cold october fall

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

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!

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

thanks!

how the time has passed

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

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

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

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.