Respect

Inspired. Danny MacAskill from dave on Vimeo.

Fixed Fight Weekend

I spent all night Friday getting this bike ready to show at Fixed Fight 3 on Saturday morning. I finshed the build at 5am, then went to bed (or couch in this case) for a few hours before my grandmother arrived for the first babysitting shift. I was at Cafe Bohemia from Noon until 8:30 pm. I was wasted- energy wise. I rode half of the FF3 course and took a few images and video. I'll post afterward.
The QuickSliver was a hit. I built it up with lots of MTB parts, so some folks were thrown off of its intended use. Is is a 29er? Or a fixed gear? Yes. I figure this is a fixed cross bike of sorts. Plenty of room for knobbies or the 700x35 commutting tires I had installed. The 20mm thru axle MTB fork made for conversation as well. Hopefully, I will make a custom fork for this beast in the future.
Tampa local Dave Horst won the race; he and I will be collaborating on a custom frame for him to continue his winning streak. Good Job Dave.
Heres and image of Dave holding the trophy I made.Images by Parker Young

Weekend Wrap-Up.

I was able to get some stuff taken care of:

Mowed and weed-eated the lawn, and trimmed back dead brush. We have a 'dock' in the back over looking what used to be a nice water reservoir, but is currently muddy muck; well I managed to cut down all the over growth of palnts and small trees prohibiting it's use. The steps to the lower landing have all but rotted away and will need to be replaced. There were 2 small trees growing up through the bottom that I "took care of." They won't be back.

My James Frames MTB is back and running, I hope to hit some trails very soon on it. Since the move I love much farther than before from the trails. <--- bummer!

check out my www.650bpalace.com site for images of the James Frames bike.
I'll photo my "dock" tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow also bring the 1 year Aniversary of the Tampa Bay Bike Co-Op, which I've been volunteering the last few months. I'll be attending with my gear, to fix some bicycles. The Co-Op is opening it's new location tomorrow.

New Vans Shoes.

Back in 2001 Vans released their first ever Signature Band shoe. The first band was Millencolin, one of my favorite bands. Vans produced the Old School shoe with a Millencolin logo on the tongue and on the rear sole label. Through the years groups like Social Distortion, AFI, Jonny Ramone, Iron Maidne and H2O have had their names grace a Vans sig footwear. Vans has come full circle and returned to the Swedish brew of Millencolin. For 2009 the group went with the old school Chukka Boot. Sick. I wore Chukka boots when I was 12 or 13, a different kind of shoe but was popular back then amount skaters and BMX rats. My last pair were purple, and made in the USA. I'll be grabbing 2 pair of these for when the time comes when I wear out the first my heart will not be broken. Like it was when I wore through my 2001 pair and finally tossed them in 2006.
Here the Millencolin Chukka:
In addition to the Chukka, Vans has released news about an upcoming clipless compaitble BMX shoe, called the Warner. I'll probably HAVE to get those once they hit my distributors. Vans has been out of the clipless game since 2002 when they offer the VMX. I'm pretty sure Fuzzy Hall used them when he raced. But I could be wrong.
Here's a peak at the Warner.

Commuting Bags...

i just picked up the Covert from BlackDiamond. I've used it 2x this week and it's a pretty nice bag. dual compartments, and it hydration pack ready. On it's right shoulder strap is an insulated pocket for the hydro hose. It also has a zipper to keep it out of the way while on trails. There is also a media device pocket at the top (remains unused in my bag). There is a chest strap and a waist strap, both of which are more comfortable than my Camelback straps.
This was designed as a snowboarding/skiing pack. So inside there are straps for emergency avalanche gear ( these also go unused here in Tampa, FL).
The backing portion is nicely padded with a ventilation channel.
Am emergency whistle is integrated into the chest strap buckle, which is a nice feature for trail use...
I demo'd a Deuter years ago and hated it. This is a huge difference from that bag. These come in two volumes: 22 L (1,343 cu in),32 L (1,953 cu in).

Today I packed one pair of my Airwalk flat shoes, a rain jacket, shorts, clean underwear, shirt, wallet, keys on a caribeiner, a flat pack of pink salmon, and other bar type snacks. Plenty of room for a typical "Jeremy commute." The waist harness was very comfortable and I quickly forgot I had it on. I'm anxious to use this on the trail instead of my Camelbak HAWG. I thought the HAWG would be plenty, but if I go for a longer ride I'll need to pack food. With the Covert I know I'll have plenty of room for my bike tubes, grub, and other provisions. As well as my hydration bladder, ala Camelbak.
Definitely a diparture from this bag

We're finally getting settled...

We're finally getting settled in our new home just north of Tampa. The area is called Lutz, it is it's own city, but Tampa expanded to the line.
Since the time has changed I've been antsy to commute to work via bicycle and this week I have managed to do so. 2 rides in, one ride home. The distance is approximately 16 miles. Last year I put just over 500 miles into commuting. I'll try to beat that this year. Monday I rode home on my Quisby geared 650B mountain bike, I just swapped out to road slicks. Yesterday and today I rode the Qwijybo in single speed mode. I really love single speed bikes. I'm currently working on finished a paid build, then back to the Q-Muter. I can't forget to put fender mounts on that frame.
mind dribble:
James Frames bike:
trim handle bars
apply wheel decals
swap fork to Maverick SC32
paint Velocity 650B Blunt black(maybe)

Quisby:
Replace knobbie tires- install Kenda Nevegal 650B x 2.35"
onto true Stan's wheels
true disc rotor.

Icon:
Install BXC wheels with Neomoto tires
cross finger for enough tubes.

Building:
Organize tubes for Clay's frame
Get an idea running for "DCLb" project.
Find scraps for Gavin's skoot bike

Don't forget yard work.

Hospital...

I was only there for a few hours. My buddy and co-worker Tyler went down hard on Sunday during a crit race in St.Petersburg. He was knocked unconscious and reportedly had a seizure as well. He was rushed to emergency care where doctors found a few things wrong: A broken collar bone, broken rib(s), and his lung was collapsing. I guess one of his busted ribs damaged his right side lung. He had surgury Monday morning where a valve was installed to remove the remaining air in his lung so he could begin the process of reinflating it on his own. Luckily he had no sustained head trauma. Alas he could not avoid the road rash. His right shoulder, knee and ass cheek were all beat to Hell. His palms came out unscathed, but his knuckles took some wear.
Drug induced, Tyler recollected the events the best he knew to myself, Brandon K and Kristy A. While the pack was moving very quickly, around 28mph, everyone stood up to begin the last lap. A Catagory 5 rookie attepted to advance through the pack, rather than on the outside edge. He passed Tyler on the left then attempted to get in front of Tyler. Note, this is not the proper way to pass the competition. The novice's rear shifting mechanism became entangled in Tyler's front wheel breaking spokes and taking Tyler to the asphalt. 2 other riders went down as well. All this occur just moments after a rider in front of Tyler took a turn too wide, hit cones and ejcted from the bike. Tyler ran over the front wheel of that rider's bike. Tylers wowed himself by staying upright during that interferance, only to be taken down a few turns later.

Tyler took over Brandon's position at American Classic over a year ago. They were all on the USF Cycling Team until recently.
I found out above Tyler's accident from Kristy on Monday morning via a text message say "Did you hear about Tyler?" Immediatly when I read something like that pertaining to a cycling friend i assume they did not win the lottery, but rather were involved in a crash. Brandon, Kristy, and Tyler all lost a cycling comrade in Josh Kuck. Josh was stuck by a truck during an organized ride near Dady City, FL. Since then, Brandon and Kristy are ever hesitant to remount their cycles for road riding.
I neglected to leave home with my camera yesterday, so images of Tylers battles scares will no grace this post. So, this blog remains wordy without visual stimulation. Today I will not forget my camera, regardless of the day's events.
My best wishes goto Tyler for a speedy recovery. He is to be released from the hosiptal very soon. Godspeed pal.