Jerry Likes Bikes

Wednesday, January 26th - Dinner

2011-01-26T20:00:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, January 26th

2011-01-26T11:11:00.002-08:00

Tuesday, January 25th - Dinner

2011-01-26T11:11:00.001-08:00

Friday, January 21st

2011-01-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 20th - Dinner

2011-01-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 20th

2011-01-20T10:53:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, January 19th - Dinner

2011-01-19T19:33:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, January 19th

2011-01-19T10:41:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 - Dinner

2011-01-18T20:44:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

2011-01-18T10:19:00.002-08:00

Monday, January 17, 2011 - Dinner

2011-01-18T10:19:00.001-08:00

Sunday, January 16th - Dinner

2011-01-16T21:31:00.001-08:00

Sunday, January 16th

2011-01-16T12:33:00.001-08:00

Friday, January 14th - Dinner

2011-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 14th

2011-01-14T09:55:00.001-08:00

Thursday, January 13 - Dinner

2011-01-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

Steak, mashed white beans, broccoli, sauteed onions, lots of A1 sauce.

Thursday, January 13

2011-01-13T09:26:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - Dinner

2011-01-12T20:39:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

2011-01-12T07:47:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - Dinner

2011-01-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - Lunch

2011-01-11T16:15:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

2011-01-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 10, 2011 - Dinner

2011-01-10T20:37:00.001-08:00

Monday, January 10, 2011 - Lunch

2011-01-10T16:47:00.001-08:00

Monday, January 10, 2011

2011-01-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

Jerry Loves Bikes

2010-03-07T11:06:00.001-08:00

Let's Talk

2010-03-02T21:12:00.001-08:00

I need to get a few things off my chest.

First thing's first. Jim Ortega, you're fucking awesome.

I think it's about time we all made a change. I'll start by admitting to a few things. I like to drink. I like beer a lot. I love that there are so many different variations and nuances and wonderful things about beer. I also like to get drunk. It's fun. It's nice to get away from all the bad shit in your life once in a while, or make a social situation fun or awkward or different or weird or whatever. I've driven my car when I was too drunk to drive on several occasions. I've ridden in cars with drivers who were too drunk. I've let friends drive off when they were obviously too drunk to drive. I've gotten drunk WHILE driving. Fuck, you know what I did on Monday? I cleaned out a bunch of empty beer cans from the back of my car. I felt horrible.

Now it's your turn. Think about it. Have you ever driven drunk? Have you ever ridden in a car with a driver who was drunk? Have you ever drank in a car? Odds are pretty good most of us out there have done at least one of these things, even if we weren't aware of it. California law states that you're getting a DUI if you're over .08%. I personally have no clue what a .08 physically feels like since I don't have access to a breathalyzer. I'm sure you don't either, so are you sure you've never driven drunk?

I know by now I probably sound like a lame PSA or someone completing a court mandated community service program, but hear me out.

We all need to stop fucking around. No more driving drunk. No more letting friends drive drunk. No more rationalizing that it's okay because we're just going down the street or taking back roads or driving super late at night so no one's out there and it's cool bro. I'm not trying to say we all need to be uppity and law abiding at all times, but we do need to start being responsible.

The convenience and luxury of driving is incredible. I hate riding my bike in the rain. I hate calling a taxi or walking or finding a friend or taking the bus. It sucks. It's way easier to take my car. It's warm, it has a nice stereo, and it only takes a few minutes to get from the bar to my bed. This is a horrible excuse for putting myself in the position to either cause or be involved in a deadly crash.

Starting right now, I'm taking a zero tolerance policy with myself. I will never put myself behind the wheel if I've been drinking. I have a lot of bikes and I'm still built like a bear, so I can probably handle getting around without my car, even if it's too cold or too wet. I'm a big boy, I can walk home if I need to. I have plenty of people who know and love me and would willingly take me home if I couldn't accomplish it myself.

Side note: this is reciprocal. If anyone out there ever needs a ride home, call me. 707.888.7700.

I will also be taking a zero tolerance policy with my friends. You all mean a lot to me. I don't want to lose any more friends. I will no longer be letting any of you drive drunk. If that means I have to make you a little bed on the floor out of blankets, so be it. If that means I have to be DD for the night, so be it. Missing out on one night of drinking seems well worth it to me to avoid any more of this bullshit. I don't know how many funerals I've been to since graduating high school. I've lost count. I don't want to go to any more. I'd rather have to deal with the aftermath of wrestling you to the ground for your keys than have to prepare a speech about what a great guy you were for your funeral.

I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish with this post. I needed to vent.

No more drinking and driving please. No more reckless driving in general.

RIP

2010-03-01T12:05:00.001-08:00

Don't Mess With... Catchphrases.

2010-02-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

I killed all of these animals with my bear hands. True story. All your dreams can come true in Texas.

Full set here.

Day of the Bears

2009-11-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

Watch out, one day this is actually going to happen.

The full set.

Special thanks to Mark at Monkey Wrench for making dreams and nightmares come true. Squeeze his nipple the next time you see him.

Over the Bay

2009-11-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Yeah, this guy wins.

Growl!

2009-11-12T12:40:00.001-08:00

Take care of the things you love, kids.

Barack Obama Has a Plan

2009-10-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

A final solution to the health care crisis.

Family Values

2009-10-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

My aunt Karen came over. She didn't know what a Wii was. Hilarity ensues as my Mom tries to throw out her shoulder.

Speed Kills

2009-10-20T15:56:00.001-07:00

Perspective

2009-10-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

See? I told you it was a big rock.

Crappy Cell Phone Adventure

2009-09-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today's trip would find me back at Spring Lake, this time rolling around on the Rat Ride. I went ultra-lightweight and brought only my phone and climbing shoes.

This was the first time I had a chance to do an extended ride on the big Hoggy G tires. I'm more than satisfied with their performance! They are perfect for the aimless rides that don't have a set path or destination. Having that much rubber on the ground lets the tires hook up on loose rocks and dirt, which was quite surprising. Blasting down the gravel fireroads was a treat.

I had a ton of fun riding along the shore at Spring Lake and across the beach at the swimming hole. Big tires don't sink into the sand and keep their speed pretty well. I sat in the sand and snapped some photos down by the water.

I rolled around the park some more and found a few little trails I'd never been on before. It's amazing just how much land there is to that place. I've been going to Spring Lake forever and still find little areas I've never been to because the main paths loop around them. Today's pro-tip: go off the trail, you'll find cool stuff.

After exploring, I headed to my secret training grounds and did some climbing. Ask me sometime and I'll take you there. I got in a solid half hour or so of bouldering before the pain in my elbow was too much and had to quit. I headed home.

Now I'm tapping away on a keyboard listening to my neighbors leaf blower. I should have stayed out longer.

Day Trip

2009-09-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

It was windy as shit today, but I'm built like a bear and I've never seen one of those get knocked over in a storm. I hopped on my Soho and headed out to Spring Lake. I packed light: Canon, Gorillapod, slackline, water bottle.

It was a beautiful day away from the wind. The temperature was perfect, there weren't too many people out, and I wasn't lost in the woods. Yet.

Upon realizing this fact, I quickly went off path and wandered in a direction I hadn't been before. After a half hour of hike-a-bike and scampering over boulders, I came to a perfect spot to set up. It's always a pleasure to find yourself somewhere you can let go and forget that you might have better things to do.

Luckily, I didn't have better things to do. I found two good trees and started wasting time.

How to Break Your Favorite Jerry

2009-09-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

I don't eat meat very often. I don't consider myself a vegetarian or feel the need to follow strict guidelines and label myself (*COUGH COUGH* I'M LOOKING AT YOU, VEGAN ROOMMATES.) If I were to force myself to only eat certain things, I'd never be able to take advantage of amazing foodstuffs that might appear in front of me if they didn't follow the rules. What if I'm on vacation and happen to drive by the top-ranked Deep Fried Ham Wrapped Chicken eatery of the world? Or what if I come across a place that serves a hot dog covered in bacon and tomatoes with a hint of lettuce and tries to pass it off as a BLT?

This is one of those things that seems like a great idea after you've been drinking beer all day (spoiler: I had been drinking beer all day.) I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this; The BLT Dog would be mine. I wolfed one down and layered on a PBR. My stomach was delighted with all the acronyms.

Unfortunately, my lower digestive tract got word from upstairs that we were in for trouble. The next day was hell. Me and my bowels still aren't on speaking terms.

For Craig

2009-09-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Craig, of the wonderful Bike Hits Car, appears to be involved in a duel with myself. I see your Cycroc and raise you a new looptail Quadangle from SE.

I'll take a bakers dozen of these beauties. Now I have to get my PK Ripper repainted to match... anyone got a lead on some Skyway Tuff's in Kermit green?

Delicious Meat

2009-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

I will bite your torso. And yes, that's Mastodon performing!

Sidehack!

2009-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I remember seeing a SICK little bike at Interbike last year at Odyssey BMX's booth. It was a tricked out sidehack with Director forks, Wombolts, all the best shit they make. I wanted it.

Last night's episode of Fantasy Factory (yeah I watch it, you got a problem?) featured some inane bullshit about "Oh wow look at this cool thing we didn't invent but are going to make people think we did!" Half the episode featured them rolling around on the things trying to do backflips and generally get hurt. One thing leads to another and through the magic of television and greed, Rob's manager/handler/puppeteer has a deal going with Walmart to get some cheap versions crapped out of a Chinese warehouse.

First off, these guys are morons for thinking this is a good idea. No one who shops at Walmart wants this. Old school BMX guys want this. They want to spend a lot of money on this because they're grown ups and have jobs now. This is not an item that a kid is going to beg for at Christmas time. Guys who want a sidehack would gladly drop some big coin to have one with quality parts on it, not OEM crap that makes it's way into Walmart. 5-spoke mag wheels, Profile cranks, Crupi hubs, that's what they want.

Second off, I want this thing. I don't care if it's covered in plastic parts and put together by some idiot. I will gladly spend the money on this just to strip it to a frame and build it up the way I want it. I don't know why I want it, but I do. For some odd reason, the idea of having a sidehack just seems like a grand idea. (Have you seen the other bikes he has? Might as well add one more crazy piece to the collection. -Common Sense) I'm sure there are more than a handful of guys and gals out there who feel the same way.

Go check them out at Impakt Bicycles. The website sucks, the people who own it probably suck, and the bike itself most likely sucks, but props to them for having the nuts to actually produce the thing and get them out to market. Now guys don't have to drop a thousand bucks to get a custom frame done up.

I'm sure this feeling will pass when the MSRP is announced at $1999 or some other unobtainable price. Until then, who wants to be my monkey?

1x1=11

2009-09-08T17:04:00.001-07:00

It's been exactly one week since I took a dirt nap on my bike. The past seven days have sucked extremely hard, to put it in simple terms. My injuries are much better and I've regained almost total movement of my arm and hand. There's still a lot of lingering pain and stiffness, but that will eventually disappear.

I went in to see my doctor earlier in the day to make sure everything is progressing the way it should be. Looks like it all checks out, though the stitches are staying in for a little while longer. I'm anxious for the healing process to be complete so I can get back to riding.

Speaking of riding, this showed up in the mail today:

Three beers and a nap later, I had the most evil bike I'd ever laid eyes on.

Limited edition Surly 1x1=11 Anniversary. 24x3.45" tires on Large Marge rims, special edition hubs, Mr. Whirly 33-35 Dingle crank. This shit can't be legal.

I tooled around on it out front for about five minutes before the pain in my arm overcame the insane awesomeness of this bike. It's like a mini-Pugsley that's all jacked up on Mountain Dew! Future plans include an alternate set of wheels, either 650b or 29er, for real trail duty. For now, these wheels will do just fine for extended aimless cruises and trips to the local watering hole.

Other bikes with skinny tires: beware.

Update

2009-09-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Took about 5 minutes to put on my work shirt and do all the buttons. Swelling has gone down in elbow and hand, a lot more movement in my hand. Can hold things with my thumb and index pretty good, other fingers grip but not a lot of pressure behind them and can't squeeze all the way. Still no wrist rotation besides a few degrees or so.

Takes forever to do anything.

How I spent my day off.

2009-09-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

First off, fuck typing, keeping this one short since my left hand doesn't work. I'll post up a funny one detailing the whole event later, but for now, here's what my arm looks like:

Mountain biking yesterday, came upon a trail runner on the wrong side of the path, I swerved to avoid her, she swerved towards me, I corrected and washed out in the the dust to avoid plowing her over. Used my elbow like a boat anchor to stop and impaled it on a very sharp rock which became acquainted with my bone. Torn muscle, six stitches, not enough beer can fix the pain.

This Doesn't Suck

2009-08-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

People who ride bikes! And blog about them! In the North Bay! Exclamation point!

North Bay Fixed

Crater Face

2009-08-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Decided to go to Crater Lake the other day. On the drive into the park, I had visions of the epic views and overwhelming feelings of togetherness with nature. It would be just like an Outside Magazine article. We'd take some photos, enjoy our surroundings, and then become one with the universe.

This is what I assumed it would be like:

But then we got there and I remembered I'm scared shitless of heights.

Yeah, at Crater Lake, you don't actually get to go to the lake. They keep you up on the rim of the lake where a road snakes WAY too close to death on either side. I've highlighted this area here:

I like to refer to this area as the "Splash Zone". The reason for this is that when I'm in this zone, it feels like I just got splashed by Shamu because I'm pissing myself. Someone please take me to flat ground before I ruin another pair of pants.

Seacrest...

2009-08-17T21:56:00.001-07:00

out!

No Cassettes Trick Comp

2009-08-14T23:08:00.001-07:00

Halo. Nuff said.

Bridgestone

2009-08-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a bike I'm very proud of. I built this for a customer about two and half years ago. He brought me a frame and said "Do whatever you need to do to make this frame happy."

His only input were that it have a carbon post for comfort. Two weeks later it was swapped for a Nitto (thank god) and the bike was finally fully content.

I had a lot of fun building this Bridgestone. I spent almost an entire day building the wheels, checking the tension over and over again, stress relieving after every half turn of the spoke wrench. I treated the build like it was going to be mine, and I'd merely be letting someone borrow it for an extended period of time.

Unfortunately, I lost touch with the true owner of the bike. I wish I had taken more photos, but these are enough to remind me. If you ever see it at Hellyer or Alpenrose, take a picture.

Trek 2010 Sneak Peek

2009-08-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

New SS and fixed-gear options from Trek and Gary Fisher for 2010:

3rd District, $709

2nd District, $709

1st District, Belt Drive, $1099

District Carbon. Belt Drive, OCLV Carbon, sex-o-matic, $3359

T1 Track, $820

Triton, $770

Fisher Gritty City, 400 bucks, lifetime warranty. Looks like a junker, but could be popular for a commuter.

More information as it becomes available.

No Cassettes SF Premiere

2009-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last night was the premiere of No Cassettes, a movie filmed by one Mr. Chris Fonseca. I'll have a full review of the movie once I get a copy to watch when I'm not shitfaced and screaming at the top of my lungs. The fam-damily loaded up and headed down to SF for a night of malt liquor and screaming. We arrived about an hour late, ate dinner, and met up with Craigory to get situated for the second showing. As we walked to the Victoria Theater or whatever it was called, I could tell we were getting close.

Neon bikes = DANGER! FIXIE PREMIERE AHEAD!

It was like every pole and rail had been sprinkled with tarck-seeds and it was time to bloom to announce the coming of spring. When we finally got to the theater, I spotted one cunning cyclist who had to upstage everyone else.

Shit paint job? Riser bars? All this guy needed was an Aerospoke, a top tube pad, and a case of PBR strapped to the side of that thing to be king of the crowd. Sure, anyone can ride their fixie to a show, but how many people have the BALLS to drag their fixie behind a Yuba Mundo to a show?

The concentration of huge messenger bags was rising which meant the show was going to start soon. There were about a hundred people milling around in front of the theater tying to rush the doors or find a place to lock-up. I suddenly became very aware of how drunk I was: NOT AT ALL.

We had to secure refreshments! The Victoria Theater has a very strict zero-tolerance policy on sobriety. Knowing this, several hundred liquor stores have sprung up in the surrounding neighborhood.

The rest of the premiere is a blur. Apparently there was some sort of a movie playing. The only things I'm sure of are,
1. Miller High Life
2. ???
3. Profit!

All in all it was an awesome film. The crowd was A+, the riders were excellent, the music was loud as fuck, and everyone in the balcony section was a bunch of drunk lunatics. The give-away at the end was totally fixed (FIXED! GET IT? HAHAHA.) since I didn't win anything. I guess next time I should buy a raffle ticket...

GOOD JOB BIG BLACK CHRIS!

It's totally meta.

Oink.

2009-08-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

Remember yesterday how I was joking about H1N1? Turns out one of the guys I work with came up positive with swine flu! I spent the morning disinfecting all the tools in the shop and cleaning down the benches and stands. I was also sent home early since I've got an unrelated head cold and PANIC had set in at the shop. Mild cold = full blown airborne AIDS?

Random Junk

2009-08-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

1. My good friend Mr. Craig Samuels is in some stupid movie or something. You should probably go to the premiere on Saturday in SF. More information aqui.

2. If you do end up in SF, avoid me at all costs, unless you want some H1N1.

3. Remember when brakeless fixed-gears were the hot shit? Yeah, consider it over. Brakeless trials SMASH!

4. The Ashton Effect 24" is very high on the list of bikes that I want. If someone made a similar bike in steel with 110mm spacing and peggable dropouts, I would give them a lot of money. (Mid BB would be nice too thank you.)

Update to Yesterdays Post

2009-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's an awesome picture of the SUV incident from yesterday. You can see the driver (Jay Fuselier) climbing back out of his 4Runner after going back in to retrieve his registration and insurance info. Tinted glass shards are visible on the ground and serve as a reminder of the fury of my Level 12 Glass Master Kick. Props to him for climbing back into the thing that almost killed him!

Hope everything works out!

And now for something completely different...

2009-08-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is what I got to play with today:

Big smash 'em up derby when a girl ran a red light and plowed into this Toyota. The photo was taken after the tow-truck flipped it back upright. I was at the front of the shop when I heard a huge crunch and looked up to see this SUV falling over on it's side. I was already running outside before the truck slid to a stop, the drivers side to the ground. The guy in the SUV said he was fine and started getting out of his seat belt. I couldn't get the passenger side doors open since they were smashed shut from the impact. I ran around back to try the rear hatch, but it was jammed too. Fuck it! I kicked out the safety glass and the driver crawled from the SUV. It was epic!

The police took a statement from me and the guy thanked me for helping out. He said he'd be back in a few days to buy a bike since he was going to need some new transportation! The driver of the sedan was fine, but it looks like she's going to have some explaining to do with her insurance agent...

I wish I could've taken more photos, but I was a tad preoccupied...

New Stuff

2009-07-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

First post in a while! I decided to update the blog to reflect the fact that my Vegas trip is being canned. Due to lack of support from other members of the team, I was forced to rethink riding a bike across the desert. Riding solo would've been a deathwish. I wouldn't be able to make my mileage goals while carrying 100% of the gear and enough water to prevent, you know, dying and stuff.

Luckily, I'm not about to give up on a big stupid bike tour. Plans for a replacement are currently in the works. Anyone interested in sitting on a bike for two weeks and seeing wonderful things? Shoot me an e-mail!

And now, a thing I really want. Phil Wood ISO fix-free hub.

It's gotta be the most versatile 120mm spaced hub ever. Disc brake single speed? Check. Super beefcake fixed setup? Check. E-mail to Trek Bikes sent? Check.

"Dear Trek Bicycle People,
I would really like you to put disc mounts on the Soho S.
Please have this done no later than the end of August. Thank you.
-Jerry"

Gorillapod!

2009-07-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I got my Gorillapod in the mail yesterday. I have no idea how I managed without one of these things before! It will stick to just about anything, support beams included. This is the second smallest size they make (The Original) and it handles my SD890 and Flip Mino with ease. What are you waiting for, go buy one! Use coupon code SMUGMUG at checkout and they'll score you 20% off and free shipping. Get the eco packaging too... unless you hate America.

The little guy is like a spider!

Super Excited

2009-07-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

I just ordered a new toy, and for once it isn't shoes or bike parts! It's a little gizmo for my camera called a Gorilla Pod. It's essentially like adding a grabby hand onto your camera and can also be used like a traditional tripod. I'll post some pictures of it once it arrives and also put it through a torture test of odd terrain.

Experiments in non-bike related activities

2009-06-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently I shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen. I could have sworn this is what the recipe called for... maybe I'm measuring wrong.

Game Plan

2009-06-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got my first Xtracycle nearly two years ago, I've wanted to do some sort of epic longtail bike trip. The storage capacity of a longtail bike makes it perfect for extended, unsupported adventures. Being able to pack five days worth of food and supplies means I wouldn't be limited to where and when I wanted to travel. My only concerns would be to make sure I had adequate means to purify and carry water if I would be traveling across large, uninhabited stretches. Food, clothing, repair gear, and camp equipment would all be easily swallowed by the Freeloader.

I camped out twice with my old Xtracycle and loved it. I was free to ride all day without worrying about making it to the next market or whether I'd be able to restock my water supplies before running out. When you can carry two gallons of water comfortably, you stop looking for water fountains in public parks to top off your three water bottles. Having all my gear with me made it possible to pull into the first nice looking place at the end of the day and set up a VERY sweet campsite. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could fit a generator and TV on my bike, that way I wouldn't have to miss Time Warp next time I go for a ride...

When me and my good friend Ben decided to drink the Kool-Aid and get Big Dummies, I knew it was time to plan something crazy. The previous year we had planned on riding from San Francisco to San Diego on conventional road bikes. We'd stay at friends houses, set up a post office drop midway and travel quite Spartan. Unfortunately this plan ended up falling apart due to unavoidable circumstances on both our parts. Looking back at it, this trip would've been a great experience, but where was the challenge?

This year will be the third that Specialized Bicycles organizes a ride from their HQ in Morgan Hill to Las Vegas for the Interbike Convention. 17 riders covered 600 miles last year as they rode to the convention hall in Vegas to celebrate Interbike and raise $17,000 for breast cancer research. I'm not sure how many people will be riding with Specialized this September, but I can imagine it will be a similar showing.

I have much respect for the participants of this event, though I know I can do better. Specialized's ride is fully a supported event. A fully loaded SAG van follows the riders for the entire ride. If a rider is unable to complete the days leg, they are swooped up by the van and driven to the nights campground or hotel. All meals and accomodations are taken care of, and riders have to carry little more than a bottle of water. Flat tires are taken care of by world class mechanics, injuries are tended to, and tired riders are taken under the wing of a vehicle. To me this seems more like pro-tour riders competing in a race than a true tour to Vegas.

So what am I planning? I'll tell you later. This post is way too long.

More photos

2009-06-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Took some more photos of the Dummy this morning. Sweet new decals from Surly help make the bike a little more unique. You know, since a HUGE bike like this isn't unique enough already...

I also picked up this sick little item from Bontrager:

Tall can holder! Perfectly fits beers between 12 and 22 ounces and is insulated to prevent HBS (Hot Beer Syndrome.)

In other news, I finally got around to taking some photos of my other main-squeeze, my Trek Soho S. This is the bike that makes me feel like a kid on a BMX when I'm riding off to work. Sometimes it's fun to just hop curbs and mash through fields looking for shortcuts instead of huffing along like you're already at your job. Definitely makes the ride to and from work a hell of a lot more fun, and that's what riding bikes is about, right?

Go ride your bike!

The General Idea

2009-06-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

The whole plot of this blog is I'm going to be riding my bike from Santa Rosa, CA, to beautiful Las Vegas, NV. For those of you unfamiliar with those locations, I'll share with you my secret map that I'll be using to navigate:

I've spent countless hours researching my route, using every available resource (Photoshop) to hammer out a foolproof plan. Now you might be thinking "But that map! It's so small!" Luckily I've budgeted half my travel expenses to printing out a waterproof copy TWICE the size of the original.

Watch this page for a more thorough explanation. And spoilers to the next Harry Potter book.

Quick Intoduction

2009-06-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Took the Dummy out back for a quick photo shoot this morning, thought I'd share some photos before THE BIG EXPLANATION®.

Oh, and to alleviate any concerns...
Because really, what's the point of an epic trip if you can't bring Lagnuitas?

And so it begins...

2009-06-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

My old Xtracycle wasn't quite ready to give up the ghost. I agreed and decided a fitting conclusion to our journey would be one final mega-haul. It would be a good way to show the new guy who's boss and how things are done around here. X proved himself, and reminded us all who was the first, the best, and will always be the greatest. The new guy shows promise, stay tuned to see how he pans out.

Oh yeah! Welcome to my Big Dumb Blog! There'll be a cool post after this one to explain. Promise!