Pedal Brake Pedal
Racing and Complaining about it for 45 years!
Sunday, July 13, 2025
It's been a Busy Week!
Sunday, June 29, 2025
South Side XC Devo Team be Rollin' Up the Wins!
That headline might have fooled you into thinking that I took one of those wins, but NOPE. I did get this pretty cool photo, though!
We raced in Cape Girardeau today, at a wonderful little park called Klaus. I've raced there quite a few times over the years and it never disappoints. So twisty, so flowy, and quite a bit of elevation but you might never know it. The ups and downs are meshed together pretty well so it never seems like you climb very long.
The Devo's were devastating today, taking 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th in Cat 1. Then 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th and 9th in Cat 2. The Marathoners saw 3rd and 4th go to our team. The Women's Cat 2 race had a Devo win as well as 3rd, 4th, and 5th place finishes.
Wow! It was awesome to see 18 riders in the white, red, and black Devo kits.
Friday, June 27, 2025
Exceeding your own Expectations
I'm super lucky. I've had many experiences on my bike that were beyond my own expectations. Maybe that's a better point, that exceeding your own expectations actually defines "best" more appropriately.
Aside from my own tendency to dwell on every failure I've ever had, I do have a lot of incredible mental snapshots from BMX racing, mountain bike racing, road racing, and even duathlon and running races. 46 years of competition contains a LOT of memories.
Arguably, the photo above is on paper head and shoulders above my other cycling achievements. That is the 1985 World Cup in Nashville, Tennessee. I've probably never been better in any of my athletic pursuits than that very moment. But I have many, many more "lesser" achievements that stand out stronger.
One example, and usually the one that comes to mind when I go down the ol' memory lane: I was 13 years old in 1980. My dad had been taking me to the races for a few months and I was still a "Novice", not yet upgraded to "Expert". The hot local track was Supercross, which was on Missouri Bottom road (there is a paintball course there now). It was a week night and I was the only 13 Novice to show up, so they slotted me in with the 13 experts. I won. I was as surprised as the Experts. When we got home my dad, who rarely spoke, announced to my mom: "Well honey, Timmy beat the Experts tonight". He said it like the United States Olympic Committee was going to show up in a few minutes and give me a medal.
I know in the world today that winning big at the highest level of sports is the only thing that matters to so many people. Don't get me wrong, that level of physical excellence is amazing and the effort necessary to get there is almost unbelievable. But I've been taking stock of a lot of things lately, like what I've achieved, what I didn't quite achieve, etc. I keep coming back to the idea of exceeding my own expectations.
(I'm not sure who to give photo credit to for the photo I've included. If it is your photo, please let me know so I can give credit or compensation. Thanks.)
Sunday, June 22, 2025
A little Fight left in the Old Man Yet
This time it went really well, despite the scorching heat which caused the race director to shorten the race by a lap. Still, an hour and a half of mountain bike racing on such a technical course can take it out of a guy.
I kept a good pace and fought off heat stroke to find myself in 5th overall, and first guy over 50. This, despite a ridiculous 1mph high-side crash in an UPHILL switchback and smashing my elbow into the gravelly ground.The SSXC Devo team did great, and we had a win on the female side and podiums in the other classes, too. Onward and upward, race fans!
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Happy Father's Day to Me!
Saturday, April 26, 2025
From Tiny Things
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
MTB racing, iPhones, and Hound Dogs
And then there is the Hound Dog. You see that brown? That would be green grass, like the rest of the yard. But this monster has beaten a path straight down the center chasing squirrels and birds. 10 times a day, every day. And he loves me for playing Frisbee with him. Which beats down the grass even more.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Hound Dog turns FIVE this year!
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Home Made Toaster Pastries - What?
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Spiders own the World
In conclusion, if you see spider webs in the store, say something. I have a cabinet full of Swifters standing at the ready. And we did build the bike right.
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Happy Birthday HGK
Monday, December 30, 2024
That Time Again! Year End, 2024
Friday, December 20, 2024
Ride To Fame
When it comes to bicycle collectors, their motivations vary quite a bit. Some collectors want bikes they had as kids. Some want the bikes they couldn't afford as kids. Some just want to collect and flip and make money. But usually, a Freshour bike collector is different. Freshour frames are quite rare, as not many were made to begin with, and even fewer survived the 40-ish years since the last one was welded up in Sikeston, Missouri.
Steve Freshour has the best reason to collect them: He is the distant cousin of Jerry Freshour himself. Gathering these odd racing frames up and keeping them as family heirlooms is probably the best reason I can think of to be a collector. Steve contacted me some time ago and we talked about him designing his travels from California around a trip through St. Louis. It would be a great opportunity for me to see the old TK frame, and he wanted me to sign a few of the items for posterity's sake. Eli and I had gotten a road ride together last Sunday, putting us in a perfect place to meet Steve at Greensfelder as he made his way through St. Louis.
It was so cool to have Eli see some of the old world stuff. We were able to cruise the TK and another cool white model around the lot a bit. I was surprised they actually rode ok, thinking that new world stuff had just gotten too different. But nope, they were nice, and Steve had even built them up true to the 80's. Some parts, of course, just had to be newer, but they were legit enough to give me the warm and funny 1984 feels. The TK had the correct bars and fork, too. This was one of my earlier ones, as it also had the lower mounted seat post clamp (pain in the butt, but very unique).I signed a few number plates and top tube pads for Steve's collection, and we bade him farewell and safe trip. I'm super happy that there are people out there who want to preserve the old stuff. The tiny Freshour Cycle company carved out a much bigger chunk of BMX history than I ever imagined.