Rainy Day Reads

Crap.  Nearly 11 am on a Saturday and I have done nothing but drink coffee.  Well, there were 3 sausages that I ate.  Slept in until 9 am.  Wasting the day away.  It is wet outside.  We have enough food in the home to last us until we absolutely need to leave the warm confines.  And there are a million things I should be doing at this time.  I have two bicycles with flats that need mending.  I should visit my mother to see if she still hates me.  I need to get two wheels to a shop for new spokes.  But I hate riding in the rain or recent rain.  Read.  Yes, I should read.  Here are a few of my favorite reads.

Bicycle Times Bicycle Times link

This is the sister publication of Dirt Rag.  BT is marketed to people like me that ride bikes in the real world.  Commuters, tourers ect.  Not the $10K 15 lb carbon stick bike racer.  Cargo bikes, touring stories, reviews on lights ect and bicycle advocacy.    I think it comes out 6 times a year.  Check it out.  It is the bike magazine for the rest of us, those that rather carry beer on their bikes rather than clean urine for the post ride UA.

BIKE

Aimed at mountain bikers and with a tendency to review $5K mountain bikes may not be the magazine for me.  But over the years I fell in love with the writing.  Mike Ferrentino's column, The Grimy Handshake, is a masterpiece of writing every month.  It is usually the first thing I read.  New columnist Kristin Buthcher's Buthcher Paper is also a great read. Joe Parkin is their latest editor.  When he graduated from high school he moved to Belgium and became a professional racer.  He was in Europe at the same time as LeMond and 7-11.  After Europe he raced in the States for Coors Light and Pettyjon.  Eventually he crossed over into mtb racing.  His book, A Dog in a Hat describes his European racing years complete with honesty about drug and bribery culture and the early deaths of cyclist to EPO. I need to resubscribe.  My bad.  Other great things about BIKE is the photography, mostly submitted by readers.  Epic photos.  Stories of travel are great as well as technical advice, interviews and tests.  Their face off between 26" and 29" wheels including setting them on fire and rolling them off a cliff with photos.  Classic!  You can find BIKE wherever periodicals are sold or at BIKE

Bicycling

I used to have a subscripting to this magazine.  But it became all about expensive bikes, how to train a whiner for a century ride and how to eat.  I will note that the nutrition articles are good and that I need to read them.  Occasionally there are a few articles that merit extra attention.  While at the airport I discovered that I had zero reading material so I visited the gift shop and picked up the November 2012 issue of said rag.  Found an excellent article written by Bill Strickland about racing.  Although I that genre of biking does not really suit my fancy, Exactly the Right Moment is a captivating use of the written word and a true pleasure to read at 35,000 feet.

For those that prefer to take an electronic reader, Kindle, iPad, Nook, tablet,smartphone, maxi-electric-pad to the john for entertainment I recommend following Ec The Cyclist on Wattpad. Ec is an exciting and captivating author and an "urban cyclist."  His entry,  The Cyclist--Effin' Zombies is one of my favorites.  Please read it.

Time to get lunch going and then to tackle a few flat tires.  I need a full time mechanic here at Festung Ebar.  Shit, that is me!

Cheers!

Thank you for reading!