Making Dreams come true.

"Making dreams come true."  We take great pride in that idea.  

We have all seen, and been affected by the smile of someone who buys a new bike.  For me, it stirs up the sense of adventure I feel every time I move at a speed that I create making me a part of a symphony of symbiosis. It is a big part of working in a bicycle shop, and it feels pretty good. 

But the reason being a mechanic is special is because of the other part of the job.

"Making dreams come true."  It has a deep meaning to me because I am fortunate enough to work with people who have been well educated in the craft of making broken things work very well again.  If it can be fixed, or made to work, then it is with these hands that it will happen. That is the true meaning of the words; "Making dreams come true."

When there is desperation in the eyes of someone who is afraid they have wounded an old friend beyond repair, my mind searches desperately for a solution. I know what it is like to lose a bicycle to the destructive nature of the universe.  These moments, when we have the opportunity to keep someone on a bicycle they love, they are the reason this job is special to me.

Recently I was presented with something that made me smile:

The Bike: 2011 Brougham by Felt Cycles.

The Job: Add a FreeRadical by Xtracycle

The Problem - Without a chainstay bridge the Xtracycle will float from side to side with a fixed gear.

The chainstay bridge isn't necessary for the Xtracycle to work.  In fact, in their directions, they have a handy dandy way to solve this problem.  But...when using a fixed gear bicycle like Felt's Brougham, there are some extra factors to keep in context.  Chain tension and chain line are extremely important.  If they are off, say because the Xtracycle floats between the stays, then parts could be damaged, and the bike is in the shop.  So it needs to be perfect.

The solution: Make a brace to fill the space.  (Formerly a top tube from a steel bicycle frame.)

Powder Coat it!

Make sure it looks good!

Assemble the contraption!

Make sure it works!

Make dreams come true. 

I really enjoyed this project.  Recycling the world one discarded part from our basement at a time.   I was happy to help make an old bicycle feel brand new.  Thanks Gus, Jackie and Axle.  Happy Trails from the Pedal House.

Roland Cycling CycloCross Race - 10/6/13

My friend Miguel has always been a strong influence on my life as a cyclist.  We have been friends since before I have memory, and we have ridden bicycles as long as we have known each other.  I am not sure who got who into cycling, though I feel it was a mutual desire to ride to something, rather than the more common metaphor of riding away from something.  

Several nights we would ride our bicycles around Laramie and evade the detection of undesirable forces..... Police Forces.  Not that we were  criminals, just bored.  Like one time, we were sitting by the fountain that used to be on the corner of University and 3rd street.  I think we were about 14 or 15 years old.  It was about 12:amish, and Miguel had just said he was going home soon.  Then, out of nowhere, someone lights a bunch of firecrackers and throws them into the street.  (Here is where you make assumptions about which one of us did it.....heehee, I'll never tell.)  

Well, as chance would have it, a very nice police officer was driving by at that exact moment.  A moment so perfect, the firecrackers actually landed on the trunk of the cop car.  Long story short, If I had been a better cyclocross rider back then, I would have gotten away too!  But instead, I watched Miguel role off into the evening, hoping bushes and retaining walls like a champion.  (To his credit, he came back, and because he did the police officer just told us to go home.)  

  

Currently, the Roland Cycling team is hosting a series of Cyclocross races, Sans Police Force.  The pictures below are from the race this weekend, Enjoy.  

Starting line, Eric enjoys a moment. 

Big Leg Allen and Felix

Chest hair and all.

Barrier hop, a fantastic part of the day. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Hop!

When you're this fast, you hover over your bike!

Can't be to safe during hunting season. 

Running was actually faster here, but it was still running.

Nathan attacks the barrier!

Sweet brakes on that rig.  

The last race is on 10-13-13, Sunday at 1:pm.  If you have never been to a cross race, come on out and check it out.  It is a fun atmosphere, and there are lots of dudes in spandex.....okay come out in spite of that last part.  

Big Brothers & Big Sisters

I was originally an Elementary Education teacher.  That was my degree.  I couldn't get in the door of any of the local elementary schools in our community so I dragged my feet out to the Cathedral Home with wild ideas about how abnormal the kids were.  I thought that I would see kids who were crazy, drooling, spitting, incoherent psychopaths with missing teeth, and instead I found out that my dream job was actually working with treatment kids...and here is the kicker...they are all so eerily normal.  Granted I did find the toothless psychopaths, but we are not talking about the people it takes to work with treatment kids...(joking of course.)

I started as an English Teacher, but quickly grew bored of the curriculum filled with rules that aren't followed anywhere but the classroom.  I did, however, fall in love with the kids because they were so real.  They wouldn't accept anything but the truth from a teacher, and they even challenged the facts found in the truth.  It was fantastic because it made me focus in on the things I love about life, and I wanted to share that love for life with the kids.  My love for life has always, as long as I can remember, been most intense when in the saddle of a bicycle.  So, we started working on bikes, and to make sure it looked somewhat like English, we started writing about our process.  Now, some nine years later, and thanks to a plethora of people, there is a Vocational Education Program based entirely on the concept of fixing bicycles.  It is a dream job.

Well this past Saturday I was able to share the fruits of the Vocational labor (of too many people to mention) with the local community.  The Cathedral Home Advanced Bicycle Mechanics class, in conjunction with the Pedal House, held a 2 Hour Basic Maintenance class for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization here in Laramie.

As you can see, the snow cut back on our participation, but the kids and Bigs that did show up were AWESOME!  Not to mention how fantastic my advanced kids were in helping assist with the instruction.

Overall, I think it was a big success.  David, Michael, Dezarae, and Katie learned how to service a couple of parts on their bicycles.  My advance class was able to demonstrate their knowledge in a real world setting while meeting Wyoming and California Vocational State Learning Standards, and I was able to enjoy the company of both groups.  It was a pretty good day.





So to everyone at the Cathedral Home, and everyone at Big Brothers and Big Sisters, thanks for sharing your life with kids.  And to all the young people who have been in both programs, thank you for sharing your life with us.  Until next time, Happy Trails from the Pedal House. 

Trainer Time Again.

Well for the last couple of days we have been able to sit in a saddle and be outside with the wind in our faces. I even saw a few people brave enough to ride Roger's Canyon road out at the end of Ninth Street, braving the mild weather and the viscous dogs that run wild and unkept by the residents of our rural and rugged outskirts of town. So what do you do when a dog chases you? a good old fashioned water bottle squirt to the face. And for all of you who would wear a Camel Back on a road ride, pedal faster.

But none of us could pedal fast enough to get away from old man winter. But, if you have the itch that only cycling can scratch, then you need penicillin. If you can't afford penicillin, then you might need to find other means to satisfy your cycling psoriasis. Spin classes are one way to go. It is like a stationary Tour de France, and if you have a Calvin and Hobbs style imagination then you can always come in first.

But if you are like me, then you might need to set something up a little closer to home.

I hate riding a trainer, but it is a great way to kill an hour and keep a few miles on your legs.

As you can see, I am posted in front of the old boob tube, and I don't watch all of the race videos to motivate me. Instead I have created a little game called sitcom sprints. I watch the program and spin comfortably, but during the commercials I sprint...okay two minute sprints would kill me, so I just go hard for two minutes. (Notice Pedar's rollers tucked neatly away by the door.)

Speaking of commercials, I decided that sometimes I needed to channel surf but had a hard time keeping the remote close, so I made this remote caddy from some old cloth scraps I had laying around from my frame pad fixie days. Pretty snazzy, I know. If you have a good way to fight cabin fever....besides skiing, let me know, I would love to hear about it. Thanks, and as always, happy trails from the Pedal House.