winter woe.

miles frames: thousands

sometimes it's just hard to get out on the bike. usually for me it's a combination of a lack of time and a lack of motivation. i usually don't like riding alone unless i'm going to a specific destination, the store, coffee, etc. i just don't "go for a ride" these days. it also doesn't help that just about all my friends that also ride have moved far away, one as recently as yesterday. i tell you, peoples' personal and family lives are exceedingly inconvenient for me.


so recently it's been hard to stay connected to the bike. winter is now officially here. it's dark for most of the day. work is tiring. the saddle has collected a fine layer of dust. i just don't have any interest in riding. i'm okay with that for now because i know towards the spring i'll be all about it once again. in the meantime, though, photos are how i stay connected to the bike. i am perfectly content while others ride and enjoy their time in the saddle while i enjoy my time behind a lens. click click, pedal pedal.

new haven to northampton.

miles: what?

i have not had a saddle sore since 2007, at least. well, it was a good run indeed. i'm currently trying to break in a new Brooks and it's having none of it. i've been treating it with a proprietary blend of Obenauf's heavy duty leather preservative and ass sweat but it's been a slow process. okay, Brooks, if it's a war of attrition you want, then it's on. but i warn you, you look too damn good so swapping you our for a comfier vinyl saddle isn't an option.

recently, i got out for a weekend ride up to massachusetts. what a treat it is to get out to do literally nothing but ride with essentially no agenda. i had a location in mind, northampton, to be exact, but it was only a vague destination. ultimately, i'd never make it there, but that wasn't the point.

i was blessed with fantastic weather all weekend. sunny, comfortable temperatures, low humidity, scattered clouds... and a few passing rain storms. it's funny how if it's raining when you want to start a ride it can completely spoil the mood and cause you to stay in but if it starts when you're already out it's just way more epic. sure, you get a bit wet but it just makes for a better story later.

it was a super casual weekend. riding at my own pace, stopping when and where i wanted to and simply exploring on my own. 

on my way back my knee started to hurt and i realized my seatpost had slipped down an inch or so and i immediately put it back in place, but by that time the damage had been done. for the last 60 miles or so i limped along in sheer agony with every pedal stroke. about 15 miles from home i decided to camp for the evening and give my poor knee a rest.

i found a big open field with some tall grass and tossed my bike and bags along the treeline and called it a night. aside from the mosquitoes it wasn't a half-bad night. sure, for several hours after i laid down i could hear the sounds of 4x4's tearing up the fairgrounds nearby while someone blasted awful country music but after a while it just faded into background noise. when the morning came my knee was now stiff and sore and the remaining mikes were fueled exclusively by the knowledge that getting home meant the pain would stop. in spite of the injury the weekend was fantastic. i don't get to do trips like this often, which is a shame, but when i do they are a total blast.

spring and a new bike.

miles: fueled by soup and espresso

spring is here, through the worst of it, life was losing meaning, it's about damn time, et cetera. there's no need to go on about the relief that the weather has taken a turn for the better, certainly after this winter, but, oh boy it is a relief. work has been taking its toll. so too has life junk. spring is always good to apply its positive vibes on even the most downtrodden. also, more bikes!

winter is the best time to plan and build a new bike and i did just that this past season. sifting through all the available options, ordering, scrutinizing photos of other people's bikes for ideas and staring at a box of incomplete components for months is a blast... and a bummer when the weather is garbage. today was a mint day to take it out and about and work out the kinks.

i should call out sick tomorrow.

hardiness is transitory.

miles: none

me and my bike, we're doing quite well, thanks. not unlike other periods of my life i haven't done much riding recently. it's been pretty much every other week and even then it's only a few miles one way. work and weather have certainly hampered my desire to saddle up. i'll be the first to admit that i am either not as hardy as i once was or maybe i've just realized riding in single-digit temperatures is just no fun at all. well, it is winter, it's natural to put on some extra pounds and conserve calorie expenditure to survive these cold months... right? *cough*.

when i have gotten out it's pretty much just to go camping. i've found that getting out in the woods where my cell phone gets no service, away from netflix, away from steam, away from youtube is the only time when i can forget about what's going on [or not going on] in my life and just focus on the tasks at hand. you'd be surprised how much work it is to set up a campsite and maintain a fire. next thing you know, you've finished your sweet potatoes and are in your bag enjoying the dead silence of a winter forest.

i may have limited time right now to actually load up the bike and get out on the road but that doesn't mean i don't think about it all the time. the harshness of winter camping makes me really look forward to the spring and summer and i think about it daily. just the thought of a long ride out to a lakeside campsite via dirt roads months from now helps with the day-to-day stresses of today.

i have a confession, sometimes when i walk past my mountain bike leaning against the wall in my living room i sniff the grips because they smell like dirt in the spring and it makes me happy.