Good Luck

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Good Luck,
Allen & Violet Large.

Vacation?

 "Damnit Janet" - to quote my old boss.
 Been gone for a year!
There's burnout for you, or a change in direction, or an inability to multitask... I don't know.
It felt like all the time I dedicated to cycling, I just shifted onto art.
Neither completely leaves, but 100% of either becomes completely lifesucking draining. 
Balance. That's it.
 So it's been a year of trips to NYC, photo jobs, painting, gallery shows, semi-pointless self promotion, a ton of dog fostering, a new dog, a huge clearing out of bike inventory in a move to simplify one aspect of my life. This break has given time to reflect on why I even commute by bike.
It's funny as I occasionally read the obvious driver comments on any thing cycling related.
There's no self righteousness in commuting.
 Nothing dignified in suffering.
It's not always convenient.
I'm not looking for a pedestal.
 Most of the time I'm just trying to get from fucking point A to B without getting killed by an idiot.
 And... unfortunately THAT altercation happens about once a week.
And then I get fired up.
And I think I can change things, or I need to vent.
And then I just get tired of it.
 And then you go back out into it.

Backseat Bikes?

Sure.
The last two months have been all art.
FOUR shows opened on one week!
Then off to NYC for
Fountain Art Fair @ the Armory.
So biking other than commuting has
been of the radar.

But Cambridge is coming up,
and there's still another single speed
waiting to be built.
Busy!

Not on the curb, yet!

Chaos has derailed my feeble attempt
at regular posts. But I'm gonna drag
this blog back to the top of the
driveway.

Kind of hard to do a bike blog with
daily posts - that isn't recycled news
that has already been spread around
the small bike-blogosphere. And to
write daily about the commute? Goes
like this:
"ugh, cold. Stiff legs"
"ok, go!"
"argh, stupid pothole"
"c'mon! Give me some room!"
"jackass!"
"remember, warmer mitts tomorrow"
"could you pass any closer?!"
"what time is it"
"am I late?"
"wonder if I smell funky?"
"what's that creaking sound?"

There you go.
Every commute more or less,
in announcer form.

Time

It doesn't always fly when you're
having fun.
Sometimes it's just GONE!
I actually think it's relative to your age.

When you're 10 years old,
a quarter or half a year seems to be
a pretty long time. It's a considerable
fraction of your life.

But after a couple of decades,
three or six months is a drop in the
bucket of life.

So I guess I'm just old,
and not that well planned,
for the most part.

I thought I made a pretty simple goal,
to update this blog frequently. Whether
it's lazily riding the bus home from
work, during commercials on late night
tv, or sitting on the crapper.
Results are not so good for January.

No Heroes

Post on Pink Bike, video on Palmer soon?

Think what you may,
Palmer kills it, and almost himself.
I would much rather see a disrespectful punk
than an uptight and bland anything. Anytime.

Looks like the Duane Peters video - but FASTER!

Pink Bike

PINKBIKE photos!
This really helps with the winter-lack-of-motivation thing.
Now really psyched for another round of Battenkill
AND World Cup.

Schedule is filling fast and I haven't even cleared January!

One Speed

for me is slow.
So it's kind of a 'downtime'
to sort things out.

Right now it looks like the year of
single speed, for me.
Think it'll be another year of shooting
races vs actually racing.
That's how this last season went.
I'm a mid pack cat 4,
or a decent photographer.
So I'll just put my focus on that.

My bike focus has been on the 'lil
bastard. Which gets me around just
fine.

Projects?! Do I hear Projects?!

I don't know where I've been for the last six months,
but this caught my eye:


I have loved the Quadangle/Slingshot/GT triple triangle style frames
for years.
But the Quad has always been a favorite.
But I've learned my lesson trying to relive the younger days on a 20",
now I can have both!

STOKED!
(not so stoked on the 7+ lb weight).

Moca Bikes

A little surprise when visiting Mass MoCA.... fleet of Public/MoCA bikes.

Regardless of bikes,
worth the trip for art alone.

Self Portraits

No need for a camera,
simple phone pic.
Halfway home.

Wishful Thinking!

Add to the resolutions...
just a little more pop to my hop.
REEEEDONKULOUS!

Random Resolutions

Ride with the kids more!
More, as in all of the time!

I simply did not go out for enough
"fun rides" around the neighborhood.

For a guy who fights cars to & from
work, by the time I get home I'm not
thinking about the little ones (and now
not so little) that want to get out on
bikes. I may set some what of an
example, but I'm not alot of fun.

Random Resolutions

Clean up the work bench
so it resembles this, a little.
So I don't buy a pedal wrench
because I can't find the first one,
and end up using a crescent wrench
cause I can't find the second one.

Don't even start on the open end's.
Or the drill bits.

Bike Art

Rather a frame found laying on the
street.
Found Art.

Child Labor

When it's ass hot out,
and the drill starts to dumb your hand,
probably the best money spent -
a kid Lego crazed and in need of a
Lego fix.

Project Soulville:

Can You Dig It?

The copper/bronze color,
whitewall gum tires,
the rack,
and under $600?

Was kinda psyched on this big guy
lurking in the corner of the LBS.
Fuji Portuer.
But I've got the Soulville project
laying in the basement in a bunch
of pieces. And after it gets finished,
it'll do the same job.....
But I still like it none the less.

But I might need some tweed.

Catch it!

$1.99!
Get on that shat!

A skate mag?
Sure!
Why?
Because I trust you most likely skated,
then you got old & fat & became
relatively unimportant. Don't worry, it
comes with time. Happened to Elvis,
and everyone hip in the 80's. You're
no different!

Anyways, it's nice to wax nostalgia
like you use to wax curbs. Grab it
while it's still on the stands. Think
about how awesome you were, maybe
dust off the board & roll around the
block. Then when the dreams are
crushed, go grab the bike & pedal out
your mid life angst.

Sorry Charlie

Brown.

So one of the resolutions,
and there's many,
is a post a day!

Here you go,
a sorry little tree that perfectly sums
up my lack luster bike year of twenty
eleven.

Yes, I know I'm a couple days behind.
So there's more on the way.
Now go stare out of the window
and think of happy warm thoughts.
Unless you live in some dreamy
tropical climate.... then I envy you.

Still Rolling...

Well, it's been a while.
Cross season is over,
unless you're doing Nationals.
The road guys are bolting up
for a winter of indoor trainers.
And the commuters have dwindled
to the dedicated few.
And those with no other options.
I fall somewhere in between both.

I hit my five year slump in dedication
and spent the last couple of months
not racing,
and appreciating the expanded limits
of using a car.

Sometimes, not having a car or the
option of using a car, can make me
feel like a total loser. But I'm also
very aware of the addictive or
uncontrolled decisions I make when
I have a vehicle. More on that later.

Right now I'm trying to build up the
motivation to be a dedicated winter
commuter, again. The torrential rain
that seems to be promising snow
for my commute home tonight makes
the thoughts that much more intense.