Road Ride, Road Kill

death of the slow, slow in death(click image to see big exact detail) a stretch deep in the country east of here on Oak Grove

not yet hit by a car

Rocky River shallows

Yesterday was highlighted by 4.2hrs(73.5mi) on my road bike east of the jar on a route that I had prepared earlier in the morning on the google maps. Using the google maps for route planning seems more productive to me than GPS, I sort of wish I had that feature upgrade on my phone like someone I know. I headed out 24/27 east towards the town of Albermarle before I turned south into the rolling country side and smaller more quiet roads. The ride was basically uneventful for the first 3hrs and I was in good frame of mind understanding where I was and what was going on around me. Out of Stanly County and now into Union County I recognized a road named Sugar and Wine which is where my friend and Himalayan Photographer Jeff Botz has his studio and lives on a farm property. Since he just returned from over 2 months in Nepal I decided to head that way and say hello.

Just before I made the last little turn towards his dirt road I passed the above turtle/road kill. It was a sad sight indeed. There were bits and pieces of it all over the road, including a half dozen small white eggs of which some were in tact but cooking on the hot road surface. It was a mess, total scene of amphibious carnage. The thing was ripped open completely but somehow was still clinging to life. I had no way to help it and I could not find any way to end it's misery. I watched it's one arm reach up towards the sky, pulsing upwards with an open clawed fist. All I could do was take the picture and as I did the turtle seemed to become still, quiet as it entered the light.

It was good to see my friend who made huge strides on this most recent trip to the place he loves, the Himalayas. See the short version is that Jeff is creating a comprehensive Large Format(8x10) portrait of the Himalayas and the surrounding culture. He has made 8 trips since 1972 when he went for the first time and fell in love with what he experienced. Jeff is also trying to get the name of Everest removed and replaced with the original Nepali name of Sagarmatha which means The Stick that turns the Ocean of Existence.

I rolled out of there for the last hour and a half into a direct head wind. For those of you in the area yesterday you know what I am talking about. The wind was huge and I felt like I was battling the entire time to get back to Mecklenberg County. Oh well, it was just time.

Highlight of the ride was about 2hrs in on a narrow country road at the Stanly/Union County lines. The short but steepest descent on the trip got me to 43.5mph at the bottoms! Nothing like 43.5mph on the skinnies!

Truth, Tribute, Honor

Charlotte Images of the Week

Captain Clean Air 180 Public Relations hi ho, hi ho it's off to work we go

This is my latest street stalker who happens to be a photographer

Family run having fun in the sun

Skidaladophy with a sweet line through the Square

"Hey kid I was never convicted of that"

Over the past few weeks I have had some honest feedback from 3 of my female readers letting me know quite bluntly that my color choices of font against the black have been hurting their brains and giving them brain itch. I apologize if my colors have caused your brain to itch as well, in the future I will be taking a more let's say easy approach to the daily color scheme I use. I plan to stay with this format for a while, white back drop, black letters. If I publish a link I will however pick any color out of the rainbow to identify that word against the rest. Thanks for the constructive criticism, I hope this feels better on your cortex and hippocampus.

Ride this weekend?

Of course.

Good Samaratin/Dumb Samaritan gone useless Samaritan

On my way home last night from SHOVE Industry's Home Office for an hour on the Tensiometer to tighten my I9's I passed a pushing cyclist glumly walking down the side walk. From across the street I could see that his back tire was flat so down the road when it was safe I made a legal U turn in the little auto viper and caught up with this bike commuter gone free wheel pusher. I identified myself not as a creep or stalker but as a representative of The Charlotte Messenger Association who had his bag with him and the skill to fix the flat. At first Dave who works construction at the new tower that I reported on in January was skeptical thinking that there are only 12 messengers in Charlotte a city of a million and the odds of me actually being who I said I was were slim. I guess it was the wheels in the back and my general composure that made him realize I had credit so he said he would be happy to let me fix his tire but he had no money. "In God We Trust Units?", I do not need those for this type of operation. I explained to him that the fine folks at singlespeeds give me enough free tubes to help the general public for the next 50 years and that I still had them left over from the 1999 MS150.

I parked the car on a side street, opened the hatch and pulled out the necessities to fix the flat. Dave was impressed at the speed in which I dropped his old tube and replaced it with a new. I let him know if you do it often enough it becomes as natural as brushing your teeth. He had a high volume/high pressure pump with him so I got him up to about 90 PSI in no time. When I pulled the pump off the stem I forgot to twist the lever so the head of the presta valve ripped off and the tire went flat again in seconds. Shit, I am supposed to be using my mad skills and now I look like a rookie in front of this fellow commuter. I told Dave it was no problem to fix again because I had another tube.

Process over again but this time when I went to install the second new tube I noticed that the valve stem itself was radially cracked half way around. Sorry Dave I had lifted your hopes and now I have crushed them in the same few minutes. He did not seem to care and would not even take a ride saying that he only had a few blocks left anyway. I gave him my card and told him to call me tomorrow which is today and I would deliver 5 tubes to him at the Big Building. He thanked me and mentioned that shortly before I pulled over to help him he had picked up a penny heads up and thought to himself maybe he would find some luck.

08 Miss SSUSA Cracked Out in Frammersbach

I took this photo of my partner and Team283 co-captain Rebecca Tomaszewski after stage 3 of last year's Trans Germany in the mountain bike town of Frammersbach. Sitting behind her is Canadian National Champ and 5 time Olympic Silver Medalist Alison Sydor who had just asked Becky to marry her and have her baby. Becky's reaction is obviously cracked out that she could marry in to the family of a world renowned gear shifting cyclist like Ali. Becky spent the next few hours drinking BEER and mulling over her decision by talking to the town's mustached Berger Meister(German Word for Mayor). He convinced her that what she was doing here on her Single Speed(German Word for Single Speed) was way more important than becoming geared Ali's bitch. She was very impressed with the Berger Meister's council so she jumped up in to his huge German arms and gave him a classic Becky kiss on the face that made him blush not only because he liked the funny feeling in his tummy but more importantly he had to play it off because his wife was sitting right next to him.

It was as crystal clear as the West German night sky, there was no way to go in to life with anything associated with gears. Becky then let Alison down explaining that she had a more Singley plan that she had to pursue for herself and the well being of the free world. Alison started to cry, she looked at me with a smile but I cut her off before she had the chance to ask. "Sorry Ali', I am already married and more importantly I like it Single Speed too.

Becky has kept the fire alive since that night with a ton of great race efforts including the 07 Worlds in Scotland, 07 ORRAM and waxing my lame ass at last year's Tree Shaker to name a few. I never really felt bad about that because she waxed a bunch of asses that day and took the win. This 08 season appears full as well with her recent SSUSA win a few weeks after the Cohutta 100. I miss the greatness that was constantly firing around us while we were together traveling, riding, drinking BEER or just talking about what was really going on around us not avoiding it.

*2 Day Late Photo Credit goes to Jordan Moore for the two images of Rachel singing. The photo work on this blog is mine and I accidentally let those two get by without issuing credit. With that said I apologize for any confusion.

Mother's Day Mountain Bike Time Warp/Rachel Montreal Bound Follow-UP

Okay then, the Rachel update first. In Yesterday's Post I completely forgot to share this bicycle traveler's website which you can find Here. Check her out the music will play for you there and if you like what you hear and want to help her get north under her own power then buy her CD it is only 15$ or more accurately 15 In God We Trust Units. Up high in the clouds

The WonderBoy with a sweet Rookie line....

Eric breaking down the final CP from last week's PMBAR

You mean I have to carry this out in my pack on my back? Billy does not have anything on his back... he is a slacker just like Josh.

Leaving N. Mills

Josh and I headed up to the mountains for a ride Sunday that started on 1206 just over Yellow Gap where we left the car. Eric and Erinna were leading us from there to Club Gap and back so that they could retrieve the last check point from last week's PMBAR. The 4 of us set out in the rain and descended for a bit before turning left in to the trail. The mountain was wet, it was chilly and the fog clouds were sometimes set in as low as we were. Horse Cove seemed new to me but I recognized Squirrel Gap, S. Mills River Trail, Buckhorn Gap, Black Mtn, Club Gap and the 276 out back to the 1206.

I was very happy to be spending this day in the woods breaking in my new wheels. I did notice a vertical strength in the bicycle's handling that I have not yet experienced. Okay the rear wheel's engagement is instant and stiff but as Eric pointed out the major noticeable difference can be felt in the front while turning hard. That turning strength sticky is something that feels like it can be pushed building confidence to go faster in the turns than I have ever been able to. Now having the confidence which almost killed me(Crash Death Story Later in the week) I feel like I can push through the turns knowing that the big tire and wheel are right there. Zero flimsy feeling, in trade for much contact, grip and power.

The ride was great! Thanks a bunch to Eric and Erinna for leading us from N. Mills to S. Mills and back to N. Mills.

* The Teeter Skilled Dog Video is up!

Unexpected Change of Weekend Plans~

Rachel headed out with me to Dooleyville after work Friday From Miami to The East Side Stay Alive

Doing what a musician does

Raych headed out on her second Stay Ailive to go Uptown and play for a Bike Week Ride-a-Thon

Tea

Shelter set, sun still out....

Friday afternoon I finished my last job of the day and as I was coming around on Tryon I passed a Bike Traveler pushing her loaded 105lb Jamis Rig on the sidewalk. She saw me as well, our eyes met and I passed but knew within 3 seconds that my body and bike were already turning around to go back and talk with her. Meet Rachel Van Slyke, musician and human force of nature embracing the world with knowledge, spiritual clarity and internal physical strength which is powering her path to enlightenment.

I introduced myself and we sat down for a chat. Rachel had left Miami Florida on Easter weekend with everything she needed for a ride to Montreal Canada strapped to her bicycle. Along the way she has prearranged to play her soul full music in certain cities having bike related festivals which is what brought her to Charlotte. Her 1,300mile(130 Stay Alives!)route thus far has not been direct. To keep her schedule she went from Miami to Savannah GA, to Charleston SC, to Asheville(MTNS) then to here. A non direct to route to Canada? With a 105lb rig that no man would ride?

I have met some strong smart girls in my life but this one is OVER the top because those 2 attributes are not separate with her like most, they are tied in a knot, they are ONE which is evident by what she is actually doing with her life.

We chatted on the bench for awhile, my intuition was vibrating, the orthopedic electro-pulses that I spent the first half of my life ignoring were screaming at me. This girl was supposed to be around my family and friend for the weekend, there was no denying what already had been written. I invited Rachel to set up her tent in the wildlife preserve that I call our family home in Dooleyville. By looking into my eyes she too knew it had already been written so we left the Jar and headed out on the East side Stay Alive.

Soon she was dropping gear and setting up her tent way out in the back with Ms Arcen milling about offering our new house/yard guest some fresh Honey Suckle. Jordy came by and after Ms Arcen went to sleep we all pitched in to create a delicious meal of Couscous served with the Jordy special olive oil Turmeric saute of carrots, onion and tomatoes. It was a great night out at the fire pit. Music was played and there was plenty of real laughter to go around with all the circumstances of the day and life meeting by the flames and warmth of my back yard fire pit.

Saturday morning even though she was going to be camping again that night she broke down her tent to be sure that she carried everything she had with her back to the Jar for her Uptown show at the Dowd YMCA. We went and watched her play even though at one point the Charlotte Organization was confused and not going to give her time. It was emotional what she was putting out through her guitar and voice mouth. This type of talent seemed natural to begin with but amplified from the heart that is pumping blood up the east coast. Her lyrics were deep talking about tomorrow but being stuck in yesterday. Her small set was amazing.

Saturday night we all went out for Ethiopian after Jordy had hooked her up with a gig at a local musicians house party. It was a chance to play and get a little cash for her continuing journey north. Lights were out early that night, the fire burned, the owls screamed and the transfer was complete.

Sunday am wake up early, the WonderBoy is on the way to scoop me for a Mother's Day Mountain Bike Adventure(pics and story tomorrow) with Eric and Erinna. She stuck her head out of the tent around sunrise with rain making a noise against the nylon fabric. We said our so longs in the light rain for in a few hours I would be in Pisgah and she back on that 105lb Rig headed east and north for the Canadian border and then in to Montreal. Ride safe Raych, keep it up and thank you for affecting my kid with your positive artistic strength energy~