Still Skitching

I caught a crucial skitch up Lombard from the Presidio on a black Toyota SUV's rear left door handle. Like the last time I skitched that hill I had to let go on the final sharp right turn to avoid getting forced off the road into nature. First time I wore jeans to work and wasn't feeling riding up that hill in them. The lady in the car behind us scolded me through her rolled up windows as she passed.



Going for a long ride tomorrow with Alex from work, a.k.a. "VI" (short for "very important" - appropriate nickname bestowed by our boss). Rode with VI to Alpine Damn a week ago and was surprised at his speed up the hills. Quick little wanker.



Dialing down my ride necessities. Not wearing the Bike Nut kit tomorrow - it's dirty. Going to sport my old Cannondale jersey - the first expensive article of bike clothing I bought after I quit messenging the first time and was riding (marin headlands loop) everyday after work. Spending the night in SF tonight so I only have to get up at 6:00 am - hence the table with flowers and four matching chairs.

bikes

Giant's new top of the line road and mountain bike frames for 2009 arrived at the shop today - just one of each. We are going to build them up using thousands of dollars worth of ridiculous-grade parts. Giant is going to feature our builds Interbike again this year. Apparently there are only a handful of these frames in existence and we're the only shop in the US to have them right now. Giant loves us and all of our Gucci parts.



Going to do Alpine damn again. Setting up a backup alarm this time. Sam trued my wheels after work today, a pair of Neuvation's I bought from Alex for $50 last month. Stoked about that.

On another note:

So it seems this blog is no longer about me being a bike messenger. Some days I don't think about the job and some days I miss it terribly. I've never had a job give me so much euphoria on a damn near daily basis. How could I not miss that?

I quit my job at Speedway without really having another one lined up. I was able to bring three companies over to Jetset after two afternoons of hustling, but somehow I lost interest in doing that. Even after two years, I still feel a bit like a tourist in the bike messenger game. I knew it was never something I could devote my life to. If I had five lives, I'd certainly give it one.

I think right now it's 70/30 against me going back to work as a messenger. As for this blog, I never wanted to just write about whatever popped into my head - I wanted to keep it on one topic that I thought might interest some people.

So I'm not sure what I'll do with it now that I'm not wrestling cars for a living. I'm not sure how many people even read this shit. Maybe "anonymous" is all the same dude. My thinking right now is to keep it marginally about bikes. Or maybe just wrap it up. I'm not sure.


Lindsay, Mike "Battle-Ax" of Flash, ex Speedway's girlfriend too this shot of me a few months ago coming out of the Broadway Tunnel.

booooooring

fuuuuuuck. i miss being a bike messenger.

Building up a track bike

Stayed up late tonight building up my '08 Felt TK2 track bike.



I finally got all of the parts together. This is as far as I got. Yes, I realize the seatpost is in backwards:



I think I'm going to bring it over to MontanoVelo tomorrow. Need help with some stuff, and probably a new chain - kind of botched it. Built the rear wheel - Deep V laced to a Dura Ace hub, over a year ago at a class held by the Bike Kitchen.

Alpine Damn!

I was all set to do the Alpine Dam ride yesterday morning with Sam and Alex from work. I was up late wrenching on my Trek 5000 (threw in a set of Neuvation wheels I bought from Alex for $50 for an astounding 260g weight reduction, cleaned the cassette, degreased and lubed chain, and a few other tricks and trinkets) and setting aside everything I'd need for the ride:



I must have messed up setting the alarm because I was woken up at 6:35 instead of 5:15, by a call from Sam. I needed the sleep, but shit, I was ready to go man!

Bikes in Hotels

Had occasion to stay in a few hotels recently and figured it would be best to bring my bike up to the room so it wouldn't be lonely: