If I owned a bike shop I'd..........

I must say this picture makes as giddy as a school girl when I think about what could be.

I'm sure it's a lot of hard work and financially very risky but I'd love to own a bike shop. When we moved to Charlotte and the wife said it was fine to get a part time job. I jumped at the chance to work at a Bike shop. Fact is I'd probably do it for free. I love talking about bikes, I love getting husbands riding with their wives, I love getting families riding together, I love helping people get back on a bike after many years of not riding (btw, the saying is true "It's like riding a bike, you never forget how to ride). It's been a dream of mine for a while. Needless to say I've been in a lot of shops over the years. When on vacation or in a new city I always try to check out the local bike shop. Over the years I've made mental notes of things of I've liked and disliked.  Here's my list of the perfect bike shop

Products- I'd carry brands and products that I believe are the best or at least serve a purpose. I would carry only quality products, if I wouldn't put it on my bike then it doesn't belong in my shop. Employees are the heartbeat of the store and know what's the latest and greatest- I'd ask them for their opinion. Ask them "What products do you want?" Then buy it and watch it sell! It's very difficult trying to sell a product that you wouldn't put on your commuter.

Service- Repairs would be quick but also thorough. If a customer came in for a derailleur adjustment but needed a wheel rebuild, I'd want them to know that before they left my store not a few days later out on the trail. I wouldn't nickel and dime every repair. If a customer bought some grips, kickstand, saddle or the like from me and I wasn't busy I'd be glad to help them out by installing it. Also my mechanics would work on every bike - my top mechanic would work on a $10,000 Specialized Venge as well as a $100 Huffy.

Community- I'd really like to be as involved in the cycling community as much as possible. I'd want my customers to know and realize that I'm fighting for their rights to be on the road, that I support all of the great bike related organizations out there such as Trips for kids, Bike Law, Bike! Charlotte, weeklyrides.com, and Take a kid Mountain Biking......... Why? Because I know how cycling can change lives. It changed mine!

Rides- Of course we would have weekly rides. Road rides, mountain rides, night rides, urban/ greenway rides, and any other fun ride I could think of. I'd also have a day set aside for employees and owners to ride together and lunch afterwards together. I'd want my employees to know I appreciate them and treat them as I would want to be treated. People in the bike industry are not doing it for the money- they are doing it because they love bikes! They love being around bikes, talking about bikes, helping others find the joy that only a bike can bring, they love bringing a family together to ride bikes. Take a kid mountain biking would be every weekend. Relevant clinics would be once a month.

Atmosphere- I would like the atmosphere to more like a neighborhood coffee shop than a Mercedes Benz dealership. I'd want my customers to be able to ask anything. I'd want them to pick my brain. I'd want them feel they could ask me a question and feel like they got an honest answer. I'd also like to serve free coffee. I'd also have a place to chill, relax, and watch a bike video, or live race. Sofas, arm chairs, and coffee tables would be just as normal as the smell of rubber tires.

Employees- I'd like my employees to work as teammates rather than adversaries! No commission sales, it's not that I don't want to reward the sales people it's that I don't like the used car salesmen pounce. Once again relaxed and comfortable I'd want the approach to be helping the customer find the best bike for them, not selling them the most expensive one. I want the customer to feel like my employees were their friends listening and giving the best advice.

It's been a wild ride so far, Maybe one day this dream will come true? If it does I hope you come see me for your next bike!

Wanna see my VD?

By the way VD also stands for Van Dessel, as in the bike company. Check them out here if you like what you see. Once I decided to try CX I wanted to get a CX bike - I could have started on a mountain bike but felt it would be a huge disadvantage. And on some courses it would be. I first bought a RedLine Conquest pro, I very nice bike and had great reviews. But there was something wrong with it. It was a 54 and I ride a 56. I thought you were supposed to go down 1 size but that was wrong. See what Mr. Myerson says on the subject here. I found this info out by helping a friend get into CX. So after realizing that the Redline was to small I've decided to find a new CX bike before the season starts. Bikes I looked at were the Redline Conquest, Specialized Crux, Masi, Marin, Rocky Mountain, and Van Dessel. After researching all of them I decided on the Van Dessel Gin and Trombones.

I've always loved the look of their bikes. A little flashy, great paint, and from the reviews I have read great geometry. The forks are massive, very stiff and full Carbon including steerer tube. They also have carbon rear stays. Ordering was painless and the frame arrived a few days later. I immediately opened it up and unpacked it. It looked great! In the box was a frame, fork, headset, carbon fork plug, and a bag of miscellaneous parts. I should say that I have never built up a bike completely from scratch before. I have always wanted to try and this was the perfect time to give it a shot because I was going to use all of the components from the Redline which included Rival, Avid Ultimate brakes, FSA stem, bars, seatpost. Just needed to order a BB30 crank since the Redline had gpx.

Build Specs

Frame - Van Dessel Gin & Trombones

Shifters - SRAM Rival

Rear Derailleur - SRAM Rival

Front Derailleur - SRAM Rival

Brakes - Avid Ultimates Canti

Cranks - FSA Omega (upgrade will be SRAM Force)

Saddle - Fizik Aliante

Wheels - Ritchey Pro (Upgrading to Industry Nine i25's)

Tires - Schwalbe Racing Ralphs

Just unpacked the G&T now it's relaxing on the sofa.

 

 

 Beautiful Carbon - looks like it's made of snake skin to me.

 

 

First time in the stand. Seat tube, Fork and headset installed.

 

 

 

Took me awhile to figure out what these little horse shoe shaped pieces were in the package. They are so you can use a mountain bike wheel with 135mm spacing instead of the traditional road spacing 130mm. I love it when a manufactured pays attention to the details!

 

Another View from the back of the spacers. 

 

 

 

Avid Ultimates and Racing Ralphs! Soon to include I9's. 

 

 

Massive Carbon fork with Ultimates. 

 

 

 Rear of the bike. This will be how all of my fellow competitors will see my bike as I go by them.

 

 

 

Clean cassette and Rival Derailleur taken from the Redline.



Still waiting on Crank. Just got an email that it should be here Monday. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be able to fine tune the fit then cut the steerer tube, and wrap the bars.

 

 

 Almost finished. Sorry about the bad picture.

 

 

 

Conclusion: I had a lot of fun building my own bike. As I said before I've wanted to do this for some time now and can now cross that off of the Bucket List. I would totally do it again given the right circumstances and being cost effective. 



It takes a village

The Evolution of America

It's been said that "It takes a Village to raise a Child" I think it takes a village to lose weight, race bikes and get healthy. The little bit of success I have had is not mine alone. By the way, I've lost 45 lbs and went from finishing a race to competing! I have a lot of people in my corner offering help, encouragement, love and accountability.

I have an amazing wife that has encouraged me and hasn't given up on me even though I have tried and failed many, many times before. She loves me and wants the very best for me. She wants me to ride, encourages me to race, and puts up with all my bikes and gear. She doesn't even complain about me fixing dinner of grilled chicken every night for a week. I'm sure it's hard for her because she's a skier and during the winter months (and secretly in October) praying for cold weather where I'm begging for warm sunny days. This made Short Track Racing A sacrifice on her part I know she would have rather been skiing those days. But no, She stayed home to cheer me on instead! I love that woman!

But there are others....

Anyone that's riden with me - Thanks for riding with me and not leting me slack off. Riding is much more fun with others.

Anyone I have raced against - Thanks for pushing me and for helping me realize I can do more than I thought. Sorry if I dropped you. If you beat me last time look out I'm coming for you next!

Anyone who has cheered me on - Thanks for your encouragement especially the people I don't know. MORE COWBELL!

Anyone who has given me advice - Thanks for all of the tips and tricks on diet, training, racing, or bike parts.

Anyone who has fixed my bike - Thanks for caring for my bike as if it was yours.

Anyone that has listened to my dreams - Thanks for seeing the skinny guy in this big body and seeing my potential.

Anyone who has inspired me - Thanks to those who have gone before me and shown me that it is possible.

A lot of people have given up things, time, energy, money so that I can be a better person. You know who you are and so do I. Thanks!

Switching Teams

No Mom not that team - I'm still hetero! And no I'm not changing to Team Edward. Nope, not going to play Basketball for the Miami Heat. Yes, I'm still a Pirate! I'm switching from a weight weenie Roadie to a beer drinking Mountain Biker. There are many reasons for the switch and I'm not going to bash roadies. Since I announced that I was selling my road bike I've gotten some strange looks followed by lots questions. Hopefully this will explain.

The back story - As with most people, I rode a bike as a kid but stopped after I got my driver's license.  I got a mountain bike, an old Specialized Rockhopper, back in college and rode a few times but nothing serious. And it wasn't until some friends asked me to ride with them I picked it back up 6 or 7 years ago in my late 30's. I was teaching High School which left me lots of time during the summer to ride. However I didn't want to stop in the fall. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't continue riding once school was in session, dark came earlier and cold weather set in. A friend asked me if I wanted to ride on the road before work with him - I cautiously agreed to give it a try. We rode from 5:00 - 6:00am in the mornings. I know it sounds crazy but I had my reasons: #1. Riding in the morning didn't take away from family time the evening; #2. I got my exercise out of the way before the day got started; #3. I could ride the road in the dark. It actually worked out pretty well. So I switched over to only riding on the road.

1. Different Focus - I used to only worry about my average speed. Now I'm only concerned with heart rate and staying in my zones. So when it's cold out and adding a 20mph wind chill into the mix I instead ride the mountain bike. I'm working harder, going slower, staying warmer, and getting a great workout. Speed makes no difference. I have even thought of getting a fat bike to make it even harder on the road.

2. Racing - In Charlotte there are so many more opportunities to race in the dirt. In fact there are at least 25-30 races within an hour drive and only 3 road races. More opportunities to race means more of me pushing my limits, which means I get faster, which means moving closer to the podium.

3. Woods - While I do love seeing rural farm land, I prefer mountain scenery. My favorite place to visit after all is Asheville/ Hendersonville/ and Western North Carolina. Which is affectionately called the Moab of the east. Mountain biking areas include Pisgah, Dupont, Tsali, totaling more than 270 miles of trails. That's not including trails like Bent Creek, PantherTown, WCU, Warrior Creek, Sugar Mountain, Linville and many more. You could spend weeks out here and not ride the same trail twice. Here's a link to some of the trails in the area http://www.tarheeltrailblazers.com/TrailsTest.cfm

4. Safety - While mountain biking isn't exactly a safe sport there also aren't people out trying to harm you while out on the trail. Mountain biking is all up to me on how safe I am. If I don't feel comfortable with an obstacle I'll walk it. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from road riding I'm just telling you why I stopped. While on the road I've been intimated, harassed, buzzed by SUV's, yelled at, and had an air horn blown directly at my ear- (yea, that SUCKED!) Mind you I still ride on the road, just not as much as I used to.

5. Friends - Lets face it, Friends make riding fun! I know a lot more mountain bikers than I do roadies in my new town, Charlotte, NC.  There's nothing like reliving a ride with friends over a good beer or cold chocolate milk.

6. CX Biking - OK I'm not exactly giving up all road riding, I still ride my mountain bike on the road. Plus I can still have a CX bike that can be switched over to road tires for short distances, I wouldn't want to try to do a century on it but for a 20-30 miler, it's fine. The CX bike will be good for recovery, tempo, endurance rides, and commuting to work during the spring and summer before I need to switch the bike over to a CX race bike.

7. Skills- Since riding road my technical skills and confidence has diminished greatly. No wonder, the only technical section of a road is one full of pot holes, train tracks and the occasional road kill. Before I started road biking I thought I could clear most obstacles on my local trail, which by the way was not a very technical trail. But now rooty climbs, rock gardens, log crossing, tight switchbacks, steep slippery climbs are all par for the course. Something I'm still working on!

8. Variety- There's also a huge variety in mountain biking from trail to trail in Charlotte. Annie feels just like I'm in the mountains, Sherman is fast and flowy, Lake Norman puts a smile on my face every time I ride it, Whitewater Center is a great workout. Before I had only 1 choice in trails to ride now I have 6 or 8 that are fairly close.

9. Money- Maintaining a road bike costs a lot! And its a lot of money sitting there for recreation when that money could be used to upgrade my race rigs. Since selling the Roubaix I've decided to upgrade my mountain bike with I9 Wheels (click here to check them out) and upgrade my CX bike to a Van Dessel Gin & Trombones.

10. IDK- Ok I really dont have a 10th reason but felt I couldn't stop at 9 so reason 10 will be ......... I know we could play madlibs -

I love mountain biking because of the ______________ (natural object) and the ______________ (natural object) are always so ______________ (adjective) in the _____________ (season) months. I love how the _____________ (bike part)  __________ (sound) and look like ____________ (body part) touching a ____________ (favorite food).

     

 

 

Peace out! Keep the rubber side down. Keep moving!

Kill your Television

Well now that the Super Bowl has passed I guess I better explain something that I received a lot of questions about. Last August when we moved into our new house we decided to try out not having a TV. Now that's not entirely true - we have a TV but no cable and I'm not sure it works with rabbit ears or not. Its basically there only for my sons Wii. I must say I was a little nervous about giving up my precious glowing black box. But after a long summer with my 10 year old constantly watching TV I was willing to try anything. Here's what I have experienced by not having a TV.

Then: TV was relaxing.
Now: I find sitting on the patio listening to music to be much more relaxing.

Then: TV helped me decompress after a long day at work.
Now: I ride my bike, go for a walk, relax outside.

Then: I probably watched 3-4 hours a night.
Now: I watch Hulu and Netflix - maybe average 20 minutes a day.

Then: I thought I'd be missing something if I didn't have TV.
Now: I'm glad that I have no idea who Honey Boo Boo is or who a Kardashian is dating.

Then: I thought I'd be bored without TV.
Now: I get so much more done during the day without that glowing box.

Then: I thought TV was important for life in the modern world.
Now: I save $100+ every month! Can you say BIKE FUND!


Let me give you a real example of what I'm talking about.

A Tale of 2 Thanksgivings.

Before this thanksgiving we had a very traditional Thanksgiving. "TV Thanksgiving" would involve us watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade even though it's pretty much exactly the same as the year before. But there was no way I was going to miss it- it's a tradition! Then the football games were on, and we would snack all day. Then the main attraction was a huge feast where the mind set was "Eat as much as you can, this will be your last meal for the entire week". Then we would feel so bad and roll to the sofa to watch more football until the pie's were ready.

Thanksgiving this year involved me getting up early helping my wife prepare the bird. At 7:30 I left to go on a Thanksgiving day bike ride - 28 miles at a moderate speed in 40 degree weather. Returned home for some Greek yogurt, banana, and a shower. Then sat with the family and talked about what was going on in each others lives. Yes, we snacked on carrots, celery, and nuts. All had a reasonable dinner with no seconds and I didn't feel stuffed. I even had a slice of pie. The next day I felt great and went on mountain ride with the family.

Race Report - Short Track #4

I'm going to make this short and sweet because 1. I'm tired and 2. I have a busy day ahead of me. So after being off the bike due to illness for 2 weeks and last week just not feeling like training I was now on the start line. I felt a little drained from the weeks rides and a hike (something I'm not used to doing) the day before. The start went pretty well - I think I went into the woods around mid pack, Single track started out with 5 people in front of me slamming on brakes and skidding tires and me doing the same - I think someone was going  bit to fast and caused a chain reaction. Went back and forth racing a couple guys but by the 3rd lap I was by myself. A very odd feeling when there are 60+ racers on less than a mile track. I'm thinking the fields are getting smaller and the fast guys are left and me. I figure I'm behind the fast guys and in front of a few slow guys. With no one to race the lap times for laps 4 & 5 were a bit slower. It actually got a little boring with no one to race/chase/stay-away from. I tried to catch my mechanic Dread on he last lap but he was to far ahead and I basically just pedaled it in.

Despite how I felt on the bike and no one to race I still bettered my time by 20 seconds. All in all a good race with descent results. The last race is next week and on to training for the Double Shot at Hanging Rock State Park on March 9.

 

Picture of my friend Jon clearing the jump on the short track. SWEEEET!

The 3 P's

I'll be honest a lot of what I write on this blog is at times hard for me to live out all of the time even though I believe it 100%. My hope is that by repeating, writing, and reading it over and over and over again and again that I will one day it will penetrate this thick skull of mine.

Patience- Face it, we live in a society of instant gratification. We want it, and we want it NOW! We take pills to get the results we want, and want the easiest quickest fix. Our focus is for a week, maybe a month. Proof? Do you remember now busy the gym was the first week in January- I bet now you will have no problem finding a treadmill!

This is a hard one for me because I want patience but I want it right now! When I think about where I'll be in August/September I feel like a kid at Christmas - I CAN'T WAIT! I don't want to slow down and work slowly and let the work take care of itself. I need to see progress weather its racing, weight loss or anything else. As long as the scale is moving downward I'm fine. But when I hit a plateau all hell breaks lose. The same thing with racing, When things aren't progressing as fast as I'd like I get discouraged. If I'm only losing a pound a week its difficult for me to see the end. It helps me if I widen the scope out a month (or even 2) and look at the trends instead of being hyperfocused on todays stats- the plateuas are barely noticable.

Persistence- There's a saying "Life Happens!",  DOES IT EVER! It seems every time I'm on track something inevitably comes up- car repairs, family visit, sick kid, I get sick,..... when stuff happens it makes a difficult task even harder. There's another saying "If you aren't moving forward then you are going backwards". When I had to stay off my feet because of the Gout I tried very hard not to eat to make myself feel better. Actually during those 2 weeks I didn't gain a pound- surprising since I couldn't eat protein (a key componet in my diet). I'm counting that as a win for me! For me to progress I need to keep moving. Racing is the fun, training is the hard part. It's difficult to get my heart rate into zone 4 on a training ride but during a race I can empty the tank and peg zone 6. I have had some great strides on the short track but if I'm going to see the plan come together for cross country and CX I need to stay focused on my diet, training, and racing to see those dreams come true.

Perspiration- This is easy for me! I love riding my bike. I love the endorphins after a hard workout. If its been raining and cold outside and I haven't been riding for a while I admit I get a little cranky. My wife will tell me "You need to go for a ride!" Meaning: go ride and don't come back until you are in a better mood! Once again its the training that's the hard part. You would think that it would get easier but it doesn't. Mentally it does get easier dealing with the pain and knowing how far you can push yourself. But, the training still hurts. My friend says "It does get any easier, You just get faster!"

Patience, persistence and perspiration make

an unbeatable combination for success.

-Napoleon Hill