The Angry Owner Blog

You didn’t think I fell off the earth…did you? Its just that so much has been happening…and by that I mean being busy and NOT riding. Instead of bitching and telling you all how steamed I am that the weather has been absolutely in the toilet the past week, let me say that the time was used to reinventory the shop, get some T shirts made and do lots of repairs. So there.
We’ve opened up our on line store which basically means that if you don’t live around here you can all up and order T shirts…or custom bikes. I’m going to try and do a paypal button for these bad boys.


Well, the weather should improve this week. Happy to get out and pound 9 miles on the single speed yesterday. Felt like those storm clouds were chasing me.
Drank out of a beer bong last night. Really. Some of my team people picked me up to go to Heber for a house party. Kinda a bike shop party/friends party. People from Dharma wheels, Brothers and Jans were there. Brian had a beer bong. It was nice, but my only complaint is that it had the car oil funnel…funnel. Too tall and skinny. A wide mouthed one is much more satisfying. Not to be the one who bitches about it, the Watts ball valve (same as on mine) was flawless. So, top shelf you crazy people. It was a fun party, but someone brought Patron tequilla to which the Dharma people flocked to like a Hobo on a Ham Sandwich. Yeah, after a couple of rounds of that shit, and the 16 oz beers, shiz-on. Finally, it was time to take our leave as the keg was dry. Impressive work. We got home and thank Frank Dar was having a catering party. I fell asleep watching the Terror or Tiny Town…a western where all the cast members are small people (midgets). How was your weekend? (more…)

Big thanks to all who participated in bike to work week and bike to work day on Friday. We worked a Wed and took off Fri to throw down a little free service for the masses. Big thanks to Todd from Jans for also making it work. The tent looked awesome…and thank god because it cost a pretty penny.
Top shelf to my man Carman who took 2nd in the SS division of the IMC race on Sat. I was there……there to feed. Actually I had a sweet road ride in Heber. Man, I never get down there enough…unless it is to The Other End. There used to be a bar on the SW side of Heber called ‘The End’ and so the other bar opened up on the other side of town called ‘The Other End’ and it outlasted ‘the end’ Funny how the world works.
Over 50 miles today and it felt awesome. With no breakfast in fact. Just Hammer Nutrition to keep me going baby. More miles tomorrow. Here’s a pic from bike to work day.

Pissed that DZ is out of the Giro. Crash and thats it. So it goes with racing. Thats one of the reasons why I pretty much don’t do it anymore. You train your ass off and then it can be taken away from you by your own fault or the fault of another. The whole building fitness is another reason I don’t race, and boy I was fully aware that I lacked fitness when I went up Royal Street today. For those of you not from the area, its about a 900ft climb in 4 miles or so. It was fun, but boy was I slow.
At least I was fast on the pump track, where I spent most of my day. Kim and I ‘freshened’ it up all day yesterday and today while drinking beer and listening to pirate music. And by pirate music I mean songs from the 1700’s performed by the likes of Jack Shit, Nick Cave, Baby Gramps, etc. Ha, thought you knew some cool shit about music huh?
Hey, its bike to work week bitches. I hope you do. We’ll be at the Yarrow at 7am on Fri for some fun.
And last and least, Lance Armstrong has opened up his bike shop. And by his bike shop I mean the shop he will pay someone to run in Austin TX. Talk about love-hate. I love that he’s a world champ and tour winner. The doctor in me loves all the fund raising he does. He even send my man fattys’ wife Karen a little message. Too bad it said ‘Win’ and she’s going to die in 45 days. But, maybe I should focus on the hope and not whine. Maybe It’s best to fight to the end. I’ve had many races that I was racing for 50th place and I fought just as hard as if I was racing for 1st. I’m not here to judge, I’m just here to fix your teeth and your bikes. Maybe it’ll be a great shop after all. Shit, maybe I’ll sell my shop to Lance. Maybe I’ll grow tits. My heart is with the mom and pop shops that will loose business so people can shop at a fucking Trek concept store.

Well a rainy day is a good day to spend at the shop and boy, did I have work to do. Well all caught up - kind of. Would have rather been out riding, but what can you do? Getting ready for the SLC Century on Saturday. Will I make it? Most likely not. But a metric century would be fine. Then there is an alley cat race and bicycle film festival.
You all should go.
And you should all go see my man “E’’s site. Its a little rough as his wife is dying of cancer. But he’s the bomb baby. www.fatcyclist.com
Go and spend some money…and stop bitching about how bad your day was.

Yes, it happened yesterday people. I rode the first ‘real’ road bike ride of the season. I know you’re all excited. And so was I. Just a standard Kamas and back ride but oh boy, what fun. And really needed since I spent all day at the office/shop with kim on Saturday fixing bicycles and doing the dental billing. I had big plans today for a morning ride, but it looks like the fine people at Wells Fargo will get my time instead. Some sort of check cashing problem from the insurance company. That kind of stuff wasn’t in the ‘how to own your own office” manual.
Oh well.
Congrats to Big Jonny from Flagstaff who walked away with the top honor in the Mustache Bash. Winning him a too small T shirt and $26.
More good news, the pump track is now open and I rode it yesterday. Bottom line, it rocks and I want to make it bigger.
Happy Cinco De Mayo. Ironically, we have our public health night this evening which I’m really looking forward to.
Alright, next blog on wed….SLC century, alley kitten race on SAT and Bicycle films too.

My mother used to say that to me on Fridays. Well, thanks to the cool patients and excellent bicycle people that made the busy day to day super cool.
Today was a special day. When employees work for me for a year. they get a cruiser or steel frame. A-Bomb got her cruiser. A hard working girl who has never owned a brand spanking new, shiny pimpin ride until today when she packed it into her truck and drove it home. Top shelf A Bomb - Rock that fly shit.
What else can I say except that I’d love a set of Magura Marta SL’s. Just installed a set last night on a custom Turner. Yeah, they actually might be better than my BB7’s….even though I had to strip the bar to put the levers on. I’m kinda a stubborn bitch that way.

Well, since its cold and snowy and I’m as caught up as I can be at the shop, here is the slightly longer version of the DeAnza ride.
All the pics are on the Flickr site here.
Alrihgt, well…after working 4 days straight (and don’t give me any shit - you pick up the handpiece, needle and try it - oh yeah, and by the way, none of my fillings or crowns have ever fallen out in 7 years). Dub is set to pick me up at 3:30 for the 3.5 hr drive to Antimony (where the animals are). Well, what has to happen first is I’ve got to fire my GM for basically not being willing to step up to the job. Fan-Fucking-Tastic. That should leave a nice pile of work for when I return. We get down to Antimony and I’ve got to do 3 surgical extractions. The great news, the gal was fine. Teeth out, sewed up nice and tight. Yippie.
Well, we were going to leave at 7, but it turned into 9. Two rigs. Mike’s old Truck with 300,000 miles and JB’s trailer. Bob’s USS Enterprise Ford 350D. Thanks to Dub for excellent music. At the stop in Mesquite, for 40’s of Mickeys, I knew there would be trouble. After downing it and catching some Z’s. I get woken up somewhere in AZ or western Imperial county for a piss break. Jesus, getting to the ride is part of the adventure. Whats funny is that I can’t drive a stick shift car or truck, so Dub has to drive the whole way while Bob gets sauced and I sleep. Nice.
Okay, after 14 hours we get to Calixico. Mexico is about a mile away. Nice to see everybody, catching up with friends. Thanks to the Brockmans for letting the Caballeros use their ranch. Played some songs.
The Wilson Gang is part of the ground crew. We brought some new members this year. Dusty and Brandon (nickname jesus fucking christ) were on the crew. Dusty is awesome at the mandolin and we fucking rock.
So, Saturday, we get ready. Sunday is a long, 30 mile desert ride. We basically rode the closest road to the Mexican boarder. Water stations for the boarder patrol all over. Makes you feel weird. The F Troup has several super stars. We basically put a bar in our saddle bags and are ready for anything…which mostly includes rolling in after dark. So, good ride - ending in Plaster City, where I slept with the Hobos on the train line since thats basically where our camp was. I’ve always wanted to talk to old brakemen and boxcar riders. Many of these folks are just day laborers looking for free transport to and fro.
The next day was the Batan Death march through the desert. Counting phone poles and getting drunk. yeah.
The next day was the Ocitillo ride. Dusty and windy. Bob had his ski goggles on.
The next day was the big Cayote Canyon Ride. the big dog. 40 miles and all uphill. I’d guess 7500 feet of climbing. Not a lot of water. Dennis and I rolled out early for this one. Oh yeah, we had a sand storm that night too that wasn’t that fun. I actually walked Sheeza near the end for a mile or two. Way too much uphill. Many animals were burned out that day.
The next day was the downhill day. Nice senery and the camp was in an Orange Grove. That night was my late night. We stayed up until 1am singing songs and drinking beer. The Wilson Trio (and me) have a lot of traditional songs that we do. Its a blast.
Next day was the city ride where they had to close down HWY74 for us. that was kinda fun.
The last day was where we rolled into Lake Perris. Many thanks to the club who had horse racing, an auction and lots of fun the night before.
In general, the ride was great. There were too many long days which means that you either need a big strong pain in the ass horse to make it, or your animal is going to get beat up. Shit, I had to bute Sheeza up the last two days. Hopefully, next year will have no ride longer than 20mi. Hey, maybe it’ll be on Pendelton…thats the rumor. Alright, I’m tired. check out the pics at the flickr site.