enter. danger. zone,

I am leaving for peru for a month starting on tuesday. You already know this, and by now you are wishing I was gone a week ago. But this time is for real. I don't think I will be posting anything before then, so this is my formal internet goodbye.
I will be in Miami on x-mas. I do not think I will like florida. But I do get to see the atlantic. I've never seen that one before. I will try to get to a computer while away and do internet things, but I doubt that will be high on my list of priorities(keeping my socks dry is #1)
Anyway, I will be in town all day monday so lets hang out. Make sure to check:
http://bikeforge.blogspot.com/
http://ecbikes.blogspot.com/
http://northoften.blogspot.com/
often.
bye bye!

Tis the season

http://leadertelegram.com/story-news.asp?id=BIKSHR41GMP

From Zac Barnes:

can we do a simultaneous ride and carol?!

deck your bike, bundle up, invite friends, carry a sled?!

perhaps those of us in eau claire can meet at anybody's bike shop on water st., ride waterstreet, downtown, neighborhoods in between, stop in banbury to warm up (play some bike polo?), do some sledding on the east hill and then head back home!

perhaps we can meet at 9:45 or 10pm?let me know if you want to join...this saturday we'll also be doing some work in the banbury place. join us anywhere between 12noon and 4pm

partofpartypeople in3d

No, I have not posted in a while. Yes, I suck.
Now that we have that out of the way here is the skinny. It's cold out. Really cold, -30 windchill cold. But yesterday I saw at least 3 friends riding their bikes around town. We are tougher than winter. Saterday was my Syd and my going away party. It was areally good time, and I was super happy to see all of you people who showed up.
If you are in the dark about this still I will explain. While you take the brunt of winter in one week I will be on my way to peru. First stop is visiting familey in chicago, then from there Miami, then ecuador, then peru. My familey is going down there to visit my sister who has been there for over a year doing work for peace corps.
Needless to say I am very nervous and have been using this as the excuse for me being exceptionally high strung recently. I know that it will be fun and it will be good, but at the same time sometimes knowing things doesnt stop you from getting far to drunk and having an emotional breakdown on a telephone.
So what worries me about this trip?
airplanes, language barriers, stomach aches, eating meat, airplanes, being with my familey in close quarters for a month, spending a lot of time in my head, wild animals, blisters, wet socks, bad plans, being poor, being so midwestern, missing friends, etc. etc.

I know if I listed what excites me it would be a much longer list, but once again sometimes knowing isnt everything. So the story goes. Right now I have one more final in approximetly 20 minites, then I am done with another semester. I will return my books, use the internet some more, and go home and start packing. I have one week to turn my apartment into a few rooms filled with boxes, and a bed in the corner. While Im gone hopefully dozens of people will come look at it and see if they think that they would like to live there. It is interesting how impermanent a "home" can be. After so much changed happened in that house, i will stop paying rent, move out, someone else will move in , and it will be a memory.
The same could be said for this trip though I guess. I will pack my bags I will go, i will make another country my impermanent residence, atatch my emotional significane to airplane seats, mountain tops, ocean shores, mud puddles, and hotels. Then I will leave and someone else will take my place there.
I type while I should be studying.
Thank you again everyone for coming out. If you want to see me before I leave you have 7 days to call me. Adios!

featherust

Last weekend was fun. I dont remember all of the details, but I am sure of it. Saterday was a blast and about 25 people showed up for bike polo, and food. It was really really fun, and I can't wait to do it again. There was a decent table of food for everyone, multiple rounds of the most ramshackle game of bike polo ever played. A few important lessons were learned. Bike polo is dangerous, mountain bikes are kind of fun, and i love old blue bike frames.

I went to a friends opening and it was really good, I feel kind of bad because I was very dirty and probobly very disheveled, but it was good anyway. I went home and napped. Im realizing that I might be becoming a fan of naps. I know this is against everything I have ever said about naps in the past, but they have begun to grow on me. Last Saterday was the hanukkah party and there was a plethora of amazing food/people/jams. My sleepy head didnt last after one drink at the bar though so I went home kind of early.

Sunday I worked all day, but then amanda and i made plans to play in the fresh snow that evening. We mixed a bottle of rum with a pot of coffee, success! Then we just wandered around town playing in the snow taking pictures, and hitting things with makeshift walking sticks untill we got to the joynt and called it a night.

Today I am sick and tired. As a matter of fact I feel so ill I didnt even make myself breakfast this morning. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a sure fire way to put me in a bad move. David-breakfast=grumpy disaster to the 5th power. That said i have alot on my mind but I need to go now, so i will whine about it later. have a good day!

ps Ride safe! I ate shit a couple times already this winter, be carefull!

new new new

Two new websites
1. www.ecbikes.blogspot.com new weboste for the banbury bike project.
2. www.northoften.blogspot.com new temporary home to NO10

go to them both and poke around . thats all

grarring

Greasy Fixins

FOOD+BIKES?! No?! YES!

Saturday
Banbury Place Bld. 17 (off of galloway)
POT LUCK!
Noon sharp!
Bring food and your bike. We will have music pumping and lots of bikes to play on, fix up, and a good chance of the first ever bike polo game. (In which case please try to bring your own club supplies will be limited) So put simply. This saturday show up with a dish to share or even a wsmall snack, ride your bike in a warm large basment with good people, play bike polo and ride around. It will be fun.

Cranksgiving

Considering Thanksgiving that has gained notoriety for being surrounded by familey that you dont nesesarilly know, or have even the most remote desire to be around I gues it shouldnt come as a suprise that 70% of the people I have talked to about their "holiday" have had the same things to say. "fucking terrible, awful, boring, shitty, and catastophic failure" being among some of my favorite adjectives. My plan going into thanksgiving was simple. 1. Get tanked 2. Eat food 3. Ride bikes 4.Repeat 1 and 4 as nessecary. Nothing ever goes according to plan. 45 minutes into thanksgiving I began to get nervous and clam up. I suppose part of that has to do with no feeling like I can relate to 85% of my familey. It was an interesting portrate though. I got to hear midwestern living room politics, people talking about shooting deer and sharing the meat, I got asked the same questions inumerable times, my families trip to Peru was the hot ticket item of the afternoon, and I did get to gorge myself on all kinds of tasty food and desserts. Regardless, by the time we left I was elated to see the car again and hear its wheels turn towards my house.
When I got home I did everything within my power to make the best of a shitty holiday and geared up for a bike ride. It was really really good and I rode all over town. I found my new favorite place where you can see the lights of the whole city, and cars snaking their ways in and out of it. I just wish I could have had a better camera, phones are not good cameras. North side, west side, south side, bike crash, and back home. All in all a good 4 hours or so on my bike. It was really really good. I got home around a little after 9 and got bored fast. Fortunetly for me and a good portion of the population who are as disenchanted with thanksgiving as me bars were open. I met up with syd and amanda and a handful of other people at clancys and sat down for a pitcher. We all left for the GI and I found a hat sitting on a bench by my bike. I took it and put it on my head. The thought crossed my mind that it could have been soaked with urine or vomit and I wouldnt have know because I was wearing mittens. I lucked out and didn't even get head lice. Some times you win.

Holidays are strange. The city goes quiet and only a few select places are open. So while some people stay home the rest of us sneak into the places that we can to try to find something outside of the normal holiday stuff. Its kind of curious to see the garbage sit on the curb for an extra day, and letters sit in mailboxes waiting to be sent out. Every car you see is given a persona. It is taking someone somewhere special. Even if it is only to the gas sation, it is the gas station of Thanksgiving miracles. And when you dont have that direction or that presumed sense of magical holiday purpose it is wierd to sit around waiting for time to pass so you can get back into a "real" situation again. Something that is much more familar and comfortable than your aunts
house eating pumpkin pie, and dinner rolls from a bag. Thus I find myself sitting in a booth in a bar that I usually don't go to. Buying drinks with someone elses money, wondering just how it is that one person can be so mind numbingly awful. Luckily for me I was also there with very good people as well, and the night ended with a good conversation with Julia and a quick ride home to a bed I had made earlier when I thought the evening would end short.

So thats it. I suppose it was nothing to painful, but I just think that thanksgiving is a very strange holiday and I'm not sure how much I enjoy it anymore. And Im not sure how much anyone can really enjoy it when they have enough other things on their mind. Maybe this saterday when I visit the other half of my familey (2 people) it will be a little less painful. I know we will order Chinese food, have a pumpkin pie, and my granma will as me about who I am seeing these days, am I on drugs, and what I plan to do after college. I will weasle my way through all of these questions, and make my move for the fortune cookies.

speak well

You: Saturday, better?





Everyone else: I want to ride bikes all day Thursday after stuffing myself and drinking a bunch. So if you are in town and want to tear it up tell me via telephone. We can go on a long ride to somewhere outside of town, or around town, whatever.

ride the frightning

Seen outside of the library this morning. The reason I hate geared bikes. Anyway, whats new. Things have been going very slowly recently. Still havn't been to a Thursday night ride or a critical mass in months due to work and stuff. The year is closing in fast which means lots of work and change. The other night i was riding home when it began to snow, and I decided that it would be a better idea to just ride my bike around town for a few hours instead. Its really fun to ride around on warmer winter nights with fresh snowfall. Light reflects off the snow and its really really quiet because everyone is hiding in their houses. I love it.

I dont have much else to say other than I am very hungry and I hope everyone is still planning on riding on thursday, aka thanksgobbin. I will be drunk on food and booze all day. do it.

intro

Ride bikes ride bikes ride bikes.
because it is
cold cold cold
and riding bikes late at night makes you
warm warm warm
inside and out.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97024808 thanks corey
http://fixedgeargallery.com/2008/nov/3/OlliErkkila.htm yes yes yes



I finally have very little on my plate to do other than work and a few more small projects. i fee like a lot of

search

I wrote this last night and am copy and pasting it, so take that into conetext. "tonight" is now last night.

There are a few things that have been on my mind. So I will list them in the order in which I thought about them.

First off thank you to all the people that showed up on Saturday. I know it was kind of last minute but we got a lot of ground work done. I’m sorry that I had to leave early, but it was my grandma’s birthday, and there was free cake. A lot of people asked me about it post-facto so here are some of the basics of what we are trying to do.

We have a bunch of bikes that we have had donated or found that have been piling up. The idea is to begin a bike co-op that will supply bikes to those who need them as a means of transportation, but also teach people how to do basic maintenance and give them a chance to learn more and help out. One of the ideas we’ve thrown around is basically an “earn a bike” program where you would put in X amount of hours of helping work on bikes and learning to do maintenance in exchange for a bike. This way people who get bikes not only get them, but are much more likely to be able to fix them up on there own instead of abandoning them, or needing to pay to get them fixed. Other bikes may be fixed and sold at low cost to help buy parts that we can’t salvage.

Needless to say this is a kind of big project that will probably take a little time, and require a lot of help from volunteers. Keep in mind that things are just getting started, but we would love to hear your ideas, and have you hang out and work on projects. We will be meeting again next Saturday at noon for anyone interested. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me and I will try to get you back ASAP.

I would also like to give props to Dan and Zack and the other main organizers for inviting me this Saturday and working hard to get this ball rolling. It is a really cool little community in the bike circle, and I love the fact that people are supportive of each other. There isn’t a single person in the cycling community that I can think of that hasn’t put in as much time and effort or at least interest and kind words as they could. And there isn’t a single person I think feels like they have “something to prove” to any one else. Having a relatively drama free supportive environment is something that I don’t think a lot of communities have. And I hope we can have it for a long time.

Tonight after work I rode my bike to Nates Dungeon to catch a show. I feel bad because I don’t have enough money to feed myself let alone to pay, but it was really fun anyway. I realized that I still like hardcore. Sometimes I forget that I actually really like listening to Icons of Filth, Dystopia, Dystrophy, To What End?, etc. etc. Granted I don’t play it as much as I used to I still love it and it shaped a huge part of my life and who I am. No I don’t know if I could listen to hardcore non-stop like I used to, but I don’t think I could ever stop likening it to. It’s another one of those cool things to go to look back at and think about the first time I drove to Eau Claire for a basement show and wished that I didn’t need to leave, or at least lived closer. Riding home I realized once again how lucky I am to have that scene a 10 minute bike ride away. I guess it makes me an interloper, but it is fun to be able to go to hardcore shows and see people who still love hardcore like the first time they heard it. Come home listen to Bolt Thrower for 15 minutes, and then drink tea and listen to American Football. I don’t really know what I am getting at other than I like going to shows, even when they are kind of empty and it’s the same bands I’ve seen 10 times before. There is something special in it, and I hope it never goes away. O yea, there is another show next Sunday, go to it.

On my ride home I also realized how cold it was. It was 18 degrees according to the sign at the bank. I forget that part of the challenge of riding bike in the winter is the obscene cold coming out of no where. It is the less glamorous part I suppose. There is something fun about riding your bike in the shittiest conditions, through rain or snow. That gets lost on calm nights with starry skies and sub-zero temperatures. When all you can think about is being cold. There is no snow to fight, or tire tracks to stay in, just you and the sky and the cold. Then it is fun to realize that as shitty as it is you can always factor some things out of the equation. Yes, my mittens are a little to big, and a lot to thin, but the street lights are pretty and it is a long hill with no stop lights. Yes, my zipper is broken and I can feel wind through my coat, but it is dead quiet except for the sound of tires on pavement and the occasional car driving by. It’s a bit of a trade off, but it is also really empowering. “Braving the elements” simply to be with the elements, and to feel the elements, and exist within them. We are not meant to hide inside all winter, we are not meant to never be cold or come inside and sweat, or be tired. And it feels good to feel those things and then get to where you are going and know that you got there on your own terms.

Yes this is also suppose to be a metaphor that can be taken out of context, and yes it is also suppose to be an insightful look at how I’m feeling right now. I am still in a really hectic, kind of confusing, but really exciting time. And I am looking at the things that I feel and see going on around me and wondering why a lot of them feel the way they do. And realizing that after a while its easy to get caught up in wondering, and wondering can take priority over being and feeling. That said I am so excited about the days and weeks to come for a plethora of reasons, and no matter what happens next I am happy to have it.


Finally I found a abandoned bike off of the bike trail the other day. It is a blue Team Miyata. If you believe that this may be yours I have it locked up at my house right now safe and sound, and I encourage you to contact me.

That’s all.

white stuff

It is snowing outside. That is exciting, and a little nerve wracking. It is awesome because I love winter, and I am looking forward to sweaters, days under the covers, riding bikes into snow banks, falling over, getting wet, getting dry, hot coco, hot cider, movies, people saying "kind of cold out to be doing that isn't it?", snow balls, snow forts, boots, mittens, hats, and all kinds of other stuff. But it is also a pain in the ass. it is cold and wet, and a constant reminder that thinhs need to get done. The semester is "winding down" and projects galore must be done, in the snow and cold. In any case I am excited for this weekend because it is much much needed. Hopefully it will be snowy and cold and we can ride bikes and play outside and get wet and shitty, then go inside, make lots of food, and drink, and be warm together. Show up Saturday for the bike repair thing. I can't stress how good of an opportunity i think this might be for us to organize a bunch of stuff, and just play with bikes and teach/learn from eachother. Agains contact me (715)703-0775 with any questions.

Have a good day and ride safe, its scary out there.

hey you

This Saterday there will be abunch of us getting together to work on bikes to give away to people who have no way to get around town. It will be happening from probobly 2-4pm at banbury place. Door 17, go to the basement. This is going to be really really fun for a bunch of reasons.

1. We get to hang out and work on bikes.
2. You can scrounge around for parts /bikes that you want to repair or ride for the winter
3. You get to work on your own projects if you want.
4. you get to feel good about yourself for doing something nice.
5. It shows the city that we are doing something other than breaking traffic laws, and riding with wreckless abandon.

Needless to say I think this will be really fun. Contact me or Zach barnes if you have any questions. Or just show up and work/play on Saterday. DO IT!

early prose

In 3 days it will be the one year anniversery of Bikeec. That's weird. I know the new year technically starts on Jan.1 but we are very self centered things, and we like to gague time on a much more arbitrary level. Alot of this year I have weighed against bikeec. It's marked a point in my life where I finally began to feel more comfortable expressing myself openly, and tried to make alot more open commitments to people and things around me. When I first started this blog I had largely intended fo it to be more of a calander of events for happenings in and around Eau Claire. It ended up being alot more personal endevour within a few days. I know that isn't always what people are looking for, but it is what it is.

Probobly the first night I really rode with cayla, andy, and chris. I also got hit by a car. It was fun.



In January of last year I set up a statcounter for this page. In January I had a total of 152 page loads. Last month it was nearly 1000. Thats really really cool. It's neat that the bike scene has grown so much in the past year. Alot of us have gotten to know eachother really well. We have ridden with eachother for hundreds of miles, and seen alot of good and not so good times before. Its a cool feeling to be with someone else on a bike whether it be a Monday morning or a Thursday night and go on a long ride and talk about alot of things, or not talk at all. But to just be there with someone riding your bikes. It sounds really lame, but its true.

I can't help but look at this blog, and look at the friends I've made since it started, the places I've lived, the bikes I have had, the places I have gone, the people that have came and gone, and stayed, and changed and think about how much can really change in a year. Alot of things I had last November that I though would never change were gone in a couple months. Alot of things I thought I would never have showed up quicker than I thought they would. I feel like alot of the same can be said of the Eau Claire bike scence. It's cool to think that right now Eau Claire hosts what is probobly the biggest alley cat race in western Wisconsin, and has had alot of events and rides that aren't happening in cities twice it's size.

That said, there is always more to do. If there was 30 people at the last bike film fest or the last alleycat, why wasn't there 50? If there is 50, why not 100? If there is 100, why isn't there more people at critical mass? If there are more bike lanes, why arn't there more people using them? The amount of work that can be done is infinite. But over the past year it's really cool to see exactly how far we have gone. Im sure most of us can think of at least one thing that we helped out with this year and feel really good about. And we should. Because at the end of the day/month/year we can all only do so much, and it's ben awesome to see so many good people give so much of there time, effort, and endless abilities to progress the EC cycling community.

The fact that this community exists itself is really exciting. It's cool to know that there is this support group of people who all have at least one very strong thing in common. Despite our differences. I can get up in the morning, get on my bike in 30 degree weather, and think about the fact that there are alot of other people I know in this city doing the exact same thing. And loving (almost) every minite of it.

Then those bonds go outside of just riding bikes, and become a genuine concern with eachothers lives. And supporting eachother outside of just biking. A year ago I had a stable income, I was in a steady relationship, I lived in a different house, had a really nice bike, and could afford to do alot of fun little things. Right now my situation is almost the exact opposite. That said I am happy with where I am, but the tranistion to this point was alot harder than actually being in the position I am in. I know I have said it before, but I owe alot to the people around me for helping me out through those rough patches, and again as lame as it sounds its good that we thank people for helping us out and being there for us every once in a while. And when people tell us those things we take it to heart. Thats what being part of a community is about, taking care of eachother.

I woke up this morning in a really really bad mood. I feel really overwhelmed. I feel like alot of stuff is out of my control, and I am holding on pretty desperatly to the stuff I can control. When I finally got on a computer and started typing all of this and picking out my favorite pictures from this year I felt alot better. Yes, there are A LOT of questions left unanswered. And that can be scary. But that is also good. In a few days the entire country will be electing the new leader of the "free world". It marks a strange transition in my life. Perhaps the largest event that can happen to our country every 4 years is happening and juxtaposed against where I am in my life right now I have very little concern for what happens. In a way I feel like it will determine the next year, but at the same time I feel like it will have no effect on me.

So thats it. The past year has been good for the most part. Bikeec will continue and so will I and so will you. Hopefully all three will only get better with time. But there is no point in hesitation, and the longer we wait for things to change and the longer we wait before taking action the worse things will get before they inevitably fall apart. So carpe diem I guess. Im really really excited for the next year, and I am really excited to ride my bike with everyone again on a Thrusday night someday soon hopefully. There are probly a dozen more days thins spring that will be perfect for us, and we should take advantage of them before they go away. I hate to sound like a high school football coach, but lets make this year really really good. Lets not get to confortable resting on the past. Lets do it better. Lets ride fast and far, and slow, and long, and do our best tricks, and pull out all of the stops. I know you will.

Thats is, get back to work.

See you soon.

bikefight

Fuck hipster tricks. Ec velo needs to learn this stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qve-THEDTs0

Learn to hang

With EC Velo. Wednesday, from 11-2 Tomorrow on the campus mall. We will be doing bike repairs and working on our own stuff. Bring a project, or just say hi. Volunteers needed/welcome. Just come work on bikes, and hang out. It will be fun, do it.

Notes on getting your ass kicked on a friday night

"It's kind of late to be riding a bike isn't it!"
"It's kind of late to be walking isn't it?" <---Mistake #1 Never respond to drunken passer bys
"Fuck you you fucking faggot bitch!"
It was here I made mistake #2, stopped my biie, and turned around to see if this guy was for real. He was.
I stopped and did a track stand to pose my inquiry. "Are you serious?"
My answer came in the form of being pushed off of my bike, kneed in the gut as I got up and kicked in the stomach once while I recovered.
Mistake #3 I get up and push back. By this point I realize that I am far to drunk/upset/tired to be doing this. I don't like doing this sort of thing in any condition, but certainly not this one.
And this is where the fun starts.
He does a wierd open handed punch thing that proves ineffectual except for knocking off my hat. I have no intention on fighting someone 3x bigger than me who is clearly angry, drunk, and has the mouth of a sailor. He shoves me around for another minite calling me every name in the book including the all encompassing "Fuck you you pussy ass nigger faggot bitch"(Yes, that is verbatim)
I just kept pushing him back and telling him to go home while his girlfriend yelled at him telling him to stop. He doesnt stop and takes a few more swings which were pretty hollow gestures seeing as how they both seemed to land at least half a foot away from me.
He kept pushing and yelling names when eventually it was to much for me.
I couldnt stop laughing. I think the culmanation of a shitty night into that one situation just was to much. Honestly getting into a tussle with a drunken frat boy who keeps yelling the same words over and over after a long shitty night just seemed like it would be impossible to laugh at at the time.
He kept it up for a little longer and I kept laughing, he threatened to kill me a bunch of times. and eventually I sensed he was tired enough so I took the opportunity to turn around and walk away. I was still giggling and he was still swearing threatining to kill "my pusssy ass" if he ever sees me again.

It wasnt untill after this whole altercation that I got really upset. I lost my glasses and my hat, and had to wander around the street looking for them, feeling like shit for stopping when I knew I should have just kept going. never stop, just keep going. I guess I didnt really get my ass kicked considering the most damage done was a bloody pinky, a sore chest, and a bump on my shin (Still dont understand the pinky and shin) It was just depressing to think that people like that guy exist. People who have so much fucking animosity for anything different that they have to try to punch it whenever the feel any interaction. I still cant wrap my head around the fact that not only do people like that exist, they have other people like them who are their friends. This guy who was perfectly comfortable getting into a fight with a random stranger and yelling "nigger ass faggot bitch" repetedly in the middle of a city has a girlfriend. And she might love him, and they might get married, and have kids. And he will teach his kids all he knows. And that is scary. I understand that we are all just trying to find things that make us happy, and for some fucked up reason this is what this guy is comfortable doing, and how he is comfortable interacting with others, and there are dozens of other like him. It just bothers me regardless. I can't help buit wonder if he would pull this shit if his mom was there, or if he was sober, or any other number of variables were in play. Maybe he would have been ok. I doubt it though. I wonder if the girls friends approve of her boyfriend or if they think he has a bad temper. I wonder if he hits her. I wonder if he will go to prison some day. I wonder if he has hurt other people before, and maybe Im lucky that he didnt "kill my ass". Or maybe he will be a lawyer, or a ceo, or own a buisness.

Buy the time I got home I dont think I could have been more upset with the world. I just dont get it sometimes. I don't think he gets it any more than I do, and I doubt he has nearly as many good people around him sometimes as I do, but I guess that also falls into the ignorance is bliss category. This morning I felt almost as shitty as I did last night, but by 1 I was getting better. I went out and rode my bike, and did some chores, and felt 100 times better. It still kind of shakes me up thinking about how dumb I acted, and how dumb the whole situation was, and how much worse it could have been if either party had deemed it. But riding bikes, spening time by yourself on pretty days, and talking to good friends helps alot. It also helps to be able to sit and laugh at the whole dumb situation. There really is no conslusion here, other than watch your backs, because you never know when one person will be able to fuck up your day/night/week/life in a few short minites. Ride the lightning.


On a more important note:
If you havn't heard, Mike Aitken a professional BMX rider was recently hospitalized with severe head trauma after an accident. We are bikers, not basketball players, and any amount of a donation to help his recovery would sureley result in nothing but good karma. Watch his videos, and make a donation, its easy. Maybe some day the same will happen to us.

http://www.mikeaitken.com/blog/?id=17&showEntry=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwP1XELF7So&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRyH6qhnkHQ&feature=related

but

If you aren't pasionate about something then you are fucked too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOG83-TwIuM

if

if you cant laugh at yourslef, then everyone else will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2885aR6o6s

Casting call

I was contacted about doing a bike maintence booth thing at the UWEC campus on Tuesday Oct. 21 for Campus sustainability days. If you want to hang out and work on bikes and talk to people get ahold of me. We will probobly just be hanging out answering questions about bikes, and helping people work on there stuff. Im assuming it will be alot of chain/deraileur lubing, but who knows what kind of fun stuff could happen.

about my dissapearence.

I know that many of you are probobly deeply deeply concerned with the lack of posting updates recently. I know the thoughts that must be racing through your head are probobly something new, and a little scary, but I assure you it will be ok. There are still dozens of awesome people riding bikes around eau claire every single day, I am still proud to be in that minority. I have just had little to no time to do much. I work thursdays so I miss rides, school is started so people are busy being students, and my bike situation has been pretty miserable recently. Those are my excuses. Things will pick up again soon. Including halloween stuff coming soon(I hope) if you have anything pertinenet that you want put on the internet always feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I will put it up for you. time for more schooling. stay alive

word is bond

Its been a while since I did this so I'm going to ramble.  

This weekend was awesome.  I drank lots of coffee, hung out with awesome people, enjoyed my job, ate tons, drank too much, and danced for a long time.  I had lots and lots of fun. It was a totally welcome departure from the weekdays.  With school back in action, a new job, and all the other crap to stress about I was running on empty for a while.  Nighttime phone calls from hospitals didn't help, nor does running out of money.  The weekend gave me a lot to think about.  I never really realize how lucky I am to have so many awesome people around, it's really easy to take that kind of thing for granted.  After a long night of dancing, drinking, and debauchary (and alliteration) Sunday afternoon I woke up semi-hungover, and still a little drunk.  I got in my car, turned on my walkman (my radio doesnt work) and drove back to cornell to visit my dad.  We hung out for a while, and I wandered around the house bored, then I went into town to get some groceries for dinner.  It was really weird.  Im only in Cornell once every couple months or so, and Im usually only there for 10 or 15 minutes.    When I got to town I decided to drive around for a while and check out what had changed.  Every street has memories on it.  Even the lame stuff like the parking lot where I parked my car at school.  It's just a stupid piece of blacktop, but its a stupid piece of black top that I laid on, drove on, ate on, played on, and all kinds of other things for 4 years.  I called up Miles and hung out with him for an hour or so, and remembered just how shitty this city was.  Juxtaposed against the backdrop of  fond memories that I had just gone through it was a bit of a mindfuck.   It was kind of sad realizing that the only thing that kept my friends and I sane through school was the fact that we had a group of people that was like minded, and encouraged each other to get out.  We bypassed so much stupid high school drama and bull shit just by carving out our own little place and building off of each other to do something besides off ourselves or everyone around us.  I talked to Miles about some of the shit that I went through this summer, and realized that I am really happy with my life right now.  And although that that support structure that I had established to stay sane in high  school is gone, I've kind of developed a new one.  And I like it, a lot.  Things are always going to suck sometimes.  A lot has changed, and Im dealing with a lot of shit now that I never thought I would have to deal with, or even had a concept of when I was a pissed of 18 year old.  but then I realize that I made it through those years fine, and I can probably handle these ok too.  I guess thats it, I managed to kill 20 minutes now I get to go to class.  

Top 5 memorable places in my hometown.

1. The high school(includes adjacent athletic fields)

2. Brunet Park

3. The skate park

4. townline road where I pretty much learned to drive, and spent a lot of time in ditches

5.  Supervalu  

there are a lot more(city park, ozzies house, cobbin bridge, the bike trail bridge, the bails by the paper mill, etc.) and I feel like those might have been bad picks, but whatever

Im done now

Non-whimpy stuff

Thomas and Ryans bikes are up of Fixed Gear Gallery.  EC Velo Represents. 

pictures!

These are a bunch of pictures form the alley cat. They are all done by Betty Rae, and I shamelessly stole them from her facebook. I like them all alot because I think they kind of speak to the communal aspect of what has been going on in the Eau Claire bike scene recently.

Im stressed out and I cant wait to go visit my adad in the country and shoot bb guns. Have a good weekend sunshine.

yep

I'm youtubin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5RVRbLgGo0

grand machine

The alleycat went off on Sat. awesome. Attendence exceeded 30 people, and the course was really fun and fast. I rode the whole ride with Adam and we came in 12. Not bad, but I was hoping for top ten. In retrospect there are a few things I know I could have done that would have helped alot (not staying up with bottles of wine untill past midnight being one) but its behind me now, and I had tons of fun anyway. Props to all the racers for being courtious and safe. I hope to see everyone next time. I will destroy you all. After the race I rushed across town and rode triple tall in the parade down town. Riding a bike three stories tall at redicoulously slow speeds with no brakes surrounded by children is really scary. Democrats like to stop in front of you and take pictures while you struggle to not run them over.
After the parade Dan and I justled back to racys where a few people were still hanging out. Then the party moved to Mt. Simon where alchoholic beverages were consumed and cliffs were jumped off of. It was lots of funn even though the late summer water was really cold. Enough was enough and we cleaned up changed and met up at mogies for burgers. Best ooptions for veggie burgers anywhere in EC. Mogies lasted for a long time when the party moved to Scotts for playing on bikes, hanging out, and drinking more. Lots of fun and good people even though I was getting super tired. The rest of the night blurred out. I remember a posse going to Hilltop, Scooters for a dance party, and ending the night with a shirtless ride around town trying to follow Chris Z. ALl in all it was a really fun night. Pretty typical of EC Velo Club nights. there are lots of pictures of the race floating around so maybe Ill post more later.

I'm really busy and hungry so Im going to go now. Listen to Scotts radio show Local Independence this Sunday on WUEC 89.7 at 7pm and I will be doing a reading from my new zine coming out soon.

o yea

2 posts in one day, I am an animal.. This is actually just a call for more involvement. We need help planning this years halloween event. I would maybe also like to have this in conjunction with a Bikeec 1 year anniversery party.

Speaking of bikeec 1 year anniversery I would like to make alot of changes to this site in the year to come, one of which being an ovehaul of the design. If you have ideas, or experience with internet stuff you should contact me. Ok? ok!

Forget school

Ride a bike. Once again I have been lacking in the pictures and content I know. I have been kind of busy and dont really sit in front of computers that often anymore. But there are some exciting things going oooooon

Mainly The alleycat this Saterday.

registration begins at noon at racys.
10 bucks and your in
race begins at 1?
winner takes home a brand new bike plus other prizes being given away. Such as a set of velocity Deep vs and cycling caps. Maybe other goodies and goodness will ensue. There is only one way to know and that is by BEING THERE! Do it and bring all of your friends. HAVE FUN! youtube alleycat race for inspiration.

BIKE POLO! There has been a bit of talk about starting up a bike polo league. Eau Claire needsd to do this! Think Sunday afternoons with friends playing bike polo with a radio blaring, having fun. It will rule. All interested parties should talk to me or just show up thursday or to the race saterday with ideas/motivation.

I am looking for sticker designs for EC Velo, if you have designs shoot em my way. I havnt had much time to try to make anything up yet. These stickers will be given to thursday night riders and stuff. think "learn to hang" or "my lane"

Im working on making a messenger bag. If this sounds like fun to you and you want to start a project we can work on it together, just contact me.

Im working a bunch on my new zine and will hopefully have it done before the end of the month. Another reason why I am not doing so much here.

And as usual Thursday night ride tomorrow. It looks like the weather will be awesome, so I highly recomend hitting it up, esp. if you are a noob.

Im in a good mood today. Hugs.

Ride safe

A local cyclist got hit by car on Thursday. Hes ok from what I understand, it serves as a reminder for all of us to keep our heads up and ride safe. Be careful out there everyone. And get better soon Ryan.

Goodbye

I'm not going to be able to do thursday night rides for an indefinite period of time due to me working at my new job. I'm done at 8pm howeve so maybe some nights I'll catch the tail end.

That said Thurs. night ride tomorrow, be there or be square (like me)

Thank you

Thank you Spectator(David) for coming down last Thursday night and interviewing a bunch of us and publishing the article. O yea, an for pegging this website.

XOXO Yours truley,
David

Title..

Lots of things are going on but when I try to think of what they are and talk about them I guess the words get stuck in my teeth. Saterday Scott and I went out for a 40 mile ride to test out his new bike and the new set up on the centurion and it was really awesomely fun. It feels good to just go out on a long stretch and cruise along at a good pace for a long time. Not to mention that 20 minute hussel I had to do to get back into town in time for a job interview. It's probobly going to be an intersting week. I am trying to get back into the flow of school, while continuing the job hunt and avoiding drama.

O yea bike stuff. It's really really nice out right now. I love the brisk pre-fall weather. It's awesome to go on really long rides and just be outside to enjoy the last days before there are feet of snow on the ground. So everyone should be out taking advantage of it. Strongly encourage new people to come to Thursday night rides. You can watch certain people fall out of trees or other people eat curbs.

Giant has picked up on the fixed egar trend hard and released 4 new models of the bowry for 2009. They are all pretty neat looking, they keep the bowery styling, but the set up is pretty unique. Looka here.

My stomach is grumbling and I want to go outside.

thorsday

DUMB
Kind of cool

But best of all is that it is Thursday night, and that means bike riding. Tonight 6:30 meet behind Racys. Bring gifts for Magyar. All you new college kids better get there.

Some places

Dont believe in bike racks. They are typically found when people in the area don't expect cyclists to come by. That or they just really dont want them to come by. These places are found all over the country and as a result great leanghts must be taken to secure your bicycle.

Fortunetly for the thirsty cyclist often times these places deal in the buisness of distributing liquor.

And provide safe haven for your gear.

Not much has been happening for the past week. Lots of running around getting ready for school to start. AKA drinking every night in a last ditch effort to prolong the summer. Witht the arrival of college students I have a renewed hope for finding my stolen bicycle in their juvinile bike theiving hands. My initiative levels peaked this morning but have dropped subsequently. Thursday night ride is in two days and I dont have a single bicycle that I could ride. It's kind of depressing going from having a nice bike that you love and then rewinding back to 2 years ago when all you rode was piles of shit. But thats life, and there isn't much I can do about it but pout. Im trying to wrap up another edition of my zine before school gets to hectic. I lost my masters for the first one and I only have 5 remining copies, after that it's toast. Im really hungry and have buisness to take care of so I will post something of significance some other time. (Or will I?)

Summers

The nights are getting colder. The days are starting to get noticably shorter. Kids are coming back to college. I know that there is still a good month of nice warm weather, but school acts as a harbinger of things to come. Spending more time indoors sitting around, looking out windows waiting for the temperature to drop. Then in a couple months the thought of being outside at all is miserable. Im really kind of worried. Despite going through alot of shit I feel like this summer was one of the best summers I've ever had, and the tought of that coming to an end bums me out. I know that Lots of the incredible people that I've met and hung out with all summer are leaving, or are going to be busy at school and hanging out with different friends at diffferent places. The days of staying out till 5 am are almost done. Late night bike rides are going to be replace with late night paper writing. I know that I'm probobly over-reacting and that the weather and lack of school is just a small aspect of what made this such a good summer for me, and the larger part is that people that I was with and the impact that they had on me. And I know alot of those people aren't going anywhere and I'm bound to meet more good people in the months to come, but its still like saying goodbye to an old friend. Thats pretty much whats been on my mind recently. That said yesterday was a shining example of a perfect summer day. Despite the fact that I didn't get to visit people in River Falls. I ended up getting coffee, going tubing, and eating tons of awesome food made by awesome people. Then capping the night off in good company going to strange and exotic new locals(whisky dicks). Well enough of the sentimental bullshit, I guess I just wanted to thank all of my friends for helping me through a kind of shitty time in my life, and making this summer really really awesome. You are all great people, you know who you are. Thanks.