What We Do is Secret

2012-01-25T08:28:00.001-05:00

from

If you aren't in the mood for that. ManLiftingBanner, euro lands best Communist Straightedge band are back.

Help out. Do good

2012-01-22T16:43:00.002-05:00

My cross team is promoting a clothing drive for a cool charity called Cradles2Crayons. They provide kids with clothes. How can you have an issue with that?
Details here. Help out if you can!

Thanks

SOPA/PIPA/ etc

2012-01-18T13:02:00.001-05:00

sign this

Firehose Reunion? Come east please

2012-01-13T08:12:00.003-05:00

Cable access gem

boom videos dumped. hope they tour the east coast!

New Thomas Frank Book!

2012-01-06T18:48:00.003-05:00

You lead an odd life when this makes your Friday night.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

AV club

2012-01-06T08:24:00.004-05:00

Had an Urge Overkill song pop in my head, 40 minutes of youtube time made me realize there are a lot of videos that only add comic relief to the song. Some examples of amazing songs with questionable videos.
Classic clueless 80s major label video. Where do you start....

Going for the big time. Classic 90s major label video. Hilarious. Forgot what a goofball the drummer was.

Why did so many great indie rock bands dress up like a bad halloween party for their videos?

So don't get it twisted. These are three songs I like, but WTF film school? Give the song what it is do

Kill All Redneck Pricks

2012-01-03T07:28:00.002-05:00

There is a documentary out about the band Karp. They were a pretty fucking amazing band. Saw them a couple times. Once at Hampshire College and once upstairs at the Middle East. LOUD.

2 of my favorite songs by them

and the ultimate jam

pretty cool, but not as good as the original...

attention to detail

2011-12-30T15:51:00.005-05:00

It's the little detail that really make me remember certain bikes. Saw this bike at the Ride Studio yesterday. Brevet set up. Really liked how they used the cable guide to run a mount for a light. Baby Blue paint is very nice as well. Boulder Bicycle was the company. They hyperlink function on here is bugging out right now-otherwise I would have linked to them, but google can help you get there.

your name here......

2011-11-29T18:52:00.002-05:00

"We are born students to a test in progress

A test that which cannot be completed or failed

Yet the test must be taken.

We are born pilots in an intersection of space and time

To navigate our senses and discover a conscience

Greater than opinions or slogans

Greater than cash or credit

Greater than sincerity

Greater than legitimacy

Greater than authentic plagiarism

Greater than gravity – greater than inertia"
Dan Higgs

Kerr+Higgs= a win everytime.
check the details here

Caption Contest

2011-11-15T21:12:00.001-05:00

Want to win some free beer and mudflaps? Check out my CX team's blog HERE for a sweet contest.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

the shadows

2011-11-13T15:38:00.007-05:00

What was going on in Lexington on 11.11.11? Only the Shadows know for sure!

Dodging skunks and drinking hot chocolate. Up way past my bedtime. Thanks RSC

CFR

2011-10-27T18:29:00.001-05:00

couple shots from Downeast

2011-10-23T17:50:00.006-05:00

Day one kept the pits busy. True supporter of CX, washing the bikes he made. Rad

this was our heckling corner. also home of the first change hand up.

nicest dude in the game?

battle to be the alpha courier? those heckles seemed to work.

pretty feeble weekend on the camera and not much better on the bike

link dump

2011-10-21T06:04:00.003-05:00

Here are some links to some stuff worth reading.

Clinchers v. Tubulars?

Sponsorship

message to mid season grumps

photo sized right

2011-10-16T07:12:00.002-05:00

Art Show at Orchard

2011-10-15T21:49:00.003-05:00

Tim Kerr had some paintings and was at the opening of the Supply and Demand art show at Orchard. Tim is a huge inspiration to me and has been for a long time. Here are a couple photos from the event.

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Orchard. Go check it out

Hell Week Part One

2011-10-07T18:29:00.016-05:00

So the more pious among us call it Holy week, but the amount of sleep I've missed and the amount of things I've broken, make me think Hell Week is more appropriate.
Kind of running out of words so here is the first half of the week based on the photos from my phone....

Gloucester. When I think of Gloucester, I think of this. I love this race, but it kicks my ass every year. This year they went out of their way not to add fuel to the "grass crit" fire. Tweets about "hope you've been running", turned out to be warranted.
Had to have space for the double wide

We arrived to drizzle and wet mud.

We raced in setting, thick mud.

Then I balled out.

Despite an extra beach run and stone stairway to heaven run up, Day 2 felt a little easier to me. Despite the results, I was happy with how I raced.
Mike got married. That is rad

Next up was the Night Weasel, but before that, why not a party? Off to the RSC for a number pick up party. Free beer, a raffle, and a chance to see Mo's new bike? I am in.

cool kids

sick what

Night Weasels.
Before

During

After

2 more races in PVD and Holy, Hell Week is over.

Gloucester Mud

2011-10-01T21:44:00.006-05:00

be thankful

2011-09-04T18:51:00.004-05:00

It's pretty much hard times all the time. Jobs, Weather, Health. There are always issues and it is easy to lose perspective on how hard you have it. It is easy to forget how good you do have it. These 2 articles really made me stop for a second and reflect on how I would handle what had been thrown at these 2 men.
One

Two

Record Yard Sale Sunday 09/04.

2011-09-02T19:10:00.000-05:00

Sunday 9/04/11. 215 Renfrew St Arlington MA from 11-4.
1000+LPs and 7"s
Books.
Zines
Junk

Exactly what you would expect to find when a dude who has worked at
a record store for 16 years tries to thin out his collection, before he
ends up on Horders.........
Its on the 78 busline.

No Early Birdz No Kookz

Tommy Guerroro Apprecitation

2011-09-01T19:25:00.000-05:00

This remains one of my favorite video parts. 1985? Seems like just yesterday. I even remember walking by the curb he hits at 2:00 in and bugging out when I realized why it was so familiar.

Here is a clip of TG. Still at it. Still an inspirational dude.

Tommy Guerrero from dlxsf on Vimeo.

And never mind how TG paved the way for dudes like Chris Senn who is reponsible for another of my favorite SF parts

Steve Marriott was pretty fucking cool

2011-07-15T20:15:00.003-05:00

this is what happens when you switch up from speed to weed....

ex lion tamer

2011-06-15T05:53:00.002-05:00

I think I heard the Rollins band version before the Wire version, but regardless I fucking love this song and so do a lot of other people.
Soulside-my favorite cover of this song

While looking for that I stumbled across these 2 other gems.

Cover rules, cartoon takes it to the next level

Mike Watt

Forgotten Rebels-cover is nothing special,but the video so perfectly 80s it almost feels like a reenactment

Original for reference purposes

Dukowski Appreciation

2011-06-10T20:13:00.007-05:00

When it comes to Black Flag,a lot of ink has been spilled on which singer defined the band, or on the Ginn vs Rollins tension. Despite all the strong personalities in the band, Dukowski always stood out to me. From reading the My War lyrics attributed to him in My Rules. Every picture of him was pure intensity. 100% commitment. But he never looked some cookie cutter hardcore dude. He was always stood out.
Both Get in th Van and Spray Paint the Walls reinforced my regard for Dukowski as the jewel of Black Flag.
I have worked for a record store for a long time. Early on, I took over our returns department. Near the end of my first month as I was contacting vendors, I realized I would be faxing SST. No big deal in reality, but a real holy shit moment for me at the time. I had the same sensation again and again as I contacted Dischord or Forced Exposure.... Off the fax went. The next day(not surprisingly-this is business after all) a fax from SST came back. I had sort of assumed there was some early 20s nerd like myself at the other end of the phone line, but I was in for a surprise.
The return I requested, was authorized by Chuck Dukowski. I was stopped dead in my tracks. Total business-maybe 3 sentences at most, but a "Hey, Roger.... Thanks, Chuck" Thanks? No, how about thank you!!! HOLY SHIT-Chuck! I had just gotten a fax from one of my heroes-a guy I loved for his workman like attitude was still banging it out in the trenches. I saved this fax for years and it is probably sitting around somewhere in the basement. You can file this under fanboy, dork, nerd, whatever you like, but it was a pretty random and unexpected interaction with a guy I have always looked up to.
Anyway check the pics, he was a beast and he is still playing music.

more maine

2011-05-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

was up in maine for a few days-rest, relaxation, and riding.

only thing missing was some other dudes to ride farther with.....next time

"war-weary nation"

2011-05-30T19:43:00.002-05:00

This photo puts a lot of things in perspective.
From this Memorial Day photo series.

epics in minutes

2011-05-29T16:30:00.007-05:00

Epic rides in Maine are easy to put together. And when your fitness is questionable, epic rides can even be short.
Here is how to make even a short ride EPIC.
You need a dirt road and preferably a dirt climb

Now that is a good start, but epic? Just one dirt climb with no support vehicle or photographer? Not going to cut it, but what if.....

Black and White! That has to up the epic factor, but even still there has to be something more you could do. It was dry and hot-so no epic weather. You had no mechanicals, no issues(except for getting chased by a poodle which is definitely not epic). There has to be something to make this photo more epic...

Sepia Tone! That is the ticket (maybe Hipstamatic, but I aint got it) Sepia tone, the same shade as the photos of this road taken in 1910-and it is still a dirt road. Bamn! Now that is how to make it epic.
Thanks Sepia Tone!

OFF! take a stab at compared to what

2011-05-18T19:10:00.002-05:00

There are too many things I collect (or accumulate or hoard....) Records-obviously, vans, records with vans on the cover, and records featuring covers of the song "compared to what". Leave it to OFF! to combine all of these oddities into one 7" record. Never mind the fact that you could get the single with 2 different covers on 2 different colors of vinyl! I was definitely curious about how a band whose entire recorded output was only twice as long as the average length of the song "compared to what" would approach this funky classic

So here is an example of what Compared to What usually sounds like

OFF! make the song their own and if you didn't know the lyrics to the original, I don't think you would realize it is a cover. Sounds like OFF!
A good OFF! single, but not a crucial cover of one of my favorite songs.

cheating

2011-05-16T06:18:00.000-05:00

Living in the heart of Mad Alchemy country it seems like cheating to try other embro, but it is hard not to stray....
Like micro-brewers, embro makers are springing up all over the place. And no one drinks just one kind of beer, right?
Northwest Knee Warmers I liked the tin can. I liked the name. So before I could regret it, I ordered some Aren-Burn.

site here
Packaging is very cool. It looks good. Smells good. With time running out on the warm embro season, I took a relatively overcast and chilly day to test it out. Slapped it on and rolled out for about 3 hours. This is pretty subtle for something called Aren-burn. Did the job and cleaned up with no reactivation post ride, but I was hoping for a little more fire. Anyway cool company, check it out.
As far as hoping for more of a burn...The weather did me a favor by remaining chilly and overcast. Rain storms threatened for the morning ride. So I decided to go old school and break out an embro I hadn't used in a while. Freddy's Choice. Freddy who? Freddy Viaene. Belgian of course. Maybe his work as a soignuer for Lance and Floyd hurt his business as an embro maker cause I don't see this stuff around much anymore

Sportsbalm was the manufacturer. It goes on a lot more liquid than say Mad Alchemy. Shine is pretty good. I remembered this stuff being good in the wet so I slapped it on and rolled out. Too me this is a classic Belgian embro. Over a 2 hour ride, it kept the heat level high. Rain held off, but I was reminded of it's reaction to water when I was showering. Any moisture is a reason for this stuff to reactivate to a pretty nuclear level. My legs are still a little hot a few hours after. The liquid aspect of this embro is way more like naplam than suntan lotion. So beware. Good embro to have for wet days, but I feel like once this bottle is gone, I won't be seeing it again.
So there you go, 2 times in the last month I have cheated on Mad Alchemy.

Underdog and a trip down memory lane

2011-05-14T14:47:00.003-05:00

The Underdog 7" was one of my favorite records back in 87. Got it in the mail. it was so good I mail ordered every record New Beginning put out. Even took it to college. And that is were things went wrong. There was some random NJ skinhead that wanted to be friends with the skaters. He loved all the lunkhead NYHC stuff and he loaned me the Warzone 7" and the Sick of it All 7" too. For whatever reason, he didn't have this so he borrowed it. But he never seemed ready to return it. Til finally he admitted that he broke it one night when he was drunk. Don't know if he threw it or stepped on it or what, but when I got it back, it had a big chunk missing out of it. I liked the record so much, I still kept it. After about 20 years, I sold the cover on Ebay and exorcised that demon of a bad memory.
This dude was the primary reason I never liked skinheads or New Jersey.

Appreciate the Boston cover in the video, if you didn't make it that far.

craftsman needs an under the sink tool kit

2011-05-02T19:41:00.004-05:00

had to clean out the tools under the sink. to the left are the keepers that will return(minus a hammer and pipe wrench) to the left are the excess screwdrivers....
do they multiply on their own? and I don't think the random excess tool bucket in the man cave needed anymore screwdrivers. this is worse than the plethora of orphaned,adopted, and or lost and found allen wrenches that turn up everywhere......

going through changes

2011-04-29T06:38:00.003-05:00

1982-is this my world?

1992 "it's not my world"

What a difference ten years makes on punk rock...

RLTSOTs could have been so good

feedback

2011-04-25T18:32:00.005-05:00

I often feel like this blog exists in a vacuum and that is OK. That said it is the occasional reader comments and feedback that make it all worthwhile. Like this one...
"You're way too hard on this album. Are you a Muslim or something? " This was in response to this record review. from four years ago.
Merica Fuck Yeah

killing time on the interweb

2011-04-22T06:31:00.002-05:00

2 videos on making tubular tires. One with a music and one with narration by your high school science teacher
talking

music

**bonus**
and one more with nerds

the lazy man post

2011-04-14T18:29:00.004-05:00

Roubaix was pretty rad. Still have only seen the highlights. Love that VanSummeran got the win. Media coverage was in full effect. Here are 2 amazing videos. Watch then go ride bikes

and

Why were there so many cross bikes in effect for such a dry day?
Tire sizes creeping up towards 30 and cassettes featuring 25s and bigger? Change is slow, but happening.

Rhonde de Rosey 2 -the redirect

2011-04-11T18:01:00.008-05:00

I wrote a "race" report over on the team blog. More like a fun report

link dump

2011-03-29T19:21:00.002-05:00

lazy post of some cool things

Production from H Plus Son on Vimeo.

DIY Campy tools? Get into it.

Cool move in Cambridge . Almost caught up to Northampton now.

Been feeling very warm and fuzzy about tool posts lately. Here and here.

That's it for now. About to hit the classics frenzy and despite rumors of snow on Friday, it is clearly spring.

old photos

2011-03-11T19:00:00.005-05:00

going through some old photos and this bunch really made me wish it was the start of the cross season..... All from Northampton Day One 2009

miss this dude

multi tools part three. the random grand finale

2011-03-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

Over the years there are a lot of things that end up in the tool box. Here are a few. Some normal.Some not so much
The leatherman is pretty much the default multi tool for life. This one still had dried fish guts on it when I took it out for a picture. For 99% of humanity, just like a cell phone, this should never be attached to your belt in public.

Noting says practical like the old tri spoke tool. Nut driver in this case, but works just as well with allen wrenches

Swiss army "card" not sure what costanza wallet this was supposed to fit in. Xmas gift gone wrong

One of a couple mystery multi tools I have bought at yard sales? Worth a buck for sure.

The Exhumer gets multiple photos because of it's name and cause you can open a beer with it(cause nothing goes better with demolition than drinking????)

All good things come to an end and thankfully even things like this as well. This will be the final installment on my multi tool obsession.... for now

multi tools part two. the bike years and beyond

2011-03-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

So once cycling started playing a bigger role in my life, it opened up a gigantic new product group for me to test out. Cycling multi tools. "be prepared" is the mantra repeated to all beginning cyclists. From tubes to patch kit to tools, there are endless checklists of what you need to survive a ride. It is one easy thing to have covered when you are struggling with some of the other more complicated issues on a bike-like not getting dropped....
I think I only have half of my first cycling multi tool a gigantic 2 section everything but the kitchen sink type model. Overkill seemed like the best idea as a rookie. Why not have a tool that could provide tools for road side repairs that I wasn't qualified to do? Why not haul around a half pound security blanket? Thankfully when your extended family realizes you are a cyclist, you can count on a steady stream of new gigantor multi tools like this on most birthdays and holidays.

Thankfully with experience comes some knowledge of what goes wrong on a ride and what you can actually repair. This brings the turn towards minimalism. Until it rusted into modern art, this was the only tool in my seat bag besides a tire lever. If it couldn't fix with that and limp home it was time to break out that phone and beg for help.

Oh and there is no reason a tire lever can't serve double duty. Thanks Ritchey!

Lately I just carry the bare minimum. Though those nice Soulrun tool rolls beg to be filled with some sort of demented multi tool....
Besides the practical aspect of bike tools, there are also the lifestyle aspects of bike tools. Is it really a multi-tool if it can't open a beer? Why should a tool perform only it's primary function if it could additionally open a beer? Take for example the Campy 15mm peanut butter wrench. Worked for track nuts. Fit in your bag. Classic Italian craftsmanship. Pretty much all you need, but you couldn't open a beer with it. This opened the door for the Surly Jethro Tule to enter my life. Pretty much a must have item when it appeared on the internet. Sadly no picture. It was in my tool box at the start of cross season and it wasn't there yesterday when I went to take pictures? A tool thief at a cross race? Sacrilege. Even though I mourn it's disappearance, I don;t miss it's shark like tendency to rip the entire top of the bottle. Fear not, the need for a 15mm wrench that could also open a beer is a niche that only one multi tool can't handle. Enter Swobo and Park's "collabo"

But suppose you don't have a bag with you and you are out on your bike and need a beer after changing a flat? No wrench combo is fitting in the back of those tight ass jeans. Don't fret, Pedro's is here for you!

Hey cross racer? You know, maybe you don't need a 15mm wrench, but you do need to keep the UCI off your back before hoisting a cold one? Well Stu Thorne has you covered.

So there you go. Laid out together that is a ridiculous amount of tools that do the same couple things. Especially when they all have companions on the peg board that performs only one single function in their quiver.
The only thing less explicable is the plethora?,abundance?,massive volume of random allen wrenches floating around. Where do they all come from and why can't they stay together?

me and multi-tools volume one. the early years.

2011-03-08T10:06:00.001-05:00

Looking at my workbench and tool boxes, one thing is clear, I am obsessed with multi-tools. Not sure why or how it happened, but the evidence is irrefutable.
Probably started with a jack knife or swiss army knife. I know I have had several. But it really blossomed in my teens thanks to skateboarding.
This is most likely the first dedicated one sport multi tool I owned (true for a lot of old timers I'll bet)

This is probably my first "skate key". It got the job done, but left a lot to be desired. Thankfully as skateboarding blew up in the 80s so did the tool selection.
Which brings me to the Fix Stix

This thing was light years better than what I was working with. I loved this tool and still have 2 of them despite not having set up a board in 5 years.
Come on this thing had a bearing press!! Genius.

I found this is the random parts bin. Gullwing six pak? Here are 3. What were the other 3 parts of the pak? Someone chime in and remind me.

Skate tool innovation has continued, but I was starting to focus more on bikes than boards. Luckily for me the bike life is full of more multi tools than you could imnagine and this would further fuel my addiction.
At the end of the day, the most confusing part of my obsession with multi tools is that they are at best a pale imitation of the individual tools they collect(think the saw blade on a swiss army knife...). It would always be better to have a well stocked tool box at hand, but that isn't always possible. So I am always searching(like a desperate boy scout) for the next multi tool.

part 2 on the way

how come?

2011-01-31T20:05:00.003-05:00

Every year at classics time, there are hundreds of articles on spring classic tech. They generally rehash the same tired factoids(wider tires, double bar tape, chain watcher, etc) with tons of photos of fmbs on mavics classics pro wheels and other rebranded goodies.
BUT
There is no equivalent in cyclocross-especially at Worlds. There were 2 big deals I can think of this year. Nys on the Michelin/Dugasts and the Pipisquallos that Vos was running. Am I really supposed to believe that was the only thing going on under the radar?
Cross has way more access to the bikes, the pits, the real deal? Why is there so little uber secret photo leaks and undercover journalism?
People need to get on it.
Somewhat related, did anyone run disc brakes this year? Was it the lack of forks? When(if?) will we see them at the top levels?

Oldie plus Goodie and more....

2011-01-25T15:50:00.006-05:00

Ruts are a pretty classic yet often overlooked band. Always loved this song which
of course I heard via Dag Nasty first.

that leads to this

then this

and this

and then this(does he ever shut up and is this what I sound like when I geek
out over bands?)

ending here.

slacker post, but the ruts were fucking mega. better to write a handful of great
songs and fade away than linger in mediocrity.

GSD Interview. Yes that GSD-Garry Scott Davis!

2011-01-11T19:44:00.010-05:00

GSD was a major part of skateboarding for me pretty much from day one. I remember all
his photos in Transworld and pretty much ever kid from the Yarmouth side of DY had a GSD deck at one point or another. The "banks/curbs" thing meant a ton to us as that is what we skated day in and day out. He had his own style in the what was rapidly turning into the skater uniform world. His part at the Oceanside contest was another rebel moment. I saw his band open for Drive Like Jehu at the Middle East, but didn't realize he was in the band til I got the record a month later. Some internet snooping helped me track him down and in the grand tradition of WWDIS interviews, I fired off an email and waited to see what happened. Happily he replied to some questions and some follow ups, so without further adieu, some Q&A with GSD.

WWDIS: Without being a "It was all better back in the day!" kind of guy, how do you view the evolution of skateboarding / music / art into the mainstream?

GSD: I view it through a rose-colored kaleidoscope submerged in a murky aquarium. Just kidding. I liked skateboarding better in the early ’80s, when I was the only freak of nature in Cincinnati who did it, back before it turned into little league with a cop-controlled skatepark in every neighborhood. It was inevitable that skateboarding would proceed into the mainstream. Where else could it go, except into a graveyard? The sunny side is that t least skateboarding probably won’t ever completely die out, now that it’s so entrenched in our culture. As far as music goes, punk wormed its way into the mall by the mid ’80s and indie rock turned into so-called “alternative” in the early ’90s. “Where else is there to go?” I wondered. That’s when I started listening to more experimental music like avant garde classical, electro-acoustic, electronica, free improv, free jazz, gamelan, indie, krautrock, minimalism, obscure psychedelic, raga, sound art, acid folk, etc. and I never looked back. 

 WWDIS: Tracker had such a sunny / California kind of vibe (at least from the outside). How did you fit in? Was it an odd fit for you? 

GSD: I was only able to fit in with the help of a shoe horn. Just kidding. No, it wasn’t an odd fit at all. Neil Blender and Dan Wilkes rode for Tracker, too.

WWDIS: Some of your more famous photos were taken at the Shell Bowl, which looked like a pretty nice bank. What was it really like?

GSD: It was a super nice asphalt drainage bowl right on the beach in Oceanside. It tapered from a shallow end that extended from flat ground down into steep banks, one with a narrow lip and the other with a deck and a parking block. There were also boulders to jump onto. That place was one of the best bank spots ever. It got tarred and graveled by the city a year after it was built. I remember Tracker Larry showed up at 8:00 a.m. to protest that event, to no avail. The bowl is still there, but it’s still totally unskatable. What a waste.

WWDIS:You were there in the early and pre-internet days. As things get easier to find, do you feel they lose some of their value? 

GSD: Yes. I think about that all the time. Everything is way too easy now in this Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube world. I liked it more back when you had to learn about rad stuff by reading books and magazines, and digging through stacks of vinyl and tapes in dusty old record stores. I got into whole worlds of new music and art just by cross-referencing names in all of those mediums. I didn’t need the Internet. Now, to find out about anything, all it takes is a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. It’s way too easy and kind of sterile.   

WWDIS: How active are you now with Custom Floor? How much did you tour? I saw you open for Drive Like Jehu in Cambridge a longtime ago. I think Coral was on the bill as well? 

GSD: I’m very active with Custom Floor. We usually do aerobics together at least six days a week. Just kidding. The last show we played was in 2000, and the last album we recorded was released in 2005, so the time is nigh to brew up something new. I have a few new songs in the works, but my drummer lives in New York, so that may take a few decades. Custom Floor did a short tour of California in 1992, and a full U.S. tour in 1994. Half of that tour was spent opening for Drive Like Jehu, which was fun.

  WWDIS: Are you currently active in any other musical projects?

GSD: There’s an offshoot of Custom Floor called Carpet Floor, who play free improv and spontaneous psych. I have a lot of other ideas that I hope to transfer into music someday when I can make time.

WWDIS: What labels / musicians are you currently into? 

GSD: Kaoru Abe, A Certain Ratio, Acid Mothers Temple, Almu Aga, Agitation Free, Agog, A Handful of Dust, Aihiyo, Airway, Algarnas Tradgard, Maryanne Amacher, Charles Amirkhanian, AMM, Amon Duul, Beth Anderson, AR and Machines, Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast, Robert Ashley, Ash Ra Temple, Albert Ayler, Alvarius B, Derek Bailey, Bardo Pond, the Baschet Brothers, Steffen Basho-Junghans, William Basinski, Francois Bayle, David Behrman, Harry Bertoia, Big Black, the Big Boys, Biosphere, Biota, Sir Richard Bishop, Olivia Block, the Blue Humans, BNSF, Boards of Canada, Dock Boggs, Borbetomagus, the Boredoms, Brainticket, Glenn Branca, Jens Brand, Kjetil D. Brandsdal, Brast Burn, Susanne Brokesch, Sandy Bull, Dave Burrell, early Butthole Surfers, Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, Captain Beefheart, John Cage, John Cale, Calla, Cambodian Rocks comp, Can, Carpet Floor, Joseph Celli, Charalambides, Rhys Chatham, Che-Shizu, the Citizens for Interplanetary Activity, Nels Cline, Clive's Original Band (COB), Cluster, John Coltrane, Comus, the Conet Project, Tony Conrad, early Alice Cooper, Philip Corner, Matt Crane, Crawling With Tarts, Alvin Curran, Current 93, Custom Floor, Dadamah, Damenbart, Dara, Debris, Martin Denny, Destroy All Monsters, Eddie Detroit, Deuter, Francis Dhomont, Djam Karet, DNA, Tod Dockstader, the Dog Faced Hermans, the Doo-Dooettes, Dreamies, Arnold Dreyblatt, Drive Like Jehu, Jean Dubuffet, Iancu Dumitrescu, Judy Dunaway, John Duncan, Julius Eastman, Einsteurzende Neubauten, Brian Eno, Ethiopiques comps, the Ex, Exias-J, John Fahey, Fat Harlingen, Faust, Morton Feldman, Luc Ferrari, Fibrillation, Fifty Foot Hose, Fille Qui Mousse, David First, Henry Flynt, Food Brain, Dredd Foole, Free Kitten, Rev. Dwight Frizzell, the Fugs, Ellen Fullman, Fushitsusha, Kenneth Gaburo, Diamanda Galas, Galaxie 500, Gasaneta, Gate, Vittorio Gelmetti, the Germs, Ghost, Jon Gibson, Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa, Charles Gocher, Go Hirano, the Green Ray, Rudolph Grey, Ragnar Grippe, Ground Zero, Group Doueh, Grouper, Bernhard Gunter, Guru Guru, Keiji Haino, the Halleluejahs, Tom Hamilton, Hapshash and the Colored Coat, Harmonia, Harvester, early PJ Harvey, Tim Hecker, Pierre Henry, High Rise, Mark Hollis, Howth Castle, Iceburn, If Bwana, Isan, Teiji Ito, Jackie O Motherfucker, Henry Jacobs, Jandek, the Jesus and Mary Chain (just Psychocandy), Joe Jones, Mauricio Kagel, Mikami Kan, Jutok Kaneko, Roland Kayn, Tomokawa Kazuki, Rodd Keith, Karuna Khyal, Knead, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Barbara Kolb, Thomas Koner, Konono No. 1, Kontakta, Erkin Koray, Takehisa Kosugi, Kousokuya, Kraftwerk, Alan Lamb, Eric Lanzillotta, Lard Free, Le Forte Four, Les Rallizes Denudes, Lightning Bolt, Live Skull, the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS), Lost Aaraaff, Love Live Life +1, Lovely Midget, Frank Lowe, Alvin Lucier, Ralph Lundsten, Lush, Maciunas Ensemble, Angus Maclise, Magical Power Mako, Magic Hour, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Mahogany Brain, Marble Sheep and the Run Down Sun's Children, Lionel Marchetti, Walter Marchetti, Christian Marclay, Marginal Consort, Mars, Ingram Marshall, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Matmos, Richard Maxfield, Loren Mazzacane, Microstoria, Roger Miller, Mimir, Minor Threat, Mirror, Mirror Dash, the Misfits (just Walk Among Us), Kimio Mizutani, Mnemonists, Roy Montgomery, Anthony Moore, Thurston Moore, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co., Mu, Chie Mukai, Gordon Mumma, Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV), Music From the ONCE Festival comp, MX-80 Sound, My Bloody Valentine, John Myers' Blastula, Nagisa Ni Te, Conlon Nancarrow, Neu!, the New Tweedy Brothers, Phil Niblock, the Nihilist Spasm Band, Nijiumu, No Neck Blues Band, No New York comp, Arne Nordheim, Nurse With Wound, Pauline Oliveros, Bjorn Olsson, Organum, Os Mutantes, Ouba, Oval, Overhang Party, Charlemagne Palestine, Bernard Parmegiani, Parson Sound, Harry Partch, Linda Perhacs, Physics, the Pixies, Pluramon, Larry Polansky, Pole, Polvo, Popol Vuh, Powerdresser, Pandit Pran Nath, Prince Far I (Cry Freedom Dub), Purple Trap, Dick Raaijmakers, Folke Rabe, Eliane Radigue, Lee Ranaldo, Tom Recchion, Steve Reich, Hans Reichel, Ride, Terry Riley, RLW, Steve Roden, Keith Rowe, Ray Russell, Frederic Rzewski, Philip Sanderson, Savage Republic, Pierre Schaeffer, Gunter Schickert, Marcus Schmickler, Conrad Schnitzler, Raymond Scott, Scratch Acid, the Scratch Orchestra, the Sea Donkeys, Sonny Sharrock, Shizuka, Siloah, the Silver Apples, Slint, Sonic Youth, Omar Souleyman, Spacemen 3, Laurie Spiegel, the Spoils of War, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Karlheinz Stockhausen, the Stooges, Sublime Frequencies label, Morton Subotnick, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Sun City Girls, Sun Dial, Sun Ra, Surface of the Earth, Sweet and Honey, Taj Mahal Travellers, Masayuki Takayanagi, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, James Tenney, Theoretical Girls, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle, Toho Sara, To Rococo Rot, Total, Trad Gras Och Stenar, David Tudor, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Uncle Jim, the United States of America, Masayoshi Urabe, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Edgard Varese, Vajra, the Velvet Underground, Lois V. Vierk, the Vocokesh, Voice Crack, Wabi Sabi, Igor Wakhevitch, Warm Climate, Patty Waters, White Heaven, White Magic, White Noise, White Out, White Winged Moth, Simon Wickham-Smith, Davey Williams, the Wind Harp, Trevor Wishart, Witthuser and Westrupp, Christian Wolff, Iannis Xenakis, Xhol Caravan, Yahowha 13, Father Yod, the Michael Yonkers Band, Otomo Yoshihide, La Monte Young, the Young Marble Giants, Richard Youngs, Yura Yura Kingdom, Z'ev, plus a lot of other stuff I can't think of right now that I'll add later.

   WWDIS: What were the highlights of your recent Southeast Asia excursion?

GSD: The gamelan music, traditional dance and temples of Bali and Java. The art of Islam in Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia. Snorkeling in the turquoise water of the Phi Phi islands in Thailand. Exploring highly ornate, gold-covered Buddhist temples throughout Thailand and eating the most delicious food ever at May Kaidee’s vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok. In Myanmar, gazing at the towering, golden Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and attending the chaotic and colorful Nat Pwe (spirit festival) of music and dance in Tangbyone. You can view all of my photos and stories from this trip at Arcane Candy.

WWDIS:Cycling (This question is based only on your MySpace interest of "mountain biking.") How into it are you? Mountain? Road? Etc. 

GSD: I’m so into it! I love the cool wind rushing over my face and getting a good workout by climbing steep hills. I bought a mountain bike about five years ago because the company I worked for was located right next to some great trails. I got laid off at the beginning of 2010, so I had to say goodbye to those trails. Then I started riding my mountain bike on the road down by San Diego, where I’m situated now. I still hope to ride trails every once in a while, but there’s not enough time to put my bike in the back of my truck and drive really far every day.

So there you go. Thanks to Garry for his time.

GSD

2011-01-11T18:23:00.000-05:00

Link Dump. This will all make more sense in a little bit, but consider it background for an interview I am finishing up about one of my skateboard inspirations.

Interview1 Front-footed frontside footplant
Interivew2
Interview3
Facts and photos Photo #8 was from a Transworld Photo Annual and blew my mind.
music
skate zine link
artifact
some interviews GSD did

a self serving post

2011-01-10T20:27:00.002-05:00

I guess this is acceptable since I am selling records to buy bike parts which combine 2 aspects of this blog. I am also trying to reduce my hoarder tendencies.
But if interested, check out some ebay auctions for music-based on what I review you can probably guess what you will see on offer.
Thanks!

Go Here

I will be using the base period of cycling to focus on some more intense ebay intervals so check back if you are interested.

bigger picture

2010-12-29T20:41:00.003-05:00

Two things today caught my eye and made me think. I was never really a Captain Beefheart fan, but reading this Byron Coley penned obit/appreciation, it is hard to imagine something nicer being written about yourself. Essentially Beefheart the shield that nerds could wield to protect themselves from the world.
"...they were more a way of creating
a bubble of madness to protect me
from the goddamn normals
who dogged my every sullen step"

Then I saw this little known fact about Gino Bartali. I never really took a side in the Bartali vs Coppi debate, but I leaned towards Bartali on principle-this seels the deal. What did you accomplish on your last training ride? How will your actions as a human be remembered?

So two different stories, but one theme-how will your words and actions be remembered when you are gone? As the new year approaches and goals and training plans are being laid out, a reflection on the bigger picture can't hurt.

best of 2010

2010-12-14T20:58:00.000-05:00

These are some of my favorite records from 2010. I talked about them on here earlier in the year so I will just let the music do the talking. (apologies for that last hyper link) All of these are road tested good times.

ted leo -brutalist bricks. keep em coming. gets better with every listen.

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists - "Bottled In Cork" (Official Video) from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Leatherface stormy petrel. Stubbs for Life. Sound on this is weak, but the footwork is excellent.

God is dead - Leatherface 2010-9-6 Tokyo@Kouenji HIGH from Spalding on Vimeo.

superchunk proof that bands don't have to suck as they grow older.

Superchunk - Digging For Something from Merge Records on Vimeo.

off! 1st ep. all 4 eps are good, but this one is perfect. more proof that old dudes can do it.

gaslight anthem-not original but I listened to it for most of the summer and fall. pretty good driving music

colesium -slowed down and pretty much one groove, but still a great record.

COLISEUM Blind In One Eye - Music Video from Coliseum on Vimeo.

daniel higgs-say god. double dose of higgs? yes please.

madball empire. road trip staple. sometimes dumb is just what you need.

castavet mound of ash-best record that I didn't listen too enough

dynamic truths- reissue of year and if they were still around, this would hands down be my record of the year. sadly can't track down any video.

A common thread amongst all these is the "veteran presence". I guess this was the year for the old bands and old dudes. Sorry new bands and young kids-maybe next year you can do it.

PS another absolute road trip staple was Brian Posehn "Fart and Weiner Jokes". classic. Slaaayyyyeeerrr!

signs you are over the season before the season is over

2010-12-04T15:55:00.003-05:00

1. bike still dirty from last weekend
2. forgot that bike is in shop, not in basement
3. dirty kit is in car, I think....
4. ...hopefully everything else you need for the race is in your car
5. only openers you do the day before are on bottles and cans
6. fantasize about how fun a training ride to Harvard in the freezing rain would be
7. trainer covered in laundry
8. haven't checked points list on crossresults.com-or even looked at it all week
9. accepting wearing leg warmers cause you're too lazy to shave your legs
10.saturday night-did someone want to go out for a beer?

tombs fear is the weapon

2010-12-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

If you read this blog, you should know I love Tombs. Fear is the Weapon is a 14 track collection of tracks from singles and splits with some demo tracks from the Winter Hours CD. Limited to 1000 and available from Relapse mailorder.
I have reviewed the Tombs/Plank split which was rad and the early singles. They are all still rad. Cheval Noir is a standout with the female vox. The last 4 tracks are demos. All killer songs from Winter Hours. Main difference to me is the vocals are a little more prominent. For "demos" these tracks all sound pretty fucking good-maybe better than a lot of the competitions A-game. These dudes are pretty much the perfect bridge between early 90s noise rock and what gets lumped in as metal or "extreme music" now a days. As a dork who has been listening to heavy music for a couple decades, these guys just get it and deliver the goods. Support it.

Artwork is rad and heavy on the hidden symbolism. Esoteric to say the least.

If that isn't enough David Cross loves them.
I kid, I kid.

gemco banks

2010-12-03T20:49:00.005-05:00

at best a historical footnote in skateboarding, but clearly an awesome spot for a frontside boneless

some people want to see the grand canyon, I would like to see this spot

.....ruined my life

2010-11-27T16:25:00.004-05:00

I am pretty sure that Consolidated was the first team to make this slogan popular. Wasn't really a fan of the idea. I don't have a stick up my ass and I get irony, but skateboarding pretty much opened up the world to me-from art to music to you name it. Skateboarding was the gateway to it all. So that shirt was funny, but just not an attitude I could get with even as a joke.
Skateboarding and cross seem to have a lot of people in common, so I shouldn't have been surprised to see a "cyclocross ruined my life" shirt pop up. But of course I was.
Not surprisingly, I had a similar reaction. I just can't get down with that attitude and even as a joke it rubs me the wrong way. Cross has done a lot for me, but one thing it hasn't, is ruined my life. It has cost me time,money, and sleep, but for everything I have put in, I have gotten back way more than expected.
PMA

Dynamic Truths Understanding is Overated.

2010-11-24T21:54:00.006-05:00

This record has it all some post-punk Wire/Fallishness, some mission of burma melodicism, the whole gamut of domestic post-hardcore cred. Honor Role were a pretty amazing and timeless band-while being out of place in their own time. This is a band for record nerds, that just transcends that boundary and is amazing. There are a select few bands that sound completely unique and totally familiar at the same time-almost like you had this music in you head and were waiting for someone to make it.
If Lungfish has been writing the same song for 7 albums, you can easily see the straight line from "Listening to Sally" to "Headed to the Halfway House". And that is not an issue, since it is a good fucking song. Schick has this ability to write these really vivid almost short story like stories in his lyrics. They transmit such a sense of unease and awareness of how bogus "regular" life can be. A skill he has had since Honor Role and Coral and now with the Dynamic Truths.
"Bustop" unleashes the wicked anglo-funk and makes for 2 minutes you will want to listen to again and again. Atonal, bass driven, melodic -perfect.
I threw this on unheard before a drive down to the Cape and I was absolutely ecstatic the entire time. Reminded me of bands, I would lose sleep over night after night in the mid 90s upstairs at the middle east with a dozen other nerds.
Little Black Cloud is the label that put it together. Essential and easily reissue of the year.

Some shots from Shedd Park

2010-11-22T06:28:00.019-05:00

A few of the better photos I got from Shedd Park. This was a really fun day on the bike.

Velo-Cross

2010-11-20T17:01:00.014-05:00

This was a pretty fun course which had all the necessary features-bmx action and pump bumps-check, long ass run up check, sketchy pavement to asphalt transitions-check, 2 sets of barriers-check, a little mud-check, spray painted rocks on the single-track-check. I had a shit start and bad first lap-one crash, two dropped chains. I was in full baby mode for the next lap til I mentally got my shit together and just settled in to race my bike. After that it was fun. Short lap would have had me doing 8 laps but junior soul stealer Nate Morse caught me and that gave me a pass on the last lap.....

The "track" portion of this was not too exciting, but the infield was laid out well.

Those in the know said the course ran the opposite way so you had to get up this last year.

There was a lot of scary rear wheel in the air action. A lot of people were struggling with the concept "pump" and "rhythm". This is a fast way to end up "face down, ass up"....

One of the two sets of barriers

Berms

I thought these things got recycled?

railing it

For those of you who don't know what goes down on a bmx track check this out-and pay attention to which wheel is up....

I was running low on batteries so that is it for photos. took a lot of blurry throw aways today. Shedd Park tomorrow. Waffle hand ups? Four Loko hand ups? Be afraid!

couple more shots from eco cross

2010-11-14T13:47:00.015-05:00

I wrote race report for this on the team blog, but here are a few photos from the men's 4 and the elite race. This is a rad event-where else is the elite field 50% current or former national champs? More people should do this, but I think they will need a longer lap if they get bigger fields.

more photos here

clearance

2010-11-07T21:14:00.005-05:00

I see a lot of terrifying bikes and fixed gear conversions at my job. This was one of them(there will be no pictures of the drive train of this nightmare), but I was struck by how much clearance there was around the fork-even with long reach calipers. In related news there was a kid racing in Northampton this weekend on an old trek frame with long reach calipers.

Woodrup in DC

2010-11-04T07:18:00.008-05:00

Whenever I am walking around in DC, I seem to stumble upon bikes that are too nice to be locked up, locked up on the street. For example this touring rig from Leeds England.
The wrap around seat stays are what first caught my eye.

Didn't want to manhandle the bike to get a better picture of it, but you can get the idea from that picture
Cool logo-also rad center pull brakes not mafac, but what can you do.

The full bike

The Brooks saddle reminds me of something else I saw.....

The value of the saddles in this picture is greater than the value of the bikes, but I guess they ride in comfort and style.
Did appreciate the file tread cross tires on the commuter, but is some bartape too much to ask?

DC always a good time for looking at bikes.

required reading

2010-10-27T20:57:00.003-05:00

Big Bikes got me through the summer, but Cyclo-What is the fall favorite blog!

Dag Nasty with Shawn

2010-10-15T05:52:00.004-05:00

So 2 of my favorite bands were and are Dag Nasty and Swiz. (Edge goes to Swiz who broke up before releasing some shitty records....). The fact that Shawn Brown started out singing for Dag Nasty should make this reissue a homerun. It is good and was released years ago as a 4x7" boxset. All the Dag classics in a rougher demo quality with SB belting out the lyrics. I think it works best on songs like Can I Say or Justification where the classic Shawn Brown vocal style shines though.
This is better than a nostalgia trip, but not quite a total power/total cool classic. Dischord has plenty of other gems in the vault they need to get cracking on releasing.

how to do it right

2010-10-14T09:44:00.001-05:00

then

now

OFF! - UPSIDE DOWN from jake burghart on Vimeo.

this is a timeless formula for making a kick ass video.

of course

2010-10-13T19:14:00.003-05:00

Good read from time magazine here on wingnuts. This section hit home to me
"Vanderboegh is hardly a man of action himself, living these days on government disability checks. Even so, when he wrote a blog post in March urging followers to protest the health care bill by breaking windows at Democratic Party offices, they did so across the country."
Of course the patriot on disability had time to agitate against health care....

If that wasn't enough try this article on CIA incompetenece from Harpers. Rendition? Remember that?

Race Report Simplifier

2010-10-11T18:29:00.003-05:00

At this point in the season, signs of fatigue are setting in. Bike stays dirty longer. You stay in bed longer, etc. So blogging and race reporting is starting to slow down.
To make my life easier, I have boiled my race reporting down to a multiple choice madlib. Could have been a flow chart, but multiple choice is easier. Feel free to use if helpful.

1.Today's race was______
a. wetter than I like
b. too dry
c. too muddy
d. too hot
e. too cold

2. I had a ____ start
a.good
b.ok
c.terrible

3.I tried to go fast, i ______
a.did
b.failed due to_______
-legs
-head
-mechanical
-crash
-random body issue

4.Race ended, I ________
a. can't wait to look at cross results
b. did exactly what the race predictor expected
c .don't want to see to look at cross results

5.I am_____ for next weekend
a. stoked
b. dreading

6.I need to _____ coach
a.fire my
b.hire a

Add in a couple self deprecating remarks about handling, poorly maintained equipment, and maybe sketchy canadians or officials and it is a wrap.

Watching the Weasel a non-race report

2010-10-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

My ribs and ankle were still pretty banged up from Gloucester and with 2 more days of racing in Providence on the horizon, I decided not to race the Night Weasel. That said, there was no way I wasn't going out to support this event. Rolled out in a downpour which fizzled out the closer we got to Ski-Ward in Shrewsbury.
Course looked fun. Technical wet and hazardous as well. I was glad I left my bike at home-cause I would have lined up if I brought it and I would have crashed for sure.
Nick,Billy, and Thom lined up to kill it. We posted our tent up on a nice muddy corner that would deteriorate nicely over the next few hours.
I got my heckle on as the other dudes raced. Buying a new camera before cross season seemed smart, but trying to learn how to operate it at the races is not a good plan. I got a couple hundred blurry shots from this race.
Races continued. Beer was drank. Veggie burgers eaten. Rad night. Elites were killing it.
Amazing prizes. Where else are FMBs on the prize list? And not for the winners either-sick!
Pedros did major community service on the bike wash front.
SkiWard deserves major props for letting this happen, and Colin,Linnea, and Chip deserve even more major props and thank yous for making it happen.
Packed up and rolled out. I really, really hope this race happens again next year. A New England Super Week seems like a great idea.

the curious case of Judas Priest song titles

2010-10-08T18:41:00.003-05:00

cheater
ripper
deceiver
sinner
starbreaker
exciter
invader
grinder
steeler
troubleshooter
jawbreaker
turbolover
painkiller
night crawler
devildigger
demonizer
hellrider

To the casual observer, this might seem like a list of things ending in "-er", but to a true metal maniac, it is clearly a list of Judas Priest song titles-all with one thing in common.
At work yesterday, most likely thanks to an Ipod's shuffle mode, I heard Exciter followed up by Invader. Couldn't remember if they were on the same album or not, but thought it was weird. Which was all it took to get the gears of my mind spinning towards some useless record nerd analysis. The results of which are the list above

10% of all Judas Priest Songs end in "-er" 17 out of 167
69 % of non live or greatest hits contain at least one "-er" title. 11/16
28% percent of the songs on the live Unleashed in the East end in "-er"
0% of my childhood favorite Screaming for Vengeance's song titles end in "-er"
4 out of 4 of their 1st 4 lps contain an "-er"
This does not include plurals or phrases like Defenders of the Faith
I also cannot explain the 1997 dalliance with "-or" titles (juggalator and abductor)
I guess that since the singer's nickname was Ripper they felt safe to experiment. It does have a Halfordian precedent in Dissedent Aggressor from 1977's Sin after Sin....

I can be fact checked here

I suppose I could have written a race or non-race report, but variety is the spice of life.

This video does not stand up to the test of time very well

better

best

things I learned at Gloucester

2010-10-04T20:57:00.009-05:00

Everyone should already be OD'd on Gloucester coverage, but here are a couple observations.
It was always my impression that barriers were meant to be leapt over with the grace of a gazelle. They are not to be climbed over like Visigoths storming a castle. This year at Gloucester, I realized that might not be the case. Wave after wave of riders were planting their foot on the top of the barriers as the went over them. Fast guys were doing it. Pros were doing it. And they all seemed to be getting over them faster than I did.....

Another observation. The one armed javelin carry was very popular this weekend. Whether over the barriers or up the run up, it was seen in it's full glory in almost every race

Last observation is the escalation of pre-ride wardrobes. Last season the NBD preride in jeans seemed to be pretty standard. It seems like by the end of the season the elites will be preriding in suits or tuxes or maybe some fully articulated Patagonia preride suit. Sorry no good photographic evidence of this sartorial trend, but watch it's trickle down effect into the 4s if you get up early enough.

Oh and Mark McCormack is still wicked fast

What about a race report? Gloucester wasn't a great race for me last year and that may be becoming a tradition. I DNF'd one day and got 54th the next. Walking wounded-rolled my ankle and bruised some ribs crashing after riding like an asshole. Weather was perfect and it is always an amazing weekend no matter how you ride. Good kick off to the Mega-Cross Week.

devil is in the details

2010-09-27T20:09:00.004-05:00

28th or 32nd? Which is a better result and which feels better? Hard to say. Loon Mt was a survival fest for me so finishing 28th out of 38 was not the end of the world. 32nd out of 94 looks better and maybe even feels better, but you have to weigh terrain and competition and your own performance. In the end I am stoked on each result. Loon was a total unknown and despite crashing, I was able to hang onto the lead lap. Hard training. Epic terrain. Just like on TV....
I had raced Suckerbrook the year before so I had a benchmark. I finished better than last year and rode better as well. Despite the other people, so much of cross is internal to me. The results tell the story, but there are so many other ways to judge and experience the race.
A new race and a New England classic. Good way to spend a weekend.
This week has been a blur or tire gluing and Gloucester prep....
Craziest week is on deck with 5 races in 9 days. Get stoked

boston handmade bike show

2010-09-24T05:42:00.009-05:00

Not sure why everything cool bike related has to happen at the same time,but regardless there was a Boston Handmade bike show last night. All the usual suspects (IF,Seven,Igleheart,Geekhouse) where there-although not with too many bikes in tow. 13 builders total.
2 new(to at least me) builders caught my eye. First up is Royal H Cycles. They had this road bike that was a nice mix of old and new-quill stem with Campy 11. My pictures don't do it justice, but this is the kind of bike my inner retro-grouch could get down with

nice detail work

front end

rear end. love those brakes. please excuse the elf.

Next up was Budd. He had a couple disc brake cross bikes on display. I saw the blue one racing in Williston, but couldn't get a good look at it. Very intense seat stays.

this was a big bike

this was the bike I saw getting raced

Brews were flowing and the DJ was making it happen, but I didn't last too long as we have another away game weekend of cyclocross.
I saw a real photographer there so hopefully these bikes get documented a little better than this.

behind the scenes

2010-09-22T20:03:00.005-05:00

Parbo looked super pro on the carbon Leopard wth gold accented everything. Looks like Superb gets the credit. Back story here.

road trip to vermont with some bike racing

2010-09-20T18:59:00.006-05:00

Nick should once again be manning the race report on the team blog, so I will bloviate here. Fact-no matter how old you are, road trips rule. Load up some dudes, drive a bit, and let the hijinks begin. For us one hijinks started too soon. We lost a wheel of the roof before we were out of MA?? FML.
Driving into Burlington around 10. The last hour of the drive in full Translyvanian Hunger fog. Hit the youth hostel where we were staying-fear of bed bugs be damned. Right off the bat, I got off on the wrong foot with the inn keeper-apparently zombie jokes are off limits up here. Any way, we sacked out with dreams of race success.
We departed early and arrived at the Catamount Family Center in more fog.

And it was fucking cold. Fact-there is never a wrong season to bring winter hats to Vermont.
As the fog cleared,the dread set in. Course tap snaked its way up and down an hillside.Wet grass was everywhere with no pavement in site.
2.5 preride laps resulted in some grass covered bikes and an increased sense of impending doom.

Pinning on 3 numbers made me feel super pro. Before I was ready, it was call ups and time to get it on. Early reg'ing got me a front row start. I was ready to drop anchor and reverse hole shot as soon as possible.
Saturdays race was a 4 lap suffer fest with a lot of climbing and a cool ride up a bmx jump the wrong way. Hard as hell, but rad. Race was tough lots of climbing.
Blew up after 2 laps and pretty much chalked up the rest of the race to hard training. 16th was the result.
Parbo on the jump

We got to hang for the rest of the day, get sunburned, and watch people crush the course. Nick was running the camera so I just got to chill.
We headed back to Burlington with thoughts of Flatbreads pizza dominating my mind. I get grumpy when I am hungry and I was in dick mode. Standing next to and empty table for 15 minutes before getting seated at the same table did not help. Couple beers, a salad, and half a pizza later it was back to happyland and time for bed.
Up early enough to sit in a Starbucks parking lot for 20 minutes before we arrived(no surprise early) to the race. Sunday's course was less of a kick in the nuts as far as elevation, but the challenges came on some tricky downhill corners and medium length run up. Why do people try to get all 300 on things like this and try to ride up them only to flounder and die? If you can't ride it every time in practice-run it. It will be faster. At the start, I somehow found myself accelerating away and coming close to getting the hole shot. At which point I let of the gas and lost enough positions that I spent the rest of the race trying to get them back. Lap 2 found me passing Nick which would have ruled if he wasn't running with his bike. He made it to the pits and got himself together and was off. The course doubled back on itself enough that I was able to try and yell some encouragement to him. Maybe too much as he caught and passed me! Way to go Nick.
We managed to finish 12,13,14 on Sunday.
After a little chill time we packed up and rolled out. Really nice race. Good weekend. Good road trip. Hopefully a good warm up for NH next weekend.

extra power?

2010-09-17T06:58:00.001-05:00

"Make good lines and use extra power to get through loose gravel. If you steer with your hips, push hard on the pedals from the back of the saddle and use the front wheel as a sort of rudder; you can clean most deep, loose gravel. " -Ira Ryan

Gravel riding tips from this article. Just need to find my extra power and I will be good to go.

Quad Cross

2010-09-15T20:26:00.002-05:00

I was stoked to do this race cause it is one of the only races of the year that I can ride to. Riding to a race-outside of Wells Ave isn't really an option so this was a cool thing. Packing for a race with a car means you don't have to think too much-just throw it in, but when you are carrying everything you need on your back, you need to put some more thought into it. I could think all I want, but I still needed team mates to come through with things like a floor pump and pit wheels. It takes a village for one man to ride....... Speaking of team mates, Thom and Nick headed out Saturday night to help with course set up.

2nd time doing Quad Cross. Weather was pretty similar. Dry and cool. Course was a little tougher-they ran it into the woods and found some sand to make the run up a little tougher.
We had the whole team there. Billy,Nick, and Thom were in the 4 and I was in the old 4s. Had a decent start. Starts are not ever my strong suit so decent is an improvement. Took a lap or 2 to get it together, at which point I was in a group of about 8, and we proceeded to beat on each other for the remaining laps.
People definitely came out to race and were diving into ever corner and sprinting out of ever turn. Dusty as a hell-which I was reminded of when I laid down for a quick nap on the last lap. Crashed in a completely unremarkable left hand turn. Chalk that one up to last lap jitters. I get more uptight and nervous in the last lap than at the start. Once I realize it's the last lap, I tend to think to much and what handling I have goes out the window. Tons of people were out and it was nice to get a pretty thorough level of heckling throughout the course.
Hung out til the Pro race and then road home.
This was an extremely fun day and I think Quad Cross has earned it's spot on the calendar.
Nick has a race report on the team blog. Check it out. Maybe the other slackers on the team will have something to say soon. VT weekend with 3/4 of the crew on deck.

Friday Night

2010-09-10T17:47:00.003-05:00

This video rules for some many reasons
1.Joe Lopes. Sad that Joe and Dave are both RIP.
2.Skaters vs BMX. Took rollerbladers to get us off each others backs
3.The Dutch what? As if the Rabo friendly Orange and Blue color scheme wasn't good enough, Vanderspeck has the nickname "The Flying Dutchman "
4.Vander-Roll? Is it as bad as the street plant?
5.The 80s tv dude-Stay Classy!

Magnus Backstedt Interview

2010-08-31T19:00:00.001-05:00

Magnus Backstedt has always been one of my favorite riders. Devoted to the classics, his status as a hardman cannot be questioned. His crowning moment has to be his Roubaix win in 2004, but I have spent many an hour on the trainer watching him set brutal tempo in a breakaway in the 08 edition of Flanders. He has been a supporter of the Pan-Mass challenge here in MA for a while and being reminded of this got me thinking and reminiscing a bit. Roubaix was epic, but I was always puzzled by his attempt at the derny hour record. What was the motivation to suffer behind a motorbike turning that huge gear? On a whim,I emailed Big Maggy's coffee to see if he would be interested in an interview. I was pretty shocked when I got a quick reply in the affirmative. So here are a few questions with a real giant of cycling.

WWDIS:Why did you decide to pursue the derny hour record?
MB: I just love riding the track and riding behind the Derny is one of my favourite things to do. I quite quickly realised i was very fast behind it. Unfortunately things didn't go to plan on the night with the driver getting "big occasion nerves". Unfortunately i never got the time to give it another go.

WWDIS: What was harder Roubaix or the derny hour?
MB:I think Roubaix, more due to the time it takes to become human again after a complete emptying of the tank and all the physical issues the cobbles cause. Still the Hour was not easy.

WWDIS: What were your favorite races?
MB: For me there was really only one race. Second Sunday in April is a special day in my calendar and always will be. The Paris Roubaix is such a special event and I have a great love for the race itself and the history behind the race.

WWDIS:Did you ever do any derny crits?
MB:No I never did. I was always busy with other races.
WWDIS: Are they as sketchy as the appear?
MB:I don't think they are any worse than other races.

WWDIS: You road for a lot of teams over the years-what was your favorite bike?
MB: Difficult question to answer. I had so many purpose built bikes made for me and a lot of custom jobs. Have to say though that the Felt AR1 was probably one of my favourites. Also had quite a lot of input to that bike being made. Jim Felt did an awesome job there. Another favourite is the Cervelo P3 and i recently got a Wilier Cento Uno that again was made to my spec. As an off the peg bike i think the bike that my team is riding this year has to be one of the stiffest and lightest i have ever ridden. It's a small brand. Nishiki team Carbon it's called. You can find them on www.nishiki.se

WWDIS:This is a mandatory interview question, do you prefer Campy or Shimano? Or Sram?
MB: Shimano

WWDIS:How did you get associated with the Pan-Mass Challenge?
MB: Long story. Matt Dillis who is the captain of the Forza-G PMC team is working together with me distributing my coffee in the US and on that road we ended up with me riding the PMC. One of the best rides i have done. I do a lot of stuff for charities and my coffee donates a % of the profit to cancer charities, the PMC being one of them. Find the coffee on www.bigmaggys.com

WWDIS: How was it being on the podium with Roger Hammond?
MB:Well, Rog and me are good friends and used to share a house in Belgium. I felt for him not winning, but on that day there was only going to be one winner and that was me. I think he can appreciate that. He rode really strong that day and luckily for me i just managed to outmaneuver all of them coming out of the final turn. Track cycling move!! Well, knowing how people move on the track helped me a lot that day.

WWDIS:Have you or do you race cross?
MB: I have only ever done a couple of local ones in south wales where I live. Not really my thing. I'm too heavy and bog down in the mud. I do like taking my MTB on a spin though.

WWDIS: My blog focuses on cycling and music, so what are some of your favorite bands?
MB: Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Black eyed Peas, the XX. i have something like 8500 tunes on my ipod and it varies from the one extreme to another.

WWDIS:You seem to be busy with your coffee, team,and TV commentating? What else are you up to?
MB: I also have my bike/coffee shop on Jersey Channel islands. Apart from that and my family i don't really have time to do anything else.

So there you have it. Amazing racer, retires and seems to stay just as busy. Get some of that coffee!

PS
want one of these

never the same.

2010-08-29T15:18:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things about cross is the constant flux. You can have a race at the same place every year and change the course to make it different. Even if you don't change the course, weather can give you 2 totally different races. Even hour to hour. If you do 2 races in one day, you are not really riding the same course-especially if it rains. You need to be ready for anything.
For example Palmer MA. I have done this race 3 times. 1st time it was later in the year and a mess of frozen mud ruts and grass. Last year was an epic mudfest with submerged roots and pouring rain. This year it was dry and hot. Still had roots. Roots everywhere. Popping out of the ground like zombies trying to free themselves from their graves.
race report on the other blog later.

Cross Season

2010-08-24T06:50:00.004-05:00

Posted a race report from our team's first race on the new team blog. Check it out
Or follow us on Facebook.

Rain, Mud, and Fun all on day one of the season? Stoked.

team transfers

2010-08-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

these are a few quick reactions to some recent transfers. Geox-I hope they fix that kit so Menchov and Sastre can look good. Despite constantly being tagged as an underachiever, I love Sastre and Menchov has always been ready to strike. Would much rather see a team build like this, than say sign Riccardo fucking Ricco. It is probably not easy to be the biggest dick in Italian cycling, but the Cobra has done it.
Vaconsoleil was a team I was really stoked on this year. They mixed it up in bigger races and their getting dissed by all three grand tours made them an easy underdog to pull for, but Ricco? That sucks.
Quickstep seem to be scooping up 2nd tier sprinters. Resigning Chavanel was a good move.
Saxobank's radical spanish reorientation is breaking my heart. No Jens? No O'Grady, No Breschel? No thanks. But where is this Luxo super team? Get it done already. How fast does Cancellara jump ship in 2011?
These are just some gut feelings, I haven't spent too much time dwelling on this fantasy league style......yet.

This video has nothing to do with this years team transfers, but it should get you stoked.

good interview

2010-08-18T06:52:00.002-05:00

"And this leaves me, anyway, with the thought, or hypothesis, that performance in the 2009 and 2010 Tours have been curtailed. The 6.3W/kg finishing climbs of the 90’s and 2000’s would have seen Contador and Schleck finishing minutes down on a climb like the Tourmalet. In other words, those EPO/blood doping era riders would be to Contador what Contador currently is to Gesink, Menchov, Sanchez. Is the standard of cycling that much lower? I don't think so, and my thought is that so far, we're seeing an overall suppression of doping in the Tour."

Full interview here. Interesting idea about sealed SRMs to track riders power. Also the Anker Sorenson observation. Maybe the domestiques are battling harder than the team leaders? NYVelocity has been pretty relentless lately on the anti-doping front. Follow them on twitter for all the latest news.

countdown in its final week

2010-08-16T10:24:00.001-05:00

First cross race in 7 days!
D2R2 in 6 days!
The part of the year, I have been waiting for is finally upon us!

Burning Love Songs for Burning Lovers

2010-08-13T04:00:00.000-05:00

"______&roll" seems to be a hardy sub-genre-(death&roll, crust&roll, etc). Now we have "punk&roll". Regardless of the genre tag this Burning Love CD is pretty top notch.
Deranged records out of Canada deliver this 13 song party starter. Not the most original, but it gets the job done. Driving, catchy rock tinged hardcore. Features members of Cursed. I would name check bands like annihilation time, inepsy, coliseum, or doomriders if I was writing a "for fans of" sticker. they would probably like to hear names more like black flag or poison idea, but I think the first batch should give you an idea what you are in store for. But put my jaded record collecting self on hold for a minute, and pop this in the cd player in your car. You will be stoked and speeding down the street. This is get shit done music. I have a lot of shit to get done, so I enjoy bands that can give me good soundtrack for that. They get points for the song title "alien vs creditor".
Unfortunately this might be a good example "old man core" or "middle aged&roll" a genre of music for which I am probably the perfect demographic.

label
band blog

that is a lot of love to deranged records for a 24 hour period

bloody gears 7"

2010-08-12T17:29:00.004-05:00

Whoever writes the descriptions for Deranged bands has balls of steel. Name checking Articles of Faith and Husker Du and invoking the classic MidWestern 80s core sound is not taken lightly around here.(never mind invoking gang of four and really red to describe another band). Regardless of this, I was excited to hear a new band from Boston. The HOG is out of the loop on boston bands.
3 songs. Vocals are kinda Bondi-esque, but it is more like a fiercer Jones Very or the later AOF rather than the raging What We Want is Free classics that most people think of. Had a bit of the Cliff Hanger alienated sneer as well.
"end of the line" is a good one, AOF riffing on "Warsaw". Little DK vibe to the guitars. guitar work is tight. This is definitely in the smart,desperate, nerd school of hardcore rather than the ultra distort screamer school. Artwork reminds me of Evergreen from San Diego. manages to harken back to some classic bands while maintaining their own sound. this rips and is worth tracking down.

band
check out there demo here

gravel roads on the rise?

2010-08-12T05:00:00.002-05:00

Reading this article gave me a weird, yet familiar feeling. feeling. This one too. When is bad news good news? When droughts and water bans cause swimming pools to be drained, it is win for skaters. So when paved roads are resurfaced with gravel and allowed to go feral, is it a win for cyclists who like the rough stuff? Don't know, but that is what it made me think of

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

more old photos from a box camera

2010-08-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

worlds in hamiltom again. if only i had the digi action or a modern phone back then...

millar in the RR. is that PVP right behind him? Hairy enough arms....

if you look carefully,you can see a big Eddy Merckx in the middle. Don't laugh he would still crush you.

DiLuca Tifosi....they probably still love the killer.

Who doesn't love Nardello. Gregario supremo.

Didi the devil dude. Germans can be creepy

ill italia road painting.
that is it from the way back machine,

Reclamation

2010-08-11T19:00:00.000-05:00

Whether it is buried skateparks or overgrown velodromes, things like this make me happy. Make the effort. Take it back! If it matters, don't wait for someone else. Roll up your sleeves and get in back in business.
And most important-don't give up, keep at it, and support those doing it! for example like here

rant

2010-08-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

I don't fall asleep with a book in my hand, every night, so some mouthbreather who's history lessons start and end with Glenn Beck can try and explain things to me.
I haven't spent most of my adult life paying attention, to have it thrown back in my face by people who can't even feel the leash and collar around their necks.
When you are ready to treat political discourse like something other than the WWF maybe we can talk.

zoroaster matador cd

2010-08-06T19:12:00.001-05:00

I guess I am on a pre-cross, record review tear here. Zoroaster's new CD Matador is a surprise hit. Wasn't too impressed with their first record and with the glut of doom bands to check out, I was lucky to overlook my initial underwhelming, and give their sophomore release a spin. This is the opposite of the sophomore slump. Heavy for sure, but with a variety of good grooves and some major helpings of riffing and shredding. I prefer my doom with an anti-social edge and this delivers.
My favorite track, Trident, is almost in the Monster Magnet camp.
This is a keeper and definitely going to go into the cross season road trip selections. Can't say that about many other doom-lords. Nothing worse than zoning out to some plodding repeto-riffs as you careen down 95 back from a race with a carload of smelly, sleepyheads......

new kits on the block

2010-08-05T20:00:00.002-05:00

Going to be racing cross for the Newbury Comics /High&Mighty Beer Co. this season. Stoked. More news to follow.
High&Mighty Beer Co.
Newbury Comics

torche/boris split 10

2010-08-05T19:22:00.004-05:00

Didn't I already talk about torche, 10"s, and record nerds? Well the only way to up the anti then is to put out a split 10" with Boris(record nerds become turgid) on hyrdahead(record nerds start to throb). To really make the record nerd blast off, you could also release it simultaneously with a Melvins/Isis split record. Any self respecting record nerd will be running to american apparel to buy clean skivvies after that........... I think all this jizz talk is influence by reading the collected Touch and Go zine book. I apologize. Only issue with a record like this is-will it live up to the hype?
So about the music. Boris drop one sidelong jam that starts off with some blastbeating drums and trippy vocals before meandering back into standard boris territory-defined by hazy and hook filled riffing. It alternates between the washed out riffs and hyper drumming. Some of the guitar tones are almost like the Swirlies and then when you least expect it they hit the distortion pedals and bring in some classic pummeling to close it out.
Torche deliver a more reasonable 5 minute track. Sounds like Torche after a big handful of downers for the first couple of minutes then comes into focus for the grand finale.
Both bands seem to use the same formula on this-letting a song sort of form out of the rando riff jamming. Last minute of each track was my favorite.
Not essential, but you already bought it, so what are you going to do?

Torche "Meandertahl Demos" 10"

2010-08-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

Meanderthal was one of my favorite records of 09 so I was curious about this 7 song 10" when I saw it. Expectations were high as was likelihood of disappointment. I guess if I was more on the ball I could have got the cassette version a few years ago, but I am not so here you go. The first seven songs off Meanderthal are here with only one flip flop of the track order. Grenades,Across the Shields, Healer-3 of my favorite songs are all here. No crucial reworks of these songs, but a limited 10" makes it mandatory for nerds. I like the version of Across the Shields more than Healer, cause you can hear 2 distinct singers more. A lot of people can debate alternate mixes (Raw Power, Bringing it Down vs Chunking, etc), but I am not one of them. The songs ruled on Meanderthal and these versions rule too. Torche rule get it if you can.
Amnesian Records is the label.

CIA "Gods.Guts.Guns, and More" LP

2010-08-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

I first heard CIA on the Empty Skulls tape which I mail ordered in the early 80s. They hay day of tape comps, mail order, and raging antisocial hardcore.
I was blown away by CIA and the song Violence which even to this day ranks as a top ten US Hardcore anthem in my book. I mailed off to Inca records to see what I might find out about this band. I remember getting a catalog and a bunch of stickers. I think there is still a Vatican Commandos sticker from this on my desk in the old bedroom at my mom's house. Despite how sick their song was on that comp, I never ordered any of the Inca Records releases. As I watched the prices on those 7"s climb I kicked myself. Even if Lost Generation and Vatican Commandos were never my cup of tea. CIA was always the band that I lusted after. I bought thee "Die Jerry Die" bootleg of CT core 7"s that it was on and found some online blogs to download the jams for my Ipod.
Luckily for all of us, More than a Witness blog is putting out records and this was their fist choice. I mail ordered it immediately. 20 tracks. Side One is the "god,guts, and guns" 7" plus some outtakes. Raging. Reminded me a little of the Freeze which I didn't expect. I Hate the Radio almost hits some early Descendents core territory. 82/83 Hardcore is pretty much timeless and that holds true for these guys.
Side 2 is demos/rehearsals/live. Always in danger of being filler central when you see that. Except when one of hte demos is the Audio West sessions with your jam "Violence". "Gangland War" is the other track from this and it is pretty raging. Any LP collecting the demos and outtakes is going to have some covers and you get a demo of "as tears go by" which is again pretty Descendent-esque. The 3 demos on side 2 are pretty fucking top notch and only one song repeats from the 1st side. All the stuff from 82 seems more pissed and aggressive. They also have the madatory slightly slower song "Free Me" to wrap up the demos. Slow then fast. Works ever time. Pretty Rad. Finishes off with only 2 live tracks one of which is a Sabbath cover. Punk bands pretty much only cover a couple Sabbath tunes and these guys pick Children of the Grave over Paranoid. Probably the fastest version of the song you will hear. The title of the last song "Fuck On" made me think it was an obscure Japanese HC cover, but it is not. Just a final dose of fierce US shredding.
I would have been stoked if this was just the song Violence 20 times in a row, so I was especially happy that it was filled with so many solid tracks.
more info
Of course they reunited and of course there is footage on youtube

recovery jam

2010-08-01T19:10:00.001-05:00

This vacation kills computers

2010-08-01T18:27:00.002-05:00

Not sure why, but every year as my summer vacation approaches, I experience cylling computer malfunctions. Started a longtime ago with a wireless Vetta-battery died in the cadence sensor on day one. Progressed to a Polar that opted to malfunction constantly. This year my Garmin had a whole host of tricks. 1.Battery dead on the cadence sensor. Not the end of the world. 2.Altitude/Elevation developed a fixation with me climbing 10400 feet no matter how long my ride. The fact that I was riding pretty much pan flat seaside roads made this more funny than anything else. 3.The grand finale. HR stopped registering. WTF????? Probably just a battery, but why all the headaches.
Even if I couldn't compulsively track my every data point, I had a sick vacation. Although after 2 weeks of solo base miles, it was nice to hammer with the crew today.
I now have 11 months to figure out the reason why Westport MA kills cycling computers.

so much good stuff on the horizon

2010-07-15T17:26:00.002-05:00

Putting these tires on a spare set of wheels got me stoked. Cross season in a few weeks, D2R2,Mt.Agamenticus.Cross Practice. Can't wait. Never mind vacation right around the corner.
I don't know what it is about the Paves, but at 24mm their profile looks so much fuller than its 23mm challenger. Same thing with the Conti 25s. I am turning into a bigger tire disciple.

tour de lance

2010-07-08T19:25:00.003-05:00

Whether you agree/disagree, like it or not, Lance Armstrong defines cycling here in the states. You can love him or hate him, but it's like being angry at oxygen or the old testament. That said, the last thing the world needed was another book about him. Regardless, Bill Strickland stepped up to the plate. His last book ,Ten Points, was like Ham on Rye with criteriums. Painfully honest and intense. Maybe that was the reason I picked this up. Maybe it was Lance-I was hooked since the 99 attack on Sestriere against Zulle and Escartin. I got into cycling as Lance set about defining it.My main excuse was I was going on vacation, but I started reading it immediately.....
The short review is get this book and read it. It manages to frame the ups and downs of cycling in a way anyone can relate to, but if you have suffered on the bike-you will be nodding your head incessantly. This is not just for Lance-aholics, it is a great book about cycling.
The first turn of phrase that really caught my eye was in regards to America's endless attempts to revitalize old heroes(Jordan for example) "Diminishment by repeated resurrection" was what Strickland called it and he nailed it.
The drama of the LA vs AC rivalry is well documented and there are plenty of juicy tid bits here in, but for me the greatness of this book lies in it's focus on universal nature of suffer and sacrifice that all cyclists face.
I am going to end this with a bunch of quotes and excerpts from the text, but believe me there are hundreds more for you to enjoy.....
"At the feedzone, Arvesen realized he couldn't lift his left arm to get his lunch out of the musette. Cancellara, who'd been able to stay in yellow seven days partly because of Arvesen's work for him, now took Arvesen's bag and, riding beside him, piece by piece fed his lunch to him."

"In the Tour de France, you can't coast into last place; you have to tear your self apart for the honor"

"...he gloried in the routine anti-glory of sacrificing his body, bike, and ,ultimately, any chance he ever had for fame. That year in the normal course of obliterating himself for his team...."

"I don't mind being beaten. What I hate is being beaten when I haven't tried"
-Jackie Durand
"Miracles in cycling? There are none"
-Johann Bruyneel

Ode to Tafi

2010-07-07T05:54:00.004-05:00

Tafi was another of my favorite Italian riders. He won in Belguim and, though, nothing like Bartoli, he had a very Italian style, but unlike the cat, Tafi was always hunched over the bike pushing watts out of the massive quads. Maybe yesterday's ode to Roubaix tour stage got me thinking about him.

Or maybe it was the temperature? Given the recent heat wave, I was thinking about his habit of hat modification. Don't know if he was the first, but he rocked this look from the Mapei days right up to the end. But was it for temperature control or to keep the hair tight?

Tafi loved Roubaix, and just like Ballerini wanted to do something special for his last race. Riding out his last season for Saunier Duval, he opted for a custom kit-Yellow and Grey and 42nd place.

Regardless of this fashion fail, I will always remember him like this-Italian champs jersey, no helmet, winning Roubaix. He may not of won a ton of races and may have been like an Italian PVP, but he was a beast.

last gasp. who can spot the problem with this photo? suprisingly not pro for AT

two for the road

2010-06-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

Castevets are very much in the Tombs/Versoma school of things to me. Influences
from a variety of heavy and pummeling artists are noticable, but it makes
for a good listen with its own sound. I hear more of an influence from the
Isis/Neruosis/post-rock book than darkthrone/burzum. I can never be sure if I read my influences into records I like or if they are there, but I hear a lot of classic 90s noise rock as well. This is less blackmetal than Liturgy or Krallice, but still has some black metal elements and just like those label mates it puts a pretty cool twist on a genre that prides itself on orthodox repetition of a formula. This is not background music. Put it on and prepare to get pummeled.
label

coliseum house with a curse
I have always had a soft spot for bands from Louisville(whether we are talking Kinghorse, Evergreen, Crain, Drinking Woman, etc) and these guys are no exception. Part of the whole lords/young widows explosion, they have delivered a couple of seriously rocking records that pushed the Swiz vs D-beat rock formula to a very enjoyable place. On this new one they are switching gears. 12 songs on Temporary Residence records. A little slower a little more rock, just as enjoyable. Some might even say Somber. This is driving music to me and reminds me of the evolution between the 1st and 2nd Doomriders records. Maybe a touch of Fucked Up as well. Seems like the kind of record a bunch of dudes make after they have been on tour for ages-driving long hours listening to tons of music. Distilling it down.

collection of printed words

2010-06-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

I have been a magazine junkie my whole life. Skateboarding,music,cycling, current events...you name it. Regardless of how long my list of monthly must reads is, I am always looking for more. I have stumbled across a variety of extremely cool publications in the last few months and feel it's time to give them all some props.

1st up "Good Habits,Clean Living" An illustrated guide to Major Taylor's rules for good living. There is a 2nd printing already so it doesn't need to get hyped, but it does deserve a big thank you. 12 rules to keep you humble and focused. Well done.
chrispiascik.com if you are interested. Intro by Clarence Smith...DYKC?

2nd up is a double shot from Half-Letter Press. I have an insatiable desire for all early Texas punk(music,photos,stories), and these 2 book/zines based around interviews with Tim Kerr and the Dicks are essential. I ordered these as soon as they I became aware of their existence. Anyone with a passing interest in the subject should get on it. 30 or so pages with good photos and interviews. Half Letter is pretty rad check them out. Order something from them and you are going to get a package full of cool shit to think about!

3rd in line is "Revolution Summer" A story about falling in love with the bike and the ever inspiring presence of Judas Priest. A cool perspective on bikes from a Portland resident who isn't neck deep in racing or cross. Plus he is a Boston ex-pat.... There is a second book of musings to be had as well.
find it here. herbivore clothing.

4th on the hit parade is a new issue of the Baffler. A new issue of the Baffler? so much for the death of print and dumbing it down. Great long articles on economics and their impact on our lives. Naomi Wolf has an unbelievably interesting article. Awesome photo essays as well.
Baffler

Bringing it home in 5th place is the ever reliable Cylcocross Magazine. With cross season a few short months away, this is crucial reading. The Nationals interviews about tire pressure with all winners are back. Johnny Bold and Paul Curley both dropping some contrarian view points. Plenty of tech articles. I am always stoked when I see this on the rack at the bike shop!
So that is an overdue recap of some magazines that make me want to keep print alive!
cyclocross magazine.

All independent people trying to make it happen. Support!

I tried to make the lead off picture in the classic "pick out your favorites from the pile of records style" a la this Schism fanzine classic.

Gotta keep it core.

red beets the poor man's epo

2010-06-29T19:01:00.005-05:00

"Betacyanin is the pigment that gives beets their red color; this pigment is absorbed into the blood corpuscles and can increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood by up to 400 per cent. "

Based on this random web site, I have to wonder if red beets are a natural EPO? Maybe this farm share wasn't such a bad idea......

conflict minerals

2010-06-27T06:18:00.001-05:00

I was shocked by the body count of 5 million dead.

good op-ed here

2010-06-25T19:39:00.000-05:00

better

best