Cyclocross Action- LY in LR

Larry Yancey on the move this past Saturday night in Little Rock.  MEECH Custom Bicycles needs to invest in a helmet cam for Yancey to wear at the races, theres no tellin what we'd all get to see.  That looks like some prime real estate to be riding on, is that Astroturf? Did NASA invent Astroturf, and if so why?  You gonna put some grass down on the moon or something.  NASA, what a joke.  How many 5 million dollar remote control cars have they lost on Mars now anyway? Nobody wants to live on Mars or the moon.  Theres nothing happening there.  There are no clubs, no beaches, no women, no cross racing.  Will someone please clue those nerds in.  Now having a cross race on the moon is a worthwhile venture.  Imagine bunnyhopping over the barriers in zero gravity.  You'd have to have a JET-Pack to get back on the ground.  Now that would be a race. When you think about it the moon is not really good for anything we might as well be using it for something. We should put NASA up there and while all those nerds are looking at us down here through their telescopes we can all moon them.  Look at that hot pink MOTO on the back of the seat tube, talk about visibility, you could see that from the moon.  Yeah baby.  Go MOTO!

Looking Down On My Self

These past few nights I've been waking up about 3 o'clock in the morning and can't get back to sleep until about 5:00 or so.  I wake up and go get something to eat maybe turn the TV on for a minute while I eat and then get back into bed only to lay there  thinking about going back to sleep and whatever else comes to mind.  Being a cycling enthusiast and frame builder the bicycle world is usually one of the main things I think about while I'm laying there.  Most everyday I check Velonews or maybe some other cycling related website to see what the latest activity is and here the past few days it seems like everything is Armstrong related.  I've said at the least 3 times that I wasn't gonna talk about Lance any more so I've already broken my word a couple of times which is something I try not to do and I don't do it often.  Anyway, this isn't really about Lance Armstrong so much as it is about me.  The Armstrong saga makes me think things and then I in turn start realizing stuff about myself, things I don't like, things I would like to change and so I thought by confessing them out loud that maybe this Armstrong thing will eventually disappear completely from my mind.  Ok, thats a bit far fetched because my life will have to change quite a bit before I can get completly away from Armstrong's name because every cyclist out there is gonna be subject to his name on any given day.  I'm just so sick of it all and would like it to end, to go away.

I don't have a problem with him doping.  Big deal, everyone was doing it, I understand why he did it to some extent, and I don't even care.  I do want the truth to come out though, and its rapidly coming, day after day.  My problem is that I don't, and never did, like Lance Armstrong as a person.  I didn't like his cocky, Big Tex attitude and I didn't like seeing him just destroy everyone in the races with a smirk.  There was one moment that I remember thinking that I was happy for Armstrong and it was after he won his first Tour.  I still didn't actually like him but I thought that it was a good story that a man who battled cancer had come back from the deathbed and not only raced again but won the Tour de France.  Lets face it, thats amazing.  Thats the only slight moment I ever thought, "Good for him."  Then, during the second one, I wanted him to get beat.  Jan Ullrich was one of my favorite riders because of his time-trialing style and because I thought he could actually do it, or so I thought, and so he was my only hope to put Lance in his place.  Josephe Beloki was good, and I was pulling for him when Ullrich wasn't around but I kinda knew that Beloki wasn't quite man enough to do it, or thats what I felt anyway. I just hoped anyone would beat him, I didn't care who, anyone, Iban Mayo, Pantani, just anyone.  I truly disliked Armstrong.  During the month of July every year for six straight years I sat on my sofa watching the tour, sometimes falling to my knees and praying, "Just let someone crack his ass on this mountain!", and then he'd attack and drop everyone like they were nobody at all.  I ached all over.  I hated him and thats my problem.  It takes a lot of energy out of you to hate or to genuinely dislike someone, hate is such a strong word.  Everytime something bad comes out against Lance, the old me rejoices inside a little, I feel happiness in his misery and failure and I know its wrong.  Let me remind you that I've been working on this for quite a while and I'm far along and away from what this little story will make it sound like, it truly doesn't bother me much anymore, I've moved on for the most part but there is still a part of me inside that feels good and probably will continue to get some satisfaction out of his falling.   After Contador beat him at his own game I was pretty much ok after that.  The king was dead and I began to heal.  But now its going much further than I ever anticipated and it almost feels like, "The king is dead and no longer a threat but lets cut off his head too." I understand that people want to get to the absolute bottom of this and its really the only way that the sport of bicycle racing can move forward.  Burn it to the ground, clean the slate, and rebuild.  I want this for myself too so that it might kill that little bit of my former self that still remains inside of me who enjoys seeing Lance fall.  Its already happened but I think that until he confesses it will never completely  heal. This isn't the end of my story and its in no way, shape, or form the end of my problems.  Lance is not my problem, I'm not sure what is but its not Lance. 

The last year or so I've been reading a couple of books and listened to some audio books as well as other things that has put me on a mission to find my higher self.  I'm not trying to get to deep or anything but I just want to be working on being the best person that I can be at everything that I do as I grow older.  Let me just stop and say, dude, I'm a long way away, but the thought is in my mind and I want to just make as much progress as I can in a reasonable manner, try to tap into as much of that positive energy out there that I can.  It kinda feels like, "I know I'm not gonna win this race, and I don't know exactly where I'm gonna finish, but I want to do the best that I can."  I want to learn as much as possible about myself, others, and the world in general as I can, what else is there to do.  Keep in mind we're all mainly concentrating on making a living for ourselves and our families, and thats priority number one, but whenever I can work on learning something new I want to take advantage of it. I don't plan on entering a new dimension or anything but it would be neat to find a step or an entrance into some sort of energy source that is available to anyone that tries to find it.  You know, kinda like Jesus did.  He truly loved and forgave everyone for their imperfections and he rose above it all, of course he also got crucified.  Imagine you're out in space looking down on the Earth, now imagine all the people in the world, and all the crazy things that are going on, imagine life and death.  Now what importance does the Lance Armstrong saga really have in all that.  Not much, but if you're into cycling or bike racing it just won't go away.    I can't imagine how much weight must be pressing down on his shoulders right now.  He is a strong man, a great athlete, but I bet that if you got to his core he's no different than you and I.  He's just another person in the world, just like us, although he's got a ton of problems right now.  I think he's stupid as I've always thought he was stupid, not in racing or in competition, not in being number one, he is a master of all those things, but I think he's stupid because for all that he's done and been through he can't see that all he has to do is say, "Yeah, I did it.", and everyone will start to forgive him, they'll start to embrace him again, and he can start to rebuild that empire that he so loves.

Like every amateur bike racer has done at one time or another I used to think that I would love to be a pro.  Get paid to ride and race your bike every day, travel the world,  and maybe get famous.  I never got closer than Cat 2 but I'm just thankful that I had that opportunity and also that I'm still able to ride.  I could even start racing again if I wanted.  I love riding now more than ever, although I do a lot less of it and I'm quite a bit slower.  Alot of times when I'm riding I burden myself with these thoughts that I'm just not going fast enough, and worse, I'm getting slower.  I try to make peace with it and I'm ok with it to some degree but it still bothers me when I feel like I'm just not going hard enough.  How fast am I supposed to go?  I'm not training for anything, I don't race anymore, but I just think I'm  not going fast enough.  Why am I mad at myself for this?  If it was really important to me I would be out there working at it trying to get faster but now I'm more interested in frame building and trying to find my higher self.  Anyway I'm pretty sure I've gone as fast as I'm gonna go, but from time to time I still get that urge to give it a dig and after 30 seconds of "SUFFERAMA" I'm disappointed in myself.  Is this why I'm taking enjoyment out of someone else's failure because I'm not fast enough?  I don't want to do that.  For the most part I don't feel like that toward people, I'm fairly sympathetic toward everyone and everything but not with Lance Armstrong and I feel that its pathetic on my part and thats one of the things that is preventing me from tapping into my higher self.  Everything is energy, positive and negative energy.  Remember all that crap in school about atoms and molecules, nuetrons, protons, nucleuses and all that stuff that makes up everything?  I don't, because I was probably sleeping or day-dreaming during that time.  I never really wanted to be at school and seldom paid attention except in P.E.  I just went because it was what you were supposed to do so I went.  Luckily my parents made me go and I thank them for it but usually all I did was just dream about motorcycle racing.  All I wanted back then was a Suzuki RM80.  That was the answer to all my problems.  What happens to all that energy?  Where does it all go?  The body is a container for life's energy but when the body dies where does all that energy go?  Does it go to heaven?  

Today I realized that I have so much more respect for all the  'weekend warriors' out there, myself included because I used to be one too, than I do for the professional bike racers.  Sure, if I meet a pro bike racer I imagine that I'd  get that feeling of admiration inside and wish I knew what it felt like for a day and they would deserve some respect for all the hard work they put in to get where they are but the 'weekend warrior' is where its at.  They're the foundation for all racing.  They drive hundreds of miles in their own car, pay for the gas and hotels, pay for the entry fees, tear up their body and their equipment, spend all their extra money on just getting to the races to have a shot at winning. And don't forget all the training they do during the week before and after work, even on their lunch breaks.  Most everyone is doing it clean too, and I think that its super-cool, its positive, its love for riding and racing, and thats what the cycling world needs and I want to help spread all of those things one bicycle at a time.  

Oh yeah, I wrote this whole spill and I forgot to say that although I know I'll probably never be a Armstrong supporter, and I hope that he has to confess and pay for his wrongdoings, I want to say that I hope he comes out of it a better person and I hope that others do forgive him and that he can resume a normal, happy, peaceful life.  I want to wish him well, I hope he finds his higher self.

Bmx Fail Compilation-Long live Youth

I've always had respect for free-stylers whether its on a BMX bike or skateboard.  For every sweet move they pull off you can bet that they've crashed fifty times trying to get it dialed in.  This video has some everyday crashes, some that make you laugh, and some that make you draw up and cringe.  Enjoy.

Factory Support

This is Branton Moore at a cross race in Little Rock this past weekend.  They had two days of racing with a good turnout on some tough courses.  Branton suffered some mechanical issues on this Saturday night.  What can you say, cyclocross is a tough sport.  As hard as it is on the riders its even harder on the bikes, thats why there is always more people watching races than riding in them.

Anybody that follows the blog knows this cat, he was there also sporting the new MEECH cycling apparel.  This is clearly before the race as everything is so clean.  Larry had a solid Saturday night with a 9th in the A class and then on Sunday a tree bit him in the first turn.  He had to whip the tree first to get his bike back and then started chasing.  Not sure where he finished but I'm all sure he was racing, he never stops.  Thanks Yancey!

This is Jeremy Ellis from Little Architect & Associates in Jonesboro.  They're one of our sponsors on our team kits.  Jeremy and a group of 5 others just did a 300 mile ride in under 24 hrs. for DARE, they picked a heckuva weekend to do it to.  Storms started blowing in not long after they clipped in, rained on them all night long, and then the cold overcast blanketed them all the way to Louisiana, but they made it.  'Never say Die'.  Good ride guys.  Thanks Jeremy for sporting the MEECH logo.  

Here the boys are after their arrival at the state line.  Wonder if they raced for it?  The riders are Jeff Chastain, Spencer Guinn, Andy Shatley, Jeremy Ellis, Brandon Siegal, and Jeff Herren. I may have spelled some names incorrectly so next time you see me in Jonesboro you can slap me straight.  Love ya.  I would call this an epic ride.  Can't wait to hear some stories about this one.  Nice job guys!

Jeff Chastain flexing after 300 miles.  I'm guessing that bike felt a little heavier than usual.

Good Boy

Yesterday my wife said something to our dog Dizzy that made me immediately think of Lance Armstrong.  She said, "Good boy, you did a big poo."

Something Finished

Oh my gosh, where can I start with my complaining about not having enough time to get everything done?  I'm not gonna do it because I know that you all are in the same exact situation.  It is what it is and we just deal with it the best we can.  Its been so long since I have posted a blog that 'Blogger' has changed. The other day I had one of my customers/readers get on to me for not blogging enough and all I can say is that I totally agree.  I finally got something finished yesterday.  This frame has been sitting in our spare bedroom for a month or so but it had no fork, so yesterday I finally got it sprayed.  The frame looks good and the fork looks good however I'm not so sure that they go good together.  I mean its not bad but i'm not sure that they meld.  I was gonna put a steel fork on this frame but then decide to put a carbon fork on to shave some weight and make it more raceworthy, racers tend to like lighter if you know what I mean.  I tell you what, if you want a steel fork to go with this frame I can build it.  Agreed.  I also have another frame over at Paul's getting sprayed, hopefully this week, for Andy D.  Thats actually the last frame I finished building and will be the last that I build until after the Texas Handmade Show thats coming up at the end of the month in Dallas.  The 27th and 28th if you want to go.  I have to get at least two more frames painted for the show and that is my priority between now and then.  The weather is changing, a lot of rain and a little cooler and since I don't have a controlled climate painting booth that presents a problem for me.  It has to be above 65 degrees and thats just to paint carbon, since steel is always about 10 degrees cooler than the temperature outside you need it closer to 75 to be painting steel and next week has a couple of days around that area and I just happen to be off.  wish me luck.  Anyway, luckily Ace said he would help me out even while he's working on his house.  I've been priming everything so all he has to do is spray the base and the clear.  He's saving me.  The forecast shows a few warm days in the week ahead so I'm planning on knocking one or two out.  Oh yeah, I just remembered that I also have to get Yancey's backup frame painted, thats three.  Oh well, I went to church this morning and the preacher said that God has a plan for me already made out so hopefully I can ask you to just roll with me. Thanks.

Oh no, more of these shots!.  Yeah, you know it. Hey, I'm an amatuer photographer and there is only so many areas/angles to shoot on a bicycle you know, unless someone is riding the bicycle and then the possibilities are endless.  Cross season has arrived and I have some frames rolling around the courses in all four corners, so send me some pictures of you riding and racing and give me something to blog.  I'd appreciate it.

I painted the brake bridge to contrast.  Did I really need to tell you that?  No, but I'm trying to make up for my lack of writing.

Jen-u-whine carbonified fiber chainstay 'slaption protector.'  Ok, I'm inventing words now.

This is what threw me off.  Enve's logo is just too cool to paint over so in an effort to let the world see it I left it unpainted.  The black of the carbon fiber is not exactly the same color black as the MEECH logo so thats where I feel like they don't totally meld.  However you know where they do meld?  This frame and fork are built for one another and will roll beautifully with one another so these two shades of black are just gonna have to get along.  Its all about the ride.

Overall I was pretty pleased with this paint job however I did have a couple of spots of overspray and this is one of them.  Just when you think you have everything taped off frome even one paint particle getting through you peel all the paper and tape off to find that you left a small opening and you're gonna pay the toll.  Its not gonna slow it down one bit.  Black on yellow is a tough one and doesn't allow much room for error.

Not an exact match but it will work.  Throw a white stem on it, perhaps a different colored saddle, some bar tape, maybe some wheels that have some white on them, one white spoke would be really cool, come on, use your imagination and you'd be surprised how good this frameset will look.  

MEECH, handmade in Mountain Home, Arkansas.  Come visit!

I think Dizzy may have outgrown his bed, it doesn't matter though because he's always sleeping in ours.  He jacks the covers all up.  Half the time I'm freezing with the corner of a sheet while he has the blankets, pillows, and all.  Then he wakes up all fired up ready to go run.  Dizzy consumes a little more time than I imagined but he's worth it, we love him.

Thanks for checking things out and I will try to be posting a little more frequently.  Chao amigos, love ya!

Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party

You've probably already seen this but I thought I'd post it anyway.  Some pretty amazing riding here. Turn the volume down cause the music SUCKS!

Finish Work

Couple of pics of Andy D's cross frame after the finish work was completed yesterday.  The frame turned out nicely and I can't wait to slap some color on it.  As is it weighs a scant 3.8 lbs. but when I took it out of the stand it felt really light so I had to throw it on the scale to see where I was.  With all the braze-ons on a cross frame they can be hard to get down below 4 lbs.  Even if you use True Temper S3 tubing you probably won't get it down below 3.5 lbs. and thats in about a 52cm frame.  Tenths of a pound aren't as big of a concern as the ride quality.  Its all about the ride.  Bolt some lightweight components on this thing and it'll easily be in the sub-18 lb. range.

I spend a little time on my fillet work.

Chainring cutout turned out nice and clean.

Whats shakin Beau?

Little custom work on the rear cable hanger.  I can't bring myself to use the store bought ones anymore, there as good as any but its supposed to be custom right?  I've seen some really intricate ones out there that are actually works of art but I like to keep my frames as tight and streamlined as possible.  

I'm gonna try and get the primer on it this weekend and then hopefully you'll get to see the finished product here pretty soon.  Thanks for checking things out.  Have a good weekend.

Little Fillet-Brazing

Finally got Andy D's cross frame brazed up yesterday morning.  As always, I build the rear triangle first, check the wheel alignment then the chainring clearance before proceeding.

Forgot to take a photo of the full frame tacked but I imagine you've all seen enough of those.

Can you fillet?

I bet you can.

Just pick up a torch and a stick of brass and melt it on just like you're painting it on.

I like this photo.  Little Mavic Carbonification in the rear view.  You don't think I throw just any wheel in between the stays  for mock-up purposes do you?

This one is for you Beau.

Throw a wheel in when its all finished just for good measure.  Need to stick a couple of braze-ons on it this afternoon then clean it up for some primer.  I hope to do a little painting in this coming week.  Working part time at the bistro has slowed down my actual frame production but its increased my enthusiasm for building frames and its gonna allow me to broaden the dream a little more in the future, plus they make some really good food and the atmosphere is good. If you're in Mountain Home you should check it out, 870 Bistro. I've already got plenty of work to keep me busy through the end of the year and probably starting the new year.  I've also got a plan for the year ahead. After I finish Andy's frame I'm gonna get to work painting some stuff for the Texas Handmade Show at the end of October.  When I get back from that I have a handful of frames to build for customers that will probably take me into the new year including my first BMX build that should be interesting.  During all this I plan on purchasing some more painting equipment to use when I can get it, and oh yeah, those carbon fiber dreams are still stirring in my head.  I really would like to get some carbon frame building under my belt this coming year.  So anyway, you've heard that one before but I really do want to make it happen its just gonna take some prioritizing (did I spell that correctly?) and I may just have to step away from steel for a short time or just take a limited number of orders and then after I get the carbon process dialed in I will be set up to do both more efficiently, that would be ideal. We'll see.  I remind myself that frame building is a long-term educational experience.  This coming year will be the start of year 5 of the frame building dream for me.  I think I'm somewhere right over 100 frames built and I still love it. Numbers don't matter though, its quality over quantity at MEECH.  Race on racers!  Never say die! Ever onward!  Victory or death!  Enjoy!

Strange Dream

Last night I had a strange dream.  Like most people I've had a lot of strange dreams, however, the main character in this dream was none other than Lance Armstrong.  I told myself I wasn't gonna talk about Armstrong anymore.  I realized a couple of weeks ago that I'm not interested in the drama anymore.  I also realized that pro bike racing doesn't interest me as much as it once did either.  I'm still gonna watch it, I'm still gonna pick out favorite racers and protagonists as I just like watching racers fight it out on climbs.  The climbs are actually the only part of bike racing that I get excited about.  I used to love the time trials. I don't know what happened but I can hardly watch them anymore.  I think all of this is just a natural transformation.  When I started building frames about 4-5 years ago I became more and more enthusiastic about building bikes and less enthusiastic about racing. Building became the priority. I still love to ride but its much more painful these days because I'm gradually losing fitness. I still love to suffer but now I'm suffering while riding 18 mph.  Not pretty.  Anyway lets get back to the dream.

There was a crowd of people gathered in a rather dark room.  It more or less resembled a nice stand-up comedy bar or perhaps where you would go watch a band on the weekend or something of that nature.  There was a stage with a handful of spotlights shining down and a red curtain as a backdrop. There were also a couple of tables on the stage, long tables set up end to end.  The crowd was made up of all kinds of different people. Most were dressed pretty casual, nice but casual, and I noticed quite a few were wearing suits.  There were no chairs on the floor, everyone was standing and for some reason they weren't standing in the middle of the room but were all standing toward the right side of the room.  Then three or four guys started bringing out all these glass bottles and jugs from behind the curtain and arranging them on the tables.  The jugs and bottles were all different sizes ranging from an average size jar, to a whiskey bottle, and even some really big glass jugs, you know, kinda like those big glass bottles that sometimes people put all their change in.  All these bottles were clear and appeared to be filled with urine.  Intermingled between these urine filled bottles and jugs were all types of smaller bottles.  Some looked like pill containers and others looked like energy drinks and things, they had labels on them and looked like something you would buy.  All the people are standing around talking among themselves, saying things like, "Whats going on here?"  I was wondering too.  Then after all the tables were completely filled with glass bottles and jugs filled with urine as well as all sorts of other bottles of various things, the 3-4 guys walked off the stage and everybody was just standing there looking at all this stuff.  After a few minutes Lance Armstrong walked out from behind the curtain and up to the podium and  picked up one of the little bottles and just started pouring pills out into his mouth.  Some were going into his mouth while others were falling all over the floor and bouncing around. Then he'd pick up an energy drink and pour that all over his face, and then more pills, going from bottle to bottle and just making a total spectacle of himself.  The whole time he was doing this he was dancing around in little circles, kinda like a joker trying to entertain a king.  He was just laughing his arse off at everyone, dancing little circles, pouring pills and drinks all over his face.  Everyone in the audience was real quite and serious and not really saying anything, just watching the whole spectacle unfold. I then noticed that the people that were wearing the suits were not happy but appeared very serious and somewhat annoyed.  This is basically how the dream ended.  There was no big finale and many people were walking out right in the middle of the whole thing as it became uninteresting after a while. 

 This dream doesn't really appear to be very complex or difficult to figure out.  Its basically what has transpired throughout the whole Armstrong investigation.  The one thing that totally confuses me with this dream is that I was laughing too, I was laughing even harder than Lance Armstrong.  If you know me at all you know that I've never been an Armstrong fan, so I clearly wasn't laughing with him but I don't know what I was laughing at.  That's how the dream ended, me just laughing my butt off.  Maybe I was laughing because I finally realized that all this is just a big joke and of no real importance in my life or anyone else's unless you make it a part of your life.  Its really no more interesting than some movie star or rock star getting into some kind of trouble, but because we love cycling so much we make this stuff an important part of our lives when in fact its nothing.

 I read this morning that Lance was competing in some non-sanctioned triathlon that apparently the Livestrong Foundation had invested in recently.  Looks to me like Lance is back having to pay entry fees in order to race just like the rest of us, only he's paying ten-fold.  I'm reminding myself as I speak, that as much as I can't stand him, he is only human.  Its sad really.  He's abandoned just about anyone who loved him, his entire life's work is crumbling in front of him, and he still seems to have something to prove at the races.  He's got nowhere to go.  I think he's running from himself.  Why doesn't he just start promoting races for racers and fans in order to give back to the racing community.  He has the money and sources to pay good prizes and he would be involved in positive aspects of cycling. It would probably help heal some of his wounds.  Oh well, its not my worry as I'm no longer interested. It was just a dream.  Rock on LA!