The only thing I have in common with Ernest Hemingway* is that occasionally I find myself at a loss for words.
Then I remind myself, as he reminded himself in “A Moveable Feast”: “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now.”
And so I have: The Bicycle Retailer column is finally in the can. Next, the “Shop Talk” cartoon, also for BRAIN, followed by the Specialized Sequoia review for Adventure Cyclist.
Like Thomas McGuane’s Chet Pomeroy, “I saw a few things and raved for money.” Soon I shall return to raving for free.
* OK, so we’ve both written about drinking, eating, road trips, writing and bicycling. Guess which one did it better. There will be a prize.**
** No there won’t.
Mad Blog Media 
how come in the new adventure cycling mag that other guy got to review two bikes and you didn’t get any? you ain’t no ernest steinbeck but i like your reviews better.
Thanks, Carl. It’s just the luck of the draw — I have a review in the brand-new Adventure Cyclist newsletter, which you can sign up for here, and back-to-back reviews of the Trek 520 and Specialized Sequoia coming up in April and May. Also, look for a review of the Co-Motion Deschutes in the Aug.-Sept. issue.
After I’d been writing reviews for a while I got worried that people would get sick of my “voice,” so I recommended a couple of other guys I’d worked with who could chime in, help keep the reviews fresh. Charles Pelkey was one, and “the other guy,” Nick Legan, was another.
Turns out the Adventure Cyclist honchos liked Nick so much they brought him on as tech editor. Good hire. He’s a former World Cup mechanic and former VeloNews tech editor, and he makes techy stuff easy to understand, even for pig-ignorant Luddites like Your Humble Narrator.
i’d kinda like to hear your opinion on the pinion/gates drivetrain on that tout terrain should you get a chance to ride it.
I would also like to hear what Patrick thinks of the Pinion transmission.
http://pinion.eu/en/
Gents, the smart fellas at Co-Motion are big on the Pinion, offering it as an option on several bikes. Honcho Dwan Shepard told me at Interbike 2016 that he liked the idea of having the gearbox at the bottom bracket rather than at the rear hub, as with the Rohloff.
I haven’t ridden a Pinion yet, but Bicycling‘s Matt Phillips has, and you can read his early take here.
Yea, so he has written some novels and screen plays. Can he write biting satire with humor? Draw a cartoon? No? You win. Send me a prize anyway. Anyway, I am still share Herself’s opinion that there is a novel bouncing around your “little grey cells.”
I just read the mini-road test of the Sam Hillborne. Good stuff! Are you still using the Brooks saddle. How do you like the kickstand? My Soma ES also requires long reach calipers. I used the Shimano R451 Tiagra long reach brakes set, with aftermarket cartridge pad holders and Shimano pads. I have no complaints on the braking. Wanted the BR650 Ulegra level brakes but couldn’t find them anywhere, and the Tiagra silver color matched the ES frame paint perfectly.
Gracias, Pat. Still using the Brooks, and was liking it so much I laid hands on another one for the Soma Disc. The kickstand is excellent, and I also grabbed another one of those for the Voodoo Wazoo, my townie. I’d forgotten how convenient a kickstand can be.
Ain’t nothing wrong with the Tiagra-Sora-level stuff. Even the Alivio ain’t bad, though the Alivio front derailleur on the Trek 520 is one ugly, boxy muthafuggah. Still works, though.
Your stuff is always the best part of BR&IN!
Hard to think much about cycling right now as there’s a ton of snow on the ground and I (for some gawdawful reason) watched the Tangerine Trash Can Fire’s “interview” on ABC last night. This guy’s nuttier than I thought!
I then called the offices of all of our representatives in DeeCee to ask them to (PLEASE) oppose the idea of torture and not put the taxpayers on the hook for the stupid wall (why doesn’t Trump pay for it and let the Mexicans pay HIM back?) but their response was basically a ho and a hum.
Gawd help us all!!!!
Changing the subject for a second Larry, if I may. Did you ever watch Jim McMurren (AMA National Number 11) race in Southern California in the 60’s and 70’s? My brother just came from a memorial service for him in Nestor, California.
Sorry PO’B, never heard of him. My (very) brief pro career (and AMA National Number 39) was in 1983/4 The only race I was in that was recorded on film was this one
You can see yours truly for a few seconds on the 2nd row of the starting grid in the red/white/back suit and matching crash hat. And yes, it WAS very interesting racing past the burning machine of Mike Baldwin as it lay there on the back straightaway! No matter what you can do on a bicycle, it’s rather tame in comparison, no?
Avoiding that flying Honda at the 10:30 mark must have been exciting.
You’re right Larry, bicycle racing seems pretty tame compared to motorcycle road course or dirt track racing. Some of those mountain descents the pro peloton does comes close though. I have never raced bicycles or motorcycles, so I really can’t compare as a rider, only a spectator.
I can more than hold my own on a fast descent. Its the gravity challenged part of climbing that always left me off the back in races.
Aw, shucks, Larry. There’s some actual useful news in BRAIN. I’m just the comic relief.
I’m having trouble staying focused on bike stuff too, and Herself and I have been making phone calls to our D.C. delegation. They’re gonna get good and tired of hearing the name O’Grady. At least our lot is Democrats, or what passes for same these days.
You’ve outlived and outfunned Ernie. He outgunned you, ouch. You spay and neuter your cats. You can write standing up, too, if you want to.
Oops, left out all the good relationship marriage stuff. Winner. Plus, you don’t need a LIFE photographer to photograph you catching a fish to prove that you can feed yourself and your family.
Thanks, Libby. Ol’ Ernie took the shortcut to the Other Side, for sure. He couldn’t write anymore and it made him crazy. I can dig it — I spent 11 years as an editor, hardly ever writing under my own byline, and I got pretty loopy too.
I was always more of a Steinbeck fan, though Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast” remains one of my favorite books. Steinbeck had a lighter, more poetic touch. Hemingway was always preoccupied with being Hemingway.
Agreed, my mother belonged to one of those ‘book of the month’ clubs so I was blessed with wonderful reading material from an early age. ‘Travels with Charley’ remains one of my favorites, as does ‘The grapes of wrath’..
Hurben, have you read “Blue Highways,” by William Least Heat Moon? If not, you should snag a copy. I think it’s even better than “Travels,” which is another fave of mine.
I defer to my better half on literary matters. I think the most literary thing I ever read was probably National Lampoon. Well, there were a few others but lately by the time I get home from a long day riding the computer at work I don’t want to see words on pages. Plus, it takes so much effort to not shoot the radio when The Big Orange Disaster is coming over the air waves that it is exhausting.
Still trying to get back on the bike but a lot of ice on the roads up this way and I’m not about to wreck my surgeon’s good work. This weekend is a possibility although I seem to have nailed a flu bug.
Wow Khal. Get well quick! Take two Guinness stout drafts and call me in the morning.
NatLamp was actually pretty damn literary. Outside of The Firesign Theatre it was some of the most intelligent, highly educated comedy you could find on this side of the Big Ditch (Monty Python having sway over the other side).
Mark’s Very Large National Lampoon Site is “your unauthorized guide to the Golden Age” of the magazine, circa 1970-75.
Get better soon, K. That flu sent my man Charles Pelkey to the ER not long ago.
Thanks, O’G and I did bookmark that site. Too woozy to do much right now other than drool into my shoe.