A Friend

Some of you reading this might already know this. A friend of Jess and mine was involved in a car accident about a week before Christmas.

Katelyn was Jess' "Sociology Twin", dorm neighbor, and trailer mate over the past few years. For me Katelyn was a traveling companion in Italy and a fellow art freak in college. She is also a friend. A friend who will tell it like it is and take no b.s. A staunch vegetarian, Katelyn used to buy meat that was about to expire to paint. When she complained to me that if felt wrong to buy meat. So Jared and I (at that point living in the trailer that Katelyn and Jess would later share) began taking our spoiled meat over to Emory for her to photograph. For Katelyn I once carried a slightly rancid fish across campus!

Katelyn has been in a coma since the accident. She seems to be making some progress, but as with anything this traumatic, there are good days and bad days. If you read this and are the praying type, please pray. If not, then keep her in you thoughts.

Here's to a great friend.

The Rules

This is a link to a post on another blog. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I found this and realized that others should read it. We cyclist must spread the gospel of the bike. I particularly like Rule #6 and #12. So please read on and enjoy.

The Rules

A Great Short Film

Race Day: A short film with Irina Kalentieva 



I think this short clip sums up how it feels to be a racer right before a race. It also doesn't help that it is a wonderfully shot film. I hope you all enjoy it.

I might as well go for it

I'm sorry for not posting in a while. Lack of Internet and working computer will do that to you. So too will major life changes. My wonderful girlfriend Jess arrived in Cincy two weeks ago, my job now has me working between two locations, and my immediate life goals have drastically changed.

About two months ago I realized that I lacked a goal for the near future of my life. I knew that I wanted my own bike shop, would like to teach art at some level, want a family, would love to travel, etc. But the next 5 to 10 years were lacking any clear goal to work towards. And you can only dream so big in the realm of bike mechanic (I mean I am not the next Julien Devrise, Leonard Zinn, or Sheldon Brown.)

So I went back to a dream that I have had since I was a little kid. Be it swimming, soccer, basketball, or any other sport that I had a slight desire to play, I have always wanted to take it to the very top. To be a pro, yes. But more importantly to go to the Olympics. But I was an awful swimmer, a mediocre futballer, and if you saw my stats from my one year of hoops you would know this white boy can't jump (or shoot: 0 point in an entire season). While I was a road racer I dreamed about it, but road racers are born young and didn't approach the sport with the intensity it required. But with mountain biking, things are a bit different. People start a little later, you don't have to have a good team around you to race at your fullest potential, and the local scenes here in the U.S. are more in line with international competition. So I thought I might as well go for it.

I brewed on it for a few days and called Jess. She said I should do it. My parents and sister agreed. My regular riding friend here in Cincy began dragging me to the gym for off season work. My best friend didn't laugh in my face (though there was some snide remark about having to order a Flash). So with an awesome support network I am going for it. My goal is become a professional mountain biker and qualify for the 2016 Olympics. Not a bad goal if you ask me. I might as well go for it.

Breaking Stuff

Originally this post was to be about prepping for a 24 hour solo race. But considering the amount of parts I am having to replace to keep racing, I decided to switch it up a little.

Since I decided to race in the 24 Hours of DINO (September 11th -12th) I have encountered several setbacks. First, I wore out the bottom bracket on my road bike (not the bike I will be racing, but the one I spend the most time training on). Then I found a crack in my night helmet. This led to me realizing that my back-up helmet is 10 years old and should no longer be used (it was being held together with electrical tape!). Then my speed sensor stopped working on the race bike (my trusty F1). Finally, I wore through my shifter housing on my race bike.

All of these are little things, but as I am maturing I am better understanding that all these little nagging purchases add up real quick and take a lot of time and effort to install and purchase. The real kicker is that that last "Finally" I wrote, wasn't it.

The real finally came last night when I realized that I have put a quarter inch dent in my rear race wheel. A dent I am not sure I can fix or race on. Yeah. I am kinda pissed that I jumped a flight of stairs on it. Stupid move, Steve.

Oh well. Lesson learned.... maybe.

To end this post I am sending out a plea for helpers for this coming weekend's race. I have some friends who might make it out for a bit, but if you have any free time and will be in/around Versailles let me know and I will get you directions to the race. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

So for now, enjoy the beautiful weather.