Pretending things are normal, round three.


Or, as the adage goes- Faking it ’till we make it.

As has perhaps been evident, over the course of the last year and a half or so, my personal reality has been on a wildly unbalanced orbit. One week I’m maintaining a fairly healthy directive, and the next you couldn’t possibly convince me that the sky’s not falling. Before you say “you should investigate therapy“, I have, and is probably the only reason the wheels haven’t completely come off the wagon.

I will also note that I’ve gotten myself involved in therapy through my health care network. It only took me six weeks to get an appointment,ent, and when I finally did, the therapist told me his next available appointment was at the end of October, so if anybody says that mental health care in this country isn’t in an absolutely abysmal state, I will tell you that’s not at all my perspective.

Certainly, as things become increasingly critical for the world at large, it’s a thing I encourage everyone to do if they have even a whisper of access to it.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, the right here and right now is reasonably (and surprisingly) manageable, despite the fact that my reality, as well as the reality outside our front doors are both coming apart at the seams.

One item of note that has helped the clouds part is a recent trip to the Blue Collar Bikes world headquarters in the blistering hot city of Sacramento, California, and picking up my bike after getting it stripped, and re-powder coated;





And because I didn’t want to sully this blindingly handsome beast with my cheap-o Topeak frame pump, you know I went ahead and splurged on one of them fancy pants Silca Impero Ultimates.

Just reading the description felt like they were talking directly about me;

I mean seriously- I am a discerning road and adventure cyclist who requires efficient and dependable inflation when completing a roadside tire repair!

Are they spying on me?!

After years of raining toxic sweat down upon its top and down tubes, it was well overdue for some love, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Even though it’s been sweltering here in the Bay Area, I went over to meet up with my buddy Friendly Paul where we got after a christening ride together;




Being the first ride I’ve been on with anyone aside from my wife in at least six months, we practiced proper distancing, and concluded the entire exchange with beer and a swimming pool.

I couldn’t have asked for a better maiden voyage.

In other news that I’ve already covered in various arms of social media, but haven’t really elaborated on here- I’ve noted a number of times over the past months that I’m in the process of paring down, and moving on from this reality to another one. What that looks like, I still don’t know, but the one thing that fort sure is I need about 1000% less shit in my life. Having been in or around the bicycle industry for at least a couple of decades at this stage, my parts bins had gotten packed to the top with things that I didn’t need, but were too good to simply pitch.

Since there aren’t any swap meets occurring for the foreseeable future, I opted to simply give it all away.

Where to?” I asked myself repeatedly. After poking around a bit, I finally landed on a place called Bay Area Bike Rescue, where I went over the course of the long weekend with all of my piles of stuff in tow;

Upon my arrival I was greeted by a lovely soul named Monet, who happily helped me sort my stuff;

If you are in the need of anything you might could imagine me once owning, (with the exception of two Shimano rotors I forgot I had) it’s all there.

And finally, while we’re on the topic of creative recycling, and with a tip of the hat towards a long overdue ‘Art That Doesn’t Suck’ segment, I think now is as good a time as any to rehash the work of a person named Kevin Cyr;





I remember when his work was making the rounds around 2008, but as the internet sometimes does, these pieces bubbled back to the surface recently, which inspired me to put them on this here website for people to enjoy.

2008 was a pretty good year, wasn’t it? I can’t remember back that far.

As long as things are continuing to go sideways, we might as well look backwards while retaining hope for the frontwards.

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5 Responses to “Pretending things are normal, round three.”

  1. Dr Sweets September 8, 2020 at 7:17 am #

    The Purplemetalflakemusic Blue Collar looks amazing. Speaking of other builders I’d like to one have a custom whip from, is that a Black Cat beneath Friendly Paul? It looks fantastic too. Even if y’all couldn’t ride worth a damn yr bikes would look fab and that’s what is really important, no?

    • Stevil September 8, 2020 at 7:47 am #

      It is indeed. We’re committed in keeping local builders out of trouble.

  2. DoubleDeed September 8, 2020 at 7:22 am #

    The first question most therapists/counselors ask: “What insurance do you have?” So fucked.

    And yes, getting rid of stuff is cathartic. We moved recently and I’ll be damned if I shouldn’t have dumped more stuff. Now there’s a garage full of things that are in the way, keeping me from having proper space to work on … too many bikes!

    Be well ~

  3. Momsue September 8, 2020 at 9:50 am #

    Hope……..always hope…..

  4. Wolf September 8, 2020 at 12:41 pm #

    Love the purple. I liked the blue, but you can tell the bike really wanted to be purple.