Mayday! Wait, this isn't actually May Day.

Like a cousin returning from the Peace Corps, or a buried trail-side can of Miller High Life recently unearthed, I have returned, a little more rusty, my exterior faded and dented, with my mind's contents ready to spill out on the pages once again. Here we go for 2013!

Now that we are in the Month of May, I am getting emails and reminders from friends and organizations to help track the progress of bike nerds everywhere using the National Bike Challenge mileage tracker. As I understand it, this is a way for individuals, groups, communities, and cities to track and compare the miles they've collectively logged on two wheels. This seems like a fine idea except I have absolutely no interest in it at all. If these figures will be used to tell policy makers how many thousands of individuals make bicycle riding a part of their everyday routines, then I can get behind that effort and I'll be right in line to stand up and be counted. But, if this is actually just one more opportunity for analysis in the narcissistic feedback loop of modern cycling, then I'm out. Commuting to work is still just getting to work. I don't need to press buttons on my phone every time I jump on my bicycle just so we can all jerk off over how many miles we've contributed to this artificial game-ification of getting where we need to go. 

Basically, I decided years ago that I adore the feeling of being on a bicycle, I like wrenching on bikes and collecting parts, I am actually a pretty good bike rider, but I am a terrible bicycle racer. There is no doubt that my resolve has grown a bit stronger with the birth of our fourth(!) child, but I have no problem telling all the bike geeks I know: I am resolved to enjoy my bicycle rides simply for the sake of being outside, of feeling the breeze on my cheeks, of going fast, or slow, and arriving at my destination--or back at home after having had no destination whatsoever--without having delivered an environmental kidney punch to mother nature in the process. I only want to ride my bicycle. I do not want to analyize any metrics, or plot power numbers, or boast about Strava segments. I do not want to go out on my bike and "practice" anything. I do not want to work on anything, nor do repeats of anything, whether they be hills, intervals, or sprints. The only repeats I want on my bike rides are smiles and high fives.

I view my cycling as an escape, a hobby, a sport, form of transportation, and leisure activity. Do other hobbyists fetishize over their pursuits so meticulously? Do basketball fans measure how many games they watched on cable vs. networks? During the playoffs do they record and compare statistics for every game: if they sat in the big chair, or sprawled on the couch, if they ate pretzels or popcorn, with a Bud Light, a Miller High Life, or a Hamm's? Get over it bike nerds. If you want to race then get a license and get your ass on the line. If you want to obsess over your stats and go to war with Cleveland about who has the most bike riders, then leave me the hell out.

Speaking of getting the hell out, me and this dude below, Bas (don't forget that he definitely be logging), got the hell out for a couple bicycle rides recently.



Part of the mission on this particular excursion was to check out a new Illegal trail in Frick Park in the city of Pittsburgh. There was a time when illegal trail builders kept this stuff secret and built jumps and berms in the woods in order to share with their friends. Those days have segued into Facebook posts with full length videos of the trail and Twitter updates with directions to the trailhead. I'm not sure when guys with shovels became so brazen, but I do know that these trails are making things difficult for those who are trying to convince city officials about the need for legal access to single track. Anyone that hasn't seen it can check out Pittsburgh Trail Advocacy Group's position on the issue. The hard part about something like this is that if a person is dedicated eneough to go out and dig trail undercover, then that person often is also dedicated enough to build fun, lasting, single track. This case is no different. The trail is fun to ride.

If you know someone who loves trailbuilding enough to do it on his own, give him a high five and tell him to get on board with doing stuff legally. That's all I'll say about it.

Have a good weekend, whether it be with a Bud Light, a Miller High Life, or a Hamm's.

     

Something Soulful, Something Sweet

Coming in from the cold! Here is a little something small to bring the rigid bike family together for 2013. Thanks for staying tuned in, and keep thinking positive.

This Weekend (For the Reals)!

Now here is the thing that everyone in the great area of Pittsburgh should be doing this weekend. Link up, and seek sustenance.

This Weekend!

A few weeks ago there was supposed to be the biggest bicycle jumping pajama jam throw down that Allegheny county has ever seen. But then it rained for about 12 days straight. So before I put up the poster of the thing that people should be doing this weekend, first you have to see the poster of the thing that should have happened already.

 

Updates and Cupcakes

There has not been much bicycle advocacy news here at Rigid Bicycles for a few months now so let's get right into it.

Last week was the national conference called Pro Walk Pro Bike went down in LA and they made the announcement that Pittsburgh will be hosting the shindig in 2014, so we're looking forward to that.

Secondly, The folks at PTAG need help to finish the second jump line at their North Park Freeride Skills area, so if you have some free time on Sunday, and are not committed to the first Month of Mud race of this season, then head up to North Park and throw some dirt around.

Also, the League of American Bicyclists announced that in addition to bicycle friendly city awards in the categories of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, they will now be adding an even more pretentious category called Diamond.  Set your municipal sights high because it takes a lot of self-aggrandizing to reach that level of precious gem-ery.

Some time ago I mentioned how passionate I am about texting while driving. I still see many drivers using phones--they could be texting, or they could be updating these myspace pages that I've heard all about--and it still makes me angry. I previously wrote that we could use some marketing creativity aimed at eliminating texting and driving, and that is exactly what the Department of Transportation has done. The campaign is called It Can Wait, and we all agree that if you want to send a text from your car, just wait until you're parked. They have a page that lets you put a little symbol next to your profile picture for various social media platforms (medias?) (mediums?). Go check it out; use it or not, but spread the word that texting and driving kills people.

I have a great friend, a big brother of sorts, a former coach, and all around great guy who deserves a little hype. Rich Vossler, the workhorse behind Rich Vossler Photography, has been creating some amazing images in and around Boulder Colorado for many years now. So for the parting shots on this episode, check out some recent shots of the world famous Valmont Bike Park and then head over to Vossler's site to see lots more photos.

Guidance.

The Labor Day Lab: Creating the Future

If you're located in these United States then this weekend's Oreo cookie sandwich is made a little sweeter with the addition of an extra dab of filling for Labor Day. This weekend is double stuffed. So let's twist off the crumbly black cookie wafer of Friday right now because we have nothing but sweet creamy white paste all the way till Tuesday.

This guy Chris Akrigg was pretty seriously injured last year, and now he's back riding bicycles through the abandoned detritus of exhausted industrial landscapes. This type of thing may not be for everyone, but it really is amazing to think about how the sport of mountain biking has evolved in my lifetime. To be fair, it's not just mountain biking, because it seems like all the adrenaline-fueled sports have changed. The rate of progression has been phenomenal. People are doing backflips on snowmobiles. Anyway, I wonder what riding bikes will be like when my children are grown?

Through the mill from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Have a great weekend everyone. Try to keep the rubber side down.

More of The Same Old Thing

My favorite road race is now the Tour of Colorado. They have increased the number of stages to 7, changed the routes, added some gravel sections, moved the time trial to Denver on the last day, and they still stream full coverage of the race on their site. There are still 3 stages left, so tune in and check it out.  Go here to watch bike racing while you're at work. I am cheering for Tom Danielson, who graduated from Fort Lewis college, which is located at the start of the first stage, Durango. The race has been pretty exciting as far as stage races go, at the end of stage 4, the entire top 25 is within 1 minute of the leader.

This same week another cool stage race, the Brek Epic, is going down, and Pittsburgh local, Montana Miller is posting daily dispatches over at Dirt Rag, so go check that out too. All the stages are wrapped up at this point, but you can still follow Montana as he enjoys suffers through hundreds of miles of sweet single track that is all the way, way up there, above treeline.

Speaking of Pittsburgh locals, the folks at PTAG are hosting a little drinking and riding link-up on Saturday, so if you are anywhere near here, then you probably already know what to do.

The Rigid Bikes crew has been busy at the BMX track but I was able to squeeze in some super fun twisty threads of single track at one of the area's best spots, North Park.

I met up in Lawrenceville with the Mayor of Smutsvirgina, we packed bikes into his busted-up pickup and headed for the hills. First we embarrassed ourselves on the jump lines, then we ran into the actual Dr. J for whom the local downhill trail is named, then made asses of ourselves on that same trail before getting out into woods.

First it looked like this:

And then there were deer everywhere. Seriously, we probably saw 50 deer. The Mayor of Smutsvirgina suggested that  we should save on our dinner expenses and cut one off the back of the pack, which as it turns out, is a skill he finely honed years ago during his college days. 

I convinced him to keep riding instead.

The light slowly faded, we began seeing fewer people than the very few we had seen up to that point, and finally, there was a great stillness and through the wooded darkness the fluffy white tails of bounding deer were the only other perceptible movements besides our spinning legs.

Eventually, we made it back the grit of the Steel City, found a welcoming watering hole, saddled up for sustenance, and got deep into conversation concerning groundhogs and photo shoots. Sometimes a bike ride is all you need to help put the puzzle pieces into some kind of order. Peace.