Loco Legends Series
Introducing you to the homies! Sometimes local, but always offbeat and bringing that BIG black sheep energy wherever they roam.
Meet: The Skinny Fish
Currently: Salida, CO
From: I really believe the correct answer to this, for myself, is that I am from everywhere I have ever been. Born in Jersey, lived on a Submarine, kayaked the San Juan Islands, rode the Divide three times, guided trout anglers in remote parts of Washington State... I am an amalgamation, shaped by all the places I have ever been. Being somewhere = time + experience. Each one added to the whole.
Quiver: I have an SS Surly Grapplemonster which bares the title: The Oreo Speedwagon. I have a coaster brake townie whose original paint has completely vanished, giving away to a lovely rust patina. I have an All City Super-Pro and am currently building up an All City Gorilla Monsoon.
Oveja Negra bag of choice: Half Pack by a long stitch! One goes on every bike I use. It's good for a day or a world-rounder. Sometimes, in will go a Captain's Sub sandwich from Sweeties, at other times in goes my end-of-the-world essentials.
Favorite style of biking: Bikegrinning is my favorite kind of cycling. It is when you get on your bike and keep pedaling until you are grinning. After that training goal is met, every ride is an adventure.
Favorite trail/road/area to bike: The last 100 yards before you turn into Bodes General Store in Abiquiu, New Mexico while riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. It's magical.
Shout out your local bike shop! Where do you go for the works? I am incredibly fortunate to have not one but two fantastic bike shops in Salida! SubCulture Cyclery and Absolute Bikes. I would hate to have to give either one of them up!
Who's your crew? Shout out the homies! Let me start by listing my longest standing cycling friend, Cory Simpson. Cory put me on my first adult bicycle at Woodenville Bikes in Washington state and continues to encourage me to ride far and fast.
Stephanie Perko is my longest-standing Salida friend and introduced me to bikepacking bags and Oveja Negra. She rides bikes, she is a VW Buggernaut, fly fishes, and is my favorite storyteller. Dragging me to the gallows would not disuade me from confessing a forever crush on Stephanie because she is just that bad ass.
Cricket Butler is my hero. This 5-time GDMBR racer and 2012 Champion built the Whitefish Bike Retreat for other cyclists to enjoy—she helped everyone be better on a bike and in life. She taught me to spell, greatly improving my life experience. Whenever I feel "quit" coming on, I think of my hero Cricket, who only knows "forward."
Now let's talk about the thorn in my side, or...my best friend, Nadine Vagabunde! We share the same birthdate, we have broken the same bones, we are two waves in sync. If friendly slurs were slashes we both would be dead. Nadine once recieved insurance money for having broken 8 of her ribs. She gave me the proceeds of one of those ribs. How many friends will give you a rib from their own body? We are forever bound by bones.
My newest of friends are Tim & Margeret. We live in Salida together. The three of us ride to Bunny & Clydes for coffee, then go alley hopping all through our sweet town's back alleys and fave sit spots along the Arkansas River together.
Having such friends makes life extra sweet. I absolutely love my cycling community!
You're up to bat—what's your walk-up song? Tusk by Fleetwood Mac.
What makes you a black sheep? Black sheep do not have a mirror in which to see themselves, and they treat all sheep as if they are equal and belong. A black sheep is very happy being just themselves with no consideration of conformity. Masks and black shoe polish don't make black sheep—only an acceptance of one's own self does.
What's one biking adventure you have on your bucket list: I really have been dreamcycling about the XWA route from the beach at La Push to the beer garden at the Bindlestick Coffee & Beer House in Snoqualmie, WA.
Last words?? I once got an awful flat. I sat down, smoked a Swisher Sweet, stuffed the butt of the cigar in the hole and saturated it in glue. It lasted the 15 miles home.
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