Canadians can be mean too!

Reposted from the Surly blog:

"I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."

-Rob Ford, Toronto City Councilor
Email: councillor_ford@toronto.ca

We urge all friends of the bike to send a message to Mr. Ford explaining why he is way off-base. We recommend that you don't use any threatening terms or obscenities, as hard as that may be to do.

Below is a message you can copy and send to Councilor Ford:

As a cyclist and concerned citizen, I find your remarks concerning bike lanes to be appalling, highly inappropriate, and even dangerous. Cyclists have the same rights to the road as any motor vehicle in Canada, as well as the United States. Bicycles offer a reduction in traffic, improved environmental protection and better public health.

On behalf of the families and loved ones of cyclists killed by automobiles, we, the cycling community demand a retraction of your statement and an apology. Please know that your comments are rapidly circulating within the cycling community around the globe, and many cyclists hold prominent positions in society. What's more, cyclists vote.

N.A.H.M.B.S.

What can we say?? The show was great!! So many beautiful bikes, so many nice people!. It was cool to meet all the other builders from around the Country. We had a really fun time with the Nor Cal contingents, like the Sycips, the Inglis' and the Soulcrafters. We hung out with Steve and Denise Garro from Coconino Cycles. Rapha Racers were in a booth next door and we got one of their jerseys and some nice woolly socks! Oh yeah!
The official word is that next years show will be in Portland. We'll be there! Hopefully it doesn't conflict with the County Line!!
Our show bikes will be in the Spokesman later this week, if you feel like going in and taking a look. We'll also have them photographed by someone who knows what they're doing and post them here.
For now here are some photos...some we took, and some we stole off the web.

Handmade Bicycle Show

Yep that's right, a bunch of anal retentive frame builders will be exhibiting their wares under one roof this weekend at the San Jose convention center.
Word on the street is that next year the show heads to the east coast, so you'd better check it out while it's still local.
Wish I could post some photos of the hot frames Rick has built up, but I am under strict instruction that they are to be officially unveiled at the show.
Come by and say hi.
Check out the website at handmadebicycleshow.com.
for directions etc

Some More.......

These are from Scotty P. You can see the whole set by clicking HERE.
He also has some great pictures from the TOC prologue.

Curtis Inglis and Jeff Hantman rockin it on that sweet Retrotec tandem.

Better watch out, Bradleys coming to get you!!

Messin' with Melanie on the beach.

They don't call him Smiling George for nothing.

Homemade trophies!


Bikes bikes bikes.....

County Line Roundup #2

We have some more photos from Saturday thanks to Kirk.
The stories are rolling in, like the one about Micah who had a nasty crash on the tracks, finished the ride and then went home to get 13 stitches in his arm!! Nice!
Mr. Mike Martin riding for the devil.

This was the best part of the day. Cold beer, pepsis, cookies and sandwiches all thanks to David Gill and friends. Grant Stoner was there reminding us that it was a hot day in California baby.

Nice legs hot stuff!

Ahhh the finish......unless you were riding with Kirk, in which case he took you 10 mile detour to get to the warehouse where the party was!! It's a good thing David brought his flask with him!

County Line Roundup

We had great turnout yesterday for some single speed suffering with over 75 people lining up at the start.
The tracks were torture, the beach was exhausting, the weather was downright hot and the views were beautiful.

Here are the brief results.

George Hope and Dan Harting sprinted for the finish at the Pajaro river, and the general consensus is that they tied.
They decided to share the trophy even though we really wanted them to have a hotdog eating contest for the tie-breaker.

Allison Baumhefner took home the trophy for the ladies. She's one tough girl.

Here's a photo from the start. (it looks very similar to the one in the last post) We managed to cause quite a traffic jam on highway 1 there for a while.

We'll write more later, right now we're still too tired.
Send us photos if you have them, we forgot our camera!

8th Annual County Line Jamboree

Hello Rally Fans
The Jamboree is coming up quick, next saturday the 17th, high noon at Waddell beach.... Come one come all.... Its shaping up to be a good year with the spring rains starting, and the fields smelling ripe with fertilizer... The rail tracks look good with extra bonus broken glass and vagrant debris... here are some pixs from previous years... Can you guess who's who ?
Bring your mono speed and stay for the potluck after at the cold storage wharehouse in Watsonville... See you all then..











Here are some photos that Mike Evans just sent us....check out the guy (cool rad bro? ) without his shirt on! (bottom photo)


Mike also added that he was surprised that no one crashed in that peloton.... something about a bunch of women flashing them as they went by??

Home Sick

I spent the last 4 winters in Baja guiding back country kayak trips.
I loved it down there, it was home before I met Rick and moved to Santa Cruz.
It's hard to describe in words, pictures are more fun!

My old bedroom, at sunrise with a high tide!



Our kitchen somewhere along the coast from Loreto to La Paz.


Cardon Cactus near Catavina.


Rick ripping some lips, in Bahia de Los Angeles. That sure is a big skull behind him.

la familia de Hunter

Countless days spent in a kayak.

This is the best picture I ever took of a whale, most of them look like barnacle encrusted logs floating in the ocean!


Good friends, at Sunset. Twilight in Baja is like nowhere else!

Ahhhh, I miss it! especially on a rainy day like this.

Can you believe this was my job!! Sea Kayak Adventures

Tims Retro Super Cruiser

Tim lives in North Carolina, he wanted something like a turn of the century bike.
Here's how it turned out. (click photos to enlarge)

This is what Tim said.
" I built it up with high-flange Phil Wood track hubs and BB, with an old pair of 1984 C-Record 175mm cranks. Handlebars are the new Soma Major Taylor steel jobbies. I like the U-Brake bosses, I'll put in a rear one sometime. I'm running fatty Schwalbe 2.0s with a Brooks sprung saddle for all day comfort through the miles of brick-paths around here. "


Thanks Tim for sending the photos. It turned out beautiful!

Wrapping it up

Whoa........I (Mary-Anne) did 19 cross races this year!! Including the early season DFL cross dress series! I guess I sort of geeked out!

I had too much fun, I loved meeting new people and seeing them week after week. I really loved all the cheering and encouragement from Rick and his friends and even complete strangers. You just don't get enough of that sort of thing in your daily life. Cross is a good thing when you're a rookie.

A year ago Rick was still showing me how to get in and out of my pedals, and I thought that I would never want to race a bike! but now I'm encouraging everyone I know to try it. "It's easy" I say. "Well no..... it's really hard, but the people are super nice, so it's not that scary!" I think I have even convinced some of my Canadian friends to try.

Sunday was my last race and it was bittersweet. I was really tired from the ride the day before and I probably should have been a beer drinking spectator, but I was talked into it. I took a wrong turn on the course and went down a hill, which I had to climb back up in order to get back on the course....twice......in the same place! I was so embarrassed (that scenario was similar to the nightmares I had prior to my first race!!) I wanted to quit but it was a really fun course, and the last race, I had to finish!

Here's some pictures I stole from the SCCCC team page

The nasty run up at the Watsonville Fairgrounds.

The slippery S turn and my first race with drop bars!!



James from the Freewheel took the S turn with a lot more grace than I....... on his fixed gear!!!




I am already looking forward to next year!!!

Pt. Reyes rolling...

Howdy Folks
Rick here doing some blogging... I haven't been on this computer thing for a while and trying to re-remeber how to do it all, not as easy as riding a bike....
Mary-Anne and I took this last Saturday off to meet the City Boys for a nice ride out to the Pt. Reyes lighthouse and back... Took some pixs which I will share with you now...

Here's our friend Ginger looking smug and upright, nice posture...



Here's a boat that ran out of water !


Here's my sweetheart...


Here's a water reclamation set-up at the lighthouse, should have brought my skateboard...


Here's the stairs to the actual lighthouse, thats the Pacific O' in the distance and some migrating whales..


Here's Mary-Anne rocking the track back down from Mt. Vision...
We always have a good time with the City Boyz/DFL'ers, vulgar and smelly like sailors but still polite and friendly....

Speaking of Suffering

Check out these guys



Goat, Jacob and Sean are all former UCSC students on a serious adventure. Their plan is to ride from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
They started in late July and Rick and I have been following their progress on their website ever since.
Now in my personal opinion the end of July was a little bit late to start in the Arctic Circle what with winter literally right around the corner. I figured they would make their way through Canada and into Montana where they would settle down, find themselves jobs and wait it out until Spring. Instead they just kept going despite being hit by large winter storms in Alberta as early as September. They are in Arizona now and unfortunately for them, it is icy cold there as well.
The one guy, who calls himself Goat doesn't even wear shoes, seriously! and they are riding something like 80 miles a day through the snow!

Take a look at their photos and journal here. Riding the Spine.
Kind of makes me feel like a bit of a sissy.