Quitters sometimes win..

...or at least break even.

Today is Tony's last day at his day job. He's going work for a tiny company called Tonic Fabrication next week.

Chaz at Burnside.


-L

Mellow Sabbath

Cindy und Bert get busy with some Black Sabbath. I'll have what the guy at 0:32 is having, thanks. From HTATBL.


The "Cruise by Georgie Boy" remains a very sought after vessel amongst hardcore RV users. This example is certainly in the middle of a complete restoration.




Fall Guy.


-L

Arvey and Aleks

First off, Erik Johnson, creative force behind Stump 503, and his new company, Bluerae, has become a father. Congrats Erik!

Just a couple of gentle reminders for a new Dad:




Billy blasting the legendary Arvey Wall...



-L

Ballers, Bowlers , Beaches, Bizzare Cars.

Sorry about the lack of "updates." It's either been distraction, or nothing to say..I forget.

Looch checks in with a Cali Trip Wrap-Up:

So I just wrapped up the last sesh in cali for me. Basically Riverside was a bust and we wound up just riding sheep and hidden again. I had no complaints. Hidden Valley is a really special place. The jumps there are huge like the NW but they require much more thinking than that of the northwests. I struggled just to make it through the line. They were great fun to ride. Towards the end of the session JD Swanguen went down super hard on a big hip. He freefalled from about 20 feet in the air straight to his face it was gnarly. He wound up with a FAT concussion and some huge scrapes. Today we rode just Sheep. It felt great to ride a place sooooo legendary. Lots of pedaling but lots of fun as well. Rode mostly with Pedro who is a trail boss. Threes some gnarly sets that are scary enough to jump. Pedro is an amazing bike rider, boosts soooo high with so much style!



I dunno why he shot his bike at a laundrymat?


We aren't concerned with being the "lightest", but Howies are pretty damn light without paint.


These bikes are really looking nice.


What else? How about some random photos from the past week or 2?

Loaded up the vehicle for a beach trip.


Heavy weather.

It's been a while, but I'm looking forward to some surfing this year. Pretty fierce conditions that day..


Double rainbow is pretty rare.


Bowling..it's pretty fun. If you haven't been in a while, do it. Especially if you live where it is cold and wet right now.


Need a truck, but have a perfectly serviceable sedan? No problemo.


Crudely rendered, but certainly effective. A taste of the 3rd world.



I couldn't tell if this Pinto's dry erase board is intended to cover a hole in the door, or simply a cheaper and more creative way to pass time sitting in traffic than a cell phone? Either way, props to the owner for keeping this "barbeque that seats four" on the road this long.


-L

Looch..Goin' Back to Cali.

Looch, with some "spine tingling" indoor action:


Looch writes:

Rode sheep hills and hidden valley today. Pedro,Jon Bonthius and I rode with Brian Lopes, Kyle Strait, T-Sage and the Athertons rode today. It was the best thing ever. Getting Video and pictures this week. Tonic needs another trip to So- Cal!
We are going out to Riverside on Monday to ride Nasty's and someone elses house I guess.
Peace
LW

Also the first batch of Howies sold out and going to paint. The next batch will be ready going to paint in about 2 weeks, so get after it if you want one.

Small Guy / President's Choice

Seth showing off his custom "Small Guy"..12" wheeled Fall Guy.


So I was "told" the Naked bike won virtually every award the show had to offer, which is incorrect. Turns out the bike from Naked only won "President's Choice."
My hat is off to the organizers for turning to a brand of cookies for a fresh prespective at the show.

In the absence of anything to say..

Check out this Dannish moto builder..
Wrench Monkees.





Mike Giant. Amazing illustrator, good blogger, and bike rider..

Finally, the Black Angels. Get the album.

-L

Awards!

As far as awards goes, the "Naked" bike basically walked away with the show.

I think it's a shame the clever and beautiful bikes at Renovo and Retrotech got passed over for the Naked, and I'll leave it at that.

A Howie getting (alignment) tabled.


Looch gets his Howie tabled too.


-L

Hand-Built Bike Show Wrap-Up

With pro-shooters at the show, I won't bore you with worse versions of things you've already, or are going to see. Cory Tepper was walking around with a camera, so I'm sure he's got some great show photos.

This is the best thing I saw during the show. The weather was beautiful on Saturday, and Tony and I rolled around with a little crew. Billy came down from Seattle and proceeded to put on his own "hand-built bike show." Everyone was rode well, and plenty. This was my favorite part of the day.


Tony..mobile entertainment. Ipods have nothing on Tony.


Again, this time with Ian, who races 'cross for Tonic.


This is probably the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Harley ripped his jeans badly, and decided to ride street in his underwear.


Harley was BLASTING the Arvey wall. This photo does NOT do him justice.


Neither Tony, nor P-Funk found peace with Harley's bold, but otherwise pragmatic wardrobe descision.



The amount of bikes ridden to the show was unbelieveable. We couldn't park outside, and had to use underground parking for our bikes. I have never seen sooo many bikes.


On to the show..
All of the show bikes reflected a great deal of work and passion in their construction, assembly and display. I'm not very clued into the "classic" bike scene, so I can't say I even knew what I was looking at most of the time, or am I in any position to evaluate anything.

So what stood out? In no particular order...

Renovo. When they get the rear triangle dialed, everything else will look like a cave painting.

Proto Thomson seat-post clamp. This is going to be a beautiful part. I can't wait. Thomson is the best. Quite literally.


This wasn't at the show, but I like it. Our shop is next door to Vanilla's paint shop, and one of the guys who works there rides a SpeedWagen. Cool bike.


This is very clever. A pivoting DO from Soulcraft. There's a cam which is rotated to achieve chain tension.


No shortage of new builders at the show. Here's someone to watch..Courage out of Portland. Very cool stuff.


Beyond that..Retrotech. I love these bikes. He's taken this concept to the max, and is doing it better than anyone. By a mile.

I didn't get a photo of this, but Hunter Cycles had a suspension bike which was very cool.

After the show...

I brought Teisuke (our Japanese distributor) by our shop. I'm not sure why he is flipping me the bird in this photo..maybe it's because we don't have the Supernaut frame ready? Sorry buddy!



After the shop tour and product inspection, we went to a Rapha sponsored "roller race." What's a roller race? Pedalling hard and not going anywhere?



Ian. I asked him to look "sober" for this photo..after all, he's our elite endurance athelete. Convincing?


Billy Spaceman. Billy rides one of the three original Tonic Fixed gear frames, is one of the coolest people you will ever meet, and loves to share photos.


-L

Earl of Chazwich

The Chaz does not stray far from the American diet. Chocolate Hostess donettes, gummi sharks, and strawberry applesauce all wrapped up in Wonder Bread to keep his hands clean while shopping for wolf themed apparel on the Internet.






Rather than suffer an immediate and accute case of early on-set diabetes, The Chaz burns off his Chazwich with some excersize. After a Chazwich, blasting the hip at Burnside is actually safer than sitting still.


-L

Make Your Own Sport / Otros

When I think about riding, I can't find a good reference for it. I admire riders who just ride, and are oblivious to bike culture/industry, but I'm just not that guy. There's no media, no secret handshake, no code word...nothing which summarizes what like to see, or feel a part of. It's something I do outside of any "sport" and certainly not according to any rules. I've gotten used to just cherry picking what I like about various bike riding/culture/media and putting it into my own little omlete.

What else? The Handbuilt Show..I'll put some photos up of anything that catchs my eye. Should be a lot of fun. Speaking of custom bikes, Greg Melms sent in a few studio shots of his beauty..



I've been listening the these guys a lot..incredible The Black Angels.

Still taking orders for Howies..



-L

Holla / Interview / Dig

When I first saw this photo of Abbitt, I said "Holla!" to myself.
I'm too old to even know even know what warrants a "Holla!", yet too young to be talking to myself. It gets complicated sometimes..
Cory Tepper capturing the action.



I did an interview for BNQT. Find it here. I just hope I got the right answers.. Thanks Ryan!


So, there's some digging going on at the Baaron and Chaz's trails. This place needs a name....





-L

Billy Lewis Interview

Billy's "mad famous for being unknown". Check it out.

Here's the man, with a 3 table over a Dirt Spine.


-L