Chain-Lube Creeping Toward $10,000 A Barrel

My crain is brampin’ right now. Okay. Focus. Focus. How much would a barrel of Finish Line cost? (picture a hamster running on a squeaky drum-treadmill between my ears)

At the rate of $7 for 120ml Finish Line, you’d pay $58.33 for a liter of Finish Line. If Finish Line were available by the barrel, 159 liters, you would pay $9274.47 for a barrel-full of slippery happy bike goodness. Holy crapoli!

Oh you want gallons? You are so not Euro. Send back that Quick Step team kit right now! For the metric system snubbing general public, Finish Line chain-lube costs $224/gallon.

Continue reading Chain-Lube Creeping Toward $10,000 A Barrel…

The Philosophical Underpinnings of BioWheels Group Rides

Riding a bicycle, regardless of whether you’re a serious road cyclist, commuter, trail rider, or weekend athlete, is done mainly for the FUN of riding. With this in mind, we would like to take this one step further and put purpose behind our riding. Along with the FUN why don’t we have an impact on the world that we live in? How do we do this? Let us explain…

The bicycle, believe it or not, has historically been the vehicle of not only people trying to get from one place to another, but also one of societal change. With the advent of the mass production of the bicycle, individuals have enjoyed for years the same freedoms we feel today on two wheels. Cyclists championed the development of our original roadway system. The emancipation of women concurred with their use of the bicycle to empower their organization of protest. Professional sports was first challenged by the racially oppressed in 1862 with Marshall “Major” Taylor causing the greatest equality argument of his time, this was a first step toward the Civil rights movement. Today the world over the bicycle continues to shape our planet by empowering people of developing nations to travel without the need for expensive oil-based fuel. You get the idea. Now how do YOU fit into the grand scheme of societal change?

Riding a bike:
· Is physically healthy and sets an example of health for others in our society
· Is good for the local and international environment by reducing the impact of carbon based fuel use
· Reduces automobile traffic and congestion
· Brings people together for common happiness and enjoyment

It is this final point that we can personally use to affect our world on the local level.

To expand on the significance of common happiness and enjoyment while riding, we at BIOWHEELS propose the following riding philosophy to spread happiness and enjoyment while riding a bicycle (these are adapted from the teachings of a guy some called the Buddha):

WHILE RIDING A BICYCLE…

• LOVE:  An intention and capacity to offer joy and happiness, while riding a bicycle. We LOVE our bikes. We LOVE each other. We LOVE our planet! Smile. Share your joy and happiness and just be… here… now… while riding a bicycle!
• COMPASSION: The intention and capacity to relieve and transform suffering and to lighten sorrows, while riding a bicycle. You are transforming your personal suffering by relieving your stress and being good to your body.  At the same time you are relieving the stress on the planet. How noble an act! Lighten the sorrows of those we share the road with, namely automobile drivers by being COMPASSIONATE to the fellow human beings behind the wheel of that car trying to pass you as you ride. This applies to other riders and users of the outdoors. If you were them, how would you feel? What would the right thing to do be in that situation? Just try to identify with the human-ness of each other, respectfully, while riding a bicycle.
• JOY: True love, while riding a bicycle always brings joy to us and to those we love. Wave to the motorist with a smile in your heart as they pass you. Say a kind word as you ride with each other, or pass another rider or hiker on the trail, or someone walking along the roadside. This joy that you have is infectious and will encourage others to be kind to you, while riding a bicycle.
• EQUANIMITY: The wisdom of equality. Nonattachment, nondiscrimination, even-mindedness and “letting go” while riding a bicycle. This is the toughest one of all for us in our country. Our society has emphasized individuality to the point of isolation and arrogance. Your “right” to be where you are on your bike is actually EQUAL, yes, EQUAL to the person in the car on the road or sharing the trail with you while riding a bicycle. There is, in actuality, an enormous world with enough space for all of us. We get in to trouble when we try to “claim” that space and time as “ours” and “not theirs” at certain moments in time. Sometimes we feel certain rules of the road and the trail, brought into effect by our elected government for the safety of ALL people, do not apply to us while riding a bicycle. Mutual compassion and respect can then disappear. Be aware. This division is where a good bit of mutual frustration develops. Try to keep this EQUANIMITY in mind when you go out for your ride. Dissolve the division on your end. Let go of your assumptions of superiority and self-importance. We are all interconnected, do not discriminate yourself from other two-wheeled brethren, those in cars or those on foot.  Be an example while riding a bicycle. Obey the law; share the road and trail, and BE NICE while riding a bicycle.

If we all can just try to remember some of these points while riding a bicycle, we can earn the respect of our non-riding peers instead of demanding it. We will make our area a better place to live through an example of what health and happiness can accomplish. We can make our planet breath a little easier by reducing pollution and making more people smile. We can share our knowledge with those new to riding in a respectful, open, atmosphere of improvement and encouragement. With these goals in mind, all rules of our group rides will be based in this riding philosophy.

Chad Schoenauer BIOWHEELS ride leader

ENJOY YOUR RIDE!

A Day in the Life

What I persevered today:

By Wesley A Miller, Esq.

Waking up at 5:30 AM to my dog stepping on my testicles

Gaining my senses to realize it was actually 6:00

Skipping coffee to catch the 6:30 bus

Sharing a seat with a man with obvious hygiene resource inequities

Shouting at the bus driver as he attempted to drive off with my Road Bike on the rack

Arriving at work. Period.

Finding my first client wasn’t until 8 AM, and no one bothered to call me.

Receiving none of the ice cream cake because I had a lunch meeting without food.

Comparing my plight with that of Milton from “Office Space”

Eating a mealy golden delicious apple instead

Having a client that was just a special shade of crazy

Inspecting my Scott CR1 to find my rear tire at 75 PSI

Freezing blisters on my hands because my CO2 trigger dethreaded

Admitting that as of this morning I weighed198 pounds naked as a jaybird

Seeing my ex-girlfriend cruise up beside me as I roll out of the office parking lot

But wait, there’s more!:

Pedaling up to find the barriers up on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Time-trialing the 1100 feet to the gap in 22:30; not great, not bad

Seeing only two other pedal-pushers the entire time

Noting that both are Biowheels Racing Teammates

Screaming down Elk Mountain Scenic Highway faster than I should have with a flat tire

Accomplishing this without careening off the side of the mountain

Logging another 29 beautiful, solitary miles

Living to tell about it. So I am

Grab your wool knickers!

Racing has it’s place, but so does pedaling around the countryside checking out the sites! This just looks like fun…..no helmets, no lycra, and no hammering!

Part 1

Part 2

Kent Peterson’s Blog

If you are interested in some of the best and most interesting writing on the web be sure to check out Kent Peterson’s Blog.

Kent is one of the people who inspired me to give up my corporate job, not worry so much about money or security, and move to Asheville to work at BioWheels.

How not to be?

Dirt Ballin’ - by Perry Johnson

Muscles tremble throughout my body, soon the quaking fibers will propel me, the anticipation will transform into adrenaline . Now my fingers attach the front wheel. An eager leg swings over the frame, foot meets pedal and I am hurled forward. The winding dirt road gives way to trailhead, a hallowed entrance into the deep forest beckons. The corridor is narrow, littered with rocks, roots of the passing trees snake across my path. The obstacles are a welcome challenge, the trail now heads toward an unseen horizon, up and up legs afire lungs heaving I go. Endless miles are covered in pursuit, the goal ahead a descent unseen by my eyes. Settled into a rhythm the climb is no longer foe, instead it becomes the companion of the wait. Atop the magnificent mountain the view is expansive, below me the trail slithers like a dragon, the descent either leading to the glory of the slay, or the pain of a scorching attempt gone awry. Either way the journey is all this traveler requires. The trees grab me with outstretched limbs, thorns and briars sink into my flesh, rocks jut from the ground rattling me to the core, mud spits onto my face and grits in my teeth. Blood tickles my extremities as my chain rattles, fueled by the water flowing down parched throat, my body heaves itself in delicate balance, switchbacks and obstacles are negotiated leading onward, Again the dirt road welcomes my now weary body, aching I turn to bestow the forest with a parting glance. My bicycle and I triumphant in today’s quest, the playground of my maturity to be visited again,

Declassification of the Bicycle

It strikes me that in this day in age the unyielding pursuit of an identity is the catalyst behind the vast majority of our problems.  The individuals need for uniqueness is driving deep wedges into societies and groups where differences are fabricated for superficial purposes.
Undoubtedly, evidence of such occurrences spread over the entire realm of human experience.  Yet, there is one occurrence where this social casting is of direct relevance to you and me.  The sport of cycling is being divided into categories and even further into sub-categories.  There are numerous reasons behind this movement, company marketing schemes, NORBA race classifications, riders seeking identity, etc., and while these motives seem to have utilitarian purposes, the overall effect it is having on our sport is rather detrimental.  We cannot lose sight of the fact that we are all cyclists.  Deep down whether your primary time on a bicycle is as a commuter in the city, or a mountain biker downhilling on heinous singletrack, we are all moved by the pulse of bliss found in the saddle of a bicycle. 
This should be more than enough to unite us in a concerted effort to maintain the freedom we require to follow our passion.  As other trail/road users develop their opinions of us the spaces that we roam are slowly dwindling.  It is this threat that should now more than ever bring us together as a unified family of cyclists willing and able to throw ourselves and our talents into the fight for the right to bicycle when and where we so desire.  
Forget trying to distance yourself from the other segments of the sport and begin to join your brothers and sisters.  For a bicycle is a bicycle is a bicycle, and no matter how you use it to chase your passion I stand with you, and urge you to stand with me.- Perry Johnson

Springtime Comes to Pisgah

Many a foible, these boys did see
On the most tasty singletrack w/ gaps of three.
Undulating through rocks
On the cusp of spring
A ‘whack’ to the down tube,
What’s another big ding?

Buds in the hard woods,
Needles on the ground
Even with suspension
We were all thrown around.
Sailing over the bars
Without any notice
Ben landed laughing about smashing
Last year’s components.

Across another bridge, the South Mills’ does sing
We all dove into the cold water,
where I shrank my thing.
‘Tis only March 12th
So much riding til even summer,
Riding in Pisgah is never a bummer.

-enjoy the pics