Well, that's it folks

The end of another year.

Six years blogging and fourteen years at my current job. For a man that hates commitment, I think that's pretty good. While I'll admit that every morning that I wake up extra early just to write and I end up spending the first ten minutes of my day wishing I were dead instead of awake, I know it will be awhile before I consider walking away from blogging. I enjoy it too much, and once the coffee maker starts making those satisfying burbly noises, I know that things will get better soon enough.

2012

Gonna...
*do some new things.
*do some of the same old, same old.
*have a new sponsor or three.
*turn 43.
*use my oh-so-smart phone to help make great bike blog.
*try to do at least 12 days of trail work (I missed it by one this year. Although there is a work day this weekend, I've got a commitment with my mom).

I should be on my new By:Stickel some time next year.

This is not mine, but it is the first one with the half man/half machined chainstay yoke. Very nice indeed. I am excited about this new bike, but I'm always excited about new bikes. I like trying different things... except flavored coffees and cultural experiences. I'm over that.

2011 was hardly a bad year for me. If I consider my stage win at the Trans-Sylvania Epic a "win," well, then I finished the year with one "win." Considering what I went through to cross the line first and how badly I wanted to win knowing that Dough and Grig believed I could beat the Grape Ape (Rich Straub), it was actually an emotional victory for me... something I haven't had in a long while. The kinda win where I had to dig deep, hurt bad, and overcome some obstacles along the way. There were a few other random trips to the podium, some missed opportunities due to the lack of a killer instinct, and my first mechanical related DNF in a long time.

I did lose two contests. That sucked. Better luck next year or maybe no more contests for me. It does provide excellent blog fodder, win or lose.

I thanked my sponsors yesterday. Today, I thank you. Without you, the reading type folk and the just here to look at pictures and call you a pussy miscreants, I woulda quit writing this weBlog long ago. Your virtual support here, your vocal support on the race course, your monetary support of my sponsors in the open market, your wearing of Team Dicky garb... none of it goes unnoticed. I am humbled and grateful. If I could go back in time and tell mullet headed 1988 me that there was a ladder of greatness, and someday I'd be holding onto the third from the bottom rung of said ladder, 1988 me would never believe 2011 me. I'm sure future me and past me wouldn't get into a fight over it, as 1988 me and 2011 me were/are both pussies...

So thank you, from the bottom of my grossly enlarged heart to the top of my disgusting diseased lungs.

My name's Team Dicky.

I am an unprofessional cyclist.

Who cares?

End of the year gratitude and such

I hate to do it. Not for my sake, but for yours.

I want to just take the time to acknowledge that I'm not alone here.



Yes, that fits in nicely with yesterday's mullet, I know.

If it weren't for those fine folks off to the right there (under Dick Support) there would be no Bad Idea Racing. Well, not as we know it. Without them, I would be racing without the things I need, like socks, wheels, hydration, lube, clothes, and whatnot. I could race without them, but then I would just be an unprofessional naked runner.

I am pleased to point out that within each and every company that supports me, there is at least one person with a sense of humor. That person has been given the task of dealing with me. Without that person, I would be unappreciated, scorned, and perhaps "blacklisted" within the "industry." They keep the backdoor open for me at all times, but let's not take that the wrong way... unless it's funny.



or not.

I love them all. If I could, I would hug them... but actually, if I could, I probably wouldn't hug them because hugging isn't my thing. Perhaps some kind of bro handshake or a highly structured high five. That would be nice.

HIGH-FIVE HOLLYWOOD! from Almost Twins

or not.

I love them for what they do for me... without (predetermined) expectations. I love them for making things that make making great bike race easier for me to make. I love them for loving me...

unconditionally.



Unbelievably, there is a song called Unconditional Love by a group called Hi-Five.

Very nice.

They do not currently sponsor me, but I am looking into it.

So thanks to you Dick Support folk, the big and the tall, the small and the short, the bright and the beautiful and the dark and the ugly.

You do it for me. I do it for you.

Let's do it again next year.

What I did with my free time and the first installment of "Old School Wednesdays"

Five days off and two rides, some time with some friends eating waffles, some time spent with my mom.

I know, this is a bike blog, not a waffle/family reunion blog.

I rode out to the Backyard Trail from my house to meet up with Zac, Tumas, Roadie, and the Other White Rich D.

My first ride with my new oh-so-smarter phone.

It was nice to be heading out the door with camera/music/phone/recipes all in one as opposed to the digital camera, iPod Shuffle, not-so-smart phone, and recipe box I'm used to carrying. Sadly, all is not happy and bright in the world of modern technology. While Pandora streaming Dokken into my ears is nice, the routing of my headphone wire is not so nice. Then when I want to take a photo, I've got to deal with a headphone wire and take off my glove, though when it was time to trade casserole recipes at the trailhead, it was nice being able to just email them to each other. Huzzah!

My reduced ability to quickly take a photo meant that the first time Zac tried to clear this line and ended up in the poo creek, I did not get the photo.

"Hold on Zac. Stay in the poo creek just a bit longer so I can disconnect my headphone, take off my glove, wake up my iPhone, pull up my camera app, and get a natural photo."

Still it was a good day (oh-so-smarter phone issues aside).

The Other White Rich D going all "North Shore" and shit.

I spent the day after Christmas riding with Zac and Bike29 teammate, Dough (who was down from Connecticut dodging the IRS and running a load of contraband maple syrup to his parents). We headed out to Wilson's Creek, or as I like to think of it, mountains built for single speeding.

Dough fiddled with his new GoPro and seventeen extension arms that allow him to video record himself from a position only attainable by a time traveling remote control helicopter whilst Zac did his preride Tai Faux.


While I obviously played with the tired and overused-by-others features on my oh-so-smarter phone.

Much climbing was to be had in order to make with the anti-climbs.

Photo cred: Dough and his time traveling remote control helicopter simulator

Dough was entertained by my dainty creek crossing abilities.

Photo cred: Dough

I got through the 32 mile ride on 1/3 bottle of water, 1/3 bottle of Carb Boom, and a Christmas box of Mike and Ike's.

Post ride, we went looking for real food. Mexican food. After Zac took us to a couple closed Mexican restaurants, Dough's iPhone took us to a Mexican grocery store.. and then we finally found Habaneros.

I am always confused with Mexican restaurant menus. Everything looks the same to my uncultured eye, and no matter what I order, it pales in comparison to what everybody else gets.

So what did the "not quite the most interesting man in the world" order?

The "Special Dinner." A little bit of everything... chile relleno, taco, beans, rice, burrito, something like a burrito but not, something like a flat taco but different.

Photo cred: Dough

Two plates. The waiter did not warn me. As Dough says, "nothing like the 'special dinner' for someone four apples tall."

I was not looking at Zac and Dough's plates and their tiny portions with jealousy.

And as promised on Facebook and my (not really) skyrocketing Twitter account, I found a shocking image of a much younger me while perusing my mom's photo albums on her PC.

Put down your beverage and swallow first.

Seriously, I'll wait.




This was taken in December of 1988 (sorry, not 1998). I broke my foot playing tackle football in a parking lot while on Christmas break from Youngstown State University. A few days later, I cracked my cast on New Year's Eve Eve while slam dancing to Paul McCartney's Wings, drinking Black Velvet, and eating Hersey Kisses.

I also puked that night. Thank you Paul S, Doug B, and Biff for keeping me from pulling a Bon Scott.

Yes, I had photochromic Transition prescription glasses, a mega mullet, a dirt stache, jams, and I think a Swatch.

Please restore my cool points with this:

Iron Maiden and a small Eddie the Corpse head... to go with the Nike Swoosh, I also had a Nike hang tag on my walking boot. I was all class and then some. Why weren't the chicks all over me back then?

Dough says I should pull out the old school photo thing once a week.

My mom has enough blog fodder to get me through the winter easy peasy.

Happy birthday, Dad.

1967

I can see the future, and it looks like Ed Asner's sphincter

With the introduction of new technology into my life, I was happy to let go of another leisure enabling device.

I wasn't actively selling it, but when I saw that some guy on MTBR was having trouble getting his grubby mitts on a black fork (in the desired 100mm travel/15mm axle style), I felt like it was meant to be his. I took it off and went to the business of getting it super clean with my dirty and well-used Pro Towel. I wasn't kidding when I said I've been re-using them multiple times and storing the dirty serviceable one under the lid.

Dick Bruceman may not be happy with my miserly use of the product, but they are robust enough that they can be re-used a few times before being tossed into a nearby creek (I kid). Removal of this last bit of squishy business I had left in the house required more work than I wanted to do, but with a few events coming up in the next couple of months, I was gonna have to do it anyways.

I needed to swap the 15mm new skool axle back to the 9mm QR old skool axle system. When I banged out the 15mm axle, the bearing came out with it.

Not thinking, I banged it back in...

before I realized that it needs to come out when the axles are swapped, so I banged it back out, stuck the 9mm axle back in, and gently reassembled the whole mess.

This is my special Coleman mallet, bearing press, adjustment tool, and tent stake pounder being used in conjunction with a 7/8" socket which is otherwise useless to me unless I'm pounding in Industry Nine bearings.

Also during the process of the fork swap, I recalled someone making fun of the fact that I save the leftover steer tube pieces from fork installs. Not only are they great for storing spacers, seat post collars, and syringes on my work bench, they make great place holders when I remove my fork.

Thus keeping my handlebars from dangling from the frame by the rear brake line. I'm pretty sure I invented this use and the patent will be applied for posthaste.

I know I talk about it all the time, but Topeak does not have to pay me to gush about my digital torque wrench.

I love busting this thing out. One of the best, if not the best, purchases I made all year long. I only wish there were more things I could do with it. I wonder if it would measure the torque with which I apply peanut butter to bread? I wonder if Topeak will honor any warranties if the tool is fouled with peanut butter?

So the Misfit diSSent Brontoawesomeous Meatplow V.5 is back to the way it was intended to be.

I can't wait to have two rigid single speeds. I don't see how that doesn't make total sense.

And yes, I am now tweeting.

I chose to do this on my second day of smart phone ownership. This is not being done to increase my influenciality in the bike blog world (unless that would help me procure a beer sponsor). Since I'm not linking all this stuff together very well, that should limit its effectiveness to zero. I specialize in self-sabotage. I am only doing this because it is damn easy, I'm bored at work, and it's borderline fun to share. Expect me to become a bigger asshole in the near future as this wormhole of narcissistic activity pulls me deeper into its time-sucking bosom.

There will be pictures of puppies, food, bike parts, beer, and the shit I see at work.

Like a Julia Roberts movie, but not.

All this change brought about by going a measly 200 minutes over our old plan last month...

I'm off till next Wednesday. Maybe I post something before then, maybe I don't. Maybe I just give up on blogging like so many others and limit my mind to 140 character blurbs forever.

That's never gonna happen.

Getting with the times

photo cred: some douchebags from Bike PASA

In 2010, I was ranked 36th amongst the top 50 most influential cycling blogs by a guy who must be some kind of expert at ranking things.

This year, I totally missed the boat. Not only did I drop off the 2011 list, I didn't even know that a 2011 list existed. The ranking system has been adjusted to be in line with the times while I have not adjusted to the times the least bit. I do not "twitter" and "Bad Idea Racing" does not have a facebook page. I do not plan to do either as far as planning goes. I have no "corporate plan of aggression" (Big Worm's term) to speak of, let alone a plan of any kind.

But...

As of yesterday, I now "own" a "smarter phone." "Own" because I actually feel like it owns me. "Smarter" because it has bested my attempts to master it thus far.

I now have the power to twitter and facebook in a manner that would make a teenager feel like a teenager. I do not know what to do with this power. With great power comes great irresponsibility. How far I will end up going down this rabbit hole is yet to be determined. Minutes and prescribed plans pushed my hand when I thought I would remain a Druid forever.

I've already become annoyed with Hipstamatic in the first few minutes. I started watching a movie on Netflix, but it wasn't the one I thought it was. There are no Vikings on Shutter Island. I am one step away from checking into a nursing home.

I'm gonna pretend that the whole smart phone thing is not pretty cool...

But it is.

Expect things to get better around here.

Not a whole lot better, just a bit.

More photos? Yes.

The ability to actually respond to comments throughout the day? Yes.

Video? Perhaps.

I've signed up with twitter. Will I tweet or twat? Dunno.

My first post on twitter will hopefully set the tone.


Will I fall short of your elevated expectations?

Most certainly. I always do.

In unrelated news....

Bilenky Junkyard Cross happened.

Bastards. I hate them all.

Junkyard Cross Race from Erik Silverson on Vimeo.

Bilenky Junkyard Cross 2011 from In The Crosshairs on Vimeo.

People won and stuff. On the podium?

None other than Harlan "Brown" Price and Mike "Siesta" Festa (AKA: Fetus)

My heroes

So anyways, suggest some apps for life (that are free). Want to be able to communicate with the outside world, navigate around, record ride info, predict lottery numbers, make better sexy time... that kinda thing.

Duality of Man

I am a product of the popular culture of the mid 80's to mid 90's. Anything and everything that is great in the world of movies and music has it ties with that period.

Period.

Every generation feels the same way about the culture that they were immersed in when they were finally old enough to form an opinion.

Every generation has a war movie for its time. I was too young for Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter to be mine. No, by the time I had a taste for things dramatic, Full Metal Jacket was THE MOVIE.

Although I have an everlasting fondness for Joker and just about shit my pants when Pyle lost it in the bathroom, no other character stood out like R. Lee Ermey's DI Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (somehow only rated #6 on the Greatest Movie Assholes in the Movies... Ever).

His ball-busting, skull fucking drill instructor performance crushed Lou Gosset Jr's earlier benchmark from Officer and a Gentleman (which was not a war movie, but more of a Lifetime channel love story with some serious homosexual overtones that led to the making of Top Gun to see how far that storyline could be pushed). To Lou's credit, he did redeem himself in Diggstown, which was much more of a man's man movie.

Good enough that he should be given license to continue playing Chappy in Iron Eagle IV: Return of Chappy?



Too late for that, I guess.

Anyways, Matt Modine (think Vision Quest) did a fine job as Private Joker, the pragmatic protagonist of the film, a character I related to as a young, cynical man. Also a strong character, Animal Mother certainly spoke to the scary little person inside all of us but never admit to harboring in a dark corner of our brains, lest people think we're crazy.



Maybe it's just me.

Anyways, my favorite scene in the whole movie is when Joker gets a dressing down from a colonel.



Duality of man. Funny and true.

Ever since I saw that movie for the first time all those years ago, I've wondered, "Why can't somebody capture Stanley Kubrick's profound message, the feeling of the duality of man... with a cycling cap?"

I wonder no more.

The folks at Idiom Sweatshop have answered the prayers of an 18 year old boy and crafted this work of wearable art paying tribute to not only the movie, but the complex yin and yang of war put into words by Louden Swain... I mean Private Joker.

In case there are any doubts...

Still born to kill (even with the brim flipped).

If you've never seen Full Metal Jacket, you are going to be bummed when you find out you can't stream it on Netflix tonight.

Do yourself a favor. Do NOT click play on Heartbreak Ridge thinking you'll get the next best thing. I love Clint, but his portrayal of Sgt Gunny Highway should have got him kicked out of Hollywood. Grenada did not need to be brought to the big screen in this manner.

Yeah, so if you need to get your FMJ fix, watch this instead.

Just riding along

Eeeessshhh. I wanted to start a dialogue Friday, but after getting too many responses, I'm going back to working in a dark room with noise canceling headphones on. I guess clapping with one hand is sometimes less effort.

Saturday, I had to opt out of the scheduled mountain ride. That doesn't mean I wasn't there in spirit. I'm so happy that facebook has a tagging feature and my friends have very smart phones that allow them to do very dumb things.

Because I so woulda been smothered by these attractive female bartenders that were enjoying my blog on an iPhone.

Our trails were a mess here in Charlotte, so I decided to ride outta the house with Stabby over to the all-weather short track course to check on the work we did on the jump a few weeks ago.

I love urban single speed mountain bike rides through peaceful neighborhoods.

I also noticed these bike sensors at the traffic light around the corner from my house.

Park your bike on the little mushroom head guy on a bike and BINGO... light change. People who bitch that nothing is getting done for cyclists in Charlotte... please take notice.

Sunday was kinda more of the same. Urban ride out the door to the Backyard Trails to take a spin on the new stuff we've been working on (I've just been a helper) for the past few months.

Definitely something new for Charlotte. Slow, tech stuff that will actually give riders a challenge. A few sections that have become my favorite in the area... seriously.

Lumpy, weird, awkward... stuff that newbie riders can use to learn low speed handling. Not all bike handling is done at 12-18MPH.

A switchback... a real switchback... in Charlotte.

Exposure to the left hand side is a 15-20 drop down to the creek. It's tight, and once again, a place for new riders to practice a skill that you normally have to drive a couple hours to experience.

You actually have to ride through the car. Really.

Not really.

In other big news...

Light on a Stick II now has a bell.

This will come in handy... when it's dark... and I need a bell.

Talking to you is like clapping with one hand

Sometimes the lack of comments around here feels a bit like clapping with one hand. Gone are the days when I would receive a daily "You are a pussy" boost of approval. If I were to look for inspiration for posts based on feedback, this blog would have died a long time ago.

I tire of this one way dialogue, although I understand how The Pie feels now.

But alas, I did get a comment worthy enough to generate some electrical activity in my brain that translated into two-way communication on my end.

"Maybe they should give you a show on HGTV about how to properly build a bike room...or how to convince your wife to allow you to designate a bike room. I'd watch it." ~ anonymous

Always anonymous. I love the internet.

How does one convince their wife to allow them to designate a bike room? It's a long, drawn out process, I assure you.

Flashback all the way to 1992....



Move in with potential wife. Bring your two bikes with you. Mount them on the bedroom wall.

Remove the paint from one of your frames in a manner that breaks several OSHA and EPA rules... in the bedroom.

Move into small apartment. Mount three bikes on living room wall. Start to collect bike parts and accessories and "display" them on some shitty metal shelves in the bedroom (the same shelves that I gave a grand tour of some time ago).

"Liberate" some food grade lube from work and put it on your road bike. Then ride the rollers in the living room spewing food grade lube all over the carpet and the wall behind you for an hour.

Move into a town home and take over the basement. Spend so much time in your mancave that your wife is convinced you've become one of the People Under the Stairs.



Move into a small apartment. Stash your now ever-growing collection of bikes in every nook and cranny of non-living space; in between the washer and dryer, in the coat closet under the stairs, behind the couch... anywhere they would be most annoying.

Move into a house with an attached garage. Complain about the heat/cold out in the garage and do most of your work in the living room. Destroy more carpet.

And finally, look for a new place that has a spare room that's very inept design deems it purposeless for typical house use; odd layout, louvered doors (louvered double doors a plus), lack of cable hook-up... whatever you can use to argue that the room was destined to be a "bike room."

Enjoy.

Holy crap, it's going to happen (pending approval)

I've got a big announcement, but first...

About a month ago, Fajita lost my Light on a Stick while on vacation in Florida.

It fell out of her pocket while walking on the beach. She was upset. A search party was formed, but their efforts were futile. Tears were shed. They returned home and informed me that I was now lightless. More tears...

Yesterday, I made excellent use of my time. I broke out an old LED light that I bought during the early years of LED technology from a manufacturer who assured me it was bright enough to ride in the woods at night.

It was not.

But now with the addition of an old 1" quill stem, a Back Forty strap, and the other Salsa Chili Pepper grip not used with the original Light on a Stick, I now have a very useful Light on a Stick II.

It's a little more busy than the original Light on a Stick, it's way heavier, but it is harder to lose, way brighter, and can stand up on it's own. I'm considering quitting my day job and building Lights on Sticks for a living.

I noticed that I will disappoint multiple sponsors with that poorly planned image. You can only see the 9 in the Bike29 sticker and Dick Bruceman will certainly be miffed that my tub of Pro Towels are facing the wrong way. Should I tell him that I keep re-using one of the towels by crumpling it up and stuffing it under the lid to keep it moist? Probably not. Sponsor Liaison and Equipment Acquisitions Director, Admiral Ackbar is not pleased with my performance (but happy to at least make the shot).

In bigger news (like something could be better than Light on a Stick II), Pisgah Productions, the people who bring you events like PMBAR, Double Dare, and P36 have a new event planned (permit pending).

I'm sure Brado will be commissioned to produce something slightly better, but that's the best I can do for now.

The idea for this race was being tossed around by Eric "PMBAR Honcho" Wever and Jeff Papenfus for quite some time. Some of you might remember that Jeff passed away as a result of a riding accident that happened this past summer. Eric has decided that the race will move on and that the proceeds from the 2012 event will go to Jeff's widow, Lisa.

The original idea was for a 100 mile route. Eric forwarded the proposed route to me a few months ago, and when I looked at it, I called him up to tell him he was crazy.

To say it was hard would be an understatement. 100 miles of Pisgah ain't no joke. Keep in mind that the last time something of that magnitude was attempted (AKA: The Hush Hush Ride/Pisgah 99) only Brad Kee finished, and it took him @22 hours (he survived by eating his own toes). I broke out the map and tried to think of another route, but honestly, unless you stay on gravel roads as much as possible, you're going to be out there a very, very, very long time if you plan on busting out a full hundie.

So I ignored the concept of 100 miles and just stared at the map. I tried to think of a route that would have a maximum amount of fun with a minimal amount of needless suffering. A route that would make it easy for the promoter to have aid stations in logical locations and would see that people could actually finish the whole course and HAVE FUN. The kind of route that I would want to race... some of the best stuff that Pisgah has to offer in a way that would offer a shit ton of bang for the buck.

For those that can read a map or already know Pisgah:

276->477->Clawhammer->Buckhorn->SMills->Squirrel->Cantrell->SMills->Bradley->5015->1206->5000->Spencer->Spencer->n.e.r.->Fletcher->ResRd->Lower Trace->NMills->Yellow Gap->5051->1206->Laurel->Pilot->1206->476->SMills->
Buckhorn->Black

Well, that's the plan anyway.

For those that don't know Pisgah or can't read a map:

Nice paved flat to gravel road climb to start (break up the field), semi-wide introduction to the trail (nice filter), some of Pisgah's finest technical trails (Squirrel/Cantrell) while you still have the energy to cope with it, a nice mix of mellower trail, double track and gravel to get you to the descent on Spencer, over to more woodsie fun on Fletcher and Trace (that whole side of the forest will be awesome), a gravel climb to a classic Pisgah Laurel-to-Pilot loop (my favorite descent in Pisgah), some gravel to the "Wheelchair Ramp" climb (my name, not the forest service's) with one big push to the top of Black for one hell of a descent to the finish.

Eric is going to find out what the distance comes out to as soon as he can. It will be more than fifty but less than a hundred miles. Will it be 100K? Not exactly, but it will be the Pisgah 100% Awesome. Some of the best riding that the PNF has to offer, hands down, in one race.

This will not be the typical Pisgah Productions event. Eric plans on stepping it up quite a bit to make this slightly less grass-rootsy and more like what folks are used to seeing at other backcountry endurance races. While this will mean a slightly higher entry fee (compared to his very reasonably priced/more adventure oriented races), there will be support, course markings, CATEGORIES, a timing system that's more sophisticated than The Boy (my son) and an Excel spreadsheet.... all the whiz bang top notch stuff that you could ask for if you were the kind of person who asks for things.

A marked course, so none of this business:

photo cred: Clay Faine

And absolutely no wooden nickels.

Can you tell that I'm excited?

This will be a "must-do" event.

The date (tentatively) is May 19th, two weeks after PMBAR.

Mark your calendars. Sharpen your pencils. Change your oil. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors.

All good things to do, just not all relevant to this post.