something to write home about

District Bicycles

2011-10-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

We are opening our bike shop this week. Not sure exactly what day, but it will be sometime this week. Wow what a life change we've had these past couple of months, and I couldn't be happier with the decision. We feel more at home here than we could've imagined, and lots of people here are responsible for that. The community has welcomed us with open arms. I'm off to build more bikes this morning, powered by some coffee from Aspen Coffee Company.

We went with the name District Bicycles simply because "District" is a synonym for "Community." We want the people of Stillwater to feel as if this is their shop, a place where they have ownership. Without a true sense of community that would never be a realization. We want to learn together, grow together and ride together.

Here's to living intentionally. So many of you have helped me realize what this truly looks like. Thank you.

Bobby

race canceled

2011-04-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

well the race is canceled for this weekend but honestly for me that is a good thing. we have been very close to finishing the house for a few weeks now and maybe, just maybe we can finish it up completely this weekend. crystal said it best yesterday, "I'm sick of putting off fun things because of the house. so today is one of my days off and we're going to get as much done as possible. the sun feels nice coming through the window in my front room.

I'll miss this place. but I'm excited for what's next.

first race

2011-04-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

the first race of the season is this saturday. the lawrence river trail race is actually one that i've never done so i'm excited to check it out. i have off work all weekend so that means there might be some camping up at clinton lake for the weekend. i changed up the blog a little. it was needing a face lift and still needs a little work. can't wait to get on the bike with a bunch of other people. lets hope for no wet trails next weekend.

we had a show at the inner bean this past weekend as well and it went fantastic. here is a photo of me and my good friend owen pye playing a couple of songs together.

next post will have a picture of me on a bicycle. it's going to happen.

the hills are screaming for attention

2011-02-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

the flint hills...it's where my heart and mind want to be on a bicycle, as soon as humanly possible. 3 months down the road is the ride of my life and i haven't ridden even 50 miles total this year. wow, thats just about the most discouraging thing i could have written. seeing it out there like that is scary. no more excuses. the house is coming extremely close to being done. closer than ever. so riding is happening, soon.

that being said. here is the DK ride.

2011 Trek/Fisher Presidio. i did a little upgrading with the RXL wheels and XXX seatpost, and also threw my RXL saddle from last season on there. i finally got to take it for a spin last week with my wifey and her dad. just about 10 miles around town, but it was gorgeous and this machine is smooth. can't wait to see how it rolls on the gravel. i'm testing out the 1.75 XDX tires right now, with tubes. i'm wondering if they'll roll as fast as i want them to, and i'm also excited to go tubless later on closer to the DK. 200 miles in one day...it's daunting, but i gotta finish. thats the only reason i signed up.

as you can see behind my ride there is the final project of the great 3 year house rennovations. the staircase. i left it for last because i've never done anything like it before, and it has been pretty intimidating. i would say i'm about 1/3 done with the project at this point and just need to get all the staircase parts painted/stained and then go ahead and install them. most of the cutting is done, which is a big relief. after this. it's time to sell this beautiful place and take the next steps toward our future. i can't wait. big things. i just pray we can make everything happen that i know God wants for us. it's extremely easy to be lazy when you get home from work...but no more, we've got to finish what we've started.

if you have some time to read some excellent blogs go check out these places that i frequent often.

Gnat likes - jason is from minnesota and is the brand manager for salsa cycles. his love for photography has become a passion that is worth sharing. his images are fantastic. i look forward to seeing what he's captured while out on snow bike rides and DK training rides. he came to emporia last year for the race and is coming back again this june. hope he conquers the beast this year. read his blog, you won't regret it.

Matt Brown/High Gear - matt owns the bike shop here in emporia and him and steph (his wife) are two of my best friends. they just got back from a 3 week trip to an island close by aruba and had a wonderful time connecting with the locals there and got in some much needed time for themselves away from the craziness of the shop. keep up with him and the happenings in DK country, their shop is the epicenter of all things dirty kanza 200.

see you guys on the gravel soon. until then i'll be woodworking. and i can't wait to be done.

-bobby

cold october fall

2010-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

i love it when the air begins to thin and sound starts to travel farther and clearer at night. the cold chill of fall makes this happen. i'm sitting in my living room reading amazing blogs with fantastic photos of riding bikes in the mountains of california and i can hear a police siren quite a few blocks away, but it sounds as if it's right outside our door. everything else is still and quiet. i wish our life were still and quiet. this in reference to all the travel thats going on for my new job. it's a mess, but i know it's only temporary. i miss my friends, i miss my bike, i miss the shop, i miss the flint hills. by the way, if i'm hanging out with any of you that might be reading this blog in the near future, and i start to talk about cell phones, or trying to sell you a cell phone. punch me in the face.

i will thank you for it later.

we just turned the heater on last night because it felt like a walk-in-freezer in our house. i love the sound of the furnace kicking on. i can't describe it, but it just makes me feel all warm and cozy. i should for sure be in bed right now. i'm slowly making it that way. if you haven't had a chance to start reading eric benjamin's (adventure monkey's) california bikepacking story, do yourself a favor and head that way right now. it's beautiful, all of it. i'm so glad he got to experience a trip like that, and i pray others will benefit because of his opportunity. i know good things will come from it. even if it is encouraging others to just be more active, it was worth it. and it is always worth it to test yourself to your very core. for some reason we are trained to run in the complete other direction and seek out any and everything that can bring us more convienence, and that is hollow. i seek a simple life, with deep outcomes. not something easy that comes with no effort. i don't live this way everyday, or very often it seems. but reading eric's blog, and just being in the swing of things that i am right now, i realize more than ever that effort, doing something, and simplicity should be at the top of my list. all with love in my bones. where is this motivation when i need it most? stuffed away in a dark place that i refuse to seek out. i say to hell with that. let's live intentionally.

i'm a dad

2010-10-03T20:21:00.001-07:00

on aug 31st 2010 @ 7:26 am crystal and i became parents.

it was an unbelievable night/morning/day. we'll never experience it for the first time ever again. we've come so far together and now our love has helped in the creation of a new person. what a thought. what a feeling. we're both blown away. every moment together as a family is precious, and i wish i never had to go back to work and we could all just live, travel, bike, eat, sleep, love and bike some more together.

her name is emory mae wintle...and she's our pumpkin pie. at least thats what i've been calling her recently.

i hope she likes bikes. if not that's okay, but she'll be around them for at least the rest of crystal and i's life together, so she'll have to at least tolerate them. this picture is of emory in her onesie that crystal made for her to come home in. yes that is a handstitched bike, my wife is that cool.

things have just gotten started for us and this new family, and i can't wait to share all our adventures with the world through my little blog.

as for riding, i actually have had a chance to hop back on the bike for some good miles this past week. last sunday i went on a group ride with mr. matt brown, seagato, jed "pimp daddy" sampsel, scott o'mara and the diesel mike wise. i hadn't been on a bike for a long period of time in forever it seemed. especially not on gravel, especially not riding with the likes of these guys. we had a tailwind for the first half of the ride and we were headed to the towers. it's a staple training/fun ride destination for the locals and always apart of the DK200 route. it's gorgeous out there, the flint hills are full of beauty, i don't care what time of year it is. but this day was particularly gorgeous with the temps only hitting 65 and with big poofy white clouds reminiscent of our wedding day. the only thing not pretty was the way my legs started feel at mile 18...cramping and shot. i know that sounds pathetic...and it is. jed told me later in the ride, "if i don't ride, i don't expect to ride well." i can't agree with him more, and as defeated and unmotivated to ride as i was after the explosion in my legs, it has only sparked my desire to ride that much more. it always seems to happen that way for me. i decided to tear off from the group early and jed was kind enough to come and keep me company so i could think about something other than the lactic acid party that was now creeping up through my thighs. we stopped at randy's house (aka cyclist's heaven) and we were surprised to see lelan, randy and anne marie all just getting home from a weekend in topeka doing the MS 150. lelan made me a pb & honey sandwich and i destroyed a pop tart and raisins while hoarding the fridge and pantry in the beautiful log home. jed and i finally made it back to emporia, 46 grueling miles under my belt and a heavy dose of humility on my plate. i'm ready to get back to riding regularly.

i got a new job. i miss the bike shop everyday, but thus is how the bike biz goes, when it gets cold, people get off their bikes. i officially start at verizon wireless on oct. 11th. training begins that day in KC for 4 weeks straight. i'll be back on the weekends and on wed. nights to lead worship at youth group at 12th avenue. crystal and emory will be going with me part of the time which will be amazing, and i'm planning on the bike being there with me everyday. like i said. i gotta get some riding in.

i need some accountability for what i'm going to say next.

i want to ride and finish the Dirty Kanza 200 in 2011.

there. i said it. publicly.

this is the bike i want to accomplish that feat with. the 2011 fisher collection cronus cx. i think we will be a match made in heaven together. i love cross bikes, and i firmly believe they love me back. it's not available until january, but that just gives me a glimmer of hope to look forward to in the dead of winter. and hopefully a jump start in training when mother nature is at her worst in kansas. lets do this. adventure monkey said it best "get off the couch and start living." i intend to do so sir. i too believe nothing is impossible when we put our minds to it.

thank you for reading this. i hope it has put a smile on your face and brightened your soul for just a moment. have a campfire this fall...i'm going to. i'm going to try and make this blogging thing a part of my regular do-ings on the world wide web. love you all.

-bobby

Felt Comp Nine FOR SALE!

2010-09-07T07:00:00.001-07:00

once again if you have any other questions email me at bobbywintle@live.com

thanks!

how the time has passed

2010-05-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

alright, enough with talking about how long it's been since i last posted. lets get on with it.

last week me and a bunch of friends (huge thanks to bill, dustin BOgart, chuck, wiggins, jed and charlie for all their help. i seriously could not have done it without you guys). also for matt and stephanie giving me the time off needed to get the project done. of course i thought it was only going to take 3 days tops to polish off the new roof. and 3 days into it...i literally couldn't see the end. crystal and i's roof is steep, much steeper than it looks from the ground.

here is the house just moments away from completion.
okay, maybe still a few hours out, but we were getting close thats for sure.
so now everyone wants to know what the house looked like before we started painting and roofing it...so here you go.

notice the small details such as, no more chimney, a splash of landscaping around the front, and yeah we had to paint the house a color that made it look and feel like it had been there for a million years. rather than all white, not accentuating the character of the little swiss tutor home. we love this place...now someone come and buy it.

here she is all finished up...except for the small portion about the side door...yeah yeah, i'll get to it sometime this week. and oh yeah, a big thanks to phillip for letting me borrow a bunch of seriously necessary tools for the job. it would've been a nightmare without a roofing nailer.

here is me getting picture happy the day after the monumentous finishing of the roof job...and my wife is telling me to stop taking pictures because we're running late for the 100 miles to no where that adventure monkey put on last saturday. speaking of bicycles i want to show you something i built for my beautiful wifey.

the gorgeous bianchi...ahhh yes finally she is a single speed. some day it will have flat bars and just one little brake, but until then, this build will definitely do.

now i just need one.

so the roof is done, the bike is built, and now i need to raise the ceilings and sheetrock the upstairs at our house. after that, she's on the market. so if you're thinking about buying the cutest house ever...let us know.

-bobby

bike shop bike shop bike shop

2010-03-18T07:25:00.001-07:00

lets get in this thing SON!

we're all working ourselves crazy down at the shop. but no photos of the progress yet. you have to come to the grand opening to see the glory. we're hoping for monday...be there. okay so i know that i need to start posting some pictures with my blog and i will i promise. but as of right now i barely have time to brush my teeth these days. with workin on the house and the shop every waking minute, i just don't have time for much else, let alone blogging. but this is not a bad thing, do not read my wrong here. life is wonderful right now, simply wonderful. working hard and being crazy busy is definitely not foreign to me. we actually know each other quite well and have a fondness for the other i believe.

maybe that means i'll handle being a dad pretty well.

so i'm not trying to sound whiny or anything like that here but we need some trail action in our lives. all of us here in muddy, wet kansas, we're starving for it. i think my body has forgotten what it's like to whip through the trees. lets just hope i can remember how to do it and not get crushed BY a tree.

back to the shop. it's phenomenal. point blank. there are no other words. stupendulendous. okay so maybe there was another word for it. the thing that makes it the best are the people there that are a part of it. we all have our little quirks and ways of working and getting things done but we are all working really well together and seriously getting some things accomplished. but the love at that place is evident and it's what makes me want to get up and be there every day...and into the wee hours of the night. paintin and what not. i actually still have silver paint all over my hands right now. you know, oil based, you basically rub your skin to the bone before you get that crap off.

crystal and i are off to lawrence to see an incredible show tonight. our good friends deas vail are playing at the granada on copeland's farewell tour. it's going to be wonderful, and i'm pretty sure we're gonna grab some chipotle pre-show. maybe i'll post some pics of it if we get some good shots.

i'm out.

-bobby

2010-03-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

as we can all plainly see (well i have no idea how many people read this thing) my last post was on feb 16th and that was the second day of my bathroom and kitchen project. i...sadly...am not finished yet, but am very very insanely close to being so. i have successfully laid, grouted and sealed the tile in both the kitchen and the bathroom. repainted and patched the bathroom walls and cabinets, and that is as far as the train has gone. these projects always, and i mean always take much longer than anticipated, but always look fantastic in the end. i actually thought i'd have this project knocked out within the week that i began it...wow, amazing. mike i honestly don't know how you do it man. you continue to update your house, have kids, have grandkids, a full time job, a wife and you still crush the bike weekly for training. you are an inspiration to me my friend, you are for us all. by the way man i installed the new chain rings, cassette and chain on the HiFi today and let me just say it's ready for some trail action.

in other news i have decided to cancel ordering my sexy new Fisher X-Cal for reasons that it may not be here for over another month. there is a chance that it might be here early, but my wife has graciously allowed me to borrow her 07' Fisher Paragon for this race season and pimp it out with some new components. she is a wonderful wifey yes she is.

also the new bike shop is ever closer to becoming a reality. people have been working non-stop down there getting stuff together and we're hoping for a grand opening in the next 2-3 weeks. we just got in around 30 or so new bikes for inventory and we've really run out of room down there. lets just say we can't wait for the new place.

adventure monkey man is going to have a magazine release party on march 13 and man i can't wait for that. this has become such an awesome adventure in itself that i can't wait to see it all materialize. "Adventure Monkey" magazine has huge potential in my eyes and i promise right now that i'd subscribe to it. eric you are the man, and i'm pumped to see so many people excited about this project.

in some riding news my buddy jed and i went out for a little 25 mile jaunt in the flint hills yesterday and it was the first time in 4 months that i haven't had to wear 5 layers and a wind jacket while we road. it was fantastic and i am so excited for spring to be here. lets just get those trails dried up huh? then we'll be talkin.

lastly my 08' Felt Nine Comp still has NOT SOLD, so if you or anyone you know is in the market for an awesome 29er at an INCREDIBLE deal let me know and we can work something out. thanks for reading my blog. you are wonderfully beautiful.
-bobby

bathroom guttage

2010-02-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

i've finally mustered (or is it mustarded?) up the confidence and will to start tackling the rest of the renovations needed on the main floor of our little house. the bathroom has needed help since the day we stepped foot in our dwelling and we've been concentrating on the ceilings and kitchen for so long that it got neglected. not anymore though, yesterday i finally ripped into it and now we have to go to the basement to use "le toilet." it's a little scary down there but i think we'll be okay just having to use it for the rest of the week. the big question that my wife and i have been debating on is tile or linoleum?? at one point we had purchased everything needed to tile both the kitchen and bathroom floors but then got the stuff home and didn't like the way it looked with our choice of wall color. so last night we made a quick trip to topeka to make some decisions.

when we got there we thought...we'll run in home depot, grab the first thing that looks good, leave, get some chipotle in our bellies and go home. not the case, as per usual with picking out things that are going to be permanent in the place you call home. home depot was quite disappointing with their selection so then we headed to lowes where we had success. they have these armstrong laminate tiles that have an adhesive backing and you can grout between them just like real ceramic tile. we found a color that we both could "live with" and that was that. this will create much less dust in our house and will allow me to cut the tiles with a utility knife if need be. but the plus side to it all is that it will have the appearance of tile...but it didn't cost half as much it would to install tile.

so today i am tackling the patching and painting aspect of the job in the bathroom and hopefully can have the floor laid and toilet reinstalled by thursday or friday at the latest.

all this aside my riding has not been going nearly as well as others here in the community and i really need to get back in gear. i had a good couple of weeks there but my zest has fallen to the way side. no excuses to be made except that i have no excuse. races are fast approaching, ouachita is in about 6 weeks to be exact, so my legs and lungs need to be in order. hopefully i can get some time in on the bicycle today while i'm taking a break from the bathroom. renovation that is...:).

in other news the new bike shop is coming along really well. the framing is all finished on the new office and bathroom and this weekend about 7 of us ripped up the old flooring and under layment. i never want to see another 4x8 sheet of plywood with tiles attached to it again. we worked for about 5 hours straight, all 7 of us, going nuts on that stuff and there were a million nails to be pulled as well. yesterday we met up with the guys from the construction company doing the framing and they brought a dump truck to haul off all the flooring. so needless to say, a big part of the project is finished, behind us, and we couldn't be happier about it. if you pray, and are into that sort of thing, ask the Big Guy to help things go as smoothly as they possibly could from here on out at the new bike shop. not that things have been a nightmare down there or anything, but we can always use some help. we're still trying for a march 1st opening, so we'll keep working hard and hoping for the best. can't wait to see people coming through the doors down there.

ah kansas, you are so beautiful

2010-02-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

just in case you were wondering, no my bike did not sell on ebay last week. and if you are feeling saucy (or sorry for me) then it is still for sale, and i honestly feel like the price i had it at is practically giving the beauty away. anyway, if you know anyone that needs a sexy off road machine, please send them to kansascampfire.blogspot.com thank you.

there is much to tell of the past week in the life that surrounds me and the bike culture that is emporia, ks, so lets get this thing started already.

eric benjamin (been jammin) and i finally decided (i say finally but honestly it only took us about 5 seconds to make up our minds) that "kansas bicyclist" magazine needed to become a reality. and in the way that most things in my life manifest themselves it happened rather quickly and things needed to be done in some of the worst weather possible. if you go here you shall see where the inspiration for "kansas bicyclist" was incarnated on ol' adventure monkey's site. and if you go here you shall see more photos like this one that were taken on the day that this grand realization began to take form.

yeah thats me standing on top of one of the steepest hills known to man-kind in the tri-county area, smack dab on the edge of the flint hills. as you can tell i was so excited to get out there and freeze that i forgot to where tights, shoe covers or a balaclava. all resulting in my feet, ears and lower extremities being colder than i can remember in the last...oh lets say...20 years of my life. eric wanted the shot for the magazine to be on a cold, overcast and snowy day in kansas to catch the contrast of the latest cover shot on "bicycling" magazine and i do believe that we couldn't have picked a nastier or more perfect day than last friday if we had wanted to. we're going to see what comes of this beautifully crafted photo shoot as soon as the adventure monkey deems the final product worthy of human (or bloggers) eyes.

we couldn't get back to the bike shop fast enough for me to rip my muddy shoes and socks off to shove my feet in the nearest air vent to try and break loose the icicles that had forged my toes together. of course everyone laughed at us, but we didn't care because we had obviously just conquered the world in our minds and if eric asked me...you know i'd do it again man. that's just how we roll around here. lelan knows what i'm talkin 'bout.

oh and by the way...my beautiful wife and i aren't going to have the house to ourselves anymore around aug. 24th. and we couldn't be happier about it.
-bobby

2008 Felt Comp 29er For Sale

2010-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

2008 Felt Comp 29er. BUY THIS BIKE you know you want it. Rootbeer Brown paint, what else could you ask for in a new mtb bike.

here are the race-x-lite wheels that i have available for extra cost if the highest bidder wants to make that deal.

if you have any other questions email me at bobbywintle42@hotmail.com
thanks for the interest and i hope someone really enjoys this great bike, i sure have.
-bobby

sneaky UPS man

2010-01-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

for those of you that may not recognize me with long hair (or if there actually happens to be people reading this that have NO idea what i look like) ...yes that is me in the picture above looking some what in the direction of the camera and screaming from the depths of my soul. if you happen to look a little closer at the picture, i am in no way facing the band that is playing, and to be completely honest with you, had no idea there was a camera to my immediate right and was caught off guard when a bright flash obscured my view of the show for a moment while in a passionate rage caused by the overwhelming rush of emotions from the live music. i'm a small dude...most people know this, but when it comes to music it makes feel as if i could conquer nations with the power that is pulsating within my pinkie. we're connected, you know, me and and the mystery that is the get up kids, or underoath, or in the case of this picture as cities burn. there is really nothing that i can do about this sacred bond between me and love ballads from the place that i've been raised, or ridonkulous (see theres that word again) break downs that literally force tears on to my face without any sort of nice gesture or an appropriate written consent of such acts, or in the last bands case, connect me with the God that has created me and this whole crazy world that should be riding bicycles in ways that i never thought words could. hence the reason it has not only been words that have done this connecting, but it has been music...it's always been the music that has moved me from this place to the next.

now on to why i wanted to write this thing in the first place...

today i was at the bike shop for a brief moment, usually it's not so brief, and stephanie and i were talking about how awesome it was that garret received his bike almost 3 weeks earlier than trek's dealer website had said that it would arrive at high gear cyclery. then almost like it were planned by one of those savvy directors in an over priced indie film in walked the UPS man carrying an elongated, rectangle, beautifully brown cardboard box. no doubt, a box in which contained a bicycle. stephanie was closer to the delivery man so therefore she saw the box before i did and immediately said outloud "flat black"..."x-cal? could this be your bike bobby?" and of course i was dumbstruck by just the sheer idea of my bicycle being here, in my town, in my bike shop, when once again the website that tells us all that we must know about new bicycle arrivals that my bike should not show up until the 8th of the month of march. "this must be some sick joke" i thought to myself. "steph is just trying to make me cry, yeah thats right...she just wants to see little bobby tears all over the place" i said so reassuring to myself, trying not to let my heart rate get to high by actually thinking that this might be my bike. because as garret and i found out today my resting heart rate is right around 75...which lelan has known for quite sometime and likes to equate my pulse to the pulse of a lab rat running and running and running and running and running and running around in circles in one of those metal contraptions. then finally i get a closer look and sure enough, there sits in front of us a x-cal...but i look closer and it's a 19" frame size. "oh no" i thought, "they sent the wrong size." mine is going to be a 17.5" and now all i can think of is how much longer it is going to take them to get me the correct size and that x-cal's will probably be stopped in production because of the lack of flat black and green paint so i may NEVER get my bike...my heart rate is ridonkulously through the roof now...and then matthew e. brown walks in the front door and brings with him the good truth of the afternoon. "oh yeah, thats a demo bike we ordered." relief washed over me and my heart rate subsided to a calm and cool 92 bpm.

so it looks like there is some hope that my bike will be here before march 8th and therefore i'll have more time to get used to it on some killer training rides before ouachita which is on march 28th. i just hope that everyone else gets their stuff a little sooner as well so the team can be settled in with the new gear and ready to tackle the new season of killer races. if you get a moment to think about matt and steph and the new shop that is underway do so with a positive outlook. there is a lot to be done, and they are some brave people to be taking this step forward, a step that i think is phenomenal. they are great people and i wouldn't have met the friends or lived as good of a life here in emporia if it wasn't for them. well i better get off of here, garret is going to be picking me up at 5:10 am so he can drag me along to his spinning class in the morning. this is my first go at it, so i'll let you know tomorrow how everything turns out. hope everyone has a fantastic day.
-bobby

45 miles + 25mph wind = 105 miles to me

2010-01-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

...okay just kidding, it's not even close to comparable especially when the guys from the team that did do 105 miles on saturday ALSO rode it in 20+ mph wind which = ridonkulous in my book. (for those that may be confused "ridonkulous" is a really fun new way of saying ridiculous...but it's actually more ridiculous than ridiculous itself...making it fun to say. annnyways, as i said earlier a bunch of the guys went out for a 105 miles on saturday while i took a huge nap and just hung out around the house. i'm actually really glad that i didn't go out with the guys because i'm not sure if i could have made it that far, let alone stay with the pack. i've actually never ridden a century and the farthest i've gone on the road is around 86 miles or so. i've had plenty of chances on organized rides, but it just never felt like the thing to do. this year, i believe is the year of the first century for my legs and myself. i will certainly be blogging about it when the time comes.

our big group ride for sunday kind of got blown apart, like my legs last sunday, and everyone ended up doing other smaller rides which turned out to be okay. a bunch of awesome people go and get coffee at the java cat-5 here in town after church on sunday mornings so crystal and i decided to head down there to have some good conversation. after a while of laughing about off the wall things my friend jed (whose legs did not blow up like mine last week) and his wife renee asked me and crystal if we wanted to go out for a ride. and certainly we did. so we all hopped on our mountain bikes and went for a lovely stroll in the sunshine east on"old old" highway 50, you know, the one that never gets any new asphalt...ever. it's really great on mountain bikes but definitely a death zone for road bikes. tried it once, and shook for nearly two days after incurring all the bumps through my rigid front fork. as i said, it started out being sunny and then that terrible northwest wind blew in some clouds and the temperature decided to drop about 10 degrees and the wind chill probably 15 or more. we were adequately dressed except without booties so my left foot is still trying to recover from the numbness. crystal and renee took a different route about half way through the ride and jed and i continued on to lebo. when we got there we were glad that we hadn't decided to go farther because the head wind all the way back to emporia was vicious. jed can climb with the best of them, so i was just hoping that i wasn't holding him back at all but we had a great ride back, regardless of the numbness in our extremities.

also (this is for lelan) this past week i hit the trainer for an hour ride on wednesday, went for a 40 mile crush fest with matt and wiggins and then did the ride yesterday with jed. i think it's a step in the right direction for training for ouachita. i just want to be much more prepared this year and try to finish stronger. i'll let everyone know how the next suffer fest turns out, try and keep warm this week because it's only supposed to top out around the 40's. but all that REALLY means is that you should drink hot chocolate and eat popcorn every night to keep warm.
-bobby

let's step this up a notch

2010-01-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

the team and some friends went for a good ol' road training ride on sunday and it turned out to be a beautiful day to go for a ride. we hit up the council grove loop and it ended up being around a 75 mile ride in which i came to realize that i wasn't quite ready for, or my legs weren't quite ready for anyway. on the way to council grove which is just around 41 miles my legs were doing great, but then after chowing on some gas station pizza and hot chocolate (not the best nutrition choice) my legs blew up and i rode by myself for 20 miles until we reached americus. then i happened to catch up with eric benjamin (the adventure monkey) and the look on his face was priceless.

he looks at me and says "where did you come from" and i'm like, "man i've been behind you for the last 20 miles." needless to say, i got him pumped back up for the Dirty Kanza 200 that he's entering in this year, and this has gotten me on the trainer this week in hopes to not get dropped from the main group on this sunday's shop ride. but the ride was beautiful with the sunshine and we all had great company. i can't wait for the next one on sunday, its always motivating to have a group of people to go out with, i hope i never take it for granted and i know that we're blessed in this community.

if you want the other side of the story from this weekend's ride hop over to eric's blog site www.theadventuremonkey.com
it's great stuff, and he also takes sweet pictures like the one of me and seacat below.

the adventure monkey and i had a great rest of the ride into emporia, and he really kept me motivated to get home and take a hot shower and see my beautiful wife who was kind enough to make some spaghetti for me to munch on after stumbling into the kitchen. he said something along the effect of "man, taking a hot shower after a long ride is almost like ecstasy for me" and "everything always taste like it's amazing after a ride like this. my wife made stew one time after a long ride in the flint hills and i don't even like stew, but i was like, this is the best food i've ever had."

i totally agree man food, sleep, conversations, my attitude, my opinion on things...just everything seems better after riding the bicycle...even if your legs blow into a million pieces while you're out there. here's to not blowing up my legs this sunday, i'll let everyone know how it goes on monday!

-bobby

selling my bicycles

2010-01-12T11:59:00.001-08:00

If you have any questions about the bike email me at bobbywintle42@hotmail.com. Thanks, now go get on your bike and have an awesome day.

-bobby

Christmas all over again

2010-01-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

yesterday we all received some new gear from trek for the racing season, and it was glorious. here is one of my boxes of goodies

RXL inform shoes, RXL saddle, new helmet and XXX handlebars. i can't wait for the rest of the stuff to come in, especially my new ride. once again, i am anxiously awaiting march. our roadie on the team, wiggins, was the only one that got his bike yesterday and it is the brand new Fisher Cronus Ultimate. it is the sickest looking road bike i have ever seen and it's also the lightest i've ever picked up. i'll let him update on his blog about the specifications and all that, i don't want to ruin the fun for him.

we're still hard at work renovating the new shop, and along with my new bicycle, we're hoping to open the doors to the new place on march 1st. things are going smoothly so far, lets hope that they continue that way. and one last thing i wanted to let everyone know that i do have my felt comp 29er for sale right now. it's a medium 17.5" frame with lots of upgraded components, here is a picture of it and if you're interested shoot me a comment and we can work something out. the price is negotiable at this point.

-bobby

for my dad

2009-12-29T20:36:00.001-08:00

so my dad told me over Christmas that i don't keep my blog up to date enough...so here you go dad, this one's for you!

Christmas was wonderful, as it always is. crystal and i had to run around from place to place like we do every year, and that includes making it to 5 Christmas' and still we missed going to one on crystal's dad's side of the family. it's great having both of our families in the same town so we can see them all each time we go home, but we also feel like everyone is getting just a little bit of our time as well. so it's always hard to decide how and where we are going to spend our time in parsons.

on the gift side of things, my mom and dad got me an awesome tool package for one of my gifts and it's a craftsman cordless drill, trim saw, flashlight and dust buster vacuum. super sweet, i'd been looking at buying one of these for a while but just couldn't justify the purchase because my old boss (a contractor) had all these tools i could borrow. but now i don't work for him anymore and this was a perfect gift. thanks dad! being a craftsman member through sears is definitely a sweet deal!

in other news matt and steph, marv, charlie, wiggins, jed, tom, myself and anyone else who happens to stumble in have been hard at work on the new shop. we've managed to tear down all the old drop ceiling and expose the even "older" (but completely beautiful) original metal tile ceiling. we're going to try and get it painted on saturday and we can't wait to see how it turns out. also we tore out all the old shelving that was there for all the shoes and that took us over a week to disassemble everything and either pull the nails to keep the lumber or throw it out because it wasn't salvageable. big time thank you to everyone that is throwing in their helping hand, we certainly wouldn't be this far along without you, and i just hope that everything keeps going as smoothly as it has been.

well crystal has already headed to the bedroom to rest her head, so i'm going to follow. somehow we fell across an open wireless network so we watched "prep & landing" on hulu tonight. it was totally awesome, you should check it out if you have an extra 25 minutes or so. on the riding side of things not much is happening right now, and i seriously need to hit the trainer, but i'm so bored of being inside just in general that it just doesn't sound like much fun. i hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. see you soon.
-bobby

ouachita...

2009-12-14T00:33:00.000-08:00

so i'm over here at garret's house stealing his internet at 2:30 in the morning. it's all for you ouachita...it's crazy that we're up at a ridiculous hour just to register for a race that we know is going to make us suffer. oh what love for mountain biking we have.

beautiful snow ruins beautiful evening

2009-12-10T07:03:00.001-08:00

last night matthew brown, his nephew and i were going to have the time of our lives at a concert in lawrence. we were going to see underoath, august burns red and emery, all phenomenal bands, but in particular we were there to see underoath. i've seen this band a handful of times, and i am sure that i've never been as pumped to see them as i was yesterday. but of course as all of you can see where this is going, the show was partially canceled. underoath has a separate van and trailer that hauls their gear and it got in a terrible wreck the day before yesterday. the driver is reportedly in good shape, but in consequence underoath and emery both had to cancel the show in omaha 2 days ago and the show in lawrence last night. emery and underoath were both snowed in in iowa yesterday with all the roads and highways closed off. it looks as if the show is still on in tulsa tonight, and yes i would love to go, but its quite the drive. so as i said earlier it was "partially canceled" and that meant that august burns red left before the big snow storm moved in up there and made it down for the show. but we weren't pumped on seeing them and a few local bands so matt and i decided not to go to the show.

instead matt put some miles in on the trainer and i made enchiladas with my beautiful wife. i want to start cooking a lot more these days and try to start getting creative with it. i supposed i'll go home and set up me and the wife's trainers as well so we can start putting some base miles down for the winter. in the mean time, you all should check out some of underoath's tunes because they're phenomenal.

new ride

2009-12-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

this is the 2010 Fisher X-Cal that i will be representin with this race season. like i mentioned before, i'll be stripping all the parts and rebuilding the entire bike besides the fork. march can't get here fast enough, thats when she'll be here. also here is the crank i'm throwin on this bad boy.

nothing like a little color coordination. so it definitely is spitting snow and ice this morning, so there will for sure be no riding in this weather today. everyone stay warm and get some hot chocolate today. i'm off to feed my dog zoey.

-bobby

this new venture

2009-12-07T09:16:00.000-08:00

hello everyone, this is my shiny new blog. i shall be updating quite frequently about the 2010 mtb race season that our Trek/Fisher High Gear team will be competing in this coming year and also throwing out some random thoughts of my own once in a while. matthew brown at High Gear here in Emporia has asked me to be apart of the team for this season and i couldn't be more pumped. i'm selling my felt comp 29er as of right now so if you know anyone who might be interested hit me up. my new ride will be the 2010 Fisher X-Cal, fully upgraded. can't wait for it to get here.

this weekend my wife crystal, our friend jed and i went and hit up the local trails at camp alexander and got 3 laps in. the warmer weather thawed the ground and it was a bit slippery in a few places, but rippin fast in others. i obviously want to avoid the trainer for as long as possible, but when it feels like 16 degrees outside it almost sounds nice. speaking of weather i think we're supposed to get around 2 inches by tomorrow so crystal and i will probably be making snow men instead of hitting the trails. speaking of the trails there have been a select few guys keeping it in top form since the cRamp alexander race this summer and i just want to give a big thanks to those guys because without them the trails wouldn't be nearly as nice as they are now.

matt and steph at the bike shop are getting ready for the big move to the new store in march. i started working for them last friday and will be in the shop from 5-7 every night this week except for wednesday. we'll start rennovation on the new place the 16th of this month, and i can't wait to see it all come together.

i'll have things up about the new sponsors for the 2010 season soon. also more updates about training and what not. until then matt and his newphew donovan and i are going to see underoath, august burns red and emery this wednesday night in lawrence. can't wait for that as well. hope you all are doing well.