Eastern Block

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in Moscow a few years ago. The place is such a culture shock. It's hard to describe, but you can really feel the history and iron lock the government had on everything. People are on edge and everyone looks or acts on authority. I had this beer from the corner store and tried to relax. It was a nice day and I took a long stroll with camera in hand.

Everything is huge in Moscow. The cold war years were a time for grand acts of power and chest thumping. The buildings and monuments are on a grand scale. It's intimidating as hell, and I'm sure that's the point. Unfortunately, you can sense the money being stretched and even the nice things all have an unfinished feel. Hallways in the hotels slant, wires come out of walls exposed, sidewalks have big cracks and are uneven, and most things take a slightly cold demeanor. I was truly in a land far from home that I didn't understand and alien to. I can't say my experience in visiting Moscow was the best, but at least I'm glad I had the chance to go. Red Square can give you the chills. You feel like you need to walk around with eyes in the back of your head, and it's not the same kind of eyes you want when you are in a sketchy part of Compton, or East Long Beach. It was as though faces had hard eyes, but also an innocence.

As I strolled around, I took a map and did the tourist thing. It was hard to find a smile or warm feeling anywhere. I ducked in for a beer, even though it was pretty early in the day. I have no idea what kind of beer I was drinking, and it didn't really make any kind of impression. It was just a standard lager, and chances are we'll never see it imported over here.

One really weird thing was to see a McDonald's. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all western influence is taking hold deeper and deeper, but even though it is still the golden arches, there seems to be missing something.

It's a Lifestyle

I was on tour with DC Shoes a few years back and brought my camera with me. One of our stops was in Zurich. I saw this sculpture incorporated in to a drinking fountain with a couple of bikes and snapped the shot. Nothing spectacular and nothing overly fascinating. It was just one of those days of leisure strolling while drinking a beer. The nice thing about areas like this in Europe, is that they have embraced the bike as a legitimate form of transportation. People everywhere use the bike to get around. This is such a huge contrast to Southern California where you either are a fanatic cyclist, or get honked at and viewed as nothing more than just a kid who never outgrew his toy. There seems to be no in between and cyclists here have to fight for every square inch of real estate with often horrible outcome.

Shopaholic

When it comes to shopping, I'm sort of an average dude. Most of the time, it's all about getting in and out as quick as possible and only going with the intent of making a purchase of something I need. No frivolous browsing or lazy strolls through the designer isles. It drives my fiance crazy and I really have to put on the gameface to spend that "quality" time with her. She loves to shop and spend time just browsing, chatting and striking up conversations about the newest fashions, gossip, and some weird Italian fabric for the new pillows we certainly don't need on our living room sofa. 

I do have an inner secret though. I can get lost in an interesting bike shop. Unfortunately, the cool ones are far and few between. Most have caved in to the economic woes that have turned Mom and Pop shops in to big WalMart retailers with about as much soul as Celine Dion. But, once in a while you can still stumble on a cool boutique shop like the one in Sausalito. The town is located across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County and has a strong bike culture with liberal thinking. On weekends you'll see bikes all over the place and the local affluent cyclists tend to gravitate toward the exotic. 

Owner Tony Tom opened A Bicycle Odyssey in 1975, when he was 19 years old. The original shop was at 2001 Bridgeway in Sausalito, and was named after the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. That original location was formerly "Mom's Apple Bikes," where Marin bike legends Joe Breeze and Otis Guy had worked in the early 1970s. Now the shop is packed to the gills with every imaginable frame, part and accessory you could ever drool over. No you wont see Giant, Trek, or Specialized (unless it is some crazy collector's piece), but instead find true craftsmanship in products you have only seen in a picture or some pixilated image on the internet. They are best known for their road bikes; their stock includes bikes by Ron Cooper, Bernie Mikkelsen, and local builder Paul Taylor. You can also find those exotic carbon fiber Italian offerings from Colnago, Pinarello, and Bianchi. It doesn't stop there either, they have racks of cool Wool jerseys and every imaginable memorabilia from the Giro de Italia, to a 1984 Coors Classic. I could get lost in here for hours.

Ronny Chalk

Ronny Chalk is one of those athletes I had the privilege to work with. He has that talent that makes everything look easy. You hang out with him and before you know it, you look back and realize that the trick he did was something special. I'm not discounting his efforts, just explaining how his natural touch makes things look so easy. Just click on the photo and analyze how much extension he is getting in this trick. It's retarded.

I shot this photo on some tombstone jumps that make you cringe when you look at them. He had a few tricks, but this one had full extension and style. Luckily, I've stayed in touch with him over the years and he's evolved in to road and mountain biking. I guess we all have to grow up some time. Okay, maybe not. His stories about X-games and training shed light on how difficult riding at that level can be. I love to listen to his stories and dream about what it would be like to learn some of the crazy stuff he and others like him did before foam pits took over. A classic guy and fun to be around. BTW, Ronny was very instrumental in getting me past my hang ups about 29ers. He is an advocate for the big wheels and rides a full suspension all-mountain rig himself. He's recently opened up his own bike shop in Corona called B-Rad and he seems to be once again doing what he knows and loves. How many of us can claim that?

Colnago and Campy Record 11 Speed

This is my Colnago CX-1. I race it, group ride with it, and take in a lot of solo miles. There are a few issues with the geometry that takes a bit of time to get a "feel" for, but I think overall it's pretty good. I believe with any bike, there are always compromises that you have to make, and I think the balance this bike has is about right. I recently upgraded my entire groupo to Campagnolo Record in 11-speed. I was holding on to my older Shimano mix of Dura Ace 7700 and 7800, but it was 9 speed and getting a bit obsolete. But, the ol' Dura Ace just worked awesome, so I was having a hard time parting with it. I came across a smoking deal and pulled the trigger. The shifting mechanics are a bit different, and you have a lever for climbing the cassette and a thumb lever that sends it down. The lever underneath the brake lever actually does the opposite of the Shimano one, so a bit of retraining of the brain needed to happen.

Over time, I grew to really appreciate this new groupo. I see why people love this stuff. I'm not a total fanatic about it, but my appreciation is growing, just like my relationship with Italian design. It may not be quite as crisp and snappy as newer Shimano Dura Ace, but it still works plenty good and I believe superior in the back. Also, technology has kicked in since my old stuff was state-of-the-art and my new groupo has helped me shed a few grams overall off my bike that I can feel. As far as comfort goes, the hoods are a definite improvement. The shape and ergonomics are top notch and they seem to mold to my hands. Digging it.

Skid Marks- No Not That Kind.

One of my favorite places to ride road bikes is in the Santa Cruz mountains. It's like another sport. The place is littered with curvy roads and most of the time you are riding in the canopy of redwoods. The place just blows me away.

On this particular trip, my brother Robert and I were really looking forward to the experience and were ready to embrace it. The weather was playing tricks on us and kept threatening to make our weekend a couch tour. We found a window of, somewhat clear, weather and headed out with some extra gear in case we got caught by Mother Nature. After about an hour of climbing it was time to descend. If you don't know much about construction and geometry on a road bike, you quickly learn every small flex, degree of angle, and slight variations on your bike on these roads. You have to know your bike- well. Some of these roads are extremely technical and cornering and braking skill is paramount. It isn't common to see cars on these roads, but when you do, it is also common to try and outrun them or overtake them and leave them in your dust. You can go as fast as your skill and balls will allow.

After swooping in and out of corner after corner, I went in pretty hot to an off-camber turn that got progressively tighter. As I leaned harder on the front tire and tried to mimic Valentino Rossi, I pushed a bit wide, took a deep breath and looked back just in time to see Robert in "oh shit" mode. Robert wasn't quite as lucky and grabbed a bit more rear brake than I had and skidded- hard! He pumped the brakes a few times in a mad attempt at human ABS, but the wet roads weren't being too kind to his SRAM Force brakes and traction was fickle. He did recover however, and we laughed more out of relief.

After a few miles we pulled over to recoup and take inventory. That's when I noticed his rear tire. He had literally skidded through the layers of rubber, and was staring at the inner casing. The tire was hanging on for dear life and bulging in all the wrong directions. Unfortunately, we were miles from our home base and in these parts it's not like you can call AAA. Since we survived a few miles of riding in the tire's condition, we decided to risk it and ride as much as we could in cautious tempo and see how far we could get. It didn't last and it quickly blew, so we were forced to think of backup plans. Would I ride back solo and grab a car and pick him back up? There were a few options, none which seemed that great. We were a solid couple of hours from any sort of resolution.

I then decided to give the old dollar-in-the-sidewall trick a try. I had learned this years ago mountain biking and figured it couldn't hurt to give it a go. The theory is that USA currency isn't paper, but rather a pretty strong cloth that we might be able to use as an improvised patch between the tire and the inner tube. After a few basic Origami folds to increase the dollar's strength, we got everything back together and crossed our fingers. We blew the tire up with enough pressure to ride gingerly and head toward a bike shop I knew about that was roughly within 7 miles.

We made it about 6 miles when it blew through the dollar bill. He started walking and being so close to the shop, I rode ahead to see if they had a tire to help fix our problem. Shortly after I found he shop and as fate would have it, I found a perfect match; same brand and exactly what he had been riding. A cell phone call and about 15 minutes later Robert showed up and set to fixing this set back. A credit card later and a bit of wrenching and it was time to head home. Lesson learned, and an issue I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't witnessed it myself. By the way, it started pouring 5 minutes after we walked in the door. Someone was looking after us that day.

Hello Kitty Tires?

I was at the bike shop the other day and saw these tires sitting in the mechanic's area. The mechanic was working on the bike and had set these aside. Yep, they are Hello Kitty tires. They are cartoonish and meant for beachcruisers and such, but I couldn't help checking them out and admiring them. They are basically slicks, but the cuteness is something I have to embarrassingly admit I kind of dug. I would inspect them, then make some other testosterone induced comment to divert any attention someone may have noticed in my fascination of these wonders. The fact is, they are probably only one step above a Happy Meal, but it's the little things in life... I guess. Someone please slug me as hard as you can in the neck.

Nobel Canyon

This is one of my favorite trail systems anywhere. I started riding on these trails in the early 90s and can't get enough of it. I have heaps of stories and the place still surprises me. It's in the far east part of San Diego County and one of the last set of mountains that overlook Anza Borrego desert. You can climb up the trail, go around via sunshine highway, or take the access road up. The best way to do it is to shuttle with trucks. This gives you many more loop options and you can save your energy for more riding. No worries, even with the shuttle, there is tons of climbing, and lots of terrain to cover. The main trail is just awesome and goes from fast, flowing single track in the forest, to rocky, loose, desert environment in a matter of a few miles. With the saved energy from the shuttle, you can do a bunch of offshoots, including Big Laguna or cross over from Indian Creak trail and do a big loop that puts you back up at the trailhead. There is even a trail that cuts over to Cuyamaca, but I've never done it since it is a big ride and shuttling would be a big project.

I've shown this trail system to quite a few people now and every single one of them has been impressed.  I've ridden Moab, Park City, Oregon, etc., and I can honestly say this rates right up there as one of the best- in the world! The scale of the terrain is amazing and what makes it even more inviting is that it is so close to our backyard. Top it off with a nice cooler full of tasty brews at the end of the ride and you just put your ride over the top. This is what mountain bike riding is all about.