I am officially back from my 10 days in Italy. Well, at least physically I am. Not to mention the old body clock is still set for +6 hours. What an unbelieveable place. What an unbelievable wedding! I will update more later, but here's a taste. 
More later...
Ciao,
RK
I am leaving in just a few hours for Italy, to watch my boy Bruce get hitched. Pictured above on the cover of Bicycling magazine. I race with Bruce on the Sakonnet Technology cycling team (www.skntcycling.com), and when we happen to be on the same coast (Bruce splits his time between LA and NYC...He's a model...they can do that shit) we have a helluva good time hangin out. His fiance, Laura, is super cool...she rivals me in coffee addiction, and is just super chill. Bruce and Laura are lucky to have one another. So I'm headed to Rome, and then onto Tuscany....Brunello, Proscuito, Espresso, repeat...
We've got a great group going...Baz and Tracey, John Podesta, Barry, and Tom Wicus...from the NYC crew...
This trip respresents my official BREAK between road and cross season. I'm gonna put on a couple of pounds, do some running, and cycling...largely between cafes...
Check back for updates from Tuscany...
Stay gold,
RK
OH YEAH! My new cross bikes arrives yesterday...SWEET. A match pair of Independent Fabrication Planet X's. (www.ifbikes.com) Yep, you heard me right, a pair, as in 2 bikes...as in Race bike, and pit bike. It could also be read as obsessive compulsive, or over indulgent, but this is my story, and I'm reading it like this: P....R....O. Pro. The downside of rolling up to a cross race with a match pair of bike is that people will assume that you are fast. I....am not that fast. If speed were the measure of the level of bike I deserve, I would get like half a bike. But I have fun, and my boys at IF (Matty B is the man) got 'em together for me, so it's hard to only get well...one. It's like the last 2 puppies in a litter. You wouldn't want to take away the other ones sister would you?
So, for those who don't know, Independent Fabrication is an Employee owned artisan bicycle manufacturer. HAND MADE...start to finish, in Somerville, MA...the heart of the US cross scene. They just celebrated their 10th anneversary last year. They rose like a phoenix out of the fire of Fat City Cycles. Fat closed their doors and left everyone out of work, so four guys, Mike Flannigan, Jeff Buckles, Steve Elmes, and Lloyd Graves, with the help of a proper businessman (John Barmack) Launched Indy Fab with the first frame at the ledgendary Redbones BBQ (www.redbones.com) in Slummerville (I can only degrade Somerville because I used to live there...keep it straight) Then in triple ought, (the year 2000) When Merlin was purchased by Litespeed, they grabbed some unemployed Master Ti welders, and that is what made IF what it is today...check out the site. Buy a t-shirt, or a beer glass, or a Ti/Carbon Road Bike. These are good people that work for a living, and just happen to produce some of the most beautiful bikes on the planet...without the use of robots.
Anyway...the Planet X has been ridden by a number of guys to a number of Championships (Tim Johnson, Johs Huseby please stand up) I am super stoked to have them. I have had tons of cross bikes, Aluminum , Steel, Ti...and the Planet X is my favorite...these 2 = my 4th and 5th Planet X's...
Coming to a cross course near you
I'm done typing now
RK
So yesterday (Sunday, Sept. 10) was the Nancy Morgenstern Memorial Bear Mountain Fall Classic Road Race. They do this one twice a year, Spring and Fall. As if once wasn't enough...Its put on by Mike Green and the CRCA (www.crca.net) and I have to say, it is one of the nicest courses I have ever raced on. Its a 14 mile loop with a nasty 50 mph downhill into a 180 degree turn in to an even nastier 2 mile-ish climb, followed by a section of rollers, a nice flat section...yep more rollers, feed zone...vomit...repeat. Its tough..brutal. I might have cried a little...somewhere on the third lap. I was in the 3's..we did 70 miles (5 laps) the P/1/2's do 6 laps. (poor bastards) The weather was the best...65-70 degrees, and sun. Bear Mountain notoriously has horrible weather. In the spring, it was 45 degrees with a nice British misty rain. I made it 2 laps in the Spring before curling into the fetal position and sucking my thumb in the feed zone.
This Sunday was a little different. I felt pretty good coming into it. I took an easy week of training, and Saturday had an awesome ride with my friend Angela...followed by lunch and coffee at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Sweet.. I even had a beer on Saturday night. I mean screw it...its the last race of the season, and my goal was just to finish the damn thing. (It was a Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA for those who care, and yes, I'm drinking one right now)
So, I ate, I warmed up, and rolled to the line. Craig Abrahms (CRCA/Jonathon Adler) and I were discussing our strategy at the start line...we both had the same idea: DON'T GET DROPPED. Off we went, and vefore you know it...I felt OK...breathing out of my eyeballs, but OK. In the peleton, I caught up with my friend Gabe..(CRCA/ReMAX) He just got back from
a month racing in Belgium, so it was good to catch up...while gasping for air. He took a flyer for a lap and a half, and when he came back...he said,"Its not this hilly in Belgium" (Chimay, Saison Dupont, Strange Ghost...Brilliant Belgian Beers..sorry...I have beer on the brain) Anyway...On we went. Some breaks got away, and we brought them back. We caught the last break about 5 miles from the finish...then we caught the P/1/2's...and passed them. Yes, it was fast. My teammate, Mike "Margeritaville" Margerite's girlfriend Audrey hooked me with an awesome feed..but my dumb ass didn't drink enough of it...with 2 miles to go, I was in the front group, and I got a crippling cramp in my hamstring. We were all together...I was in good position, but had to soft-pedal to try and work the cramp out...it let go, so I started making my way up for the sprint...when it went, I stood up, and that cramp grabbed me by the balls, and sat me right back down. I got 19'th...80 people started. I'm OK with that...especially since just a few months ago..I didn't finish the race. My boy Gabe got 5th...nice.
In the P/1/2...Navigators...yep a few of those knackers showed up to punish the boys. My teammates did Great....Lee Rosenthal got 8th, and Margeritaville got 11th. Local hard man Will Riffelmacher (Westwood Velo) got 6th. (Will was a Cat.4 at the begining of this season. Just so you know) He made a massive solo effort on the first lap only to be caught on the last lap, at one point putting 6 minutes on the field. Of course Bernard Van Ulden (Navigators) attacked and won...the Best quote was from race promotor Mike Green to Will....about him putting 6 minutes on the field he said, "Van Ulden raced Univest yesterday, and went clubbing all night in NYC, So, don't feel like you did anything out there today" I thought there were going to be fists a flyin'....Margeritaville, Audrey, Gabe, Will Riff, Will's girlie Sarah, and I went to this Diner.."The Ivy League of Diners" it said on the 20 page menu...and we ate...TONS...it was 3:30 PM. Mike had Pancakes, Will had a waffle with ice cream on top...and a milkshake...I had a Turkey club with a double order of fries, and yes I dipped them in mayonaise...
So, all in all...A great day. It was a good safe race. This is most everyone's last race of the season, and the mood in the peleton was...well...fun. All year long, we talk shit in the pack, but this race, was different...we won't see alot of these guys all winter...we've all spent hours in the hurt locker together...its a little sad. Like your last day of school..happy, but sad at the same time....I sound like a f'in woman... Aw Hell...the hard men race cross...they're the cool kids anyway...I'll see their asses all winter. Scratch all that sentimental shit.
Over an out,
RK
Full results here: http://www.crca.net/races06/harrimanfall.htm
More pics, courtesy of Marco Quezeda here: http://www.nyvelocity.com/content.php?section=2
Tomorrow is my last road race of the season. Bear Mountain...(www.crca.net) is a fitting end. Or demise, I should say. I have been done with this season in my head for a couple of weeks now... I have started bulding cross bikes, watching cross videos, and for god's sake...running. The true sign of me flipping the mental "switch" is BEER. I have been drinking it...ALOT. I mean, how can you not this time of the year. All if the great small batch brewerys out there start coming out with limited release, fall, Octoberfest type stuff...and its all that. But really what I'm looking forward to...Yep...Boulder. I spent Thanksgiving last year in Neder
land just up slope from Boulder, CO with some great friends of mine, Josh and Megan, and wealth of people from their hood. The weather couldn't have been better. There was snow on the ground, but the trails were clear, so we did an average of 3 hours of single wide dirt bike trails on Single speeds...and when we finished, we drank beer, and ate Megan's homemade pumpkin pie. (Not from the can either...straight up pumpkins)
So, I booked my ticket already...5 sweet ass days in Ned at the Harrod compound...and this year, I've got a new SingleSpeed...vintage Michael/Jessica Spot Brand 29'er (those who know...know) (www.spotbikes.com) Last year I brought a nice Single Malt...Lagavulin 16...oddly enough, its cheaper hear in NYC...this year, I'm gonna step it up...Josh, Timmy, Mr. Fitness, Megan...get ready...think small batch, limited release, and really old.
I have been trying to move to Boulder for the better part of 10 years, and I can never quite get it together. I have always been the cautious guy that tried to find a job before I move halfway across the country...call me crazy, but I could never quite get it together. N
ow, as I get older, and my career gets more involved, it seems even more difficult. One of these days...maybe not too long from now...I will say to hell with it all. Pack my car, my bikes, and head West. Leave all this bullshit furniture, the suits, the ties, the shiny shoes, and take it to the mountains. Work in a bike shop again, and just make enough money to feed myself, and to have some fun along the way. Do we really need anything more than that? 
Who knows, this year, maybe I won't come back...
Fight the power,
RK
But in a good way. I should probably start by clarifying things a bit. Shellac is a band. What? You thought that I was going to go into some rant about how volatile refinishing furniture makes me? If I had any experience with that, it could be the case, but sorry, no Bob Villa here. So back to Shellac....
Shellac is a band. I band I happen to like and respect a lot. I have been trying to see them live for the better part of 10 years, and in combination with their spotty tour dates, and the whole wrong place wrong time thing, I haven't been able to. Until this last Saturday night. I thought I was going to be out of town (again!) so I hadn't bought tickets. So when my travel plans fell threw, it left me scambling. I made phone calls, e-mails, searched the beloved e-bay, and finally I posted on craig's list. HA! I found a ticket! Friday before the show, I had arranged to meet this guy who had an extra ticket, and pay him an exorbenent amount of money for it. Last I heard, he was going to be at my place in 15 minutes. 5 hours later, I still had no ticket. In the mean time, I had gotten a call from someone else who saw my post. I thought I was taken care of, so turned him away. Lucky for me the trusty cell phone saved his number. I called him back, and he had one ticket left. I felt like Charlie and the friggin' chocolate Factory... I met him Saturday, in the rain, and paid him even more money. But...I got my ticket. I was finally going to see Shellac. The show was in Brooklyn, at the Europa Club in Greenpoint. I took the opportunity to have dinner and this great place in Williamsburg called Diner, where my friend Angela works (www.crankyankers.org) I fueled up with several Chimays (the Devil's work), a kick ass steak, and chatted with Johnson before I headed out. At the club, Uzeda opened...Whatever. Then the show started....HOLY F!@#! This is what I have been waiting for. Brilliant show. I would do it all over again tomorrow. Every song sounded just a little better live than on recordings, mix that with the Shellac's interaction with the crowd, and it ranks as one of the best shows I have ever seen.
So now a little background: Shellac is a three-piece made up of Steve Albini, Todd Trainer, and Bob Weston. Albini was formerly in Big Black, and his day job is producing hit records for people like Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, and oh yeah..the Pixies. Bob Weston (formerly from Volcano Sun) doe
s some kick ass productions as well, Like Archer's of Loaf and June of 44 ...and Todd, well he's just a skinny guy that can play the shit out of some drums. Shellac has been described as the Harley Davidson of the underground music scene. An American version of British punk rock, bred from baseball and heavy metal. Its raw, its angry, and it sounds really good.
They are on Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records (http://www.tgrec.com)
Check 'em out...or don't...I don't care.
Needless to say, I have been listening to them non-stop since, and I have started to build in my brain, a soundtrack to my Cyclocross season. To be released via my I-pod, while on a trainer in some cold parking lot, just before I cough blood for 45 minutes in a 'cross race.
So there,
RK
So I bought new running shoes this weekend. That can only mean one thing. Cross season. I love racing cyclocross. Its fun, its technical, its short and intense. Kinda like my past relationships.. I like it because I can train sporadically, and still do OK, and crashing doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the road. The one thing I don't like like about the whole deal is, you guessed it: Running. Mentally running might be one of the hardest things for me to get jazzed up for. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, and I'm not that bad at it, but that whole "runner's high" thing has never been the monkey on my back. I have been hanging out recently with several people who run marathons like its their job, and I tried having the discussion about my mental block on long distance running. Keep in mind, I had had a few beers. They were saying that its not any harder for them to run 18 miles than it is for me to ride my bike 60 miles. Yeah, O.K.....BUT WE CAN COAST! Cyclists stand up, sit down, stop for coffee and muffins....whatever, anything to distract ourselves. To me it seems like a long run would be like locking me in a room with myself for 5 hours. Yeah, exactly...Brutal. There is only so much time I spend in my own head. So. It works out well. I race bikes, and cyclocross only requires a minimal amount of running. So I'll do my hill sprints, High Knee lifts, and Stairs, and leave the long distance business to the mentally stable.
Out,
RK
Alright...So here I am in Blog world...And when I was trying to come up with some creative topic that could be interesting enough to write about day after day, this is what I came up with.
First, I am a cyclist. I like bikes. I race bikes.
Second, I like to have a good time. I like beer. I like music. And I like people that aren't dumb asses.
Third, I like to do both. I like to ride and race my bikes, and have a good time all at the same time. Sure, that is not always the way it goes, but in the world of competitive cycling, we sometimes take it too seriously, and more often than not, we forget about why we started riding bikes in the first place....
When your a kid, its the only freedom that you have. You have to be home by dark, and you need to maximize your universe, which at that point in your life is equal the furthest point from your house that you can travel, and still make it home on time. (or relatively on time) That's where the bikes comes in...Its all about getting out of the reach of the man (represented here by you parents). Some of you out there never looked at your bike again once you got the old driver's license, and some of us...Still don't want to grow up.
So why "The Laughing Group"? You cyclists out there know what it means. For everyone else, here is the definition as posted on a great website: www.dailypeloton.com :
Laughing Group - Group of riders not contesting the front of a race but trying to stay inside the time limit or just finish the race. Used like "came in with the laughing group".
So there. Look, I'm not saying I'm not competitive, and I'm not saying that I don't try and win every race I enter, but what I am saying is, It its not fun, I ain't interested. That's it.
That's all I got. Check back for random BS. If you like cycling, single-speeds, cyclocross, beer, and music. I'll talk about that some too,
Over and out,
RK
