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.