NAHBS 2010 show interview

During NAHBS, I was interviewed by Marty for a DVD he is producing. Here is a teaser clip. I am on the second half in this clip. Can't wait to watch the complete DVD when it comes out.

NAHBS 2010

NAHBS 2010 had come and gone, it was a very quick week for me. We left Colorado early on 2/24 to attend an event at The Bicycle Escape where I got to meet local bike enthusiasts and some of my customers. It was a great event, lots of cool cyclists and lots of delicious treat too.

The next day, we packed up our rental van and headed down to Richmond, VA to set up our show booth. Timing and weather all worked very well, although setup took us a bit longer than expected. We were both hungry and grumpy after a long day and decided to just eat at the restaurant at the hotel. And this changed the mood of the evening, we bumped into Roger (the man who truly runs TBE : ) and Ann at the restaurant and ended up eating together and having great conversations.

Then the 3 days of show happened in a blur. Lots of great conversations with showgoers, exhibitors, fellow frame builders whom we only get to meet and talk face to face once a year during this event. Again, it took us a while to pack up and leave town. We had some dinner along the way and drove back to MD where a friend was housing us for a couple of nights so we can drop off the 2 bikes that belong to customers and 1 demo. The rest of the things were packed and shipped on Monday.

We flew home on Tuesday and were re-united with Lucky who was expressing some upset from our disappearance. I am still very stoked to have won 2 awards at the show. The story of the Sunflower bike will live on forever and holds a special place in my heart.

The year 2010

While watching the Vancouver winter Olympics opening ceremony, I cannot help but think about when Leigh and I arrived in Seattle back in 2002. The 2002 winter Olympics started shortly after our arrival. Fortunately we have friends in Seattle and they have kindly lent us a TV, a couple of lawn chairs and had it set up in our rental apartment. We spent quite some of our evening hours watching the winter games. Although we do not play any of the winter sports, it was a nice distraction for us.

8 years had passed and I almost cannot believe that we have moved a few times, lived in both coasts of the US and are now happily living in Colorado. I was unemployable (no work visa) back then, and now self employed doing what I love.

It is the busiest time of the year preparing for NAHBS and I am very much looking forward to meeting fellow builders again, introducing myself to show going enthusiasts and on top of all this - having a pre-show meet and greet at my friend's bike shop.

Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day happen to be on the same day this year. I wish you all the very best for the year of Tiger and a happy Valentine's day. I shall be cooking something different tomorrow after my recent shopping spree in one of the asian markets in Denver. I hope Leigh can handle it.

Have a good weekend.

I named my child after a motorbike

Huh! I received my weekly update this afternoon for web traffic to this blog and noticed there was one hit to this blog in the last week after a search to the phase "I named my child after a motorbike".

Now I understand why this blog is high on the search result, but I cannot help but wonder who would be googling such a phrase? Was it a father / mother to be? or was it someone looking for my blog but cannot remember anything except for the point that I was named after a motorcycle chain? It is interesting.

May the person be so nice to let me know?

Moving on

I just dropped off 2 sets of frame / fork and accessories for paint today and on the way home, I felt kind of funny passing on my own babies to another craftperson to add on his work. Sometimes it feels relieved that my part is largely done, but other times I feel that I am disowning my work. I wonder if other builders feel the same or is it just me getting all touchy feely.

The best fix for this though is to move on to the next build and bury yourself into the detail of it.

One of my recent work was to build a front rack / basket and it was an interesting piece that took me quite some time but I am happy with the result. Here is a picture.

Happy new year

We had a very nice day today and we rode our mountain bike on some still very snow packed trails. It was fun. It surely requires different handling and balancing skills.

Here is the route with some pictures.

I hope you all had your new year ride.

And here is something I have been working on.

winter rides

It has been another long period between my updates. Sorry.

I have been busy building a special bike which, if all goes smooth, will be exhibited during the next NAHBS at the end of February in Richmond, VA. I am not quite ready to show any in process pictures, but check my Flickr for occasional updates.

Today has been an exceptionally nice day and Leigh and I had a short and nice bike ride. It has been a while since I last ride outside, it feels great! Here is today's bike ride.

This is not to rub it in to my buddies out east as I saw a picture yesterday from MD. Keep warm out there.