All posts by Mike

All the things she does at the shop; how does she keep it together? Yesterday’s stress relief

Click on photo for video
https://www.facebook.com/ChainReactionBicycles/videos/10156715067809234/

That’s supposed to be an embedded video, showing how Becky manages to “cool off” after a long & hot day at the shop. Becky’s the person pulling things together at the Chain Reaction Bicycles, and not at all behind the scenes. She’s the go-to person for anything involving the special Project One Trek bikes, with people traveling miles to see her, probably more than anything because she’s got a way with colors. I’m not even allowed into the conversation- she thinks I’m not even qualified to choose a bottle cage color. Unfortunately, she’s probably right.

She also knows more gearing options than most “experts” coming into the store, said “experts” who typically refuse to take what she says for an answer because she’s a girl. They’ll walk over to me and ask the same question, and I tell them, Becky’s got it down, why are you talking to me? She knows the part numbers and has the connections to make things happen.

And she’s the first person you see if you’re looking to work for us.  And she puts together our outstanding apparel selection… shoes, shorts, jerseys, jackets, socks… if you want to see the ultimate, “greatest hits” selection of socks, check out our sock wall.

But most of all she tries, as much as it’s possible, to keep my life a bit less stressful. Probably because, since she lives under the same roof with me (she’s my daughter, by the way), it makes it less stressful when she sees me at home. Then she can spend her effort being stressed out over her cat, who sometimes doesn’t realize it’s his job to return home from his vermin-hunting duties before Becky does.

So if you come across Becky and she’s looking a bit stressed, it could be because I’ve piled a zillion too many things on her plate, or it could be that it’s been too long since she’s been out getting sprayed along with the sunflowers.

15mph? I wish! Slow roll with a wounded knee (not mine)

Hot? Yes, we knew it was going to be hot, so the idea of a really long ride, or even doing Mt. Hamilton, so those ideas were left on the table. We’d do the usual Sunday ride, except we didn’t. Before we even got to Old LaHonda Kevin’s knee started acting up. It… was… slow. We hoped that maybe the warm temps might loosen things up, but no such luck By the time we got to LaHonda it was pretty clear that the full loop wasn’t going to be a good idea, so we took the shortcut home.

West Alpine is a shortcut? West Alpine is easier than something else? Not really, but it is Kevin’s favorite climb. It’s just not a climb we’d normally be doing at under 200 watts! The really strange thing is that, for me, effort doesn’t seem to “scale” down along with comfort. I feel better, in some odd way, at a faster pace than slower. I never seem to develop a rhythm at a slower pace. Still, it did allow me to actually have some conversations with Kevin, instead of constantly being out of breath and only able to answer questions with a yes or no, never get to ask a question nor give an essay answer.

Kevin did take advantage of this to try and make sure I could understand some basic French prior to heading to France, and of course, I failed miserably. But overall the ride didn’t feel like a failure. Just over 40 miles, saw turtles and a very large bird at the LaHonda duck pond (Heron). Later on, descending Skyline near the scenic overlook, I spotted Raven “tracking” Kevin for a while. Kind of cool. Also noticed quite a few butterflies out. Along with a single banana slug (on West Alpine, looking like it was trying to slink into a hole to get away from the heat), a single lizard (we expected to see many more, and maybe snakes too, on West Old LaHonda but curiously, just the one lizard) and several “wolf packs” of cars. Definitely a sign of the unofficial first weekend of Summer!