Above the influence

OK, I've abandoned my earlier attempt at a post because it was turning into another boring editorial. You've been spared. The short version is that the Tour is not the only bike race in the world, despite the perception of the general public. Nationals are going on right now, but does anyone really know it?

Last night at Wompatuck, the turnout was very light, only around 19 riders. All the Juniors and Espoirs were down at Nats in PA, but we still raced. The group was largely cooperative, more or less a paceline like a training ride, averaging 42 kph. Not as fast as usual, but in the small, single file group it was tough. With a few laps to go, it slowed a bit in anticipation of the sprint. No attacks. With one to go I checked out the last 200 meters. The right side of the road had less pine needles than the left, and some wind was actually making it through the trees for a change. I decided to sprint late, and on the right. With 600 meters to go I was about seventh wheel and we were moving pretty well. Former Cincinatti Bengals linebacker Skip "Muscles in his Shit" Foley wound it up. One or two riders fell out of line as the pace increased. At 200 meters to go, Sammy Morse jumped up the inside, and I immediately pulled out to the right. With the finish coming into view, I almost got pushed into the woods as I came around the line on the outside. With 100m to go, it was just me and Sammy, and he had a half bike length. Somehow, my sprint delivered and in the 52x12 I edged him out at the finish. We only hit 55 kph, which would not be nearly enough on a "normal" Tuesday night, but since this was only my second Tuesday night win ever, and first in over ten years, I'll take it. I needed the $10 too. :o)

Last weekend was a different story. Resting after Attleboro, I headed up to Belmont to pick up a Gary Fisher 24" wheel mountain bike off of craiglist for my nephew. The bike was like new, 32 friggin pounds (for a 67 pound kid), but it had gripshift, nice wheels with red anodized hubs, nice brakes, 27 speeds, etc, all for just $100. Sunday I brought it down to his home at the Wareham housing project. Regular readers will remember that earlier in the year I had hooked up my bro and his girlfriend with bikes, as they are a car-free family, so now the whole entourage can ride to the kid's soccer and little league games. Jonny's old 20" wheel mtb was getting a bit small, so the new bike was a welcome addition.

Bringing some tools, I had the other bikes out in the parking lot to make some adjustments for them. Well, this project is the 'hood if there ever was one, and within minutes I had about a dozen kids circled around asking for service on their ghetto bikes. It was pretty cool actually, as at least they are out riding around and raising hell instead of sitting in their apartments playing video games. I centered some brakes, adjusted some seats, lubed some chains, and tried to true a few wheels. I also found my niece has already nearly outgrown the Trek 220 I got her last year... Almost time for a full size bike. We wrapped it up with a ride down to Swift's Beach, and a cruise around all the cottages, many of which were newly rebuilt on pyles after the last hurricane. Now that's a sea level ride!

Seeing all the low-income kids cruising around the project on their bikes was inspiring. I'm happy to be able to provide my niece and nephew with nicer than average bikes, and I hope they stick with it. Many of the other kids won't, and they will be tempted by car ownership or just not getting out and riding when they get old enough to leave the neighborhood. That's too bad. While I have your attention, head on over to Bikes Not Bombs to read about a non-profit group that is doing something about the situation. Their mission statement does a much better job of spelling out what they do than I could, so please just take a minute to read it. These people are the real deal, and going in to their urban bike shop/youth training center I have seen first hand what a great job they do. BNB is currently trying to raise funds to not only continue their everyday mission, but also to relocate to a new headquarters after being displaced from the old one. Please consider supporting this worthy endeavor. Thanks for reading!