This blog documents my travails as an amateur a professional cyclist racing around the US world.
Ask Me No Questions, I Will Tell You No Lies
I live on a couch, have a piddling income and I drive a minivan with a quarter of a million miles on it. I may not be the one you should come to for life advice. That said, I'm fully willing to give you my two cents on just about anything and especially those things related to bikes and riding them at great speeds with some modicum of style. I'm going to start taking questions from readers and I'll post those questions and my responses here.
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9 comments:
Dear Ryan,
Why aren't people seeking to tap your vast stores of wisdom? Are they intimidated by your mammoth stature and profligate body hair, or have they simply met their BS quota already by reading your blog?
Hi Ryan,
I'm so glad you asked this question! At first I was hurt as I thought people were turning to "real" bike racers for their cycling related questions and looking to Yahoo! Answers for everything else. I'm now hoping that people were just afraid to be the first one to post a question. Perhaps your bravery will inspire the other inquisitive souls out there? We'll see.
Thanks for such an insightful and penetrating question.
Dear Ryan,
Do you think that posting a photo of Rand Miller on your masthead will up your readership? Or your credibility as a real bike racer? Or both?
Hmmm, interesting question. Initially I just wanted a photo of myself shirtless and I figured it wouldn't be so blatantly self-aggrandizing if there were another person in it with me. Now that you mention it though, I guess I am attempting to draw on the star power that Rand Miller commands. The biting satire of his words humbles my little blog, and his style and ferocity on the bike are the envy of NorCal. I don't have much of a readership, nor all that much credibility as a bike racer. I figure hitching my wagon to the Rickets Train can only help.
In all seriousness, that photo epitomizes bike racing for me. Its two good friends crammed into an uncooled Honda Prelude with way too much bike gear screaming down I-5, rocking out to loud, terrible music and loving every second of it. To me cycling is as much about the time in between races as it is about time in the saddle. Its the friends you make along the way, the anticipation and trash-talking before a race and endless analysis and BS over beers & burritos afterward. Rand has been there since I first started racing bikes and he's still smacking me around to this day. That picture pretty much sums up Ryan on the Road and that's why its my "masthead".
Very fine question, Velogirl.
Ryan Parnes:
Did you know that after I left Stanford for Madison, WI I took up swimming, and that I ran into your sister or cousin or somebody that knew you? She also told me that she tried to fix her pretty hot friend up with you. My real question is, did that ever happen? If it didn't (or even if it did), can I move in? Awesome blog. Cheers,
Ryan,
I am friends with your father, and Lori Nakaoka. I ran Cannondale, and most recently Scott bicycles, and now have started a bike event marketing company based in Sun Valley. I know a lot about bikes - so if you ever want to pick my brain, or how to impress Bob Stapleton, or anyone else in the crazy world of cycling I am here to help. Hammer, hammer...
scott@lifeboatevents.com
208-409-6366
Ryan,
Put a shirt on for Chrissakes.
Regards,
Ryan,
You have much less hair now than in high school. Could this be why you're so much faster now?
Yours,
Dondo
@Lizzy When did you become such a square? Shirt is on. You're welcome.
@Dondo Oh, that wonderful hair! We had some high times together, that hair and I, but we've parted ways. I sold out to the man for a job after I graduated (Putney) then grew it back in protest, then donated it. Some poor kid somewhere has a clown wig. I keep trying to return the mane to its former glory, but I can't deal with the afro long enough to let gravity do it's work. Maybe one day...
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