Hello Anybody

My name is Mark. I'm a nerd. I like to mess with bikes.

And we have a blog title! 

At my age labels like  "cool" and "nerd" don't matter much, but the name is catchy enough so we'll just go with it.

When I turned 40 I kind of had a mid life chrisis.  I had a 4 year old and a newborn  and my life revolved around diapers, formula, no sleep and constantly saying "get that out of your mouth!". I needed a hobby - something that would get me away from the smell of spit up and baby poop, of 4 year old tantrums and the constant "DADDY!!!!". I originally wanted a motorcycle...my wife put the kibosh on that good and quick. 

I chose to ride a bicycle. I hadn't ridden a bike since 1985 so it was like discovering a new world. It was a world of unflattering spandex, snobby bike shop employees, super cool bike shop employees, eBay, craigslist, chrome, alloy, toe clips, tiny hats and helmets that make my head look like a Macy's parade balloon. 

 First I needed a bike. My Dad had a mountain bike he bought when he retired. It was a 90's Schwinn Frontier. 

He passed away a few years earlier so my mom was happy to get it out of the house. It was heavy and ugly, but so am I so I recon it would be a good fit. It would have been if it wasn't for my need to mess with stuff. 

This is what I came up with. Ugly isn't it. I wanted it to look like an old roadster. At that time I didn't know much about bikes but I knew what I liked. I liked old stuff. I liked cheap stuff and occasionally weird stuff. 

I re-learned how to ride a bike on this 15 speed monster. I remember back when I was a kid having no idea how my gears worked on my old AMF 10 speed and at first I couldn't wrap my head around when I should shift. After a few huffy, puffy heart atacky rides, I figured it out.

I rode that bike for a few months but I wanted something different. Something nobody else rides. I'm not a guy who races, I rarely where cycling jerseys (I have a couple but I don't wear them much) and I'm not a weight weenie. I just like to ride. I like to work on bikes. I like to buy bikes, take them apart, ride them and take them apart again. I have become a bike nerd.
Join me in my love affair with the bicycle

A few quick notes: I am not an expert by any means...so if you think I'm wrong about something, you could very well be right.
Also, sometimes I make grammar or spelling mistakes. Some people consider it a bigger sin than murder...I don't.  We all make mistakes and I've made a lot of them in my time. A lot of people think if you can't write or speak well you aren't intelligent. Many times that is the case but not always. If the thoughts in ones head get jumbled when they come out and end up breaking the "rules" of a language it doesn't mean those thoughts are invalid. Some people have trouble grasping the rules....Who? whom? Whom cares.
That's enough of that...off to bikey land....