I proclaimed loudly (or at least typed some shit here) back in May about how I was going to start mountain biking more. That lasted about two or three weeks, and then I immediately went back to riding gravel roads.
Tag Archives | gear
The Cure For Pain
The title of this post suggests that I am going to wax poetic about my ongoing fisticuffs with the “black dog,” attempt to sell you some sort of $19.99 faux copper-infused compression stocking snake oil shit that will dull the pain of your torn rotator cuff, or talk at length about the greatness of the song Cure For Pain by the band Morphine.1 But I’m not, I’m gonna talk about my ass. Again!
Pedaling and Pixels
Note: This post has been edited from its original publication to reflect my current and final thoughts on the Sony RX10 III.
I found some extra miles somewhere this week and officially pushed over the 3,000-mile mark for the year. As mentioned in a recent post, undoubtedly I will be falling well short of my 5,000-mile goal, but I suppose 3,000+ miles are better than none. Of course looking at the raging Dad-bod I’m rocking right now, you would think I drove the 3,000 miles and hit every burger and pub I could find along the way!
Mile totals aside, I had a pretty good week on the bike, especially on Thursday when I headed south of town and did some dirt road ‘splorin’, hit some new roads (by accident) and had a good time shooting with the new to me electronic image making device (AKA a camera) I picked up via eBay last week.
Unwanted Opinions & Crap Reviews
Opinions are like people taking dumps. You really, really, really, REALLY like to think that the hot mom that smiled at you [which was probably gas] in the produce aisle while you were squeezing the way overripe, insanely priced, $2.50 a piece avocados doesn’t take at least one dump a day, but she does. Big stinky ones (unless she’s one of those shit camels, a universal term that can transcend gender but admittedly applies more to females, who can go like days at a time without a movement at all, meanwhile my cheeks are hitting the throne like seven times each morning!!).
Along with being a serial dumper, she’s probably got a whole shit ton [pardon the pun] of opinions about carbs [OMG DON’T EAT THEM!], breastfeeding [If they don’t suckle from the teet your kids will end up funny, good looking, ginger haired, straight A students who excel at soccer football], the best post-graduate programs for your son’s unborn child [Victorian era, dietary electrical engineering will be all the rage in 2026!], how long to cook chicken on the grill [get a fucking meat thermometer! OK, that was me], whether or not to refrigerate tomatoes [DON’T! Me again], and gravel road bike tires [see below].
Thoughts After a Year
After B’s soccer match on Saturday I stuffed my ever-expanding body into my ever shrinking kit and headed out for a quick 25 mile ride before dinner. As I rolled along dirt roads in the crisp air that qualifies for spring in Michigan I realized that I had ridden right through the Boone’s 1 year birthday last month without any acknowledgement whatsoever. I believe we were moving that day, so I guess I have an excuse. However I hope to make up for all that here today.
My Bag
Over the past year or so, I’ve gone from riding with a palm sized Canon s95 camera stuffed in my jersey pocket to using either the Fuji X-T10 or Fuji X100s in one of two different bags on my bike. The reasons are twofold:
Maiden Voyage
Today was my first time on trails in a long time. It was also my first time on the newly acquired Trek Procaliber hardtail. My initial reactions are damn positive, but as with any new ride, there are some things I’ll need to dial in the future. Here is what I learned about the bike (and me) on its maiden voyage…
I Don’t Always
I don’t always have a homemade pan-fried/pan-steamed 1/2 pound cheeseburger the size of my head for lunch, but when I do, I love every freaking orgasmic bite, do two plus hours of landscaping (for the second day in a row) and then go buy a new bike; fuck yeah, Friday!!!
Wasting Time Not Wasting Time
It’s been four days since I was last on a bike. Because of that, I feel fatter, saggier, flabbier, and more bloated and useless than ever. Thankfully those days weren’t complete wastes of time.
Working & A Plus Sized Bike
Thursday was a day off the bike and a day in the bike shop to earn some cash money. The shop was fairly busy and I found myself building up another Weehoo (Weee Hoooo!!). Thankfully I only f’ed up a few things along the way–way better than the last Weehoo build which took me forever due to a parts issue. The rest of my work day was spent getting my balls busted by Napper and Terry, unpacking and checking in inventory, and pimping bikes to folks; including a couple of Mennonite kids that I initially helped out a couple of weeks back.
The last time these two kids were in, they were with their mom looking and test riding. This time the three of them returned with dad in tow, and after his approval they left the happy owners of two new bikes. The boy in particular was stoked with his X-Caliber. Of course I wept a little bit when he wanted a kickstand installed. I waited until they left before I buried my tear filled eyes and chubby cheeks in my dirty palms.