make sure you watch the second half with the freeride drops. pretty amazing.
via prolly
March 31, 2011
Tom Shirts Are Done
the batch of Toms is done. if you ordered one I sent you an email yesterday.
very happy with how they turned out. thanks for being patient.
MMI Sunday
Sunday was a day of recovery, we headed to the polo tourney to watch and play croquet in the park. I didn't know it beforehand but holy christ is croquet a spectacular way to drink away a Sunday afternoon.
Wayne came bounding up the stairs after a shower and upon entering the room I stopped him dead in his tracks and asked why was he wearing his girlfriends pants "did you forget yours upstairs?" When he told us they were his, Joshy and I lost our shit.
did somebody say sassy?
Bike pile at Corazon
Wayne came bounding up the stairs after a shower and upon entering the room I stopped him dead in his tracks and asked why was he wearing his girlfriends pants "did you forget yours upstairs?" When he told us they were his, Joshy and I lost our shit.
did somebody say sassy?
Bike pile at Corazon
Thanks Milwaukee
Before:
After:
The pants I declared dead back in November are back in action thanks to Jenna who patched them up real nice for me. I had pretty much written them off but at the bar on Sunday I was given my pants back which is awesome.
and Mark hooked this up
thank you both.
After:
The pants I declared dead back in November are back in action thanks to Jenna who patched them up real nice for me. I had pretty much written them off but at the bar on Sunday I was given my pants back which is awesome.
and Mark hooked this up
thank you both.
March 30, 2011
MMI Saturday
We (Joshy and myself) arrived in Milwaukee after midnight on Friday and immediately headed out to the bar. At the Uptowner, we danced (a little), drank (a lot), and spent time with some folks whom we hadn't seen in a while. Our buddy Wayne Wallner, the owner of Breakaway Courier and the namesake for All-City's Wallner Pro pedal, was kind/dumb enough to let us crash with him for a few days.
inside Wayne's
Saturday was race day and after a leisurely breakfast at Corazon, we headed down to Breakaway to register and get ready for the tenth running of the Milwaukee Messenger Invitational. Much to our delight many of our Milwaukee homies and the crew from Chicago were already there, including Nico, Christina, and Stu who came all the way from Richmond. All three are on the AC courier team, so I was pumped that the company was being represented in such force.
the prize bag, done by Shag Bags
looking up in the men's room
mine and Nico's All-City's. Since I had a new bike and AC helped out with gas money I was in full on photography mode for AC purposes
this Dropout was sporting some of Shaggy's fenders
The above image was at the start of the race, notice the snow. The snow plays a huge factor in how my race went as because it was wet out I put my cell in my backpack so as not to have to worry about it (it'll come into play later).
From the get go, since James LaLonde didn't show up everyone knew the guy to beat was Kevin Sparrow of Cog and Breakaway. Since none of us know our way around MKE the logical choice is to follow a fast local, in this case Kevin.
There ended up being five of us in the top group as we were joined by a young courier from Chicago (name escapes me). On the way to the second stop Kevin's radio started going off, it was Wayne and he was pissed because apparently my phone in my backpack kept pocket dialing him over and over. On the radio he asked for me to fix the problem, but since I was eye-of-the-tiger at that point there was no way I was going to stop and take my bag off and lose the group.
Kevin was clearly getting bummed at having a posse, but since none of us knew where we were going and Kevin wasn't into working with us he was left out in a nasty wind on the front most of the time. Which meant we could have gone faster if we were trading leads, but because of the situation were left to spin trailing while our leader suffered on the sharp end and did his best to shake us with unannounced playful turns.
I should mention that during this time, Kevin's radio continued to be filled with Wayne sqwauking about my blowing up his celly. At about the halfway point we were leaving a checkpoint as Wayne's group pulled up, and he started berating me. Now Wayne's a super nice dude, but the look in his eye made me think he was going to knock my teeth in. (at last count I had dialed Wayne's phone 18 times) With my lodging for the weekend on the line I had no choice but to watch my companions speed off as I dug around in my backpack for my phone. Wayne said "We'll help you catch up" to which I replied tersely "I don't need your kind of help" and took off on the chase. I was pissed that my opportunity to ride with such an elite selection was getting away. When I get into competition mode, I get full on and can be a real asshole.
I started clawing back some of the distance and got it down to about three blocks when I decided to drop my head and sprint for it (there was a big headwind). This move proved to be a classic blunder as when I picked my head back up, the group was gone. I later learned that they had taken a shortcut into a parking lot. Not knowing where to go next I had no choice but to turn around and ride back to Wayne's group which included Joshy and Mark$ter.
For the next fifteen minutes I was inconsolable that my race was essentially over. It's not that I thought I could win it, I fancy myself a gentleman racer and would never ever have sprinted Kevin for the finish after he routed and pulled us. (Last year at MMI I pulled a similar move and followed Jade around, after telling Jade the finish was his he allowed me the honor of finishing ahead because I had spent a lot of time on the front that day) I also wasn't going to race Nico for it as I owed him one from Stupor and had let him know early on in the race that I was working for him. Not that he necessarily needed my help, but it was fun to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't get into trouble and a couple of times I was able to drift back and make sure there was no chance of him coming off the group. It made me feel like a rider in a grand tour looking out for his leader. I like feeling useful.
So the best I could have finished had I stayed with the group was third, and my man Stu was in it too so who knows what would have happened. So it's not missing the podium that bummed me out, it was missing the opportunity to ride with those guys. To hang with the best, to represent Minnie, to rep Bike Jerks and AC. I knew I had legs and I knew I could hang.
Kevin ended up taking it with Stu second and Nico third. Congrats to those dudes, Kevin put in a huge effort on the front while battling an absolutely brutal wind. I ended up a respectable 7th.
the top four bikes and mine at the finish
Stu
Nico
Nico after the race with a proto AC Aluminum track frame on his back
First female, Coco
Second female, Shea
Nico on the podium
The next series of photos are Josh and me three sheets singing Coe at the top of our lungs at the Polish Falcon. It's tradition.
Thanks to the organizers, Shag and Jade, thanks to Wayne, thanks to all our friends in Milwaukee, and thanks to Kevin, Stu, and Nico for a great ride.
I love racing my bike so much.
inside Wayne's
Saturday was race day and after a leisurely breakfast at Corazon, we headed down to Breakaway to register and get ready for the tenth running of the Milwaukee Messenger Invitational. Much to our delight many of our Milwaukee homies and the crew from Chicago were already there, including Nico, Christina, and Stu who came all the way from Richmond. All three are on the AC courier team, so I was pumped that the company was being represented in such force.
the prize bag, done by Shag Bags
looking up in the men's room
mine and Nico's All-City's. Since I had a new bike and AC helped out with gas money I was in full on photography mode for AC purposes
this Dropout was sporting some of Shaggy's fenders
The above image was at the start of the race, notice the snow. The snow plays a huge factor in how my race went as because it was wet out I put my cell in my backpack so as not to have to worry about it (it'll come into play later).
From the get go, since James LaLonde didn't show up everyone knew the guy to beat was Kevin Sparrow of Cog and Breakaway. Since none of us know our way around MKE the logical choice is to follow a fast local, in this case Kevin.
There ended up being five of us in the top group as we were joined by a young courier from Chicago (name escapes me). On the way to the second stop Kevin's radio started going off, it was Wayne and he was pissed because apparently my phone in my backpack kept pocket dialing him over and over. On the radio he asked for me to fix the problem, but since I was eye-of-the-tiger at that point there was no way I was going to stop and take my bag off and lose the group.
Kevin was clearly getting bummed at having a posse, but since none of us knew where we were going and Kevin wasn't into working with us he was left out in a nasty wind on the front most of the time. Which meant we could have gone faster if we were trading leads, but because of the situation were left to spin trailing while our leader suffered on the sharp end and did his best to shake us with unannounced playful turns.
I should mention that during this time, Kevin's radio continued to be filled with Wayne sqwauking about my blowing up his celly. At about the halfway point we were leaving a checkpoint as Wayne's group pulled up, and he started berating me. Now Wayne's a super nice dude, but the look in his eye made me think he was going to knock my teeth in. (at last count I had dialed Wayne's phone 18 times) With my lodging for the weekend on the line I had no choice but to watch my companions speed off as I dug around in my backpack for my phone. Wayne said "We'll help you catch up" to which I replied tersely "I don't need your kind of help" and took off on the chase. I was pissed that my opportunity to ride with such an elite selection was getting away. When I get into competition mode, I get full on and can be a real asshole.
I started clawing back some of the distance and got it down to about three blocks when I decided to drop my head and sprint for it (there was a big headwind). This move proved to be a classic blunder as when I picked my head back up, the group was gone. I later learned that they had taken a shortcut into a parking lot. Not knowing where to go next I had no choice but to turn around and ride back to Wayne's group which included Joshy and Mark$ter.
For the next fifteen minutes I was inconsolable that my race was essentially over. It's not that I thought I could win it, I fancy myself a gentleman racer and would never ever have sprinted Kevin for the finish after he routed and pulled us. (Last year at MMI I pulled a similar move and followed Jade around, after telling Jade the finish was his he allowed me the honor of finishing ahead because I had spent a lot of time on the front that day) I also wasn't going to race Nico for it as I owed him one from Stupor and had let him know early on in the race that I was working for him. Not that he necessarily needed my help, but it was fun to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't get into trouble and a couple of times I was able to drift back and make sure there was no chance of him coming off the group. It made me feel like a rider in a grand tour looking out for his leader. I like feeling useful.
So the best I could have finished had I stayed with the group was third, and my man Stu was in it too so who knows what would have happened. So it's not missing the podium that bummed me out, it was missing the opportunity to ride with those guys. To hang with the best, to represent Minnie, to rep Bike Jerks and AC. I knew I had legs and I knew I could hang.
Kevin ended up taking it with Stu second and Nico third. Congrats to those dudes, Kevin put in a huge effort on the front while battling an absolutely brutal wind. I ended up a respectable 7th.
the top four bikes and mine at the finish
Stu
Nico
Nico after the race with a proto AC Aluminum track frame on his back
First female, Coco
Second female, Shea
Nico on the podium
The next series of photos are Josh and me three sheets singing Coe at the top of our lungs at the Polish Falcon. It's tradition.
Thanks to the organizers, Shag and Jade, thanks to Wayne, thanks to all our friends in Milwaukee, and thanks to Kevin, Stu, and Nico for a great ride.
I love racing my bike so much.
Campy Peanut Butter Wrench to Be Discontinued
After almost 60 years of production industry sources report that the Campy 15mm Spanner, known as the Peanut Butter Wrench, will cease to be produced. Get em while you can.
March 29, 2011
Poker Face Race Boston
![POSTER%20LOGOS[1]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5266/5572526600_ee8dcbb1a7.jpg)
if you haven't noticed, I was gone all weekend and it's taking me a second to get back into the swing of things. More posts tomorrow.
March 25, 2011
![pedalstall1[1]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5173/5559484656_815c626007.jpg)
Banjo Brothers Tiny Concert Series
![TBC_500PX[1]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5068/5558834762_04eb296f09.jpg)
The Banjo Brothers are putting on a series of small concerts in bike shops called quite accurately, "Tiny Bikeshop Concerts." The first concert will be held March 31st at Calhoun Cycle in Uptown Minneapolis featuring Brianna Lane as the performer.
March 24, 2011
March 23, 2011
MPLS Courier
Skinny Randy, of Velo Veggies, has started himself a courier service that will essentially deliver anything in the Uptown Area. If that restaurant you love doesn't deliver call Randy. If you're wasted and you need some smokes call Randy. He'll buy and deliver whatever you want for the cost of goods plus a modest delivery fee of $6.
(Don't call him to deliver weed though, that's a different guy)
We called him up on Monday, his first night of operation, and had him pick up some Thai food for us since no Thai places deliver to our house (technically outside his delivery zone) and we were feeling decadent and wishing to support this fine young entrepeneur.
who wouldn't want to invite this guy in?
MPlS Courier operates daily from 4-11pm.
Super excited that Minneapolis now has a service like this.
(Don't call him to deliver weed though, that's a different guy)
We called him up on Monday, his first night of operation, and had him pick up some Thai food for us since no Thai places deliver to our house (technically outside his delivery zone) and we were feeling decadent and wishing to support this fine young entrepeneur.
who wouldn't want to invite this guy in?
MPlS Courier operates daily from 4-11pm.
Super excited that Minneapolis now has a service like this.
March 22, 2011
Spoke of Luck Photos
As readers of this blog know, my lovely GF B.Ridget's father Tom owned a bike shop in St. Paul during the bike boom years of the 70's and early 80's. The shop sold Kabuki, Peugeut and Astra, and Tom was known as quite the wheelbuilder. It's been on our mind lately since I am in the midst of doing a small run of his original Tom designt-shirts that he drew for the shop.
Quick sidenote, when I used to come home from the bike shop smelling like grease B.Ridge always found the smell familiar and comforting because during her early years she spent a lot of time in a crib at the shop. It was very endearing to a bike dork such as myself that my lady liked the smell of Park grease.
Anyway, she had some old photos of the shop so I figured since it comes up on the blog every now and then I'd scan them in and post them up.
Spoke of Luck Sept 1980
note the hanging sign that Tom designed in his signature style
Tom Bailey at your service
January 81
Tom January 81
that Michelin man cardboard sign above his head can now often be seen in photos of my basement workshop
SOL Repair slip -not a vintage photo
Quick sidenote, when I used to come home from the bike shop smelling like grease B.Ridge always found the smell familiar and comforting because during her early years she spent a lot of time in a crib at the shop. It was very endearing to a bike dork such as myself that my lady liked the smell of Park grease.
Anyway, she had some old photos of the shop so I figured since it comes up on the blog every now and then I'd scan them in and post them up.
Spoke of Luck Sept 1980
note the hanging sign that Tom designed in his signature style
Tom Bailey at your service
January 81
Tom January 81
that Michelin man cardboard sign above his head can now often be seen in photos of my basement workshop
SOL Repair slip -not a vintage photo
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