Road Bike Road Rage: Happy Ending

This morning I woke up in the middle of a shitty dream. Not a nightmare mind you but a real pile of shit. This was not a good way to set the day in motion. I was in a crappy mood at breakfast. I had less than the usual amount of patients with my girls, (Who are freakin' awesome.) which made me feel even shittier. I hopped on the road bike and headed to work with my shitty crappy attitude in tow. After a mile or so I was doing swell; fresh air, bike, etc. Then someone honked at me and the shittyness of the morning came on like garbage truck, dropped off the Empire State Building. My mind swirled with the fictional altercation that would ensue. The perfectly dispatched justice the honker would receive via my mouth and fists. In the middle of the swirl of anger my rational side would intersect words of calm. "You are really spinning on this. Take it down a notch."  Slowly my mind stepped back from the edge and I let the bike ride consume me. Thinking about nothing I crested a hill at a busy intersection with no light. An Escalade pulled up behind me. With no chance to cross I circled back around to let the big guy get in front so he could make a right turn. As I passed his window he rolled it down and said in a loud voice...

"You know, it really annoys the shit out of me..."

I'll stop the quote there. It was at this point that the bear woke again. This is going to be the culmination of my mornings shit pile. This mother fucker has no idea what he's about to open up. It may result in some jail time but this fuck stick is about to get the business end of a beat down!

"You know, it really annoys the shit out of me how fast you got up that hill! I just started biking. It's changed my life! I've been doing my best but god dammit!"

In that instant the several things happened:

1. I got happy. I'm not going to jail!
2. I got really happy. My previously mentioned bear was now on a tire swing made out of marshmallow dandelions, blowing kisses at squirrels and bunnies.
3. I got pride. This dude found biking.
4. I got gratitude. I was grateful this guy took away my rage and replaced it with some deep introspection to chew on.     

"If it helps you I kinda feel like I'm gonna throw up a little bit" I said. An with a belly laugh he exclaimed "Bless you!" and sped off.

I don't often feel that kind of anger, but today I did and was lucky enough to have someone come along and extinguish it, and for that I am grateful. 

I should say this is not a car vs. bike thing, it's just where the two of us happened to be this morning. 

The Big Question: What Kind Of Bike Should I Get?

I think I have an average amount of friends, family and acquaintances. I'm not going to count them because I don't care and you sure as hell don't. It's probably a fair amount of people. I thought about this number just now to illustrate the point that a very high percentage of those friends,  family members, coworkers etc. have asked me the same question which is usually is the beginning of the same conversation.

Person - Hey man,(son, bro, pal, coworker, handsome, dipshit...) I want to get a bike, what kind should I get?

Me - What do you want to do with it?

Person - Well I'm looking for a pro-level all mountain big dropping race ready road bike to do cyclocross centuries on while I pick up the kids from the downtown grocery store on my way to do a two night bike tour with the rotary club.  

Me - Awesome! How much do you want to spend?

Person - $250

Me - No.

Person - Huh?

Me - NO! Spend more money on bikes. You'll be happier. 

Person - No.

Me - Huh?

Most if the time this is where the conversation ends. If prodded I usually  recommend a Surly of some shape and size. I've had two Surlys, I love them, and they are a good bang for the buck. The problem is my idea of a good deal doesn't jive with most civilians.  To me, $1100-ish for a bike that will never quit you seems like a pretty good deal. 

I'm A Sucker For A Good Infographic

or two...

MacAskill Solo Ride

I like Danny MacAskill. He talks funny... he bikes funny too.


Here's my favorite of his videos.


Quick note: The Jezabels, who do the second song on this video will be in DC at the Rock and Roll Hotel on June 18th. Should be pretty good.

Xtracycle: Always Pepared

I'm always ready to haul.

Morel Mushrooms And A Bike

I found tonight's dinner at lunch today! These yellow morels like to pop up where dead Elm Trees can be found usually near Tulip Poplars. Remember, when you see a mushroom in the woods you are only seeing the fruit of a massive mycelial(?) network. 

Oh yeah! I saw this bad ass Jones with a truss fork too.

All in all it was a good lunch break.

Girvin Sighting!

I saw this proflex on Sunday. The legends are true, mine isn't the last one. 

This is a Yuba Mundo with a copper sissy bar. Very cool.