Shopcast

A local big miles rider was in this week and when we noticed his new wooden seat we all fell in love. Nice work Gary. This was his practice model and he had another shaped "blank" that would become his new seat after he works out any glitches with the one pictured.

He integrated a sweet bag carrying system as well. Easier to get at than an under-seat rack, but also keeping the weight well forward of the rear axle. Very nice.

It's pretty obvious that Gary's a high mileage rider that is willing to put some thought and energy into perfecting things for his commute. Here are some pictures of his bike.

Inspiring High School kids to do things is a real challenge. Add to that that what you want them to do is create and express. Good luck with that, eh? Well, an art teacher at Southwest High School here in Minneapolis is succeeding. Ms. Leierwood motivates her students to create art in ways that connect with them. Artbikes is one of her units. Drawings with sports related themes are another unit. She even gets the kids out riding the Artbikes in a local favorite parade called The May Day Parade (put on by The Heart of the Beast Theater). I believe that extra credit is awarded for the kids brave enough to ride in the parade.

Tonite at the shop Ms. Leierwood will be showcasing some of her students work in a gallery exhibition from 7:00 - 9:00. There will be a variety of Artbikes available to check out as well as drawings created in class at Southwest High. Word on the street is that Bill Eggert of Evolutionary Transport will be joining in the fun.

Here are some pictures from The May Day Parade as well as a Bike Expo earlier this spring:

The Almanzo 100 is a gravel road century. It was a natural that Derek and I would do a century on gravel at some point. A bit of a stretch for us to do a race that is a gravel road century, but the Almanzo 100 is a well run race (thanks to Chris Skogen's efforts) that starts just south of Rochester Minnesota.

The ride started at the Spring Valley High School at 9am. I don't know how many riders showed up at the start, but 450 were signed up and I see that 267 finished. It was a mass start which made for a pretty cool roll out. At the beginning of the ride I was a bit full of myself, but by mile 50 that had more than worn away and by mile 70 Derek was dragging me along. I kept hearing in the back of my head "why didn't you get more miles in this spring?". I don't think we would have been much faster had I been more prepared, but the finish would never have been in doubt.

Quality Bike Product is one of the largest cycle distributors in the US and each year for one weekend in February they have a big industry show called Frostbike.

This year's shop ride to Frostbike was well above zero the whole way and we suffered no flats. Sweet!

The event was well attended as always and basically is a who's who in the bike components and accessories world. Civia Bikes come from QBP so we got to check out the full 2010 Civia line up which is looking very impressive. Henry is a sales rep for Schwalbe that has visited us in the past. He gave us all a nice run through the Schwalbe products. For products of interest it seemed that lights were a bright spot (ha!). Portland Design Works looks like an up and coming parts and accessories company that will be good to have around.

The lunch was spectacular and the ride both ways was a fun one. Riding with a group of friends is an absolute blast and being 10 of us there were big smiles all around! Here's a video of the ride and event.

We ended with pizza and a Brompton seminar back at the shop. Brompton is looking especially good for 2010!