Wonderful Abundance...

The time of year comes again when food springs forth, and there is a’plenty… Greens anyone? My partner gave this garden life, she really deserves thanks in this. Thanks Sweetie! You’ve certainly earned a meal prepared from the bounty!

It's nice to see the sublime display of these wildflowers amongst our food...

***

And now for the 2009 Friends of Tamarancho Invitational race report: I won my Cat2 race! Yay! Now I feel good about moving up to Cat1 and NOT winning for a while. Motivation to go faster, I suppose… I sprinted off the front from the start and just continued to open an increasing gap on the rest of the field. Got into slower traffic fairly quickly, but everyone was fairly casual and courteous about passing. Once I realized I had a solid lead, I backed off a bit and focused on staying smooth and not crashing or flatting. I did rack my head pretty hard on a tree right at the end of B-17 Extension where the main loop is joined; nearly crashed after I went off trail to the downhill side, barely pulled it out… Other than that slight mishap, and a stiff link on my new Whipperman chain, all went very well; I mean, I won…

Yeehaa!!!

They wish they could catch me...

Off the front from the first pedal stroke, and never passed for the remainder of the race... Cat1 here I come!

This is where you just spin and don't burn up...

Happy with the outcome...

The winning bike. Light and fast...

For more ‘Rancho race photos, Sunshine and Danny Forer have posted some good ones… As more become available, I’ll post those links. Good times were had by all…

And so I go to work…

An amazing winter ride from the top of Mt. Tam to Muir Beach. Coastal View trail was in fine form that day! This is one of my favorite legal Marin singletrack rides; a couple thousand feet of descending on some swoopy, fast lines heading down to the ocean. Fantastic views of, well, you guessed it - the coast… Stop in for a bite and a pint at the rustic English style Pelican Inn; you’ll easily imagine Hobbits and such…

***

Fairfax is blessed with many things, and Camp Tamarancho is most certainly one of them. Roughly ten miles of cyclist-built legal singletrack makes this loop a favorite. There are numerous add-ons that create some epic riding here in Marin, but the standard loop is highly satisfying..

Camp Tamarancho

***

Airborn!!!

These images were captured by my friend and co-worker, Scott Parsley, using a Holga (cheap Chinese plastic camera) on some very old film. This was his first good ride after an unfortunate crash on Turkey Day, and an entire roll was shot during this China Camp romp. I had great fun playing on my Ellsworth; what a great bike!

And at the end of the day…

***

I do not believe the Obama administration is substantively different from past administrations, and as the weeks roll on, this will become ever clearer. I do believe, however, that this is our last chance to “get it right” before the collapse becomes irreversible, if it is not already. This “getting it right” will require a deep commitment by Us, collectively, to fundamentally alter our dangerous and destruction lifestyles. Without this, no amount of “stimulus” will save us from the approaching Tsunami, and the wreckage will be monumental to say the least. Perhaps monuments will be erected to our insanity. Perhaps.

***

As the crashing sounds of implosion and disbelief echo around us, I hear the edge of panic in the hushed voices around me; “No one could have known it would be like this!”. But we knew, deep within where the lies cannot penetrate, we all knew. The astonishing thing to me is the grasping at the very way that brought us to this frightening place to begin with! Talk of saving a failed and flawed model is irrational, delusional, and ultimately doomed to horrific failure. We cannot and should not rescue any aspect of our globalized and vastly destructive civilization, and the more energy put to this cause virtually guarantees this Thing which haunts our dreams…

***

These regressive tendencies must be put to rest, because there is so much forward-looking work to be done. A major component of which is the extremely overdue work of cleansing ourselves of the cancerous plague of car culture. This plague is destructive like none Humans have ever known, bringing us to the brink of an unthinkable abyss, to recognize this is to know that we must change our ways, now. Toward this change we ride our bicycles.

A Critical Mass Grows...

***

I enjoyed the ever-so-brief privilege of working with Joe Breeze and the other wonderful folks at Breezer Bikes: Connie Breeze, JT, Amy, and Mitch. It was an opportunity I am very happy to have had; though I do wish the journey had been longer. At InterBike this year, the announcement was made of the sale of Breezer Bikes to Advanced Sports, Inc. (Fuji, Kestrel, and SE bikes). This unfortunately meant the office would be integrated into the Philly headquarters, and I was not moving to Philly… As of now, I’m back at Summit Bicycles for two days a week, wrenching and talking about bikes and bike accessories while I get my independent endeavors started. More on that later…

***

Joe has a vision of what the bicycle means for our ailing society, a vision that I share. He also knows how to design some mighty fine bicycles. For now, the Finesse is the cream of the crop.

Breezer Finesse

From the Breezer Website:

Finesse: The ride of your life—every day. The Breezer Finesse is a fine-tuned speed machine with a new Joe Breeze frame and eye-popping spec. Shimano’s high-performance Alfiné components adorn the butted, lightweight Finesse frame. Notice the chain tensioning bottom bracket and the neatly tucked-away rear brake mount on Joe’s famous Breeze-In dropouts. Among the finery are a compliant carbon fork and seat post, and the innovative Breezer Truss sport rack. Busch & Müller’s new indirectly lit IQ headlight has triple the candlepower of conventional lights. You’ll find the multi-position handlebars a treat. Drop in on the Joe Bars and crank it up!

Frame: Butted aluminum, eccentric bottom bracket, disc and V-brake mounts, Breeze-In dropouts. Fork: carbon fiber blades, disc mounts; option for V-brake mounts. Headset: Cane Creek, Ø1-1/8”, fully integrated, threadless. Cranks: Shimano Alfine with external bottom bracket. Shifter: Shimano Alfine 8-speed Rapidfire Plus. Geared hub: Shimano Alfine multi planetary with silent roller clutches. Brakes: Shimano Alfine hydraulics and center-lock rotors. Wheels: Shimano Alfine, 24 double-butted spokes, 2.3/1.8mm. Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Racer 700×35C with RaceGuard, Kevlar beads and reflective stripes. Seat post: Ritchey Carbon Pro, Ø27.2mm. Saddle: Velo Plush multi-density, tubular Cro-Mo rails. Stem: Ritchey Adjustable, 3D-forged aluminum, +/- 45 degrees. Handlebars: Swept Townies with Joe Bars, ergo grips. Headlight: B&M indirectly lit LED Lumotec Fly IQ Senso Plus standlight. Tail light: B&M LED Toplight-Plus standlight. Dyno hub: Shimano Alfine, 6.0V-3.0W, high-efficiency dynamo. Rear carrier: Breezer Truss sport rack with 14-inch bed. Kickstand: Tubular aluminum. Fenders with mudflaps; ringguard; bell. Gearing 39×18T, 31- to 95-inch range.

***

The ride. So much more than the sum of these fine parts. It is one of those bikes you throw a leg over, and from that initial pedal stroke, you Know. The first thing that struck me was the responsiveness, subtle body english is rewarded with immediate yet stable reaction. The next thing was that Alfine’ hub! What incredible shifting! I’ve used very many drivelines over the years, and this feels by far better than any of it. I’ve not had a chance to ride the new SRAM iMotion 9 yet, and I have heard good things about it, but it will have to work really hard to convince me it’s better. I will say that the extra gear would be welcome, though not the extra weight. With incredibly quick engagement and lightning shifts, sprinting from stoplight track-stands are a breeze; in fact, I’m sure many a driver has been surprised to see me rocket ahead of their fuelish vehicles.

***

The stock spec is fairly well spot-on, yielding a fully equipped commuter weighing in at around 29lbs., with pedals (Mine’s at 35lbs. with all the commuting accoutrements). I have swapped-out two parts, mostly for function, partly for weight-savings. The stock Alfine’ cranks are adequate, though too short for my needs. Shimano, at this time, appears to make only one size, 170mm, and they do not fit all. I am about six feet tall with very long legs, and my previous commuter, an old Marin Pine Mountain, is set up with 180mm cranks (it began life with me as a single-speed). I rode the Alfine’ cranks for a good bit before ordering the black Shimano 105’s at 175mm; this also happened to save me around 140 grams. I also threw on a new set of the Shimano A530 pedals, which trimmed about an equal amount from the cheapies I was using before. Half-a-pound in cranks and pedals… This gave new life to the Finesse, more torque off the line and while climbing, less rotating weight in the pedals, all good things. The second piece was the Ritchy adjustable stem, swapped for a Thomson X2 at 130mm/17 degree rise, which also saved me around 150 grams. Not really anything more to change, the rest works brilliantly.

***

Now that winter has chased the summer light beyond the far horizon, illumination becomes paramount. And for this I can truly appreciate the stellar performance of the Finesse lighting system. The foundation is the Alfine’ dynamo hub, smooth rolling and highly efficient, I am still amazed that I am generating my own power; it’s nearly impossible to notice any drag! On the front-end is the Busch & Muller Lumotec IQ Fly, compact and well-designed, it throws a nearly perfect pattern of sensible light, neatly rectangular, and thoughtfully delineated for oncoming traffic. I still marvel that my efforts are generating that amount of steady, very bright light. Out back, the B&M Toplight Plus does the job quite nicely, enough that I can see a red hue in the mirror reflecting from everywhere as I glide along.

***

The brakes are fantastic, well modulated and with plenty of power, as nearly all of my Shimano hydraulics are (the XTR’s work really well for what they are; super-light race ready equipment, but they are not the best disc brakes I’ve used, that honor is shared between the Magura Gustav M, and the new Shimano XT). The Breezer Town bars are supremely comfortable, and after using them, I find that the Mary bars on my Marin are a bit wide. Ergonomic grips make absolute sense, particularly in this application, and the nerves in my hands are grateful for them. The Velo Plush saddle is wonderfully comfortable, and depending on what the scale tells me, I may consider replacing the WTB Rocket V Ti on my Ellsworth…

***

All-in-all, this bike is a dream come true, almost literally. I was riding that old Pine Mountain every day for many months, building the ideal daily rider in my head. I was not aware of the Finesse, but when I began entertaining the possibility of going to work for Breezer, I soon discovered it. And what a discovery! I am grateful to Joe for designing the bike that had been dancing in my head, it’s sorta uncanny, really. Since the grunt-work was done for me by someone exceedingly well-qualified, I now get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Fruit that is sweet and delicious.

My Finesse at the new house…

]]> http://velocipedal.org/?feed=rss2&p=27 http://velocipedal.org/?p=21 http://velocipedal.org/?p=21#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:03:03 +0000 Spokester http://velocipedal.org/?p=21 It’s so easy to get caught-up in the mess we’re in. All the indicators for many years have foretold this unravelling, and now that it’s actually happening, I am finding myself fascinated in an unhealthy way. I spend way too much time reading about things I have no control over, studying details irrelevant to my daily living. And so, with this understanding, I am resolving to re-focus on matters important, perhaps more important now than ever before.

***

Bikes. Very little about them has been written on this bicycle blog recently, and this shall change. My life focus is still the two-wheeled wonder, and I truly believe it is a key component to the re-shaping of our “Civilization” that is under way. Many things will be radically different in the not-too-distant future, hell, they already are; the least of these will be the methods by which we convey ourselves and our wares from place to place. Many have been fooled by the slump in gas prices over the last few weeks, but fear not, this too shall pass…

***

Many weeks have passed since my last post. Life is a wonderful whirlwind, and dancing with another sure is nice. She moves me, sends my Soul soaring. No doubt I Love her.

***

Most by now will not deny that we are on the wrong path, collectively. Yet most still refuse to take those necessary steps toward that new Way, that better Way. Yes, I know, it’s frightening to turn your back on everything ingrained as Sacred, to walk into a great unknown. This is exactly what MUST be done! Radically so. Now is not the time for half-measures and vacillation, that time is long passed. Now we must run full-on toward that uncertain future of vastly different ways of being. This is the desperate Truth; time to make your choice.

***

Around us the foundational structures that support this Great Lie we all rely upon are rapidly, dangerously crumbling, crashing, dis-integrating. If you don’t see this yet, I’m sorry. Unfortunately, you will. Likely very soon.

***

I have no “plan” for this, only instinct, intuition, experience. Many years of living lightly, requiring very little, have taught me patience and flexibility, to know what’s important, and what’s frivolous. Even though I’ve surrounded myself with the trappings of modern life (sans car), I know I can walk away at any moment. Can you? Trappings. Interesting how our language reflects our condition. Trapped. Most feel this, don’t know a way out. I don’t have easy answers, only to say, now, less is certainly more. Now. Take a time-out, look around, listen, breathe. It is beyond urgent that we stop this madness.

***

I fear, though, that only ultimate pain will stop us. We’ve squandered every rational opportunity, consuming ourselves into exponentially deeper shit. Now we must pay the piper, as it’s said. Unfortunately, however, we’re broke. Our wealth has been subordinated (voluntarily, I might add) to an elite few; our essential resources used and dirtied as if this is a disposable planet. And now come the panicked questions and disbelieving stares. Yes, it’s true, our civilization is in a state of catastrophic collapse, and unfortunately, there’s very little to be done about it now, it’s a bit late for that.

***

A re-balancing is in motion, and a painful one, at that. So, what to be done, at least on a personal level? Well, it’ll be different for everyone, but I can say that it will involve learning to live with less. Less security, everything you’ve taken for granted up to now is crumbling; less food, millions are already fighting for survival; less. This is the hard one for us westerners (Americans, hellooo!), because we’ve been taught it is our inalienable birthright that we are entitled to the ever exponentially expanding More. Yes, it’s a hard one, but that doesn’t alter the truth of it. The more prepared you are to live with less, the better you’ll deal with the transition.

***

Some may wish that they (we) will be able to continue with business as usual (with a few caveats for “green” energy and such), and it’s true that we may drag it out a bit longer; but I think this would be a terrible mistake of tragic proportions. The longer we continue with this, the harder our fall from imagined grace…

***

Get yourself together, remember the important things in life: water, shelter, food, and Love. That last little bit will bring you through much tribulation. To the one I love: thank you for being in my life. I’m here for you in any way I can be…

***

May we find the light that guides us to Peace.

***

I do know we must, collectively, do things differently, and the Way seems amazingly clear; so what is it that compels us in this madness? Here in Marin, it seems the status of the car is sacred, and regardless of the pain, it will not be sacrificed. There appears to be enough wealth to maintain this car culture long beyond any rational point, though much of that wealth is illusion, I know. I already see strata developing, those of us on the “bottom” dusting off old bikes, parking the car, and finding a new way. Then, I see many folks just dealing with the higher cost, perhaps cutting spending elsewhere, but certainly not getting out of their cars. And there will always be those at the “top” with plenty of means to continue driving, no matter the cost. But don’t doubt that changes are-a-comin’…

***

With that in mind, remember my earlier words: get your bike and some spare parts now, you may not have the choice in the future…

***

My job is a passion; wheeled, self-propelled motion. So elegantly simple, such a perfect Human invention. It’s fantastic that I’m able to tinker with and talk about bikes in order to make a wage. I sure dig it.

***

And my bike. Oh, my bike. What an amazing machine. Each time I ride it (going out tomorrow morning before work), it becomes even more an extension of my body, moving beyond the speed of thought. I just ride, there’s nothing else in that sublime moment, that perfect realization of Here, Now.

***

I’ve never before experienced such a finely balanced union of Man and Machine; I’m still stunned when I reach the end of a trail, stop, and really understand what just happened. The only thing in my life better than this riding bliss is the loving bliss of two enthralled at the beauty of Love. I wish this for all beings.

***

Then I take a moment to look around me, beyond me, to the things others are experiencing right now. Some of it is profoundly beautiful -people really are amazing creatures- and much of it is profoundly disturbing and hard to face.

***

To remain aware of the currents moving around the world, moving us in ways we have yet to understand, is very important to me. We must remain aware, continue exploring and endeavoring to see our parts in this, our influences; if we see this then we may be able to consciously alter our ways and behaviors that we understand to be harmful.

***

This is part of my choice to relinquish the car and its destructive cultural imperative. A bicycle just makes so much more sense, and is imminently more enjoyable and healthy for all life forms on this beleaguered planet. So please, for the sake of Life As We Know It, ride a bike! It’s this sort of fundamental cultural change we must make, now or later. No time like the present, as “They” say.

***

So much pleasure and pain living together. May we each, in our Way, contribute to Pleasure, to well being… Love.