Beard Update:

Fell short 66 days...
Sometimes ideas are not the best when not clearly thought out...
Sometimes we just need a fresh start.

As Linus is to his blanket, so I have become to my new toy…

Every year I like to treat myself to a little present from me to me. After a year or so of lusting, wanting, yearning and wishing, I have finally bit the bullet and bought myself what seems to be the most intelligent instrument I have ever had my hands on, the illustrious icon of human revolution: the iPhone. In the 1950s, NASA started sending wavelengths to space in the hopes to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial life; clearly the iPhone is the product of this allied attempt, as it seems to be some sort of advanced alien technology not derivative of human capability. I now walk around armed with more technology in my pocket than the astronauts equipped themselves with on their maiden voyage to the moon in 1969.



Yes folks it seems that I have fallen victim to the clever marketing tactics of the Apple Cooperation, as I am a Macbook user, own two iPods, and now the iPhone. What have I become, am I merely a lemming that has fallen in line with the masses? Perhaps…but I will tell you something, I have no words to describe how amazing this little device is. I have only owned it for about 72 hours and it has already changed my life in so many ways that I don’t know how I ever managed to function without it; it completes me. I will not ramble on about it’s virtual infinite possibilities and applications, but I will say this: if Steve Jobs offered me some tasty kool aid and asked me to lie down and take a nap, I may be so hypnotized by his ingenuity that I just may follow suit.

A Christmas Miracle: DVDs finally get Rad!

Looking for the perfect holiday gift this season for your velo-obsessed comrades? It is with great distinction and honor that I announce that recently, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the beloved BMX classic has finally hit the stores in DVD format! Yes folks we are talking about Hal Needham’s 1986 masterpiece, Rad. For the low price of $12.99 you could give the gift of cinematic excellence and unparalleled motivational inspiration during the off season. Want to kick off your racing season focused, ready to race, and with a radical soundtrack coursing through your head? Buy Rad, get Rad while on the trainer, and race Rad in 2009.

Wait…but that’s not all folks. What better to accompany your new Rad film than an official Rad Racing T-Shirt and other assorted merchandise? Get them while they last.


Have a Rad Christmas!

Can Timmy come out and play today?

The route was simple, dart out the back door, run through my neighbors backyard, squeeze through a set of pine trees trying not to get scraped, cruise along the west side of the house, and hop onto the porch from the side. As I would stand at my childhood best friend’s front door, heart rate elevated from the trip over and in elated anticipation to begin whatever adventure lay before us for that day, I would ring the door bell only to wait as his Yorkshire terrier yelped and piddled at the door while his mother answered the door, as I exclaimed, “Can Ryan come out and play”? This was an everyday ritual for me for a good ten years or so.

This past weekend I stopped by Alan Smith’s house while I was riding by and caught a glimpse of him in the window while he was riding the trainer. I stopped in to chat for awhile and catch up as he has been drowning in higher education responsibilities lately.

He shared with me about a recent project he did for school in which he promoted healthy active lifestyles to a 4th grade class in Flint. He posed the question to the class, “Do you regularly play outside?” to which the class answered “yes”. He went on to ask, “Do you plan on playing outside for the rest of your life”? The consensus response of the class was sadly that most of them will quit playing outside around the age of 17. To this Alan replied, “Really? I’m 33 years old and I still play outside everyday with all of my friends after school”.

The class was filled with undivided intrigue and with the help of two stationary trainers equipped with power output and some Gary Fisher Precaliber 24 inch mountain bikes donated by American Cycle and Fitness Alan hosted a trainer race for the rest of their time while pitching the idea of cycling for life.

A few days later, Alan received some thank you letters in the mail from the class.

“When I was riding that bike, I felt like I was making history”

“As I stepped off the bike, my legs felt like they weighed a million pounds”

After I left Alan’s house to ride into the cold night and meet up with the Hermit-man, Alan’s story resonated in my head and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I’ve always loved the camaraderie training and racing has to offer but I guess I’ve never really broken it down into the simple and innocent idea of playing outside with my friends. I guess when I step back and look at my life, not much has changed from when I was ten years old to now. I still go to school for nine months out of the year, I still play outside with my friends everyday, and although the price tags have increased, I still play with toys.


In an age when it almost appears as if kids don’t even get to choose what activities they’re into anymore, (i.e. Media saturated in Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Wii generated experiences, MySpace, Facebook, MTV, etc.) I think the simple idea of “playing outside” could be the best gift you can give a kid this holiday season. As the products we use in our everyday lives become more and more disposable, we should make sure our experiences do not as well.

When recently interviewing my nephew over Thanksgiving I asked him if he remembers what I bought him for his birthday this year to which he replied no. However, when asked, “do you remember when we went mountain biking together?” he replied, “How can I forget”.

Are you going to go outside and play today? You should…it’s fun!

Beard Update #1

Three more months to go and I can already barely stand it. How burly will it get? Stay tuned...

Light, Cheap, Strong…who says you only get to pick two?

If any of you have ever met Brent Delrosario you will know that he is best categorized as a mover and shaker. He is always conjuring up some new idea whether it is making fashionable handbags out of recycled bib numbers or pioneering, creating, and building his own cutting edge wheel company, Flit Wheels.

With the dawn of more readily available space age materials, racers are no longer just racing each other but rather in a race of innovation. For years, a good set of race wheels could set you back virtually the price of your complete bike or maybe even your first car.

Flit Wheels, created by our very own Michigander Brent and fellow WSC member, has proven to be a savior of sort to deliver the racing market from the banes of over-priced race wheels. Brent has clearly displayed that quality does not have to be sacrificed with reduced cost.

Recently, I had the privilege to sit down with Brent and ask him a few questions about the brains behind Flit Wheels.

First off, why Flit Wheels?
Honestly, I have no clue.

What inspired you to start your own wheel building company?
It’s a true fairytale. Last winter we were looking for some high end track racing wheels for Maia. Nothing could be found in our budget, so we sat around that night talking how they need to make high-end wheels for the budget racer. But they still gotta be Billy bad ass fast. Then we realized, "why not us?"

What do you hope to accomplish with Flit Wheels?
We starting this to get young racers a chance to compete with high-end equipment -without the high-end price tag

Is there any discipline you see Flit focusing on (mtb, road, track TT?)
Right now its road and track with some cx and TT flavor. But we don’t want to be tunnel visioned.

There are a lot of carbon MTB wheels hitting the market these days...any future plans to delve into this market?
We are actually looking into it. What we would like to do would is offer wheels for all mtb wheel sizes. Right now we are working on a crazy light (1050g/set) climbing tubular wheel set, and a deep carbon clincher wheel set. Our aluminum clinchers will be ready by x-mas. I think tubeless road wheels/tires are going to start growing. Corima just jumped on the band-wagon. We always got something cooking in the oven.


Is there any future sponsorship plans for any teams in the future?
Crossing fingers on working with the Wolverine Elite team. Negotiations are on the table as I type this. We have also been talking to some continental and USAC protour teams as well. Nothing is a sure go yet.

Are there any racers on your product currently?
Nothing structured. Luke got on the podium at elite nats on some Flit wheels. Cruise will be going to collegiate cx nats on FLIT Wheels. Been trying to get the world renowned Tim Finkel to ride them, but he wants a signed contract first.



If you could have any cyclist in the world ride and represent Flit, who would it be and why?
Many riders run thru my mind. lance, mario chippo, hoy, the cricket, jens v, local hero F. Andreau, renkema, luke, cruise, dybo, sammut, maia, bruce carlson, kroske, DZ, mcEwen, cody brown, boonen, elias, M.Ball, benson brothers, and nick c -id be honered if anyone on that list would rep Flit. (yes i know, i missed a ton of you guys-you know i would be honered if you rep'd Flit)

Your wheels seem to be reasonably inexpensive, good quality, and Light weight...Tom Ritchey used to say Light, Cheap, Strong: You only get to pick two. However, it seems that Flit has been able to accomplish all three...how have you managed to achieve this?
It’s hard to say. Right now we are not concerned about making money. The orginal model we made for flit started out as a project, not business. We are never going to be rich from this, so we don’t make that our goals. Oh, it helps to know some key manufacturers that the industry tries to hide. It’s true; we don't CNC hubs and lay carbon in my basement.



There you have it folks…for more information and to order a set of your very own Flit wheels check out: flitwheels.com

Why the beard?

What started out as conformity to an honored Iceman tradition seems to be transforming into a symbolic icon for monkhood. What is monkhood you may ask? Monkhood is the nirvana embodiment of the “Who Cares I’m Flying” mentality, or the highest level of W.C.I.F. status achievable.

Based on a snap decision judgment by Angela presented just two weeks prior to Iceman, I had decided to quit shaving with the intentions of cleaning myself up promptly post race. However, as my face grew more scraggily, itchy, and somewhat of an annoyance to people I found that it started to serve as a motivational reminder of what is to come next season, The World 24 hour Elite Solo Championships.

In Rocky II, Mickey states that it takes 45,000 minutes of devote training just for 45 minutes of fighting. This quote resonated in my mind after hearing it. As my facial fur grew and I looked in the mirror I started to recollect what is quite possibly the greatest training montages ever, Rocky in IV training deep in the snow-scaped mountains of Russia in preparation for his match with Ivan Drago. It quickly became apparent that Rocky was clearly exhibiting to me what it takes to go into complete and total monkhood in preparation for such a life-defining event.

As you watch this rich and compelling sequence, simply substitute Rocky for myself, Adriane for Angela, Pauli with Kroske, the black trainer with Big Dybo and Alan Smith, and Ivan Drago with the four Australians that sweeped 1st-4th in the 2007 World event.


So alas…this is why my face continues to grow on, even after Iceman. In recent discussion with family and friends, I decided that I am going to attempt to refrain from shaving/trimming (with the exception of the neck and moustache) until March 3rd of 2009; the day of commemoration of 30 years of the Finkelstein.

I realize that this most likely will lead to me looking like a scraggily wooly bushman mess, but who cares, I’ll be flying!