This is the "Before" shot.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
M is for Motobecane & Meredith
I still haven't set up my shop. It's getting there, but most of my tools are still dull, and in boxes. I've moved the furniture around several times and I think that I've come up with the best layout for the space. Now I need a project to motivate me to actually get the rest of the unpacking done. So I present to you my newest project: Frenchy, the town bike.
This Motobecane Mirage came as a gift from Meredith. She found it languishing in a thrift store, and decided to suprise me with it a couple of months ago. Seeing as how I have a roadbike, a mountain bike, a folder, and a fixed gear, I knew I needed to build a sweet town bike. I've wanted something with fenders, baskets, and a comfy 'cruising around town' feel for some time now. But that's the future. Let's deal with the present. Here's the bike as it came from the thrift store: Steel rims, rotted flat tires, and rusty drive train. The frame is in good shape. It looks like it wasn't ridden much at all. First I'll stick a wheelset on it, and get a sense of it's geometry, and see how it fits.
This Motobecane Mirage came as a gift from Meredith. She found it languishing in a thrift store, and decided to suprise me with it a couple of months ago. Seeing as how I have a roadbike, a mountain bike, a folder, and a fixed gear, I knew I needed to build a sweet town bike. I've wanted something with fenders, baskets, and a comfy 'cruising around town' feel for some time now. But that's the future. Let's deal with the present. Here's the bike as it came from the thrift store: Steel rims, rotted flat tires, and rusty drive train. The frame is in good shape. It looks like it wasn't ridden much at all. First I'll stick a wheelset on it, and get a sense of it's geometry, and see how it fits.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Yay! Consumerism!
Whoohoo! There's two new bike stores in westside Petaluma. I'm always happy to see more bike stores because maybe it means that more people will ride bikes. And I'm especially happy to have two new stores downtown because a little over a year ago we lost our last downtown bike store. I was very troubled by it's closure. Sure I can order all my odd-ball goofy bike parts over the internet, but I like going downtown and talking to someone, and supporting my local-bike-shop. So far, I've spent a little money at both of them, and once they get some more stock (they are both under a month old), I'm sure to spend more money there.
the two shops (Bici, and Eastside Cycles) cover a similar range, if slightly different styles of bike shops. Eastside (so named because it's first store was on teh eastside of town) is your more standard bike shop. Bigger than Bici, it covers a lot of the mountain/road mid-range market. It's got a some small selection in helmets, shoes, clothes, accessories and bikes, with a decidedly Moutain Bike slant. But they also work on bikes, and the guy told me they are still setting up and getting stock in.
Bici, is decidedly more stylee. The fixed gear in the window, the pale wood floors, the large plasma tv on the wall, mark it as much more boutique. But I liked it. Good bikes, actually some fixed gear stuff (lock rings, cogs, etc..) on hand, and the Bici guy (whose name I didn't get) is really hoping to make it a 'destination' type bike shop, with group rides, clinics and the Tour on a bigscreen plasma on the wall. Also: coffee. So he's got my business.
Bici Sport: Kentucky Street, Petaluma. Nice guy.
Eastside: In the new parking garage building (ironic, huh?) near the new theater.
Oh my god.
Laurel just clued me in. There's a freaking national pie day and we missed it. I can't believe it, because I love pie. It's like missing the international congress of tea drinkers meeting or something. Good lord. Never again will I forsake Pie Day.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Art Art Art
Last Saturday Meredith and I went to Laurel and Andy's latest art show at Roshambo Winery in Healdsburg. It was awesome, hardly a surprise, but awesome. Go see it. Really.
We also got to see a lot of friends we haven't seen for awhile. Mati and Hugh were there, Dan & Julie & Aidan, Bo & Rosa and their two(!) little girls, gage, david pierce, wil & heidi, my parents..it was a good mellow show with lots of great art.
Laurel and Andy have been busier than usual. The night before they had an openning at SF City Hall, this week they are off to L.A. for another show, and next month they'll be in a show in Chicago too.
Which makes me wonder..with all this jet-setting artyness, do you have to forsake pie?
We also got to see a lot of friends we haven't seen for awhile. Mati and Hugh were there, Dan & Julie & Aidan, Bo & Rosa and their two(!) little girls, gage, david pierce, wil & heidi, my parents..it was a good mellow show with lots of great art.
Laurel and Andy have been busier than usual. The night before they had an openning at SF City Hall, this week they are off to L.A. for another show, and next month they'll be in a show in Chicago too.
Which makes me wonder..with all this jet-setting artyness, do you have to forsake pie?
Friday, January 20, 2006
Ok, so I'm not in Disneyland anymore
It's been a very busy 6 weeks however. There was lots of crazy work deadlines (everybody wanted everything done before the holidays) then I moved, then the holidays, and a bad flu, and it's only now that life seems to be returning to some sort of new normalcy. I'm still unpacking, and trying to remember where I put something. I'm still adjusting to my new roommates, who are smaller and funnier than my last one. And I'm still working like a dog.
However, that doesn't mean that I'll forsake this blog forever.
So a quick update is in order: Disneyland was great, but also exhausting. The 'snow' they promised every night was actually soap bubbles, which tasted terrible, and stung the eyes. It's a Small World seemed to break down every 2 hours (which spared me the pain of *that* song). Of course I feel terribly for the people who were stuck in there when it broke.
California Adventure was actually freaking awesome. It's got more modern rides, but they still imagineered the place up a bit to resemble various areas of California. I was impressed. I think they did a really good job.
By day 3 we were all toasted. After our morning excursion to hit those last few 'must ride' rides, we spend the afternoon sitting in the hot tub and waiting by the pool.
There was no down time after disneyland though. I had 10 days to pack up 7 years of crap and move it to a smaller place in Santa Rosa. I alternated between taking car loads of stuff to the dump, and car loads of stuff to Goodwill. In the end, I still had way too much stuff. But after a wild couple of days moving M's house out, I got most of my stuff crammed into my shop, and we cleaned up for a Christmas Eve party.
Christmas Eve was really fun, it was the first year in a long time that I had a Christmas tree in the house, and we had about 30 people over for fondue and drinks. Ben and Mickey laughed at my attemps of nacent step-fathering, and kids ran crazily through the house. Sylvan and Zelia did an awesome lip-sync to the 'never trust robots' song.
After everyone left, and we got the kids down to bed, I got to see, for the first time, behind the curtains of Christmas. Meredith and I stayed up and wrapped presents as Santa, filled stockings, and ate Santa's cookies (making sure to leave some crumbs). It was really cool, except for one thing.
I was definately coming down with a cold.
Christmas morning I was very sick, feverish, achey, bad sore throat, the whole package. Which made the whole "presents, candy, good cheer" thing a blur. We opened presents with the kids, who then went off with their dad to spend the day with his family. Meredith and I got dressed and went to my parent's but I could only hold out for a few hours before I had to go home and sleep. Thankfully I had the week off of work so I got to spend most of my vacation on the couch sleeping.
But even with the cold, it was a great Christmas.
However, that doesn't mean that I'll forsake this blog forever.
So a quick update is in order: Disneyland was great, but also exhausting. The 'snow' they promised every night was actually soap bubbles, which tasted terrible, and stung the eyes. It's a Small World seemed to break down every 2 hours (which spared me the pain of *that* song). Of course I feel terribly for the people who were stuck in there when it broke.
California Adventure was actually freaking awesome. It's got more modern rides, but they still imagineered the place up a bit to resemble various areas of California. I was impressed. I think they did a really good job.
By day 3 we were all toasted. After our morning excursion to hit those last few 'must ride' rides, we spend the afternoon sitting in the hot tub and waiting by the pool.
There was no down time after disneyland though. I had 10 days to pack up 7 years of crap and move it to a smaller place in Santa Rosa. I alternated between taking car loads of stuff to the dump, and car loads of stuff to Goodwill. In the end, I still had way too much stuff. But after a wild couple of days moving M's house out, I got most of my stuff crammed into my shop, and we cleaned up for a Christmas Eve party.
Christmas Eve was really fun, it was the first year in a long time that I had a Christmas tree in the house, and we had about 30 people over for fondue and drinks. Ben and Mickey laughed at my attemps of nacent step-fathering, and kids ran crazily through the house. Sylvan and Zelia did an awesome lip-sync to the 'never trust robots' song.
After everyone left, and we got the kids down to bed, I got to see, for the first time, behind the curtains of Christmas. Meredith and I stayed up and wrapped presents as Santa, filled stockings, and ate Santa's cookies (making sure to leave some crumbs). It was really cool, except for one thing.
I was definately coming down with a cold.
Christmas morning I was very sick, feverish, achey, bad sore throat, the whole package. Which made the whole "presents, candy, good cheer" thing a blur. We opened presents with the kids, who then went off with their dad to spend the day with his family. Meredith and I got dressed and went to my parent's but I could only hold out for a few hours before I had to go home and sleep. Thankfully I had the week off of work so I got to spend most of my vacation on the couch sleeping.
But even with the cold, it was a great Christmas.
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