A Few More Things

1. One of these days, I plan to get back to doing an email newsletter. I’ll probably send it out in the next couple of weeks, actually.

2. I’m working on what we in the marketing industry refer to as a “whitepaper.” It’ll be a freely downloadable guide on how to purchase a custom bike. Basically a primer on what you need to know and what to expect out of the experience. I’m not using it to drive sales — I’m just more interested in ensuring that a cyclist gets the most out of the experience.

3. I’m behind schedule. I owe some of you some frames. The post-Minnecycle burnout led to holidays led to the 8 weeks’ early birth of my son, Eddy. I’m going to be hauling ass to catch up. Promise.

4. The t-shirts are in the final stretch. I should be picking them up next Tuesday morning, and will be mailing them to the out-of-staters, and contacting the in-staters for personal delivery starting on the same day! Rock!

New Employee

He was so eager to start work that Edwin Cooper Bailey joined the world eight weeks early, on Friday, January 13th, 2012. Four pounds, twelve ounces and 18 inches long. A score of 8 on his Apgars test. Excellent prognosis. He just has to spend several weeks in the NICU.

Pallas Athena's newest employee!

Been Awhile, Huh?

So it’s been a considerable length of time since my last blog post here. Shame on me!

With the baby on the way (due in early March), my time has been chewed up with house preparations and such, and as a result, I haven’t had much torch time, never mind the time to crank out a blog post here. I even decided to make the email newsletter a bi-monthly thing, and the January/February edition will be out at the end of this month.

I’ll be trying to fix that soon. I’m at a B&B with my wife this weekend, our last getaway before our baby boy arrives, and we won’t be back in the house until Monday sometime. I’m thinking about using that time to catch up on a bunch of stuff. I owe a bunch of emails, have to lay the keel of a new frame (front triangle, dudes), and get in touch with the AGRS winner about his ride.

The t-shirts had to go to a different printer as the one I had been working with had some issues. They should be done soon and I’ll hand-deliver the locals and mail out the the distant ones as soon as they’re here.

Hope you’re all well, that you enjoyed the recent spate of warm weather, and that your training is going well. If you’re at all interested in a new frame, don’t hesitate to contact me.

2011 Email Newsletter Archive

2011:

• May
• June
• August
• September
• Minnecycle Reminder
• Minnecycle Thank-You
• October
• November

Black Friday Acquisitions

So last Friday, I did the unthinkable. I ventured forth and did some Black Friday shopping. God help me. During Thanksgiving Day at my mom’s place, I happened upon the Home Depot ads, which showed a 26-inch, 9-drawer roll-away tool chest for $149. The store opened at 5 a.m., so I got up at four, got my shit together and rolled over to the Shakopee location. I was around 20th in line when the doors opened, and the line stretched back 100 people or so. I bought the chest and got the heck out of there.

Around 8 a.m., I decided the deal was too good to pass up and went back and purchased a second one.

Two new tool chests.

I tore up my knuckles while installing the casters, and then spent some serious time organizing my shit. The one on the left is all framebuilding — tubing, components, welding equipment, and metal fabrication tools. The one on the right is all bicycle-specific tools — my old Park AK-32 kit along with all the other stuff I’ve acquired since I bought it in 1999.

Pretty glad I went and got these. Yeah, they’re inexpensive and their quality isn’t what I originally had in mind, but combined they’re still less than half the cost of what I had been looking at, with much better total storage volume.

To-Do Between Now and Sunday Evening

• prep November email newsletter
• fix blueprint for Jamie’s road clydesdale
• do blueprint for Aaron’s niner
• do blueprint for Edwin’s strider bike
• fix Paul’s road frame for delivery to painter
• final push on Justin’s 26er
• decal sheet for Justin’s 26er
• call Joe Bringheli about aligning fixture
• call Dirt Designs Graphics, locally, re: paint
• order sleeve tubing from Aircraft Spruce
• hang out and build with A-train

A Few Random Things

1. A-train and I are going to hang out and build at his new workshop on Sunday. Expect photos.

2. CycleTC has a great infographic about biking and walking in the Twin Cities. When it’s mid-February and I’m bitching about the cold and wondering why I moved back to Minnesota, someone point me at this.

3. I’ve got a t-shirt design underway. They’ll be available for pre-order soon, silk-screened on 100% cotton American Apparel shirts. Cost will be $22.

4. Tonight, more work on bikes. Plus some prepping of the garage for the insulation/drywall project that kicks off early on Saturday morning.

Things for the Future

Website:
I’d like to add a map of where all my customers are in the world. I’ve got some ideas on how to implement that. In addition, I’d like to add some video, as well. And better (studio) photos of my bikes. Soon, dudes! Soon!

Schwag:
T-shirts. And water bottles.

Facilities:
Other than insulating/drywalling the garage this weekend? A heater. This winter, I’ll probably use a 30,000 BTU propane-fueled space heater, which should keep things fairly toasty.

Equipment:
Near-term, an Anvil fork fixture and their BBG/FOG tool. Those are my priorities now. Next after that is a mill and a lathe.

Tradeshows:
Minnecycle 2012. With a kid on the way, I need to keep this list on the light side.

Bikes:
Want to wrap up my existing backlog and then build a couple for myself to replace the two Salsa in my fleet.

What else am I missing?

RIP, Steve Jobs

In 1980 or 1981, my parents divorced. My dad lived in a tiny apartment with a waterbed, and an Apple ][+ on a card table. That computer changed the course of my life in a way I cannot even begin to describe, and without it, who knows where I'd be now?

[The computer] is the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.

— Steve Jobs

There’s not much one can really say about Steve Jobs that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. The man was an inspiration to me — his drive to be perfect, to create, to innovate, all while being willing to take risks — is something unrivaled in modern business. Not only did he provide me with a suite of tools I use daily, but he inspired me.

Thank you, Steve. For everything.

Steve Jobs.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Preparing for Winter

So tonight, after the office, I’ll be making a Home Depot run. It’s amazing how often I’m there, being a new homeowner. I do think there’ll be a day where my number of visits begins to drop, but man. Not soon, I suspect. Tonight’s run is so that I can pick the brains of some specialists on the nature of insulating and drywalling my garage, so that I can work through the winter.

The other prep work I need to undertake is getting my paws on some good winter gloves, and some winter riding shoes. I think that with Murphy-Hanrehan being so close to the house, and the singletrack open all winter, that I’d be a fool to not try riding it. The trainer is going to get cold quick. And I’ll need a break from the Sufferfest videos.

Those of you that live in cold-weather environments: what do you do to enable outdoor riding in the winter? Or do you just suffer through other indignities cross-training indoors?