I meant to mention this show earlier, but starting today and running through Sunday is the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show. The list of exhibitors is pretty impressive and is a good sampling of many of the best builders in the US - primarily the West Coast- that you would see at the larger North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) that has grown over the past 5 years.
I'll be walking around and hanging out for a good part of the day Saturday- not as an exhibitor- but as a fan of the craft and a very happy bike geek in my favorite element. The show is just off the 8 freeway at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center, in their Golden Pacific Ballroom.
If you're in the area this weekend and like bicycles, I really recommend that you check the show out. I'll be the tall bike nerd walking around with camera in hand and a big goofy smile. Say hi if you see me... once I snap out of my bike lust trance, I might even say hi back!
Tim
(PS- I have it on good authority that their will be a mini reunion of former employees of Masi California from the 70's/80's era around 1:00PM on Sunday... just in case you can make it.)
Showing posts with label Happy Bike Nerd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy Bike Nerd. Show all posts
Friday, April 03, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A good tired...
Tonight I am tired in a way I haven't experienced in months; my legs and body are tired from riding. Multiple days of riding. I can't put into words how nice this feeling is. It is long, long, long overdue- as evidenced by my ever increasing weight. Once things kicked off over the summer with my return to traveling and work completely got busy all the time, riding vanished from my life. Before last week, I probably hadn't done a lunch time bike ride in about 3 months. The ride I did in Taiwan on December 7th was one of the first rides I had done in weeks and the longest I'd done in many months- possibly the longest since my crash in April. However, after that ride, I've only been able to ride on my SoulVille with my daughter for a couple miles at a lazy pace. Not that I'm complaining about riding with my daughter... but it isn't like a training ride.
This past week I actually rode at work during lunch for 3 days in a row. The first time I have done that in 3-4 months. I suffered like a pig to ride over a short loop that I have used as my recovery route or warm up route before race night at the track. Still, it was great to be ON a bike and it always only takes a few seconds for me to remember why I love to ride and why I love what I get to do for a living.
Yesterday and today I got out by myself for a bit of riding. Not much, of course, but a good couple hours each time. Yesterday was a nice loop I have done for the better part of the past 17 years. It was windy as all heck, with gusts reaching 30mph I am sure. Still, in between the moaning and groaning, I was happy as hell to be out. I got out on my wonderful Scandiun/ Carbon Gran Criterium prototype and really reconnected with why I love the bike so much. And... the purple paint is just too sweet!
Today, after putting the bike back together- it's been in my bike case since my return from Montreal in September- I got out on my Speciale Fixed. This is the bike that I have put more miles on than any other bike in my stable of bikes. I'm a spoiled guy and have more bikes than I should... but I love them all. That said, the Fixed is just such a joy to ride. Sure, I customized it a bit with some old track parts I have and a few other goodies... but I do love the way the thing rides.
Not a terrible day in SoCal- lightweight armwarmer day today.
A lot of blue in those skies today!
And there she is! My beloved fixed gear. A real dream to ride. I was very happy to spend a few hours on it.
Jersey is courtesy of my "keirin racing brother" in Tokyo. I figured, since I was on a fixed gear, I'd ride with pride in the special jersey in solidarity!
Admittedly, nearly 3 hours on the fixed gear, with the hills I had to ride, was a bit more than I should've bitten off. My legs, arms and neck were wasted by the time I got home. I was worn out and tired... that good kind of tired that goes deep into the muscles and reminds you why you ride.
After a shower and some lunch, I even hopped out on my SoulVille SS and ran to Trader Joe's for a few staple items. My legs were barking at me and I felt like I'd just finished riding something much more challenging... but I was happy to be spinning again, twice in the same day!
I hope your weekends were full of miles or some other activity that fills you with happiness. My daughter is asleep and snoring now... I will be soon too. The sleep of the tired. The sleep of sore muscles. The good sleep.
Tim
This past week I actually rode at work during lunch for 3 days in a row. The first time I have done that in 3-4 months. I suffered like a pig to ride over a short loop that I have used as my recovery route or warm up route before race night at the track. Still, it was great to be ON a bike and it always only takes a few seconds for me to remember why I love to ride and why I love what I get to do for a living.
Yesterday and today I got out by myself for a bit of riding. Not much, of course, but a good couple hours each time. Yesterday was a nice loop I have done for the better part of the past 17 years. It was windy as all heck, with gusts reaching 30mph I am sure. Still, in between the moaning and groaning, I was happy as hell to be out. I got out on my wonderful Scandiun/ Carbon Gran Criterium prototype and really reconnected with why I love the bike so much. And... the purple paint is just too sweet!
Today, after putting the bike back together- it's been in my bike case since my return from Montreal in September- I got out on my Speciale Fixed. This is the bike that I have put more miles on than any other bike in my stable of bikes. I'm a spoiled guy and have more bikes than I should... but I love them all. That said, the Fixed is just such a joy to ride. Sure, I customized it a bit with some old track parts I have and a few other goodies... but I do love the way the thing rides.
Not a terrible day in SoCal- lightweight armwarmer day today.
A lot of blue in those skies today!
And there she is! My beloved fixed gear. A real dream to ride. I was very happy to spend a few hours on it.
Jersey is courtesy of my "keirin racing brother" in Tokyo. I figured, since I was on a fixed gear, I'd ride with pride in the special jersey in solidarity!Admittedly, nearly 3 hours on the fixed gear, with the hills I had to ride, was a bit more than I should've bitten off. My legs, arms and neck were wasted by the time I got home. I was worn out and tired... that good kind of tired that goes deep into the muscles and reminds you why you ride.
After a shower and some lunch, I even hopped out on my SoulVille SS and ran to Trader Joe's for a few staple items. My legs were barking at me and I felt like I'd just finished riding something much more challenging... but I was happy to be spinning again, twice in the same day!
I hope your weekends were full of miles or some other activity that fills you with happiness. My daughter is asleep and snoring now... I will be soon too. The sleep of the tired. The sleep of sore muscles. The good sleep.
Tim
Thursday, September 04, 2008
SWEET!
It's no secret at all to anybody that I'm a TOTAL bike dork. 110% bike dork.
Today was one of those days that every bike nerd gets sweaty thinking about; the arrival of a box full of shiny new bike parts!
The parts are the new and improved SRAM Rival parts that are spec'd on our newest version of the Gran Criterium. These have the new carbon brake lever, the reach adjustable levers with trim adjustment and the new sweet black finish. I have been riding the first version of the parts on one of my bikes for about 2 full years and have only ever needed to adjust the rear derailleur once in that time. The only problem I ever had was with the non-drive crank arm loosening up- never coming off, but loosening. After some cleaning and re-greasing, the problem went away. Since then... perfect! So I'm pretty excited to get this stuff to ride- now that I CAN ride!
The frame the parts are going on to is this new prototype of a full Scandium frame- it's painted and decaled in the livery of our SoulVille SS, which is one of my favorite looking bikes we do currently. With all the black parts, it should be smoking hot! I'm thinking of white cable housings and maybe some red color accents too... not sure. Looking at putting the Ritchey "wet black" finish bars, stem and seatpost on it too. Talking to my friends at Spinergy about a set of wheels too- those white PBO spokes would be hot!
I've been itching to ride this frame for forever too- I got it just before my crash and have been going nuts to ride it. The Gran Criterium I currently ride uses this proprietary new Scandium tubing for the top tube, head tube and down tube. It rides incredible and I have a feeling that the full Scandium frame will ride even better. The tubing shapes used should create a great ride with plenty of stiffness and comfort- thanks to Scandium's vibration damping qualities. I have been toying with the idea of either replacing the current Gran Criterium with this tubing or just offering a frameset with the tubing as a special edition kind of thing. The price should be pretty competitive, so I'm very excited about the potential. If it rides the way I expect it to... it will likely find a place in the line. The geometry is our traditional Gran Criterium geometry that I have ridden for the past 4 years since coming to Masi, so I am VERY familiar with it. Any new subtleties in the ride should only come from the frame itself. THIS is the kind of shtuff a bike nerd LIVES for! Trust me... many reports will be following along the way... another great reason to be recovering and able to ride again!
Ok folks... time to wrap this up. Another very busy day tomorrow as I get ready for Montreal on Saturday. So... see you soon!
Tim
Today was one of those days that every bike nerd gets sweaty thinking about; the arrival of a box full of shiny new bike parts!
The parts are the new and improved SRAM Rival parts that are spec'd on our newest version of the Gran Criterium. These have the new carbon brake lever, the reach adjustable levers with trim adjustment and the new sweet black finish. I have been riding the first version of the parts on one of my bikes for about 2 full years and have only ever needed to adjust the rear derailleur once in that time. The only problem I ever had was with the non-drive crank arm loosening up- never coming off, but loosening. After some cleaning and re-greasing, the problem went away. Since then... perfect! So I'm pretty excited to get this stuff to ride- now that I CAN ride!
The frame the parts are going on to is this new prototype of a full Scandium frame- it's painted and decaled in the livery of our SoulVille SS, which is one of my favorite looking bikes we do currently. With all the black parts, it should be smoking hot! I'm thinking of white cable housings and maybe some red color accents too... not sure. Looking at putting the Ritchey "wet black" finish bars, stem and seatpost on it too. Talking to my friends at Spinergy about a set of wheels too- those white PBO spokes would be hot!
I've been itching to ride this frame for forever too- I got it just before my crash and have been going nuts to ride it. The Gran Criterium I currently ride uses this proprietary new Scandium tubing for the top tube, head tube and down tube. It rides incredible and I have a feeling that the full Scandium frame will ride even better. The tubing shapes used should create a great ride with plenty of stiffness and comfort- thanks to Scandium's vibration damping qualities. I have been toying with the idea of either replacing the current Gran Criterium with this tubing or just offering a frameset with the tubing as a special edition kind of thing. The price should be pretty competitive, so I'm very excited about the potential. If it rides the way I expect it to... it will likely find a place in the line. The geometry is our traditional Gran Criterium geometry that I have ridden for the past 4 years since coming to Masi, so I am VERY familiar with it. Any new subtleties in the ride should only come from the frame itself. THIS is the kind of shtuff a bike nerd LIVES for! Trust me... many reports will be following along the way... another great reason to be recovering and able to ride again!
Ok folks... time to wrap this up. Another very busy day tomorrow as I get ready for Montreal on Saturday. So... see you soon!
Tim
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