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?
Lunch Date February 21 2013, 0 Comments
The wife and I carved out a little time to enjoy the great weather and grab some tacos.
Pretty close to perfect day for a ride, and a chance to start shooting a new lens too!
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.
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?
it has been a year and a half now since I
gathered the walnuts, and a year of aging in the bottle. This is my first time tasting Nocino, and it is good, very good!
Great to sip on and even better over a little bowl of vanilla ice cream. Be assured, I will be gathering more young walnuts this year and every year I can from here on out. I am certain the walnuts, as do many things, gathered by bike taste better as well.
Along those lines I have been talking with friends for years now about how much better things like coffee can taste when you are camping. But why limit it to camping trips or even overnights? Tomorrow I am going to get up a little earlier, and make the coffee on my morning ride, take the time to enjoy the sunrise and have some extra fun. Lets see how many of you can join in too, share pics on flickr, instagram, facebook etc. and get your buddies stoked on it too. I am pretty sure anything that gets that outdoor experience in the day is a good thing, even in bite sized chunks.
Medium Boxes February 11 2013, 0 Comments
I make 90% or more of my trips to the post office by bike. The smaller boxes are easy enough to fit in the saddle bag or panniers. The big ones, think surf boards and bikes, end up on the xtracycle for drop-off to UPS and FedEx. The medium ones are the challenge.
Today I had a vintage rack in a light but bulky box and improvised with some cord. It worked fantastic and had me thinking of some rack ideas
John Cutter had designed a couple of years back. How are you getting the medium sized loads around by bike?
A while back I had read about the Bicycle Coalition up near Marin, Ca starting a program where members would help to mentor those flirting with the idea of bike commuting, but still tentative to try the water. I liked the idea, and am pretty sure it would help get a bunch more people out of their cars and onto bikes for the ride into work. This week I was able to get my buddy Aaron back onto his Rambler (No.2). He has been an occasional bike commuter, but usually drives the 8 miles or so into work when he is not out to sea. We had the chance to ride in together this morning, shake down the most recent build on his bike, talk about what makes a bike commute work for him, and hang out a bit.
The ride in was cold, cloudy and just a light mist at times.
I am pretty sure he is completely stoked on everything from the fit and ride to the ease of integrated lighting. Dealing with battery lights for riding at the margins of the day or night is not that hard, but often a complaint by commuters. Aaron's Rambler is set up with a dynamo hub and high-powered LED head and tail lights. The wiring is neatly tucked into the fenders and inside the frame reducing the chance of damage. All he needs to do is get on and ride, no batteries, increased visibility for him and oncoming traffic is built right into the package. Starting your bike build with a frame-set like the Rambler, having integrated provisions for easy and secure mounting of racks, fenders, and lighting can really be a game changer, not needed, but sure makes the bike a full package ready for getting places near and far, with the load on the bike not on your back.
Sales pitch over...we had a blast, I will likely ride in with him once a week while he is in town. Having someone to ride with helps keep us both pedaling in the mornings
More often than not I end up riding alone. Over the weekend I had an invite form a friend at the
MOB Shop up in Ojai for a Monday ride they do down to Canada Larga Rd. It was enough to motivate me to get out of the house, but not to start the ride in Ojai and ride down, then up, and then back down to Ventura. More of a time issue than a legs thing, but I was determined to get outside after last week's bike prep and packing bonanza. I decided to ride up to Canada Larga hoping to cross paths with their group, and if that worked out, then keep on all the way to Ojai and head home from there.
It was pretty close to perfect out for riding.
Canada Larga Rd. is a little 4 mile out and back gem tucked between Ojai and Ventura. A quick 7 miles up from my house, it is like popping into a time machine of what this area must have looked like 100 years ago. For now it is mostly cows and a marginally paved County road, every couple of years there is a push by the land owners to put in some high $$$ houses, but the tax payers keep shooting down the proposals. For now, it is a special treat, and hoping that it lasts. We did end up crossing paths, and it all worked out pretty well.
The rest of the ride was a comfortably social pace and a chance to catch up with and meet some new friends. I will be riding with them again for sure.
Heading home from Ojai, it was tempting to just keep heading north for a bit into the mountains, but my stomach was telling me it was time to get home for lunch. I took the semi scenic route home. In Ojai "Share the Road" has a bit of a different meaning than most of us are used to.
After making most of the push home I was able to cap off the ride by rolling the last few miles with my wife, an awesome surprise for a tired rider. A quick lap around the point and then it was time to hit the kitchen.
I just added the newest version of the leather Makr / Touring wallets to the store front.
These wallets, like most things here at OAC, were an organic progression. Both designs are rooted in traditional leather craft patterns. I wanted a simple wallet for a couple of cards and a little cash, and the single pocket version was born. Then I needed a business card holder and the two pocket version entered the scene. A couple of year's worth of refinements and it is something that is ready for debut.
Both are made be me here in our workshop with high quality 4oz leather from Herman Oak, stitched with V92 sailmaking thread, and the up-cycled chain link is stitched on by hand. I treat them with a healthy coat of Obenauf's leather treatment to keep the look natural. The pockets will each hold a few credit cards or a stack of 15 business cards. The slot can take some cash folded in half, then in half again.
The leather will take on a shiny deep brown tone that only gets better with age.
$40 + 2 shipping and handling will get you one to your door.
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.
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?
