proud dad over here
i have been waiting for this day since andreas first swung his little leg over his first toptube - and finally! - its here. andreas can ride a two-wheeler! i posted some pictures a few weeks ago of 'dre learning to coast on the 12" bike and yesterday i asked him if he thought he could ride the bike if i put the cranks and chain back on. he says to me in his matter-of-fact-way, "you know dad, i think i can ride it. lets do it". the results are below...
now the real fun begins. i cant wait to show him around and start riding around rosscarrock together - its gonna be so much fun!
Aug 30, 2008
Aug 27, 2008
polo bike - done. some specs...2 speed, 53/39X18 free, mavic front shifter, front derailleur, crank, bb, hs, rear caliper, rear derailler, rear wheel. i am still considering setting up the ZAP system on it too but right now that kinda seems a little bit excessive.
Aug 26, 2008
Aug 22, 2008
ready for polo action!
after screwing around with the rear brake on this bike for far too long and breaking the collar on the seatpost clamp i have decided to pull the plug on this old bike and assemble a different bike for polo. i have a mid-nineties look road bike that will become the new polo-franken-bike and will post pics of it as soon as its done. hopefully the beta version of my homemade disc will be on it too!
after screwing around with the rear brake on this bike for far too long and breaking the collar on the seatpost clamp i have decided to pull the plug on this old bike and assemble a different bike for polo. i have a mid-nineties look road bike that will become the new polo-franken-bike and will post pics of it as soon as its done. hopefully the beta version of my homemade disc will be on it too!
Aug 20, 2008
bike polo virgin, no more
after being pestered by fransky to come out to play bike polo for the better part of 10 years now, i finally made it out to the weekly grass game yesterday. i'll blame it on fransky, but really its all about the coming polo tournament in september that myself and some buddies have decided to play in.
like many things in life - this is one thing that i wish i had started doing sooner. bike polo is super fun, a great workout and amazing for your bike handling skills. i had a couple good wipeouts caused by my mallet going into my front wheel and am now starting to appreciate the idea of putting something on my front wheel to keep that from happening again.
from what i have been told, the grass game i played is going to be very different than the hardcourt game of the tournament. speaking with some of the guys at the polo game, it sounds like there are many differences between the two styles - including rules, bikes used, mallets, almost everything.
maybe its ok that i wont have any habits to deal with!
after being pestered by fransky to come out to play bike polo for the better part of 10 years now, i finally made it out to the weekly grass game yesterday. i'll blame it on fransky, but really its all about the coming polo tournament in september that myself and some buddies have decided to play in.
like many things in life - this is one thing that i wish i had started doing sooner. bike polo is super fun, a great workout and amazing for your bike handling skills. i had a couple good wipeouts caused by my mallet going into my front wheel and am now starting to appreciate the idea of putting something on my front wheel to keep that from happening again.
from what i have been told, the grass game i played is going to be very different than the hardcourt game of the tournament. speaking with some of the guys at the polo game, it sounds like there are many differences between the two styles - including rules, bikes used, mallets, almost everything.
maybe its ok that i wont have any habits to deal with!
Aug 18, 2008
andreas on a bike
'dre is getting close to being able to ride his very own two-wheeler. he has been practicing the fine art of balance on this 12" wheel bike and is getting better all the time. as you can imagine, i am pretty excited to see him finally ditch his training wheels. however, what is that 'ol wives tale - "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."
'dre is getting close to being able to ride his very own two-wheeler. he has been practicing the fine art of balance on this 12" wheel bike and is getting better all the time. as you can imagine, i am pretty excited to see him finally ditch his training wheels. however, what is that 'ol wives tale - "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."
Aug 17, 2008
fuzzy happiness
i love riding the fuzzy bike. like, alot.
some of the things i love about this bike - its too small, the seat is loose, so its constantly tilting back and forth, the braking is terrifying, the shifting, spotty. but, my most favorite thing is that its fuzzy orange, with blue dingo balls. i have only seen one other like it and it was the bike that inspired myself and my sugarpie to build our own.
riding around on it inspires laughter, joy, and countless "i cant believe thats". random humans are always taking pictures of it, sitting on it, getting pictures of themselves sitting on it, leaving notes for it. wonderful.
ok, so like, really, my favorite thing about this bike is it seems to break down barriers between total strangers, at first glance.
1. random human spots the bike.
2. eyes get wide.
3. something comes out of their mouth, and they want to ride it.
that seems to be the pattern. the bike seems to get right through to the kid in almost everyone and brings people back to a happier headspace. it is incredible to ride it because you are constantly talking to people, waving back, laughing at their responses - solid gold my friends, solid gold.
i would encourage you to make one and ride it to the store, to pick up the kids, the beer-run - whatever. we salvaged this one from the laneway, cleaned 'er up, and fuzz'd 'er up - just like that. truely incredible how many positive vibes a $50 trip to fabricland could create.
after you have completed your fuzzy bike - send us a pic and story to http://fuzzybikesunite.blogspot.com.
i love riding the fuzzy bike. like, alot.
some of the things i love about this bike - its too small, the seat is loose, so its constantly tilting back and forth, the braking is terrifying, the shifting, spotty. but, my most favorite thing is that its fuzzy orange, with blue dingo balls. i have only seen one other like it and it was the bike that inspired myself and my sugarpie to build our own.
riding around on it inspires laughter, joy, and countless "i cant believe thats". random humans are always taking pictures of it, sitting on it, getting pictures of themselves sitting on it, leaving notes for it. wonderful.
ok, so like, really, my favorite thing about this bike is it seems to break down barriers between total strangers, at first glance.
1. random human spots the bike.
2. eyes get wide.
3. something comes out of their mouth, and they want to ride it.
that seems to be the pattern. the bike seems to get right through to the kid in almost everyone and brings people back to a happier headspace. it is incredible to ride it because you are constantly talking to people, waving back, laughing at their responses - solid gold my friends, solid gold.
i would encourage you to make one and ride it to the store, to pick up the kids, the beer-run - whatever. we salvaged this one from the laneway, cleaned 'er up, and fuzz'd 'er up - just like that. truely incredible how many positive vibes a $50 trip to fabricland could create.
after you have completed your fuzzy bike - send us a pic and story to http://fuzzybikesunite.blogspot.com.
floatin' the bow river
another beautiful day was had on the river, and with 30 degree+ temperatures cooking us while sitting in our vessels - getting in the water was definitely a priority! more pics are here.
another beautiful day was had on the river, and with 30 degree+ temperatures cooking us while sitting in our vessels - getting in the water was definitely a priority! more pics are here.
Aug 16, 2008
david byrne designs bike racks in new york
the full story can be found here.
too bad we're here in calgary - i guess we'll have to wait for jann arden or teagan and sara to design racks for us here. i wonder what their versions would look like...any guesses?
the full story can be found here.
too bad we're here in calgary - i guess we'll have to wait for jann arden or teagan and sara to design racks for us here. i wonder what their versions would look like...any guesses?
Aug 15, 2008
Aug 13, 2008
Aug 12, 2008
looks like fun! anybody out there been to this? how does a guy like me learn to whack balls like those guys? haha
Aug 11, 2008
alley cat and poker run report
pics can be found here
the ride went off without a hitch and everyone that showed up all said they had a great time. the winning time was somewhere around 30min - which is about right - and the top 3 finishers were all west direct messengers - pretty fitting considering "west d" donated a bunch of cash. good job you 2 guys and 1 girl! i just want to make special mention and thanks to all the "west d" people for their support and especially to jim, tom, and greg - you guys are top drawer and having you there helped everything roll smoothly. we had a total of 20 riders register and thanks to our sponsors pretty much everyone walked away with some sweet swag and heaps of steamwhistle.
the racers were happy, our sponsors were happy, we learned a lot and are already planning the next event, which i hope happens in september or october. we did our best to reach out to the calgary messenger community, the racing community, and the casual rider - and we had great representation across all types of riders. we also raised $140 for goodlife community bike shop - and we're hoping to donate it to them so they can cross a few items off of their want list.
Aug 8, 2008
is it enough?
well, we are all organized and ready to go for the race tomorrow. all the prizes are here and divvied-up - now -i just need to get out of here as this mountain of beer is making me really thirsty!
well, we are all organized and ready to go for the race tomorrow. all the prizes are here and divvied-up - now -i just need to get out of here as this mountain of beer is making me really thirsty!
Aug 7, 2008
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