Here is a preview of a rig that just came back from paint. We are calling it Two Bite Curry: the first bite is hot, the second bite sweet.
Archive for April, 2008
(Editor’s note: Completely reckless use of linguistic devices ahead.)
Quietly, like a new years eve celebration that goes to bed at 9:30, we celebrated our one year anniversary of being car free.
There was less fuss to going car free than I would have anticipated - the lease was up, so I put the bike in the back, went to the dealership, gave them their car back, and rode home. That was pretty much it. Not a lot of planning. A little gearing up in terms of a good rain jacket and gloves. We did go big on the fenders now that we didn’t have car or gas payments.
A couple of days into it, we were still pretty pleased with ourselves to the point where even the steady spring drizzle didn’t seem to dampen our moods. When you need to go somewhere, and you can only go by bike, then you go by bike. The simplicity was oddly comforting. When we didn’t ride, we found ourselves walking around the city noticing things we hadn’t really noticed before.
The first hitch came when we dearly wanted to cash in a coupon from the Portland Nursery across town. How were we going to haul plants and mulch? That is when we discovered the beauty of the Zipcar. Like 823-BUMP, Zipcar filled the hole in our transportation options in no time. We took those big trips to the store, and ran luxuriously quick errands on dark rainy nights. We went to the coast when we wanted to. We got a puppy - who we now haul around in a Burley.
We admit that we have it lucky: we are close to a lot of services and there aren’t kids to schlep around. And while we miss hitting the trails as much as we used to, we now have a closer relationship to our travels. Like living on a farm, we know where our transportation food comes from.
I saw an interesting comment the other day, about the cognitive disconnect that people feel when they start to really understand the impact of cars. But I don’t feel any smugness in being car free, nor do I feel like I have escaped the disconnect. We use cars, and might have to buy one someday. But I can say that going car free was easier than I thought. Kind of like taking off the training wheels.
(Art History coming in handy.)
Some of you may recognize this road bike bike from North American Handmade Bike Show where it was on display at the Spectrum Powderworks booth. I can’t really overstate this - this paint job is incredible. These guys went all out. It has a 51.5 cm seat tube and a 52.5 cm top tube and a carbon fork that takes 650c wheels. Available frame/fork for $1500, or we can help you put it together. If you are around 5′5″ and have a 31″ inseam, this could be the bike for you.
Call or contact us for details.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
This bike is amazing. Steel, leather, wood, and canvas all working together, not for good, but for awesome.
A couple of notes about the build: S&S couplers, Campy parts, dual lighting, Brooks saddle, Rivendell Lil Loafer Bag, and Full Wood Fenders. Sweetpea design, frame, fork, and rack.
Oh, and the decals are reflective.
You can see the full build in the slide show below:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
(Image courtesy of BikePortland.org)
I love welding stores, but they can be a little trippy. There are always products on the shelf from way before I was born (apparently some aspects of melting metal haven’t changed that much) and the inexplicably fashion-forward welding bandanas (da-glo florals and patriotic variations on the theme of eagles). I tend to regard them as places apart from the rest of the world, unburdened by pesky advances in gender equality or merchandising finesse. I usually march in, find my goodies, and leave, no more noticed than the guy in the gorilla costume you didn’t notice because you were busy counting how many times the basketball was passed among the players.
So imagine my surprise, when the welding store clerk engaged me on the topic of bikes. He rides to work when he can, but also drives a truck. He questions whether riding on certain streets is really safe. And few observations of bike/car dialogue later, I felt Portland seeping into the welding store experience. Then he dropped the bombshell: “I really think that these Bike Boxes are a great thing. It’s good that bikes can pull in front of cars so that they can see you, and how you can’t turn on a red. It’s going to be a lot safer…”
Bike love knows no borders. Not in this town, at least.
