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CRANKSGIVING 2017

January 7, 2018

I’m thankful for these two dudes. Every year, Tobi, Bryan & I take the train back home for the holidays, and every year we do a little turkey trot around the outskirts of town. It’s never too long. Something quick, under 30, but there’s usually a fence to be hopped or cow paddy to dodge along the way. Midway through the ride we’ll pull off and take a moment to soak in the scenery. Usually that means pulling off at the nearest drainage ditch to catch some quick airs before we continue on our journey. There are a ton of spots like this peppered around town, some of which have transitions that are smoother than most skateparks I’ve been to.

At one point I saw a hawk chowing down on a rattlesnake so I hopped off my bike, dropped down to its level and started shooting photos. I army crawled closer and got within an arm’s length before the hawk started to flex and didn’t want anything to do with me any longer. I always forget how sick Tobi’s Wheel Talk kit looks. We’re going to have to make a new one soon. Well, that’s it for this year. Check out more photos below, otherwise look forward to more next year.

Getting Dirty With Valence Bicycles

December 1, 2016

Two weeks ago, while I was in California, I had the opportunity to test a ride from Valence Bicycles and chat with Shawn the brains behind it all.

From what I could tell on the internet it was a bike with race-like geometry that could accommodate 32mm tires and had disc brakes. I figured a typical “gravel grinder” but looks are deceiving, and the cover of a book rarely tells its story.

Creative Cleaning With Carbon Pro Sports

October 12, 2015

Living in an apartment has its pro’s and con’s. As a cyclist one of the major con’s for me is trying to clean my bike. I’m not a fan of the “shower wash” because I’d have to spend an additional 10-20 minutes cleaning all the grime out of the tub, and unfortunately I live in an apartment complex with no hose hook-ups. I could take my bike to a local shop and pay them to wash it, but that can get pricey over time, and it’s not that hard to clean a bike yourself. The cheapest way to get around this apartment dilemma is getting a hand pump from Home Depot and filling it with hot tap water to do the cleaning myself.

Not NAHBS But Still NAHBs

April 6, 2015
A few weeks back while everyone was posting their NAHBS write-ups I spent the afternoon with local custom frame builder Matt Mowat of Paramour Bicycles. It was a good afternoon with great conversation ranging from bikes, bike history, frame building, beer, and places to ride in Austin.

Still Speechless

December 23, 2014

Last week I was contacted by Specialized to come to their headquarters in Morgan Hill to come chat and take a tour of their facilities. I wasn’t too sure what to expect honestly. In the email conversations all they specified was that we would be chatting and taking a tour of their facility. I had not stepped foot in their HQ since 2009, so I was obviously excited.

The Stolen Ride

December 4, 2014

It was a rainy Thursday morning when I got to work in San Francisco. For the past few weeks I have been doing my new daily commute of taking CalTrain from Gilroy to San Francisco and then taking CalTrain to San Jose after work and riding the remaining 21 miles to Gilroy. On this Thursday I locked my bike up like I had multiple times before. I had a couple of assumptions. First, I never had any issues locking up my bike at work since the bike rack was wedged between our building and Charles Schwab building. Why should today be any different?  Second, I figured since there were two cameras pointed at the racks no one would really try to steal a bike in such a high traffic/high visibility site. With these security measures why should I use the bike cage in the garage of the building?

Wheel Talk – Aero Cat Kit

October 6, 2014
What feels like forever, and has definitely been discussed by myself and Slumworm for many years, is finally coming to fruition. The first official Wheel Talk kit is now available for pre-order. The kit was designed by Slum and myself, and manufactured by Cuore. The price is $270 and is a jersey/bib combo, so if you buy a medium jersey you get medium bibs. Shipping is $5 to anywhere in the US and $15 anywhere else in the world. If you live in San Francisco send me an email and we can work out a drop off location and I’ll refund your shipping. Since this is a pre-order I will ship out kits as soon as I receive them, which should be roughly 6 weeks after the orders close. 

I spent this weekend riding in the kit and can say that it’s very comfortable. It was in the mid 90’s this weekend and the jersey kept me nice and cool. The fit is nice and snug with a race cut. If you have any of the Strava Gran Fondo jerseys this is the same cut. I’m a small in almost every cycling brand I’ve worn and the same is true for this line from Cuore.

A Weekend With Skratch Labs Matcha+Lemons

September 8, 2014

If you’ve ever ridden with me you know that I like to start my rides with a cappuccino. During the week it’s usually matcha that keeps me going at work, though. Matcha tends to give me a longer lasting energy rather than the jolt of coffee that leaves me hunting another cup when I crash.  When I heard Skratch Labs was releasing a product with matcha I knew I wanted to give it a try, and thanks to a quick order by Cykel I had some to sample.