Grocery Escape

Broke away from the workshop today to make a quick cross town grocery ride.  The winter, read freezing, santa ana winds we have been having finally stopped for a day.  It was a perfect time to get outside.  Not a cloud in the sky, and clear views out to the islands. 

 

I recently pulled the front bag off of the Roadeo fo ra couple of reasons.  I did not make it, and that complicates the answer when people ask where I got the bags.  And secondly, coming back to this bike after riding the Trek with a low trail front end geometry I wanted to more accurately be able to assess the effects of load placement on handling.  I am still able to haul a decent amount of stuff with the roadeo before things start to get too flexy,

the biggest problem I experience with this load it flex in the saddle behind the clamp due to the attachment of the bagman support.  One should expect a little give over bumps and such with an extra 30 lbs or so cantilevered out there.  Bottom line, it get the job done, but I actually prefer the handling of the Trek with the load in the front.  

And last, a little humor at the intersection.

Town has stayed pretty bikey this winter, every year I see more and more people out, maybe this is a sign that things are making the shift towards “cool”

Christmas Tree Ride

This morning was the perfect day to go hunt for a tree.  The morning low was in the 30’s and it actually felt like winter.  By the time we had breakfast and loaded up the bikes it was a little warmer out, but still pretty cold by California beach standards.  There seems to be an abundance of tree yards this year, and I was able to work out a fun route for a family ride, with little or no traffic. 

The ride to the lot was balmy, but the hills helped keep things warm, and the views were incredible now that the last week’s wind and dust had settled down.

With the mission half accomplished, Aly decided that the new family ride to get a tree tradition, should include hot chocolate, and who could argue with that.

From there we headed home to unload the tree.

The day was staying nice, the wind never really came up the way it does in the afternoon here.  I set up the tree, switched bikes and headed back across town to run some errands and grab a load of food at the Farmer’s Market.

I can only imagine how nice it must have been up in the mountains today, this weather is about as good as it gets.

The legs are feeling pretty spent at this point, rest and picture break is over and time to hit the kitchen.  Thanks for taking a look and I hope it was this much fun getting your tree this year.

On a side note I finally am coming around to the Facebook thing, still feels a bit funny for some reason, but it is pretty easy to find my, Ocean Air Cycles page and I hope that it makes it a bit easier to follow me here if that is the way you like to keep up on and share things with your friends.

 

Seasonal Posters – Winter 2011 First Edition

Winter 2011:  “Winter Riding – California Style” 

This is the first of what will be a quarterly series. I captured this picture last year while on a long mixed terrain ride in the hills between San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, California.  And yes the day was as nice as it looked, crystal clear with temps between 30 and 55 deg through the day.  There was even a bit of snow and frost still on the shady sides of the hills.  It is my hope that the pictures I share inspire you to get out there, the whole year, not just in fair weather.  I will admit we are a bit spoiled here with the “California” winters.  These posters will make a great addition to your shop or garage, keep it on the wall between the car and the bike, and hopefully they give that little push you may need to choose two wheels over four 

The poster measures 13″ x 19″ and is printed with archival grade ink on 50lb fine art “Photo Rag” paper.  I call these posters, but they are really prints worthy of a frame.  These will be in the shop shortly at $20 + $8 shipping and handling in the US.

Craft Fair Prep

It has been an incredibly busy week coming off of a 4 day break.  Today I made it out to ship off what is likely the last round of eBay auctions for the year.

The last few days have been mostly in the shop getting ready for a craft fair at my wife’s work, Patagonia.  This is a good thing as it forced me into putting a few of my ideas for soft goods into reality.  Fringe benefit will be some market research. 

You have already seen the touring wallets, now in the shop.  The neck gaiters are a fantastic solution for a scarf that can not fall off while you ride, and are in incredibly versatile layering piece to have in your kit.  The first round is made from some nice merino wool, I have two different weights on hand.  Also, hitting the market tonight will be my first round of prints, limited edition of 100.  I plan to offer these four times a year, themed to the season.  This one is “Winter Riding – California Style”.  All of this will be hitting the shop in the next few days.

If you are local and have the time, the craft show is tonight in the firehouse at the Patagonia campus, north building, 4-7 PM.  I have been bumping into more and more readers as of late, and that is probably a good thing.  Thank you as always for your readership and support.

Have fun – Play outside!

New Card Wallet

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.  After having business cards printed up it dawned on me that I need something to carry them in.  After a few hours in the garage working out a couple of prototypes, then some stress testing, followed by a quick round of market research, and then refine the design.  The result:

 Hand made with thick, but not too thick, full grain leather and skived edge.  Finally something useful to do with all the short pieces of chain I have been saving over the years.  These measure in at 3″ x 4″ x 1/2″ stuffed, will easily take 20 or so business cards or an I.D. and a couple of credit cards.  This drops right into your jersey or the small pockets on your touring bags, and is much lighter than the usual bulky wallet I carry.

The first four are committed to a local show later this week, I have enough leather on hand to make plenty of these in time for the Holidays.  Inital price is $30 plus shipping and handling.  These will be added to the shop soon, but in the mean time please drop me a comment to give me an idea how much I should be cranking these out.

Also in the pipeline: Neck Gaiters, Limited run of Poster Prints and frame sets (yes I said it, I have started working with a contractor here in the U.S.A.)