i tried to tell the photographer that it violated my tribal religious beliefs

but they took the picture anyways.


Im sort of a big deal in the bike service game, you might have noticed. Yes, when you hear a creaking in your bottom bracket, i will personally call your ass out by getting you to come out into the africa heat to make the sound for me in your wool slacks and penny loafers, as pictured here:

and god forbid you drag me all the way outside to make the noise for me and your bike "isn't making it out here....wierd."

then i have to explain to you that the $250.00 you spent to shave the 68 grams on your ti-spindled pedals, may well be the reason for the noise seeing as you way 195 pounds and the pedals have a 158 pound rider weight limit. How about you do an extra lap on sunset once a week for a year and save yourself a whole 5 pounds, for free!

Training and technical advice. Now that's what i call service.

's is how i feel after i ride and kickbox the same day...

at least im the one doing the hitting in kickboxing...

here's a week recap for you.

started doing this...



ended doing this...


i'm starting to get pissed again.

crits

are the pits.

that is all.

KrAcckkkkooOOW!

I think i am going to name my new bike the punisher due to the painful nature of cross and it's black and white color scheme. Also, i think im gonna peel off th headbadge and put a punisher skull on there. Also, i'm gonna look into changing the "GARY FISHER" to "THE PUNISHER", what the hey, all i have to do is change the gary f part.

2 days off!

that's right, 2!

Epic rides on both days. Thanks genius feature on my ipod. That little feature shaves off the 20 minutes i spend before a ride making a playlist, or waiting thru the boring parts of albums while i ride. All bases are covered with that one, aptly named, feature.

Today i spent memorial day at a sushi restaurant yelling at the waiter. Went to josh's house to watch the fights/ultimate warrior documentary (awesome). Then watched the steve-o documentary. What junk show that dude was. Stoked to see him clean, but, as a sober individual, i still don't get the whole self defeated "i'm a total loser, and that's just how it is" aspect that all NA or AA people tend to have. Don't get me wrong, if it gets you sober, i'm all for it, but, can't one be a little more positive about the person who you are now as opposed to how wrecked the person you were was? It just doesn't strike me as that type of organization.

Banged out another half an hour at tempo at home and now im too spun to sleep. Pisser.

KA-BLAM!

so, this is the beginning of the 4 month long gut-check that i like to refer to as period training. Most people are in the thick of it, i am starting my base mileage and resistance training. That's cuz i'd way rather kick total ass in the cross season than any other race season in existence.

Got my bike and promptly put 'er on a diet. 21 pounds out of the box (YIKES). now i got it down to just a scooch under 18. yay.

Let me just say, i have never been a weight weenie (truth), and i have never even weighed any of the other bikes i own (also truth). That should give you some idea how serious i am about kicking some ass this cross season. I decided to keep it real and get a steel cross bike this year come hell or high water, so right away i was nervous about the weight. Also, i don't feel as if i have committed any weight weenie specific crimes. No booster kits with 27 different ti and lightweight alloy fasteners. Minimal carbon parts, and the ones i do have i bought on the cheap (150 gram seatpost 35 bones!). My main point of contention was the wheelset.

Let me start off, for those of you who don't know me, by saying i hate shimano. However, this year i decided to forgo the gluing of 90 dollar tubulars, and try out this new fangled tubeless that the kids seem to be so hip on these days. It seems like a good way to run whatever tire pressure i want, get a sweet ride quality, and very pragmatic to boot. In the world of tubeless road stuff, we have shimano, campagnolo, and fulcrum to choose from. If you run anything that campy makes, off road, it voids the warranty. My shop doesn't deal in fulcrum. Sorta thinned the herd of choices so to speak.

Now, hutchinson MAKES a cross specific tire. Could i wait for us to get one in? Hell no! That's what stan's is for! So i opted to do a stan's kit on my new dura-ace/bontrager jones cx combo. Took a little cajoling for the rear tire to seat, but the front was very cooperative. In order to get everything sealed properly, one has to use a high pressure that is not conducive to ride with no tube. Of course one back's off the tire pressure before one tikes this tubless setup for one's maiden voyage.

Well, not this one. I got about 3 blocks and, well, just read the title of this post.