Jan 27, 2010

Correction:

Okay, I lied. I can kinda use the extra money, but in today's wintry economic climate, who couldn't use a little extra money?

Jan 24, 2010

Everything Must Go!

First let me start off by saying I'm selling a bunch of stuff. Here's the list. If you're interested let me know. It all goes on eBay within the next week or so.

- 2009 Rock Shox SID World Cup fork (blue), used for one season
- 2009 Rock Shox Reba Team for (black), used for one season
- 2009 Gary Fisher Presidio Cyclocross bike with a Dura Ace/Ultegra Mix, RaceXLite tubular wheels, TRP brakes, Bontrager crankset, email me for the rest of the details. Used for one season.
- 2009 Gary Fisher Big Sur MTB frame size medium, one season used.
- 2007 Bontrager RaceXLite 26" MTB wheels, used for two seasons.

I think that's it, but I'm willing to sell just about anything I own right now, with the exception of my first born son. I'm willing to let a lot of this stuff go for cheap. It's not that I need the money, it's that I have too much stuff and I hate having too much stuff. Having too much stuff will make a man go mad, or weight him down. Travel light, I say.

A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

Okay, well a guy never told me that, but Robert De Niro's character said that in Heat, and those, in my opinion, are words to live by. People own and save too much stuff that they don't need or never use. Guess what? We just had consecutive rainy days and I bet you didn't use any of the stuff that you are saving for a rainy day. Sell it all, or give it away.

On another note, http://www.cyclingdirt.org/ is using my image (below) for a story about the 2010 American Mountain Bike Challenge. The photo is from last year's Santa Ynez Kenda Cup and wouldn't you know it, but there's a couple of Bear Valley Bikes guys sucking my wheel. That about sums up my season. Anyway, it's a cool photo. And, coincidentally, I no longer own the bike in that photo. It was part of a pile of stuff that I already sold.

P.S. - If you're fighting tendonitis this winter, like I am, go see Leo at http://www.passpt.com/. He'll fix you up.

P.S.S. - Remember, don't let yourself get attached to anything [stuff] you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.

Jan 12, 2010



About every 3 years I get the itch to become a good swimmer. Right now I’m just a below average swimmer. I haven’t had any lessons or coaching aside from when I was a little kid, and I’ve always just gotten by on general fitness and sheer will not to drown. Plus, it’s always bothered me that I’m such a mediocre swimmer. Some things I don’t mind being mediocre at, like video games or baseball. Video games are for fat kids and baseball is for fat adults, but swimming is just plain badass. When’s the last time anyone had to play a video game or hit a home run to save their own life? Swimming, more specifically, swimming well can save your life and maybe even the life of someone else.

A little over a week ago I started having horrible knee pain while riding. It still hasn’t been professionally diagnosed, but I suspect it’s tendonitis or what’s commonly called runner’s knee. How I got runners knee from not running, I can’t figure out, but my knee hurts like hell. I can’t ride, I certainly can’t run, and even walking is uncomfortable. For a week now I’ve been resting it, icing it, compressing it, and elevating it, but it’s not getting any better. And that’s how I ended up on this swimming kick again. Since I haven’t been able to get any real exercise lately, I opted for swimming at the gym yesterday. I was only slightly successful at it. I definitely got some exercise, but because of my poor form, I can’t swim for long before I’m exhausted, and I’m sure I look like a complete ass doing it.

I’m considering a swim coach, or at the very least someone who can help me not look like an ass when I decide to swim laps. Foist is reported to be a great swimmer, but his attention span is about as solid as backstroke so I don’t think he’d make much of a mentor. Plus, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with him reaching over me to guide my arms and hands into the proper freestyle stroke position. I’m thinking a coach more on the lines of Dara Torres or Amanda Beard.

And if I can get better at swimming, and if I can ever get my knee into working order, maybe I’ll dabble in Xterra or the occasional tri. I hear those are a lot of suffering.