jeremy, bring the kilts. i’ve been practicing the bagpipes.

found this today at the henry miller LIBRARY, in big sur, california…

“My best friend… Believe it or not, it was my bike. This one I had bought at Madison Square Garden, at the end of a six-day race. It was made in Chemnitz, Bohemia… I had two other bikes of American manufacture.
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so began the year: santa cruz to santa barbara: 4 friends: 4 bikes: 4 backpacks: 300 miles: 48 hours…

as a cowboy sidled up to the town watering hole, he could easily determine who would be sitting inside at the bar from the horses hitched out front. a chestnut pinto might mean surly jebediah, and his attendant piss and vinegar; the white and black dapple-spotted appaloosa could mean a chance visit from thaddeus, freshly descended from the front range after the season spent trapping in the high-country…

our parents had the unmistakably unique works of the hot-rod and custom car culture through which to see if a particular friend were inside the bowling alley or diner.

the manner and style in which one sets up his bike means that a calling card as unique and individual as the person who rides it, announces his presence wherever he may u-lock it in town. and, perhaps few worlds move faster than that of the fixed gear. these photos are a literal and figural snapshot of a moment in time. as i look at them it’s possible to recall every nuance in character of bike and rider alike –i’ve spent many, many miles with all of them. the choice of bar type, foot retention and rim all mark a moment in time in the evolution of these bikes, and the life of the rider who rode them. indeed, few of the bikes may still be on the street, having since been retired, sold, or otherwise gone missing; and in the 2 years since these photos were taken in tokyo, each rider may have built a replacement radically different, or much the same as those you see here.

as the year winds down, it’s great to look at this slice of life and think to of each of my friends –where they are, what bike they are riding and how their rides have been.

so psyched to SEE BRIAN’S story of THIS on HOME turf, this THURSDAY…

…FIVE pages worth. kinda’ sad to guess why he’s cleaning house.

…yes, well, there’s also eating after cycling.

in cycling, there are those who RIDE bikes, and then there are those who RIDE bikes. so too is it with food. if there were a paris roubaix in the world of gastronomy, this DUDE would be soloing all the way to the velodrome.

here are the ‘rules’ of his road:

“To complete a session, I must eat at least eight of a single food item at a minimum of eight establishments within a single day. (For the purposes of Inhuman Eating Machine, legal counsel has advised me to state that a “day” is defined as the period from when I wake in the morning until the time that I retire for the evening, not to exceed 24 hours.)

Maximum expenditure for each food item shall not exceed $10 per establishment.

Large nationwide chain restaurants will not be included in the sessions, but I may visit local and regional chains. (Exception: If conducting a special “traveling session” of IEM, I may consider eating at a larger chain if it is unavailable in the Bay Area.)”

…only in santa cruz would the occasion arise for one to negotiate a Wiccan portal to an alternate time/space continuum while on his morning ride…

…o faeries and wood nymphs, know that nary a twig was molest’d upon entering your domain, lest you had done wick’d folly to my re-built wheels on this, their first ride (i would have used christening ride here, but ya’ll are a bunch of Goddess-oriented neopagan ‘CRAFT practicing spirit-beings). anyway, i’m loving these now, more than ever! JEREMY swears by his, and i concur. a thank you to FELLOW TROOPER, JASON for making certain all was good after the asshole riding second wheel in a race two weekends back did EVIL to them. thanks for looking out, jason!

…columbus tubing began its life in 1919 as a manufacturer of steel tubing used in chairs and furniture. the columbus factory in settala, italy houses an incredible archive of both the bicycles (of course) and the chairs it has produced over the years…

…last october, JONATHAN and i embarked on a 5 country, 10 day, 1000 mile RIDE from his place in berlin, germany to the cinelli/columbus factory. below are some photos from our time on the factory floor…

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…recently, i painted up one of the 6 hand-built, italian prototypes of the FRAME we designed with cinelli.

here is a great piece updating the progress of the MONGOLIAN CYCLOCROSS TEAM, through its participation in the UCI cyclocross season. the four member team is staying in belgium where it will compete in UCI cyclocross world cups, top level commercial competitions and finally, the UCI world championships.