Friday, April 9, 2010

Happiness Is...


I hope everyone has their Happiness is Angel sitting in the left pocket of their jerseys this weekend! I saw this picture up on Stevil's AHTBM site and it just brought a smile to my face. I love that I am not the only headcase that rides a bike. The fact that PROs who are at the top of the bike game are even more superstitious than I am makes me love this sport so much.

When Cancellara starting ejecting extra gels out of his pocket on the run in to the finish and then pulled this out and flashed it to the camera I pretty much lost it. Its one thing to sew a medallion onto your helmet strap. That's no big deal its almost like the proliferation of huge gold crosses that come out to play in the summer during the TDF when the boys unzip their jerseys all the way open on the climbs in the Alps. Do they wear all that bling because they are devoutly religious? The Peleton is probably 75% catholic but they are wearing that as a protection symbol as much as anything else..But a little gold angel in the back pocket of your jersey? Awesome.

Paid a visit to the mothership to check in with the boys before they headed up to Battenkill. This was my first visit to Seven. I have to say I've been in a few shops in my day and this is by far the cleanest and most organized shop I have ever seen. Well that is not totally true. Wayyyy back in the day I got to tour the Merlin factory. That was unbelievable in its Zen-like layout and cleanliness. It was so streamlined. The way it was explained to me was that basically the tubing came in the loading dock then you did a counterclockwise trip of the fabrication of the bike from mitering to welding to paint to finish to right back where it started and out the door!

It was great to see Mike Salvatore and Graham. For two boys who are gonna be tasting some serious pain in less than 24 hrs they were chillin like villian's Graham is almost too relaxed...that man is gonna do some damage mark my words. Graham gave me the dime tour. I got to put on some safety goggles, oogle some ti, geek out over all the beautiful bikes and just get stoked once again about our amazing biker life.
Happiness is....raw ti tubing from floor to ceiling. Saw some cool carbon frames and I have to say carbon should never be painted. Raw carbon is hott. Slap a blue decal on it clear coat it and you have the sexiest bike possible. And I don't even like carbon. But raw it has a certain art-like quality to the material that just gets lost with all the paint. We talked about the merits of bikes for racing and riding. I put my hands on some Campy Super Record levers...stupid stupid stupid What was I thinking? I am a peasant and need to think like a peasant. Boutique Italian bike parts have no place in my life right now...but it is so sexy it is not even funny. And those new levers ergonomics feel real good on the hands.

Even the travel mugs at Seven are super cool

Happiness is...Honey! This is my second viewing of the Honey bikes. The first time was at MM racings raffle party. It was a party so while the bikes served as a great backdrop all my time was spent talking with good friends. But under a little more scrutiny they are really very nice. It is going to be very interesting to see how Seven and Rob Vandermark position these bikes. But from what I saw they are a good balance between sexy and understated.

Good luck all my brothers and sisters out on the tarmac and trails this weekend! Hup Hup

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