Its two weeks til NAHBS. My nerves are on edge however, I am calm. I am finding an inner peace this year. Something that I can say that I have not had much of in years past. Sure, the early years I was a mess. A virtual stress ball, one might say. For some reason, well, a few reasons, I feel mellow.

Usually, I wait until December to start building the bikes that I will show in late February or early March at NAHBS. This year, I was still setting up shop in December from the move south to Kentucky. It took me a long time to get my shop set back up and organized, much longer than I had originally anticipated.  Anyhow, during the first show build, a retro influenced European/British Stayer bike, I slipped walking  on my back deck on the way into the shop and went down like a sack of potato’s. While I was laying on the ramp/deck, I knew by the way I went down that it was bad, I just didn’t know how bad, exactly.  My left ankle was swollen pretty bad and hurt like there was no tomorrow.

Ex-Rays at the Urgent Care clinic confirmed that I indeed had a hairline fracture on the outside of my ankle. Damn. Nothing like crappy timing to mess with getting show bikes done. I ended up in a walking cast, but, was really in too much pain and the ankle was too swollen to be up and around for the first few days. It ended up taking me a lot longer to complete this bike than normal, but when you see the bike you will understand.

Anyhow, due to my little accident, I am relying on showing customers bikes, and only 1 “show bike”, even though it is “sold”.

So the calmness, despite the chaos I was enduring, is me feeling more at peace with not having to hustle to get more bikes done.  I am good with that. I am not having to stay up late working on bikes or anything and might actually feel better knowing that I shouldn’t put undue stress upon my shoulders by attempting to crank out bikes. Whew. Feels good.

Now, onto the “Stuff” portion of the post.

Don Walker Cycles Racing; That is the new name of the team. Rio Blanco Racing is no more.  Why? Because when I left Indy, I no longer had the White River just a couple miles from home. The team took a vote and decided to change the name.

One last thing; if you are considered an “Elite” Cross racer who’s looking for a new team, a new bunch of friends and support from a framebuilder who considers you a family member, feel free to email me. The caveats are that you will be required to race the Cinci 3 and Derby Cup races as well as the rest of the USGP Cross schedule, that you have a positive attitude and a good reputation in the Cross community. This opportunity is for 2 men and 1 woman. Email me at don at donwalkercycles dot com with your palmares in word or pdf format. All inquiries will get a response (most likely after NAHBS, when things have calmed down)

Thanks for reading. Look for updates while I am at NAHBS!

DW

I have been crazy busy the last couple months with the move, setting up the shop, the holidays, NAHBS, etc. etc. to really do one last post for the year, so here on January 2nd, I am doing a post about what transpired in the life of Don Walker and Don Walker Cycles. I hope you enjoy it!

As usual, January and February are crazy busy with show bikes. These two were my favorites from 2011 NAHBS!

As a matter of fact, the blue NJS “tribute”
bike is for sale…  email me at don at donwalkercycles dot com if interested.

Racing season arrives and my close friend, 3 time Olympian (2 time Medalist) Erin Hartwell, comes out of retirement and picks up right where he left off a decade ago by winning the Madison at Masters Track Nationals!

I help out my favorite group of kids (Lindsey Wilson College) at Collegiate Track Nats. They ended up on the final spot of the Podium with some gutsy performances from David Novak and Madison Pitts.

Then, I sign my first Elite Cross racer in Seattle’s Gian Dalle Angelini!

The Cross magic doesn’t stop there, either!  Another new rider to the Don Walker Cycles/Rio Blanco Racing Team, Blaine Heppner crushes it in Cinci for the W in the 35+ Masters race!

JC Breslin delivers a fine performance on his new steed at Storm The Greens in Louisville. He was 4th in the Single Speed class but according to the announcer “First in Embrocation Application”…

A week later, we’re getting some press at the Derby City GP when the Shamrock Crew grab the “inflatable” from our race trailer and take the “hand up” to a whole new level… However, I was doing Waffle Hand-Ups to those unfortunate souls having a bad day and that were off the back. Video of this hilarity here… http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/240442-USGP-Derby-City-Cup-2011/video/517531-The-Best-Handup-Ever

I also closed the shop in Speedway and relocated to Buckner, Kentucky, a small town about 10 minutes outside of Louisville. We love it here and guess what? Its snowing today!

 Thats 2011 in a nutshell. For some reason, I think the 2012 “look back” will be even longer and with larger highlights, especially with the whole “calling myself out” on being a fatty. Weight loss updates as they happen!

See you soon!

DW

Every now and again, I go off on certain issues. By “going off”, I mean I become slightly more opinionated than I should. Sometimes those within earshot are left wondering “what? did he just say what I thought he said?” and others think “Right on! I was thinking it, but I didn’t want to say anything…”

Call them Idea’s or random thoughts or drivel, if you will. But when I say them, they most assuredly make sense to me, at the time anyhow…

I had an idea recently that really made sense to me, but I am not too sure if anyone else would understand.

See, I got out of the shower and as I stand there trying to get all the water off my body as fast as possible ( because the air temperature in the house is kept like a meat locker so I don’t have a huge gas company bill each month), I looked up kinda briefly into the huge mirror that sits above our sinks in the bathroom. I noticed that, wait for it… I am fat. I “went off” on myself saying “whats up, fatty?” and “you fat bastard!”. I was disgusted and I knew I needed to do something.

Now, if you know me, you know I joke about being fat, but honestly, I am probably in the 50% range of most Americans. Half are skinnier than me, the other half are fatter than me. Ok, well, maybe 75% are thinner, but I digress…  So as I stand there in the bathroom glaring at what I have become, I had to think to myself, “well, just how did I get here?”

Then it dawned on me, I like to eat. I like to cook and eat. I like things that are bad for me. Like Food. Like Beer. Like Chocolate. (insert the “you’re just like a woman” comment here) However, I realized a couple of other things. One is that while I was living in Speedway, I was unhappy.  I know it sounds like sour grapes, but lets just say enough negative events had unfolded and I knew it was time to make a change in my life.  I was miserable and for some very legitimate reasons. And that unhappiness led to over-indulging in food and drink. But, that unhappiness also led me to feel I needed a change of scenery.

Lesley and I decided it was time to move on. At first, I had seriously considered Rock Hill, South Carolina. Why, you ask? Because they are constructing a brand new cycling facility, including a 250m outdoor velodrome. I didn’t know person one in Rock Hill, so we explored other options.  Then some of our friends from Louisville had suggested we explore their city as an option. As we looked around, we became more impressed with what we saw. After what seemed like an eternity, we found our dream home. We put an offer on the house and 8 weeks later, we moved in!

So, what does all this have to do with me being fat and unhappy? Well, everything actually!

See, as I stand on that bathmat in my new home, toweling off my wet, “big boned” body I made a decision. I am in a new house. I have a beautiful family. I need to take care of them and provide for them for a long time. As I thought to myself, “it won’t do them any good if I coronary at a young age” I began to think of other issues surrounding my weight. “who wants a bike made by a fat guy who doesn’t ride a bike himself?”, “how can I do everything I wanted to do in life in this body?”, “I want to race my bike again!”, and then the last thought was something my good friend (and 3 time Olympian)  Erin Hartwell said “People don’t respect you if you’re fat”. Erin had noticed as he packed on the pounds after his competitive years were over that despite the fact he carries 2 Olympic Medals and several World Championship Medals and had been a US National Champion several times as well, that people just don’t view you the same. Its not that its “disrespect” so much as it is that they don’t listen to your opinion, or take your opinion as seriously as they would if you were fit.

My career is the bicycle industry. Its not just a job, its way more deep than that, its my LIFE!  I am not implying that I am not getting the respect I deserve, but, those words really impacted me. I knew then and there a change had to come. It, as they say, was “the moment of clarity” when I knew what needed to be done.

So, as I sit here at my desk thinking of how I am going to improve my life, my health and my position in the bicycle industry, I made some goals. I will now share them with you.

1. By December 25th, 2012 I will drop 100 pounds

2. I will race Masters Cross Worlds in 2013 here in Louisville.

3.  I will race a full schedule of road and cross in 2013

4. I will upgrade to a Cat. 2 by the end of the 2013 season.

They are lofty goals, I know. But in the interest of my health I believe I can achieve them.

So, from this point forward, its time to nut up or shut up.

I began my quest last night with a few of my Rio Blanco Racing teammates. We went on a night ride in Louisville. Sure, it was only an hour and 10 minutes, but I had to start somewhere. I am just happy I have friends who will help and encourage me to become (half) the man I used to be. (Thanks guys!)

As for Erin, he went from 240 pounds down to 160 pounds in a year and the WON Masters National Madison title.

He’s back to getting all the respect he deserves… Now its my turn!

DW

Ok, like every good herd, there’s a few stragglers at the back. In this case, there’s some perfectly good machinery and a bike fit system sitting in the back of my garage and shed that could be easily picked off if you are the (bargain) hunter.

Since we have moved to our new home in Buckner, KY, I have less room for bike making and this means some of my stuff has to leave so I can make room to get back to building bikes.

Up first is my beloved Atlas Horizontal Mill. This was owned by my good friend Frank Messenger before I bought it when he retired. (DON’T tell him I am selling it, he would be heartbroken!) It comes with a nice wood/metal stand and lots of cutters and a vice. This machine runs like new! But wait, thats not all, if you act now, you’ll get a spare parts machine. Its 90% complete, only missing the pulley arm and belts. I would prefer you pick this up. I can help load into your truck, van or trailer.

Asking $1,000 for all.

Next up is a US Burke Horizontal Mill. Its in decent shape for the age, I’m guessing its 1950′s or early 60s in vintage. Machines like this are great because they were built to last.

I used it less than 20 minutes a week for the 2 years I have owned it. Runs great! This weighs somewhere in the 1200 pound range, so if you want to arrange shipping, the carrier will need a lift gate and pallet jack. Its strapped to the pallet and ready for pickup!

Asking $750

Lastly, I have my 4 year old Waterford Fit Master bike fit system.  SOLD!

This thing sat in my shop for 3 years and saw two butts sit on it. To say it was never used is kind of an understatement. I’ll even throw in the manual and 2 seatposts. I would prefer that someone picked this up, as I don’t want to disassemble and pack it.  Sorry for the crappy pic, its in the back of my shed (like I said, I ran out of room…)

Asking $1000. SOLD!

Thats all for this time. I expect to re post a bunch of my surplus bikes again shortly.

Thanks for reading,

DW

If you didn’t see it elsewhere, Don Walker Cycles/Rio Blanco Racing had a great weekend in Cinci!

Lets start with our Elite/Pro rider, Gian Dalle Angelini;

Friday, coming from the back row, Gian put the hammer down and ended up 12th in a field stacked with most of the top Cross Pro’s and Elite Amateurs in the U.S.  Saturday, the course was fast, punchy and flat and dry, yet again from the back row, Gain made it to 20th. Sunday, at the crown jewel course of the weekend, the conditions were mowed grass with lots of mud, hills and a sandpit, which suited Gian even more and he ended up 13th with some UCI points as well. For being the only guy out there without a spare bike in the pits, he did exceptionally well against some pro’s that had been able to change bikes each lap.

Then, Blaine Heppner had a great weekend himself!

On Saturday, Blaine doubled up with a 3rd place in the Single Speed category and then came from the back row (seems like deja vu, eh?) and finished 4th in the Masters 35+ Cat 3 race!  On Sunday, Blaine had an even better day after DNF’ing the Single Speed race due to a mechanical, he went from worst to first with yet another back row start. The hilly and technical course suited his talents and he finished a minute plus on second place.

Congrats guys! Here’s to a job well done!

I’d like to thank Rio Blanco Racing’s equipment sponsors for helping these two race exceptionally well this weekend; Columbus Tubing, Cane Creek, L.H. Thomson, Ritchey and our newest sponsor, Continental! Thanks again!

DW

Gian grabbing some UCI points Sunday

Gian on Friday

Blaine crosses the line for the W

Blaine on the podium