Kona Loves Cyclocross from Kona Bikes on Vimeo.

for better or worse i've been f'n insanely busy...  pre-occupied and all that...

the storm photo has been lingering as a draft for a while.

soon maybe things will settle back down.

ebb and flow..

definitely thinking about cyclocross.

TT last week was canceled. Despite all the prep for it (food, bike, legs...) so I dashed off a hill ride Friday morning, then woke up stupid early and did the Dawn Patrol which I will now call DP because the sexual innuendo is just too strong to pass up. Got some solid leg climbing stuff.  Faster? Meh who knows.  The TT has been good despite the billion year old road bike servicing as the machine of speed.

Lots of driving coming up this week. Sadly have to miss the ENGVT crit in Concord.  There is nothing to be done. No plans to change or make it different than it is.  So anyway all y'all should be there. Go race. Have fun.

and man CX in White Park is really not that far away.

CX time.

also GeWilli did something new. he changed a chain only. was going to do it earlier this year but the white blue went from 50% to 100% in the month of February (smart people paying attention will recall that was a heavy wood hauling time towing the loaded trailer most every day). So yeah oops.  Black Blue finially dropped down into the .75 wear. BUT it is making a horrendous snap crackle pop under load.  bearings were shot. replaced them. pedal had play, adjusted it. Checked chainring bolts, all were tight unless something slipped.  Kind of stumped. But not riding it likely at all this week so i'll deal with it next. maybe.

Service Course GeWilli is open for limited business.  You got a bike that needs something lemme know. Labor rates are reasonable...  limited schedule and local work mostly only, y'all know how to get a hold of me. that said i have a few 'clients' that get priority and a schedule right now that pretty much has no time to write. but. i'm mentally in a decent place, looking forward to cx, the normal worries are there but i'm doing all i can do and nothing more... hoping it is enough. So yeah there is enough incentive built in and i enjoy it enough that i think i could work on stuff for people, not that there is likely any demand but hell why not throw it out there.

dinner cooking time...

late... damnit...  time shift and packed schedule....  it is what it is...

there is only one of me.

thank goodness

heddwch
G

Hill Junkie already identified probably why these kind of pictures resonate with me. The dark storm clouds, light from the setting sun shining under and or around it. Th contrast the intensity.

The power of the storm behind it the bright sun...

Why? 240,000 miles of commuting in 6 years in michigan between Lansing and Mt Pleasant.  Those days when a storm would roll through and the sun would be out...  fucking magical. Sure it was in the car but i'd slow the f'down and wow it was just spectacular. beautiful.....

Majestic and rare.

and beautiful.

striking and different, out of the ordinary and inspiring....

This video, this performnace. Brings me to tears. Everytime.

Just watched it 5 times in a row. still brings me to tears, can't talk about it w/o my voice cracking

but forecast.io (darksky is coolest weather ap if you have a fruit phone btw...  i don't know because of many reasons i won't own one as my device of choice).


Yup. so it moved in as i'm riding home. Both sides for a while. But man from the looks of it i got out of the city just in time.

On the way home I was coming across the Henderson Bridge it was dramatic. I HAD TO STOP.

and take pictures.

cue photodumps:

(started this a couple days ago... finally got results and a minute to finish it)

Last week i had a pretty okay ride, time was good but it was a PR night for everyone else. I was, who knows what was up. everything?

This week has been the lowest mileage week in a loooooong time, but it wasn't bad low mileage. Got a good ride in on Monday. a little riding around between here and there mid week, TT last night. And snuck out for a little 18 mile recovery ride this morning.

The TT was crazy. With the forecast heat I decided to do pack 3 gallons of ice, and a pile of water bottles into the large timbuk2 messenger bag with the aero helmet inside. Kind of a lot. Esp since once we started riding out it actually felt better than the week before.

Managed to even get a decent night sleep before hand, ate plenty all day, drank water all day.  And even added a walk in the heat down to the Gallery to show the Runner and her co-workers the exhibit before it was taken down (no more GeWilli art on display except in my office now).

So a nice little couple miles walking in the intense heat (with a bottle of Skratch consumed on the way down).

Heck I even started the day by wearing ENGVT casual shirt, the cotton socks with the new NB 1080s with flash green accents.

Sucking all the kit watts I could.  But yes. I  had to drive. Complicated life of the summer of trying to get kids where they need to go at times that are just maddeningly inconvenient.

Why can't daycamps start at an hour that makes sense for parents who have to work who are the ones most likely to send the kids to do stuff in the summer? Side rant. Ah well.

Car. Bike. TT bike. Swapped tires on there. Got some slightly lighter faster rolling rubber on the bike.

And then ate a lucky burrito for lunch. not THE lucky burrito. I think I lost a few burrito watts because this one didn't have sour cream or quac but it was still a good one. But asking for a BEAN burrito and getting a BEEF burrito is sort of different. I ate it anyway... Burrito Watts are Burrito watts.

So Totally it up. No riding Watts, extra Kit Watts and #PRO watts, Burrito Watts.

Oh and ICE WATTS. I mentioned the ice right? I'm sort of an idiot. the bag was leaking cold ice water on my all the way out. BUT it was nice. I was able to cool down and be completely comfortable at the start of the TT and then post TT cool all the way back down.  Sadly the Ice I have access too isn't/shouldn't be consumed so I make due with just rubbing handfuls of ice into kit and head and stuff.  Once I hit Reynolds I could feel my temp getting a bit higher than I wanted, Got super overheated by the end which is a lot nicer than getting overheated by the merge onto 118.

One nice surprise was seeing the purple people eater kit (The http://weebikeshop.com/store/ sponsored team colors) roll up. None other than the Solobreak himself. And despite his steady suggestion that he'd be the slowest to show up, he wasn't. BUT he did get staged near his last race time... he did a normal longer cool down and then was gone before too much catching up.  Was good to see the old pain in the ass in person. Maybe we see him again this week. maybe not.

The Results.

Potter ticked in the fastest time at 18:34. A lot slower than the previous week. Morse had a problem with his saddle, the nose slipped down and he wasn't having much fun and only came in at 18:54. BUT I managed to squeak in just in front of him at 18:53.



Terry was the new kid for the night. He asked what time and I said 20:30 +/- 30 seconds. He missed the turn on Peck just to make sure I hit my over/under prediction. Fox just got narrowly edged by the Kyle. Who must have really turned himself inside out because he was riding in the middle of the road forcing construction vans to pass him on the right and then standing around in the middle of the road like a stoned deer.  So i got my 2nd overall for the night 3/4 weeks in 2nd, beating the guy who beat me in the first two weeks.  And I PR'd.

So yeah. Anyway. it was a good night racing.

and while i've had plenty of shit percolating in my brain it has taken me this long to finish this entry... who knows if i'll get the good stuff out before it gets flushed out by new shit.

heddwch
G

...isn't the first thing people ask me, they ask my why it is on there.



I can explain that some amazing friends of an amazing young woman made these for her and gave them to everyone who knew her to put on their bikes.

The story behind them is here:
http://attn-katdaley.tumblr.com/post/55606552043/what-you-got-this-means-to-me

I don't ever want to take these off.

I've been getting a few random and appreciated comments from people who've started using the home brew chain lube that I learned how to make from ErikV back in 2008 (with more pictures in 2010). I'm on batch number 2 or 3 i forget.

Chains are important and require maintenance, there is no magic formula that allows you to neglect them. You have choices, deal with that yourself, pay someone else to maintain it every couple rides, or just keep buying new drive trains or just annoy the hell out of people.

Derdowski, you can add a really loud squeaky chain to the list, pedaled in a lumpy boxy quad only pedal stroke so it really makes a horrendous racket.

Anyway. it has popped up over on G+ a few times, people attribute it to me, but i'm just the evangelist not the creator, and I do always give credit back to the PDX creator. from PDX to PVD and now we take over the world.

One line that was pretty cool to hear came from Andrew, but of course that was like a week or two ago and I have no idea/memory of what he actually said but it was along the lines of now that he has a gallon of lube there's no conservation, liberal application and the chain is cleaner and better than ever.

Works best if you hit the chain every other ride and wipe it all off completely after working it in. I like 0W-20 synthetic in my chain lube batches but Erik's 10W-30 is good somewhere between those two, whatever is on sale if you're buying it yourself.

Point about this?

right first ad campaign POP signage:
art credit: Kent Fackenthall

synopsis: Yeah so GeWilli had an off night on a fast night and fell off the podium when Potter showed up and Becca was motivated by me starting behind her for some reason.
 in a few more words:

it is hot out, a good cold salad is always nice, no?

grab the food processor cause you ain't gonna wanna shred this by hand.

1-2# of raw peeled beets and carrots

run em through the food thing.
finely slice an onion or two
soak sliced onions in some cold water for a few minutes, rinse repeat

dress it

put it over the top then mix:
celery seed
apple cider vinegar
splash of balsalmic vinegar
olive oil
dijon mustard
salt
black pepper

mix completely... let rest... mix up again... rest... mix... rest...

until you give in to the awesomeness of the flavors and devour the whole thing.

or at least a small bowl with whatever else you happen to be eating with your meal.

Simple.  Quick.  Super flavorful.

heddwch
G

For a while lately, there's been one story i'm following, and different one that I picked up off of Jenny O's G+ stream brought them together for me tonight...

The essence of craft. Both the man in front of the camera, and the man behind the camera.

I hope maybe you find this as relatable as I do, what Richard is talking about is something I understand, I get, and I feel pretty lucky to say I do.  Nick doesn't build bikes, but Nick has that same craft with his film and photography.  I'm fortunate to have so many amazingly talented and gifted friends who inspire me and remind what really is important.

Take a minute - give it a view.


Richard Sachs - bicycle maker from Nick Czerula on Vimeo.

Planning? yeah here, we're going to toss everything out the window that you sort of had figured out.

This heat is also messing with everything too.

Okay not technically for breakfast, I just finished making it for a party tonight and well, had to taste it.
And one bite wasn't enough.

Went for a couple bowls of it.

At least I started with five pounds of potatoes, should still be plenty left over.

After not getting a ride in yesterday...  or tuesday.... today must ride. Initially given all the heat I wanted to ride early. But damn if the dog didn't wake me up even Earlier and I said f'it and went back to sleep. eventually actually falling back asleep.

I like this vacation thing. At least the catching up on rest part.

Last night we played race support role for the Runner.  The Dancer and I went up with her and she ran the Patriot 10k.  Finished in a respectable 59:43 given the oppressively hot and humid and windy conditions and the hills.  nothing flat on the course except going around the levels on the Patriots Stadium and stopping to take photos along the way.  She did say lots of people were complaining about how hilly it was and how hard it was.  What you weren't able to PR? Were the hills too slow? Sorry, did you not win? Oh you were "racing" what exactly? Buncha babies. Maybe they just need seqways to race or something. Get fast and go for the Age group win if you want to call it a race.  The fastest dude running the 5k was 17:08. Just under a 6 min mile if i calculated that correctly.

This morning, a wash and the heat was building. the humidity was tapering but tapering from 100% to 90% isn't all that big of a change.

So finally I rolled out. At noon.

Two bottles of water and that's about it.

No real plan other than to head to SE Mass and home.  Thoughts of riding to Plymouth Rock were briefly entertained but not seriously, esp not with a noon departure.

Sunday July 7 Starts 3pm at Circle A523 Charles St, ProvidenceOpen to friends and family of Circle A, Prov Velo, racers, messangers, bike shop workers, Brown Cycling....Beer (thanks to Bottles), maybe food, maybe some live music, could be all sorts of great things.Like those sexy ass kits we wear? Well we'll have those for sale too.If you wanna ride before this, we'll pop out an email and figure out the route and time. Mark

Haven't been to the Circle A shop yet? Want to check it out see where the magic happens?

Sunday. 3pm

spread the word.

so you know us bike racer types are sort of odd.

we shave our legs, dudes shaving legs? yeah. It happens.

Esp for the super hair welsh patterning. Arms face, legs, head, densely foliculated. the rest? we'll leave the rest to those with more intimate familiarity.

But the leg thing.

Shaving. I've generally gotten it down to a at least the day before races, and sometimes during CX season 2x a week just to keep on top of it.

This year i got super lazy and just let the hair grow as long as I was wearing tights. A few times I might have gone with shorts it was warm enough but the hair on my legs precluded me from such a display. Have you ever ridden with hair on the legs? It feels FUCKING WEIRD. LIKE HOLYSHIT ALL THOSE LITTLE WIND BASTARDS ARE PULLING ON EVERY STRAND OF HAIR.  Fuck that.

So shaving is a thing.  Massive props/shoutout/thanks to Murat over with the Wee Bike shop (click over and buy something, he's a great guy and if you need something he's selling it is absolutely the right price) http://www.weebikeshop.com/ do it. M'Kay?
Anyway props shout out goes to him suggesting to use hair conditioner as shaving cream. Now I don't have the shortest of legs and i'd blow through cans of shaving cream like crazy.  And being a scientist always willing to experiment to gain knowledge. Fuck it.  Lets try it.

WOW DOES IT EVER WORK BRILLIANTLY!  OMG better than shaving cream. At least for the legs.  At the moment I'm back to nivea for men to get the wee patch of face i shave below the beard clean for fancy shin digs like the gallery opening that all but one person I know showed up to.

So yeah.

And if you shave your legs you might have a progression.  Esp if you've been shaving for a while.

I start with the right leg.  Calf first. Then a couple inches below the knee to a couple inches above the knee then I do the rest of the quad. I start pretty much in the middle and work around.

Then I go to the left leg, same progression.

Last week I depiliated Thursday morning because I forgot to on Wednesday.  Oops.

So I shaved, rode to work.  Rode home to get the TT bike and head back up to meet everyone.

On the ride home i was thinking, damn how did the left side of my right leg get so dirty....

A few pedal strokes later I realized...

oh
my
god

I never shaved all the way around. I got about 3/4 way around the leg and never finished the right quad. SERIOUSLY?

So i'm sitting there in the bathroom. Kit on ready to go, i roll kit up to the shave line and oh so everyly gently barely dry shave the parts i missed. Repeating the whole time "please no ingrown hairs, please no ingrown hairs"

so yeah.  the whole how the fuck did my leg get dirty into OMG that's leg hair. Shocking and maybe hopefully amusing...

heddwch
G

gewilli dot com has taken a backseat to focusing on not going completely batshit crazy.  How is that different than normal? Who knows. Trying something new. Seems to sort of be working.

Downside, not as much time to write. Upside? Not as much of a grumpy asshole.

I hit a pretty rough spot yesterday. Totally submarined everything. Worse part is it compromised my intrinsict artistic integrity.  I messed up and picked a file that didn't match. Close, and still fucking wikked impressive but 10' of fuck up isn't so awesome. but on the pro side of the balance, the image in the catalog matches the print in the gallery. So there's that.

Hey it is what it is after all.

Makes the smaller one more unique and different.  The big one is still f'n impressive and it is super satisfying that anyone can walk past the gallery, open or not, and see my art work. Sure it might be nice to go in and see it that way too. but everyone walking past can see it.

so that's good.

It was a moment of crushing defeat. a mistake made back in January. in the midst of absolute 100% cray cray insanity. Again on the positive side, even my work that isn't up to my standards is pretty fucking awesome. So. There's that. Right?

Sounds a bit braggadocious but if anyone needs a bit of self confidence it is me. Shut up Jerry, i know you disagree.

I will get some writing in maybe.

I think we're going to bail on this week in terms of riding.  No TT, no Wed Night Smackdown for me (heading to Patriot place for a 1/2 marathon, no i am not running).

But the running thing.  Something's been tweaking at the back of my mind.  I doubt i can ever get as fast as the sub 6min pacing from High School cross country in a 5k but i wonder how close i could get. That's the lastest wondering. Ain't gonna start running anytime soon though. Don't worry I don't have running shoes. Too cheap to buy a pair anyway. I'll just keep pedaling.

heddwch
G