that Sacha and company have been busy making bikes, and you know blogging is funny. I’m sensitive to overstaying my welcome by over-posting and at the same time enjoying an interweb drama free life. Poking people to make content gets silly.

I like to see how guys set up their bikes, I think its kind of a representation of their sensibilities and even in some ways suggests something about how they ride the thing. The bike becomes personal and specific to you once its set-up. I’ll set-up an email account and maybe some of you can send me some shots of your new bikes all set-up and broken in… and I’ll slap some up here.
Can I rant? As I’ve been tickling back into riding the bike post hernia/nerve stuff…. I’ve been doing slow rides up the coast. Just zone 2, not racing, not training, just trying to feel connected again and to heal up…. and I’ve noticed that folks like to jump on my wheel. They never ride up and say hi or introduce themselves or ask if I want company…. and you know… usually I don’t want a stranger on my wheel on a road like PCH because I like life and love time alone on the bike.
Even riding with a handful of friends, folks jump on and get offended when one of us says, ‘hey, we’re just riding easy with some familiar faces and would love to just not turn it into a group ride… Sorry, but if you don’t mind….’.
Truth is, if someone rode up and said, ‘mind if i join you’ or ‘can i sit in’…. they’d be welcomed and asked to sit on back and enjoy the ride (and not pull through). I hope that doesn’t sound snobby because it doesn’t come from that place. It’s really crazy these days out there with all the cars and texting and folks riding sometimes over their heads or with all kinds of fitness and no clue. It just seems to me that we used to approach other riders with some dignity rather than assuming we’re racing each other. The little moments of etiquette communicate that you’re aware enough of what you’re doing that you’re not going to do something that gets someone killed. Self preservation is a lovely thing, and little things like asking-on or letting a group ride by you without feeling like you have to jump on…. these are good things. Riding on some smooth familiar wheels is a state of grace.
Is it just me?

Its hard to blog about anything because nothing is better than just riding or finding stuff out for yourself. I would never try to review something for you because its all subjective and personal and frankly I much prefer folks figure out what they like for themselves and then say why.. because critical thinking is sexy and I’m nothing special. That being said, when a product keeps my eggs snug to my person and yet still allows my taint to feel connected to and in communication with the saddle, without feeling abused or sanded or like a petri dish… I gotta say something.
Because there’s been too many times that my balls have flipped to funny places (you ever sit on one of your own after a jump out of the saddle?) and too many times that I feel like I’m sitting on something like a baby’s head (too thick) or a wet paper tower (too porous).
What I am saying is: Rapha shorts are amazing. I love them. I gotta abstract and generalize that I think you will too. If you’re patient you can find them ten or twenty percent off… otherwise… spend the 210. Really. Plus, I’m still in recovery mode from surgery and feel like a fat pig and you know… they’re slimming… Especially at coffee. And they’re cut the right length in the legs and over the stomach. And the shoulders lay smooth. I could go on.