Photos From J.C.

Justin at http://southernvelo.org/ took these photos a while back when I was riding the Bridgestone as a fixie. He takes some great shots. 

Destroy Polo Practice: Cody from David Hoffnung on Vimeo.
Highlights from last Sunday's bike polo game, where Cody was certainly player of the day.  He had a pretty spectacular crash, and then despite saying he'd been psyched-out by it, came back to win a five-point game on his own. More people need to come give this a try. I always leave the court feeling a bit surprised by how much fun we have.

Life On A Bike Is A Journey, Of Course; Like Learning A Martial Art

After all that I have been through, testing my beliefs, and persevering to the place I am in Mind, Body, and Spirit; I accept that the bicycle has become a conduit for me. A tool in seeking balance and a simple way to truly enjoy life. It's become a gratifying discipline that must be exercised every day of my life. It gets easier all the time. The idea that 'practice makes perfect' is selling it short. Practice makes you better. Once it's easy, its time to take it to another level. Now im not talking about breaking speed records, or making it into the pro Tours, or X-Games. I'm talking about capabilities that will be applied in many aspects of LIFE. First it was riding to work. Then it was riding over a mountain.Then it was to keep going far. Then it was preparedness, including, but not limited to; mental awareness, responsibly maintaining a reliable machine, feeding active needs, etc. Maybe the most important point is testing self reliance. Now I am refining and learning new handling skills. These are all things I think about every day. Aristotle is quoted in saying -We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. I don't know about excellence, but i do know about perseverance. If my goal is to be aware and balanced, I guess thats what I aim to excel in, Building good habits. That, my friend, is what the bicycle lifestyle is for me. Experience life. My outlook is that I want to LOVE LIFE A LOT. I can't sit still and watch life pass by. I can't let others do work for me. If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of. Yeah, Bruce Lee is right. NOW is the time i must pursue. NOW is the time I know I have. NOW is when the life i wanna love is happening. The bike can be anything else to anybody else. Some of my friends wish to master things like, photography, food, music, carpentry, and business. Find what you love and pursue it with a passion. Have goals. Learn from failure. I had a particularly bad bike crash a few years ago that nearly took my life. I learned more through that experience than any other event in my life. I took a lot from it. Some of the touring riders i put big miles down with have kinda been scoffing at my fixed gear, my tricks, and my commuting. This is my progression and i am not some kid at the skatepark boasting about how bad-ass street tricks are. Showing off is the fool's idea of glory.  'No loitering beyond this point' - has become a motto for me to live by. Gotta keep it moving. Gotta keep life fresh. Progression is my only direction.

Killin' It Out There

So, it didnt take long for the only stock parts left on my fixie to start failing. That is the frame and fork. I posted earlier that i was suprised how much i liked the fixie and how i shouldve bought a nicer one that could be built up by an ex bmxer like myself. Well, i went cheap and now the bike is no more. The fork is way bent. it wont barspin and the steel is soft. like i ran the bike into a wall to straighten the rake and it worked long enough for a few more tricks till it gave way to a spongy sensation of  failure. Im in too deep not to find a replacement. When the time came to start 180s and hoping out of keos, and tail tapping everything i could, i followed through and realized a couple little places in my timing that i could get more "umph!" outta the way i was handling the bike. The bike couldnt handle it. Period. Started landing more technical maneuvers only to realize that i could go farther. Now my progression is dead in the water. Oh, just wait. I will find my replacement. It wont be generic. It will be beefy. My ambitions will be bold. The riding will be fresh. Oh, my friend, just you wait and see. Level Up.