the simple act of riding into work, 15 minutes on my bike, through the snow is all it takes to feel better about my day, and feel better about me. i made up my thermos of green chai, added the right amount of soy milk and hopped right on my machine. i know it's a short ride but it just feels so good! tomorrow i'll do a bit more on the way in, maybe hit something a bit more interesting. the bike is showing a season of racing, and i didn't race a ton on the mtb. i need a sponsor to give me a new kit every year, i can't afford $600 bucks for new stuff every season. but if i rode for someone i would feel the pressure to produce. a feeling i have dealt with in the past and not been happy with. the tao says that the beginners mind is the key to success. when i was standing on the start line wondering if this race would get me the result to get a ride for next year i wasn't happy with how it made me ride. now that i'm more free to ride/race as i please every race is a good one. no pressure to do well, other than pride. sposorship is a tough thing to swallow, luckily i have had the kind of help that allows flexibility, wtb was the best, they thought more of a marketing type sponsorship, showing the products off at races, letting people ride my bike and see the stuff was better than results on their own. my luck is good, especially when you get to ride the best products. stuff doesn't break that way, if you have just enough money for little bits of maintenance it will work perfectly. a few years ago i wasn't in that knid of situation, and i shot myself in the foot in the process. i hadn't switched out my chain like i do now (1st of the month all season, both bikes) and i had a bad wheel, the rim was worn through on the braking surface. these two factors came to light in two consecutive races, in the first my chain snapped as i was chasing down the leader in a local series mtb race and the wheel failed at a vail world cup race a week later, one dnf and the other a limp home in 17th place. stupid moves certainly on my part, easily fixed with a bit of forethought. luckily i was leaving a few days later for mammoth where the wtb crew would fix me up with new wheels! without a sponsor like that i'd be sunk, poor mtb racers are everywhere, this saved my season, i left mammoth with a 10th place and new wheelset! now i know, new chains and wheels go a long way to avoiding mechanicals, simple things in life make it worth it. enjoy the wheel thanks for reading