Bicycles and Gear for Going Places Near and Far Self Propelled With Comfort and Speed
It seems like my only escapes from the keyboard lately have been to get groceries. While not all that exciting, or long, it is way better than no ride at all.
Particularly when it is gorgeous outside and all the labor day crowds have gone home. Another fantastic lunch break / grocery ride in the bag.
I took the long way home after a quick run to the PO, thank you to all who buy the t-shirts, every sale helps. I took advantage of the nice day to experiment with a longer camera pole and some newish angles.
Making the jump from stills to video (for the Kickstarter project) is a bit of a learning curve. Up till this point I have shot 99% of my stills myself, and a large chunk of that was hand held or triggered. Coming up with new angles that showcase the bikes is a bit of a challenge. That and getting smooth footage while not looking like a complete dork as I ride along. And that is only composition, There are still a few technical hurdles to getting smooth usable clips. The learning is all part of the fun.
I made it a point to head out this morning on my old regular Wednesday morning loop. The weather is fantastic, kids are back to school and the summer crowds are starting to thin out. First stop was the swap meet. I had for the, first time, not just a complement on the blue Rambler but a request for back story. That made my day, hopefully he becomes a customer, at a minimum I am sure we will cross paths again. Not finding any great deals at the swap, it was off across town to grab some food to round out the week’s menu:
The riding conditions are just incredible this week, temps n the low 70s, light breezes, clear skies. Enjoying it in little bits, mostly errands and escaping the workshop. The backlog of tasks is mounting. Still, I do my best to get out on the Rambler, it is hard not to when you see your dream bike from your workstation.
Also, you may note just how fantastic the red OAC t-shirt is holding up. Believe it or not I still have these available, and trough the end of the week you can get your very own by clicking on the picture below:
I have been blowing out some of the stuff listed on the current e-store on eBay, along with some vintage odds and ends from my stash. There are a bunch of auctions ending in the next few hours, some of the stuff at screaming deals. I need to get it out of here and make some room for the next round of projects. There will be more stuff going up this afternoon and over the next few weeks as well. A sampling of what is there, the button at the bottom will take you to the auctions:
After setting up the e-commerce side of the site a couple of months back, the traffic has been high, but the sales were/are slow. Not high enough to justify the fees associated with the service. Later this week, the storefront will be coming down, and sales will be through paypal and or eBay as they were in the past.
We are still taking deposits on the Rambler. Batches are smaller, but it is working. I am getting the pieces in pace for a kickstarter project to move the first big batch into production over the winter, thus having bikes ready to go for the upcoming spring. If you have any ideas or feedback on this sort of a project I am all ears. I have good idea of the rewards I will be using, and an outline of the project. The next trick is getting it all done.
Hoooray!! Another one of my pictures in print, this time in Patagonia’s 2012 Environmental Initiatives publication . A giant round of thank you’s to my wife for initially helping get this image spread around campus for bike to work month, and then to the ladies in photo for liking it enough to buy and use a copy. Here is the cover (not my shot) so you know how to find it:
and my pic on page 20:
This is so awesome. I hope that it inspires people to follow suit, and ride their bikes to work, opting out of the car. Likewise employers rewarding the employees for making good transportation choices. In the past these annuals were OK, but often read like a catalog. This year is well laid out, reads well, is short and to the point. Great job to all who worked on it, and hopefully it inspires other companies to step up to the plate with their social and environmental initiatives.