More Swap Photos!

Swap Meet Photos

A meeting of some of the greatest minds in cycling!

Bike Swap, Autumn Edition!

The Swap and Sell was on Sunday and it was judged a complete success! I saw a lot of nice stuff exchange hands. We ate lot of good food, saw a lot of good friends and had some good times! The best part about these semi-annual meetings is that they connect people with people. There were a lot of requests for phone numbers so that further explorations into people's bicycle treasure chests could continue later. Many of the people said they simply couldn't bring it "ALL" down to the swap meet! Wow! I love bicycles! I am so happy to be able to work for a friend who allows me free run of his business so that we can have silly bicycle swap meets rain or shine! I hope to do it again next spring and hope to see ya'll there! In the mean while I do have a big list of connections if you need anything!

Oh Please, Not The F-BOMB!

Dang! It got cold last night! Standing outside at 6 a.m. this morning, looking at the the beautiful spectacle of Mercury rising, I thought to myself, Wow! this is semi-reminiscent of a morning cyclocross races are held on. Now just lower the temperature another 10-20 degrees, throw in the possibility of a wet slushy rain and viola it's time to fargin' rock!
Right now I am down here at Carpet Mart simmering a large pot of pinto beans for chili for the BIKE SWAP AND SELL, tomorrow Sunday 10-26-08, noon until ? I am also waiting for it to warm up a bit before go for a ride. This week I worked on my brother's bike again, this time I replaced the existing solid rear axle with a hollow one and a quick release. Upon test riding the bike I felt a rhythmic bump, bump, bump as the rear rolled along. I stopped and noticed that the tire had a large tumor-like bulge on the sidewall. The rear brake pads have been slowly eating away at the tire thanks to the brilliantly engineered U-BRAKE the bike incorporates. I discovered that the brake pads were also completely toasted so I put on some gently used old ones I found in the million piece junk pile that lives here at Carpet Mart. Now He's ready to fargin' rock!

The Final Countdown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MNlkhyB-ao As the time draws nearer and nearer to that time of year when grown men, women and children start leaping from their moving bicycles only to then begin frantically running with them on their shoulders, I have begun to step up my training program. Here is a particularly inspirational and motivational little clip I use to get my sorry old butt up and movin' on these dark, cold mornings. See you at the races!

Ascent to the Death Zone!

I decided to ride, "TOP OF THE WORLD" last night for the first time in months. Believing that a summer's worth of riding would allow me to make a molehill out of what I used to think was a mountain, I decided I would go in from Mary Lake, up the "Jumps" trail on the north side so that it would at least be challenging. As I rode through nice middle class neighborhoods, I saw people who I knew were watching me and I suspected that they were thinking, Wow, look at that beautiful peddle stroke, I didn't know that John Tomac retired to Redding! Yes my friends, I was making my way to the trails, feelin' good and lookin' great! Well to make a long, HELLISH climb short, let me just tell you that when I finally hit the last pitch to the top, I had a face that was frozen into some kinda hyper-death -sneer- smiling-killer-nightmare-clown that would have put Jim Carey to shame. MY GOD!!! That hurt! Plus some how due to some sort of perfect, Evil atmospheric conditions at 5 p.m. last nite, the Top of the World was completely without a breath of wind of a breeze and fargin' bakin' hot! If by some strange coincidence anyone who saw John Tomac ride by their house only to return an hour later looking like a fat, red-faced, old guy... that was me.

Three Blind Mice

For the third time this week, I went fossil hunting up Sulphur Creek. This time my brother and I dragged old Dad out there. We brought a rock hammer, magnifying glass, specimen bags and our reading glasses. (Gad, we're a bunch of old farts!) This time we found the Mother lode! It seemed like everywhere we looked there were more and more rocks and boulders that contained countless thousands of fossilized seashells. We all rode our Mtb's and I am happy to report that Dad kept up with with his little boys (me 52, Tim 50) just fine! At the top of the first little climb, we stopped and immediately found some nice fossil bearing rocks. We walked around a bit and then started off, further up the creek. Dad couldn't find his sunglasses but then just said screw it, they were junk anyway! But about an hour and half later on the way out he asked that we stop and look, one more time, for the sunglasses. I found them laying in the dry brown grass, stomped to pieces by somebodies big old boot. Thank God I only wear an eleven!

Evil Genius!

Basil: Did we get Dr. Evil? Radar Operator: No, sir, he got away in that big spaceship that looks like a huge... Teacher: Penis. The male reproductive organ. Also known as tallywhacker, schlong, or... Friendly Dad: Wiener? Any of your kids want another wiener? Friendly Son: Dad, what's that? Friendly Dad: I don't know, son, but it has great big... Peanut Vendor: Nuts. Hot, salty nuts. Who wants some?... Peanut Vendor: Lord Almighty! Woman: That looks just like my husband's... Circus Barker: ONE-EYED MONSTER. Step right up and see the One-eyed Monster! Cyclops: RARRR. Cyclops: Hey, what's that? It looks like a... Fan: Woody. Woody Harrelson. Could I have your autograph? Woody: Sure. Oh, my Lord! Look at that thing! Fan: It's so huge. Woody: No, I've seen bigger. That's... Dr. Evil: Just a little prick.

Bicycle Swap and Sell

Well, here we go again! The all things bicycle swap and sell at Carpet Mart. Road, MTB, CX, BMX, TT, Cruiser, Old, New, Bikes, Parts, Clothes, Accessories... it's all here folks! Bring it on down! Call me if you need help getting it here! Sunday October 26, 2008. Noon 'til 4 p.m. Carpet Mart is at 905 Locust St. Contact Jim at 246-0203 (days) or 221-2028 (eve's) P.S. Looks like Nick's gonna bring the BBQ! I will make a pot of chili beans the size of... a large pot of CHILI!!

Is there a geologist in the house?

My brother and I took an interesting little ride up Sulphur Creek. From Market St. we went in through Satan's Tunnel (some sweet graffiti) along the creek which takes you in a Northwest direction, in the canyon between Quartz Hill Rd. and Lake Blvd. About a mile in, we came to a place where some trail building and brush clearing has taken place. We saw official looking markers that said, TRAIL. Although it is short, we rode it absolutely delighted, due in part to the perfect traction the previous nights rain had created. I have always been a bit of an amateur geologist/archaeologist and am always on the look out for features that might reveal fossils. So when the trail dropped down to the creek and I saw the stream bed running over limestone, I told Tim to stop so we could have a look around. Proceeding up the Creek on foot, I came to a place where the stream bed appears to be lined with some kind of man made aggregate, but I think it's a natural geological occurrence. This beautiful little recreation area is a jewel right in our fair city. Even though I used to ride through there (15 years ago) on a regular basis, I am going to rediscover what is out there. Want to go?

MV Agusta F4CC

MV Agusta F4CC Just dreaming!!

Further Explorations of Old Hwy 99.

I got a ride to Red Bluff in my friend's pick up truck, early last Saturday morning. I took my one-speed road bike out of the bed of the truck and then rode home on it. It took me about two hours and I had a beautiful ride. As I made my way north I started thinking about old 99, how the old highway used to go right through downtown Red Bluff, Cottonwood, Anderson and Redding. When big old "Super Slab" (that's what they used to call I-5 'cause it was cement originally) carved a football field wide swath through farm and ranch land the length of the state, well my friends, that's when my grandpa and his pals started the saying; "I've watched this place go from Jackrabbit to Jackass!" Tom Wolf said "You can never go home again." Well I suppose that's true if we're talking about living in Mayberry but really, about all a guy can do these days to get off the thundering circus freak show ride is get out there on his bicycle and take a long ride. Enjoy your Bicycle!

The Goat Heads Are Ready!

The smell (and sound) of basmati rice and lentils, gently simmering on the stove, mingles with cool early morning air as it falls into the house through an open window. They slam into one another right here where I sit, in front of the computer reminding me of my years in a Turkish prison. I woke up in love this morning, but it may just be the early symptoms of West Nile disease (God Damn this outdoor lifestyle!) My hips feel like they've been beaten by the prison guards (again!) I was movin' kinda slow upon risin' this morning. Might just be all this running up and down steep hillsides with a fargin' bicycle hoisted upon me shoulder. Oh well, if nothing else it's good penitence.

Check out my 69'r!

Well I intended to have a short video of my little 69'r CX bike here but alas, my computer skills are on par with my bike mechanic skills... NEEDS TO IMPROVE! I had a funny dream this morning just before I woke up, in which I was in a cyclocross race. I discovered that it was just as fast to run with the bike on my shoulder as it was to try to ride the very technical course. It got real weird when I realized that some of the other guys had also figured it out but had taken it a step further. They were cross-country runners carrying small pieces of a bicycle (brake levers, chain rings) and were winning races on a technicality!

YouTube - Black Forest (Lorelei) / Mercury Rev

YouTube - Black Forest (Lorelei) / Mercury Rev HAPPY EQUINOX! Enjoy some Mercury Rev!

Trouble? Call Mr. Wizard!

With cooler mornings and shorter days, you better believe that thoughts of the upcoming cyclocross season are on more than just this old boy's mind. There is a buzz in every shop (bicycle) in town and lots of phone calls and emails are being made and sent. I got to work outfitting my crazy, Frankenstein Bike, for it's next incarnation as a 69'r, one-speed, CX machine. Almost immediately, I found myself in a spot of bother with the, how the hell am I going to do that, REALITY of the project . You see, I am not a real bicycle mechanic, I just play one at my real job, at Carpet Mart. So, thanks to my friends at BIKES ETC. another one of my Hare-Brained ideas will be rolling around here on earth with my old carcass atop it!

One Speed Super Moto.

I have been riding my Redline, 925 bike on Saturday mornings for about a month now. I go from my house down Bechelli Lane to Bonneyview then over the river west through the construction area. Nice progress is being made down there, soon it will be a very cycle-friendly byway. The big tandem tires, the bike is shod with, allow me to hop over to the (still) gravelled sections , well off to the side of the narrow traffic corridor. I then work my way north, up through the farm-like neighborhoods of that area, to strategically emerge on Eastside road, right at Cross Fit training gym. So far, my hope of being seen by fellow cyclocross people has not panned out. Then it was up to the Farmer's Market at the city hall for an amazing oatmeal raisin cookie to fuel my further northern meanderings. Over the Sundial bridge to Market Street, I got back on the dirt at the bottom of Sulphur Creek hill and went up the old hwy 99 route to Lake Blvd. About a half a mile further north I got on Twin View Road (also old 99?) and got up to the Redding Record Searchlight area. From there I roll down through up-scale neighborhoods to a cool little dirt section along Churn Creek to the North end of Hawley Road. From there it turns into Churn Creek Road, south through the "Big Box" jungle and home for yet another cuppa Tea.

Wednesday Morning Ride.

Feels like I've been abducted by some kind of dream ghost, during my absence, the season change has happened. Rode my Mono-Hopper this morning at 6:30, started out dark and cold, ended back here at Carpet Mart, cool and Autummy. I threw on a few extra articles of warm gear (could have used fingered gloves!) then headed on up to sundial bridge and out west on the river trail. Staying close to the river probably contributed to my chill factor but I didn't want to be out there in traffic, in the dark. Something about riding early, feeling groggy and stiff and hitting those first climbs (that makes breathing feel as if I were sucking through a soda straw) that really blows! I think I may be going back to Wednesday Evening rides real soon. In the mean while, cooler temps are sure wonderful.

What's on your I-POD?

I see that now-a-days, a common question asked of celebrities is, "What's on your I-Pod?" When I think back, not so long ago (that is, if you're old enough to not consider the entire lifetime of a young adult a long time!) to the choices of music that the average Shasta County resident (of the 70's) had available to themselves, compared to today, it really "Blows one's mind!" When I think back to the Pop Music, Top 40 B.S. Neil Diamond, Carly Simon, K.C. and Sunshine, Horse manure (Hmmm, that's a fun word, it's Ma, that's a nice word, with newah at the end!) I am semi-amazed that there weren't more Charlie Manson, John Wanye Gacys running around out there!
Well it's September so I have begun throwing in the occasional, dismount-and-run-with-the-bike-on-my-shoulder to my rides, in preparation for the not too distant cyclo-cross season (YAY!, OUCH!) There I was riding along with my decidedly retro transistor radio playing when Tourrettes-like, I leapt from the bike and began plowing and crawling up a steep embankment, while singing loudly in my operatic falsetto voice, along with the radio, "September Morn, I reached to you to find a brand new day!"

The Swamp Thing!

I got a phone call from a guy on Monday asking me if I was was the guy who Jason had entrusted the the bicycle co-op with. He told me his name was Joey and that a friend of his named Matt told him to call me. He told me that he had an old Nishiki 10 speed that he wanted to cannibalize parts from it to a frame set (that he had) that was lighter and taller. I told him to bring it on down and I would look at it. The Nishiki, 27" wheels, although ride-able, was indeed a lead weight. The frame-set was a bare bones frame with a mismatched fork 700c size. I thought we were up against the old "Well, for $200.00, we can build you a real nice $50.00 bike" scenario. But then we took a quick walk out to the bone yard and there was the solution. A big old Centurion 10 speed with broken wheels, rusted cranks and handle bars, every cable welded solid in it's housing, everything about it said, "Hi, I've spent the last ten years in a Vernal pond out in the middle of Nowhere!" But then, to my utter amazement, I spun the cranks and found the bottom bracket was smooth as butter and the same thing happened when I tested the head set. Long story short, I took the good stuff from the Nishiki and a crank-set from an old mt. bike and built a fairly sweet ride for Joey and I got to play"Bike Guru" again.