Coffee Ride March 27 2013, 0 Comments
With the fog rolling in I decided to head up into the hills for today's coffee ride
Another great way to recapture some time outdoors this morning.
Ocean Air Cycles
Third Wednesday February 27 2013, 0 Comments
So it is officially a trend, made it out for three weeks in a row! Luckily the temps were not quite as cold this morning, still chilly, and the challenge is finding a place out of the wind. This is honestly one of the most motivating projects for me since the start of the blog with riding every day, and the inception of the Rambler. I am convinced that getting outside like this makes absolutely everything else better all day long.
The fringe benefit is that my wife also like the coffee I bring home more than the coffee I make at home. There must be a bit of magic in the ocean air.
Where are you going to be making your coffee next week?
Second Wednesday February 20 2013, 0 Comments
It was a busy weekend with family coming in for a visit, and fighting off another round of the cold/flu that has been assaulting our home this winter. Although later than I would have liked, and not the first cup of the day, I took some time to get outdoors and make the second round by the beach.
The day and a half of rain has passed through with some solid winds behind it. I was able to find a twist in the coast with enough shelter from the wind to get everything working. The mountains out back were dusted with snow, but there was no place out of the wind to take in the view. The beach was no slouch as a second choice, and the 30 minute break away from work was more than welcome.
This week is already half gone and is showing no signs of slowing down. A couple of small jobs in the stand, and a ton of prep to get done for the Seattle Bike Expo. We will be there with a booth March 9-10. We are looking forward to meeting a bunch of Seattle readers and fans, and exploring the town a bit after the show as well. This will be a road trip with some stops in Portland and San Francisco on the way back. If you are along the route of travel and would like to meet up, see a Rambler in person, and maybe head out for a ride drop me a line and we will work it into the schedule.
Wednesday Morning Coffee Ride February 13 2013, 0 Comments
This is not about your average coffee ride where you are sitting around with you buddies sipping espresso at starbucks before you hit the road. It is all about getting out there, making a bit of extra time in the morning to recapture a bite sized chunk of the outdoors that you have been missing.
An extra 20-30 minutes at the most and you can pull it off. We are all busy with the responsibilities of life and wish that we were camping more. Regular multi day trips are out of the question for most of us. A simple overnight with your friends keeps slipping as other things fill the calendar. This is something you would likely be doing with your time at home anyway.
Try it once, commit to it every Wednesday, and get the inertia going. Just like riding your bike to work and ditching the car once in a while was a game changer, this will get you just a little more of what you have been missing.
I know some of you are thinking we have it easy here in California with the weather? Today was great, but still in the low 40's.
In the spirit of transparency, I work from home, thus the commute could be a walk down stairs. But doing things like this helps to keep me away from the keyboard at 6AM and really does make the whole day better. There is a small but growing group of us getting this going and sharing pics on Facebook. Where are you going to be brewing your morning fix next Wednesday?
First Three January 30 2013, 0 Comments
The first three production Ramblers are on their way to their new homes [caption id="attachment_3536" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Size 57 650b[/caption]
Unfortunately the Orange Soda size 63 is heading back for some color rework. I have one more Rambler to decal and detail to get out, and this one should be fun, with a few custom details.
Rambler Decals January 24 2013, 0 Comments
Working through the frame prep, decals and final touches before sending the first round or Rambler frame sets out to their riders
New Shipment January 17 2013, 0 Comments
The first round of production Ramblers were delivered to us this morning. They look pretty darn good, but I am biased. I had time to get them out of the box and take some quick measurements and other QC checks to confirm that these will be good to go. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640"]
All the colors in one shot[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3513" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Orange Soda 63cm 700c[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3514" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
US Blue 57cm 650b[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3515" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Custom Color Candle Orange - 57cm 650b[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3516" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Sunflower 59cm 700c[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3517" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
Sunflower 57cm 650b[/caption]
It is going to be a busy weekend getting these cleaned up a little, brakes mounted, and decals on. They will be on their way to new homes by next week!
While this round was completely spoken for, it is not too late to get a Rambler of your very own in time for summer. Projected delivery for the next round is April! The web storefront is back up, and we are taking $800 deposits as well as pre-sales. By paying in full up front you can save $50 off of the final price, $1650 + tax and shipping. There will also be a couple of discounts in tomorrow's Rambler Newsletter. If you are not on the list yet, you can sign up with the form in the side bar.Low Tide January 10 2013, 0 Comments
Yesterday was starting off pretty normal, the task list was more than a day could hold, but the plan as always was to bite off as much as possible. One thing I was not giving up was my regularly scheduled errands ride around own. With all the short stops I can usually get it all done in the same amount of time as the car, and the bike is just a hell of a lot more fun.
The skies went gray for the first time in few days and the fog was rolling in on the coast. With temps in the 50's it was crisp, but still pretty perfect to ride and barely break a sweat. Everything was going pretty close to routine, and I decided to swing by the beach on my way home.
The tide was super low and dropping fast. I knew this was going to happen, but not so early in the day. This was a perfect chance to seize the moment, do something not on the schedule and grab back 30 minutes of pure fun, and yes you can almost see the idea forming in my mind above.
And so the diversion started, I figured it would just be a quick toodle on the sand. It turned out I had over a mile of beach for an out and back. Even with 20lbs in the panniers the 38mm tires did just fine on the hard packed sand. I found a few small pieces of green beach glass, crossed paths with dogs and their owners reveling in the extra playground space, and had a fantastic time
As always, getting there by bike is highly recommended, and always make a little time for the detours, you will never regret it!
Round 2 for the Web Store December 20 2012, 0 Comments
The kickstarter project has been history for a few weeks now. While it did not fund I learned quite a bit through the process, one thing being that there is demand for the Ramblers, but not the door busting volume that I hoped for early on. That said, the program is still creeping forward, and we are planning for another run early next year. The web store is back up and functional with the Rambler pre-sales for this round. Starting price is $1600 + sales tax and $50 shipping for the Frame, Fork and Paul Racer Brakes. There is also a coupon deal for email subscribers. This pricing is good through the end of the year, after that the price moves to $1650 + tax and shipping for 2013. The goal is to get at least 10 confirmed orders by mid January so that we can place the order for projected late April delivery. I am looking forward to getting more Ramblers between riders and the road. Clicking on the picture will take you to the Rambler pre-sale page.
Thank you for you support and readership this year, have a merry Christmas, get out and ride. We will be here through the end of the year, but family is moving to the front of the priority list, and posting will be a little less frequent until after the holidays.
Have Fun, play outside, and enjoy the time!