Ever since I got hooked on MTBing Tinker Juarez has been a bit of a hero! The whole super-endurance thing is what really inspires me, anyone who can ride solo for 24 h and still function on any kind of level is pretty special. Add the appearance, kind of "lovechild of a mid 1990's Perry Farrell and a present day Keith Richards", and the guy clearly "rocks" in every sense of the word.
Well, I am fairly relaxed by the fact that I will never achieve the level of Tinker, and whilst seeing life through his eyes is an impossible dream I have achieved the next best thing. I am now (at least on occasion) seeing life through Tinker's sunglasses!! I visit his website (www.tinkerjuarez.com) fairly regularly to read his race reports and noticed the "stuff for sale" link. Well, both the house in CA and the Cannondale Synapse were a little beyond my means at the moment however the sunglasses were a definate maybe - especially as my lovely wife (MLW) has now banned me from wearing the pair I've been wearing for the past year. She saw pictures of me at this years 12 h of Lodi Farm Race (race report to follow) and told me I looked ridiculous in the glasses I was wearing. Bearing in mind I was wearing a pink dress in the photo but MLW chose the glasses as the focus of her scorn added weight to her argument!
Long story short I opted for a couple of pairs of WileyX glasses from Tinkers very own personal stock and after some very cordial emails and correspondence with the guy himself I am now happily poncing round in Tinkers old specs! Have to say Tinker was a Gentleman as well as a biking legend! Very friendly in all communication and a pleasure to do business with.
Despite the arm situation (see last post) which has improved but still precludes any MTB fun the "Tinker shaded specs" did inspire me (combined with a level of boredom that had me wanting to chew off my own right arm by Sunday) to get out tere and do a 25 mile road ride - God I'd forgotten how bloody painful road cycling was - and then to drag a somewhat nieve friend on a night trail run around Patapsco State Park. Night running is not as fun as biking but heck when it is the only game in town it'll do at a push. Ran for an hour over logs and through 3 or 4 streams past the ruined houses to recreate a real Blairwitch Project vibe. I had a great time and my friend conceded it was "at least an adventure".
Cheer - ride on ride strong
Dogzbollux
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