Extraneous Zoo Animals.

"if you’re going to love something cycling’s a good choice." - eben weiss.

for years eben weiss wrote the bike snob NYC blog anonymously. well, maybe not so much as anonymously, but a highly guarded secret. weiss poked humor at all elements of cycling and often admitted to his own faults as a cyclist. coming out of obscurity, weiss released Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning The World of Cycling which should be required reading for all cycling enthusiasts.

in his book, weiss carefully documents the past, present, and possible future of cycling. there are small autobiographical chapters in which weiss attempts to retrace the route - nearly impossible with vehicular congestion - of an early 1800s bicycle race. weiss reminisces about his time as a bicycle messenger: “I absolutely loved working as a bike messenger...the fact that any responsibility lasted only as long as you had a package inside your bag.”

the book was loaned to me by greg wessel to whom I am grateful for. between greg’s *comical* displeasure of fixed gear bicycles to his expert knowledge of bicycle mechanics I acquired a road bicycle this summer and began to enjoy the beautiful misery associated with racing such a vessel. as such, when megan milligan’s friend arrived in honolulu my welcome gift was weiss’ Bike Snob book.


























the last few weeks have brimmed with activity. marissa eshima, leroy lehano, curt, and I went on leisure bicycle ride into the lush mountains of manoa. then I decided to climb the most difficult hill on the island of oahu: willeminha rise. willeminha rise has a 13.6% average percent gradient and I swear every percentage was felt. jeremy pang accompanied me for the ascend up willeminha rise, ending up at maunalani community park where HNL bike polo was hosting the first ever bike polo tournament - correct me if I am incorrect - entitled “broken coconuts.”

nimz surprised me by coming home three days early. I was in such shock that it took a day for me to rationalize that my gal was indeed home. thank you NOAA for chartering an earlier flight.

at mccully warehouse I met damek maurice from oregon. damek showed up on an older cambio team cannondale road bicycle and inquired a job as a warehouse mechanic. damek explained that he was back in honolulu to finish his schooling. we immediately bonded over the fact that we are both good friends with shanna belknap. so I asked damek if he was racing the dick evans memorial road race.

damek explained that he was in no shape for the lengthy road race. I explained that for the last two weeks I have been desk-ridden with a new career as program coordinator of KVIBE. without hesitation I sponsored half of damek’s entry fee and we both jokingly agreed to do our team - cambiamento d andaturo - proud by holding the “third group” strong. there is no way I am going to be anywhere near the first nor second peloton at my rate.

it is humorous how much responsibility I acquired recently: from bicycle messenger to being in charge of a non-profit bicycle education program. humorous indeed.