Boys, Bikes and cupcakes as my good friend Natasha coined the night! Eric and I are sooo geeking out over Mo's bike. The bike itself is a thing of beauty but all the touches and details courtesy of Matt's wrenching genius blow away anyone that has put a hand on a bike. The front brake was soooo smooth I seriously need to pick his brain about cross bike set up before August. Photo by Natasha of PedalpowerphotographySo I had this whole long winded diatribe about The Biker Life in the works. Blah, Blah, Blah Boston rocks, Portland and Boulder make you soft....F it it was boring me and that is never a good sign so I deleted it. Its like preaching to the choir anyway right? But man I love being a biker in the NE. And I know JD hates the term biker. But I like it so I use it. Cyclist just doesn't convey this life...not even close. Had a great 24 hrs in The Biker Life. Thursday was MMracing's raffle/party and a chance to see Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington. Matt and Mo put on a great party! Was feeling uber lucky! Felt 100% sure I was walking out with that Seven! Not to be...but it went to its rightful owner. A guy stepped up big time and bought 12 tickets! At $50 a pop that is still a very good ROI!
Saw all kinds of cool cats. Talked shop, ate vegan cupcakes and enjoyed being with so many people I just love hanging around with. The brunt of my whole blog post which I deleted was how all of my friends are bikers right now. At this point it is almost painful dealing with someone who isn't a cyclist. We are lucky to have this life and all these great friends with passion and talent. I can't think of a lot of occupations that have this. Maybe surfing. Maybe. Saw some really great bikes at the RSC it will be real interesting to see how they use the space and the community that it builds around it. I can see it being a hub for cyclist passing through Lexington for years to come.
The next morning I woke up with a fairly sizeable hangover which for me who doesn't drink that often was pretty funny. Even more funnier still was it was off only 2 beers that I drank when I got home after the party. Dj Robert, Jenn and Jenn's friend rolled up to my Casa all clad in Blanco and looking PRO as hell! Well Brad wasn't in Blanco but was still a great guy and I won't hold that against him. I quickly kitted up into my best Blanco and we headed out. I think a few cars almost drove off the road as we headed into Dover in a tight paceline of white lightning! Such a great day out there. We did Strawberry Hill and the Bosberg (PVBs secret Hale short cut!) then did the Dover TT loop.
Post ride I got this in my in-box of my email! My teamates kick ass! Those two are my heroes! They road the bikes to my house, picked me up, we did a pretty hard ride, they ride back to boston and stop for beers post ride all while clad in Blanco! Chapeau! Its been great getting to know Jenn. She is a super strong rider and so cool. We are lucky to have her on Hup she adds some real firepower into the mix. Talking with her about the Ronde on the ride I still am soooo impressed by how well she did. She is strong as hell so that piece of the puzzle was never in question but when she told me that the Ronde was her first foray into "mtn biking" and all on a cross bike I was blown away to say the least. And like the rest of us just talking about it and reliving the ride brought a smile to her face. She gets it and is going to be a cross killah mark my words.
After my ride I took the kids for a little lunch at an outside cafe in Dover. While ordering turkey clubs and pizza I bumped into The Jerk and Embro James. I said hi to James but don't think he recognized me...he looked at me kind of funny like who is the suburbanite and why is he speaking with me....wasn't rude perse but out of my clown suit I just look like any other townie so maybe he was nervous I was gonna give him some shit. Bikers can never be too careful when they travel out of the City and into the mean streets of the 'burbs so I won't take it as a snub or anything. I did take the opportunity to take some spy photos of their bikes while they were inside the shop. I especially dug the Gaulzetti. Some nice touches all around. And even discounting that ISM I do love a blanco bike...
The Rooster has always been good luck to me. What a day....Hope everyone's weekend is filled with miles and miles of car free riding, wind at your back, legs pumping out effortless watts...Hup Hup
The next morning I woke up with a fairly sizeable hangover which for me who doesn't drink that often was pretty funny. Even more funnier still was it was off only 2 beers that I drank when I got home after the party. Dj Robert, Jenn and Jenn's friend rolled up to my Casa all clad in Blanco and looking PRO as hell! Well Brad wasn't in Blanco but was still a great guy and I won't hold that against him. I quickly kitted up into my best Blanco and we headed out. I think a few cars almost drove off the road as we headed into Dover in a tight paceline of white lightning! Such a great day out there. We did Strawberry Hill and the Bosberg (PVBs secret Hale short cut!) then did the Dover TT loop.
Post ride I got this in my in-box of my email! My teamates kick ass! Those two are my heroes! They road the bikes to my house, picked me up, we did a pretty hard ride, they ride back to boston and stop for beers post ride all while clad in Blanco! Chapeau! Its been great getting to know Jenn. She is a super strong rider and so cool. We are lucky to have her on Hup she adds some real firepower into the mix. Talking with her about the Ronde on the ride I still am soooo impressed by how well she did. She is strong as hell so that piece of the puzzle was never in question but when she told me that the Ronde was her first foray into "mtn biking" and all on a cross bike I was blown away to say the least. And like the rest of us just talking about it and reliving the ride brought a smile to her face. She gets it and is going to be a cross killah mark my words.
After my ride I took the kids for a little lunch at an outside cafe in Dover. While ordering turkey clubs and pizza I bumped into The Jerk and Embro James. I said hi to James but don't think he recognized me...he looked at me kind of funny like who is the suburbanite and why is he speaking with me....wasn't rude perse but out of my clown suit I just look like any other townie so maybe he was nervous I was gonna give him some shit. Bikers can never be too careful when they travel out of the City and into the mean streets of the 'burbs so I won't take it as a snub or anything. I did take the opportunity to take some spy photos of their bikes while they were inside the shop. I especially dug the Gaulzetti. Some nice touches all around. And even discounting that ISM I do love a blanco bike...
The Rooster has always been good luck to me. What a day....Hope everyone's weekend is filled with miles and miles of car free riding, wind at your back, legs pumping out effortless watts...Hup Hup 
Sorry Chip, but up in NH "biker" is reserved for the chrome and leather crowd. The carbon fiber and lycra bunch has to be content with the moniker "cyclist". Embrace it; just as you have the blanco, embrocation, and the Wallonian "le coq". Vive le passion de'Velo!
ReplyDeleteI do get the correlation between biker and "biker" and that some riders don't like it. My friend JD hates it. However my formative days were in SF and Oakland/Berkeley. The bikers (motorcyclists) who inhabited that region were of a similar wild bunch.
ReplyDeleteOur "biker" bar was a biker bar named the Zeitgeist. We coexisted probably because we were bikers and not triathletes/roadies. Most of my friends had more tattoos and piercings than the bikers in the bar. Granted my friends were a lot skinnier but we were of the same mindset. Bobke used/uses bikers I will forever use biker even if it has some off color connotations. I love your French by the way!