Strava Hookup

Just a quick post to let you know if  you're reading this and care about places I ride, where you also might like to ride, I do have an account on Strava.com:  robkritoff. Just join for free and follow me, and you can see each ride I record.

I try to get around, but I'm biased to less techy, more twisty.
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Yes, I know this is New England.

Yes, I know peoplle don't ride rigid bikes anymore.  Well, some of us do.

Yes, I know, singlespeed MTBs haven't been the darlings of the bike industry for years, and I don't much care.

That said, if you wanna follow me, there you go.

BMX

Photo from Travis Brown's facebook page.

Visited the BMX track in Wakefield/Lynnfield today.  My daughter wanted to go ride.  Fun spot.  Just so y'all know, they have races there sunday mornings through the summer.  Look 'em up on Google to get directions- I'm not sure I know street names well enough to tell you how to get there.

Sebin-Lebin

When I was a new roadie cyclist, the big team was Seven Eleven, and one of my favorites for a time was Davis Phinney.  I can't even remember exactly why I went through the Davis phase, but I've always liked him and I really felt for him when it was announced a few years ago that he has parkinson's disease.  My great uncle died from PD, and it's a mean old bugger.

Now his SON is a pro cyclist, and won the pink jersey at the Giro D'Italia on the first day.  This isn't about feeling old so much as it's about roots.  The next generation isn't born- it's in power.  Taylor is serious business.   Here's his Bicycle Manufacturing Corporation Time Trial bike.

The second picture is just another wonderful shot from Brian Vernor, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers of all time.  You really should visit his blog.

A Ride With Chewbacca: A Photo Essay

So, Han and I went for a ride the other day...

I rode my old drop-bar Salsa with the sweet drilled-out Modolo levers.

I saw someone who i thought might be a wookie, and was so disappointed when he wasn't, I got him in the face with my water bottle!

We met these nice ladies and joined them for a picnic.  I guess one was a "Rita Hayworth", whatever that is.

After meeting up with our Tattoine riding bros, we decided to camp out like Sand People.

I climbed up the hill to take this picture of our glowing pods.

Han and I were closer to the lake in this cozy tent.  A little TOO cozy, if you ask me.

Matt's Trail II

Went for a great ride today.  Saw a little yellow bird that I can't really identify and he was kind of a b@stard about sticking around so I could look at him (see me?  No, I'll fly away.  Now I'll come back- now do you see me?  Now I'll disappear).  Also a swan and a redwing(ed?) blackbird (not rare- but pretty!)

Also, some frogs of some kind (unless beavers sing) were going crazy in the beaver pond.  Really quite loud.

Oh, and the title.  Long ago we had a trail called Matt's Trail (by Matt, Mark, Jim, maybe Forrest, and I- I'm quite sure that no one else ever even heard this name).  This was I think back in the time when we felt a little more exploratory.  At least speaking for myself, this was true.  I don't really feel like leaning back and plummeting from rocks like I used to.  (though I must add, the rock to which I refer has been either removed or buried, and gravel trail put in its place).

So, with my newly realized riding motto in my head (I don't want to do battle with the trail- I want to ride on it. And I don't like getting off the bike to carry it up things or over things), I did a tiny bit of exploring in the other direction from the artist-formerly-known-as-rock-plummet, and found two nice little loops.  One of which involved a rickety old up-and-over job over a rotten log (see above parenthetical statement).  After some poking around, I realized that the rotten log was so rotten it could be kicked apart.  I was able to make a new line (without ruining the old rickety) by piling rocks in the V of an un-rotten fallen tree.

One more note, and I'll show you my drawing of the trail.  A unique feature of these little loops is that they pass between the reservoir and a dirty, copper-colored, opaque little lake, into which a pipe spews liquid at a good clip.  Perhaps it just stirs up the dirt on the bottom, but it looked awfully... unclean to me.

So, without further ado, I present to you Matt's Trail:  V. 2.0.

Oh, and Mark, you'll be sad to hear that "motocross", the trail where you performed your amazing front flip off a rock, seems to have been destroyed or abandoned.  There's a giant pile of brush/wood near where it used to begin, but large piles of dirt block the trail.

Hubris and Humility

My first mtb hero.  Juli.  Completely unrelated to this post, but a cool photo  by "Kid" Riemer from Salsa.

I did go for a kayak out into the ocean yesterday, though.  Found an island full of seagulls, lit a big bonfire, and basically lived like a wildman.  That was fun.  I don't think the vikings would've been as careful putting the fire out, though.

And honestly, a little humbling.  The waves started to get a little big, and I started to feel pretty small in my little kayak.  All I could think was to keep perpendicular to the waves, and thank goodness that worked out.

But it sure did remind me about getting in over your head.  About respecting nature.  About common knowledge.  That when R.E.I. staff says you'll need something, it just might be a good idea to listen to them (in this case, I was afeared I was going to soon need either a paddle float or a bailing pump (is that the right name?) or both.)

In retrospect, I think I went a little further out toward the "real" ocean this time than I did last time.  I headed for the point of Forest River Park, then out to sea, rather than coming from Salem Willows and staying in the "shadow" of the islands as I approached them.  I did make it to an island further "out" than before- but there was no place to come ashore that I could see.  I decided to return to the island I knew. (which would mean putting the waves behind me and using them to my advantage vs. fighting through them).

All told, if you have a kayak, an ocean, and some uninhabited islands at your disposal, I heartily recommend it.

My Dream: inspired by Patriot's Day at the Studio Cafe

You know what I wish?  That I could have every bike that I see, and could have a big old barn, with hundreds of those screw-in hooks, and keep all the bikes there, and ride a different one every day.

I'm not kidding, but perhaps if I explain yesterday a bit, it will at least make sense- I was down in Concord and Lexington for Patriot's Day (which wouldn't seem to be a big bike day, but boy it sure was).  Bikes (mostly road bikes) were EVERYWHERE down there.  So many that you're constantly passing them and you want (at least I do) to look at each bike, but you just can't for the safety of both of you.

I have a sickness- I know it's true- I would like to photograph and study EVERY bike I see.  Well, that's not precisely true.  There are plenty of junkers out there that I'm not at all interested in. 

But still, that leaves so many, many bikes that I'd love to study in detail.

And thank you, RideStudioCafe, for being there before the parade started.  And partly during.  You were a godsend.  Getting to read Rouleur and Privateer instead of sitting on a curb looking at nothing was beyond a miracle.  Especially since the parade started an hour late.  Thank you.

From Rivbike.com- check them out and give them some business too.