It’s been a great summer. I rode my bike a lot and did a lot of other fun things.

I had to work a lot. I thought about it a bit tonight. We built an office and added everything we need to make meals at the shop. I figured with a skilled carpenter at the shop we should improve our conditions. Local farmers provide the food I eat. Pete’s stand in Walpole, Harlow’s in Westminster for the veggies and the meat comes local catch or Fischer farms lovely animals (Kolbe at pro-form).

I am not afraid to tell you there has been some hard times this summer. I am not a “get on board” kind of guy and cause plenty of my own trouble. It is about the bike and the finish line isn’t the end.

Right now there is some weather coming. It’s a storm with a name like usual. I can hear the wind kicking up as well as the rain. It’s coming in the window but only when the wind blows. There are a few houses around here that were destroyed during the last storm.
I saw two people today who suffered huge losses during the last storm. One guy, missing an eye lost 50% of his repair shop in the last flood, spent $10.00 at my shop today on a quick job to “get his tractor away from the river bank” and the other fella lost his entire house in the flood, pulled over when he saw my van on the side of the road today. I was walking the dog on a remote stretch of road and he was just doing a welfare check. I miss my friends in cali but there is something about this place. It’s raw but rusty

I have a few pics to show but not much info to back them up. You can write a note if you like and it would be a favor to me. I like to read.

Here are some recent pics. P.S. The wind is really whipping here right now and the trees are now bare frames. I usually prefer leaves but with this wind, not so much.

I am reading “the secret race” by Tyler Hamilton. It’s a non-fiction about doping in cycling that has a lot to do with Lance. Bicycle racing is a very difficult sport that started in 1860 with long endurance races. There is a big difference between a sudden burst of energy and violence and an event that lasts up to 12 hours and is truly a measurement ones threshold of pain. I personally know nothing of doping. I know people who witness whatever it is that goes on. I don’t ask. I can’t imagine racing a bike 200 miles a day for twenty one days.

I compete with my buddies on rides and know there is nothing you can do to keep up if you don’t have the speed. If you are not strong enough you fall back. All that one can do was done in the months preceding the ride. If you try harder your failure becomes a monument of unimaginable size. Are you in or are you not? You have the capacity, are you a spectator or will you use your gift?

I wonder if the same mentality is used to guide the people who make larger decisions. What happens when you are busted?

I would rather not ream seat tubes to 31mm if the rider is running more than 200mm of post. I won’t, others will. I may not win the sprint but a few years down the road, I won’t have to give up my check.