Sure Fire Remedies.

Brothers and Sisters...Have you come here seeking solace? Perhaps you lack direction in your life? Do one-time friends and acquaintances, co-workers, lovers and parole officers become glassy-eyed and walk away when you start talking bikes(again)? Y'all is my constichunsee. C'mon in and pull the wool over your own eyes...

So I received this via email from those wishing to remain anonymous. Whose wishes shall be granted. Not sure what that's about. I guess the kooks have arrived.

The big lead up was to let you down (easy...) with some thoughts on BikeFit. People who know me casually will sometimes (the times their eyes are not glazing over from yet another bike reference) ask how to fit their bike. It's not one size bike fits all, I says. Like trying to cram your feet into your sister's shoes or wearing your uncle's and having the heels drop with every step.
So. Better thoughts from clearer heads here: matt chester (on 63xc.com a Great site) here and here next... and Peter White's musings here. Neither are particularly short, but if you haven't already, well worth reading. Also worth a read. Grains of salt all around...you know what you need &l lik, so personality counts.

My 2 cents would be something taken for granted by smarter people: Be Open to Change. You actually don't know all there is to know, even about your own bike(s). And the reason I'm not even being funny is this: your own body changes shape. You may gain or lose flexibilty, recover from or be subject to an injury, grow older, or have a bike(s) on which the set up or geometry requires a different postion than another(s). Too many folks assume where they are now is right full stop. Be willing. I raised my seat on the Surly LHT today 5mm, after a nagging feeling all day yesterday. And promptly forgot I'd done so or ever had felt the need to. Change is natural to all living things, esp. those dirty guys outside Bottles'n'Bins across from the Munras bikepath...

BE WILLING is a pretty good thing to have in your brain most days.

Here's my British Racing Green B17. Look at those polished rivets. That's assfriction, that is.


Above we see the Brooks Honey (?!?) bar tape approximately a year in. The color faded right away, but it feels nice barehanded and I'm counting on it looking real good in like 4 years or so. Again, those bars are 48cm!


The reason I'm currently geeking out on them is: the long flat ramps. And the position of the levers below the curve. It makes for big room on top, and such a sweet contact on the hoods. Better braking position, too. I see lots of bikes these days with the levers rocked way up- a style that gained popularity in the early 2000s days of Lance. While I see the reasoning, they'd be better served, imho, by raising the bars level with the saddle and putting the levers where you can reach them easily from the drops/hooks, which will be where you are if it's dicey. {Caveat: NONE OF MY OPINIONS ABOUT ANYTHING HOLD TRUE FOR CRIT RACING except that it does not look fun to me}


Lookit how fat the Surly Nice Rack is- brakes are completely tucked away. Those boys drink the right kind(s) of beers. And, plus- give them credit for fecking sweet rides for the dollar. I think this inexpensive frame turned out ( I turned it out...) (it better not get out of pocket...) rather elegantly. "My, she was yar."


This was J on yesterday's ride. I left his helmet in the racevan & mama had that at work, so...I strapped him in and went. You're not my Dad. I point this out o further my reputation and to say that the helmet actually helps his positioning in the trailer. See how slumped he is? Welll...

This is where he wore a hole in the fabric and began to eat away at the plastic stay in the trailer wall, rubbing it against the tire. Little rat slowed me down, too. What can you do? The guy's totally passed out at, like, 3pm. I propped him over against the other side with the blanket and kept on. Must remember side pillows...


Above is him today, looking like a French mountaineer c.1991. Quick spin up/over to Joselyn's to take some abuse then up thru Veteran's Park (playground time) and through the sneaky gap on top. Over Huckleberry and down sweeping smooth fast roads in Pebble Beach. (It's not worth traveling for, but if you find yourself in this neck of the woods, the roads in there are pristine. So well groomed and twisty, and with beautiful views in lots of places. Well worth doing. Some sneaky/Rooty mtb to be had in there too.) Then took the fireroad down. Super bumpy with deadfall and pinecones. Had to haul the trailer over some good sized logs- the last of which pulled the trailer's e-brake. It has a lever hanging in a most inconvenient spot for bushwhacking. Makes me think I'm putting it to unintended uses.
Good times.


Here comes my bell beautification project. I left this lovely brass bell outside today, and will leave it for a month (?) to see what kind of patina the salt sea air will deliver. It worked wonders on my covered BBQ grill- ate right thru it.

And, plus:
I LURVE DAVID LYNCH. If you don't, you are wrong, you actually do. And through him I saw Isabella Rossalini, and it was good. Look at the wonderful crazy she's up to recently: