GATSquad--Crazy Action!

So lately the Squad hasn't been doing the best job of living up to our billing on Team Velveeta. There are some good reasons for the slow action, and, that's about to change, baby! (Wow, two in-jokes in one word.) A and A have been, for the most part, thoroughly occupied with the first trimester. Good news is, that has been getting incrementally better.

I've be working on an altogether different sort of egg--Bike Shop Remodel Version XXVICIVICCXX!!! Absolute now has four workstands, our two primary repair stations plus a dedicated assembly station and a 'Short Order' stand. There is now also enhanced bike displays out front, a comprehensive arrangement of men's and women's clothing and a brand new changing room to try it out in, a spiffy new sales kiosk, a dedicated service writing and rental workstation, additional bikes-in-for-service storage, and the super-duper Wall o'Tires. Oh yes, and a helmet camera rental kiosk. All in eight short weeks. If any of you happen to stumble upon my life laying around somewhere, send it back to me would ya? I'll pay for shipping.

Short Order Workstand and Service Writing Station

Point of Sale Kiosk and Map Case

Brainstorming the logo for the POS Kiosk--Campy tools that have finally 'broken in' to obsolescence...

Ahh, but that's not all. Salida Mountain Trails has just gotten approval from Salida City Council for our second singletrack project near S-Mtn. This will be a key bit of trail, about 1.5 miles, that connects a major parking area to our proposed 'backbone' trail that forms the heart of our proposed system.
Even more exciting is this: SMT, SPOT, and the Arkansas River Trust recently had a face to face meeting with some Union Pacific Railroad representatives. Turns out, they're actually pretty into our idea of continuing the Salida urban trails system across and along the river, and creating legal underpass rail crossings (absolutely key access to SMT's Ark Hills singletrack network.) Next step is another meeting with them next week and working up a proposal. This is a huge step forward, and very exciting.

And if all that isn't enough, now we're linking you to Kittybait.net. Run by another former Snitger's Bicycle Store scallywag and some of the minions from Pasadena Cyclery, Kittybait brings the rest of us a lurid window into southern California bike culture. Which is kind of like infiltrating Area 51 to sneak a peek at one of their unwilling residents; you're not sure what you're looking at, you don't know where it came from, it behaves rather strangely, and you're pretty sure you shouldn't even be there in the first place. Enjoy!

BAM Ride

Every week, a handful of South Central Racing riders meet for the BAM ride--B-Team, A.M.--a nice mellow ride for ideal for newcomers to road riding or folks looking for a good social recovery ride. Last week, it was socked in, snowing and rather uninviting. I waited at the rally point but no one else showed. The weather just made me feel nostalgic for my early days of riding Pennsylvania roads, not to mention I was relishing the though of the first ride of the year without a 30mph head/crosswind, so I mounted up on the 28 Special and rolled forth.
I choose one of my favorite hour long routes that connects all the existing SPOT (Salida Parks, Open Space, and Trails) trails around Salida. Starting out on the Monarch Spur Trail, I rolled out under a light sprinkling of snow. By the time I reached the pipeline construction zone on CR 140, the sun was trying to peek out. I like to do a lap around the dirt roads at Fairview Cemetery; I imagine I'm riding some tree-lined avenue on continental Europe in the 1920's, which Fairview resembles, except with more headstones.

Onward to Franz Lake, as the overcast burned away from Tenderfoot and Mt Shavano, to test out the 28's dirt handling with a new absurdly expensive Conti Top Contact rear tire to complement the Specialized Houffalize CX front (You know, if someone would just call their tire a 'Mk II' or something, I'd buy it just because it was easier to say.)
After a couple laps of Franz I paid my respects to the mallards, and headed for Sand Lake and work, taking a little diversion onto singletrack along the way. A nice little ride to work.