Summertime riding and wrenching and ranting.

I've recently come back from a vacation to North Carolina, where Keri and I escaped the hottest week of the summer down in the swamp. We got to ride the sweet singletracks of Tsali and Pisgah with beautiful nights camped in the forest. Blair was a gracious host and shuttled us to the finest downhills in the Davidson River area--thanks! Keri decided she's ready for gears and a full-face helmet, but she slayed the trails compared to our first trip up almost a year ago.
Bike polo season is in full swing. We're looking to recruit new players, so if you're interested check out the SwampBikePolo Blog. It's kind of like hockey with bikes instead of skates, but on grass with a modified soccer ball. The crashes are hilarious, so you can come just to watch.
I'm apprenticing with Lex of Villin Cycle Works. Any day now, I'll decide I can't file or sand my bike to a finer degree of perfection, and start riding it. I've learned to braze, which is a different type of joinery method than I did in framebuilding school. Villin also uses True Temper steel tubing which doesn't require quite the same treatment as titanium tubing. It's exciting to be learning so much, and I thank Lex for the opportunity.
Back-to-School time for the University of Florida students has kept everyone running for the last couple weeks. At the bike shop, this means we're building a bunch of low-end mountain bikes and putting el-cheapo lightsets on while some kid's anxious parents try to haggle down the price forty bucks, then make us show them EXACTLY how to use the lock before shoving it in the back of the Tahoe. Half the time the kid is texting on his phone, trying to get out of our store as quickly as possible, knowing the bike is going to rot behind the 4-bedroom condo the folks just bought so he'd have a quiet place to study while at college. Once in a while we sell a bike to someone with a good chance of actually becoming a cyclist who bought the bike with money they actually earned. These people ask the right questions, listen to the answers, take our advice like we're professionals, and not assume we're slimeball salesmenandwomen. Enjoy your bikes. Go Gators.