my bikes

i usually get embarrassed when asked how many bikes i have. its not that im shy or ashamed. i think that it boils down to others not understanding my passion behind bikes. or maybe they just dont understand bikes. or maybe even more they dont understand passion. since i was about 5, i treasured riding my bike. it was my main mode of transportation. it was my main source of fun and mischief. it was my get away vehicle. it was my pimp mobile. and it was rad.

as i grew, it became my fun. it became my hobby. my friend james and i would ride every day. after school during the year, and for the most part of the day in the summer, we would be out riding out bikes. usually on construction sites, making makeshift ramps and jumps. conquering obstacles. testing our limits. and crashing. but sometimes we would venture into the sonoma mountains where we would ride up and up for 2.5 hours. then down in 15 minutes. top speed: 52 mph.

and i think radio freddy has done a fine job this morning describing "the bike room":

Every cyclist needs a place where they can both retreat and hang their equipment, a place where old tubulars go to die and plastic bins divide up small parts and little things that one day will prove their usefulness again. A place where chain lubes and embrocations stand side-by-side, ready to serve both rider and machine. This space maintains a degree of organization that differs as greatly as cyclists do, yet it allows every rider the ability to be prepared to roll out the door in a matter of minutes. It's as much physical space as it is mental space. Whether it's a closet, a corner of the garage, or a full-blown room, the area that houses your gear is called the bike room.

Over the years, my bike room has ranged from a messenger bag to the trunk of my car to a full-on basement complete with a roller cabinet filled with tools and a floor covered in anti-fatigue mats. My brain sees things in retail terms, a result of my years in the bike industry. Hooks for wheels and machines, a cabinet for tools, which is organized by things that open and close (pliers, cable cutters) to screw drivers and allen keys to frame tools. Everything has a place and aids in the efficient flow of bike building, simple repairs and, of course, coffee at dawn. During the coldest winter months, it's a training studio complete with DVD player and rollers: a place to recharge the soul when the roads are unrideable and to tinker on old machines in a sort of "on-going, non-going" project.

The bike room is a vacation, a spa, a bunker, a spin class, a tool shed, and an all around hide-out. The bike room allows me to completely immerse myself in my passion and escape from the outside world.

ive been thinking about hobbies lately. what are they? why do some people have them and some do not? can socializing be a hobby? can praying be a hobby? how about work? how about those people that have a million hobbies? how about trading them off like the latest fashion and collecting a huge mound of crap that was once a passion and now it collects dust. ever been in the store "play it again sports"? incredible. dead hobbies. passions lost. out-grown.

out grow.

i think hobbies and passions are good.
and i get a lot of quality time with myself in my bike room. and on the trail.

kind of like this:
The Lord God took the Man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. -Ge2:15