finding the hidden

on wednesday i went for a ride on the trails in the cedar valley. i packed my bag with the usual stuff; my sketchbook, pens and markers, camera, a book, and a journal. i had the intention of riding for a while and then stopping off at a coffee shop to read and sketch. a short ride followed by a long chill time. i started my ride and, eventually, ended up under a highway bridge looking at the pillars that held it up. it was there that i saw some of the best art i have seen in a while. there was graffiti on each pillar. some it was thin and novice, but there were a few that inspired me, since i am an artist myself. i parked my bike [lucy] and pulled out my camera. i spent a good 45 minutes exploring this make-shift gallery, taking photos and admiring this unnoticed art. in the end, i pulled out a marker and added a statement to sum it all up. i wrote "this is real art." nothing profound, just simple.

now, i have driven on that bridge at least 100 times and never have i known about the incredible work that was displayed below. i only noticed this art because i was riding a bike. it reminded me of an email i received from my dad, who is also a cyclist, last fall. he sent it to me and all of his friends who had hung up there bikes and bought motorcycles. it talks about noticing the little things, the things unseen when driving a car, the things revealed when you are "one with the road."

here is the email from my dad:

Today I saw the blackbirds pestering a hawk as he flew from perch to perch, a deer, horses playing in the barn lot because they didn’t even know I was there, a new hole in the abandoned barn roof that wasn’t there in the spring, a tall pine tree standing like a sentinel in the middle of a country cemetery as if it was standing guard over the loved ones who had been buried there, roadkill, the shadows on the crops as the sun rose higher in the sky, a new strip of gravel that had just been place the day before along side the road, a patch of yellow wild flowers dancing in the gentle breeze. Today I heard crickets and other insects looking for one more mate before the seasons changed and the cool weather drives them into hibernation, the pop of an American flag and the clink of the chain as it slapped against the flag pole, the sound of a distant bird singing as it sat on the telephone wire and the sound of small kids playing in the yard. Today I could smell the fragrance of purple cone flowers as they fought out the remnants of an old barnyard and the sweet scent of the corn and beans as they begin to dry down and drop their leaves as they prepare to be harvested.

Why did I see, hear and smell these things? Because I was cruising by under my own power and not that of 1200 cc engine.

Peddle on.

Dam the Dome: Urban Ride!

Well, I'm heading home for an extended weekend. I figured, why not, let's kick off the No Drive rides back in the homeland. Here's the information:

Meet: In front of Bike Tech, Cedar Falls, IA
When: 2pm-ish Sunday
Pace: Casual, with the occasional sprint [no one left behind]
Bring: Helmet, Lock, willingness to have a great time!

This will be a nice urban ride from the dam up to Uni-dome and back. I'm still hashing out the route, but I'm thinking after the ride, food and drink at one of the fine downtown restaurants.

As always, questions? Ask. Let me know if you're coming via the Facebook event page.

*Monday, I will also be doing a little bit of a dirt ride to break in my new mountain bike. Interested in joining let me know.

I ride a fixie, but I'm not hipster

As of a year ago, I only knew one person that rode a fixie; Alo.

Now, I attend an art school in the *newly appointed* number one bicycling city in the America, MPLS, and it would be easier for me to name people who did not ride a fixie. The bike racks are daily littered with fixed-gear after fixed-gear, with colourful rims and bar tape, playing cards in the spokes and perfectly mismatched everything else.

Yes, I am talking about hipster fixie riders.

Now, I will admit it: I ride a fixie. I have every intention of swapping out parts to make her, Lucy, match and I sometimes wear tight jeans so as to not get my pant leg stuck in the crank. To anyone, I look like another hipster riding a fixie because it is hip, but deep down, I am not a hipster. If anything, I am an accidental hipster.

I know how it goes, "If you are denying being ____, you are totally ___." I agree with this, and I am not denying having hipster fixie riding qualities, but there are two things that set me apart from the actual dirty hipster trendy fixie riders.

PBR and handle-bars.

1. I do not drink PBR and everyone, who is anyone, knows that hipsters live on that stuff. I have a higher standard for my taste buds. Yes, bicycling and beer really do go hand in hand, but not can in hand. I do not drink PBR [or smoke American Spirits] so there for there is no way that I can be a hipster fixie rider.

2. The proper way to get on a bike is debated by scholars on nearly a daily basis. Hop on like horse, lean the bike over, there are plenty of options. The one option that every hipster has adopted is swinging the leg over the handle bars. You look like a pretentious idiot [I know I sound like one, but I will openly admit it]. The proper way to get on a bike is not to swing your leg over the front of the bike. One of my best friends mounts her bike this way ... I yell "hipster" at her every time. I know that it is an adaptation from serious cyclists ... but hipsters dirtied it up.

I'm not trying to hate, but sometimes it is good to get it out there.

So in the end, I might look like a hipster, though my pants are a little looser and my hair has been freshly washed, but I watch me get on Lucy and you will see that I am hipster hater just like everyone else. Yes, i just started riding fixie, but not to join the hipster trends. I started riding to join a brotherhood and connect with a 319 brother in another state. Yes, ultimately it doesn't really matter who is a hipster and who is not. Who works on their own bike and who needs help. Bicycling is all about connections, both intimately and communally.

The labels and the looks don't matter. Hipster or not, all that does matter is the fact that we just ride. Isn't that what the bicycling community is all about? Isn't that what we, NDJR, is all about?

Just ride.

...but don't call me a f*cking hipster.

Monday Morning Quarterback

Since we're all talking about them anyway...

'Balance, momentum, and low center of gravity'... cute. I do believe I know the arch of this man's life... he becomes The Most Interesting Man in the World.

The irony of having bicycling promote driving is like using solar power to promote deep ocean oil drilling. Sure, I might be blowing that a bit out of proportion, but I guess with 'knowledge does come confidence'. I'm confident you're doing some thing.

Wednesday Video.

Stumbled onto this over at the Bike Jerks blog... Enjoy.

Motivation through Embrocation

While most people that read this blog are experiencing a very chilly week, I am spending it with a warm tingly feeling...well sort of. Today was the launch of my latest bicycle related venture. For about a year and a half now I have been using various manufacturers embrocation creams and found on chilly fall and spring days I couldn't ride without them. Embrocation cream is a warming cream/fluid that smooths the transition from preride to a warmed up state. The creams gave me that little extra pop on spring/fall rides and the ability to race in the cold without having to bundle up to much. Mid summer Dan Socie approached me with the concept of bringing our own embrocation to the masses. I jumped at the chance as it gave me the ability to make embrocation everything I wanted and needed it to be. From this idea Soigneur was born. The word soigneur means "one who cares for others". The soigneur is a large part of cycling culture, as a do it all hardworking part of a cyclists support system soigneurs do everything from massage riders to aiding in the feeding and clothing the riders. Just like a real soigneur we wanted Motivation to be hardworking and to take care of all sorts of cycling duties. We didn't pretend embrocation was magic, we looked at it as an everyday thing. We wanted something warm and protective enough slather on your legs on a cold day, but not so greasy that we couldn't use it to loosen up a tight lower back or in my case a shoulder recovering from a dislocation. After several formulas, some smelly enough to clear my sinuses with a single whiff, we found the right combination of scent, heat, and the ever elusive protective feeling that gives embrocation the nickname "belgian kneewarmers". If you have never tried embrocation our first shipment will arrive in February, just in time for you to put that trainer away and get outdoors. If you have used embrocation you owe it to your legs to give Motivation a try. With a kick off party in the works and things already in motion I am excited to see our product help care for all the cold legs out there.

GBK

New Favorite Video

Just stumbled onto this video via Jeff Kerkove's Twitter who got it from BikeRadar.com. Yeah it's one of those I knew a guy who knew a guy who dated a girl whos brothers uncle had a friend who... regardless, this just might be my new favorite cycling video just because of the uniqueness of the way it was shot.