So I was riding home this morning...Maxwell OC Register story

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Some guys get all the luck!

[CC]

Very cool Daren. Especially liked the part about "hearing the pride in your voice," when you speak about your kids. The reporter got all of that just speaking you for a few short minutes.

[maxwell]

Originally Posted by ghixon

Can I have your autograph Crash!!!! Nice writeup.

Na, but I'll see if I can't leave a life sized, dirt impact firgure on the trail somewhere at Oak's this Sunday.

[guero]

i've already showed a few people here, 'hey check out my friend in the oc register!'.

right on big D!

[carbonman]

Thanks for the post, nice story. Just had to be in the right place at the right time.

[TrojanInsomniac]

Nice, Darin! You're going to have the paparazzi chasing you around now!

OC Register now.........US Weekly next!

[superwow]

David Whiting's articles are one my favorite in the OC Register. Love reading about the outdoors in the OC . Of all people, I'm glad he "coincidentally" caught Maxwell while riding. Maxwell, though I've never met you, I appreciate your posts and attitude toward life. You live what you preach. I think people think commuting to work is a good idea, but people rarely do it. (I work from home, so I commute 10 feet, haha).

When I started reading the article, I thought to myself, I've read about this guy Maxwell on STR. Great article.

[G-Ride]

Great article, and you are a great ambassador to the sport. He's a really good writer too. I always enjoy reading his stuff.

[davidB]

way to rep the Kona!

that was one of the coolest articles i've read.

[Dino Brown]

You Da' Man!!!

[coldbrews]

Very cool!

[Burdman]

Sweet writeup Maxwell!!! Nice job! You're gonna be famous now....now all the people driving down Irvine Blvd. in the morning will see you and say, "there goes Crash"!

[JoeTruth]

That's very cool! He got all information from you that quickly? There had to be a follow-up phone call or two or an email, I'm guessing. Regardless, very well done. You're a star now!

[tbowren]

Well I must admit I'm somewhat torn about this article.

On the one had we have this wonderful story about a great guy that we can all be proud of. A guy whom I have personally seen rail corners and take drops in a way I can only dream of. He makes an honest living and is raising fine biking children who are making the mountain biking community in OC even better.

On the other hand, Maxwell you should have crushed that guy and never let him within 100 yards of you. Were you tapering of a big event or something?? I would have expected you to be faster than that.

Just kidding, I can't think of a better person to have a biking article written about.

One more thing.... The graveyard shift explains why you are ALWAYS at the Path. It all makes sense now.

[back of the pack]

This is hard to believe that Mountain bikers made the back of the sports page twice in one week, before you know it someone might think this is a legitimate sport. First Brian and now Maxwell.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/l...30-became-down

[CPATCRASH]

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/m...-bike-mountain


Maxwell's pedal power pumps cash – not gas
Father of three saves nearly $25 weekly commuting by bike – and not just because it's National Bike to Work Week.

DAVID WHITING
Register columnist
dwhiting@ocregister.com
Comments | Recommend
Darin "Crash" Maxwell wraps up his graveyard shift at the giant Albertson's warehouse in Irvine just as the sun's first light cuts through the clouds encircling Saddleback Mountain.
The land is mostly hues of gray as Maxwell and his coworkers end their shifts, even as most people are just beginning theirs.
Collectively, they look like any other group of workers heading off to their cars and trucks. But Maxwell makes a tiny move that sets him apart.
He sniffs the air.
Cool and clear. Maxwell smiles.
Then he does something that no one could miss, marking him a bit of an oddball in this part of the world.
He straddles his bicycle for the ride home.
It's Tuesday, day three into National Bike to Work Week. Unknown to either Maxwell or myself, we're about to become co-conspirators in marking the week. But at this point in time, we're still strangers, albeit strangers with a shared love of cycling.
Unlike Maxwell, who regularly rides to work I later discover, I'm cycling from Mission Viejo to my office in Santa Ana looking to learn something about National Bike to Work Week.
For avid cyclists, the week is sort of like a bad Christmas – for seven straight days. We get up every morning excited about the prospect of hundreds of pedaling pavement like so many presents.
After all, we figure, our time to rule the roads has finally come. Nearly everyone has bought into global warming, even the polar bears. There's a national obesity epidemic. And (the big boost) gas is $4 a gallon.
But this day, especially during evening rush hour, is like any other traffic-clogged day. The internal combustion engine dominates. Pedal power is fringe, except in such cities as Santa Ana where economics and culture meet to make biking to work commonplace.
I'm riding on Irvine Boulevard, leaving the rolling foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, and wondering about this idea of writing a column about a "week" that seems to only live in the hearts of bike geeks.
Suddenly, a familiar fragrance envelopes me. It's the rich, fresh, sweet smell of strawberries growing in nearby fields. In the days before the miles of weeds we call "The Great Park" replaced the El Toro Marine Base, I rode this area about once a week.
Huge strawberry fields marked El Toro in either direction. Strawberry fields forever.
On the best days, the strawberries would mix with jet fuel, courtesy of fighter jocks earning their wings. The planes would scream low and loud, roaring over Irvine Boulevard on take off so low you could look into the cockpit. Smelled like victory.
Lost in the fragrance and the memories of the wonderfully strange combo of strawberries and Marine jets, I almost don't notice the shape of a cyclist far ahead. In fact, I would never have seen this tiny figure had it not been for the cyclist's blinking red light.
As the dawn breaks, I make out a backpack on the cyclist, the mark of a commuter. Perhaps this person can shed some light on National Bike to Work Week?
I pedal like mad, slowly closing the gap although I should be smoking this guy. After all, I'm chasing a mountain bike. Finally, with the help of a few traffic lights, I manage to catch up.
Turns out Maxwell, 43, has been cycling for 14 years. He's a mountain biker at heart. Hard core. Two-time Warrior's Society's Vision Quest racer, a course which covers the entire Santa Ana mountain range. Member of The Path bike shop's riding crew.
Even has a tattoo on his calf with Curious George riding a mountain bike with a bent front wheel. The monkey rides atop a heart, with the letters "S. L. J. K.," honoring his wife Shelly and children Lacey, 15, Jake, 14, and Kaylee, 12.
The bent wheel? That's where "Crash" comes from. Think broken elbow, wrist, ribs. But don't mistake the injuries for anything but having fun while pushing that downhill envelope. It all makes sense when Maxwell explains his hero while growing up in Texas was Evel Knievel.
The nine-mile commute from his home in Tustin to work isn't about excitement (Maxwell says he's never had a serious problem with a vehicle). It's about keeping his type 1 diabetes in check, saving some bucks on gas – he figures nearly $100 a month – and arriving at work and home relaxed after a nice ride.
"I feel better when I get home," Maxwell tells me. "I feel better when I get to work."
While passionate about his own cycling, Maxwell gets more stoked about his children's accomplishments. You can hear the pride in his voice when he talks about their sports, how Lacy placed second in her age group in a Warrior's Society race.
We part ways, a smile on my own face. Strawberries and people like "Crash" Maxwell. Maybe this National Bike to Work Week has a chance after all.
David Whiting's column on people and places will move to Tuesdays starting next week. He can be reached at 714-796-6869 or dwhting@ocregister.com.

[VTVic]

Great story. Thanks for sharing

[maxwell]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

That's very cool! He got all information from you that quickly? There had to be a follow-up phone call or two or an email, I'm guessing. Regardless, very well done. You're a star now!

He did actually call me Tuesday morning after he got to his building.

I hope he get's to read this fourum, and see's what a cool bunch we have here.

I did actually mention STR, but I guess he didn't find a way to throw it out there.

[maxwell]

Thanks Pappi B!

It's all right here........ So, I was Riding Home This Morning.....Maxwell Orange County Register

Maybe another merge in sight.

[CPATCRASH]

Originally Posted by maxwell

He actually told me about the TV show, but I missed it.

He really did seem like a cool guy. Very genuine.
He made a couple of bobbles in the article. I've only been MTBing for 10 years, but 14 sounds good to me!

Thanks for all your kind words! It means a lot to me.

The other bobble is that you were riding a road bike with riser bars. Not a mountain bike!

Now call him back and tell him about Bikes and Beer's!