Hollywood Cycles - Beyond the Brick & Mortar

More than 12 years ago, I was a little lost in life.  I had a couple close friends, my bookclub, and a deep longing for more in my life... love, adventure, a community to belong to... a place where I finally felt like I belonged.

Until I walked into Hollywood Cycles.

It was the catalyst of change in my life that eventually helped me meet my future husband, my deepest friendships ever imagined, a team that offers camaraderie and taught me how to race, the MN cycling community, and a badass group of amazing new friends I've had the honor to explore the world of bikes with...

and it was this team that became a family.

Looking back on last Friday, the last day the doors would close at Hollywood Cycles, I've been reflecting on all the iterations of the shop that existed, puppies that grew underfoot, late night parties and rock n' roll, legends and locals that came in for Jay's professional skills and sometimes just a lil fellowship.  I'm grateful for the courage I had to quit my day job when Jay relocated to Mpls in 2012, working to help him set up the new shop in a new location.  I had a ton of fun going to work each day with my dog & my best friend, learned a ton about bike maintenance and celebrated a relaxed work environment on all the hot days in summer.

   

And then I think of the troubles, the hard times, the lean times and worry.

But all the pain falls by the wayside when I think of the faces, laughter, hugs and high fives within these four walls.  I rejoice in knowing that our THC* family will last long after the sign on the door fades.  These people who were once strangers in the crowd now hold a place in the deepest crevices of my heart.  My team, my friends, my bike family... for life!

Jay - endless thanks to you for all you've done to make cycling a joyful part of who I am and supporting me through every podium and tear along the way.  You have built an amazing team of unique, fun, kind and supportive people.  You support the underdogs, the competition, the youth and up-n-comers all alike.

You have a heart as big as the moon and have show that your true passion absolutely is to bring cycling joy to all that come to you for help.

Thank you

Cheers to you, Hollywood Cycles, for 14 great years and to Hollywood, who'll keep the dream alive.

Black n' White - THC* - Girl Fiend for life!

<3 kreme="" kristy="" nbsp="" p="">

Single Speed USA - Port Jervis, NY.... What the f%#&?

I woke up at 2:30 in the morning on Saturday to the pouring rain outside, listening to the storm as I pressed my way into the warmth of Jay's arms and tried to keep my mind from running away with the anticipation of the day ahead.  The next few hours passed by with intermittent sleep but, when Jay and I locked eyes at 5:30, we knew it was time to get up and get moving.

Our phones burst to life with flood alerts as we loaded up the last of our things before making the 45 min. drive to Port Jervis for SSUSA 2018.  We jumped into Ramblin' Fever and descended the twisty, narrow road as the rain poured down and flowed along side us like a river.  The water had just crested the first dam we came upon but we passed safely and luckily the next few hadn't yet crested.  It was a white-knuckle drive for 40 min into the small NY town but we arrived with enough time to grab a bite to eat in a tiny diner before the real shit show began.

The rain ceased and the sun peeked out as we settled up our tab and headed to registration.  Dejay was there to welcome us to his playground with hugs and piles of swag (best $65 well spent!). We found a shady place to park the van, loaded up our gear and ran through the final checks of our single speed Lamere's.   We gathered around the fountain in the center of town... a rag-tag group of single speeders in varying degrees of costumes and lycra.  Hugs, high fives and laughter floated throughout the crowd and I chucked to myself as I watched a man and woman dressed straight out of 1950's church attire standing next to a sign inviting us to "Find your way through the Bible".

It appears they new who they were dealing with.

A police escort lead us through town to the base of the Watershed Trail where we climbed a long gravel road to the top but, somewhere along the way, the lead group of us got lost.  Apparently, we were all to reconvene at the top for a LeMond start, running through a knee-deep creek but the groups Jay and I were in at the front never got the memo.

My pack proceeded to climb for 4 miles of rocky, slow single track before we found even a moment of respite.  It was about that time that Jay called me.  We were 1/2 hour in and Jay found himself at the top of 'lap #2'... solo.  I had no idea if my pack was in the right place or not so we pressed on.  Jay hung tight waiting for the group he dropped, convinced he could hear their freewheels approaching.  We later found out it was actually the sound of a nearby rattlesnake.  WTF?!

He called me again while I was pushing my bike up a mile-long hike-a-bike, frustrated that he still hadn't seen a soul.  I was doing the math and it was looking to be a six hour day if this pace kept up but I put one foot in front of the other until I got to the top.  (Just keep swimming, girl). Once there, I was back on the bike but my legs were shot. I couldn't get my speed up so I changed my mindset and focused on the joy of riding completely new terrain.  It was a blast riding the hardest rock beds I'd ever seen... you couldn't even call them "rock gardens" because they they never ended.

Wet from the night's rain that kept flowing down the trails, I focused on riding over the rocks as they clacked and shifted beneath me.  This is one of the greatest joys in my life at this time...  I'm riding with more skill than I ever have before and it brings me life!  Even though I'm not the fastest, most talented mountain biker as I wish I was, I am the best ME on a bike ... better than I was a year ago, a month, f&%$... better than I was yesterday.

Some 5 miles later, Jay texted me, "I'm freaking out here. Please call me". Eh?  I pulled off the trail and used the last seconds of battery that remained to call him.  Every one of our pals that Jay found said they hadn't seen me and it became apparent that my group was not on course, or at least not in the right order.  I told him I'd head to the campground where all the loops were supposed to come through and wait for him... wherever the F that was.  I was over 2 hours in, low on water, and old injuries were dropping in on me to make sure I hadn't forgot them.

I found the campground at (my) mile 17 and found water, beer, and Chewy to rest with and wait for Jay to return.  Muddy, soaked, and exhausted, I sat until he rode up to me pissed that he'd missed all the fun.  Heck, we couldn't find a single person who actually found the entire course and did it in the right order.  Dejay.

We rode back into town to find some food and head to the Riverside Park where we found a shady spot to nap under before the evening's championship games and debauchery started.  Nearby, we saw a small pool about the size of a hot tub, made out of a tarp and some hay bails.  We figured it had something to do with our Rubber Ducky number plates and jumped in to soak out overheated bodies.  We came back to life in the cool water as we made friends with others who joined us for a soak and the rest of the crowd began to fill the park.

Although the course was a friggin' disaster of missed laps, unmarked turns, whatever.. for the $65 entry fee, we got a crap ton of swag, and the party in the park had a live band, a full dinner spread with a hog roast, pulled pork, veggies, slaw, and FREE BEER!!!  Kudos, Dejay & cruė!!!

 As we finished eating, the sun began to set and the heat of the day went with it.  We shifted to the field to explore the demented depths of Dejay's mind and discover how the next SSUSA champions were going to compete.

Heats of 3-4 riders were to ride pixie bikes through a gauntlet of drunken single speeders assaulting them with pool noodles as they navigated a slew of road cones on their way to the duck pond where we had to dismount and cyclocross our way through it.  Luckily, us ladies went first so the 'pool noodlers' weren't too drunk and brazen yet and the hits weren't all that severe (at least in the first heat).  I won the first heat with a nice gap and sat on a small hill watching the men's heats begin as I tried to bring down my heart rate.  I looked over at Jay and whispered "I want to win this"....

 As the men's heats began, full-contact racing and spectating unfolded and the antics escalated quickly.  The 'noodlers' realized they could bend the noodles into loops and hook the bars of the riders, a running sprinkler was saturating the ground into a mushy, soggy mess, and the guys were even wrestling in the duck pond as they raced.

 My whole body hummed as I watched the men's heats, calculating the best bike, the best pole position, quietly anticipating the women's finals.  I was on my feet the second Dejay shouted "Ladies", making my way to the inside start position with the little black n' yellow pixie bike in hand.  It was down to three of us and I carefully lined up my pedals as time slowed down in anticipation of the start... three laps ahead of us...  this was it. 

I got the hole shot but had my bars hooked while riding through the cones on the first lap and went down hard.  As the crowd heckled us on, I scrambled back onto my bike and took the lead back. I dismounted to run through the duck pond on the 2nd lap and I took a hard slap to the face from a noodle, but didn't miss a beat.  I charged through the pond, trying to stay in the lead for the final lap.  Although it was quick, I already felt like puking but stayed focused as I neared the cones and 'noodlers', choosing to stay seated on my pixie bike to keep my center of gravity low and duck under the attempted hooks.   I trampled through the pond one last time and crossed the finish with arms raised, squeezing Dejay in a soggy embrace.

SSUSA 2018 CHAMPION!!!  I'm gonna have fun hammering my name into that Champion's Belt for the third time!  :)

High on the excitement, we partied in the park a little longer but soon rode a few blocks to a nearby bowling alley for the Hosting Competition.  The teams bowled as we drank beers and heckled.  The winners were competing for Austin, TX and we erupted when they won... Texas 2019, here we come!

 We retreated to the campground soon after, exhausted and over-served.  Jay and I set the bikes aside and crawled into the back of Ramblin' Fever for a drunken slumber, waking the next day as the sun broke peacefully through the windshield.  It was such a lovely place!

One of the best thoughts as we prepared to leave was that we still had a week of adventure in front of us.  It was quite the way to start our trip!  Friends, fun, new experiences...  yep, life is good.  We said goodbye to our pals, new and old, and headed back to Sparta for the next adventure.

Let the relaxation begin!
Kristy Kreme

Forest Lodge.. the start of our East Coast adventures

Our weary bodies gently fell into bed and slumbered for a much needed 10 hours as the insects chirped outside our window.  We were held blissfully captive in Sleep's arms until the morning sun woke us through the cabin windows around 10:00am on Friday.  Joe, Cindy, and Anna had long been awake but generously let us slumber to catch up on sleep after the 2 1/2 hours of sleep we had the night before.

In the light of day, I took in the spectacular surroundings of the quiet lake community with hot coffee in my hands.. breathing it all in from the wraparound deck and enjoying the silent peace of the lake.  After breakfast, we suited up for a road ride with Joe and Anna to stretch out the legs and enjoy their little piece of heaven.

The ride was beautiful.  Every twisting turn lead to another, every climb gave way to a rewarding decent, and the landscape was peppered with old barns and farmhouses that had been well loved and maintained for decades.  We were 32 miles in and an hour from the cabin when a gentle rain began to fall on our warm skin.  Joe checked the radar and reached for our phones, quickly putting them into a zip lock bag.. "We're gonna get wet".

The welcome drops quickly turned on us as a heavy downpour rolled in and thunder rumbled off in the distance.   Lightning moved in over our heads, exploding violently as the thunder shook the air around us.  I was honestly terrified, hanging precariously on the edge of panic and full meltdown as the pouring rain washed the tears from my face.  With two climbs separating us from the cabin, we had to ride straight into the storm to find our shelter.  I lost my cool as we made our final climb and the lightning seemed to crash along side of us, but Jay stayed with me every foot of the way.

It moved past us as we made the final mile up the gravel road to the cabin and I finally took a much need breath to recover.  Jay and I shared a soggy hug as I regained my composure, grateful to have made it back to the cabin.  We all separated to get warm and dry and were quickly warmed by Joe's presence in the kitchen as he prepared some hot food to set us all up for comfort for the rest of the day.  With a tasty beer and my favorite pens, I took some time to catch up on my journalling as the rain dripped off the porch roof.

 Joe took us out on the neighbor's golf cart to give us a tour of the lake and the community, sharing with us the long history of the families that built the cabins that surrounded us.  Decades of family legacies stretched out around the lake, roots spread out over the rocks that the foundations were built on and continued to give life to the stories that came to life at the table at night.  Great food, warm company, and shared laughter closed out the night and we crept off to bed to prepare for the next phase of our road trip... Singlespeeds...shenanigans...beer... and debauchery.  What better way to recover before the shit-show was about to begin.

Enjoying a lil home away from home,
Kristy Kreme