Finally had some free time and got an old roll of film processed the other day and forgot that I had several shots leftover from my trip Japan I took a couple months back. This picture was our last day in Japan, Debs looking out from the hotel, we’re both frowning because we had to leave but promised each other that we’d be back in the near future.

My first attempt to tune-up a bicycle was back in the 8th grade, it was a beat up Huffy Mountaineer that came with my family’s home in Hacienda Heights. The previous owners didn’t care for it, poor thing showed all the tell tale signs of neglect; flat tires, cracked sidewalls, rust, oxidized cables, home to the creepiest of crawlers, and cob webs, I hate cob webs. That summer, I learned everything I could about fixing a bike and somehow breathed new life into the hunk of crap. It was plenty frustrating but I absolutely loved the process of trail and error, it was far from a perfect process but I was pretty pleased at the outcome, I finally had a working bike, and soon enough I was using it everywhere. When my friends and I couldn’t play basketball I was riding, when we couldn’t catch the evening flick I was riding, I eventually rode so much I didn’t care for much of anything else, I was addicted to the freedom but most of all the independence. During college, I worked a number of lame jobs, jobs that were a means to an end. During my second year, god answered my prayers with a part-time gig as a bike shop mechanic in Laguna Beach, I was ecstatic with the prospect that I would be getting compensated for something I loved to be around and my positive outlook when waking up for it, didn’t matter how early I started or how late I ended, what was deemed “work” was anything but that to me. My stint at the shop lasted for 2 years, I can still say to this day that those were some of the best years of my life, I learned more than I possibly could have imagined, the countless interactions with incredible individuals have shaped me into the person I am today, for that I’m grateful. Pretty amazing to think it all started with a desire to take a spin around the block.