random tale...

don't know why but i started thinking about back when i was messengering as i usually do. how, as the years passed, my work bike slowly adjusted to my needs. i started off on my sisters pink huffy. im sure many are tired of hearing that story so i won't say more than that...oh yeah, it was embarrasing. i got some loot together and got on a faster bike...a lotus road bike. that was nice but too much maintenance. Lord knows im no good at bikes. it was also the bike i experienced my first official accident...taco'd my front wheel. stories for a later date...

anyway...i kept seeing this cat that used to ride for "on the fly" all over town. he had this yellow bike...khs? i kept noticing the man had no brakes on his bullhorns. i thought for sure that was the way to go. i kept thinking it was a coaster brake. i, obviously, was wrong. well...i hadn't quite made the jump to buy a track bike just yet. i wasn't convinced it was the way to go until josh came around.



i believe he also worked for "on the fly" and might have made the jump to "service first" before leaving for california. anyway...i saw him blazzing south on michigan just after wacker. it's a nice downhill portion there and you can get alot of speed. anyway...there he was and me just seeing him flow like water through traffic. then he hits a quick left about to go up the hill towards 130 east randolph but off of lake...cats in chicago will understand how that works. he hits the left and i thought for sure he was toast. there was a sh*t ton of traffic headed north and there was no way he would be able to cut through it to get across and keep heading east up on the hill. ok...so he hits the left but i don't see him pop up on the other side...wtf?! "he was blazzing"...i thought to myself. where the hell did he go?! i ride up to the intersection and there he his...trackstanding waiting for his gap to open up and proceed with his delivery. i can still see him there...motionless.

i knew right then and there i had to get my hands on a track bike. i got my loot together and soon i had my hands on a bianchi pista. i had alot of good times on that bike. took me forever to get used to the fact that i didn't have a brake. sh*t...it took me forever to learn how to trackstand like josh. i thought for sure my bike was broken...it wouldn't trackstand. then brendt, who worked at standard with me and later cms(?), grabbed my bike and started doing backward circles on my sh*t. i never let on that i didn't know my bike could do that...ha! the man had this beautiful blue fort that i can still see like it was yesterday.

anyway...why did this story pop up? no reason...very random tale about my bikes and my silly as*. like i said...sometimes i get random images of cats i used to know...cat's i've crossed paths with...very skilled people...unsung heroes of sorts...peace.