The time has come...or will soon

I cant believe I'm doing this. It's literally been years in the making, the constant persistance from my brother has finally worked I guess. I am going to race my bike this coming saturday and sunday. I chose this race for a couple reasons. (www.triplevalley.com) The first reason is that Eric is going to be racing in it too...at a different level of course, but we'll be doing the same race which helps me a lot. The second reason is it is a stage race, in it I will experience a road race, a time trial, and a criterium, all this in just one weekend. The way I figure it is that if road racing is something I might enjoy in the future, I will experience almost all its aspects at once. I may like it, I may hate it. Problem is, if by some act of God I actually win at least one part of it, I will be motivated to continue and win more. The next problem is that if I win nothing and get totally worked over, I will want to continue to redeem myself. Thanks a lot Eric, I've avoided this for so long and I feel the addiction already, I haven't even raced yet. To top it off I'm registered to do another stage race the following weekend, in Arizona. Kind of wierd that my first two races are out of state...I guess I'm justifying the spandex by using it as an escape from CA (which I do love). Anyways, I'm knee deep now, there's no turning back. I just hope that the power that Eric naturally has is somewhat in my DNA also. I've trained hard but I feel it's not nearly enough. Saying that, it ultimatley comes down to this. I never raced before because the prospect of failure. It's easy to ride my SS on El Prieto, to be called the second fastest rider there over a 25 year span, etc. but through these rides I'm not finding my true potential. I feel almost a fake when I pass absolutley everyone on the fireroad who started within 30 minutes of me. All I can think of is that Eric would put me to shame along with so many others who race. I can't ever take the compliments on how fast I am seriously because I know I'm not fast, at least not yet...it's all relative. These two race will be an awakening to me and thats exactly what I need. Hopefully my support crews in UT and AZ;) will be motivation enough for me to push myself to a limit I've never seen before...but we'll see what happens.
Another big fear is that through racing I will become that pretentious f*&$ working in a bike shop. I know I'm not that, but I hate those guys, I don't want to be that.

It's generally the simple things in life that make me smile. Maybe this means I have a simple mind, but I'll let you be the judge of that. Everyday at school I see so many different people of different race, sexual orientaion, political motives, and so forth. With so many different types of people, there is a lot to observe and many oppurtunities to rationalize common stereotypes. I won't lie and say that I try not to stereotype different people, because I most certainly do and I get a kick when I see people who completley support one.

For instance, Asians are stereotypically slow people. Both driving and walking. I am so often astonished on the ability of some to walk the speed they do. I absolutley hate getting stuck behind a couple asian girls walking up the stairs or even worse, a couple holding eachother arm in arm. It's hard enough to walk arm in arm with someone, trying to coordinate your footsteps so your hip movments somewhat coincide with your partners. Kind of like a 3 legged race, but slightly easier. So get two Asians walking arm in arm and you'll realize the true meaning of slow.

Then there are the protesters. There are so many ridiculous causes out there that people care about for some reason and you never really realize it until you go to a college campus. I was told today that our Governor, Arnold, would castrate me if he had the oppurtunity. Not sure what that applied to really, but the guy who told me seemed pretty passionate. I guess the stereotype of protesters is that they are a bit loony, which in reality, they really are.

A lot of Blacks go to PCC also. I get a kick out of it when I walk by a group of them and they are there with their boom boxes "rhyming", usually pretty bad, I think a lot of them don't really understand the concept of words that work together. It's still fun to see though, it gives me a smile.

Now for the Armenians, the felt sweat suits, expensive jewelry, conversations of their Escalades on dubs, and the word "bro" used as much as valley girls use "like".

Then we have white people, although not as many, they are still around. The white kids problem is that they have no clue what they are. The hipsters who follow the "Hipster Handbook" perfectly, the ones who think they are Jamaican and sport the dreads and the rasta beenies, the pretentious ones like myself walking around stereotyping everyone, and the lil punk rock kids who come from wealthy families but dress to look poor in their own rebellion against the "Man"...whoever that is, I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Anyways, I have friends in classes of every race so this isn't meant to be at all derogatory. Everyone doesn't fit a stereotype, most people are completely normal, or as close to what normal would be if there was such thing. But, to the few out there who fulfill the stereotypes, thank you for making me smile, keep it up.

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I guess I'm going to try to update this blog a lil more often...in turn you may have to suffer through some boring ones, but I hope to keep things a bit interesting. I guess that all depends on how I'm feeling, how much I have to rant about, and if I can come up with something more than a blog about riding my bike. For now however, you get bikes. Well not entirely, but...just read on.

This past week Ben and Michele were able to come down to SoCal for family baby shower stuff so it was a perfect oppurtunity for us to all go ride together. It's been since last Sept I think when we rode last. They're good company so it was a blast just as I had expected.

They came out to La Crescenta on wednesday and before we rode I gave Ben his new Fork which I had hooked up for him. As I was putting it on his bike I realized that I had been wrong about what parts he would need to adapt it to his frame, strike one against my "expertise". I had the part he needed on an old frame but in order to install it I had to go by work. Problem is, I'm not supposed to Pro Deal anything for other people, and by going to work with his bike and putting on a fork they knew I had bought, might give myself away. Fortunatley the main man wasn't there and the others don't care so it worked out and we got it on and headed to the trail head.

As we were gearing up I noticed on Ben's bike the lack of two important bolts which tighten the stem to the handlebars. Oops, I forgot to put them back on and they were sitting at work. Strike two. To not look like an idiot I quietly rummaged through my truck hoping to have some bolts to replace them, but nothing was found. Time to bite the bullet. I began to tell him and as I did, I remembered reading an article on how some MTB racers take off bolts that aren't really neccessary. Not these ones however. But thinking it out I decided it was safe to risk Ben's safety so we could still ride. I told him they were gone, but it was alright because racers do it and they aren't really needed. We headed out, Ben and Michele with big smiles and me with my fingers crossed. I mean if his handlebars were to slip in a nasty technical section, it could be disastrous, and I think I just might be the one to blame.

Well, by the time we reached the top then made it to the singletrack I had completely forgotten the problem. I even told Ben to follow me off one of the bigger drops on the trail, assuring him it was easy (forgetting a hard landing puts a lot of strain on the joint missing the bolts). Luckily, we finished with no accidents...sorry if you were expecting one. Back at the parking lot I had to confess my sin, at least he was cool about it. Afterall, I guess I was right that they weren't needed. (No, there is no strike three, I don't strike out...at least in my mind)

We got to ride again Saturday morning out in La Verne, Rob came up for it and Craigers, Ben's dad decided he wanted to come along also on a sweet 13 year old bike. It was a fun ride, Ben, Michele, and I holding up the front on the climbing with Rob and Old man Rossell going slow so as not to show any of us up, it was nice of them.

Overall, it was a good weekend, great seeing all of Ben's family, meeting the new members, seeing the old, its always good times with them.

To those who haven't seen me in awhile, yes, I am letting my hair get long...my way to make up for years of weekly hair cuts.

Time to come clean...

So I have some things that I've been keeping inside for a little bit and feel a strong need to get them off my chest. I'm sorry to anyone whos perception of me will be altered dramatically and I hope that you'll understand, and possibly forgive me for what I have done.

It all started a couple weeks ago. While riding my bike I was doing a lot of thinking. I had forgotten my Ipod, which I usually bring on rides to avoid thinking. While my mind was bouncing from thought to thought I somehow convinced myself to do something I've sworn off, something which I have sworn to other people I would never do. It just isn't me and I've always felt by doing it I would be cheating myself, demoralizing myself, and ultimatley going against everything I stand for. I thought I was strong.

Well, I went ahead and did it anyways. I wore spandex.

Thats not all though. After riding my road bike in spandex bike shorts I had another crazy notion, even worse than the first. As I looked at my legs, I felt awkward having the hair on my legs extend past the bike shorts. Whats the point of bike shorts if the hair on your legs is "baggier" than your shorts. Well, this had to be fixed, but I'm not about to shave my legs, thats as bad as shooting up heroin in my opinion. So I went home and took a trimmer to my legs. I guess the trimmer was a gateway drug and the very next day I took a razor to my legs. Just to see what it's like, right?

Well, I have a problem. It's not that bad, at least for the time being. I'm going to race right? So why should I quit, it's not hurting anyone else, and I can stop at any time, it doesn't control me...

I blame my brother.

Oh, and today in my spandex and my shaved legs I rode w/ the Peloton at the Rose Bowl. I thought they started at 5:00 so i got there about 4:30 for a little warmup and then I could be fresh for the start. They didn't start at five, nor 5:30, not even 5:45. It finally got going at six so by the time we began I had already put in about 20 miles. I still felt strong but not as fresh as I could've been. Anyways, it went good and fast. There were probably about 100 riders at the beginning and after the first 3 miles about 20 had been dropped, then more each lap. I made it four laps, 12 miles. The speed was around 27-33mph, pretty fast for me.

The biggest problem was that I was in the back, I'm not that comfortable yet riding inches away from other riders. Howevwer, at the back, riders go to die. They were like the passengers in the back of the plane in Alive. When the tail was lost, one by one they were sucked out. So everytime a rider plummeted to his demise I had to fight to get back in the slipstream of the survivors. Eventually, I too plummeted to my death.

I did another 10 miles by myself and then called it quits.

I'll get there a little later next week and hopefully hang for the whole 25 miles at that speed. Maybe I hadn't shaved my legs close enough so I had extra wind drag keeping me back...?

THE Best Stage yet...

The Tour of California, what a magnificent race. First, it's in CA and we all know its the best state to be in, so right away we know a race w/ CA in the name is destined to be great. I've been watching the race. Slowly, each day, I learn a bit more about the riders and the way guys dressed in spandex battle each other both psycholgically and physically, very interesting stuff.

So today was a stage from the Ventura to Santa Clarita, A good amount of climbing towards the beginning of this 105 mile race then a long gradual ascent into Santa Clarita where 3 laps were done on a 3.5 mile course, then the finish line.

A breakaway started near the beginning and these 6-7 riders held off the Peloton forever! I thought they had it, but then they got caught by the pack and a new breakaway started just miles from the finish. This one got caught too and it came to the final sprint, there were the ones who went too soon and broke down and the one who won.

The rider who won had been in an accident just miles earlier...w/ 3-4 Rock Racing guys.

Now to Rock Racing...many of you have no idea about them, but for particular reasons, they have become the underdog which I am rooting for, so any sign of any of there members taking a stage win....I'm at the edge of my seat. (Today Rock Racing even called my shop looking for some stuff for after their race on Sunday, I was gitty like a schoolgirl talking to them)

Anyways, where am I going with this? I don't know, I never do! I think I'm trying to somehow put into words the emotion, the passion, the motivation, I get from this sports discipline which I have yet to truly understand, but I am so intrigued.

Just watching the race, I am frantically picking who I'm pulling for as the race dynamics change, how I want so bad for those six riders to stay away from the pack but when they get caught and have no chance, I quickly have to pick a new underdog to root for, then everything changes again....and I see my beloved Rock Racing Team all picking up there bikes which are broken from a crash and I feel so dissapointed. Then all of a sudden I see Cippolini (of Rock Racing) coming at the last sprint after the wreckage and I'm ready to scream if he wins, but he doesn't quite make it and the EMOTIONS ARE AMAZING!!

Anyways...I cant wait for tomorrow, last day of the race, it ends just two miles from work (hopefully I can take a long lunch and see it) and Rock is coming to my shop! I love it!

Are you Liberal?

You know to be honest with everyone, I am Liberal...its scary to say that...and it can be misconstrued. The ideas of the Democratic party do not intrigue me at all, but the philosophy behind it, well, yes. I guess living in CA for so long, I'm bound to have an overwhelming influence from the left. Its kind of like Marxism I guess. In a perfect world, its a grand idea. But, correct me if I'm wrong, we all live in reality...at least most of us, and the reality is, it just doesn't work.
So, for what I want...I dream of a day when no one has to worry about getting the proper healthcare they need, a time where getting old is ok and seniors get everything they need, a place where there are no factories polluting the air, adding to Global warming. A country who can give higher education to all at no cost, and a world that has no dissputes, and thus, no need for military. Problem is, I live in reality. The time is now and what we have to deal with is now.
All these things would be wonderful, but as I tried so hard to portray to Wabo last week on his ridiculous health care philosophy, THINGS ARE NOT THAT SIMPLE! The idea was that everyone pays a tax for healthcare, and everyone gets covered. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it's not.
The problem arises when people think that it only takes one solution at a time. Unfortunatley, everything revolves around something else. So, with the universal healthcare proposal from Wabo, sounds great, but couldn't work. All of a sudden , people who get Healthcare from their employer, all of a sudden don't. Why would a company spend money on health care if the government gives it for free? If I were a CEO, I sure wouldn't. Now, with everyone having free health care, the doctors offices become flooded w/ people who got a paper cut, or bruised their knee. Miniscule inflictions, but hey, the government is paying for me, I might as well go. So eventually the act of seeing a doctor becomes even harder than it is now. Just look at the Emergency room, although I don't have the exact statistics, if you now go to the one place where people aren't turned around...you are waiting a long time!
Alright, say you don't mind waiting for a doctor as long as everyone can see one...cool. But remember, w/ this added tax, people have less money, therefore they are not spending as much and businesses are making less and then they start charging more...its a downward spiral.
I'm going to cut this much shorter than I really want cuz I have a test in the morning, but just remember this. People are like that mouse in the book I loved growing up..."if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk" The more government providing handouts to people, the more the recievers will want. The more taxes we'll all pay for these free loaders, a larger deficit will be created, and the ambition of Americans, which enables us to be great, will be underminded.
We all care about others and don't want anyone to get the short end of the stick, but what do we really want to promote? A society where no matter what you do, you'll have others taking care of you, or a society where people are striving to better themselves and essentially continuing what has made our counrty great?

Say no to CraCain, no to Hil and Bama...yes to Romney, the one man who is actually smart enough to give everyone in this country (dem or rep) what they want.

Commuting by your own POWER

As many of you know I have been riding my bike to work whenever possible. Ultimatley, I began this to save money on gas. The ridiculous gas prices and my ridiculously fuel guzzling truck motivated me, but I have gained so much more than saving money and doing my share to be "green" in a non-liberal inspired way, nothing against liberals, but they aren't the only ones who care about the enviroment. Yes, to get to work in time I have to leave earlier. I began leaving an hour and a half before I had to work, more than I needed to get there, its only 12 miles if I go directly, but it gave me enough time to cool down and stop sweating before I clock in. But now it takes 35 min tops to get there. Only about 15 mins more than driving, not too bad. This is both because I am much stronger now, and I've learned the lil secrets in riding with cars and how to use my driver/pedestrian status to bend laws (safely) to save time.

Anyways, what I have found from commuting on a bike is almost a spiritual journey. Don't take that the wrong way, but by commuting on my bike I eliminate so many stresses that cars provide. Yeah, I still have to deal with cars, but I'm not one of them. On a bike you enter a different world of commute, there is no waiting behind others at red lights, no following that slow old lady who cant drive, or dealing with teh prick in the Porsche who thinks he's God's gift to the road, and no confinement of sitting in a bubble (car) enclosed from nature. As I cruise through the crowded streets on my bike I remain free. The fresh air (or almost fresh) I breathe, the wind in my hair and the adrenaline that flows as I have to react to drivers who act unexpectadley, all provide a natural high for me.

When I get to work in my car, I'm worn out from the journey, and I don't really want to work. When I arrive by bike it's totally different. I'm enthusiastic to get out there and share what I feel about bikes w/ customers who either feel the same passion or for some reason ended up there with the potential to feel what I do, all they need is that enthusiastic person to motivate them, and perhaps motivate them enough to give a try to what this guy seems to love so much. Then, when work is over, it just feels good, instead of everyone getting their keys out, we put on our riding shoes and take off into the night on our bikes. And its not just commuting, its being out on the mtn roads on a road bike using every last ounce of energy to make it up that hill, or to be ripping down a narrow singletrack, taking the drops, flowing with the trail, or just tooling around by the beach on a 50 pound beach cruiser. No matter where you are on your bike, the stresses from the world seem to dissipate...rapidly, your mind becomes free and the simple thing in life, such as just living, becomes so much more enjoyable.

So anyways, to those who can...I know not all of us are blessed enough to be able to ride through the winter...get on that bike and ride. Life becomes simpler. And as Brock Rossell told me before Thanksgiving...bicycles are the answer for world peace. Lol, so true.

To those interested, Gary Fisher actually inspired this post. Check it out here. http://youtube.com/watch?v=o7tV8pQbaxU