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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.

In the last couple of weeks I had to make some tough decisions about attending bike expos this year.  The original plan was to head out to Philly in October.  This would help me to get some face time for the brand on the east coast.  The fringe benefit being that 99% of my extended family(over 150 people at the last reunion), are all living either in Philly or pretty darn close.  Unfortunately we are having to push that trip off until next year.  The travel costs were just too much at this point in the business.

On the upside, we will have a booth at the San Francisco Bike Expo November 10 & 11.  I am really looking forward to this.  Based on my site analytics, and the general number of inquiries about Ramblers, a good many you out there are in the Bay area.  This will be a great chance for me to meet you all face to face, and for you to see, touch and maybe ride a Rambler in person.  Our travel dates are not set, but we may be in town a couple of extra days one side or the other of the weekend.  Drop me a line if you would like to see Rambler before, during or after the show.

This will be our first Expo, there is lots to get done between now and November, and we are stoked to be getting out there in front of the crowds.

The blog has been quiet, I am sorry for that to all of you who tell me how much you like the pictures.  The lack of posting is far from a sign of inactivity.  There are a few irons in the fire, and I will be making a couple of announcements in the next week.  The first round of Ramblers is scheduled to come into existence in October.  This is later than I hoped, initial interest remains high while initial orders remain lower than projected.  This slowed things down, but not to a stop.  Plan B will be coming out in the next week or so, we press on and the start may be slow, but it is a start.

To all of you who placed orders, THANK YOU, do not lose faith, your bikes will be real, beautiful and yours in a couple of months.  Your support is keeping the wheels turning.

While not getting out to ride as much as I would like, we are still getting out.  Today was the early morning jammy ride with my girls, Happy Birthday to my lovely bride, and the little one is fancying herself the photo assistant these days.

Back to getting ready for the birthday stuff, I hope your weekend is perfect, play outside!