Following through

Next week I’m scheduled to be in Austin, Texas. Can”t wait. It’s been 5 long years since I did the “Ride for the Roses” with my wife and best friend Therese. She’s a cancer survivor (thyroid), adventure-seeker and doer of things memorable. She first encouraged me in 2003 to get my Clydesdale arse down there with her and be involved. We rode in chilly and windy conditions. In 2004, the conditions were blazing hot and, yes, windy. It’s Texas. I can’t remember the roads pedaled down, the small towns that hosted aid stations, or the landscape that clicked by. Nope. It was the people whom I witnessed on those two rides that are indelible. Seeing humanity on a large scale give back in honor of loved ones lost to cancer focuses your mind on a brutal reality. The disease is unworldly. Horrific. Life-altering. So getting a chance to play a small part in the fight this year is a way of following through on a earlier promise. One triggered by a medical diagnosis in 2000 that forever changed a woman, a man and their two children. Every mile this year I’ll be thinking about survivors I know, as well as families who’ve had to say goodbye to daughters, sons, wives, husbands, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, friends and colleagues. Following through is the weekend Crave. Livestrong. If you have someone you’d like to see carried on my bike jersey during the 90-mile ride, please DM me their name(s) or send an email to bikecrave(at)gmail.com.

Pablove Across America As a father of two great daughters and the husband of a cancer survivor, I’ve been absolutely moved to indescribable emotion by the story of Pablo Castelaz. Pablo died six days past his 6th birthday this past June. His father Jeff is riding across the U.S. soon to honor his...
Bicycles in the mist June gloom. It’s the mix of heavy fog and clouds that hug the San Diego coastline with a grayness, dampness and surprising coolness. June gloom, my cycling friends, is not what you expect to find at elevation on your beloved mountain. And yet, there it was, all over Palomar Mountain,...
The art of conversation OK, so earlier this week we’ve covered off on a few of the basics on the art of waving while in the saddle. Now Part II: Conversation. On an easy recovery spin Sunday, I was fortunate enough to experience 40 miles of rolling human interaction that was unexpected. Barely into...
Turning point You know the moment when things are turning in the right direction. The turning point. It’s when you ride within yourself. No longer do you obscenely go over your limit or flirt with an epic bonk. You stay within the rivet, and occasionally on the rivet. You know, “in difficulty.” But...
Happy birthday BikeCrave turned 1 today. I feel like the father I was a few years back, caring for a toddlers, heating bottles and changing diapers. Except I’m not. I’m only writing periodically at a desk upon which sits a computer connected to the “Interwebs.” Funny how this works. We can be...