I had fun messing around with an advertising design for Stevil (formerly of How to Avoid the Bummer Life, currently All Hail the Black Market) Kinevil. He is a really good guy, except when he drinks too much. It was a pleasure doing business with him.

T-shirts are coming soon. You will probably know when I do.

I broke another Honjo fender last night… again in the rear and again on my Indy Fab. I am wondering if I just stress them too much, or the fit is too tight for those particular seat stays, or if they are just too weak of fenders for my needs. The pair I’ve got on my Salsa are still running strong, and I bought a brand new pair for the incoming Boxer bike, so I’m really hoping that I just have had bad luck in the past.

I might ask Dan to get creative with the mounting so we can spread some of the stress at the brake bridge. I don’t want to be in another situation where I am in the middle of a brevet and have to ditch the fender.

Chris and I went out and scouted a road last night. Microsoft Streets and Trips put it as the quickest route back in to South Park at the end of the 100K. I was worried that it might not be very bike friendly. Thankfully, I was wrong and it is even more fun than the original route. It adds a couple of rolling hills but pays off with an awesome bomb downhill with a fantastic view of Seattle from the top.

The sky was an amazing apricot color last night as some unexpected clouds rolled in. Because I took off my broken fenders, it rained of course. I was in shorts and a loose shirt. The spring rain felt wonderful though, especially after all of the heat we’ve had.

This is Chris’ beautiful Tournesol that he had built up and finished earlier this year. I’ve been meaning to draw it for a while now, but things have been busy… all year… I know that he is very happy with it. The bike has a very subtle flair with muted earthy colors. It doesn’t jump at your like a fancy race bike, but once you take it in, you really notice the amazing little details. Line art doesn’t exactly convey that, but you’ve got what I give you, damn it.

Things have been delightfully non news worthy lately. We spent time with our friends Norman and Maggie for most of Thanksgiving weekend. He was house sitting a nice place near Lake Washington and we decided to feel wealthy for a day or three. It was nice and low key though. I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see family, but we’ll be visiting my Mom in a few weeks anyways.

I haven’t been on the bike as much as I’d like. I’m having a rough time waking up with the weather and it being dark again. Most of my on bike time is a quick ride here and there on the weekends and the occasional commute. Chris and I have big plans for the end of our R12 though. January 31st and February 1st fall on one weekend. We want to plan an out and back style ride with 200k on Saturday and the return on a Sunday to finish off the last two months on the ride. I may suggest tackling another 200k in January just to be safe though. I’d hate to have something go wrong right at the end of our year.

We have our December ride tentatively planned for the 20th. The Three Rivers Cruise is looking like the winner so far. If anyone is interested in tagging along (I’m looking at you, Matt)… let me know ahead of time so I can get the proper amount of paper work done.

I ran across this on the hard drive today. It was from an early logo sketch that I was working on that never really panned out. It still makes me smile. Maybe I’ll develop it out a bit and make a t-shirt or something.

Jane managed to snag some last minute tickets on the cheap to San Diego for Willy’s wake this weekend. I’ve been wanting go back down there. Not like this of course, but we will try to get around anyways.

I’ve got a soft spot in (and on) my belly for some good mexican food. It has been too long…

There is a little chain fast food joint in Santee that sells a breakfast burrito that is built just to ruin any fitness I might have gained. It has hash browns, sausage, bacon, eggs, cheese and sour cream in a massive tortilla. Top it off with some of the best hot sauce around and you have one case of me getting fat again.

Like I said, I’ll take the little pleasures when I can get them.

We are hoping to regroup with some old friends while we are down there. There are some many people that have touched my life at one point or another, it will be nice to reconnect.

Chris and I have been on a quest for our R-12’s and we keep hitting these damn road blocks along the way.

The last two months have been pretty well filled for each of us, forcing us to get our ride in on the last possible weekend of the month. This is coupled with the fact that we only share one day off on any given week (Saturday). I am not about to choke now though, even though it might mean missing the annual SIR meeting on the 27th to achieve it. I’ve always been told that the months after the season is over are the hardest to maintain.

Obligations that don’t involve bike riding are kind of silly, yes?

I had one of those weekends that made me glad to get back to work on Monday.

Wednesday night I took Frankie in to the hospital. He never got back to me. We had him hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires. I had a (perhaps) irrational idea that he might be able to fight his way through it. Like I could will it the same way I willed myself through some of my issues. Maybe I thought we could throw money at the problem. I really thought he could make it.

He is already missed.

I have been riding the hell out of this bike lately. It is nice to have a relatively hassle free bike to commute to work on. The Salsa has also been amazing, but I haven’t really even cleaned it properly since the 600k. I need to spend a little time on these things, and it seems like I just don’t have any these days.

Frankie has been sick and it has me worried. Any time I’ve had an animal that doesn’t want to eat, it is never a good outcome. I’m taking him in tonight for a check up. I’m sure it will cost a ton of money and not get any real results. I wish he could just tell me what is wrong…. I’m crossing my fingers on this one. I’ve had more than my share of bullshit the last couple of years.

Unless something goes wrong, Jane and I are camping this weekend with a bunch of friends. Expect pictures and other random nonsense.

Special thanks (once again) to Peter Weigle for letting me use his image. I love the placement of this bell.

300k report coming soon. It was an interesting ride. I needed time to gather my thoughts on it.

Peter at Peter White Cycles posted my schmidt dynohub drawing on his website (with credit).
The wheels he built me are tough as a tank.

New drawing coming soon.

I pre-ordered Grand Theft Auto IV and I’m still waiting for it in the mail. It is driving me nuts.