Thursday, March 27, 2008

Saturday. 7AM. The shop. We RIDE!

Yeah, short notice - but as I was notified by a certain Carl on my previous post, I'm doing a ride Saturday at 7am. May as well start sooner, rather than later. For those who don't read the blog, but did join the email list - I'll send an email today. Gotta get to typing.

Oh, we'll do 20. Pace will most likely be easyish to moderate. I'm sure I'll be keeping it slow.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Friday Joy.

It's Friday. Happy Happy Joy Joy! The snow [mostly] missed us! Horray!

Not that its my Friday - but most likely, dear reader, it is yours. I'll still have my beer and celebrate.

I was perusing my blog analytics and found that a certain Matt Chester came through the area not too long back. Wish I knew he was popping through. For those who don't know, Matt makes some finely crafted, uniquely utilitarian titanium frames. I've never really lusted for that magic material before meeting Matt at the Single Speed World Chamionships [SSWC 2K for short] held in Mpls waaay back in 2k. Now if I were to go that route, he would be the maker I'd go after, despite all the issues surrounding the guy now. Anyways, thanks for the well wishes Matt, and right back atcha.

So looking down, you'll see that I've posted a map a recent ride. For those who really don't know me from adam - I'm a map geek. Finding the MapmyRide site was very cool for me. Looks like I'll even be able to map mountain bike rides too. Y'all'll have to allow me to indulge into this. I'm going to have something like this for each ride we do.

Speaking of rides, The season's a changin'. Today was the Spring equinox. We had daylight savings two weeks back. Its time to start the group rides! My thoughts on this are Teusday nights is the womens night [I'll have to let Lisa know that] 5pm at the shop. Wednesday will be a road ride starting at 5pm from the shop, Saturday morning will be a road ride, again starting from the shop, but early. Probably 7am so I can get back here to open by 9am. I see a problem though. There's no mountain biking in there! And thats what I REALLY like to do. I can see Monday's being mountain bike Monday. Of course this is ALL subject to change, so keep checking back.

Listening to: Bootliquor Radio [again...I know] on SOMA FM. It was Groove Salad earlier - so I DO change things up! Really, I do.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Little bit of experimentation here...

View Interactive Map on MapMyRide.com

A ride I did on Wednesday.

Little bit of experimentation here...

View Interactive Map on MapMyRide.com

A ride I did on Wednesday.

Monday, March 17, 2008

In this era of $50 fillups....

Lets all take note. There WILL be more cyclists out on the roads as the weather warms up. Give us some room, eh?

Take the test.

Two posts in a day? With in minutes no less! Yes.

This is going to be a subject I'm going to see a lot of. Already am seeing/hearing enough of it in the shop. It cost me $50 to fill tank just this morning. Thank god I only fill up once a month.

St. Patricks Day parade.

We've only lived in Prairie du Chien for a short time. Less than a year in fact. So as a family, we're experiencing many things for the first time yet. Is kinda funny how time will fool you. It certainly feels like we've been here longer than we have. That being said, the parade culture in this area is crazy. They LOVE their parades here. Seriously.

Case in point was Saturday morning. People had told us (ok, told Lisa) that if the weather was going to be as nice as forcasted, there would be large crowds out. We were like, "that's nice." We were going to use the parade as a kind of presentation of the shop. Letting more people know that we were open, y'know? There's been bikes of some sort or other in the window so long that many may not realize we were open yet. So this was to be a kick off event.

Bike decorating got a tad off track at times...


The shop 'float'

It was a bit chilly in the shade there.


We had no idea what we were in for. As we crossed the bridge off of the island we saw a sea of people lining the street! Had to be 3-4 deep all along the route, for a good 4 -4½ blocks. LOTS more people than either Lisa or I expected. NICE!






More of our float. Sidra rode her Strider the whole route, no complaints. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't/couldn't walk 3 blocks to the Library. Awesome!

Did I show y'all the plants we got opening weekend? Probably not.

They look great! Added life to the store that I didn't know it needed.

Listening to: iTunes. Last five: Vision, Accident Clearinghouse; John Lee Superstar, They Might be Giants; Hell Bound 17½, Primus; Baricades and Brickwalls, Kasey Chambers; One Vision of May, Murder City Devils

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Was that the sun?

Wow. Its not even full blown spring yet...and I'm getting busier by the day. I'm certainly NOT complaining though! Bring it on! The more of you on bikes the better! And lets start 'em young! I've always though bikes were great, and really enjoyed seeing kids out laughing and riding down the sidewalks. Pure and simple joy right there folks. I think I've found nirvana for the kids(and my sense of joy too). These little Strider bikes blow me away.

I don't want this to sound like an ad. It really isn't meant to pull people in to buy more of these(I won't turn you away though!). I really am just blown away by this little thing. Sidra was having trouble balancing on here pedal bike last fall. I kept tinkering with the training wheels to find that 'sweet' spot for her, but she just kept leaning on the wheels. Two days on her Strider had her cured of the balance issue. Two weeks in and I have a hard time keeping up with her on a walk! This is absolutely fantastic! Seeing her rip around the store, giggling like the little school girl she is, is awesome. With Sidra on her bike, moms and dads see how easy it is for her and how much fun she's having - it seems that they can't help but not buy one. I LOVE it!

Been busy with repairs too. Mostly run of the mill stuff. A few comfort upgrades. Some basic tune ups. Parts here. Tires there. Folks are truly apreciative to have the service in town. And I'm sure glad to provide it. The first bike to really blow me away came in a few days back though. A vintage Raliegh Sprite with a Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub. Don't see many of those around! Its just a flat out cool looking old bike. And the owner asked if it was worth the effort to tune! Oh my, yes!

The patina is great. Kinda rat rod-ish.



Escape indeed. Thats what bikes are for!

Welp off I go. Closing at 3, and I'm off for a ride. It's 50°! Yaay!

Listening to: The on/off chains of an off balance fan clicking on the light.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Timing is everything.

The first day has come and gone. And what a crazy day it was. The day dawned, as far as I remember, overcast and cool. At least it was an average temperature for this time of year. And not this near or below zero crap we've been dealing with for far, far too long here in the upper midwest. A few of you may argue otherwise (and you know who you are. Dang skiiers.. ;)..).

I honestly didn't expect to see TOO many folks stop in. I did expect the Art Circle. And they all showed. Thanks ladies! Lisa and my mom attempted to keep count of how many stopped in. By about 11:30, they either lost track, or lost count. My best guess is 50-60 popping in. To all those, THANKS!

first sale
The first official sale. I sold lots of t's Saturday.

Everyone coming in so far has been very thankful. Very excited that I took the step to open up. After hearing this for nearly a week straight, I can honestly say that I've lost all doubts about this succeeding. I think every entrepreneur has those feelings of "will it really fly?" "will people really see the value in what I'm doing here?" I guess timing really is everything. People are tired of paying so much to fill up thier cars. They are certainly seeing the value in bikes. Good on ya!

Thank you all for a fantastic opening. We'll see ya down here, eh?