Bicycle Times and RBA

Hope you all had a great holiday yesterday. We had a great day taking Lucky swimming and then some BBQ with our friends.

I would like to thank all the good folks that read the blog and contributed to Leigh's MS150 effort.

There are sightings of my bikes on the current issues of a couple of magazines, Bicycle Times and Road Bike Action. Go check them out, both are nice almost full page coverage from NAHBS this past March.

Summer of smoke

Summer is here, and it seems like it is going to be a really HOT one.

Here in the front range of Colorado, it is off to a not so good start. We have a wild fire here starting about a week ago and is still going. The smoke was bad on a few days when the wind was blowing it right at us. My home / shop is only a few miles from the east edge of this fire and I had worried that we may have to evacuate, but the great efforts of the firefighters had kept this east edge which is close to our town at bay. So, I don't think we have to evacuate now, but hope weather may ease off and not be like the forecast of this coming weekend.

Well, I hope also, weather in your locale is more enjoyable.

This year, Leigh is back to riding MS150 after not doing it last year while recuperating from her broken ankle. I think she is ready with regular training rides of the past weeks. I would like to help her, other than having her bike and riding accessories ready, to ask you to support with a donation to this great cause. The below is her words.

I am cycling in the MS150 ride June 30/July 1.  This is my 3nd year riding in the Colorado MS150 and I will be riding with Team Sugar Bee.

The ride is a 150-mile ride from the Denver area to Fort Collins and back. Completing the ride will be a means to help the National MS Society fund research, advocate for change and help people with MS and their families to lead powerful and productive lives.  Multiple sclerosis affects people in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 20 and 50.  Every hour someone is newly diagnosed and more than 2.5 million people worldwide live with this unpredictable disease.

While participating in and completing the ride is a personal achievement, I find that fundraising is also of great importance. The money raised by this event will fund programs, research and services aimed at making life better for the more than 88,000 people in Colorado whose lives are affected by MS. 

Please join me in the movement to do something about multiple sclerosis. I have set a fundraising goal of $1000.00 for this cause.  A $50.00 donation provides an MS patient with two hours of in-home care.  Donations are tax deductible and any amount will help in the fight against MS.

To donate on-line, click HERE

Thank you for your support and helping me to do something about MS!

Here is a picture of our recent ride to help Leigh get ready for this event.

NAHBS 2012

Time flies when you want more done than you can manage.

It is NAHBS time again. We will be leaving early next week. The bikes are ready, except for packing them into the car!

Here are some pictures I took, not teasers, I have decided to just let it out and if you want to see them live, do visit the show in Sacramento, CA. My booth number is 505.

Hope to see you there.

Oregon Manifest

After a few long days of driving, we arrived at Portland with a tired dog just wanting to be out of the car, but we are here in Portland, OR for the Design Challenge. The morning went well and Bauhinia is now held by the organizer until tomorrow's field test. Here is a clip for the few rides we did before coming out here. Enjoy.

Wool weather

Another big lapse in my postings, my bad.

Summer has been great, it was never too hot this year, although the heat hung on longer until only about a week ago.

I have been busy building and preparing for an upcoming event in Portland, more pictures to come!

Our good friend, the Dotson family of Colorado Weilersport Gold Sprints, put together a wonderful ride yesterday. Leigh and I were lucky enough to be amongst wonderful riders in this inaugural event. I sense that they will bring it to places outside of Fort Collins and allow more to experience the fun and awesomeness of this event.

The cooler fall temperature was just perfect for a wool jersey and here is a slice of what happened to let you get a taste this ride. Enjoy!

happy summer

Summer is officially here and while I have been enjoying Spring for the past few months, it is great to go into summer enjoying the long days.

In the last month, one of my NAHBS 2011 show bikes was reviewed on the current issue of Mountain Flyer magazine. The picture here is taken by Mountain Flyer, it looks great! Coincidentally, Road Bike Action magazine also published on their June issue of their report of NAHBS 2011 in Austin. I was mentioned and pictured in a couple of instances. Check them out!

This bike just left for Taiwan late last week, and should be arriving at its new home anytime now. Its new owner was kind enough to let me hold on to the bike for 2 extra weeks so that I can display it during the recent Rocky Mountain Bike Festival and the 6 Day races at CSU Oval here in Fort Collins. It gathered lots of attention and I think it will do the same in Taiwan too.

I am working on a bike for the Oregon Manifest Challenge, check my Flickr for the progress!

Happy summer.

A wonderful tool

A while back, my friend's father passed away and had left behind some tools for him. It took him some time to go through quite a quantity of tools that he inherited and realized he now has multiples of certain tools. The drill pictured above is one of them.

Knowing that I use various hand tools building bikes, he offered me a selection of such tools for free. I appreciated such a nice gesture and took a few of them. The drill is now on my workbench with a drill bit mounted and ready at all times. This is an older drill but it feels a lot more solid in the hand, and the control is of higher quality than the one I have for the past 8 years.

However, what I feel special about this drill is that it had so much history behind it. I do not know any of it, but I can see from its cosmetic condition that it had gone through quite a bit already. It is interesting to imagine what it might have achieved in its previous hands. I look forward to using it and add to its history; and wonder if one day someone will be riding one of my bikes and wonder about how it is made and where it had been to.