Classic!

I love this photo. It's Alberto Ascari, Came across it entirely by accident. He looks to me like he'd be more at home behind a meat counter than a Ferrari 500, but the man had cat-like reflexes and a Brobdingnagian set of boys...oh and style (and maybe a slightly skewed sense of his own proportions. "Snug" is being polite).

Man, I gotta check out the PDX cross scene

If this is any indication at all!
That's Sacha on the far right,
Tony on the far left.

My date with Sacha.

I recently found myself heading up to Portland at the last minute for OSCON so I thought I'd try and swing by Vanilla to see Sachas new workshop. His email reply caught me pleasantly off guard.

"Are you bringing a bike? he asked.

When I told him I'd only be in town for a few days and shipping a bike was impractical, He offered to find me one so I could join him on a ride. So with pedals/shoes/helmet in tow, I met Sacha and two of his friends, Scott and Tony, at the Stumptown Coffee a few blocks from the workshop. Sacha gave me the choice of riding his speedvagen, or his white SS vanilla. Since the SS had no pedals and an adjustable seatpost, it was the sensible option. In retrospect, I'm kicking myself for not trying out the speedvagen. I am, at times, a complete idiot. They led me on a nice loop across the river, through PDX, up along a ridgeline and back, then stopped for breakfast at a place called Gravy (more on that later) before heading back to the shop. Not once did they poke fun at my pedaling squares or lame jokes. Decent guys, everyone of them. Seriously. I truly felt welcome from the moment I met them all at Stumptown to the time a left. It could be that since they were all much younger and better looking, I posed no threat, but I'd like to believe that Sacha simply surrounds himself w/ like minded people. Creative, unassuming and passionate about what they do.
It took every fiber of my being to not ask how the project was progressing or when I could expect my frame. It's not my first custom frame. I've learned to be patient in my old age.
( my wife just fell on the floor laughing). Anyway, the trip made me realize just what a bargain the speedvagen really is... No other builder has thought about, tested and then implemented what Sacha has done for cross. Custom tubing from Columbus, custom brake posts from Paul, Custom rear drop-outs (Saw the CADD of these...Yumm), custom seat collar. It's all there. My initial guess is that the bike will build up to be between 16 and 17lbs depending on what wheel set I'm on. Oh, and that's w/out carbon bars/stem/cranks. Crazy light for a bike where the only thing I'll worry about thrashing are the carbon rims.
Thanks Sacha....(and Tony And Scott).

I'm Bigfoot....not a good thing

So I just took the quiz on http://www.ecofoot.org/. I didn't do so well. Scored a 12. Take it youself to find out what that means.

2007 Cyclocross Worlds...Elite Women up on Race.cx

Just posted on race.cx! Never got to see this. The last 10 minutes are classic. The French do a great job tactically. Hats off to them but WAY TO GO KATIE! Check out the butter smooth muddy uphill off-the-back dismounts.

All I want for 3-months-before-Christmas is my Speedvagen

So all I care about is cross. I've raced just about everything in the last 25 years and cross is it. Period. Why? Well, I'm old...and I've got two YOUNG kids, and a wife who loves me (I plan to keep it that way) and she loves cross, and I've got a job, and a house and, and, and. You get the picture. So why suck for hours in some road race from hell when I can just suck for 45 minutes and be done with it! What about crits you say?...BAHHAHAHA. Been there, done that. I've never seen so many middle aged men willing to race like complete idiots for little more than entry fee money and some Gu.
Chances are if you crash in a cross race, it's your own damn fault. And if you do well, it's your own damn fault there too. Crash in a cross race and you get back up and finish. Crash in a crit and well, um...maybe. Oh, and cross races are kid friendly and muddy and nutty and all that crap. God I love cross. Which brings me to Speedvagen. I'm about to drop more serious college fund money on a bike I spend only 3-4 months on than I would on any road rig. Why? Because Sacha is the only builder I've seen recently who actually took the time to consider how to make a cross rig better, then took the time to try out those ideas on a frame for himself and ride. It's a stripped down race rig. Very bauhaus. Very Hot-Damn! I cant' wait.

All of my memories are stored on youtube.

Amen for youtube.....again! the COMPLETE Fishheads movie...not just the video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cn73Wtem0No

Brent Steelman RESURRECTION...so to speak.

Well, Brent is alive and well Click here for proof, but he's hanging up his torch .and that is a truly sad thing. I'm on my 3rd Eurocross and it is/has been my favorite rig for the past 5 years (853+deda tubing and an Alpha Q fork). My "B" bike was also a Steelman Eurocross, which I just sold to finance a Speedvagen after hearing Brent wasn't taking orders. While there has been much useless speculation as to his reasons (see: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=99275 ), only Brent knows for sure.
He and Katryn have always supported the cross scene here in spades and I hope they don't stay away. The TIGs are so clean, some thought they were filed fillets. He can weld some seriously smooth shit. I'm glad I've got mine.

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