i tend to like people groups that question what is happening or why is a school closing or why are jobs going to china. most protest doesn’t change much but it is a great eye opener & thorn in the side of the controlling class.
there are some things happening in our neighbor hood. the catholic diocese wanted to build a big school out west in the suburbs. so something must close to pay for it. the small neighbor hood schools are the victims.
there are 3 national historic churches in a 1/2 mile radius of me. i live on a hill of immigrants from poland, serbia & croatia. so 3 different catholic churches.
this the marvelous protest.

it stayed up for 6 months then it was gone. i think more people should put up signs questioning what is going on. DO IT!

dream beautiful dreams

big grin…joel

man i love snow rides. especially the ones before the salt truck has been out or the trails are rutted & icy. in the late eighties lowell premer curt bales & i seemed to get out for epic mtb snow rides alot. when the first snow happened we headed for the trails & slithered around, fell over , & had a blast on singletrack for 3 or 4 hours . those were good times.being the first track on the new snow is so special.
well this wednesday the weather was calling for 2-6 inches of snow. i had the day off & planned to ride as soon as a good coating of snow was down. so it rained all day. f$@ing a , waiting around all day for prime riding. so about 9:30 pm there was a light coating of snow & it was done. so i got out , the first place i go in the levees in kansas city. i got to slither around for a hour or two being the first tracks.

no other signs of life, sweet.

on the way back with downtown kansas city in the background.

obviously i didn’t go on the other side of this fence.

well ,after a long day of working on the house, & waiting to ride it was worth it. some good snow & a beautiful night.

big grin…joel

well i tend to live a perfect life. i’m married to a beautiful , cyclist . i have a great job that i like being at. i get to do wonderful things like make bikes , ride bikes, garden, work on my house. pretty much ideal. so when a dream comes true like a car that cuts me off has karma come up & total him. i figure that is good enough for me.
well , tonight i was riding home preoccupied by the cold. we are having our first cold snap. i was a little cool getting started on my ride home from work. about 3 miles in i was feeling good. when out of the corner of my eye i saw a 130lb german shepard mix running at me full speed. i knew from years of dogs chasing me i was going to miss him & have some room to get away. so no big worries. all of the sudden a large tow truck comes the oppisite direction & i know bad things are going to happen. i slow & listen to the thump ,thud, thud.
DAMN IT ! i got to listen to a dog die, FUCK!!!!!! i don’t like it when my darkest wishes come true . i bet most cyclists have wished bad things to happen to a chasing dog. but this was the worst. he was instantly dead & the tow truck didn”t stop. so i turned around & drug him off the road. i didn’t read his tags i didn’t even look, the result would have been me in a jail for assaulting the owner. i said i was sorry he had to go & got back on my bike & rode home.
well sometimes things suck even when you live a perfect life.

joel

jim & i have been up in our cloud enveloped secret headquarters plotting our next move. we thought long & hard , & figured we ought to have a registration date soon. IT’S JANUARY 10TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that took us all Fr 2 minutes so just wait for the other 5 minutes planning.
we also decided we are not going to race our own race. not because of our dominance of the event . but because we want you to have the best experience you can. we will be out there like mother hens fretting about you & cheering you on to gravel goodness.

more to come soon!

big grin…joel

i was looking for pumpkin pie recipies & what did i see in the ads column?

a very sweet looking man with a goofy looking bike under him. wow this looks like a messed up version of gramme obree’s bike old faithful.

very similar. but gramme’s looks alot faster. i’ve been checking out the hour record documentary’s about chris boardman’s first attempt

good stuff this documentary. i didn’t know that gramme& chris were amateurs when they took on the record. wow.then this summer gramme started a comeback of sorts. he built a bike & rode himself into shape. only to take himself out of the hour hunt.read some of his interviews he is a troubled but bright man. i wish pro cycling had more interesting people like him.here is a link to his new homemade bike
gramme’s bike.

a good story.
i was looking for info on gramme & found this wonderful story about a little known rider that set the hour record. he is in eddy merckx’s hour record video it is a gem. good stuff .

this band was introduced to me by my wonderful wacky wife who loves jpop. i started doing youtube surfing all their music. bad, good ,really bad, but really good. i think this is what i listened to in the early eighties when punkrock was in it’s heyday. they remind me of x , mixed up with the ramones & other good stuff i can’t remember the names of.keep listening until 3:20 they really rock out.if you can stand it.

they go from not being able to hold a note to really rocking.

there is another band from japan that is weird but not as good. petty booka.

at about minute :58 they start the grateful dead song. wow they are bad , but kinda good.

well to get that out of my head i’m going for a ride at the secret urban gravel mecca. levees in kansas city.

dream beautiful dreams

big grin… joel

today i was riding into work. having one of those driver kind of days they all were being stupid. either not seeing me before turning left in front of me or not caring if they ran me over.so i was riding on the sidewalk for a few blocks to get across a busy street. a guy in a pickup looks right at me then last second before i cross he pulls out onto the road yelling a well reasoned & insightful exclamation. i invite him to come back & fix this misunderstanding with our fists. as he is yelling out the window he runs into the back of a car stopped to turn at about30 mph. beautiful ! then the guy pulls away & drives off. wow the other driver whipps a u turn & follows him. moments later i hear a police car. about 10 blocks later i see the guy being cuffed against his truck .
perfect. all the stupids iv’e ever almost been runover by have been erased. that guy took it all. so the world is perfect!

dream beautiful dreams …

big grin…joel

acme closed it’s doors this week. yes all you hip midtowners acme closed this week. a institution for it’s few years for a bike shop is closed! it was owned by two wonderful gals sarah & christi they both walked their talk & supported grassroots cycling .all the alley cats in the last 6 years ended up there. they were the back bone behind critical mass before guys in girl pants found it.all the people that started into fixed gear or cool older bikes acme was your only place to get started . i got to go in before it closed & take some pictures.

it took me a while to find the best picture of sarah & christi. but this one works. from left to right michelle, sarah, dean ( old part time help at acme), & christi. i really don’t know what they are all doing with the banannas but i think in might be a form of worship.

a blurry picture of my patron saint of cycling.

inside the front door. it felt like home there.i guess i’m a big softy but i get a little misty in the eyes when a place like this goes away.

wall bicycle art.

one of the faithful, trailer brian, a real hoss on a bike.

how many shops are there one of these in & they used it.

a gas mask & a skeleton good stuff

a picture of a man we called king kelly. he won it all except for the tour & on toe clips & down tube shifters.

sarah’s well loved work bench…being a mechanic this it a thing of beauty & sorrow.

a coffee table and plant we all sat around & shot the bull

christi’s work bench. definitely well loved work .

i will miss this shop. sarah & christi i love you both. keep waving at cars with a fuck you attitude.sniff , sniff , tear, tear.

dream beautiful dreams…
big grin…joe

last night i was surfing l’eroica videos on youtube. videos of old itialian guys struggling up gravel climbs. good stuff. then i saw pantani’s name on a video clip.

damn it pantani made me happy. that little italian was the best climber since my favorite gino bartali.tuff as nails but a beautiful climber. i guess a big guy like me falls for someone who can do what they can’t.i got a tear in my eye & pissed that cycling used him badly .but we still can see my favorite climber.

not many guys dropped lance at his best .

not many of us can say we are that sexy. but he was. still my favorite(joel tearing up) pantani.

big grin…joel

the guys in emporia set us up with a sweet video. scott bolley at im design group did a awesome video for us. jim & i are pleased as punch.
have a look .

we are super glad to have all the support form all the good people in emporia. scott, tim moen, lelan dains, the whole high gear clan, matt & family. all of you rock!
look out for a bigger & better dk200 next year.

big grin…joel