The Build Up.

The Tour rolls into Paris tomorrow and Im super excited, there will be many more pics to come but here is whats been going on so far.

PAris Has.....

Bike Cops, Bike Sharing and DUI Bars.

Paris....1

Went out on the bike for the first time yesterday for a little trip to the Eiffle Tower and Napoleons Tomb, it was a good time. The paris streets are wild though, there are bike lanes but sometimes they just end and you get crammed between buses and mopeds. In all it is good riding, though I do need to get used to their traffic system it will all come together.

(Sorry I couldnt figure out how to flip the pictures)

Rolling in and out of Days.

I am here at last, it was a long trip and a very interesting first day. Right off the plane while waiting in line to get checked for passports a woman began to yell for the police, they arrived and took a man down for reasons I am un sure of. I got in at about 6 in the morning Paris time and waited to move through the lines like cattle, it was ok, I met a man named Pascal who had been teaching in Montreal for nine years and was just coming back home. When I went to get my bags I freaked out when I did not see my big bike box on the luggage belt, with a tear in my eye I said I would have to move on and get my car and call the airport later, well, as I walked to meet my ride there it was waiting with a bunch of other huge boxes at the exit, needless to say I just about yelled aloud with joy. With all of my belongings accounted for I moved out into the soft summer air and made my way to the center of Paris. My driver was a nice man, he drove like mad and I was amazed at how the motorcycles and vespas weave in and out of traffic with out a care in the world. I got to my hotel and was told my room would not be ready until 1. Thats fine, its 9 in the morning I will figure something out. So I left my things and walked about. Notre Dame was just a few streets away so I went there and walked around, its free to get in so I spent some time in there and wrote a bit. Other than that it was just walking around taking it all in and trying to stay wake. Things are off to a good start and tomorrow I will have some pictures up and the bike out. I just hope I can get through these 7 days with the little to no French I know.

Tomorrow..............

I leave for Paris tomorrow and am super excited, got a new camera and some cash in my pocket, this is going to be awesome.

Rain..............BlackJack.

So, I have turned 21, went to Lowell and had a Sunday ride to Kerouac Park and some bars. I was on a beat Varsity but still had a blast, the ride to Chelmsford was rough but I made it. Thanks for those who were there and the people I met, it was very layed back and nice. Since my birthday it has rained just about everyday, my commute is wet, I am giving up cigarettes as of now its been 5 days, this time I got some gum. I have acquired some new gear and parts, building a new road bike, getting a single speed together, building wheels searching for a new track frame and loving my job.

I guess it is time to start talking about my trip I have been planning. I will be heading to Paris for a week come the end of July. I have it all worked out except for getting my bike there. I do not think it will be much of a problem, i will just have to pay a few more bucks to get it on the plane. I am going by myself, friends showed interest but it was hard for everyone to pull funds to go. So thanks Scott for paying me so well at the shop.

I figure it this way, the best way to see a city is to ride it. A day is not enough time so I am doing a week and catching some of the Tour. It should be nice, I need some real time alone where I wont run into people I know or dwell on the things that have been rolling in my head for a while now. My home town is foreign to me, my Home is still the same, but the landscape and people of the place igrew up in has altered. I am an alien. I just do not feel like I am from here anymore, simply just hanging my cap for a few months until I head back to Amherst. I am a Nomad. These are some of the things I need to work out on the cobble streets of Paris, this is not so much a vacation as it is therapy, a quest for self discovery, explanation and exploration.

Summer Style......

So summer has come. I am back in Danvers and am now working at SeaSide Cycle in Manchester MA. Its a great shop to work at and I have been learning alot from the guys there. The bikes that roll through are a far cry from the ones at the coop, new Specialized Roubaix and Serrotas. I still get to work on the old beaters and bikes that should be retired to say the least. But I fix 'em and try and keep my own running.

For the first week I was riding my old Bianchi Stelvio that was my Dads, it was sweet with old Campy and Dura Ace on it, that not is up in Toronto because my brother has found a new love for riding and I hope he keeps at it as a training tool for hockey. We did go out on a nice ride before he left, just a little ride through Ipswich, Wenham Beverly and Danvers. It was a good short hour and a half ride, it was funny to see how he rides, not really knowing how one should act while riding with someone else and on the road with cars coming by you. He did well and the ride was gorgeous, some good farm land that one may over look unless they get off the main roads of the North Shore.

I had my Lemond running for a few short days, but I needed to swap out some parts for the Bianchi, Al doesnt like the vintage feel of down tube shifters, so that is now hanging as a lonely frame at SeaSide. For the last week or so I have been doing the 11.3 mile one way on the Pista. 48-17 isnt all that bad but I ordered a Surly Dingle Cog (http://www.surlybikes.com/new/dinlgecog_pop.html ) so the commute may be a little easier, as well I can still have the ease of switching it up to rip through the Viz.

Its weird riding by myself all the time now, I went from a great group of dudes to ride with to maybe two guys who might ride sometimes. I haven't even had a game of POLO yet this summer. Though I only played a few times at UMass I was hoping to get some more games in.

The solitude does have its advantages, I can yell at myself a nd cure the cigarettes I smoked with no one there to make fun of me for being to hard on myself. As well, I dont have to worry about anyone doing anything stupid in traffic. I noticed I dont get yelled at as much by myself either. Which is a good thing for sure.

Summer should get better, I am going to France in late July, catch the Tour and maybe ride with some locals if their down, if not Paris on a bike should be a blast, alone or with new friends.

More to come soon. Keep Riding. Big ups to all the Coop Rats.