Urban and Rural Discoveries and Distastes

Last new months, there have been certain tidbits around the city and elsewhere that have caught my eye, and thus prompted my to whip out my camera phone skills.  Some I enjoyed.  Others I did not.  Let’s begin, shall we?


The Enjoyable


These are older pictures from the Boston Mayor’s Cup from the corner I was marshaling.  Totally rad race.  It was a pro/1/2 race for both men and women.  The second photo is of one Ted King and company during one of the final laps.  Ted’s a really cool guy who we got to meet at Landry’s.  So cool he was willing to answer some “interview” questions developed by Steve and myself for the ECCC.

We GLV guys and gals had volunteered until late into the evening, and continued to celebrate afterwards at The Penguin and elsewhere.  Before celebrating afterwards, we post-road the course.  Verdict was that It was an absolutely amazing crit – and how couldn’t it be with it smack-dab in the middle of Gov. Center – and I wish they expand the race to at least add a 3/4 race.  Maybe even make it part of the Twilight Crit Series.  Still dreaming about it

The Attack Duck.  First described to me by Mr. Brian Ross Roberts, I had always kept my eye out for it while riding.  Finally, I had found the little devil after riding back from Harvard Mass with Craig and Kimbo.  There it was, somewhere in Carlisle (you’ll have to go find it for yourself).  Attack Duck…I shall train one and it shall be mine.




My new bike!  Sweet sexy rolling goodness.  Her name is “Trixie the Tarmac.”  While “Tammy the Trek” is still around and in service, Trixie has taken her place as my predominant ride.  She’s a Specialized Tarmac Pro SL with SRAM and a bunch of nice Zipp components.  The Prologo saddle (pictured) was absolutely destroying my everything and has been replace by a lovely new white an red Fizik Antares to match the color scheme.

p.s. Interested in a Prologo Cool Team saddle? … let me know  It’s not a bad saddle by any mean, it just didn't fit my mold



The not-so-enjoyable



Now this just annoyed me.  I snapped this one outside of my International Economics class after I locked up “Sally Single Speed” (front wheel feat. lowered right).  Who the flip rides a commuter bike with a janky mustache-handlebar-crapy-clipon aerobar setup to class with aerobar-end shifters and an oversized stem and … breath, Kyle.  See a previous post of mine if you are confused.




Ignorance, once again found outside of my Econ class.  Again, what the flip?  Undermounted Profile Design wrap aerobars with butterfly arm support.  WHO RIDES THIS TO CLASS?  MIss-matched waterbottle cages are also not appreciated.




My landlord had this up in my apartment building since I moved in in September.  Yes, his name really is Dick Chiu… It’s still there, and I don’t know why I don’t rip it down.  I called Public Works and they had no idea what was going on, but I’m not going to carry Sally – made of steel – up two flights of stairs in between classes and whatever else.  At the end of the day sure so she’s not sitting out overnight, but still.  There’s no sign outside that states that bicycles cannot be locked on the fence, thus how are the police or the DPW supposed to know if the bikes outside belong to a resident or a visitor or neither, they can’t (unless this was Philadelphia and you have a license plate on your bike).  Whatever…that’s what I get for living in Brookline.

“THIS IS OUR RACE!!”

Not so much of a discovery in the city or elsewhere so much as just a general distaste.  It just hit me that these two ghouls up above, Ian and Preston (left to right), won’t be racing with us this coming season, much to my dismay.  Both will be studying abroad next semester, Preston to Germany and Ian to Israel.  They were awesome fun to have on the race weekends and it was great to watch them progress and grow.  I’m sad that they won’t be around to heckle, or to makeup an awesome last-minute TTT that ended in Preston making noises and sounds that mimicked along the lines of giving birth to a very large child.  Bon voyage mes amies.  bon voyage.