Mat heads north but leaves me with Eddy
wow .... I haven't posted in over a month. Generally you didn't miss much (when I say "you" I mean the 2 people who read this) ...I was riding a bunch, for me, but getting the old #11 incisor pulled and a bone graft put a damper on all that. Combined with work, friends in town and bla bla bla it was almost 3 weeks between rides for me, but I'm back in the saddle and happy. Can't wait for all this tooth implant shiat to be done with (prob. not till August) and I cant eat whatever I want again, I think I'll have the 2nd Ave Deli fed-ex me a sandwich to celebrate the occasion.
So it was Mat at Bay Bikes in Monterey last day and I'm bummed. He's been down here from the north bay for a couple of years but has been itching to go back up for a while, cant blame him. I'm just bummed because I was ready to make BB's "my shop" because he's the best shop character I've met since moving here in September... sounds corny but where I spend my money (for bikes and other stuff) is important to me, I want to have a connection to where my cash goes .... thats why I dig places like Acme Coffee in Seaside or Diva Dulce in Monterey (holy crap Josie makes amazing hand made chocolates) where I love the product, know where my $$$ is going, and like the people its going to. Dont get me wrong, there are other good shops in the area, Winning Wheels is a great roadie shop, I would take a track wheel there and tell them to glue a tire and not think twice about it (Not something I would take to any shop). I like everyone there and I'm sure I'll give them a fair amount of business but its not a hang out post-ride and have a beer fun kind of place. I like the staff at another shop in town and they carry a good mix of road/mtb, but the owner said the wrong thing to me (I've got a couple of pet peeves when it comes to shops) and I doubt i'll ever want to spend my cash there. Anyways, I digress. Mat was the kind of guy you could stop in and shoot the shit with, go for a ride with, or catch a beer with. He could help you out with the high end stuff but at the same time he put in as much effort trying to find a lower cost solution to a bike problem....doesnt hurt that he had a cool dog. I wish him and the family luck up north.
Before he split he hooked me up with a livewrong army "Che Merckx" T
I get a kick out of this on a bunch of levels, the poking fun at the pop idolization of Che and Lance plus the reference to Eddy. The popularization of Che over the last 5 years is a great example of was is wrong with pop culture (though pop does not equal culture), especially when it comes to historical figures. The willingness of people to believe a celluloid version of a persons life reflects their role in history amazes me (don't get me started on the DaVinci code)....the ability of others to profit from those believes doesnt shock me, but I think its sort of sad. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the effect is that 1/1000 people wearing a che t-shirt they bought at urban outfitters takes the time to learn something about him and maybe that results in more people educating themselves then would have otherwise...I doubt it...but it might be true. If anyone is interested in Che I highly recommend "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" by John Lee Anderson. It's a thorough and unjudgemental look at Guevaras life that is a very gripping read .... its also a great deal in paperback (15 bucks for 800 pages).
Well that's about it ..... I wonder when Alec will start blogging again ... of course he just moved to Golden, CO and has a new gig wrenchin ... so you've gotz to factor that in
later
So it was Mat at Bay Bikes in Monterey last day and I'm bummed. He's been down here from the north bay for a couple of years but has been itching to go back up for a while, cant blame him. I'm just bummed because I was ready to make BB's "my shop" because he's the best shop character I've met since moving here in September... sounds corny but where I spend my money (for bikes and other stuff) is important to me, I want to have a connection to where my cash goes .... thats why I dig places like Acme Coffee in Seaside or Diva Dulce in Monterey (holy crap Josie makes amazing hand made chocolates) where I love the product, know where my $$$ is going, and like the people its going to. Dont get me wrong, there are other good shops in the area, Winning Wheels is a great roadie shop, I would take a track wheel there and tell them to glue a tire and not think twice about it (Not something I would take to any shop). I like everyone there and I'm sure I'll give them a fair amount of business but its not a hang out post-ride and have a beer fun kind of place. I like the staff at another shop in town and they carry a good mix of road/mtb, but the owner said the wrong thing to me (I've got a couple of pet peeves when it comes to shops) and I doubt i'll ever want to spend my cash there. Anyways, I digress. Mat was the kind of guy you could stop in and shoot the shit with, go for a ride with, or catch a beer with. He could help you out with the high end stuff but at the same time he put in as much effort trying to find a lower cost solution to a bike problem....doesnt hurt that he had a cool dog. I wish him and the family luck up north.
Before he split he hooked me up with a livewrong army "Che Merckx" T
I get a kick out of this on a bunch of levels, the poking fun at the pop idolization of Che and Lance plus the reference to Eddy. The popularization of Che over the last 5 years is a great example of was is wrong with pop culture (though pop does not equal culture), especially when it comes to historical figures. The willingness of people to believe a celluloid version of a persons life reflects their role in history amazes me (don't get me started on the DaVinci code)....the ability of others to profit from those believes doesnt shock me, but I think its sort of sad. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the effect is that 1/1000 people wearing a che t-shirt they bought at urban outfitters takes the time to learn something about him and maybe that results in more people educating themselves then would have otherwise...I doubt it...but it might be true. If anyone is interested in Che I highly recommend "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" by John Lee Anderson. It's a thorough and unjudgemental look at Guevaras life that is a very gripping read .... its also a great deal in paperback (15 bucks for 800 pages).
Well that's about it ..... I wonder when Alec will start blogging again ... of course he just moved to Golden, CO and has a new gig wrenchin ... so you've gotz to factor that in
later
posted by Little_Jewford at 2:39 PM
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