The Shaker

And now onto the goods.

This week was really really fun. More fun than 12 normal people could have at 6 Flags the Mall of America and Noahs Ark in a week. I don't rmemeber much untill Thursday when I rode up to a car broken down at the intersection of 1st and Lake and threw my bike to the side of the road and single handedly pushed the dark blue chunk of steel through the intersection making toast of my hands and then grabbing my bike and riding through. I have never felt like more fo a man in my entire life. A feeling that was only amplified by eating at my grandmas house almost immediatly afterwards.

A gaggle of people showed up for the ride and we loaded up Dereks panniers and rode out to big falls. It was hot and sweaty and long and really fun. We swam in the hot water until the sun went down and we layed out on the warm rocks under the stars for a long time before loading up and riding back into town lights out under the cover of night. During the sprint(the super awesome sprint) back into town we got split up and reconvened at Dereks house for a pool party and more beverages.

I went down the water slide a bunch of times and threw up in the bushes.

Then we ordered mega pizza from toppers and sat around for a long time drinking slow and eating fast until we all headed to our respective homes.

I don't remember what I did Friday night but I'm sure it was full of excitement and intrigue. Make up your own stories. Make sure they involve a pretty girl, throwing stars, and a fast car.
Saturday I went to 2009: A Beer Odyssey and got to see a whole bunch of people who I haven't seen in a long time, and once again drink to the point of stumbling to the back seat of my car to hang out the door and puke for an hour or so. I got back to the show and saw more friends, gave more hugs, drank a gallon and a half of water stood around in the rain, and eventually got in my car and headed back to town, stopping at a burger king to get fries and a veggie burger and read the New York Times in a booth by myself for an hour just to make sure any remaining alcohol in my system was drowned or squashed into submission.

Sunday I stayed up late playing Ghost in the Graveyard and porch sitting.
Monday I made a point of getting up late and doing nothing all day.
Today I made a point of getting up early and enjoying the cool air.
Joynt tonight? I think yes.

Also Stolen from EC velo blog

"Craig Manthe wants EC Velo to course martial and man the Monster Energy Zone at the Firecracker mountain bike race on Sunday, July 5th. All volunteers will receive a t-shirt and goody-bag. Try to get to the Expo center behind Action City by 8am. I'm pretty sure beer drinking will be ok too. Contact me if anyone has any questions.Also, on Monday, June 29th, there will be a course ride and grill out (and beer!) for people who will be volunteering for the Firecracker. You can get more info straight from Craig there. Course ride will start at 5pm at Lowes Creek on the Lowes Creek Road side with grilling to come after. I'll try to make it out there myself, but I have to work at 8pm.More Firecracker

info:http://www.wors.org/schedule/event.php?e=13 "

A bunch of us volunteered last year and had a freaking awesome time. You get to see a lot of cool bikes meet cool people get free stuff, and most importantly you get to use a walky talky. So yea, everyone not doing anything that day should make a point of showing up. Contact Derek for more info probably. Or show up Thursday with questions.

Also, a bunch of us are doing the RiverWest24, more people from EC should attend. Its going to be super fun.

Thats all! BYE!

The Mover

I am growing up. It is official. I wash my own dishes and clothes. I go shopping by myself and check the coupons. I am thinking about having kids one day and what sort of career I want (astronaut or supermodel). To be honest I feel like this blog and a couple other virtual profiles of me are the only things tying me to my adolescent life. I have two jobs in the public eye. And more and more often I can’t help but wonder what the public would think if they got a load of me on my bike after a Thursday night or sneaking beer out of paper bags at LA beach. What if the families I love seeing at work were getting lunch on water street one day when I was out drinking at 3pm. What kind for role model do I become? What if my boss reads this and looks at the pictures and decides that is not even a face for radio?

This has haunted me a lot lately. It kind of bugs me how much more my personal life is going to be scrutinized as time goes on. Yes, I like to drink and stay up late and dance and have fun. But I also love to work hard. Which is more important? A couple of months ago my dad asked me for this URL again (HI DAD!) and it kind of hit me that my family was seeing these details of my life. Apparently my sister (HEY BAILEY!) reads this blog on occasion and a while ago my other sister Syd said she thought it was weird I had a blog. Me to.

And all of that makes me want to start being more selective about the impression I put forth to the all seeing eye of the internet. But at the same time it makes me happy that I do have this way to communicate who I am and what I’m up to with other people. It is nice to feel like I have no shackles binding me to people’s false pretenses. I am not working hard to make it seem as though I am a squeaky clean upright samaratan, however I am trusting peoples judgment calls to look through the antics and pull out a genuine perception of who I (and anyone else ever pictured or mentioned here) is.

And don’t get me wrong. I realize how narcissistic this sounds. And I know it is far from the first time I’ve blogged about blogging(which even I have to admit is so incredibly contrived it kind of gives me a headache).But I am willing to deal with hypocrisy on my part. And this is the first time I’ve called out my audience on their interest in the shitty things I write and do. No, I don’t think that peoples worlds would fall apart if this site was yanked from the internet not even leaving a blip of missing 0’s and 1’s. But as nervous as I get when someone tells me that they read something on my blog, I can’t help but think about the fact they were just outed as someone who would be inclined to read this hooey.

So my point is this. If growing up means I give up things like posting pictures of people drinking beer out of handlebars and getting giddy over kiddie pools and campfires then I guess this is all the more grown up I get. Because at the end of the day the things we do every day are far more important to me than the bad perceptions people may take from them. In the words of 7 seconds. I’m going to stay young until I die. Astronaut career be damned.

Heat

So I haven't posted here for a super long time. Sorry about that. I do, however, have an excuse. A poor excuse but an excuse non the less. It has been really hot out. And I don't like the heat. As a result I have taken to sitting at home reading books, eating ice cream, and shuttling back and forth to air conditioned computer labs where I can spend excessive amounts of time on the internet and trying to work on projects. As a result I have almost finished two zines, I've read 5 books, and I have managed to sit around grumbling about the humidity to myself more than the average person should.

I love riding my bike but even opening the door has become a chore. I don't like that feeling where when you even crack the thing a 1/4 inch heat rushes to your face and you start to sweat profusely. I don't like being stuck to myself, or pit stains, or being sprawled out on the couch in an effort to stay cool. I am a wimp when it comes to heat. And when I do decide to exert myself I turn into a complete grouch. I.E. Last Thursday when I spent the majority of the ride bitching about everything.

I like to think that the heat doesn't fit my personality. I am a sweater weather type of guy. I like layers, and chilly nights, and pants. I like coffee and rain and staying up late sans-sweat. Summer is for people who are consistently care free and idealistic. People who wear sandals. I hate sandals.

That said, as useless as the heat makes me, it is kind of refreshing that the main thing I have to bitch about right now is the heat. And I guess that is what summer is suppose to be about. Long hot days spent floating down rivers and sitting in kiddie pools. With that spirit in mind I will try my hardest to crawl out from under cool rocks and out of shadows and sweat away with everyone else.

On the bright side after spending so much time indoors I have finally put some pictures on my jump drive so i can present them to you here. That’s all. Call me soon. Lets have a party

reality

There are a lot of sterotypes that get thrown around about people who ride bicycles.
Apparently they are rooted in truth.

P.s. Thursday night ride tonight. rain or shine.

Stupor Bowl

Heres the trailer for the stupor bowl documentary being shot this year.
http://allcitycycles.com/blog/view_entry/stupor_bowl_movie_trailer/
thats all.

like a hammer

Its been a week since I last posted, and I am sure that anyone who reads this is just dying to know what has been going on. Well the story remains the same, nothing new, just living. In case you've been living in a vacuum you know that it has been raining the past three days and has complelty sapped me of any energy/motivation other than that to drink coffee, read, and watch movies.

The other day I was thinking about the fact that I asume that anyone reading this already has some sort of knowledge as to what I consider "nothing happening" and the point of normalcy in my life. To elaborate on that, I guess whenever we meet someone or facebook stalk them or see them on the street we automatically try to develop some sort of understanding as to how they live their life, and how they perceive how we live our own. In my case this is done by reading the things I write, the pictures I post, the places i say i go, the things I say I do. Besides the obvious though it is pretty well known to all of us that in any given situation ,consciously or not, people are picking up on the clothes we wear, the things we say, the people we know, the way we get around, etc.

So the question arises. When does a portrait of every day life become aware of itself? To be more specific. When does life become a "lifestyle?" I go through the majority of my day removed from the way I may be perceived from an outside prospective, yet I still take time to share my thoughts/opinions/beliefs/stories to a public audience. Whether it be through a shitty little blog on some corner of the Internet or through a AIM name, patronizing a certain business, or a $75 pair of jeans I can't help but feel we all have this "caulfield-ian" persona buried somewhere deep in our brain.

I don't think this is a bad thing. If anything it is the driving mechanism that gets us to meet people and develop our interests and skills. More importantly I think it allows us to draw on the inanimate to develop an understanding of each others lives. A photograph or a t-shirt or a pet dog will never clue a person in to someone entire existence, but it allows someone to develop a human connection, for better or worse.

So what is the point of all of this? The point is that I think it is interesting that anyone reading this has a perception of what "normal" is in my life. And I inadvertently have some sort of reciprocal understanding. You're reading a blog for christ sake.Basic assumptions can be made on the behalf of reader and writer, photographer and viewer, patron and painter. Anyway, I think that's neat. Thats all.

ultimate extreme

photo stolen from Betty. THANKS!

I can 't think of much to write about. Other than the fact that it is summer and summer rules. Last Thursday was Magyars last Thursday for a while as he is took off for Seattle on the coffee bike Sunday. Saturday we rode out past Carryville with him and had a big fire, splashed around in the water and drank a BOTTLE of prarie fires. The bike gods were pleased.

Good luck magyar, ride safe and we will see you soon.

PS make sure to ride this Thursday and check out the Banbury workshop on Saturday. Last time I found a campagnolo record wheel. come spend some time and try your luck!