Friday 50

There are several interesting things going on here. We had a nice "mixed" surface ride on friday morning with my boss Bobo and my friend Todd who is a physical therapist and helped me out with my back problems. Everytime that I ride with Todd he always likes to hit as many spots as possible and on as many surfaces as possible. Usually we ride cross bikes and he is on his old "Blue Steel" roadie/cross bike he dug out of the garbage and salvaged....and now loves and rides as much as his two Moots. So, it was a great ride on Friday. I was on the new Gunnar, Bobo was on the new Seven Expat gravel grinder pictured above, and Todd was on old Blue Steel. We found that some of the trails were icy and we were unable to ride and had to walk our bikes. Either way I got to hang with some rad dudes, ride an awesome bike, see some new terrain....and get 40 miles before my 9 hour work day even started. Pictured above is some awesome ski jump just south of crystal lake in fox river grove....I couldn't imagine jumping off one of those things. Great ride...good people...and I love riding with Bob because he is sooo relaxed on the bike, so I need to help him ride more often and relieve the stress of the bike shop. 

 

Yes....people working/owning a bike shop IS stressful...but unless you are in the industry you will never understand. We love bikes....we are passionate about bikes....but sometimes we lose track of how important this "core value" is to us. We ride and laugh and explore....and that is what keeps us going. We need that adrenaline rush of hitting a 40+ mph downhill, or completing a 100+ mile ride, or riding some awesome single track to bring us back down to the reality that this is what we love and this is why we are doing what we do...and why we are good at it. 

Apparently my blog posts turn into mini rants from time to time....

 

This has nothing to do with alcohol

 

- JB

Molly's Krampus

An awesome Surly Krampus for my friend Molly. She had it custom painted bass boat black and named it "big tire" after an inside joke with a friend. Her brother Mike helped her build the bike and I had the privilege of building these beautiful wheels with purple chris king hubs, dt double butted spokes, dt purple nipples, and the surly rabbit hole rims. Enjoy this one Molly, I am jealous!!!

 

- JB

Searching for Dirt

David Swanson told me of a 25 mile gravel loop that he had pieced together over in Harvard, IL. After having a herniated disc this week I was slow to rise and stretch my back out. After an hour of stretching my back loosened up and I felt like I should get some miles in. I met David over by Harvard and we cruised some pretty neat roads that he has linked together. As usual the weather was miserable and we battled horrible 25-35 mph winds. I saw a huge wood pile that must be 50-70 ft tall shown in the bottom picture.....it is huge. It was neat cruising on some new roads....now just to stay healthy before the big dance and get some more miles in. 

- JB

Public Speaking

Come see "300 Miles of Gravel" and hear me speak about endurance gravel events and the "gravel" trend of the bicycle industry. Tuesday March 26th at 7:30 pm....drinks afterwards. Lets do this!

- JB

Spring Tune Up

I was able to get out for a good ride on Sunday. The plan was to meet on the Woodstock square and cruise up around Lake Geneva, WI from there. The morning started off at 23 degrees with a strong wind out of the north east that had wind chills in the teens. Ari, Bonk King, David, Ray, and Molly joined me for a cruise up to the WI border. Molly, Ray, and The Bonk King flipped when we got outside of Lake Geneva and headed back home. David, Ari, and I headed west on the green bikes. David was on his Salsa Mariachi and Ari and I were on the single speed cross bikes. We headed through Fontana and then up into Williams bay and around the amazing snake road in Lake Geneva. We then looped the entire lake and headed back the same route we came up to get Ari back home in time. We left Ari and he had 65 miles. David and I cruised through Bull Valley and David headed home with 77 miles under his belt. I wanted a hundo and kept riding until I got it. The new Gunnar felt great and my legs felt like I had more to give which was a good sign going into the Trans Iowa. All those 1000+ miles riding the pugsley as a single speed this winter paid off. Was glad to catch up with my friends and enjoy a nice day on the bike. Get out there folks!

- JB

Sunday Riding

Got out for 60 miles on Sunday. It rained about 59.8 of the 60 miles. We got soaked the entire ride but had fun. I met up with Mike, Molly, Chris, David, Ray, and David S. We were all on the fat tire cross bikes or mountain bikes out getting miles in. It was nice to get out and spend some time with my friends in the saddle and not be miserable riding by myself like I usually do. Mike was sporting some new 321 blue hubs on his seven belt drive and they were making sexy noises. My gunnar was riding awesome and I was testing my new commuter backpack in the rain. Turns out that timbuk2 makes some pretty sweet stuff.... Good to get out and ride, I hope you enjoy a portrait that I had done of myself. 

- JB

Seven Cycles

Bobo and I just traveled to Boston for a dealer event and tour of Seven Cycles. This weekend was awesome minus the countless delays and cancellations we dealt with from our airline along the way. I knew about Seven before....and after talking with the company and seeing the factory....this is HANDS DOWN, the finest custom bicycle made in the industry. More to come on my trip and learnings this weekend....and how cool was it to see our own customer Ken's bike in the jig being build when we got up there!!! I need a Seven...YOU need a Seven, this bike will change your life. They are sharp cookies up there.

More on Seven later

- JB