Thursday Rant 1.2

Right, so....I rant on Thursdays and I'm real creative so I even have a numbering system. Yea, it's real easy first number is month, second number is week. Now, about that rant...

The continually evolving rant format I'm considering a kinda list thingy....well, anyway, let's try it out. How about a top five this week, and they may not actually be rants...

5 (1) - The rise and fall of Chinese No Name Frames and on Being Italian. For a couple of years I was very anti-brand name bikes. I figured it didn't make much difference, I was fast on most stuff (hey, it's my blog, I can be fast if I want) and there was no way I was dropping North of $3K on a bike. So I bought a couple of 'em....road and cross. Actually the 'cross bike was totally rad...well made and durable. I rode and race it all over the place for a couple of years and it was faultless.

The road bike less so, but that was mostly due to the "Fondo" head tube as it set me about 3cm's higher than my previous Tarmac. I was content

I got a bike to test this week. A very Italian bike. It changed my life.

It's so stiff and fast, small and lightening quick. Totally pro - so pro in fact that it belonged to a classic Italian PRO who raced it around Italy and stuff. The thing is, it made me once again appreciate the quality of a fine bike and a fine build. I am having so much fun ripping around on it that I can hardly wait til tomorrow...I'll do a write up on the ride soon, but in the mean time it has rekindled my love affair with going fast on a nice bike...not content.

4 (2) - Guests. My friend Adam came to visit this week - he's here for a month. We're doing a little training camp while he's in town. Actually, I'm just trying to keep up with his training camp, but it's all good. The thing about guests is that they are a great way to reconnect with what you lost. Last year was tough and I sorta lost my way in the milieu of life upheaval. Having Adam here gives me a path back to some of those things that bring me happiness. So, we're gonna ride and have fun, snack and drink beer...and it's just part of my 2014.

3 - Stuff you can't do...yet again hours have been wasted watching people do stuff you and I likely can't.




Ok, it's after 11 and I'm tired....all that ripping around. So, I'm going to sleep...but hey, I made 3!