There isn't much I can do when it comes to curing cancer . . . But it is my privilege and my honor (apparently) to roll the FAT CYCLIST colors in this year's Race for the Cure. So I will do my best.
Consider supporting me, if you will.
Check it out here.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Respect
Tell you what, every now and then you find a product that is just so good you gotta respect the people who put it together. Sometimes it is a timeless classic like velox rim strips or the original shrink-to-fit Levis 501 jean (I like to kickstart the shrinking process by boiling them for an hour in a big pot of water to bleed out the excess dye and the starch). Other times it is a new product.
Today I went down to the running store to get some new shoes. Not different ones; just new, not-worn-out versions of the shoes I bought last year. Trouble is, they were out of my size in that particular brand and model. Now, for the past decade or so I have been buying shoes in the the 76_ series, made by a brand with a 2-letter logo (the 14th and 2nd letters of the alphabet). But I really needed some new shoes, so sort of half to myself I said to the helpful shoe guy, says I: do you have anything similar from some other brand? And helpful shoe guy says (and this is a direct quote) Oh, shit yeah -- just hang on a minute and check this out. So he disappears into the stock room and comes out with two different models of the swoosh brand.
At first I was skeptical. I don't give a rip about shoe brands. I want something that works, and I don't want to pay extra just 'cause it has a logo or someone famous endorses them or its a hip color. No, I want a shoe that will work, that won't make my feet ache or throb mid-run, and that will last a decent amount of time. So I was ready to flat out reject the swoosh shoes on principle alone. But I figure that helpful shoe guy and I go way back, and I known he is not just trying to make a quick sale or dump some old stock. I gave the swoosh shoes a try.
The first model was a nonstarter -- too narrow, even for my euro-like size 43 paws; but the second pair, well, the second pair was something else.
You know when you get the driver's seat adjusted just right? You know when the jeans fit just perfect? You know that feeling when your new cleats are in the sweet spot and your saddle height and bars and brake hoods all line up exactly where you want them? You know the feeling of putting on a brand new pair of well-made bike shorts with a big comfy Italian pad? That's the feeling I got when I put those babies on and stood up. Bada bing, bada boom: my feet were instantly super happy.
I laced them up and trotted outside for the obligatory test jog up and down the street. Only these shoes felt SO GOOD that I just kept going and went all the way around the block. Twice. It took all my will power to stop and go back into the store. Man, I just wanted to RUN. I haven't felt like that in years. Maybe not since childhood.
I had forgotten how much I like running. It's been a few months (OK, more than a few), and starting up again had begun to seem like a chore. It never occurred to me that my perfectly decent old shoes might have been as much a part of the problem as part of the solution. How amazing that something as simple as a well-designed, well-made, slightly different shoe can have such an effect.
Props to the swoosh people. Whatever their failings may be, whatever sort of saturation advertising-plus-outsourcing business model they may have, whatever sort of cheap hockery and gotta-have-it gimmicks they may daily shill to the masses on an unsustainable global scale, I will give them this: they make at least one damn fine pair of running shoes. I wish I had bought them sooner.
I can't wait to go running tomorrow morning.
Today I went down to the running store to get some new shoes. Not different ones; just new, not-worn-out versions of the shoes I bought last year. Trouble is, they were out of my size in that particular brand and model. Now, for the past decade or so I have been buying shoes in the the 76_ series, made by a brand with a 2-letter logo (the 14th and 2nd letters of the alphabet). But I really needed some new shoes, so sort of half to myself I said to the helpful shoe guy, says I: do you have anything similar from some other brand? And helpful shoe guy says (and this is a direct quote) Oh, shit yeah -- just hang on a minute and check this out. So he disappears into the stock room and comes out with two different models of the swoosh brand.
At first I was skeptical. I don't give a rip about shoe brands. I want something that works, and I don't want to pay extra just 'cause it has a logo or someone famous endorses them or its a hip color. No, I want a shoe that will work, that won't make my feet ache or throb mid-run, and that will last a decent amount of time. So I was ready to flat out reject the swoosh shoes on principle alone. But I figure that helpful shoe guy and I go way back, and I known he is not just trying to make a quick sale or dump some old stock. I gave the swoosh shoes a try.
The first model was a nonstarter -- too narrow, even for my euro-like size 43 paws; but the second pair, well, the second pair was something else.
You know when you get the driver's seat adjusted just right? You know when the jeans fit just perfect? You know that feeling when your new cleats are in the sweet spot and your saddle height and bars and brake hoods all line up exactly where you want them? You know the feeling of putting on a brand new pair of well-made bike shorts with a big comfy Italian pad? That's the feeling I got when I put those babies on and stood up. Bada bing, bada boom: my feet were instantly super happy.
I laced them up and trotted outside for the obligatory test jog up and down the street. Only these shoes felt SO GOOD that I just kept going and went all the way around the block. Twice. It took all my will power to stop and go back into the store. Man, I just wanted to RUN. I haven't felt like that in years. Maybe not since childhood.
I had forgotten how much I like running. It's been a few months (OK, more than a few), and starting up again had begun to seem like a chore. It never occurred to me that my perfectly decent old shoes might have been as much a part of the problem as part of the solution. How amazing that something as simple as a well-designed, well-made, slightly different shoe can have such an effect.
Props to the swoosh people. Whatever their failings may be, whatever sort of saturation advertising-plus-outsourcing business model they may have, whatever sort of cheap hockery and gotta-have-it gimmicks they may daily shill to the masses on an unsustainable global scale, I will give them this: they make at least one damn fine pair of running shoes. I wish I had bought them sooner.
I can't wait to go running tomorrow morning.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Spring is here at last
So, up here in the wet NW corner of the USA, spring has been a long time coming. It is mid-May and the tulips are still blooming -- normally the petals would have fallen off and the leaves and stems reduced to compost a month ago. But there are signs that spring is in the air, and summer is not far off: tonight, for the first time this year, I rode through a cloud of gnats on the commute home, and inhaled enough enough of the little suckers to cause me to gag and spit for the better part of two blocks. Nasty, to be sure; but there is no clearer sign that the seasons they are a-changin'.
It is also a good reminder that it is not PRO to ride with your mouth gaping wide open unless you are racing flat-out or riding up a hill that would be rated hors categorie if it were located in France. I will try to remember.
It is also a good reminder that it is not PRO to ride with your mouth gaping wide open unless you are racing flat-out or riding up a hill that would be rated hors categorie if it were located in France. I will try to remember.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Reality
Go here. Now.
http://www.fatcyclist.com/2008/05/02/has-it-been-only-one-day/
Then, after you're done reading, go hug your loved ones. Or a willing stranger. Talk with your neighbor. Whatever. Just show some love.
The future is uncertain and the end is always near, as Jim Morrison said.
Back to the fun stuff later.
http://www.fatcyclist.com/2008/05/02/has-it-been-only-one-day/
Then, after you're done reading, go hug your loved ones. Or a willing stranger. Talk with your neighbor. Whatever. Just show some love.
The future is uncertain and the end is always near, as Jim Morrison said.
Back to the fun stuff later.
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