Bike Check: Fuji Swap Find

Saturday was Cascade's annual Bike Swipe over in the Magnuson hangars. Despite having been out the night before wishing some friends goodbye, we managed to secure our spot in the fast-growing line by 8:15, 45 minutes before the doors opened.

I really wasn't looking to buy anything, but upon walking in I saw a number of classic looking frames, a few that appeared to by my miniature size (I usually ride a 50cm). My first draw, a touring frame with full braze-ons and canti studs, was actually too small, but I soon came across an old, clean Fuji that was just right and for sale for less than the pathetic amount of just-in-case cash I took out the night before. I then spent the rest of the swap being spatially unaware of the frame on my shoulder trying to take out anyone brave enough to get near my backside.

Excited to try out the fit, I decided to pull some parts off my green IRO (and a certain hard-earned gold medal), wrap and shellac some old road bars, and give it a go as a fixed gear. After allowing an extra day to procure a longer chain and long reach brake I was ready to roll.

What's next? Add gears and make it my Sunday ride? Add only front rack and fenders and make it a sweet radnogearing bike? Well, for now I'm not doing a damn thing since I shouldn't have even spent the minimal amount I did. But you can be sure when I do make a change, I will post it here.

Resurrection 3!

As you may have noticed by the updated sidebar, it's spring again and with that comes the return of the Resurrection Alleycat. This will be our third year doing it, and it's been great fun working with the full crew again. Plus this year, I / The Kids Are All Wrecked will be donating a prize that I can guarantee you'll want to win, so race accordingly.

I'm sure I'll post more as we get closer, but for now check over at Go Means Go for more info.

Party Report: Partybots Go Bye Bye

I always have a lot of conflicting feelings when a friend leaves town for something bigger. Sadness for myself. Happiness for them. Jealousy of the adventure. But mostly it's just an excuse for a bad ass party.

So it passed the Karl and Adrian left Seattle; Adrian for NYC, Karl for Berlin and beyond. They threw a party down in SODO at the Horton House just above Studio Seven. The spot rules, and had tons of people, a DJ, live painting, and, well, lots of drunkenness.

You can see the rest of the set here. We'll miss you boys, don't forget us and come back soon.

Spot Check: Cascade Bicycle Studio

As I'll tell just about anyone who will listen, I am not a racer. Sprints. Alleycats. Track. I'm just not usually interested in competing, and, to be frank, not very good at it either. On the occasions I do race, I view it more as some unusual theme group ride where everyone goes fast and appears to hate their bicycle. So you could say I'm not really one that is often in the market for a high performance bicycle. I'm mostly ok with my heavy, steel, daily-ride frame I picked up for double-digit dollars at Bike Swap. Mostly.

When I walked into Cascade Bicycle Studio last Friday for their open house, a funny thing happened. It's the same thing that happens any time I'm exposed to a number of incredibly high quality bicycles: I wanted to compete, or, rather, to be a contender. It's not that I believe any bike could turn me into a racer; it's simply that just being around them makes me want to be the type of rider that could use and appreciate (deserve!) such an incredible tool, in the way that an expensive guitar makes me want to be a rock star virtuoso, or an expensive gold chain makes me want to be a raging douchebag.

As the lofty visions of crossing finish lines on carbon and Ti BMC's and Seven's began to fade, I came across a few steel bikes from Honey, which, although still far nicer than anything in my stable, seemed to be a little more my speed:


From what I understand, Honey Bikes are developed and produced by Seven to be more affordable and street friendly. Hand-built in the US with clearance for fenders, mid-level components, and eleven very use-specific models (tandem mountain, you say?), they seem to have a daily-ride bike for everyone. Plus their extremely downplayed graphics (I can't even see the logo in the photo above; it was barely visible in person) just look good. At $2,000 - $3,000 complete, they are still just beyond my reach, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to take one for a ride someday.

Everyone at CBS seemed friendly and extremely non-intimidating. I was never at their old spot, but their new location has a modern industrial feel that, in a very literal sense, lights up the block.


More photos from the open house are available here. I had another event to get to, and sadly couldn't stay for the Emerald Sprints to get under way, but I hear the rest of the evening was as success. Next time you're riding through Fremont, drop by CBS and chat with the proprietors over some serious bike bling and dream of yellow jerseys the rest of the night.

Art & Ride Report: Go for the Goldie's

Some days it is best to keep your interests separate. For example, gin drinking and darts. A combination such as this can only lead to popped tires and bruised knuckles. This past Thursday, however, I manage to successfully combine many of the things I love (bicycles, friends, art and karaoke) into a single delicious cocktail.

I rode out with Monica through downtown to Catherine Person Gallery to check out the opening of the group show Paperweight, in which my good friend Justin Lytle was showing some of his impressive altered-book sculptures. He was showing alongside several artists working on or using paper, with the standouts for me being the paintings of Jeffrey Bishop and the tiny, precise paper frameworks of Teresa Redden. By the time we finished browsing the art, we'd already missed the beginning of the Olympic-themed .83 ride for the night, and started trying make calls to figure out where we could possibly meet up. After coming across another searching straggler in Sodo, we eventually got word of a stop at the QFC on Ranier for supplies.

After meeting the boys, we all head to a fountain/sculpture I had no idea existed near the I-90 tunnel for bronze monkeys (Olympics, get it?) and a surprisingly injury-free footrace. After a failed stop at some hotel bar that somehow tied into the silver theme, we moved on to Goldie's where we finished the night doing karoake, and, apparently, shitting ourselves.


Point83 Karaoke, originally uploaded by btmspox.
I did Bust a Move (quickly becoming a karaoke go-to for me), The Humpty Dance, and a throat-tearing Separate Ways. I think my highlight was actually host Willie Murderface's rousing rendition of Lady Gaga. You should go out tonight and request he do it again. But I will be home, safe, polishing my gold medal.

Flashback: Bust a Move

I want to live in this video. Flea looks like he's 12 years old. Maybe it's all the stuffed animals on his pants.


If you can deal with the dancey/techno vibe also check out the Don Rimini remix. It's bad ass, and directly responsible for the lyrics being fresh in my mind - a necessity if you want to pull this off for karaoke, believe me. Broke it out at Goldie's last night, ride report to come!

Ride Report: Seattle Tweed Ride

Tweed Hill at Gasworks Park, originally uploaded by www.tubulocity.com.
You'd think if you plan a group ride in the middle of February, you could plan for the kind of weather you'd associate with tweed: cool, gray, maybe a little misty. Instead we got a awesome faux summer day that left me wearing a sweatervest with no shirt lounging around the park in excellent company. Not that I'm complaining one bit.

The ride met up at Cal Anderson on Capitol Hill for a leisurely, stay-together ride down to Gasworks. Folks then headed over to the George & Dragon, but we couldn't tear ourselves away from the sunshine. (Also we'd brought our own booze.) I'd estimate there was 60+ of us dressed in our own wildly varying interpretations of tweed. Thanks to Ryan, mine was certified legit:


I forgot my own camera, but Eric over at Tubulocity posted a bunch of sepia-tinged captures (as well as the one above), and a bunch of folks have added their own photos to the Tweed Ride pool on Flickr. If you have any of your own, add them up! Thanks to Sylvie and Nova for making it happen!