Category: Uncategorized

It has been a busy and energizing trip up and down the coat to Seattle and now back to Oakland, with a few days left to go.  I will start digesting a full report once I get home.  At the Seattle Expo we had a drawing going for one of our leather single pocket Makr wallets, and the lucky winner appears to be Kevin O…, I sent email and waiting to hear back on confirmation.  These wallets are heading out as fast as I can make them, a good sign.

This whole trip has been incredible, so many positive people, tons of interest, laying the groundwork for retail placement of the Ramblers. It is going to take me at least a week to recover and tell the story in bite sized chunks.  Until then, get out and ride!  If you are in the bay area and might want to see the Ramblers before I am out of town again, drop me a line.  In between sales calls and business there will be some  riding time here in the East Bay.

The wife and I carved out a little time to enjoy the great weather and grab some tacos.

Pretty close to perfect day for a ride, and a chance to start shooting a new lens too!

 

it has been a year and a half now since I gathered the walnuts, and a year of aging in the bottle.  This is my first time tasting Nocino, and it is good, very good!

Great to sip on and even better over a little bowl of vanilla ice cream.  Be assured, I will be gathering more young walnuts this year and every year I can from here on out.  I am certain the walnuts, as do many things, gathered by bike taste better as well.

Along those lines I have been talking with friends for years now about how much better things like coffee can taste when you are camping.  But why limit it to camping trips or even overnights?  Tomorrow I am going to get up a little earlier, and make the coffee on my morning ride, take the time to enjoy the sunrise and have some extra fun.  Lets see how many of you can join in too, share pics on flickr, instagram, facebook etc. and get your buddies stoked on it too.  I am pretty sure anything that gets that outdoor experience in the day is a good thing, even in bite sized chunks.

I make 90% or more of my trips to the post office by bike.  The smaller boxes are easy enough to fit in the saddle bag or panniers.  The big ones, think surf boards and bikes, end up on the xtracycle for drop-off to UPS and FedEx.  The medium ones are the challenge.

Today I had a vintage rack in a light but bulky box and improvised with some cord.  It worked fantastic and had me thinking of some rack ideas John Cutter had designed a couple of years back.  How are you getting the medium sized loads around by bike?

A while back I had read about the Bicycle Coalition up near Marin, Ca starting a program where members would help to mentor those flirting with the idea of bike commuting, but still tentative to try the water.  I liked the idea, and am pretty sure it would help get a bunch more people out of their cars and onto bikes for the ride into work.  This week I was able to get my buddy Aaron back onto his Rambler (No.2).  He has been an occasional bike commuter, but usually drives the 8 miles or so into work when he is not out to sea.  We had the chance to ride in together this morning, shake down the most recent build on his bike, talk about what makes a bike commute work for him, and hang out a bit.

The ride in was cold, cloudy and just a light mist at times.

I am pretty sure he is completely stoked on everything from the fit and ride to the ease of integrated lighting.  Dealing with battery lights for riding at the margins of the day or night is not that hard, but often a complaint by commuters.  Aaron’s Rambler is set up with a dynamo hub and high-powered LED head and tail lights.  The wiring is neatly tucked into the fenders and inside the frame reducing the chance of damage.  All he needs to do is get on and ride, no batteries, increased visibility for him and oncoming traffic is built right into the package.  Starting your bike build with a frame-set like the Rambler, having integrated provisions for easy and secure mounting of racks, fenders, and lighting can really be a game changer, not needed, but sure makes the bike a full package ready for getting places near and far, with the load on the bike not on your back.

Sales pitch over…we had a blast, I will likely ride in with him once a week while he is in town.  Having someone to ride with helps keep us both pedaling in the mornings