Morning dose, gravel therapy. (Photo, Eric Vacek) I was an art and English major in college. (They didn’t offer gravel cycling back then, either because it wasn’t academic enough, or because it wasn’t really a thing.) So my interests include all kinds of creative endeavor. Writing, painting, bicycle repair, you name it. And, judging by … More Powerful Medicine

(photo, MS Photos) be•cause (bi kôz´) 1. for the reason that; due to the fact that: The boy was absent because he was ill. 2. because of, by reason of, due to: Schools were closed because of heavy snowfall. 3. Dirty Kanza 200 [1275-1325: bi cause BY CAUSE] For more than a year, my central … More A Different Because

Over Christmas break, I’ve been happily knee-deep in one of my presents from Beth and the kids: Lanterne Rouge by Max Leonard. It’s a history of the Tour de France through the lens of its last-place finishers—known as red lanterns—an honorific of fluctuating sincerity referencing the light hanging off the back end of a train. … More The Damned End

I don’t get to golf the Masters because I’m a clown. I can’t pitch for the Cardinals on account of I don’t know how to pitch. I’m currently not allowed to skate at Joe Louis Arena, nor am I welcome to kick at Soldier Field. These doors remain closed to you and me thanks to … More The Strangest Ticket in Sport

About 80 miles into our Sunday morning, the difficulties of riding with the Drs. Killeen were starting to pile high. Some things were looking up. * We’d already cleared those relentless rollers that make riding Church Road something of a religious experience. (I need a ruling. Is it OK to miss church to ride Church?) … More Where Else?

The great thing about a rookie cyclocross season is the awareness that you can get a whole lot better than you are now. I’m learning a lot, not just with each race, but with each lap. By the fourth lap of my third race, I felt things click. I never saw the results or lap … More Who Do You Trust?

This is a blog about gravel cycling, not politics, thank gosh. But during the second presidential debate, somewhere around the moment when one candidate promised, if elected, to jail the other, I felt a pang that I can only compare to the lowest moments of an endurance race. This is that dark place. This is … More Of Ironmen and Skunks

The night after my first-ever cyclocross race—Star City CX’s “Angry Serpent” at Van Dorn Park—I was too jazzed up to sleep. Across the hall in the dark of my daughter’s room, Jeffery the Hamster kept spinning his squeaky wheel. And the hamster in my squeaky head was just as tireless—spinning those laps again and again. … More Eric and the Red Crayon: An Introduction to Cyclocross

So I’m a little ashamed of myself. Me and my potty mouth went off on a bike ride Saturday. And, cyclist, we made you look bad. I can’t quit thinking about it. Accompanying me and my potty mouth on this ride was my younger brother, Jeremy, in town from Minneapolis for a family visit. On … More I Done You Wrong