Are New Forks as Good as a New Bike?

Nope. Probably not. For most people. I’d argue that though. When a bike has sentimental value upgrading parts is totally worth it. “Wait. What?” I hear the sceptics say… “A bike with sentimental value?” What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Well… Technically speaking, my bike is my wedding ring (with the cost at the time my other half would say engagement ring too if we were ever actually engaged but that’s a whole ‘nother story). So. Sentimental value. 6 year old Santa Cruz Bronson.

In my mind it’s totally fine to drop decent $$ on upgrades every season to keep this bike feeling like new. Last season (yeah I know. I didn’t blog about it) was drivetrain season – cranks, bb, shifters, 1×12. And new brakes. Again, another story I need to go back and write. Gah!

Anyway, this season was new fork season! Does that make anyone else a little excited? If this was a porn site I’d tell you just how excited it makes me. But it’s not…unless you’re wierd and bikes are porn. In which case, please be my friend! Because OMG I am seriously excited and bouncing up and down at the thought of hitting the trails as soon as winter is done.

It may have also become new dropper season, since my awesome bike mechanic at KLM Fitness in Rochester MI realized my Reverb was dead. Hey look. Another blog post topic on what and why I went to a cable dropper instead of hydraulic.

Anyway, I don’t have deets on what the fork is I just installed…and I probably didn’t answer the topic question. I’m not technical and too many concussions has killed my memory. So that’s another post. For now, I just know I can’t wait for summer rides and roadtrips to bike parks in Colorado. Oh. Look. More future blog post topics.

Procrastination Gets You Nowhere

Just like trying this line at the skate park, which I procrastinated over for way too long, I also procrastinated about putting this video out there. And writing this post.

Skate parks intimidate me. Always have and probably always will. But what I do with that feeling? That’s entirely up to me.

This visit to the skate park was my first this year. Pretty sad, since summer is almost over. I was definitely feeling intimidated on arrival. Hell, being there with my teenager is intimidating since she outrides me at every turn. For a while I just stuck to my usual go-to – rolling through the pumpy parts. It gets boring pretty quick. Thinking about what I could do made me realize it was time I stopped looking for excuses (too old, concrete hurts, it’s been ages) and just had a go at something.

Risk = Reward

And then… another 5 days goes by while I procrastinate about writing this.

Looking at this video and jump now it seems kinda tame. But at the time it felt awesome. Smooth. Freeing. And I didn’t miss the opportunity to point out to Sienna that I got it smooth on my third attempt.

Now I just need to make time to go back and do it again!

I. Die.

Not literally.

But getting back into inline skating hurts muscles I forgot that I had. After work we went for a cruise on our skates at River Bends Park in Shelby, MI. I am still loving the Rollerblade Twister Edge X skates and my confidence is growing… probably faster than my skill level.

Advice on re-learning to skate:

If you are doing an “out-and-back” type skate, park at the bottom of the hill, not the top.

One of the reasons behind me skating more is the fitness, and yeah, the extra muscles it utilizes over and above what I use when riding a bike. But the other reason is that I suck, badly, at pumping on a bike, so I am using skating to work on the motion of bending at the knees, instead of the hips. It’s not going well so far but we will see if my technique has improved at all tomorrow at the BMX track.

I have also challenged myself to try making some video edits instead of relying on my teenager to do it for me. At the time of posting, I have one (yes 1) solitary subscriber to my YouTube channel (thanks Evil Genius Girl) so more would be good please and thank you! Below is my first video – it’s kinda rough but I think it’s kinda ok too.

Philosophical Question #1

“…life’s short, so live it up”

Song: Live It Up
By Australian Hip Hop Artist: 360

The above is a line from one of my favorite ‘happy’ songs. And for the most part I, and we as a family, have tended to adopt this philosophy. We “Go See” and “Go Do” frequently, packing as much into our time as we can.

Why then, is it so hard to bring that attitude into play when it comes to getting fit, or training? Right now its the one thing I can’t seem to pack into my days…

Maybe I should pay more attention to the line:

“… So I started saying yes today
to all the things I said no to yesterday…”

Fat & 40

At it’s core, this blog is a way to hold myself accountable as I attempt to travel from Fat and Forty to into Fit and Forty-Something. Who am I accountable to? Mainly myself. Why? I have a Masters in Making Excuses. Probably should have been a lawyer, because I can find a reason to do, or not to do just about anything.

My biggest issue? Putting myself first… You know what it’s like when you have a kid, or kids? You try to do everything they need. For me this took the form of using my daughters activities as an excuse to not do things for myself. I will probably discuss my “above & beyond yet loose as fuck” parenting style in coming posts, but right now this is about me trying to do something hard. Something that WILL require me to put myself first. Something I will physically be incapable of completing if I do not make time for myself – to get fit, to train.

The catalyst for this blog is a 40 mile kinda gravel, kinda mountain bike event in Michigan’s UP (Upper Peninsula for those who are not familiar with Mitten State slang). I entered it. It’s not until 2020 (June 18 to be precise) but there are so many reasons this event sits WAAAYYYY beyond my comfort zone (also to be discussed). Those reasons are exactly why I chose The Crusher 40 (there is also a 100 mile and a 225 mile event for crazy people) as my challenge to drive changes in other areas of my life.

Cheers to motivation, change, challenges and new adventures.