Gees, Louise! Recycled (and new) Bicycles will not be opening at 55 W Center. It turns out that another tenant has an option to lease more space behind Great Harvest. The short story is, I am out. Quick, call Dex and tell them to forget about the address change I changed last week. Call Lowes and cancel that order for slat wall. What a pain in the anus.
I am looking again for a space. Small spots with reasonable rents are not easy to find in downtown Logan, Utah. I went yesterday to look at 170 E Center. It is not perfect by any means, but I may be able to make it work. If I want to re-open soon, I do not have a lot of choices. I am down, but not out. And now, a haiku for all the Preparation H users and women who have birthed several children:
It's like a plump grape
burning, itching, and swollen
blocking my rectum.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Shop News
I am gearing up to re-open soon. It looks like the spot behind Great Harvest is a go. I do not have a lease yet, but I hope to soon. Right now the time frame looks to be early to late February. I will be working on licenses and shop set up in the coming days. I am also working on getting in bicycles by Redline, On One, and Planet X.
With the cold weather, I have not done any long rides, just the normal commuting. The air outside is not healthy. It looks like basketball again today. I love basketball.
With the cold weather, I have not done any long rides, just the normal commuting. The air outside is not healthy. It looks like basketball again today. I love basketball.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Biria Touring City Bicycles
Friday, January 12, 2007
Shop News
I am getting closer to finding a shop location. It looks like the spot behind Great Harvest may work out. Stay tuned.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Blood in the Snow
Red blood on white snow
Disappears when the wind blows
Wiping the slate clean
The older I get the more I think about my childhood. I probably remember less but I think about it more. I am old enough to remember movies in elementary school, real movies on reels that were shown with a projector in a dark room. When the movies were over we always begged the teacher to show them backwards. That was the best part of any movie, people running backward, smoke coiling down into a fire, snow falling up, and water climbing out of a mouth and back into its glass. I also remember one of my favorite childhood toys, a Magic Drawing Board. It was a Mylar sheet over a soft black plastic board with a red plastic stylus. When the Mylar sheet was lifted your work would disappear with an ear pleasing "shhrriiip."
Yesterday's ride began in the sun. The sky over Cache Valley was blue and the air was calm. Above the Bear River Range, layers of dark-grey angry clouds swirled in opposite directions. Patty had spent the morning near Beaver and told me about the "blizzard" going on up there. "How bad could it be," I thought, as I rolled along the Shoreline Trail and up Green Canyon.
The road up Green Canyon had been groomed on Friday and was covered with a few inches of fresh snow. Near the second gate the snow was deeper and the going was not so easy. I put my head down and started to sweat. Suddenly, the movie began to play backwards. I looked up and saw a familiar dog. Then, I saw Kris Homel and two friends walking down the road wearing worried but determined looks on their faces. One of them had a paper towel hanging from his nose. We passed so quickly, there was only time to exchange "hey," not enough time to ask about the paper towel twisted into the friend's nostril. As I followed their footprints up the trail, the movie in reverse effect became overpowering. There on the fresh powder, every 50 yards or so, was a bright red drop of blood. The wind began to blow. The snow got deeper. I pushed on. The drops of blood began to appear closer and closer together. Then, there in the snow, I saw numerous footprints where all three had been standing around for some time. Off to the right was a circle of blood one or two feet wide. Beyond the blood were footprints stumbling, and beyond them, footprints running.
I rode on, working harder and harder. The snow got deeper. I took off my balaclava. The sweat froze in my hair. All of the foot prints disappeared. It was just me, alone, making tracks in the un-tracked snow. As I neared the end of the road the wind began to blow harder. It blew me up the canyon and pushed me along. Then it swirled and stopped me dead in my tracks. The ridge lines above were veiled in tumbling dark clouds, close enough to touch. The snow became too deep to ride. I walked a while, and then I turned around, blinded by the blowing snow.
Riding down was easy and fast. The blowing snow was quickly erasing my tracks. When I reached the area of the stumbling footprints and blood, they were nearly covered with drifting snow. "Shhrriiipp." My world had become a Magic Drawing Board.
Disappears when the wind blows
Wiping the slate clean
The older I get the more I think about my childhood. I probably remember less but I think about it more. I am old enough to remember movies in elementary school, real movies on reels that were shown with a projector in a dark room. When the movies were over we always begged the teacher to show them backwards. That was the best part of any movie, people running backward, smoke coiling down into a fire, snow falling up, and water climbing out of a mouth and back into its glass. I also remember one of my favorite childhood toys, a Magic Drawing Board. It was a Mylar sheet over a soft black plastic board with a red plastic stylus. When the Mylar sheet was lifted your work would disappear with an ear pleasing "shhrriiip."
Yesterday's ride began in the sun. The sky over Cache Valley was blue and the air was calm. Above the Bear River Range, layers of dark-grey angry clouds swirled in opposite directions. Patty had spent the morning near Beaver and told me about the "blizzard" going on up there. "How bad could it be," I thought, as I rolled along the Shoreline Trail and up Green Canyon.
The road up Green Canyon had been groomed on Friday and was covered with a few inches of fresh snow. Near the second gate the snow was deeper and the going was not so easy. I put my head down and started to sweat. Suddenly, the movie began to play backwards. I looked up and saw a familiar dog. Then, I saw Kris Homel and two friends walking down the road wearing worried but determined looks on their faces. One of them had a paper towel hanging from his nose. We passed so quickly, there was only time to exchange "hey," not enough time to ask about the paper towel twisted into the friend's nostril. As I followed their footprints up the trail, the movie in reverse effect became overpowering. There on the fresh powder, every 50 yards or so, was a bright red drop of blood. The wind began to blow. The snow got deeper. I pushed on. The drops of blood began to appear closer and closer together. Then, there in the snow, I saw numerous footprints where all three had been standing around for some time. Off to the right was a circle of blood one or two feet wide. Beyond the blood were footprints stumbling, and beyond them, footprints running.
I rode on, working harder and harder. The snow got deeper. I took off my balaclava. The sweat froze in my hair. All of the foot prints disappeared. It was just me, alone, making tracks in the un-tracked snow. As I neared the end of the road the wind began to blow harder. It blew me up the canyon and pushed me along. Then it swirled and stopped me dead in my tracks. The ridge lines above were veiled in tumbling dark clouds, close enough to touch. The snow became too deep to ride. I walked a while, and then I turned around, blinded by the blowing snow.
Riding down was easy and fast. The blowing snow was quickly erasing my tracks. When I reached the area of the stumbling footprints and blood, they were nearly covered with drifting snow. "Shhrriiipp." My world had become a Magic Drawing Board.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
She Can Read!
It's my blog. I can write about things other than bicycles. I want to tell everyone how quickly my child, Lupine, is learning to read. Yesterday, I went to kindergarten with Lupine to help out. Some of the children can read quite well. Some can barely write their names. One little girl, Andi, reads on a second or third grade level. "Wow, she reads so well," I told her Mom. "Have you heard of Starfall?" she said.
There was a time when I would make fun of people who had cell phones, walking and driving around while having the most important of conversations. There was a time when I was sure too many people were spending way too much time on the Internet. Gees, who needs an Internet forum about single speed bicycles? Why is there a web site for fixed gear off road bicycles? Well, we all change don't we. I have a cell phone and I will never have a land line again. Call me, not my house, right? I have not posted to the mtbr single speed site in over two years, but there was a time when Juan Speed (me) was all over this forum. My point is this: you have to keep your finger on the pulse of modern technology or you may miss out on some valuable information and tools. Just use your finger rather than your entire body and soul. How could I have not known about starfall? Where have I been?
Lupine and I went to the starfall site last night. She quickly went through the first three steps on the Learn to Read page. That Zac the Rat is some character isn't he? This morning Lupine has completed steps 4, 5, and 6. In less than a day she has gone from tentatively and painfully sounding out a few words to actually reading. This site is just incredible. It is very interactive. If there is a word she can't sound out she can click on it for help. Each step builds on itself. Wow. You have to check it out. My sister Lynn is going to love it!
Thanks starfall.com
for helping Lupine to read.
Wow, technology.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Mary Bar Report
Update. Look Here.The On One Mary Bar is now on my Strong. This bar is a very neat trick and treat. I have not done a real hard ride with steep climbing and steep single track, but for easy trails, fire roads, commuting, and pulling Lupine in the Burley trailer, they are pretty darn good. Yes, the long grip section gives you a lot of choices. The forward bend puts you in a position, relative to the end of the stem, that is similar to regular bars. However, your hands are at 40 degrees rather than the normal 0 to 10 degrees. For my wrecked wrists, this is a very comfortable position. It has been a long time since I have even used a traditional bar. I have been using On One's Midge Bar. I like this bar too. It is the best drop bar I have ever had, and I even rode WTB Dirt Drops for a while (no link, they are no longer made last I heard).
The real test will be climbing the steep stuff. They may put my hands too far behind the stem; and bar ends are not going to work with these bars for obvious reasons. A full report will follow in the spring. Until then, if you want a pair of these bars, let me know. I have plenty for sale. They are $65. I plan to carry all of On One's stuff in the new shop.Update. Look here.
Bars with funny bends
are suddenly all the rage.
But they fit my hands!
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
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