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Friday, April 29, 2005
Last Sunday was beautiful and warm and I spent that afternoon digging out two stumps that were growing along the foundation of my house, filled in extra topsoil, and put down mulch. My Liberian neighbor Rudolph was cutting up sod so he could pour concrete for his new patio and I loaned him a shovel and a hoe. About an hour later he leaned over the fence to show me the hoe, with the handle broken a foot above the head. He felt bad and was very apologetic but I wasn't too worried about it. The standard crew of his friends were helping him which usually consists of three to five Jamaicans drinking Guiness and offering Rudolph equal parts insults and advice. It's a lot of fun to watch. Rudolph offered to buy me a new hoe and his friends started correcting each other on the best place to go to buy a hoe. "No, no mon, you wants to go to Ace Hardware", "Bulls**t, Home Depot has more hoes, I've seen them!" and so on. I pointed out that he didn't need to buy an entire new hoe, we could just buy a replacement handle, and his friends all turned to me with incredulous looks. "No, no, you're in America now mon," one of them lectured me. "We don't repair, we replace!" Perhaps assuming I was a new immigrant, the short man leaning on my shovel shook his head and asked me with obvious disbelief, "Where are you from?" "Wisconsin" I said with a chuckle. This caused all of them to say "Aaahhhh" in unison as if this explained everything. They all nodded, started muttering "Green Bay", and went back to work. Ahhhh, America... -Pierce Posted by Pierce : 2:00 PM 0 comments | permalink 
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
We want to send out our thanks to Hank from Vail, Colorado for his feedback on the Dos Niner he recently put into action. Since we don't like to talk about ourselves, well, except for Bobby that is, we'll let Hank do the talking... I recently purchased a Dos Niner. This note is to let you know I have fallen in love. Mountain biking has been a huge part of my life for the past 13 years. I love the sport, and I love riding. I didn't think it could get any better. Then you guys developed this two wheeled wonder. This bike is nimble and accelerates faster than any small wheeled bike I have ever ridden. A friend and i went to Fruita CO last weekend to enjoy the singletrack. We switched bikes after a couple of hours of riding, He was haveing so much fun carving turns and launching ledges on my bike I had a hard time getting it back. Meanwhile I was slogging behind on a full boing rig, barley able to keep him in sight. After I finally convinced him to return my ride, I swore then and there, it's nothing but the Dos Niner for me!!! Thanks for the ride. Hank Vail, CO Thank you Hank for the kind words. We are glad you like the bike. Heck, you even got our engineer Josh to admit, "gee..I am almost starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling"! And trust me, that's no small feat! Rubber side down, Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 5:17 PM 0 comments | permalink
Monday, April 25, 2005
We were pretty psyched while paging through the June issue of Road magazine the other day. If you turn to page 50 you'll see the most talked about cyclist in the world, rhymes with Prance Hamstrung, in a wind tunnel dialing in his TT position with nothing less than a Salsa Sizo-Matic sizing stem! See, the Sizo-Matic is ideal for setting up your bikes cockpit, feeling out subtle differences in reach and rise, and all that good stuff. A lot of shops have one in back so they can help their customers find that ideal happy riding position before they drop a load of ching on a high zoot stem. We're happy that Mr. Hamstrung could put our Sizo-Matic to good use and we wish him the best as he pursues victory #7. Cheers, Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 7:00 PM 0 comments | permalink
Friday, April 22, 2005
Seriously, I want to send out a quick congrats to Michelle Hyland of the TDS/Schwalbe pro women's cycling team for her overall ranking for "Best Young Rider" at the Classic this year! She dominated on her Team TDS/Scwalbe Salsa Campeon road bike. I should also mention Karl Heidgen, the TDS team director, since no one ever mentions this guy's hard work. More later. Cheers. Chuck Posted by chuck : 2:22 PM 0 comments | permalink
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Jason, Chuck and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of you fine folks at Sea Otter last week. Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate it sincerely. Faces to names and names to faces...all of that good stuff. Here are few highlights of this years Sea Otter experience. Airplanes aren't getting any more roomy. As the stewardess on one of our flights said, "Folks, the aisle is only 15 inches wide, and the cart is 14" wide so if you're seated on the aisle watch your elbows!". Nice. Chuck enjoys the flight.  California sunshine! That's right, for the most part it was sunny at Sea Otter the whole time. The wind can get a bit chilly though. Still, sunshine and giant otters make for a good day. Miker, Jason and Chuck...and a giant Sea Otter  There was plenty of proof that you can have Ride FAST and Smile on Salsa's! Emma Worldpeace (gotta love that last name, eh?) rode her Bandito to 4th place Jr. Expert Short Track and 6th place Jr. Expert XC.  Banning Ostrow from good ol' Minneapolis claimed the top spot in the Cat 1,2,3 Circuit Race for 30-39 year olds on his Campeon.  And ex-Minnesota boy, now California boy, Brent Prenzlow powered his Juan Solo to 2nd place in the 40 mile XC Singlespeed category.  Jeff and Joelle came by with their posse to claim the Tequila shirt off my back on Sunday! Good meeting you folks. Be sure to wash that shirt!  Seeing Chipps Chipendale is a pleasure that happens far too infrequently. Chipps is the editor behind two of the U.K's better rags, Singletrack magazine and the singlespeed pushin' Outcast. Check out www.singletrackworld.com if you want to see some of Chipp's handywork.  And last, but certainly not least. The weekend in Monterey always ends with an evening of karaoke at the Brittainia Arms. Yes, lucky bargoers got to hear my renditions of Springsteen and Mellencamp, while also enjoying the vocal stylings of...The Captain.  All in all, another memorable year at the Sea Otter. If you have never checked it out, consider it for next year. If you like bikes, you are pretty much guaranteed to dig it. Plus, you can visit us. Peace out. -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 12:00 AM 0 comments | permalink
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Jason, Chucker, and myself are heading out to Sea Otter shortly. We'd love the chance to introduce ourselves and our product to you. First person to walk up to me and say, "Kid, I saw your Blog and want a Salsa patch.", wins a Salsa patch suitable for sewing on just about anything. Cheers! -Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 3:54 AM 0 comments | permalink
Monday, April 11, 2005
The nice thing about commuting by bike is that it lets your mind run free to think, contemplate, and refresh itself as you start your day. You get that on the back end too, of course, but the morning ride in is the start to a new day and there's a lot less to release at that point. Something I've noticed while commuting is how just the simple act of saying "Hello" or "Good Morning" to the people you see while you ride in can go a long way to making you feel good...while also being good for cyclists in general. Let me explain... We live in a world of perceptions and everytime a cyclist gives a driver the finger or shouts at him/her to "@#&* off!" it has the potential to alienate us that much more from those we share the road with. Now I'm not gonna say that I haven't done both of those things. I have. But I really strive to control my actions. Somebody's gotta do something pretty harsh for me to harsh back on them. Now saying "hello" or "good morning" to the folks I see on the ride in, whether they are pedestrians, waiting for a bus, walking out to their cars, or working in their yards doing lawn work, has incedible potential to do good. That simple interaction has the power to change their view of me on a bike. And in doing so, it has the opportunity to change their view of all the bicyclists they encounter. The simple act of being friendly and wishing them well can turn that person (who probably does drive a car from time to time) into someone who appreciates a bicyclist as a friendly encounter, rather than being antagonized by their presence. Consider the possibilities. Friend or foe based on our interaction with them? I suggest friend. Thanks for listening, Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 12:57 PM 0 comments | permalink
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Folks, check in with the advocacy groups in your area to see what they've got going on with trailbuilding opportunities. Here in the Twin Cities, MOCA is getting a start tonight in Theodore Wirth Park. MOCA has a regular schedule of Wednesday evening trail work, so if you can't make it tonight you can plan to hit it another time. Visit the MOCA website for more information on that. If you are a dirt lovin' mountain biker we encourage you to commit to working at least one or two trailbuilding sessions during the coming season. More if you can! Your work building legitimate trails is part of the pathway toward better riding opportunities for you and all the other riders in your area. You can be the trail lamprey sucking the life out of the trail system or you can be Johnny Appleseed of mountain biking growing fun legal trails for tomorrow. That's the best picture I can't paint right now... Peace out. Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 5:31 PM 0 comments | permalink
Monday, April 04, 2005
As Spring seems to have arrived, I've finally forced myself to grab the commuter bike and get back into action. Yes, I know hardcore commuters have been at it year round. Hell, I used to be one of them. But life is full of twists and turns, both good and bad. I've had my share during the past year-and-a-half... A real serious relationship, becoming a "dad" for my ladies son, and frankly just a ton of work that wreaked havoc on my life. Those first two are really truly excellent twists and turns...the last one, well, not such a good twist or turn. But enough is enough. I miss my time on the bike. So I've decided to carve it out where I can and that means working some one-way commutes into my schedule. I have to do a little planning so that my vehicle is where I need it for the days where life has something planned for me that I've got to get to. So, today drive in/ride home...tomorrow ride in/drive to Cub Scouts. If you are scrambling to find time enough for a ride, know you are not alone. Even working in the bike industry doesn't always mean you get to ride! But put that brain of yours to the test and try to come up with a schedule that gets you back on the bike. If you can, give commuting a try as it is a great way to start or end your work day. Somehow, rolling wheels seem to cleanse a lot of garbage from the mind... Rubberside down, spin to win, and all that good stuff, Kid Posted by Salsa Kid : 8:05 PM 0 comments | permalink |
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