Howdy folks

Alright, this is my first chance to talk some smack.

 

A little history:

I spent most of my childhood in Reston, Virginia, a planned community that among other things, has a fantastic network of trails running throughout the town. At a very early age, I was able to ride my bike around an area the size of Beaverton, without my parents ever worrying about my safety. I’ve always used my bike as my first and favorite mode of transportation, and never had any reason to think otherwise. Going to college at U of O and then moving to Portland has enable me to continue to use my bike as my primary vehicle. Except now I just have a lot more of them.

 

Puck and I first met probably a good ten years ago when we were working at Kissler’s Bicycles in Beaverton. I still show up behind the counter there occasionally, having worked for the owner on-and-off since the summer of 1987. I’ve been living, breathing and riding bikes since before I could read. Taught myself how to ride at age 3 when there was a bike at my day care. It didn’t have training wheels so nobody else would touch it. A couple strawberries later and I was hooked. The last time I attempted to count how many bikes I’ve owned the list topped 45, and I know I missed a few. As the resident racer at TUS, I ride mountain, cyclocross and road for the Presto Velo team (bicycleattorney.com). As I am closer now to 40 than 30, I realize I will never be super fast. But it doesn’t stop me from going out there and trying. I have come to the conclusion that no matter what race I am in, I am really only racing myself. If I happen to beat a couple other guys who are also racing themselves, well, that’s cool. For those of you who have never raced cyclocross, that happens to be the general attitude here in Portland at the Cross Crusade series (www.crosscrusade.com). Unfortunately, it’s that easygoing attitude that has helped make our series the largest cyclocross series in the nation, and is actually making it difficult to secure venues.

 

So maybe you will see me out riding my ugly-fied cruiser bike around Hillsboro or downtown Portland. It’s black, but is literally covered in reflective tape. Or maybe you’ll see me at a local race. Hopefully I will see you on a bike instead of in a car.

 

Keep the rubber side down,

 

-Smack.

 

 

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----------(_)/ (_)______Get on your bikes and ride!