Rivendell Romulus STOLEN from Rivendell HQ

Horrible news: a bike was stolen from a staff member at Rivendell HQ today. Be on the lookout if you're in the Bay Area. The Craigslist posting reads:

55cm Rivendell Romulus (Red) stolen from Rivendell
HQ in Walnut Creek. Small canvas bag on back. It's
a staff member's bike, not Riv's. Bad mojo. Bring
it back, call it in, no questions asked. 925-933-7304

When real men smoked Camels

I came across this via cyclofiend. Click the image to see a large legible version.

Thomas Stevens

Back in January of 1887 (that's 120 years ago to the month for those keeping count), Thomas Stevens became the first person to do an around-the-world tour on a bicycle. He left Oakland in 1884, and arrived back in San Francisco three years later, after pushing the pedals on his penny-farthing 13,500 miles. That's him there on the right. Stallion.

I like that of the four items he brought on his ride, one was a .38 Smith & Wesson. The other three were socks, a spare shirt, and a rain slicker.

I don't have the wherewithall to do such a thing as circle the globe on a modern bicycle, let alone a fixed-gear penny farthing. Nuts, I say.

Apparently there are still some folks that undertake such challenges, and here is a modern photo of a penny farthing being ridden through France.


I've never ridden one, but if someone in Chico has one, and would like to let me give it a shot, then holla.

New favorite ride

Team JuG rode a 53 mile loop today, which you can learn about here. I highly recommend this route, but bring your climbing legs!

American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure

I've never raised money for anything. I guess I'm a bit too fierce a Libertarian; I don't like people asking me for my hard-earned coin, and I don't like asking other people for their money either. But this year, I figured I'd loosen up a little, and try to put all these miles that I ride toward some good.

The Tour de Cure is one of two fund raising rides that I'm planning for 2007. The other will be the MS Waves to Wine two-day tour from Napa to the California coast, in September.

Why am I doing these rides? Here's what our team site says:

We are determined to reach our goal one rider at a time and as a team.

Why Ride? We're riding for my brother Matt, my friend Corey and that cute girl I dated in high school. We're riding for Gino's sister and Phil's friends and family that are dealing with it.

We invite all riders from Chico or those who have ties to Chico to join us on the team or through a donation.

Yep, my sister has diabetes. Jeff's brother has it. Apparently, Jeff hooked up with a diabetic in highschool in the 80's... In fact, I'm sure we all know someone that has to deal with Diabetes; we all know that Diabetes sucks and that it is a pain in the ass, at best. So why not raise some money for research, and further the effort to find a cure?

That said, we'd love to have anyone that wants to join our team come out and ride with us in May. And if you can't join or ride, any tiny donation for the cause counts. Yahoo! has donated $100 $200 on our team's behalf to the ADA, and I'll be matching that, at least.

Want to pitch in? Make that donation right here, and keep some of your hard-earned tax-deductible bucks out of Uncle Sam's pocket.

Who loves me?

Claire reads the blog, goes to Costco, comes to the rescue!

Sierra Nevada

It pains me to no end to pay $7.99 + tax for a six pack of Sierra Nevada beer in the Bay Area. In Chico, all Sierra six pack products are $4.99, and 12 packs are $9.99.

I'm just sayin'.