Moronacity Cycling Journal » Bike Culture
Random Bike Wisdom #1
The relationship with your bike can be one of the greatest experiences of your life. Like all relationships, it is one that needs to be nourished with love and affection. Clean it; lube it; love it. Show it that it is the only bike for you…until you buy another. … Read entire article »
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Bike Shop Sociological Studies
The bike shop is that glorious place where crazy and addictive cyclists gather together to…well, hang out and talk bikes. Really, if we all bought a bike or a bicycle product every time we went into the bike shop, we wouldn’t even have a roof over our heads. A bike shop is much more than a place to purchase bicycle products. Conveniently enough, the bike shop where I attend my therapy sessions is called The Bike Shop. It is inside the confines of this bike shop where I have shared in great sociological studies. First of all, people think that I own every bike they see me walk into the bike shop with. After testing a Jamis Dakar XC bike, I brought it back into the … Read entire article »
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Bike Standard Time
• The snow is beginning to melt and the days are noticeably longer. It’s time to break out the road bike. • National Trails Day kicks off the summer. • Fat Tire is the culmination of our hard work and the end of summer. • Cyclocross season is crisp and colorful with varying temperatures. • We took a trip downstate the weekend after the Keweenaw Chain Drive. I was discussing an event with a team mate and was trying to remember when it happened. I found someone laughing at me when all of my temporal references were in relation to bike races rather than months and holidays. That is simply how it works. When I chose a weekend for hosting a Trekker’s ride, a weekly ride for our local community bike club, I … Read entire article »
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The Purposeful Lance Armstrong
Andrea’s blog inspired quite a lengthy comment from me. I even told her that I should be posting it on my blog since I’m experiencing a little writer’s block. I wasn’t really going to do it, but changed my mind shortly after clicking the submit button. Andrea wrote about Lance Armstrong’s comeback and referred to his reception by the media. Check out her post, Don’t Be a Hater, to read more. Lance comes across as an arrogant Texan who leads a life that nurtures this persona. I truly understand how this can turn people off, because I’ve been turned off by several celebrities whose careers and reputations aren’t as prestigious as they could be because they choose to publicly take sides on controversial issues, or their personal lives … Read entire article »
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Fat Cyclist Interview
I am a Fat Cyclist fan. I discovered the Fat Cyclist through Ali’s blog. Fatty’s Fat Cyclist Fake News Service recently published a story about Lance Armstrong’s return to pro cycling. What I found particularly noteworthy about this blog post is one of the notes at the bottom citing Fatty’s interview in the September 2008 issue of Cycling Utah. It wasn’t like I read the article and was in shock and awe and thinking, “Man, this guy is incredible!” or, “Man, this guy is a freak!” No, what I found interesting was the fact that I completely understood his [cycling related] answers not because of my superior reading ability, but the fact that I share that lifestyle. I would like to comment that Fatty, also known as Elden … Read entire article »
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Social Network? No. Social Hurricane.
One of the interesting things about the Internet is the vast network of people out there. I’ve met a lot of those people through the MMBA. Unfortunately, I’ve met most of those people during races and related social events when crowd hopping is a necessity. For example, I was deliriously happy at the pre-race party for the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival. Ask anyone who met me. I had a big smile on my face and I was euphoric. I was just so freakin’ happy that I don’t know how to describe it. I knew almost everyone in the room and was highly entertained by those I didn’t really know (thanks Wisconsinites!). One group of people was the Lakeland Area Mountain Biking … Read entire article »
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Fat Tire – Post Race Party
Today is the last day of the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival. I didn’t ride. I just didn’t feel like it. Can you guess why? It’s really not that big of a mystery. I had breakfast at The Pines with my Ishpeming friends. They headed out and I did some shopping for Sam’s post-race party for the volunteers. It also doubled as his 40th birthday party. Super sweet. … Read entire article »
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Question and Answer
Prelude Before I begin today’s post, I just want to thank everyone for their comments. It makes me very happy to hear from all of you. … Read entire article »
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Inner Turmoil
I wanted to return to Copper Harbor, today, for several reasons: * Many of my friends were there; * It is the place to ride; * A music festival raising money for the new stage was the event of the weekend; * It is the last weekend our AmeriCorps group was staying, and I wanted to say goodbye. I headed toward Marquette for the Ore to Shore, anyway. It took a lot of strength, but I had to. I kept telling myself that it was a great opportunity to see my friends, Sandee, Ali, and Glen, again. However, it didn’t really help when I ran into a fellow cyclist, Blu, at the gas station in Baraga. Blu, from Marquette, wasn’t doing the Ore to Shore. No, he was heading up … Read entire article »
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Gotta Get Drunk
It took a while to get out the door, but I finally managed to arrive in Copper Harbor in time for the group ride with our IMBA friends. I really wasn’t feeling it, though. I climbed Garden Brook with everyone, and split from the group to ride down the Red Trail. I . . . was . . . tired. I finally discovered why I’ve been feeling sluggish (girl stuff), and decided to just go with it. There is no shame in doing a short ride (short being 90 minutes) when in Copper Harbor. One thing is for sure, the climbing is there. We finished off the evening with a free spaghetti dinner provided by The Mariner North followed by a one-man band in the park on … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bike Culture
