MacArthur Maze collapse: don't believe the media

Originally uploaded by Scott Jones.

I wish I could get more coverage on this post.

Over the weekend we all heard the horror stories predicting traffic mayhem due to the collapse of a span of the Macarthur maze in Oakland. Reality is this: I commuted in the casual carpool, the same as I do every morning. The only difference today is that I had a glimpse into How Much Better the bay area could be if people would stop driving and start taking public transportation, riding bicycles, or carpooling.

Apparently, everyone WAS doing those things today, because it took me 12, yes TWELVE minutes to get from Elmwood to San Francisco. Yep, 11 miles to San Francisco in 12 minutes at 8:30am on a Monday.

There were literally zero cars at the Bay Bridge toll booths. It was as if the bridge traffic went back to its not-so-humble beginnings in 1937:


I chose to take the carpool this morning because I wanted to see the damage first hand; I was willing to take the horrible traffic that had been predicted. And I have to say, as we were whizzing by at 60mph it was a fantastic site, to see such a large piece of Modern Construction lying in ruin. CalTrans already had their heavy equipment out tearing down the scorched remains, and otherwise things were better than normal.

I've also heard many stories at this point about companies allowing employees to telecommute during this Time of Crisis. Why can't tech companies just accept that many people are better at their jobs when not wasting their time commuting and sitting around in an office? Why save it for times of crisis? Hey employers, why not back up your Green Charade, and start practicing what you preach? Get more employees to telecommute. It's good for the employee, good for traffic, good for the environment.

The Chico Wildflower: some notes

Gino riding in the Wildflower
Originally uploaded by jnkochs.

• This was my first Wildflower. I'd intended to ride it last year, but I had a nasty chronic sinus infection and was about half way through a Prednisone and antibiotic treatment. Yay! This winter I've been what I'd call full blown paranoid about touching people and things, and washing my hands. Shake someone's hand? Wash. Touch a door knob? Wash. About to eat? Wash. Apparently it worked - I've not been sick.

• I didn't drink coffee before the ride, whereas most days I have two cups. This was a mistake. I totally blew apart on the third climb of the day (Table Mountain) with a splitting headache, which I'm chalking up to caffeine addiction. Luckily my buddy Tony was still at the top when I arrived; he gave me Advil, which saved the day. The rest stop at the bottom of Table Mountain had shabby coffee, and it was the best two cups of coffee I've ever tasted. Headache gone.

• I'm not willing to give up coffee. I love it!

• I absolutely love my Rivendell Rambouillet, and my Brooks B17 Champion Special. I was never in pain, other than said headache. That wasn't the bike's fault.

• Mudflaps and fenders in the rain rule. The extra weight, in my opinion, is so worth it.

• In contrast with what I've read in various publications, the food at the Wildflower is overrated. All sandwiches were laden with mayonnaise and onions, which for me, couldn't be worse when riding all day. There were also far too many cakes, muffins and junk calories. Maybe I'm just a hippie health nut, but I'd have liked to see more homemade energy bar type things, more fruit, less cookies and cake.

• REI's Novara Stratos cycling jacket is actually a great value. It's not *quite* as lightweight as the Showers Pass jacket, but it performed as well as I could've wanted. The ventilation is excellent, the pockets are sealed and well-placed, and it packs up small enough to stick into my little saddle bag with other bits of clothing when not in use. Oh, and it's totally waterproof, and on sale as I write this.

• The event was really well run. I highly recommend anyone with an interest in Chico do this ride. It's a great way to see Butte county.

• Tony not only saved my ass with ibuprofen, but he also pulled me the last 20 miles of the ride. And to top it off, he bought me a beer at the end of the day! I owe Tony some lovin'.

• I volunteered to work the registration tables the Saturday before the ride. In doing so, I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the country. Folks from as far as Germany rode the Wildflower this year. Four people that rode this year have done it every single year since its inception in 1981. There were tons of people from Nevada, at least in my line. Welcome to Chico! Please don't stay too long. ;-)

• Ruffy Tuffy kevlar tires, while not the fastest, are possibly the toughest (ahem) tires I've ever ridden. I'm approaching 3,000 miles on this set, and I've never had a flat. I figure I'll get another 500 miles out of them, at least.

• This year on the Wildflower course I saw no less than 50 flats - so many, in fact, that people were pondering the possibility of sabotage.

• Riding with a front mini rack with a small load is quite different than no load. It steadies the front end of my bike in descents, making it even faster. However, after nearly 90 miles and 4300 feet of climbing, I felt like I'd worked harder to steer over the course of the day. Steering response isn't as snappy as without the rack. This isn't a surprise... I'm just sayin'.

• I like riding long distances with wool against my skin. By the end of the day I still felt great. Long rides in plastic always make me feel clammy, sticky, and give me that not-so-fresh feeling. That said, in hot weather I still take plastic jerseys over wool! Luckily the Wildflower was rainy and cool nearly all day. Perhaps I really would enjoy living in the Pacific Northwest.

• True to form, Jeff blasted off after lunch, only to be seen briefly on the last 1/3 of the course.

• I'll be back next year!

Chico Wildflower century and the Chico Enterprise Record

Perhaps I'll write up a report on my experience in this year's Chico Wildflower Century, but for now, I'll share this tidbit.

This morning, I "opened" the local paper to this article. The article then prompted me to write the editor of the Chico ER. Here is what I said:

Subject: Pedal vs. Peddle

Dear Editor,

This is in response to the following article that covered the Chico Wildflower:
http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_5730070

Your staff writer, Sarah Kingsbury, made the embarrassing mistake of using the word "peddle" in every instance that she should have used "pedal."

One does not peddle a bicycle, unless that person is in business to sell bicycles. If a person is on a bicycle, he has his feet on the pedals, and is therefore pedaling.

Edit your news! The Wildflower is Chico's largest event of the year, and this article represents our town. With writing of this caliber, people will think that Chico's journalists do not know how to write.

Sincerely,
Gino Zahnd
Chico, CA

Perhaps the Chico ER will hire me to cover the Wildflower story next year. I have a journalism degree from a highly acclaimed journalism school, and I can certainly write more compelling cycling stories than this.

Update: The Editor wrote me back.

Yes, you are correct. The writer and copy editor on Sunday have already been reprimanded.

David Little, editor
Chico Enterprise-Record
400 E. Park Ave.
Chico, CA 95928

April Fools Day

For my non-American friends, there is a "holiday" on April 1st of each year called April Fools' Day, in which pranks, jokes and hoaxes are played. The whole bit about me quitting cycling was a joke!

I didn't quit cycling, and have no intent to ever quit. I rode about 120 miles this past weekend (Friday-Sunday), and I am stoked about the upcoming Chico Wildflower century, followed by a few bicycle camping trips in May and June, followed by another century in September.

Get on your bikes and ride!

Tailwinds,
Gino

I've decided to quit cycling

Cycling, it's not you, it's me. Well, it might be you too.

I've been in love with cycling and bicycles since the day I received my first Diamond Back BMX bike when I was seven years old. It has been a fun run, these past 25 years since then, but I'm frankly fed up with the whole "transportation under my own power" thing. You know? It's just much easier to hop in my truck and drive wherever I want to go. If I want to get somewhere on two wheels, I'll buy a nice BMW or Yamaha motorcycle, and get there in a reasonable amount of time. Bicycles just take too long, and honestly, I'm sick of the muscular pain and tweaks in my legs. Who needs it?

So there you have it. I guess this means it's also time to sell off all my bicycles and gear. I have two Rivendells (a 58cm Rambouillet and a 57cm Bleriot), a Schwinn Le Tour III, a 17" Schwinn Homegrown Factory mtb, pedals, tires, handlebars, and all sorts of other crap that I now feel is clogging up my garage, and my life.

If you want early dibs on any of it before I put it all on eBay and Craigslist, just leave a comment and I'll get in touch.

It's been a good quarter century. I like that. 1/4th of 100 years. That's enough time spent on a bicycle if you ask me.

Oh, and I guess that also means the end of this blog. So long, and thanks for all the fun. It's time to do something better than waste my time on something that kids and bums ride.

-Gino

A good magazine: Adventure Cyclist

If you're anything like me, you probably don't actually like the Rodale-press-style advert-ridden magazines filled with pages of corporate spew trying to convince you that if you only used their nano-technology fork or their $25-per-can powdered drink, you'd be your best. I'm a slow rider. My fastest long days put me at a 17mph average speed. And personally, I don't care about losing weight, or having bigger calves. Well, actually, I wish my calves were bigger, but my genetics trump my desires on that one. I've seen the rare good article in the Big publisher zines, but really, I suppose I'm simply not the target market for those types of publications.

The two cycling magazines I subscribe to, if you want to call them magazines, are Bicycle Quarterly and the Rivendell Reader. The first has minimal tasteful adverts, in depth historical cycling essays, extremely high editorial quality, and product reviews that result from really using the products they test. The second, the Riv Reader, has no adverts (unless you call Rivendell occasionally talking about their own product innovations as advertising), a very unique editorial tone, and often articles are tangentially related to cycling, if at all. It's just Good Stuff.

Getting back to the title of this post, I semi-recently came across Adventure Cyclist, which is published by the Adventure Cycling Association. You can't get it in stores, at least not that I'm aware of.

The focus of Adventure Cyclist, as the name might imply, is about peoples' cycling journeys from around the globe. Of the two issues I've seen so far, there have been insightful (and funny) stories, meaty tech information, useful product reviews for non-racing riding, and tips for about a million ways to ride this globe off the beaten path. Their mantra:

Our mission is to
inspire people of all
ages to travel by bicycle.
We help cyclists explore
the landscapes and history
of America for fitness,
fun, and self-discovery.

The magazine comes to you via a $35 membership to the Adventure Cycling Association. The best part? The membership is tax deductible because the association is a 503c non-profit! Membership also gets you deals on high quality cycling maps, bro deals with affiliated companies, and a bunch of other useful stuff.

Oh, and lastly, the Adventure Cycling Association is currently running an offer for a free sample issue. Why not Grab it? Really, how can you go wrong?

Why so quiet around here?

I guess my Flickr photostream has been my blog lately. I purposely took some time away from writing here, and on Push Button For, and you know what? I've enjoyed it and I ain't stopping yet!



I've been riding more (nearly 600 miles in 6 weeks), and I've been reading more books again - something I completely lost touch with for too long.



I'm sure I'll come back here and write, but right now I'm enjoying other things, and I'm busier than I've ever been with work. 10-12 hours a day in front of a computer is enough, wouldn't you say?

In the mean time, hop on over to Flickr, and join the party! Soon I'll be posting photos of my Bleriot that is nearly built.

Rock on!

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'.

Gone fishing, or riding, or...

I'm taking off blogging for the rest of the year. Reading, and writing. I need a break from the masses of information that I attempt to soak up everyday.

Have a good, safe and fantastic holiday. See you in 2007.

There is more to life than increasing its speed

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of Amsterdam-styled (and other Euro-styled) bicycles coming to the US market lately?

There's the smugly overpriced Jorg & Olif which seems to be aimed at the Enviro-Yuppies. Rather than 'Stay Curious', their tagline could easily be "Ride our bike, look really unique, and save the world while you're at it. Just leave your Audi/BMW/Mercedes at home."


Then there's the Electra 'Amsterdam':

And who can forget the Kronan from Sweden?



Overall, I think it's great to see this fad/movement taking place. We could use more transportation/utility bikes in this country. It will be interesting to see which of these companies and bike models can stick it out for the long haul, and which ones will dry up. When someone brings over the Swiss Militärvelo, I might join the coup.

By the way, the title of this post was originally spoken by Gandhi. :-)

Team JuG and the Bobke

Last night Jeff and I had the pleasure of hanging out at Sierra Nevada Brewery, drink a few cold ones, and listen to Bob Roll tell story after hilarious story. I wouldn't know where to begin, but I'd suggest if you ever get the chance, go see him speak.

A couple of quick notes:
+ He is 100% convinced that Floyd Landis is innocent. After listening to his explanations of why, I'm starting to agree.

+ He purposely mispronounces Tour De France. His story about what led up to his conscious decision to do so had me in stitches. Let's just say he's "fond" of the French.

In other news, the 2007 KGSN cycling team was there as well; a lot of youngsters, and I hope that they kick some arse this year. Nearly all the KGSN elder statesmen have moved on to other, hopefully bigger and better teams. All of this year's sponsors had reps at the event, and I have to say, the Kuota bikes that the team will ride this year look beautiful... even if they are carbon. I didn't bother telling the Kodak Gallery folks that I worked at Flickr, but I'm sure they would've been cool with it. I'm thinking there needs to be a Flickr cycling team! :-)

We also ran into what seemed to be 70% of the Chico cycling community at the event. All the Chico cycling bloggers were there except for Tony Rocha. Chico Velo had big representation, as did Chico Corsa.

The other Chico Geno (with an E) was there. Here we are! What a blast!

Chico Gino Exclusive: An Interview with Grant Petersen of Rivendell Bicycle Works

The name Grant Petersen can bring on cheers or jeers depending on what person you mention it to. To some, he's the eccentric retro-grouch design mind behind Rivendell Bicycle Works. To others, he's one of the Premiere Thought Leaders of an entire world of Cycling That Simply Makes More Sense; a lugged-steel, racks-and-lights, wool-and-seersucker-based transportation-centric world that 99.4 per cent of bike shops and cycling magazines don't cater to. No matter how people slice and dice him, one thing is for certain. He's as down to earth as any guy could be, and his opinions on cycling are bound to evoke some discussion in any group of people with any kind of cycling priorities. Recently, Mr. Petersen was kind enough to take some time out of his six-days-a-week schedule to answer some burning questions that Chico Gino readers have submitted.

For those of you not familiar with Grant or Rivendell, here is an excerpt from the company's history to get you lubed.

From late ‘84 to late ‘94 I designed and spec’d bicycles and worked on catalogues for the U.S. division of Bridgestone Cycle, Japan’s largest bike maker. Bridgestone closed the U.S. office after ten years of no profit, when the dollar-to-yen exchange rate plummeted to the point where it became impossible to even break even. I was 40, and started Rivendell with $89,000, a mix of retirement money, savings, loans, and money raised by selling stock to friends.

True to the cliche, Rivendell was in my garage for two years. Now we have 5,000 square feet at about $0.90 per square foot, one of the cheaper rents in town. We like it here a lot. It’s easy to get to, close to good food and riding, and it feels like home, except that summertime temperatures average 90°F and winter days rarely get above 57°F. Seersucker and wool? You bet!

We’ve been profitable two of the past eleven years, but cash flow is neutral. Sales are about $2.2 million dollars per year. We’re just breaking even, there are no top-heavy salaries, and we fret a lot during slow weeks (and months). I do, at least.

Our mission is to make things that wouldn’t be made if we weren’t here, to offer an alternative to racing-centric bikes and parts, and to espouse a different approach to riding. And to resurrect and keep healthy many of the better ideas, designs, and styles of bicycles, clothing, and accessories that we personally like to use or wear. To sell lots of wool, and wipe synthetic fabrics off the face of the earth by the year 2010. That’s a joke. To still be around in 20 years. That would be great.

If you’d like to know more, just ask. It’s not a secret business we have here. —Grant

And now for the interview!

In your catalogs, web site, and in The Rivendell Reader, you write a lot about simplicity. Why is simplicity important?

Simple things make people feel smart, or at least competent, and complication has the opposite effect. If people feel smart and competent, they’re happy, and happy people are nice to other people, and it all starts or stops with how hard it is to use something.

Do you think simplicity should be a higher priority for designers of other products? In particular, designers of digital stuff?
Especially that, and I'm sure they're trying, but it's not reaching me. I don't like digital cameras with layers of submenus below the surface that you don't even know exist, and icons that I have to look up to understand. It all goes back to making me feel dumb, and in the case of cameras, it seems like it's just a consequence of trying to pack too many features into one widget. Just because a camera is capable of fantastic things doesn’t mean that I am, with that camera. I know they have instruction booklets for this stuff, but I think they rely on the instruction booklets too much. I want a digital camera that does ten things well and doesn't need an owner's manual. I think, if the designers knew they couldn’t supply instruction books, the designs would be simpler and the world would be a better place. It sounds glib to say that, and it would be too limiting in some cases, but for sub-$300 digital cameras, I think it should be the rule.

The newest bike from Rivendell is the A. Homer Hilsen. Is it true that Mr. Hilsen and Mr. Nigel Smythe knew each other? What's the story there?

They not only knew each other, but they were both friends of Paul Bunyan and the Easter Bunny, too. They came from a different time, when "digital" meant "of, or pertaining to, the fingers." They’re plain and honest, and their names are supposed to reflect that, to set them apart from the cha-cha-cha personalities and products. What “honesty” there isn’t in their actual existence is more than made up for in what they are, in them as products.

Rivendell is in the fortunate position of having a rabid following; some would say it's a cult. Are there downsides to being a cult leader, even if it isn't on purpose? And if so, how can future cult leaders learn from your mistakes?

Hmm... well, if I just rush in to an answer, I’m agreeing with the cult thing, and it isn't quite that. What we have here is a way of presenting information that lacks the “buy me and be cool” voice that smart and mature people find offensive. Most companies can’t get that voice out of their mouth. The ads and image are written by professional copywriters whose goal is to retain the account by flattering the company. It’s all over the place these days, because the “17 to 34” market buys so much stuff, and most of them are still looking to express themselves through their purchases.

We have a smaller mission and aren’t out to conquer that world, so it’s easier for us to seemingly take a higher road. As a consequence of just being normal, we do stand out, and every now and then somebody will think we’re infallible, or maybe it comes across as we thinking ourselves are that way. Of course inevitably we’ll do or say something that proves that to be false—maybe we’ll send a package ground instead of 2-day like they requested, or a new and packaged garment might have a flubbed seam or something, or we’ll get too casual with them on the phone and they’ll take offense. Then they turn on us like we betrayed them. They turn on us harder than they’d turn on a company that they didn’t feel as much kinship with, I’m sure, and I guess that’s the risk. It's a good risk, and it's not a risk for a business that nobody cares about, but it IS a risk.

You run Rivendell as openly as any company I've ever seen. Is there a conscious philosophy behind that?

Well, I wouldn't call it a philosophy, but I don't distinguish between "me" and "my company" when it comes to things like keeping secrets and telling the truth. It’s hard to keep secrets, so it’s best not to have any, but beyond that, I'm not exactly sure of what you mean by "open." Is that it? If it isn’t, just clarify it and I’ll try to answer it.

Gino's note: His answer here couldn't get more to the core of my question.

Of up-and-coming framebuilders in this resurgence of handmade bikes, have any piqued your interest? Do you even care?

I think it's good that lots of them are out there. It's hard to be an American framebuilder these days. There are hobbyist builders, many of whom seem to make nice-looking frames, and then there are full-timers. I'm neither, but I've been around long enough to have a perspective, and my perspective tells me not to envy them. I'd like to give them advice, but they aren't asking, and are probably too independent to take it even if it seemed to make sense to them.

The thing about framebuilding, though, and this is something few people and especially bike riders understand, is that there are custom framebuilders who are scattered all over the learning curve, with probably fewer than seven or eight at the top. It's not like being a tailor or a neurosurgeon, where the barriers to entry are long and difficult and people bail out on the way. It's more like being a desktop publisher or a photographer. Anybody can buy the tools and say, "I'll build you a custom," and that's pretty much all it takes to be a "custom framebuilder." So, unless you have a way to evaluate the frame, it's hard to tell how good the frame is.

I am not a builder myself, but I've heard more than one builder say that there are three big humps to get over on your way to becoming good. The first comes at about 50 frames, the next comes at 150, and the next comes at 500.

Building a frame is more than being able to braze or weld a frame that holds together. It's solving problems, and anticipating problems before you cut the tubes and stick them together. It's also knowing how to braze quickly and thoroughly and minimizing the pulling and twisting that occurs when you braze, so that the frame stays square as you build it. It's controlling your spillover, so the lug edges are crisp, while the joint is full. Plus, it's maintaining consistency over hundreds of frames, and when you do that, the challenge is avoiding cockiness and complacency. If you master the mechanical part, the challenge is maintain your consistency from frame to frame, over hundreds of frames, and to not become the “devil may care” brain surgeon, so to speak.

A custom framebuilder with 70 frames under his belt hasn't solved enough problems yet. It's possible that he's creating problems he doesn't even recognize. Another way to look at it—rather than seeing it as being overly hard on new framebuilders who are earnestly doing their best and want to make a life of it but haven't built a hundred frames yet—is that it's a real profession that requires lots of experience, and that makes it respectable in the same way that any hard-earned professional status is respectable.

I haven’t answered the part of your question about—“have any piqued my interest?” and “do I care?” I think I care, in the sense that I want them to do good and make a living and be happy, and I’m interested in what seems to be the rebirth of interest that’s giving birth to the builders and reviving others who’ve almost given up. As lousy a time it is to be building lugged steel, in some ways it’s the best time for it. Good lugs are more readily available than they’ve ever been, and the same goes for tubing. But then, not having to blacksmith lugs into fine form lowers the hurdle to entry and results in lots of frames that appear to be much finer than they actually are. Good lugs and tubing make good frames in the same way that good wood makes good furniture. Meaning, it has almost nothing to do with it, except as a starting point.

You and I both like to flyfish, and we both ride bikes. If you could take me on a bicycle-flyfishing trip, or a flyfishing-bicycle trip, where would go, and what flies would we bring?

If it's any trout stream in America with a good food supply and therefore a healthy population of trout between 12" and up to maybe 24", and the water is running clear and not too high, and it's fairly wadeable (so, not too deep), we'd need four flies only.

Three would be nymphy. A size 16 with a thin hare's ear body ribbed with gold, a peacock herl thorax, and a brown partridge hackle, on the long side. Then the same kind of fly with a muskrat body, black herl thorax, and a starling hackle. Then a pheasant tail nymph, tied with copper wire twisted together with 2-3 fibers from a pheasant's tail, but with a herl thorax, and no hackle. Then a size 18 elk hair caddis.

Four flies makes you fish them right and not blame the fly, and maximizes the time you spend fishing, not tying on flies.

Gino's note: Hey Grant, I can show you where to catch Goldens like this! :-)

There are an awful lot of young guys, and maybe some gals, graduating from places like UBI right now, with the aim to "make it" in the bicycle industry. Any advice for these new throngs of grasshoppers and greenhorns?

Find a style and stick to it, no matter how many sales you have to give up along the way, to people who want you to build their way, or with this or that material. If you can make your bike distinctive and recognizable in some way, that's good. Don't branch out, though, and don't copy people who are better than you are if you're going after the same audience.

I actually think it's not a fantastic growth industry, and I wouldn't be optimistic about it, but the narrower the focus, the better. Only unicycles. Only 650B unicycles. Only this, only that. Find something that nobody is doing, and do it, and THEN figure out how to sell it. It has to make sense, of course, but you don’t need a huge market. It’s way better to build nothing but lugged 650B unicycles in one color only and become the go-to person for anybody in the world who wants one, than to build whatever seems popular at the time, and find yourself competing with everybody else from the other “I do anything and everything” custom builder down the street, to the biggest factories in China. But, the temptation to capitalize on trends is too strong, and the rewards of going your own way are so remote and iffy at best, so you don’t see a lot of that happening. It’s just a hard way to make a living, I think.

In 1992 you said the following on the future on cycling:

"The best use of a bicycle is commuting, it's not racing or competing or recreation or anything like that. Ultimately its best use is getting cars off the roads and the government is not sympathetic to that idea at all. In terms of the industry, within five years there will be half the number of manufacturers as there are today. Whoever doesn't get their bills paid will go by the wayside. Also, when things go high tech in terms of their materials and design, it brings in a lot more industries into the marketplace. Consider how carbon fiber and titanium have brought aerospace and other non-bicycle corporations into the cycling industry. Those guys have the money to compete and smash and just snuff out the smaller companies. That happens and that's one of the consequences of advanced technology. So when we go to electronic shifting, which will happen within about two years, somebody like Westinghouse will get into making them, too. That will make it hard for Mavic and Suntour to compete with a company that large. So we'll have electronics companies making bike parts."

Nearly fifteen years later, how much of what you said still holds water? What has changed?

Things aren’t fully electronic yet, but they’re headed that way still. The Westinghouse prediction hasn’t come to pass, but as bicycles become more electric and electronic, it’s only natural that outside specialists will have a bigger hand in them. Westinghouse has its spies watching us constantly, and is ready to pounce when the time is right.

I feel more strongly about racing now than I did then. I don’t mind races, or racers, but I sure do mind the influence that racing has on equipment and riding attitudes. It seems like a big trick, to me. You flash it up and make it popular so you can fool new riders into going down this path of pain and not-fast-enoughness, and once you get them there, you assure them that they can go faster if only they ride your $800 wheels or the two-pound frame or chug the squeeze-gel you provide them. It’s like you’ve captured them like slaves, and now they’re serving you and can’t escape, and meanwhile, they’re missing out on the best kind of riding, which is just riding without comparing yourself to racers or wishing you were something you’re not, or not as good as you want to be. Anyway, it’s hard to talk about without sounding like a raving maniac, but the thing is, I feel like a raving maniac about it, too. I keep it under control to maintain a certain dignity, but let me tell you, I am not happy with the way racing has influenced bicycles and riding. I think it keeps too many people away.



One last note: I snagged photos in this interview without permission from Rivendell's web site, a Flickr user, and Sheldon Brown's web site. The trout photo is mine, from custom bamboo flyrod maker, Jim Lowe.

Prednisone + Coffee = Breakfast of Champions

I've written about my faulty sinus genetics here in the past, and now with the flu season in full effect at the Yahoo petrie dish, I've come down with the mess. Far too early in the season, at that! This all begs the question (again), why can't sick people stay the hell out of the office?

I haven't been on the bike in three weeks other than some lousy sickly commutes, and I'm starting to get serious cabin fever. I'm currently taking a week off from work for "vacation", and thus far have spent it inside drinking hot tea-based beverages, watching the Godfather movies, Step Into Liquid, among others... and staring at the pile of baseboards that I still need to install.

In an effort to quell the chronicness of this bout of sinusitis I started downing Prednisone (a gnarly steroid) again. I hate putting drugs into my body, but back in March when I ate the stuff it seemed to work like a charm. The past two days I've been embracing this unfortunate circumstance, and taking the doses with a morning cup of coffee, or two. Yarrr! I'm three days in now, and so far I feel slightly better; albeit I also feel like I could take The Incredible Hulk in a wrasslin' match. Who wants a piece?

So is it too early to say I miss the heat and wellness of Chico's blazing hot summer?

Oh, and if you haven't seen Step Into Liquid, you really should. Even if you're not a surfer, or even if you don't like surfing, it is nearly guaranteed to stoke you! The videography alone is beautiful and not to be missed. Add to that an absolutely positive upbeat theme, and people in a lifelong search of fun, and how can you go wrong? Highly recommended for people of all ages and all sexes. Just be sure to watch the wide-screen DVD; you'd be cheating yourself otherwise.

Rivendell Blériot frame, now what?

This weekend I got Quite The Good Deal on a new 57cm Rivendell Blériot frameset. The Blériot is made to sport 650B wheels, and is lugged steel. But of course!

Now what? How to build this puppy up? I've been thinking I'll build it up to be a workhorse commuter/townie/grocery-getter bike that could double as a mountain bike for fire roads and other rough roads that don't have big drops or boulders.

The following bikes aren't other Blériots, but they are points of inspiration thus far:

The beautiful commuter workhorse (Rivendell)



The elegant city bike (Curt Goodrich custom)



The offroad-ready rigid (Rivendell Atlantis)


See, the Blériot can take tires as big as 41mm WITH fenders. If anyone would make them, I reckon a guy could squeeze 50mm tires, if not bigger; and that would make for a fine semi-rough trail bike.

So what do you think in terms of a build? Mustache bars or Albatross? 48/36/26 triple? What on the rear? Lighting suggestions?

Before you quit reading, here is some stuff worth sharing that I've found along my 650B way.

1
On his blog, called Pork Rinds, Steve Hampsten so eloquently said:

The 650B is not a bike for the old, fat, and dorky. It's a bike for long days, wandering country rides, and the sort of attitude that comes with "going for a ride" rather than "having goals for the season." I have a goal for this season, I tell you: it's to ride my bike a lot and to go out for long, long days with lunch in a saddlebag.

Can I tell you? I dig Steve's attitude! And check out the 650B Tournesol and 700c bikes that he makes; the details are simply beautiful. Obscene, even.

2
I stumbled upon possibly the funniest Interbike photo of all time, on Sheldon Brown's site. For those of you not in the know, it's Grant Petersen kneeling in front of a spankin' new Bridgestone carbon fiber racing bike. Heh.

3
This bit is from the Blériot Owners Group on Yahoo! Groups:

"A couple members have asked me to give the brand and color of the nail polish that I think will make pretty good touch up paint. DISCLAIMER...I have not tried it on my Bleriot...only on my toes.

When my toes are held up to the frame it looks pretty darn good, but you might want to try it on an inconspicuous place first.

Maybelline COLORAMA #107 'tourquoise seas'

Best of luck,
Brooke
Austin, TX"

4
Lastly, have a read about the real Louis Blériot, and his record-setting flight across the English Channel.





So anyway, I'd love to hear suggestions on buildup schemes for this Blériot!