Category Archives: Cycling

Not sure how I ended up seeing this tonight, but it sure does bring back good memories…

I woke up yesterday morning a little before 9am, looked out the window next to my bed, and was happy that the weather looked nice.  A crisp little chill in the air.  Thirty minutes later, the rain started pouring down and the wind picked up.  Just great.  The committed bike commuter I am, I pulled the waterproof clothing out of my closet and got ready to head to work.

There’s something empowering about being able to move yourself from one place to another regardless of weather conditions.  Some drivers probably look at me through their windshield wipers and wonder why on earth anyone would be riding their bike to work on such a terrible day.  I don’t have anything to prove though; I just like taking physical responsibility for my commute, and I’ll always get a little bit of joy from dodging the big puddles and splashing through the small ones.

Fall is here in Central Texas.  Besides being too wet to climb, I’m loving the change in weather.  It’s probably time to start doing big miles on the road bike again, reacquainting myself with the roads out to Johnson City, Elgin and Lockhart.  I want to find some new dirt roads and some new views.

I’ve been having a lot of old memories lately, especially as old friends keep reappearing in my life as they have been these past few days.  And a lot of my favorite moments take me back to the same roads, out of sight of the Austin skyline and sometimes thousands of miles away from the city.  Cold and rainy dirt roads in the remote parts of British Columbia.  Cold and rainy roads from the time I rode to Corpus Christi from here.  The mid-December ride way early in my cycling career where we were dodging ice falling from the streetlights.  So many good moments on the bicycle.

I’m happy with the way I’ve ended up.

I wanted to write about last weekend sooner, but alas, it’s already Wednesday, and I’m just as close to the upcoming weekend as I am to the previous one…  The Sweet & Twisted Triathlon was a success.  I left Austin at 5:00am with Josh, an REI coworker from our North location (and Seattle shortly before that), and we arrived out at Pace Bend State Park around 6.  Early morning!  There was a pretty steady stream of triathletes at the park entrance already, and I could definitely sense a busy morning coming on.  As soon as we parked, we found Eli, who camped out the night before and had our tent all set up and ready to go.

Eli was pumping up bike tires by headlamp when we found him, and I quickly pulled on my own headlamp and set up shop next to him.  Lots and lots of pumping.  Events like this triathlon (all women’s sprint triathlon) provide an incredibly accessibly entry into the sport for a ton of people, but accessibility typically correlates to inexperience as well.  We joked about the nature of showing up to a race with 30psi in your tires…I still don’t quite understand the logic…  As the only bike tech support for the race (500+ women), we kept pretty busy, but all our problems were simple ones.  Not knowing how to operate quick releases on the front wheel (after pulling the bike out of the car), tire issues, minor shifting issues, and bar-end plugs.  That was the extent of it.

Transition closed at 8:00am, meaning we couldn’t touch any bikes after that point.  For the rest of the morning, we sat around talking to bored husbands as they waited for their wives.  The roll reversal – men with kids in strollers waiting, while their partners labored in the distance – was pretty amusing.  And, of course, for a guy playing bike mechanic in a sea of 500 women, my role wasn’t immune.  There were certainly good sights out there, but on the flip side, I also learned who buys the XXL lycra cycling shorts.  Some things you just can’t un-see.

I’m slowly settling into the new house.  The little things – how to close the door without it squeaking, the sharp parts of the hardwood floor to avoid, the heating and cooling patterns, the distances to important things when navigating in the dark…  We’ve been working on a few landscaping projects, and cleaning up the outside of the house a bit.  It’s all really starting to come together, and I’m quite happy with it all.  Even better, I’ve been on my bike every single day since moving.  You have no idea how much those two wheels help to preserve my sanity.

“Job Qualifications: Experience working with multi-ethnic and diverse populations. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in relevant work experience. Flexible schedule. Valid driver’s license and car. Fluency in one of the following languages is preferred but not required: Spanish, Farsi, or Burmese.“

Dear hiring managers:

If you haven’t heard from me yet, my name is Daniel and I’m looking for a new job – something professional, progressive, and “socially responsible.”  I have a decent resume; and, in my opinion of course, I think I’ve done some pretty cool things in my relatively short life that set me apart from others.  I’m a dependable guy, and I’m never late.  But, while I might be a perfect fit for your organization – the little round peg for your little round hole – I won’t be applying for your job opening.  Why?  Because you refuse to recognize that a professional individual can be functional, and indeed thrive in our society without driving a fucking car.

I don’t have a driver’s license, nor do I need one.  I firmly believe that the motorized vehicle and its rampant proliferation is one of the biggest factors ruining our world today.  I won’t even talk about the environment here – you already know.  Lets look at the human level.  Cars have created an irresponsible and dangerously convenient disconnect between human transportation and physical activity.  If more people still moved themselves, I could guarantee a drop in waist sizes – obesity, cancer, heart disease – across the board you’d see healthier people.

Cars have made our cities ugly and our streets dangerous.  We can’t create buildings without attaching multi-level concrete monstrosities to house our rolling coffins.  In their hyper-accelerated lifestyle, drivers are constantly pushing the limits of how fast they can move their vehicles from point A to point B.  Every thirteen minutes, one of them dies when the boundaries are pushed too far.  Why would I choose to be apart of such a mess?

So no, I don’t drive.  I ride my bicycle over 200 miles/week – for recreation, for transportation, for life.  Combined with public transportation, my own two feet, and sensible scheduling, I can get anywhere and do anything on-time and with a smile on my face.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I was sick, but it’s been over two years, and since the beginning of my work history I have never been late – not a single instance.  I embody vitality and happiness.

I really do wish you would recognize these things – or at the least stop describing your organization as progressively minded and forward thinking.  Or move to Houston.  I wish you’d recognize that you’re part of the problem – by listing “a valid driver’s license and car” as part of your job qualifications, you’re continuing a destructive cycle – telling people that they must drive a car to be functional, pushing people away from healthier lifestyles and more intelligent choices.

Best,

Daniel Kietzer

Last week I got to see one of my oldest friends for the first time in six years.  It was a pretty enlightening experience, to say the least.  The last time we saw each other was our junior year of High School at Burkburnett, Texas.  He got into some trouble with the law, moving to California shortly afterward, and I was on a plane to England a few months later.  He was my first friend in Texas – going back to the fourth grade.  We spent our evenings terrorizing our neighborhood like all young kids should.  When High School started, we each sort of went our own way, but I think we still looked out for each other in a sort of disconnected way.

He’s doing some really remarkable things with his life out in California, and his head is definitely in the right place.  It’s refreshing to see that, especially since so many others kids we grew up with seem to be doing generally worthless things.  I think my old friend and I always saw things differently than our peers, and were always going to go to better places in our life.  To be able to see that we’ve done just that really put a huge smile on my face for a few days.

We’ve had rain for the last two days now.  Sunday was a rainy ride, but I was motivated to get out because I was riding with others.  It’s much more difficult to find rainy-ride-motivation when you do the bulk of your training alone, and you’re training for nothing in particular.  Yesterday was really, really wet – justifying my decision; but this morning’s wetness would have been manageable.  I still passed on the opportunity.  The forecast shows lightning bolts for ten days into the foreseeable future, so I’ll have to suck it up if I want to use my free mornings this week.

I’ll be especially miserable if it rains this weekend.  You can’t climb in the rain…

I’m turning 23 in about a week.  I’m trying to not forget my birthday this year, like I did for my 22nd.  The more I write it down, and the more I say it, the better.  Things were much busier for me last year, so I’m going to continue to use that as my excuse.  I was taking my last finals at UT – the ones I didn’t study at all for – in order to graduate.  Right in the middle of all that, I flew to NY for Eric’s wedding.  And, somehow I managed almost two weeks away from work at the capitol during all of this without getting fired – I was disappointed, because my job sucked.  This year I have no excuses though.  I can’t say with a straight face that my cycling, climbing, mornings writing and relaxed evenings at work keep my mind too scattered.