Everyone believes in something. In honor of the season, I share this with you…Devo sings “merry something to you.”

We’ll be having a Merry Christmas at our house but what I believe may be different than what you believe.

Hope you have a wonderful something at yours!!

When things get busy at the local bike shop in the summer or when someone needs a day off  I usually jump in to help out and keep my fingernails dirty. It’s always a good time there. Friends work there, friends drop by, friends call.

Repairing or building a bike is gratifying in a different way than my “day job” is satisfying. At the bike shop, you start with a project and (most of the time) you finish it up in an hour or less. Getting your hands on something that you move from “broken” to “working” in an hour is an immediate reward. Working with wrenches, screwdrivers and especially hammers is satisfying in a different way than working in the office.

Bike shops usually also usually have a wide variety of “characters” that visit and an interesting array of bikes always seem to find their way through the doors. Here are a few I’ve seen (bikes, not characters. You can find characters here…) in the last 365 days…

Bling! Bling! This beauty was totally spray painted in GOLD! If only it was worth it’s weight in precious metal this department store anchor would really be something. Though, the kid who owns it no doubt feels it is priceless.

Next are some really shady pics but for a really good cause…

The bike owner had her Trek mixte ride stripped down and the frame sent out to be repainted in honor a loved one. Paint scheme, I’m told, was copy of what was on the loved one’s motorcycle and was done by same artist.  It was built back up, tested and taken immediately to a Livestrong ride. I’ve had some emotional bike rides but I can’t even begin to imagine that ride on that bike…

Here’s a sweet ride from happier times; a cromo GT with a #1 New Jersey NBL plate.

Someone pedaled this puppy hard to earn that top spot BMX plate.

And they did it with Bear Traps. You know it’s solid when it has Suntour Bear Trap pedals on cromo one piece cranks. Can you say nasty shin scars? I’ve got mine, how ’bout you?

If you have any interesting bike photos, point them out for me and anyone else interested…. Bike Hugger posts some good stuff quite often and you might find gems from fatcogtom on Flickr.

Regardless, bike shops are always interesting and rewarding places. If you haven’t been to one recently, stop by for a visit. Winter is usually a great time to spend some quality time with the bike shop people before the spring season kicks back in.

I always try to learn from my experiences. I’ve done a bunch of things in my life to earn money and pay the bills and I think all of these things have made an impact on who I am and how I look at things.

For example, this past weekend it snowed a few inches. Hearing the snowplow scrape the pavement reminded me of plowing the local supermarket parking lot at night for funds.

Though they all seem to blend together in my memory – one particular night stands out.

It was snowing like crazy almost to dawn. We (3 trucks) plowed all night just to keep ahead.

If we didn’t keep up with the snow our pick-up trucks wouldn’t be able to move it and the company would have to hire another company with heavy equipment to clear the snow. Hiring another contractor was not a profitable prospect for the company so we had to stay awake, alert and move the snow.

Numerous stops were required to clear the windshields and equipment. We could just keep up with the dumping snow.  There was no time for breaks but nothing was open at 3am anyway….

Oddly, even though we were all alone in our trucks for hours somehow we bonded. We understood each other’s role in the project, where  everyone was in the lot, what  they were doing and why.  We communicated without talking for more than a few minutes the whole night.

Each of us were zigging and zagging in different directions, lifting, pulling and pushing snow, but we knew where each other was… It may sound ridiculous, but it was like an orchestra or ballet or operating theatre where each knew their role and responsibility – each anticipated it, timed it, did it and helped the other team members to complete their tasks so that together we could reach the final goal.

It dosen’t take a brain surgeon to plow snow all night but it does take someone with the skills and internal fortitude to keep going, keep awake and not make mistakes – when they’d really much rather be someplace else warm and cozy (asleep).

Gave me some insight into others who do seemingly ‘easy’ jobs like driving long distances and plowing roads.

Woody Allen’s famous quote is that, ‘80% of success is just showing up.’  After working the plow all night and driving LA to NYC in a short time with a 30ft trailer, I can say that for those in positions where patience and perseverance pays the bills, ‘just showing up’ isn’t enough. 

Showing up at 4pm is fine. But, staying on duty and focused until 6am is a whole other ball game.  And 80% isn’t the right numba either as perseverance and duty to the team in these instances account for way more than 20%.