Just in time to keep me from firing everybody and burning down the office/shop…its time for a vacation. Why else would I beup at 4 in the morning writing my blog?
We’ll be taking the travellers checks to the virgin islands. Not planning any double centuries.
Mostly shit like this…
and just in case that isn’t enough, here is the best halloween costume I”ve seen in my life…from our shop, Dave…
See you guys in December.
This is great. This is just super fucking great. I got this heads up from my man big jonny in AZ.
He sent me a link to CNN that explains how the CEO’s of the big 3 auto makers flew into Washington on their company private jets to ask the government for a bailout. Kiss my ass is all I can say. For years, I’ve been saying how dangerous and top heavy the entire state of Michigan is - and jesus, the auto industry put me through college and part of dental school. Auto workers make $75/hour, my mother, a teacher makes over $100,000 a year. Me, the rich dentist in Park City, make $24,000 a year…less than I made as a first year resident at the U hospital in Salt Lake. My bicycle service department roughly charges $1 a minute for service and my markup on parts is between 30 and 50%. How do you like that? Bailout you cockholsters? Fuck you. I hope you and your death machines burn in hell. I rode to work today with an ear to ear grin you fucking clowns.
I won’t bore you with the great ride today. Even warmer than yesterday.
Stevil sent this one in.
Yeah, thats what you get when you win a SSWC event….bitches.
Someone who will never win but that I love in a super gay way is Brian Rose, who sent this in from Homie Fall Fest 2008.
You can find BRose, and the Mpls Mafia doing shit like the Slick 50.
And on a ride like that you’ll find bicycles like this…
Had one of the best road rides in months. Cycling is fun and interesting because there is so much variety in cyclists. For example, after slugging around on my Travelers Check all summer and not really riding the road THAT much, I took out the shops Moots VaMoots with the recently installed Salsa Steel fork. Let me tell you friends, steel is real. Tipping the scale at 19 lbs (with campy record and a flite saddle) I could care less. a 50mm rake and I was bombing down descents with the most confidence I’ve had in years. 40mph felt like 15. So stable. Is this right for everybody…no…but that’s part of cycling…figuring it out. And guess what, maybe tomorrow it’ll change and I’ll want a 12 lb carbon bike.
Hey, people have been emailing and asking what I wear when I ride. Today, sunny and 45-50ish, base layer sock guy sleeveless, Surly wool short sleeve, Pearl Izumi bib tights, PI tights over (since I’m a pussy) the bib tights for extra wind protection. Sock guy wool socks, my normal road shoes, PI booties, Long sleeve jersey, Fox mid weight jacket. 661 cold weather gloves, headband with ear protection, helmet and last but not least, tons of style. All of these items can be purchased at the shop and we are just the kind of people to help you stay warm and look cool. Pic from today.
Well, the Surly Travellers Check is ready for the trip. I’m trying to avoid large shipping fees. How large? Let me tell you about the last bike I shipped. Its a racers bike going to HI for the Xterra race. So, I pack it up, accurately weigh and measure it and plug it into our shops UPS account. $160. Sounds fair I guess….gas is up, etc, so thats fine. Then, about 2 days later, I get a shipping adjustment. ANOTHER $180 is added to the cost. You bet the customer was less that excited by that additional charge. So, there you have it. Nothing against UPS - I actually love their service AND they have NEVER lost any shipment from my shop so we’ll just keep right on paying through the nose.
Just to piss you all off, I rode today and it was grand. Had to give the Surly a shakedown before it goes on vacation with me. MMMM, it was nice.
Hey, Single Speed Cyclocross World Champioships happened in Portland…a place I’ve never been - but have thought about going. The Mlps mafia and Team Evil were there. Thank God.
My favorite part of the report was seeing the bubble machine at the race. An excellent idea. It makes me just want to put one in the shop because it looks so fun.
We brought it home today. Well Kim rode it home today. The Surly Big Dummy. One of her very own. Then we took it to the liquor store and bought beer. mmmm. Pretty nice day for an urban ride. Trails are muddy, snow on the ground, but nice on the road. Might sneak out tomorrow morning if the snow holds off.
Not having a car is easy in the summer around here. But when you’ve got to make it to the shop in a blizzard, nothing but a bitchin’ On One with studded tires will do. You may think a rich bicycle shop owner like myself has 15 Moots’ and such. Nope, I ride a cheap ass bike and love every minute of it. I think the wheels are worth more than the frame…Do you like the nordic ski holder…bitches?
Bring on the winter, I’m ready.
That ‘new bicycle joy’ is back. We built up the Knolly Endorphin on Friday. Its a big trail bike.
Here it is in the storage unit waiting for the Saturday Crest Ride.
Big thanks to Dar and Leslie, my neighbors, who set up Spook Alley - the greatest neighborhood haunted house in the land…and thanks to those who stopped by there and here to say hi! It was fun, and made up for a day that was suppose to be easy, but ended up pretty hard.
So, it felt like Saturday would be the last crest day. And I think it was. Its raining right now.
Here is a picture from yesterday.
So, an excellent ride yesterday, and the Knolly was great. 69 deg headtube angle works for me. Pike up front was the bomb. Joplin seatpost was yummy. Everybody in the world should have a bike like this.
