March Madness... one of the longest months of my life

The Ides of march are behind us and its time to reflect upon the month. I got some pretty good riding in this month and though i was off to a great start for my 500 mile goal this month im not going to get anywhere near it. Though I have had Caleb nearly every night for the past several days since purchasing my new vehicle, which makes me very happy. I will be moving out of my appartment this month and moving into a house which i will be sharing with my brother and Caleb, its not big but it has a nice yard and a ton of space for him to play. I have a collection of pictures that sum up how this month has gone so far. A lot of things happened this month, some good some not so good, but as a result it has been a good month. heres to march.

The new Coffin

Ok so i finally got me a new bike hauler. and this one holds all my bikes at once. :)

I know... i tried. HA! 1990 Mitsubishi Mighty Max. its a 5 speed and its a blast to drive. Caleb sits right up front with me.. its great. Im finally free of the plague of that altima. The altima was broken into, towed twice!, wrecked, and was constantly in the shop getting work done. This little truck is a fresh start for me and Caleb, and since purchasing her ive had Caleb every single day! being poor sucks... dont do it. oh and kids drugs are bad m'kay.

Bullet... the man... the frame

This is my buddy Bullet. His real name is mostly a loosely kept secret, i could tell you but then he would choke me out. not fun. Bullet can be described as a bit eccentric, a bit crazy perhaps, but he is definately one of the coolest guys you will ever meet. Right off the bat his thick New York accent will let you know this guy is a serious tough guy, after a few stories(trust me there are plenty) you will know for sure, Bullet is one character you want to keep on your friends list, and off the enemies list.
Bullet and I worked together at a bike shop in Tampa. His in shop antics and his passion for bicycles were enough to keep the rest of us at the shop entertained. Bullet also has a knack for welding and his welding abilities and his passion for bikes led to him building his own custom frames. He has built a few mountain bikes, and even a few "freak bikes"(i wish i had some pictures), but most recently he decided to build this track bike you see in the pictures. Bullet is currently teaching welding lessons to rich dentists kids who want to build thier own bikes... as if they couldnt afford one off the shelf? but i digress, i would love to be able to take these lessons myself.

If your looking for something crazy, functional, or even a race worthy steel bike, Bullet would definately be a great man to turn to in your custom frame needs. Though he mostly builds what he wants to build, and if you got a problem with that, ghet oudda here!

Bike Co-op... learn how to fix shit... ill be there.

clicky

New Trail? and my rant on cars.

I took this picture at the Tampa side of the Friendship Trail Bridge. It appears as if the construction thats forced me into the roadway is to build a new path for walkers, runners, roller bladers, and inevitably...cyclists. This to me leaves me with an emotional, or perhaps political dilema. On the one handthis is a good thing... it keeps me at a safe distance from cars, it keeps cars at a safe distance from me. But on the other hand, as a legal user of the road and a tax payer that pays for that roadway, this can be seen as segregation. Separate but equal. In my opinion this off the roadway trail is much safer than a bike lane. So in that sense I am satisfied, and cars cannot use this trail so another one up. But what I hate is bike lanes. Bike lanes are on road segregation... its like we are alowed to ride on the road, but only in this special lane. sure fine it seems safer... but cars feel like beacuse you are in that lane they dont have to pay attention to you. They dont pay attention to you when they make turns, they fly by you to turn less than 20 feet in front of you so you have to pull hard on the brakes. And they totally disreguard you when you have the right of way at an interesection. It was my turn to turn at an intersection the other day and a truck nearly ran me over, then he gives ME the finger. And the biggest bullshit of all is that because the city is cheap, bike lanes only usually last a few blocks before dumping you right back into traffic, now i have to signal to cars(who arent paying attention) that I am about to merge... scary. When I am in the lane I take the lane, cars see me, i hope. And I have a right of way. well... all i have to say is this.

My bikes in random places

On the front of the bus at Britton Plaza in Tampa.


The Karate Monkey at the Heart Break Ridge trail head at Morris Bridge.



By the Hillsborough River at Trout Creek Park.

At Pipo's Cafe in South Tampa.

At Chipotle in South Tampa.

Next to my desk at work. Its tough to take pictures of yourself... but i try to entertain as best as I can. I did 120 miles this week, well on my way to that 500 mile goal.

tooting my own horn... BASTARDS!!!

I stopped to help a lady on my way home from work today... I was busy half wheeling this dude about 20 yards behind me(basically going faster everytime he started to catch up- but he was on a geared bike and i was on the fixie... and i could tell he was trying to catch up cause he would sprint every time i slowed down to wait for him... it was quite humerous.) and i crept up on this lady walking her bike with a flat... luckily she happened to be on a road bike which used the same sized tubes as me so i gave her my spare and installed it for her. The dude went flying by when i stopped... figures. Anyway... this lady was more than halfway down the Friendship Trail Bridge when I caught up to her... she told me she had walked her bike from about Manhattan, which was about 5-6 miles back... which means shed been walking at least an hour... this ashamed me because i saw several other cyclists on road bikes that at least a couple of them had a spare tube... bastards!!! Not only that... she was going as far as me... I cant imagine having to walk 15 miles with the bike. and she was only about half way. from now on i will carry two extra tubes... and CO2... that damn mini pump is not fun. stop to help people!!! you never know how far they have to go.

the ides creeping nearer

...and me off to a halfway decent start... my goal this month is 500 miles... LAst month I finished at 340, or just about... im rounding it off of course. duh. but my goal... 500 miles... im at 30 as of today... i need to do more than 100 miles a week. which means i have to ride to work every day. or at least 4 days a week, and that should be 120 a week... my road bike is coming soon. im still waiting on the frame, which i will hopefully get this week. im rambling arrent I... well...

I left my messenger bag at a friends house after a slight getting-way-to-drunk-to-think issue so i dont have my camera or my notebook full of ideas, so this post is merely early march rhetoric. Im starting to realise that people out there actually read my web log... i find that at least a few times a week people come into my work and ask about me... and i have spoken with a few of you already. to this i say thanks, and well... its amusing to me that people out there have nothing better to do with thier lives than read about me... i find it flattering, if not a bit disgusting... ha. just kidding people seriously... i love that I have a few interested people if not a slight following... ok so before my head explodes. Oh so my car was totalled, im not sure if i said that, i need a vehicle eventually and im looking for a truck... if anyone out there is selling a little pick-up for just under 2Gs im looking to buy... now. well i hope this wasnt too unamusing. have a good day.