SALE!

I just got some new toys so old ones are on the way out... I have a 5 framesets on ebay as of tonight and some other goodies, check them out if you're interested bid or email me directly.  I have to make room for a couple new Cross bikes!  

The Bone

On Wednesday I set out with 150ish other riders for the annual bone ride, which leaves from Milwaulkee to Madison and back, roughly 160 miles.  It was a great time, although the steady 20 mph cross wind made it one of the harder bone rides in recent years!  Total ride time was 7:50.   

Waiting for the start.
Me and EJ.

Jack Lionberger.
Sam, EJ, and Scott.
Luca and Chris McKenney from SRAM, he's here from Holland.
Scott contemplating a city soles Madison.
Rob, Mark, and Scott.

YeeHaa

Typhoon 32/34, flying doctor 32/34, rhynos 32/34 in stock....I'm so excited to have things ready to go early this season instead of searching around for tires in September!
Sneak Peak...

Beer. Cupcakes. Mustache.

This is a must have book...  Beautifully done, I'm on page 46 and had to stop because my heart rate is spiking.

hmmmm

Let the games begin

This made me really happy last week.  I see a guy walk in with tubular eastons, no big deal...wants tires glued on, no big deal... overhear him talking to one of my awesome mechanics and hear 32's or 34's.....HOLD ON....  April 22nd and someone is bringing in wheels to be glued for Cross season!!!!  Hell YEAH!  

This guy is officially the first tubular set for cross season 2009, so I decided he deserved a hookup.  I am doing him up with the SETA, silk Challenge griffos in size 32, super nice, for the price of the std griffos.
My broken C50 cross.  :(  What a bummer.  I had it in Texas for a couple months for refinishing and the guy called me and told me it was busted, so now it's headed off to Calfee for frame repair.  They are kind of odd out there in CA but they fixed my Look 595, and I trust them to get the C50 back up to speed.  It was kind of bitter sweet because I got the call on the cracked colnago the same day I got the proof on our team's new custom cross frames, not sure if that is karma or what?

Hey there

New kicks are finally out, but haven't seen the light of day yet!  

Super nice Edge composite wheels are now available at the Pony shop!  These are sick light, like mavic ultimate light, 1160 grams...

Spring!

Not much posting lately...Did a 4 day trip to Florida to ride with Luca and Mike sherer.  Both are awesome guys and great riders.  It felt great to put in 350 in 4 days in 80 degree temps.  I'm back now working things are picking up quickly around the shop.  Built my first cross bike for the 09/10 season.  Pretty cool people are thinking cross already in March.  The classics seems to bring that out in people too.  

Florida road kill.
There are like 20 of those cruise ships out there.

March!

March is here, warm temps are coming shortly!  I'm sad to see so many friends leave me for the warmth of AZ and FL....I use the angst to fuel my rides here in the cold.   

My daughter Chloe rocking out some wheel builds with dad at the pony.  

Guess Who???

Check that out, we are living among a superstar!  

I haven't been blogging because there isn't much cross news going on.  Been riding a lot, looks like I'm going to fall just short on my goal of 20 3hr plus rides outside in Jan/Feb, but I got close.  Rode 4 hours today with Luca, EJ, Ernie, Scott, and Alan B.  It was so nice out, felt like cheating since today happened to fall on my day off, and the weekend looks kind of crappy.  Trying to make a spring ride trip happen last minute thanks to a generous offer.  It would be great to ride in some warm air.

I miss cross a lot.  Got the go ahead to work on frame design for 2009 team bikes, and a good team friend is working on a HUGE special guest at the shop in the fall.  I hope it all works out, but it would be after Madison weekend if it does.  Hope everyone is well, see you on the road soon I hope!

Slippers

Mavic Shoes in stock.  They are so comfortable, I am really impressed.

Happier

Devon's sweet National Champ jersey from 2008 hanging from the rafters.
50 degrees in February!  

What makes me happy

Sunny days on the Lake Front Path!


Custom Oakleys (No they're not all mine)

Math

I need to work on my math skills.  For instance....If you ride south at 21mph with a 15 mph tail wind and it takes you 1 hour 8 minutes to get to the south shore country club...how freaking cold will you be by the time you get home?  Maybe that's not quite a math equation.  Notes from today, the winter skyline in Chicago is unreal, lake water can get you wet even though it's 40 feet from the path, vaseline on your face really helps, embro on the back of your hands doesn't, and I can't wait for spring.  

Sickness

Luca and I were chatting about who is going to win the World championships this year and I am thinking Stybar is my favorite followed by Boom and Nys.  This photo by Jeremy Powers confirms that, it's from his new journal entry on VN.  Stybar hired a driver on a durny to motor pace him during practice on the pavement sections of the World Championship course, now that is sick dedication.  Damn Jpow is good with the camera, the special edition Challenge Red 34 tire photo below is also courtesy of him.
Reading all the worlds info and seeing photos of everyone training on the course is making me jones to ride my cross bike again.  I can't believe that Katie can't get shimano to pay for her stuff?  That seems like a damn shame.  Her bike needs a BKW stylist to do some work on it though, it needs a different look, she is world class and she deserves a bike that looks it, not unlike NYS's Colnago.  

BB 30

Coolest thing about BB30 Bottom Bracket bikes, is BB30 Cranks.

Training?

Riding the snowy south end of the path today, wish it was all like this...just a bit of snow to keep things interesting.  It started out overcast but turned into a beautiful day out there!

Bluedale

Old road parts = new winter road bike.

Reset! Cyclocross Magazine Issue 5

Issue #5 in stock at The Pony Shop!  Come and get yours, lots of good reading info!  I rode then was laid up on the couch for 3 hours reading everything with my coffee.

Not too much happening right now around the shop, checking in new inventory, year end fiscals, nothing terribly exciting, except a few super nice road bikes going out and overhauls.  This is preseason time for the roadie in us.  Time to prep the bike, new parts, frame, start training, marking down on the calendar what races to do.  I just can't quite get into it, not like cross, although I may do an April road race.  I am looking forward to riding the road bike with my friends on a group ride and having coffee before and after.  I'm missing my winter training partner lately, but can't blame him since he's riding in Hawaii, and the max temp I saw outside this week was 34. 

This was Devon's frame, now my parts are on it.  I figured since we may do custom Cannondale's next year I should probably ride one for a bit to make sure.  It rides super nice, haven't been able to ride it off road, on trails, or with tubulars yet though.  
This is Fizik's new Antares saddle.  I really like it so far, it's similar to an Arione but a bit shorter and no seams in the center.  
This is my new water bottle.  I put one swiss miss cocoa packet in there, then fill with boiling water out of the kettle.  It is awesome, even today with sub 10 degree temps, the cocoa was hot after 2 hours.  A standard bottle doesn't last 20 minutes before freezing.