Letters

We get a lot of emails, mostly spam telling us how many companies want to buy all our pristine, off-limits ad space.

It would be great if we got more letters like this one written by Jeff M. A couple months back we reposted one of Jeff’s blog entries about trying to borrow some air at a local track bike boutique. (Add a couple pictures to the mix and a photo of Jeff’s bike(s) and its complete.)

To the lords of the land,
…

We are based out of Montreal and specialize in swillin’ ‘n swervin’, social commentary and surfing, in no particular order.
The particular flavour(in a river) of surfing to be had in Montreal is wholly not accepted by 99% of surfers, so that helps keep the culture vultures away.
River rats, essentially, scraping funds to manage h*ll trips to New England, Nova Scotia and an array of other spots when time and swell combine.

Might be late to the party (usually am), but I got my parents rooting through some old boxes in their basement looking for a pair of Briko Stingers I used to cherish. In my mid-teens, those glasses, plus a cycling cap (very taboo in my area, at that time) made me feel Euro and invincible on my road bike. You see, there’s that Ryder Hesjedal hoser, pretty fast, even the Euro’s might admit, but he used to whoop my butt back in the early days of the BC mountain bike racing scene. Minutes, never seconds, but I figured he was gonna be a fast guy by world standards at some point. Looking back on that scene brings nothing but amazing memories – what a great time it was and I was too young to really appreciate it. BC peoples are a different breed. Hesjedal’s first coach Ron Hayman(7-11) lives in my hometown and was a constant inspiration for myself and alway weaved some interesting Euro lore. Not to mention, the random French man that lived in my hometown, who used to ramble about competing in the Classics, all the while, smoking ciggies and cursing anything not made of steel. Luckily, as a shop rat, I had a legit crew of mechanics(including an A1 wheel builder) that taught me a heckuva lot about the world from a very young age; instilling cynicism, logic and high snobiety that took years for me to be thankful for. Along with my own experiences, they helped me to appreciate the nuances and details of cycling. According to that crew, messengers in Vancouver and Victoria were riding track bikes from the early 90’s onward to offset the constant maintenance due to unreasonably shite weather. They also preached that a track bike is the fastest thing around and forced me to ride one to work on my pedal stroke.

Either way, decent cycling culture in Penticton and no shortage of epic(never use that word seriously) rides. Plus the annual influx of Ironman participates supplies a IV drip of cycling absurdities. I never quit riding, but I quit racing. So, that’s where I’m coming from in the cycling world: BMX -> Mtb -> Road/Cross -> Swill n Swerv x Cruise n Perv.

Just found out my old riding buddy of 15 years just got run down and killed near my old hometown on Wednesday; unlicensed, unregistered car. Shoulders as wide as lanes in those parts. 1.5 car door collisions this year and I was thinking I was unlucky. Tragic.

http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/161507185.html

C’est la vie, keep up the good work.
Thanks again for the entertainment.

Jeff