NAHBS: A Look Back and Forward.

NAHBS 2012 starring Jen Abercrombie

It certainly is if you're with all these cats. Hot-tubs (who here remembers the Hottub Club, someone must?) bourbon, karaoke, probably some other illicit drugs, anything can happen. Anyway, I've officially saved all of the photos from last years NAHBS until the night before the big dance. That way everyone can see what really went down. It wasn't that exciting... or was it? Don't you hate when people speak like that? It's like saying, or typing the words "I'm not supposed to be telling you this." It just sounds annoying and like you're trying to ponce up something that deserves no ponce.

HERE IS WHAT'S REALLY ON MY MIND:

Who's going to buy a new bike?
-Prolly usually fills this void quite quickly so that we all don't have to. But we should.
- Jen's Cx bike will be on display somewhere? (I'm just hoping with this one.)
- Can you be from Portland and buy a bike from someplace else and not piss everyone off?
- Can you buy a bike from Portland and piss everyone off?
(Ps - I'm buying a new Fuji Roadmaster)
(pps - that's a lie)

Will there finally be some cute girls at a bike show?
- things have been getting better and better with every year. Last year being the best (see above) but with Austin giving it a run for its money based solely on proximity.
- I already know of a few cute girls that will be here.
- John Prolly and Brian Vernor are throwing a party which pretty much sends it over the top.

What is going to be the show stopper of the year?
- Everyone is already talking about Breadwinner & Argonaut. Portland takeover part 2?
- There is no denying that Alchemy has a new and exciting crew behind them.
- Mosaic. Mosaic. Love these guys. If there ever was a Portland takeover there is going to be a Colorado revolution. Also, I have the tiniest of shop visits with them that I keep meaning to revisit. They shred bikes as well as make them. (Actually everyone mentioned in this section does just that.)

Can the Chris King crew step up their game any more? 
- Color headset cap's on a leather lanyard for builders to utilize. NBD.
- The FREEDOM PARTY. Shit got real this year.
- Coverage of local builders who use their stuff.. Chris King Buzz on Argonaut.
-The Tanner Bike and then some really awesome looking Cielos.

Will this be the year that everyone throws a party outside the show? 
- Can you believe we aren't paying for this shit?
- Which one will make his head explode?
- Who's getting punched in the face?

We teamed up with Pearl Velo. Remember Tyler? That awesome shop? Well, they have opened their doors and made some space to hang photos and artwork and all kinds of fun stuff. I've got some things in it. Prolly does and so does Vernor and Dustin Klein (from Cadence Clothing). Also Bo Bickerstaff who took some photos of ex-con's and their bikes too. It is going to be an extravaganza to say the least.

Brian Vernor made a book with Argonaut. Part catalog, part long ride coverage. Very excited about seeing this. Love his work and I love that Argonaut is putting it out there and mixing it up a bit but still sticking to a traditional format. People love to take things away from these shows and just knowing that I need to get one of these sets me up for a nice scavenger hunt on the weekend.

Whew, and that is just the start of it all. However, it turns out that is all we have time for (see what I did there) The other one to check out (with your exhibitor badge or media pass) is the Alchemy hosted live presentation of Smoked Out - Richard Sach's longform online interview piece. I'm sad to be missing this one due to the Outside Is Free-ness going on as this is going to be fantastic and with some fantastic hosts.

Best of 2012 - Rads

I'm hesitant while going through my "Rads" for a couple of reasons. One, because I'm hesitant of the word "Rads" itself. I just read through Steven Nereo's The Ditch List and felt like the stating of the word "Rad" was on there in a sort of rhetorical fashion. So, maybe rad is out. The second is because all of the Rad places that I went, saw or felt were covered in the last bit there. Ok, maybe that isn't entirely true... But there were things, great and not so great that I was fortunate enough to get out and experience and I'm thankful for them all. Plus, they all can't fit in here anyway... so you get just a taste.

RAD 1 - A New Ear (it's a state of mind)

I'm not a big fan of Facebook. I know why and how it exists and that is just fine for me. It is a tool which we use "just to keep in touch with old friends" or more aptly "to creep on my old girlfriends" or possibly even "as a big part of my job these days." Any way you slice it, it just ends up getting weird. I don't particularly like it because I feel like it plays to the sick and sad... I don't want to hear about your surgeries on facebook and I'm sure that you do not want to hear about mine.

But on my blog? That's another story.

I got a new ear this year. What? Well, technically I got a new eardrum, but they make a slice down the backside of your ear, peel it back like an orange skin, dig out all your old eardrum parts and then graft in some of your own cartilage into a new eardrum. Sound gross? Well, it was. Which is why I chose not to speak about it on FB. I don't want to hear about your ear surgery either.

However, I will say that in my active, adult life, it was one of the hardest, most annoying things I've ever done. I had to rely on my friends around me more than I've ever wanted to (sorry guys) and moped around the house for basically a month. At one point I sneezed and blood shot out of my ear. That was gross.

In any case, it was rad because I can hear again. Whispers, loud music (ok, that's still a little tough), maybe just that couple over there in the corner cooing to each other. I can hear all that. It was totally worth it and if I had to go through it again I would not. But still. This one was worth it.

RAD 2 - Basketball 

What's better than a break from the cycling world? A fast break. In the paint. Are we good? Hell no. Ok, well, Murph is good, but the rest of us have to just suffer to try and keep up with him. This has been the best weekly pickup game that anyone could ever ask for. We eat a lot of pringles and drink a lot of beer and that's pretty much what makes this the best. The raddest. Oh and CD gets frustrated quite easily, but you didn't hear that from me. 

Also, it is a chance for me to wear all these sweet industry t-shirts that I have acquired over the years. You can see here that I'm representing Los Angeles in this go round.

RAD 3 - ColoRADo

 

See what I did there? With the word "rad" inside Colorado? Pretty sweet. I was fortunate enough to spend a fair bit of time in Colorado this year and every second of it was close to amazing. There was a little training camp/Rapha Mobile Cycle Club action that happened at one point. These fine gentlemen took us on a little adventure up one of the best dirt roads that I've seen in a while. That could have possibly been because the altitude was pinching my lungs into a small prune like thing that was impairing my vision. But, it also could have been because it was just that sweet.

Sunshine. Dirt roads. Cool people. Hard bike rides. Hoola hoops. Lots and lots of hoola hoops and surprisingly, or not, Ryan can hoola-hoop really well. The best part is, I took this photo (of the hips hoola-hooping on the hillside) set the camera on top of the ice machine that I was standing next to and then got on my bike and started riding down the mountain. About three or five minutes into the descent I touched my back pockets to make sure that everything was there - my heart froze in terror as I pictured the camera in its spot on top of the ice chest. I slammed on my brakes - making sure not to crash out Ben - who was behind me. And preceded to climb back up to retrieve it. Disaster averted.

Thanks to everyone there for making Colorado awesome.  I hope to visit again and again and again. Oh wait, I will be visiting again soon - for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Denver next month. So, Colorado - see you soon.

RAD4 - Los Angeles 

I think what makes Portland so awesome is the ability to leave quite often. If you follow people on instagram from the Pacific Northwest you will see that they are constantly traveling. Popping down to California for the weekend to ride Mountain Bikes or over to to Hawaii to visit family. Maybe even down to Mexico once in a while for a much needed break in the sunshine. We are people. We need sunshine.

Thank goodness for the Tour of California. The main reason why this race is so awesome? Aside from all of the other awesome reasons is that it ends in good old Los Angeles. Say what you will about this town, I love it. I think that John Prolly loves it too, but that is just a guess. This is just a sample day for you. Wake up. Head over to Golden Saddle Cyclery - no one seems to be working either - not at the bike shop, they're cranking away over there, everywhere else. Anyway, we did a pancake breakfast the final morning of the TOC. Cranked out a few hundred espresso's and then as the race whizzed by we jumped on our trusty steeds and headed down to the final circuit to catch some of the action. Action is as action does.

Then we went over to the best underwear shop in the world, with the best name, mind you — Panty Raid — and John and I bought stuff for... erm... each other?

Prolly: A Year in 55 Photos - there are more than a few LA photos in here.

RAD5 - Keith Anderson's Shop

I like Keith Anderson. A lot. He's super generous with everything. He's funny and he is an awesome bicycle painter/builder. On the way down to the Tour of California I stopped by to visit him and see his workshop. It was a short stop, maybe 20 minutes at the most, a chance to look over what he's doing and working on (he showed me a super cool pink paint that he was doing for Steelman Bikes). In any case I also covered it over here - Paint Stop: Keith Anderson.

I get to see Keith pretty often, he'll pop into Portland to pick up a batch of frames (for Breadwinner Cycles? What?) and hit me up late in the afternoon. We'll have some beers and maybe watch funny videos on Youtube. Ok, we did that once, but it was hilarious and awesome. He's also one of the people I get excited to see at the NAHBS each year (can you tell I'm excited?)

Also, looking at these photos makes me remember the one bike that I want this year - ROCK LOBSTER. Please, oh please cycling gods, make this happen. The matte black one that Prolly posted about put the lust in my loins.

RAD6 - Portland, Oregon - July 4th 

It is said, over and over again that the summer doesn't really start in Portland until the 4th of July. Well, if that is the case then it is great that we do such a good job of welcoming her each year. Kyle Von Hoetzendorff usually does the welcoming (it's his favorite holiday of the year) but he took a break this time around to let Greg Johnson do the welcoming. And welcome he did.

I think it was because of this fact that Kyle and I went undefeated in backyard games. He was allowed to shift his focus just ever so slightly and that was the needed push to get him over the top. Thanks goes out to Johnson for having such a great space, however, next year can you move a little closer to Portland, it took me most of the day to get over there.

That is about enough Rad for now. The list goes on and on and sometimes it is a bit difficult to cull or at least group them appropriately. However, I've really got nothing to complain about. 2012 is going to be a tough one to top, no matter how hard we try. I think, however, that if we keep our whits about us, we should be alright.

2012 The Best Rides, Rads and Raps

The three "R's" of life. Rides, Rads and Raps. It seemed a little better than people places and things. The first one seems pretty simple and there have been quite a few of them this past year. I thought it would be fun to take a look back through them all. Rad's that would be places, outside of the cycling world sure, maybe, but maybe not. Raps well, that would be people. Interesting conversations, new people met, old people visited (maybe not "old" per se) but all that good stuff. People, places and things of 2012.

PART ONE: Rides.

Backyard Blam at the Lumberyard

In February Amanda Sundvor put on her first event of the year at the Lumberyard. The mountain bike park in Portland had yet to open, so she had her run of the place. There were people lining every aspect of the course which made it difficult, but really maybe the course itself made it difficult. Of course, with the luck of the draw I had to race Tony Pereira and he smoked me. The man has skills, I've said it before and I'll say it again I'm sure. Plus, the two ladies that you see above wandered in, wondering what the hell was going on and stayed for the racing action.

NAHBS 2012 - Sacramento

What did I like about NAHBS last year? The fact that we took our bikes and rode them every single day. Sure, there were people there setting up their booths and tearing down their booths and borrowing nails to build their booths, but not us. I was pleasantly surprised by the Sacramento area as well. And you cannot go wrong when your riding with SR, CD, Clint and Slate. Throw in a Gary Fisher or two (or just one) and it makes for a good time. I've never ridden with the do-rag man himself before, but I have to say ol Gare-Bear was pretty awesome and happy to talk about anything and everything. I hope to meet up with him on a ride again some day. 

Sacramento doesn't have too much to offer by the way of terrain, however, it was still awesome. Great bike paths though. This was more about the company than it is about the actual riding spots themselves. 

Otto Miller Wednesday's

I like this monthly ride as much as I don't like it. This one photo sums up the ride so well that it doesn't need any other. Except for maybe it does. Who knows? The climb itself — Otto Miller — goes on for days and this is sort of the end of it. The top before it turns into a speedy, downhill slide.

Dan Action Cross Country Kickoff 

It is always great to have Dan around. Period. So, to get a few hours on the bike with him, talking about whatever it is people talk about when they ride in the sunshine was pure joy. Mainly, I think we were discussing his impending cross country ride with his father. Well, it took them a couple of months, but they made it. And they make quite the pair.

Lunch Ride with Blick & Midnight LA Ride

Pretty much anytime that you ride with Blick you can bet that you're going to have a good time. The lunch ride that the guys over at Oakley do is part of the Olympic Road Race course from the 80's. No big deal. But Blick knows every inch of the course, so it makes it that much more fun. "This is where Grewal took the illegal feed." "Over here is where Phinney made one final push." And in a side note: "this is where Tom Danielson crashed on a lunch ride just like this one." Lunch Ride: Oakley

The other thing that happened that weekend was the monthly full moon ride in Los Angeles. Good crew. Even better riding. The descent down Mt. Wilson with only the light of the moon, and maybe a few headlamps, has to be experienced to understand. Luckily we had Woody at the helm and he's good like that. Also, according to Jordan Clark Haggard's (<< awesome photographer) Garmin we posted up the second fastest descent down that thing. In the dark.

St. Jean - France 

My parents were staying on a Walnut plantation in the tiniest village of St. Jean in the South of France. Not a bad place to be in the springtime. And while the rain came and went throughout the day Julie and I were still able to get almost 6 hours of riding in on this day. The roads up and over the mountain narrowed to a point where you were able to visualize the cart paths that had been here a few years earlier and apparently the Tour de France passes by quite near. We headed out without a plan and found some truly amazing roads with no one else one them. Fantastic day. In fact, maybe one of the best ever... 

Well, that gets us into...uh...May. Leaving a whole bunch more rides for the next round of things including a junior stage race, the tour of California, Colorado a few times and many more...

Alchemy in Red Rocks

There's nothing I love more than riding bikes in the sunshine. 

That's not necessarily a true statement, except for the sake of this story it is. 

There's nothing I love more than riding bikes, and sunshine. 

If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. 

That's a saying that we have in the Pacific Northwest. 

If you don't like riding in the rain, move somewhere else, like Boulder, Colorado. 

They have a saying there too, it goes; 

if you don't like riding in the sunshine you shouldn't have moved to Boulder. 

Sorry, I've been reading Mark Leidner's Beauty Was The Case That They Gave Us. I'm not the worlds biggest fan of poetry, per se, but that is some damn good stuff. 

On the brightest, sunniest day that the world has ever known, we met up just outside of Boulder in a magical place called Red Rocks to shoot the Alchemy Bicycles Catalog. Myself and Simon Robins, had finished up with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge not a day before and were readying ourselves to head back to Portland when we answered the casting call for two male models. Ok, it might not have gone that way. 

Milliman was in town shooting and he needed some pretty faces. All the pretty faces were gone to yoga class or helping with a granola non-profit or waylaid in some way climbing rocks or fixing bikes (except for Kristen Peterson - she was available). But, the point of this exercise was for the exercise, but also to test out a few of the new Alchemy Bicycle Co. bikes that Pete and Matt had readied for the occasion. 

In any case we got to try out a few of their awesome bicycles and ride them up and down the hills around Red Rocks. 

In any case, Alchemy are now up and running in their new Denver location. Perfectly suited to their nature and perfectly locating them for the upcoming NAMBLA (that's the North American Man BIKE Love Association - AKA - NAHBS) show at the end of next month. Is it next month already? Damn, if February isn't going to be exciting. They have won "best carbon bike" a few times at this show, and if this road bike (Arion) makes it onto the show floor it there will be no stopping them this year (although Argonaut is going to give them a run for their money). There have been mixed reactions to the "aero-ness" and big tubes associated with this bike. But, I will tell you this. Simon and I were absolutely drooling over this bike when given the chance to ride it. 

However, with that being said, just my mention of these two awesome bike companies means that they'll probably get left out of the judging (sorry guys.) 

Matt Simpson and Pete Smith are now running the show over at Alchemy in a surprising move, but only surprising for those who do not know these two. They are movers! They are shakers! They're both awesome and it reminds me of the same sentiment I had for my best friend in high school when, in another surprising move, he married my ex-girlfriend. Was I mad? Hell no! I was psyched that now I could see them both in one visit! 

I, for one, cannot wait to see what these guys have cooked up. 

Props to Kristen and Simon for being awesome models and Milliman for great shooting. These photos here are ones that I took with my little point and shoot Olympus. To see Chris Milliman's works of art check out the Alchemy Bicycle Co. site and keep an eye out for their catalog. 

SIDE NOTE: if you ever have the chance to go see a band at this venue, make sure that you do this. If the band happens to be something like The Shins, make sure you do this but know that it would be better if it were someone with an...er....bigger sound.