wtf?

More…

i've been crossed!

They said it could not be done as frequently as they say the two day only sales that run every day on TV…every two days. They say all the time that you need to ride and ride often and other disciplines if you are true cyclist. “How many laps are we doing?” That was my question. The answer was 6 or 7. How can you start a race and not know how many laps you are doing I thought? That is how little I knew about what I was about to do. That is cross bike racing, perhaps the fastest growing area for racing bikes. From the start it was game on. 175 beats per minute (bpm) for 50 minutes…don’t try that at home without knowing you can do it. The reddish orange at the top is maximum intensity. Click pix to enlarge.

Lap 5 of six I fell off all the group when my handle bar snapped above the hood (the part that controls breaking and shifting) so I was stuck in one gear and rode it out. It broke cause it was a non-Bontrager carbon I assume….could have should have would have. Oh…and it was my first cross-bike race. It was off the hook. I loved every second. My brother Jay was right. Tough as shit makes you tough as nails. Totally like it more than crit racing on pavement. As fast as you can go on a bike, on grass, dirt, and get off and run through sand and obstacles with your bike carrying it on your shoulder when needed, no water to drink and no time to drink it if you had it. I have seen pictures of plenty of water and mud to run through though at other cross races. Seconds count. Drafting, technical skill and passion. It is all there. You got to want to do this. It is a clash between road and mountain. It is a cumulus cloud like no other as the high pressure meets low. It is pretty freakin’ cool. Cross bike racing. Try it. And for god sake do not buy a Specialized bike, the only thing they make in the U.S. is there catalogs. Every time you buy a bike you have chance to vote for what kind of world you want to live in, i.e. a greener one or a lame one. John B the owner for Trek might be a Republican but watch his 30 minute YouTube video regarding marketing which creates a false need of sorts to sell bikes v. filling a need for getting people on bikes that is already there by default and thus minimizing our carbon footprint. I recon the only two Republicans I like are John B and Collin Powell, both worked there way up through the ranks. Trek what can I do to get more people on Trek branded cross bikes? 13 days until you vote. Try that too. Vote for the D! Peace – Dan k.



FYI…
From: Store CustomerService [mailto:store_customerservic@specialized.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 1:44 PM
To: dan k
Subject: RE: do you make one product in the US?

Dan,

Thank you for your e-mail. As of 2002 all manufacturing has been moved overseas, with the exception of our catalogs. Feel free to contact me again for any other questions you might have.

Best regards,
Kevin
_________________
Specialized Customer Service/Online Store
1137 South 3800 West
Salt Lake City UT 84104
877-808-8154

________________________________________
From: dan k [mailto:dkotwicki@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wed 9/19/2007 11:04 AM
To: Store CustomerService
Subject: do you make one product in the US?

do you make one product in the US?

Dan

bell's what?

What’s this? Michigan mountain bike racer Lummis’s leg at a race in September or October? Doubt it. Yeah. I am back to racing my bike and super stoked. 3 races in a row coming off a surgery 6 weeks prior and back to racing. More on the Bell's team here.

i'm thinking of starting a pedi-cab

High oil and high unemployment figures push Michigan into looking for alternative transporation to school than buses for children. One problem. It is not a Fisher. I'd settle for a Trek but com'on Gary you are so ahead of you time.

b2 work week success.

Strolling through downtown Ann Arbor at 8:00 AM there is a mass of bike riders two weeks ago (that would be bicycle fool) outside of city hall. Embarrassed as I was for driving my car on such a celebration, I had to see what it was all about. There it was, local bike shops and owners and tons of commuters to celebrate bike to work week / curb your car Fridays. When you are race bikes sometimes all you think about is training and racing and miss the simple things no matter how in touch you are. I ride a lot, but riding to get groceries, to the Post Office or for coffee is such a concept in reducing the carbon footprint and making the world a better place…well I bought a bike trailer for such activities. Mayor (Ann Arbor) Hieftje spoke at this Bike to Work Day Rally and personally promised me that he will overturn a city ordinance that prohibits bike cabs in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor Latin for Tree City prides itself on being “green” does not allow bike cabs, however it did feel good to hear him compare Ann Arbor to Madison, WI and Boulder, CO. Look for a bike cab on the streets of Ann Arbor in the future. Give a shout if you want to get paid for exercise and while meeting fabulous folk and freaks alike at night pedaling around. Check out riding to work and other bike activities in your neighborhood, it will change your physique and maybe your life.

fellow walkers.

I never ride muddy trails. I don’t. There is no point in shitting were I play, let alone shitting where anyone may play, that is not to say I never took a leak outside and in France I think everyone does, but I am in Ann Arbor today. So I am riding a local loop (a huge mishmash of interconnected trails) and come out on a trail exit…there is this sign and a ton of branches in the way.

I get off my bike to and begin clearing the way. A woman sticks her head out of her house and starts screaming at me. Then she comes out in full. Judging from her bark I am waiting for a gun. I begin to talk smack back and realize what good it is going to do. She does not know how to respond to my knowledge of trail erosion and maintenance other than that she was a "framers daughter" and yet somehow acknowledges bikes are allowed on the trail which adds to her duality of nonsense. I leave no trace. I don’t need a fight. I’ll come back another day or under the stealth of night. Peace. Dan k.

wander wonder.

Look out. Loop wonders. Wanders. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of beauty cities can have. In Ann Arbor there is about 30 miles of trail, you wouldn’t know it just by looking. You know it by exploring. It is not what you can give to your city, but what your city can give to you. And you might be sitting reading this blog, but it is better than talking shit about racing. I have never been nor will I be a sarcastic mofo. Yeah I want you to race, but I must know where I have come from, where I am going with a tad bit of exploration if it is to be a tasty cake. Look out. Wonders. 30 Miles of riding, training in my own backyard. It is time to reinvent myself, keeping the core, never forgetting about the past. 30 miles of loving in my backyard. Yeah, Michigan has its downs, but finding beauty in the valleys, as in a recession is punk. I said it and it is any surprise, let’s just say it and get it over with and get onto business. We are in a recession. When it is time to shine, it will be shown, until then I think I will get a tat of a beer logo on my leg and talk smack…on second thought…I’ll just shut up.

I was riding days ago and I ran into whom…an older dude, he looked a bit disheveled. It was clear he had fallen, crooked helmet, some scraps and bent over inspecting his bike. His chain was broken. I thought, just ride past. The sun was setting and I was just getting started on a 3 hour tour. I stop just after passing him slightly. Some small talk. I ask where he lives; he is troubled and takes me up on my offer to push him home. Up and down the hills here in Ann Arbor, away from my local loop wonder... I say to myself, “self, what is it going to hurt your pushing this guy home; there are more days to train.” He was on a Trek. Riding a Trek and Fisher is like a brother hood, the fact that is a mountain bike is deeper than any road camaraderie could ever reach. Mountain bikers help one another out and prefer adventure over exercise as a whole. I would have offered even if the guy was on a Specialized but would have lectured him the whole time about their crappy manufacturing practices. As I am pushing this guy home, (he has no chain, I have no tools on local loops) turns out this guy’s name is Ron Olson, and although I never met him, yet I was instrumental in the sale of his bike through my best friend Shawn. Ron is the head or chief of Michigan Parks and Recreation in Michigan or the DNR. And now I am pushing him home rather than training and that is punk, albeit first, last or DNF in a race, it is early in the year.

Ron goes to one of his DNR parks this past weekend and does a mountain bike race. He f’in loved it. He loves the people. He loves the sport. If the head of DNR loves the stuff I love to do at his parks, that is the punkest. More bikes. More trails. I think I will look him up at least once a month for a ride, turns out he lives a half mile form my house. I’d love to trade a second place for 10 more trails. As far as racing, like I said it is early. How did you shine today? Look out. Wander. Wonder. In your own backyard.