarity of purpose in what's to be the next chapter of my life. I'm optimistic, but realistic.
I quit working at the bike shop, which was difficult for me to do. I really have this strange attachment to bicycles, which I can easily see lasting the rest of my life. There are a lot of things to like about bikes, and the mechanical aspect seemed the most appealing to me. Bikes are simple machines, and working on them requires few specialized tools, but often a vast knowledge of the interactions between components. Most people who profess that they have this knowledge do not, and I've seen plenty of ignorance pass for gospel. Even with knowledge, a good mechanic can be betrayed by a poorly designed component, and the end result can appear the same.
In working at the shop, I enjoyed pursuing at least some level of perfection with each bike I repaired. (Of course, that level varied drastically with each instance!) The bikes were the easy part. People could be an entirely different story. Even though I felt I did my best to see that each customer had every need and want attended to, there were always going to be things that slipped through the cracks, creating an end result that could go off in any direction. I guess I could say that I was fortunate to go on for as long as I did without this happening. My good intentions could have been betrayed by misunderstandings at any point. What did happen, I will probably never really know, but things transpired which left me unable to effectively do my job any longer, and that was difficult for me for a while. I do belive that lies were told, and the people who told them know who they are.
I'm not saying this because I expect any justice to come of this. I've moved on. The next chapter of my life is yet to be written, but it's gonna take a while to get the editing right. I'm bound to have some restarts and reworks, maybe even throw a few pages in the trash, but eventually I'll get this novel written. Until then, I'm making it up as I go along, and so... and then..
just please bear with me.

Telemarketers

I usually thank them for calling and tell them I'm not interested. If that doesn't work, I just hang up. I'm glad I don't have to do that for a living.
http://crazytelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

Ultremo- R recall

This may not be entirely factual, but I'm trying to scoop velonews, cyclingnews, etc.
Schwalbe Ultremo-R tires are being recalled.

Previosly, they issued this warning about bulges in the tires, but now it has moved to a full recall of all "Ultremo-R" tires. My guess is that they will announce this soon. Or maybe they already have, and I'm scooping nothing....

Single Sunday

Last Sunday, Dale and I drove up to Comlara Park to do some 29er singlespeeding. Dale brought his brand new Singular, and I have to say it was looking pretty sweet. We got there early, and I think we only saw two other riders the whole time we were out. One was a guy on a full suspension Turner that wasn't wearing a helmet, but was wearing a headband on his nearly bald head. I thought that was interesting. Trail conditions were very good, and even the weather was nearly perfect- cool and with a light breeze. It looked like we might get rain on the way up, and it rained on us a little during the ride, but not enough to get us or the trail wet! In all, it was a great time on the bike, and I'm ready to do it again sometime.

Looking good!  Dale ordered this from his friend Marty. Frame is new, parts are off his old Mary.

Detail of Phil Wood eccentric. I think that if you were stranded in the woods, you could take this out and use it as a signal mirror; it's that polished.

The Mary hasn't been ridden much. Hate to say it, but I think the Sigular is lighter, and handles better. Time to sell?

Light reading

I just got on the internet to check Howtoavoidthebummerlife.com, and I realized that it had not been updated in some time. This is strange, Stevil usually updates the same times every week I thought, so I did some investigating. I soon came to the same conclusion that you probably already have- Stevil has moved on from Swobo, and is now at http://www.allhailtheblackmarket.com/ (just in case you didn't already know). So much for a PSA... I need to read that blog regularly, and so do you.
Speaking of reading, I haven't read anything that didn't offer a subscription in years. I still haven't finished Joe Parkins' book "Dog in a Hat", so graciously loaned to me by a shop patron about 5 months ago (thanks Michelle!). So far, it's been pretty good, but a few weeks ago I found myself in a Barnes and Noble and wandering AWAY from the magazine rack. I ran across a new book (which I probably won't finish) called "Decoding the Universe" by Charles Seife. I think that book titles tend to draw me in, usually only to disappoint later. Maybe that's why I seldom finish them. I expect that by reading the book, I will be able to decode the universe, although I find it slightly disconcerting that it was on the sale rack for $5.98. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I read the first sentence on the first page: "Civilization is doomed" Of course! I agreed. I'm pretty sure that when is the question, but that can possibly be answered by the LHC's finding of the Higgs boson and dark matter and things like that. Right? We can only theorize. This book has me excited to read it, I just hope I can actually finish it.

Empathy

Empathy is a big word right now, made popular again by the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. Personally, I feel empathy for her for having to put up with infantile questioning from our idiotic members of congress. Oops- that's actually sorrow I feel for her.
It's really too bad, but for a while now, I've felt I cannot discuss the goings on in the shop for fear someone will recognize their bad behavior on this blog and I'll be in big trouble. Then I ran across this craigslist entry, and felt that recently rediscovered feeling. So I'm going to suggest going here to see someone elses' experiences. I can't belive that nearly all of these things happen to me, too.
Wait, yes I can.
P.S. I can't condone craigslist for anything but humor. Buying a bike off craigslist is not recommended. I could tell you why, but it would be more fun for you to figure it out yourself. And by fun, I mean a giant clusterfuck. Oh, sure you could get lucky and get a great bike for a low low price, but it's highly unlikely. As in winning the lottery unlikey. Which by the way, is a complete and total waste of your time. If you're not smart enough to figure that out, I really wish that you'd at least stop wasting my time, when you're standing in front of me in the gas station, and all I want to do is pay for my Gatorade so I can get back to my ride, but you just have to keep checking your numbers and making sure you played all the newest scratch- off games just in case you had a few dollars left in your pocket that the government hadn't gotten ahold of yet. Oh, yeah, and don't forget your pack of cigarettes- wouldn't want you living long enough to actually wise up and realize you're never going to win.

In other news...

Can't the Tour afford security? Or is that actually what they hired Le Badger for? Always funny to see someone take their job so seriously. He's getting good at it, too.

Nobody makes a better tire

I've had these on order for a few months now, but Vittoria was out of them. Straight from Thiland, 320 TPI of supple goodness. They even smell wonderful. And they have the new replaceable valve system, so I guess I'll be ordering some longer valves soon, too. (Why would you want to use extenders when you could just install the correct length valve?)

On the other hand: What the hell do I need these for? At this point, I'll be lucky to get a road race in at all this season.

First step is admitting you have a problem

I'm trying desperately to find my motivation, although it keeps eluding me. I can't really even write this poor drivel without it. I'm confessing, to whoever reads this, that I currently ride as much as once a week, and no more. That's pathetic, I say. You can agree- it's true. Somewhere along the line, I got bogged down with the weight of this life's' "responsibilities" and haven't been able to shake them. In case you're wondering, it's a real tactile feeling that something is dragging me down. In reality, it's probably the poor nutrition and atrophy of muscles. It's physically uncomfortable. I want to blame someone or something for my condition (or lack of condition), but there is only me. Spring didn't go the way I had hoped, and now the race season is shot. At this point, I would settle for just getting out for a ride a few times a week, but even that has been a struggle. There always seems to be something of greater importance, or worse yet, the thought that some extra rest would do me good. It hasn't.
Somehow, I've got to get away from all of it. The TV, phone, job, computer, people... all of it, and just ride. Years ago, I saw a TV show featuring Jesse James. In the midst of his hand- hammering of a gas tank, he made a bold statement about his philosophy on his motorcycle builds, and how strongly he felt that they should not have accessories like cup holders and radios and such. He seemed to be saying that the more you add these things onto the bike, the more distracted and less pure the experience of riding would become. His minimalist approach brought focus to the rider, and through this they could feel more connected to the machine, the road, and the environment around them. His viewpoint on this seemingly trivial choice to not add accessories struck a chord with me: In cycling, I tend to eshew everything that is not absolutely necessary to survive. Packing for a ride changes according to the distance, weather, and even the route, but rarely do I haul around equipment that I don't use. Lately, it's occurred to me: that's the stand I've got to make, on the bike and off. I'm going to try to get back to the basics, the essentials that let the soul of the ride come though, unfiltered.
Of course, more recently Jesse hooked up with Sandra Bullock and then got a new show called "Jesse James is a Dead Man" in which he appears to have made the unfortunate transformation from lone wolf to total douche.

Man, I hope that's not what's happening to me.

Motivational Tool

Now every day that goes by that I don't get a ride in, I'll hate myself more and more. It's okay for you to hate me too, but so far only one day has passed since it has been assembled. So be gentle.

P.S. -the white bar tape will be gone soon, I promise.

Dirty

I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a clean freak. Not as much anymore as when I was younger, but I still don't like to get that dirty. My parents love to tell stories about how their little boy would get his hands dirty eating dinner or playing outside and completely freak out until someone came to the rescue with a towel or a wet nap. I don't find their stories as amusing as everyone else, partly because they are about me. Wouldn't you freak out too if you were three years old and suddenly your hands were covered in dirt? Maybe it's not normal, but it's me.
So now I'm a lot older, a little more mature, and I still don't like to get that dirty. Problem is, I have a job that requires it on a daily basis. Sure, I've seen the shops in the magazines with their hardwood floors and hardwood benches that look like you would enjoy eating off them. I've been to bigger cities and seen them in person. I'd like to walk in to a place like that with the Huffy that's been in the barn for about 5 years, completely covered in dust and cobwebs. Or the Magna with dog shit on the pedals because the kid thought that it made a good scraper for his shoes. Or just about any mountain bike after a hard, soggy ride in deep midwest loam. I have a feeling they would tell me to get the fuck out of their shop- and don't track dirt on the way out.
That's not my reality, although I've often thought that the shop should at least have a separate cleaning charge for extra dirty bikes. Instead, we charge the same six dollars to change a tube in a tire covered in mud and thorns as we do to change a completely pristine one. We charge the same forty dollars to tune up a clean road bike as we do for one I have to spend fifteen minutes just chiseling mud out of the brake calipers and front derailleur. My point is this: Is it fair for customers to bring in bikes that are extremely dirty to have service performed? The dirty bike takes more time to work on, more time to clean up after, and more supplies (cleaner, rags, degreaser) to get the bike operational.
Of course, I know the answer to that question.
So what can be done? I have tossed around the idea of installing a pressure washer outside the shop, but that costs money, and to justify the expense, prices would need to go up. I also don't know exactly what the logistics of using the pressure washer would be, but I'm sure the user (most likely me) would be pretty wet and outside the shop for a certain amount of time, unable to assist customers when they come in. So basically, I would need a pressure washer and a lackey to run it, or someone to cover me while I run it.
Another solution would be to just turn away dirty bikes: Since dirty bikes comprise approximately 98% of our repairs, I don't think that's really a solution, though. (But I would like to see the look on the customers faces when I tell them in my best fake British accent "So sorry, but your bicycle is much too dirty for me to touch, Thank You".)
The best thing people could do would be to clean their own bikes before they bring them in. They really should be cleaning them on a regular basis anyway, and not just because the bike looks better. It really will perform better if it is kept clean. I get asked all the time about the proper way to clean a bike, but it's just so simple: Get a hose and get off the big stuff. Next, grab a sponge or rag and get off all the stuff that is still stuck on. Grab a rag you don't need anymore and degrease the drivetrain. Lube it back up when you're done, wiping the sideplates clean. Use a clean rag and the polish of your choice to shine and protect the frame. Bingo! You're done! As a bonus, you get to run your hands over every part of your bike and visually inspect parts for anything out of the ordinary. And if you notice anything you can't handle on your own, you can bring your newly cleaned bike to your local mechanic, and he will be so astonished that you cleaned your bike first that he may even forget to charge you full price for the repair.
Yeah, we both know neither of those things is going to happen. So bring me your dirty, disgusting bicycle, and I'll try my best not to freak out.

NAHBS 2009

Went to NAHBS over the weekend. Saw some very nice stuff. Met Richard Sachs and got a signed copy of "Imperfection is Perfection". Later I realized that I just paid $30 for a DVD that is only 28 minutes long. We spied Dario Pegoretti as soon as he walked into the show. He had his coat on the whole time he was there. We stalked him for about 20 minutes, watching him down shots of some kind of alcohol provided from a secret location. Finally, Dru went over to ask a question and get his autograph, but one of his entourage interrupted him and told him "Dario only wants to talk about women today". He signed Drus' show program, which featured a photo of Carl Strong on the cover: "Carl is a great builder" and his name. I wouldn't have expected any less strange of an interaction with this eccentric frame builder.

Talked to Molly Cameron in the Vanilla booth, and that was very cool; he's an extremely nice guy. I have followed his blog for a while now, and seen him race several times, so it was great to actually speak with him. Later, he was hanging out with Ben Popper, and so I got to meet him too. The coolest part of the show was how accessible everyone was. Over the course of two days, we talked to many frame builders, racers and industry people, and they were all willing to spend time talking about seemingly anything (except Dario- women only).

Although we had absolutely no plans to purchase anything at the show, Dru and I (supposedly) ordered the last two DeSalvo 10th anniversary road frames for ourselves. After filling out the info sheet, we shook hands with Mike DeSalvo and headed over to the Anvil booth, where we finally found out where the liquor was coming from: Out from under the counter appeared a bottle of 13 year old Kentucky bourbon. We downed shots to celebrate the fact that our finances were probably going to kill us when we got home, and they went down so smooth. Oh well, at least we got a deal on the frames. We will probably be getting them in June, but we'll need to figure out geometry now and component choices in the next few months. I've never owned a custom bike before, but I think that it was about time.... right?

Now I have to go ride the trainer and watch my overpriced DVD about four times in a row.

Photos Here

New Hoops

Katie is getting these super- pimp wheels to race on this season as sort of a belated Valentines' present. How spoiled am I that I can get away with giving bike parts as gifts? I've pretty much got it made... but let's get back to the wheels.

Let me break them down for you:

Hubs: American Classic Road rear 32 Hole

American Classic MTB front 32 Hole (had to do MTB to get 32 hole, read on..)

Rims: Velocity Aerohead, Off- Center rear, *Custom hot pink color courtesy Velocitys' poor application of paint*

Spokes: Sapim Laser 14/17 gauge, black- 2X front, 3X rear

Nipples: Sapim brass, black

Weight: 710g (front)

820g (rear)

This project started because Matt ordered some red 32 hole Velocitys for himself, but when they came in they were this bitchin' hot pink color. Since that was not really what he was hoping for, Velocity sent him a new pair, and this time they were actually red. Which left us with a pair of not red, red rims. That's when I remembered; I have a fiance who, it just so happens, needs a set of wheels and likes the color pink! I refuse to let Katie have carbon race wheels (I'd have to switch her brake pads every time she decided to switch wheels) so I thought this might be the next best thing. Originally, I had ordered a set of Mavic R- Sys, but since the recall, I don't think we'll be getting them in time, and I kind of doubted that they would be the best thing for racing in this area anyway. There are almost no hills, and most races are crits, so a light and not very aero wheel was probably not going to be a great choice. These work out to be a little heavier than that wheelset, but quite a bit cheaper, especially when you factor in the nil cost of the rims.

I used to really dislike American Classic hubs, but they have improved the bearings and tweaked the design over the years to the point where I was willing to give them another try. The weight vs. cost issue is what made me consider them again, but it's nice to see that Bill Shook is apparently still improving his original design. They even have this steel- faced spline on the freehub that is supposed to prevent the cassette from becoming a permanent part of the freehub body like they all used to. These could easily become a favorite, if all goes as expected, and they are still super- easy to service if anything goes awry.

Velocitys' rims are not one of my favorite things, but the price was right, and I've used them many times before. Let's face it though, this project came about due to their poor quality finish. I don't care for the fact that these rims don't have any eyelets to carry stress from the spokes away from the spoke hole, even though they are lighter because of that. (I considered using nipple washers for this build, but decided not to) I also don't like rims without a welded seam- it makes for an uneven build in that area, and the brake pulse can be annoying, or even difficult to control the bike during heavy braking situations. Positives about these rims are relatively low cost and low weight- exactly the theme of this build. Bonus points for the off- center rear rim that evens out spoke tension and length, so I only had to order one size of spoke for the rear. They also seem to be quite durable, in spite of appearances: I can recall several Mavic rim failures, but not one from Velocity. They also have them in lots of colors, (some that they don't even make) if you're someone who can't live with silver or black.

This was my first time building with Sapim spokes, and I have to say I'll probably use them again. Sapims' C-X ray bladed spokes are the companies most well known product, and they are really great, but the Laser double- butted spokes that I used here were very nice as well. And less than half the cost. My only complaint was that the finish looked like it was coming off a little while I was lacing them up, but I think all spokes should be silver anyway. I only agreed to build with the black ones because Katie wanted them, although they probably do look better with black spokes. So that's the new wheelset: Did I mention that they are HOT PINK?

Double- You, Tea, Eff*

A few warm days in a row, plus an article in the local paper, has prompted people to dig their bikes out of the barn where they have comfortably resided for the past 5 years, (on average) and bring them to the shop for me to perform some sort of black magic/ voodoo ritual on them in which the bike magically changes from Wal- Mart POS into something that Lance Armstrong would be proud to ride around the neighborhood. Formerly weak, squealing brakes should be powerful and silent. Chains should run silently and gear shifts should be smooth and precise. The layer of dust and bird shit that formerly encrusted the entire machine, obscuring the name and model of the bike should be absent, and in their place, a showroom shine just like the bikes for sale on the shop floor.


People: be realistic. If you bring me your twenty year old Huffy for a tune- up, you're getting back your twenty year old Huffy minus some dirt; cables that move, brake pads that aren't hard as granite and oh, yeah, a bill for about $120. That's dollars. Do I need to mention to you that thing didn't cost that much new?

Today started off with a phone call and a simple question. "How much for a tire and brakes for a bike? " There is not a simple answer to this question, and I am never quite sure how to explain to someone who cannot comprehend that there is more than one price for those items, let alone type of tire and brake system specific to each type of bike, what that costs. Plus tax.


So I asked them to find out what type of bike it was and call me back. Ten minutes later, I got that call. "Are you the one I talked to?" was the response to my greeting, as if I've talked to no one else today, or any day. I decided I must be, since I was the only one there. "Yes" I said to the anonymous voice on the phone. "Yeah that bike is a Pacific... What? (I can hear yelling in the background) ... She tells me the model, but I don't need to hear it. "Yes, but what TYPE of bike is it?" I ask, annoyed. I find out it is a mountain bike, and let her know that tires are about $18 and tubes are $4 for that type of bike. When she asks me if we can work on it while she waits, I let her know that that we don't usually do that, but if it just needs a tire, then we might. She tells me she will bring it in later today. I try to contain my enthusiasm.


*Note to future customers: I cannot see you, or identify you in any way over the phone. PLEASE, at least tell me what you called about last time or give me a name or SOMETHING. Or at least don't get pissed when I don't know who the hell you are or what you are calling about--- because we've NEVER MET!*


When she brings the bike in later on, Matt checks her in and I hear him informing her that it needs a full tune- up, due to the amount of non- functioning parts on the bike. I try not to laugh when she asks if we can do it right now, and Matt tells her absolutely not. I'm not surprised when, after she leaves, Matt wheels a dirty, department store special around the counter, complete with bar- ends pointing towards the rider, and a suspension fork installed backwards.


Next, I get a call from a guy who claims to have just gotten a bike stolen. I think for a second that he's going to tell me some info about the bike, in case we recover it, but he tells me he would like to purchase a new bike. The man on the phone is not very well spoken, but that's not out of the ordinary, and besides, he wants to buy a bike. "Not one of those Wal- mart bikes" he says. (Right on Brother! Now you're talking!) "So what type of bike would you like?" I ask, to get things moving. He tells me he had "One of them Giant bikes" and so I am left to assume his former conveyance was a hybrid. Or maybe a mountain bike. Or a cruiser. Or... He then tells me that he has a whopping $300 to spend. (OK! hybrid it is then!) I informed him that we currently have some models on sale for $299. (Yeah, that's over $300 with tax, but this guy's not thinking about that) He tells me that he may be by later to look at them.


Later in the day, Matt took a call from a man offering $50 if we would drive to a town located about 20 minutes south of us to pick him up so he could look at bikes. Also, he was 5' 11", so he would need an extra- large frame- did we have those in stock? Matt told him he probably only needed a large frame size, and that he couldn't give rides today: he was the only one in the shop at the time. Little did I know that the drunk I talked to on the phone was the same guy calling for the ride. About two hours later, he showed up, smelling like a brewery and leaving me to sell him something while Matt hid in the back. He apparently had talked someone into driving him to the shop.


Knowing that this man had a DUI, just had his bike stolen, needed the bike for transportation (to and from the bar?) and just payed someone $50 dollars for a 40 minute car ride, I thought there was no way this guy was leaving the shop without a bike, I just had to find the right one. His replacement bike turned out to be a 17" Cannondale (Large?) that he spotted in the used bike row in the front of the shop. He asked me the price, which was $320, and promptly stated he would give me $300. CASH. As if that made a difference. When I agreed, we made our way back to the sales counter, where he laid out three crisp hundred- dollar bills, in such a flourish that I had to remind myself that I have, in fact, seen hundred- dollar bills before in my life. A few times.


This was too easy. I had to push it a little further. "How about a lock for that new bike so it doesn't disappear like the last one?" I told him. For some reason the quote "a fool and his money are easily parted" kept rattling around in my head, but this actually was a mutually positive suggestion. He agreed, and I grabbed a cable lock off the wall. The total purchase came to just over $320, but he handed me another hundred. I wasn't sure that the drawer contained enough for change, and a quick look confirmed this. I informed him that I didn't have change, and did he have anything smaller? A couple of minutes of hunting in his pockets produced the necessary $22 dollars and the deal was done! I handed him a shiny quarter back in change, to which he queried " Could you break this hundred?; Just give me two fifties" I daydreamed for a second how blissful it would be if I, too, were an ignorant drunk, but quickly snapped back to reality. "I... don't... have... change for a hundred" I explained to him slowly, partially due to staggering disbelief and partially so he would understand me.


In the future, I may tell you about the woman that came in late today who we ordered a single- speed beach cruiser for, so she could race triathlons, and then decided that it was too heavy for her to lift onto a car rack, but I'm afraid that only bike- shop personnel are equipped to handle such large amounts of idiocy in a single day. And I don't want to endanger my readers mental health. Like mine is. On a daily basis.

*WTF

I'm no Lennard Zinn, but..

I am on the net in an instructional video. Check out Matt and I discussing the finer points of changing a flat. Not bad for one take and nearly no edits! It was a little like a porn shoot with Dan on the video and Jason shooting stills the whole time. Not that I know what a porn shoot looks like.

Winter

Winter at the shop is an exercise in patience. At times, entire days go by with no one stopping in. The floor is now completely stocked with new bikes just waiting for the first warm day of spring, when someone might stop in and take one home. Accessories hang from the slat wall and collect dust, and tires slowly lose air. Lunches are eaten without interruption. The day ends and I go home on time. Everything seems strange and backwards: With consumer spending going the way it has been, I hope spring brings as much traffic as we have had in the past. Not that it matters to me, since I don't have to pay the bills and keep the shop going; but it still matters that the shop does well, so I keep my job. As much as I don't want to worry, I still do. It seems that the layoffs and misfortunes with the economy have caused most people to take a look at their spending habits and make changes, and that's bound to affect the amount of product we sell this year. But for now, it's the waiting game that happens every year. Spring can't get here soon enough.

Although it's not all cold and boredom. I've actually had quite a few repairs come through, which combined with new bike assemblies, has kept me busy so far this month. And just the other day, a guy stopped in to have a look around and eventually asked me for the most ridiculous thing you can ask for at the bike shop: A tandem recumbent. (You might have thought this item would be the adjustable kickstand, but you would be wrong; that is only number two on the list.) I could hardly contain myself, this was the first request I have gotten for one, but I managed to take his number down so that I could call him back with a price (!) on the contraption. (No way I knew that off the top of my head) I'm not sure why they even make a monstrosity like this, but now I'm dying to know just how many of these things get sold every year. It's probably worth the phone call to the distributor just to ask that question. I would guess that Florida gets most of them (they also are the largest buyer of adult trikes) and they probably sit in a garage for most of their life while the strange old men who buy them try to talk their strange old wives into taking a spin on what they probably perceive as a dual-seat death trap. No worries here, they are too expensive for someone to buy on a whim, and we don't stock recumbents anyway, although we'd be happy to order one for you, as long as you pay for the extra shipping costs. Wierdo. Truth is, the guy probably wasn't interested in buying one, and probably just was one of those people that wants to know what everything costs- especially something like that. Oh, well- I'll humor him- it's not as though I don't have the time to quote him a price.

It's unlikely that warm weather will arrive anytime soon, but I'll wait it out, because I have had many jobs so far in my life, but none can compare to the crazy extremes of the bike shop. It's always interesting, and patience is just one of many skills you can hone in the shop environment.

Why Bother?

Got a ride in yesterday. It was a little warmer than usual, though not the 50 degrees we had here on Thursday. I think it was 33 degrees at noon, which was ride time. At first, it was nice to have a few people to ride with to get things going, but after heading out on the bike path at around 22 MPH with the wind, we reached the point where we had to head back into the wind. I got dropped almost immediately, which was unexpected. I should have known that taking nearly two months off with almost no physical activity would have this sort of result. I twice contemplated getting off and tossing my bike in the ditch, but I would never really do that. Katie dropped back to help, as if I wasn't feeling bad enough before. I told her I was thinking we should get hybrids this year. She remained upbeat, and helped me finish the ride. What a way to start off the season, huh?
Today it was 6 degrees and I didn't get outside. I think I'll set up the trainer in the basement after all. I have three weeks until the last cross race of the year, so I'm not worried about it. Yet.

A New Year?

A new year is already 16 days old and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. A few things have changed this year, and I should tell you about them. During our time in California, I asked Katie to marry me and she said "yes". As a result, I have a new address (We've actually been living together for about 5 months now). The team roster is changing, as are the kits we'll be wearing (not quite finished with the design yet). Everything seems new except the name of this blog. I'm open to suggestions: what else could I call it? I thought of several names when I started this thing, here are a few:

Lennard Zinn Sucks
BikeSnobSPFLD

Okay, I only thought of those two. I settled pretty early in the process. I may not change it, but i'd like to hear some suggestions, and see if anyone actually reads this.

In other news:
Katie is already driving me nuts with this wedding crap. Blah, blah, blah, I hope we decide on a place and time soon, before I shoot myself. Of course, then we won't have to do any more planning. Maybe that is a solution after all. Or at least jumping out of a plane and faking my own death; escaping on a motorcycle I kept at a friends' storage facility. (Damn, that guy ruined it for the rest of us) It seems early to plan all of this, but I am learning that there are a lot of things that have to come together all at once to make this thing happen, and most of them are already booked. I'm also learning that this stuff is about ten times more expensive than I estimated. It's sort of like throwing a big party, but you have to put a down payment on the house you're having it in and oh, yeah, the liquor costs five times what you'd pay if you bought it at the store. Maybe we should just go to Vegas like everyone told us....