Tim and I work together in the same office and sometimes, in this office, when we find something really funny we read it out loud. It usually starts with a chuckle, or a snort and then…well, here:
T: snort
Me: What’s so funny?
T: “Matt Karre. He cracks me up.”
Me: “Yes, yes, he is funny, especially with anything to do with Ghostbusters, but why at this moment?”
Then he starts to read, out loud — Disclosure . But, with someone else breathing life into it that way (that only someone else can), it was funny. More funny, possibly, the second time around…so we had a hearty chuckle about Mr. Karre’s self-effacing style and his insertion of the Bike Shop Life into his written word. He gets it. Right? We all get it, hi-five.
But then I came home and read it again.
Somehow, when you are stuck in a loop that has a lot of cycling, or cycle-riding as some people say, it is best to try and stay within that loop for as long as possible. Go for extra rides when you have the time. Yes, I said that, go for extra rides. Sign up for races. Even when they come one right after the other. Clean your bike. Take it in to THE SHOP and have some new bars and maybe even a seatpost [1]installed on one of your [2]favorite whips. Then look around on the internet for other sweet things about bicycles and this cycling lifestyle that you love so much (and I’m just talking about you here.) This is how I found myself looking at the Disclosure piece that Matt wrote once more. It is great that it has enough life within it to sustain a multiple viewing. Yet again, I noticed two things that had previously escaped my attention.
One was this line:
Outwardly, I’m fully against training. I believe in riding, riding hard, riding with purpose and for a reason, but not training.
Now, I was glad to be stuck with this line again, because it was a line that had me plotting the first time through. Plotting to give Mr. Karre an earful the next time I saw him. You see, Matt holds most of the Strava records in this town. Or at least the ones that I would even give a tiny bit of care about. The ones that go up. After the first time I read, or mis-read, through that sentence, I thought to myself. “Self, but, does Matt not go “training” all the time?” He has to beat whomever has beaten, or set new records on Strava, and nearly every time he does. Yet, when I read his sentence again, I got it. The emphasis, at least in the case of the Strava action came in right about at “riding with purpose and for a reason.” As a great film *character before me once said “Whoa.” . Let your brain melt around that one for a minute. That one could be big. We might have to come back to that one.
It is almost like the saying that TQ the man (and my boss) in charge over at Harris Cyclery used over and over. “Put a little Mustard on it.” It might be an old baseball/pitching phrase, or just a way to motivate some particularly shiftless individual into putting a little heart, or at the very least emphasis into what they were doing, (usually me, usually packing and shipping) but it made sense.
Ride with Intent.
I would like to think that this is what we all do anyway. But, this means that you’re telling me that it doesn’t have to be an actual race to “mean something” or “matter” in my life? Wait, who’s telling who? These two have piqued my interest about what can be done by way of competition and moving forward with it. Not sure about riding in a group just yet? Still want to be able to measure your performance against people who are? Ok, here are two ways to do it…well, one way really, the second one will probably be more a test of your patience if you’re still contemplating whether to race or not.
There are two climbing challenges that are taking place at the moment:
Strava West Hills Climbing Challenge by Upper Echelon
Rapha Rising Challenge
I am hoping, or I was hoping, that the creating of these two events would be the solution to my problem of not charging my *Garmin500. What is going to take to make this a priority in my life? Should I pay a coach? Maybe it is there, but I just keep forgetting to plug it in and upload the files. However, I think that this is reason enough to keep that bad boy charged and at the ready. How else am I going to prove to anyone that I have ridden the requisite 21,125 meters (which is only 63,375 feet) of elevation?
And now I am officially down four days with two unofficially logged rides. Damnit man!
The second in the Matt Karre Quotathon was this:
imagine having this song in your head for an 84 mile road stage where the pace is too hard to just chat.
The song that followed was not one that I wish to repeat, or one that I wish you to have stuck in your head for any amount of time, so we are just going to skip over that. It is important to note this phenomenon because it is happening all over the place in Oregon, not just at the Mt. Hood Stage Race, and I suspect that it might be happening elsewhere. But, by all means, correct me if I’m wrong.
There have been some fantastic races being held in Portland these days. The past few years I have found my racing calendar to be filled with the likes of The Mississippi Avenue Crit (party on the roof?), The Downtown Crit (party on Greg’s roof?) something called Sublime Sublimity (not a clue what that means) and maybe the Oregon State Road Championships (which take place in Washington). This year it looks like the summer is going to be fun filled right until the very end (which is never if you live in Portland.)
Then, there are the new kids on the block; someone mentions on a ride last Saturday something called the Franz Bakery Crit. You know, the bakery over on 12th with the big rotating loaf of bread? Finding it nearly impossible that there was a Crit happening within miles of my front door, I quickly put on the brakes and it was at that point that the intended 110 miles in the sun turned into something closer to 40. I cannot tell you exactly what it was as my Garmin was sitting uselessly on top of my handlebars, staring back at me with that blank look that is usually reserved for gas station attendants and bank tellers (the one that lets you remain anonymous in their minds, as well as they in yours.)
So, we slammed our way through a few corners, watched Anna Christenson from *Ironclad ride away from the group for the win the second year in a row and then her teammate do the same thing in the Men’s race.
But, it was here that I found myself thinking about Mr. Karre again. Sure, it was because he and I were there watching his girlfriend Amy smash her way to 3rd!! but also because the music was so damn awful that it cast a sour pallor over what was generally a pretty awesome race. Then, a few nights later at Mount Tabor with Brown Eyed Girl and Footloose permanently running their way through my head I desperately tried to race my bike. What the hell is going on here people? Have bicycle racers and riders and organizers all collectively lost their taste for good music all at once? How does this happen? And what, pray tell, can we do about it?
I propose that each team pick a day and then offer up one of their own (or hire one) as a DJ for the night. Sponsor the night by making it more enjoyable (and a dance party) for everyone. But, then again, if that were the case, then there really wouldn’t be anything to complain about, because, when it comes to Mount Tabor (a race that everyone who’s ever done it is in love with) we wouldn’t have anything to complain about.
See you out there.
A Few Other Recent Favorite Things:
photo by John Prolly
1) Prolly. Seriously, could this guy kill it any more than he already does? (Yes he can, is the answer). Check out a few things that he has going on over at his website. Namely Jared Porter’s bicycle that made the Beautiful Bikes segment. Then, stick around for a minute and put together a submission to his Happy 4th of July Call For Submissions. I like that, a lot. (Even though we have now all missed it) Also digging his Recent Roll segment… You see what I mean? And then you’re trapped in THAT vortex. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it. Full Bleed. Somebody give this guy a TV show.
2) *Team Ironclad – these guys and gals continue to impress and I think if I had to choose (and who the hell am I?) a Portland team of the year this early on, I would hand it over their way. Not only did they win both of the Elite fields at the Franz Bakery Crit, but they continue to represent on pretty much all levels necessary to be considered part of an “active peloton” in this wonderful sport. See examples: Putting on races, showing up and dominating current weekly training races as well as actual ones, putting power animals such as wolves on their kits, (having hot girls on their team) and utilizing the entire color spectrum of the cycling world (namely hi-visibility clothing and shoes) to the fullest degree.
3) Screencap Recap – Stage 2 from Gage & Desoto. I seriously want to see the entire tour this way. Mike Spriggs is always up to something good. Then, not only does he love it, like really love it, this cycling stuff, but he also has the design sense to match it. Hence this t-shirt collaboration with Dead Flowers. which is in the running for best shirt of the summer.
FOOTNOTES
1 This is a condition that manifests itself in a variety of ways involved in this cycling lifestyle. Tires go unmounted for days, new handlebars sitting, cleats are used until their maximum lifespan (until they start pulling out in sprints) waiting for someone to take the time to install them. Water New kit, unworn. Something is going entirely wrong here. Or right!
2 One challenge to myself (and you): I’m trying to ride all the bikes that I own over the course of the summer. And tell you about them. You should try it too. This is one of those, BMC ProMachine. “But, it’s so bad ass and, well, weird looking” is what I tell myself all the time. But, the Helium has been a bit more ‘go to’ than the BMC. So, you see how this dilemma starts and ends.
