Holy crap. I can’t believe how quickly the time is going. I remember stiring in this very spot at the beginning of the month, wondering how I was going to fill the time between then and one week from now, when I put the Green Mountain State in my rear view mirror. I’ve been busy, paring down all my personal effects, trying to lighten the load. It actually feels pretty good to see all the last little bits of my excess personal baggage go away. Letting go of things isn’t always easy, but it is a worthwhile exercise.

long live rock

My record collection, which hasn’t been listened to in over 20 years is now sold. While the amount I got for it barely covers beer, I no longer have to worry about lugging it around with me anymore. I havent had access to a device to even play a record in at least that long, yet I have moved them across country twice, and then sat them in the basement for 10 years. No more.

My superfluous outdoor gear, all gone or on consignment.

All my bikes. I’ll be headed west with my road bike and Kermit, the only two complete bikes I have left.

And then there is the saying of the goodbyes. It’s a tough process, especially when you have roots in a place for 10 years – my longest run anywhere. Lots of folks to see, including family, friends and my old haunts.

shredding the gnar, and the gnar was good

I was surprised on Friday by Daddy Nat, who had texted me to find out that my plans were. I had some organizing and packing on my schedule for the day, and was very happy to blow it all off to go snowboarding at Stowe. It had been about 2 years since my last time out, and about 4 years since I had been to Stowe.

Turns out I didnt forget how to ride, but as the day went on and I got my confidence back, I really had to reign it in. I was starting to get waaay to comfortable on the board. Conditions were great, and our familiarity with the mountain allowed for good choices for trails to hurtle down with minimal people. It was good that we stopped when we did, because I was getting tired, and was beginning to have the feeling that I was going to get really hurt if I didn’t stop. Headed out west for a new beginning with a torn ACL would be less than ideal.

my skill level 19 years ago, in Colorado no less

I used to have Jedi like skills, but now my powers are weak. Still, it was a really nice thing of Nat to hook me up with the lift ticket, and it was a nice send off to the mountain where I had spent so much time sliding sideways.


But now it’s crunch time. Shit to do. No screwing around. I leave in a week.

Remember kids, 2pm today is when I will melt the face off the Mad River Valley. I’ve spent my free time over the last week or so arranging the playlist. True METAL aficionados will appreciate the mix, and those that merely dabble will be pleasantly surprised.

You can stream the live show here, or tune in locally to 95.1 FM. Remember, 2 pm EST. There is a cool global listener map on the site that I wanna see light up!

Last year’s show was a blast, and I featured many of the greats. Later today, I’m gonna share last year’s playist on Facebook via Spotify. This year, I will be doing more of the same, with a completely new set of songs, and I’ll eventually get around to posting that playlist some time post show.

Keep it METAL.

Some of you might remember that I was a guest DJ at a local radio station last year.

Well, I have been asked to participate again this year. This is a small community radio station located in the Mad River Valley, which is peaceful, serene and quintessential rural Vermont at it’s finest. Until I get behind the console. Then I will transform the airwaves from the funky jam band local flavor to a face melting METALSTÖRM. It is destined to be awesome. The show details are as follows:

2-4pm  EST on Tuesday Feb 12th. Click HERE to stream over the world wide web. Locally, tune in to WMRW 95.1

It also happens to be during the fundraising cycle, and last year there was a slight uptick in donations during my show. So please at least tune in, and donate if you can. Independently owned radio is a vanishing thing, being taken over by corporate media giants that force feed you whatever crap they feel should be “popular” It’s little stations like this that have a voice, and you hear the best programming this way.

May the METAL be with you… always…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d say so. In fact, the last day of 2012 was pretty darn good. The saying goes “out with the old, in with the new”, and this was the case for me in terms of my vehicular transportation. Face friends know that my car was backed into and dented pretty badly, enough for $1200 worth of repairs to the door. Well, the Saab was a good car, by far the best I’ve ever owned, but she was getting  a little long in the tooth. 8 years is a long time to have a car, I’d say I got  my money’s worth. With insurance check in hand, I decided it was the time to make my move. On Dec 31st, I bought a 2006 Toyota 4runner. I am stoked.

Also got my first good trundle of the year in. Mandy and I headed out on the VAST network near the old homestead, our goal to see how close to Middlesex Notch we could get in the amount of daylight we had to work with. Conditions were pretty good, a little soft, but manageable. The snowmobile tracks are definitely packed down enough, save for a few spots that required some walking. The terrain was rolling, with a few rotten fall line climbs, but hey, these trails aren’t designed with bicycles in mind.

cheers big ears

It was a pretty grueling slog on the way out, mostly uphill, but we stopped at a nice little clearing and hoisted a couple of PBRs that I had stashed min my jersey pockets. The trail kicked up pretty sharply just beyond, and with an hour of daylight left, we figured this was a good turn around point. As it was mostly up on the way out, it was mostly down on the way back. Riding the Trundleraptor fast is pretty exhilerating. You never really can be sure that you will have grip at any given time. The best practice is to have a good attitude, and be totally OK with ending up in a pile on the ground (I did).

dropping in

when I says woah, I mean woah!!!

All in all it was a good outing, and the ride definitely fueled some winter bike stoke in me. My brain got to thinking about some sort of ridiculous snow bike enduro… Oh yes… I’m hatching some sort of hair brained, night time, point to point race, involving bacon, booze and likely, fire. After all, you have to do something in VT in the winter to stay sane.



 

Yes, here is the look back post that is so en vogue this time of year. It was a pretty event filled year, and thankfully, not as dark and bleak as 2011. While 2011 pretty much was the worst year ever, 2012 was one of transition, and had the occasional beam of light that helped me find my way.

January kicked off with the addition of a Pugsley to my quiver. I call him the Trundleraptor. He made the cold and snowy months so much more enjoyable. I had made the decision that i was going to take “training” a bit more seriously for 2012, as I had my sights set on the Breck Epic. Lots of indoor ride time was logged on the trainer.

"training"

February included my 4th (?) annual trip to the Sonoran Desert, where I successfully completed the SSAZ loop injury free, spent time in Sedona, and rode some fun stuff around Prescott. I also played my first game of bike polo. Upon my return to VT, more snowbiking was had.



March. What a weird month. In like a lion, out like a lamb I believe the saying is. We started in the thick of winter, Pugsley riding, rolled right into mud season, and ended riding dry singletrack. The first Winterbike was thrown at the beginning of the month, by MTBVT honcho, GG and SSUSAVT collaborator Ryan Thibault. A rocking good time.

ways to stay warm in the winter

April. A lot of yous fell for my April Fools prank this year. I pre rode the Gravel Grinder loop with temps in the mid 70s. I gave myself a terrible buzz cut. The Grinder was the best ever, with a keg of beer and 20 lbs of chocolate covered bacon. Lots of base miles. Singlespeed-apalooza, my first start in the men’s open category, no sport class for this chump.

bacon

May. Lots of riding, a little bit of filming, refining my bikes, and getting picky on breakfast sandwiches. My knee had started acting up again, and I made the decision to pull the plug on my bid for the Breck Epic. A bummer way to start the summer.

June. The wind was leaving the sails, but I still managed to get some quality rides in, tweak the bikes some more. What a lot of folks dont know, is that this is when the “end” started for the bike shop. No local business to speak of, little B29 business via the web, zero availability from my largest brand at the time. I saw the writing on the wall, but I was determined to give it my best effort.

July. Guests from the west. SSUSA. Change. From the outside, no one would ever know that the shop was dying. It was becoming harder and harder to stay positive about the whole thing. It was a heavy burden to carry by myself, yet I still managed to show up there and do what little business came in. However, it was becoming more and more apparent that what little business did come in wasnt even close to becoming enough to make it worth while. The downward spiral had begun.

momento of the BEST DAY EVER

August. I raced co-ed duo with Ginger at the DH40 in a dress. I was dead sexy. The business was in decline, but socially, my game was up. I found a new appreciation for sitting on my back deck, drinking tequila and trying to make tacos that were better than the last ones. Then I had a severe allergic reaction to some meds I was prescribed, which landed me in a world of hurt. I was out of commission for 2 weeks with chronic swelling in my joints and unspeakabe pain. I got a year older.

lunch time rides were the bright spots

September. I went to Vegas, made some connections, saw some old friends. When I returned, I pulled the rip cord. The shop was over. I just couldn’t keep going, and it was the only choice. You know that part in Top Gun when Goose dies? It felt a lot like that, only worse.

lost that loving feeling

October. I also didn’t drink this whole month. Probably saved me a small fortune…

November. Still feeling pretty low. Sitting on a bunch of stuff with no place to sell it, I did a huge liquidation sale, boxing stuff up and shipping it out of my storage unit. It helped keep a few of the buzzards away, but I was not in a good space. I started having some pretty acute panic attacks, which I can tell you are not fun. I know what they are, so I know how to deal with them. I don’t like taking the drugs, so I just curl up in a ball and  wait for them to pass, or the world to end. If I feel them coming on, I try and get outside and do something, but often they come with no warning.

therapy

I flew out to California, to take on a new role with an old employer. I spent Thanksgiving with friends, and had three long days of driving back east to think about things. I still dont have the answers, but at least it’s a something. I stopped waiting for the apocalypse.

December. The world didn’t end. I got my first paycheck in over 7 years. Christmas was weird, but not unpleasant. It was to be the first of the ongoing series of Dysfunctional Family Christmas. The Pugsley has been ridden.

stoked for snow... for a change

A whole new year awaits, and while 2012 was a year of transition, 2013 promises to be a year of change. I know of a few things on the horizon that I am very much looking forward to.

Not much to talk about in the days that followed, but it went something like this:
Monday, 850 miles
Tuesday, 950 miles
Wednesday, 750 miles, plus a stop in at Darkhorse Cycles to have a beer with the Mayor.

I was really glad to be home.
Here is my instagram photodump from my trip. Can’t wait for the next one.

The 5th running of what has become the “official” unofficial singlespeed race is now history. I will admit that after “winning” hosting rights last year in Boulder CO, I had no clue what I was actually getting myself in to. Sure, I’d been to the last 2 events, but I was not really expecting what happened this year.

The madness began with a certain madman from AZ showing up at my shop on a rainy Thursday night. Mandy had been out on course in the afternoon doing some pre-emptive marking. It is not a fun job, but she got done in time to meet us at the Rez for dinner. It was after dinner that we all decided it would be cool to meet up at The Back Yard in Stowe (local super dive bar) and get our pre-party on. We closed the place down.

even Seamus had a costume

Friday came too early, and I had to be at the shop to meet and greet all the folks who were coming into town to play bikes. While I was shop bound, Mandy was out marking the 28-esque mile, 3500 ft-esque of climbing course. Lots of folks were rolling in, and while it was nice to get to meet and hang with some of them -Pat from AZ rode from the airport in Burli to my shop, where I was able to reward him with beer. Shortly thereafter, Eddie and Namrita O’Dea showed up, and then B29 rider Chris Muddiman. Being a Team 29 rider means you have to help me schlep kegs, and Chris helped me wrangle 111 gallons of PBR into his truck for Saturday. Then it was off for a quick bite, a change of clothes and up to the Matterhorn, a Stowe apres ski favorite, for registration.

Another late night had me rallying early to get the final details organized, mostly the aid station items. Team 29 rider Dough was very helpful in selecting “dough”nuts, chocolate covered ones to be exact, and he made short work of getting rid of half of them before we got back in the car. I almost lost my hand trying to grab one. We all got ourselves to our appointed positions, me with last minute/slacker registration, course marshals to their appointed spots, supplies to their designated areas etc etc.

Amazingly enough, the race left at 10 on the dot. I did have a bit of fun and made every one gather as close as possible around my podium (Scottie’s truck) for my pre race diatribe before I simply uttered the word “go”.

go

The course pretty much featured everything that there is to offer in Stowe. The route was figured out by Ron from iRide, Stowe’s real bike shop, Mandy, and myself over a few beers a couple of weeks ago. We put a lot of effort into the it, trying to showcase everything there is here, without having to do laps or get way out into the boonies. Managing a big group of riders in this area is tough, you can get pretty remote if you aren’t careful, and if something goes wrong… well, no one wants that.

The first half of the course is pretty rugged. Sterling Valley to be exact. It took me 2:15 to do it last weekend, albeit hung over. I figure it was a good gauge of how long it might take the average person to do the ride. Upon arrival at the mid point, one was greeted by the mid point “aid station”, hosted by Drunkcyclist. Lots of things other than water and nutrition here. I will admit that I was slightly horrified that the fast guys were here in less than 1.5 hours…

well stocked, for a bar...

Come back tomorrow for the second installment!

I realize I’m probably going to cross a line here, but I don’t care.

Once upon a time, there was a bike shop, and one day a young gentleman came in with a broken front quick release skewer.

“I need the cheapest one of these you have”.

The owner happened to be working, and quickly found a new Shimano steel skewer, much like the broken skewer that had been presented.

“How much?”
“$10″

Digging through wallet. “Would you take $8?”

“No, it’s $10″
“I have $8 and a Bic lighter”
“Sorry, the price is $10″

Customer leaves to go digging around in his car for $2, comes back with $8, a Bic lighter and $5 CAN in Loonies.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t take Canadian money. There is a bank across the street, and they can change it for you. The skewer is $10 US.”

Customer leaves again, and finally comes back with a $10 bill, plus $3 for the owner’s “trouble”, and promptly begins a line of questioning that could come across as slightly insulting, if not borderline hostile, to the bike shop owner.

“Are you from around here?
“Are you the owner?
“Well, I work in retail and… barter is an important part of the sale, and… hear bad things about the service in this shop, and…”

The owner quietly listened to the concerns of the young man who had to jump through so many hoops to get a cheap wheel skewer and thanked him for his feedback and bid him good day.

Now take a few minutes to think about this. Is someone in the wrong in this situation? Was the customer wronged by an unobliging shop employee? This story is not fictitious in any way, in fact, it played out before two other witnesses. This story was the defining interaction of my Monday. Now I did take the liberty of omitting some of the circumstances that might have changed the tone of this interaction, because, let’s face it, the customer is always right. Right?

Customer walks into said shop talking on his cell phone. Does not stop talking on cell phone after part has been produced and price has been established. Customer leaves in a huff to find “correct change”. Asks strangers in the parking lot for money to complete the transaction.

Now, let’s think about simple economics shall we? We are in retail why? To make money. And we all now there isnt much money to be had on the biking industry. We do this for love.

I present to you, exhibit A:

the skewer

Available from QBP at $9.22 wholesale.

$10-$9.22 = $.78, not much of a margin, but the customer did come in looking for a deal. And I was in a managerial position to oblige. Now think about what it takes to get that item in the store. It had to be shipped there, so there is some sort of shipping charge associated with it. I calculate that for the size and weight of this single item, it may have added another $.55 to the cost of the skewer. So really, it costs $9.77. You can’t really pay rent or really any other bill with a $.23 sale can you?  In fact, that isn’t really worth anyone’s time.

So let’s back up once again.

Customer talking on phone apparently did not hear me say, “these are $15, but I’ll give it to you for $10.”  Seems like a pretty damn fair price right? On both counts really…

But I can completely understand his frustration. It must have been humbling to have to leave the store not once but twice to get the $10 necessary to procure the necessary funds for the part. Every time I go to the Ford dealership and ask for one of these:

Raptor

they ask for $50K. I do not have $50K, and therefor no Raptor. I don’t even have a colorful Bic lighter to sweeten the deal. So I leave in a huff.

We have in this particular instance, reached the epic climax of this transaction. Customer needs the skewer, and is now so pissed at me for being so unyielding in my price, that not only has he had to battle the Hydra to get the missing $2, he also came up with a little extra, to toss me some “fuck you bucks” so he could in good concience buy my time and tell me how I should run my business. Question my fairness. Let me know how I have wronged him. To teach me a lesson on how retail and “barter” works. In front of other customers. Who he had asked for money from in the parking lot.

The last paragraph in the story is exactly what happened.

The owner quietly listened to the concerns of the young man who had to jump through so many hoops to get a cheap wheel skewer and thanked him for his feedback and bid him good day.

$10. I could have just said I didn’t have the damn skewer. Maybe I should have just said it was $15 and saved both of us all a bunch of harrumph. I wanted to tell him something else, and invite him to never show his face in my establishment again, yet I held my breath.

So, what is the moral of this story?

I know everyone was all bummed out about not reading my diet-tribe about my breakfast habits yesterday (get it?). So here is another breakfast sandwich of note.

fuel for fastness

The Panera Bread “Power” Breakfast Sandwich. Yes, for just $3.89, you too can have this sandwich dreamed up by some corporate goon. Egg, cheese and ham, between 1 slice of multi grain brad. It’s small, but does pack a pretty decent punch. I only eat these twice a year, at the Panera Bread in Newburg NY, before SSAP and DH40. While it is nowhere near as awesome as my local bagel shop, it does provide a good value, decent taste and something that does not backfire on me while I’m racing my bike in the woods of Stewart. I got one for Dough this year, and he liked it.

I’m somewhat of a creature of habit, so finding a place to have a predictable pre race meal is godsend. Plus a Starbucks just opened up on the other side of the parking lot…

Back again with another episode of breakfast sandwiches. I don’t always have time to make my own, and so I have to rely on the offerings of others.

mmmm.... bagel

This is probably my most purchased breakfast, egg and cheese bagel and a large cup of French Roast. I get it from the bagel shop just across from the shop. Like a wise man once said, give me convenience or give me death, and this is as convenient as walking across the street and coughing up $5.25. I’ve definitely relied on this breakfast before rides and road trips alike. Very dependable, consistent, and pretty tasty. Plus you have a choice of the different kinds of bagles. The one pictured is a sunflower one, but I’ll bounce between everything, sesame or poppy depending on my mood. If I’m feeling like I need that extra boost, I’ll get bacon on it.