If your life isn't hard enough already, consider doing two things to make your current existence seem all rosy:
1) Dirt Rag's Punk Bike Enduro turns sweet 16 this year. Living in Pittsburgh apparently isn't tough enough, so DR does this winter mud slog through already hostile terrain. Wear mittens and coat yourself in tool handle dip (to keep dry of course) and show up December 4, 11 a.m., at the Dorseyville Fire Hall. Contact Dirt Rag for more details.
2)The innagural TransIowa Race last year was, as warned, a lot harder than people thought it would be. Well, mastermind Jeff Kerkove's not done just yet. And you thought Iowa was all about tow-headed innocent kids and long flat stretches of corn and soybeans. I mean, well, it is sort of, but these things can be deceiving. You don't need to climb Everest to prove your mettle, just click here. And start training right now.

That is all.

Minneapolis local 30/40-something hipster literati mag The Rake has as its cover story for November's issue a story about Dan Buettner, adventurer, explorer, cyclist.
To give you a rough taste of what Dan is about, the story opens thusly: "Dan Buettner is best known as a writer and extreme adventurer who rode his bike around the world from east to west and from north to south through the Americas and Africa and Europe and Asia. He has crossed the roadless Sahara desert, numerous jungles, and active war zones."
Here's a link to the online story, but what it doesn't show, and the reason I'm blogging this, is that the sidebar on page 43 has, among other things, his 3 favorite bikes. One of them is the Surly Cross Check, about which Mr. Buettner says, "It's really the ultimate bike for a quest because you can put knobby tires on it for rough roads or you can put slicks on and fly down the pavement." We'll take that. Thanks Dan! Thanks Rake!

Sunday sunday sunday! At the Knoxville Speedway! See Big Daddy Don Bodean's funny car! See Gravedigger bury Bigfoot! Some go, some blow! Ten bucks buys you the whole seat, but you only need the edge!!!



It's Homie Fall Fest time again. And just in time too, as it marks the end of summer around here, and we're all sick of stupid summer with its pleasant temperatures. We're from MN, dammit, and Homie is, depending on your point of view, either a rally to mark the end of the summer riding season, a rally to get yinz'all motivated for the winter riding season, or just another dumb excuse to get your swerve on with a bunch of like minded mooyaks.
In response to the flier, Ron Moffit of the Rochester Value Shopper had this to say: "Holy shit it's only Tuesday and ya got this out already ! Did you get a secretary?"
BRose of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette exalts: "It's amazing what can be achieved with only a year of preparation."
And Hurl Everstone (...dude, I met Hurl in '96, man...) raves: "Sunday is going to be sick! Seriazz.."

Impending FAQs:
Q: Is it a race?
A: Good lord, no! Unless you're on the Cat6 team and you have something to prove.

Q: Will there be riding?
A: Yes, at least one fit of actual riding from Lyle's to the 'course.' Finish Line Finders and some other concerned citizens have been cleaning up the course and assure plenty of trail, which means BrauSovCor will have to make up some sort of main event on the spot.

Q: What if I don't want to show up at Lyle's at 11 am on a sunday? Can I show up later?
A: See map below. But you really should come to Lyle's first. You might miss something, and you don't want to do that.

Q: What bike should I bring?
A: Run what you brung...

Q: Will there be prizes?
A: Ummm... I guess you could call them prizes... I'll say yes.

Q: So it isn't at Wirth as previously announced?
A: Nope. See map.

Q: I'm still confused...
A: Yes you are. Sov@evilcycling.com has the answers.


And so on...

And to the freaks in the house if you're ready to bounce
we can go to the flat and get tantric
-Black Thought

Local Stuff-N-Things

Exhibit A: The bar crawl breed of ride is getting pretty popular around these parts lately, and this kind of ride wasn't suffering any popularity problems as it was. The Bar Crawl could be the new Meat Raffle (Yes, meat raffle. Mainly a Minnesota thing. I still don't quite get why meat raffles are so popular in MN but they are. Don't ask, don't tell). Happily, the Eight Hour Day people (although the ride is ostensibly not associated with them) appear to be incidental cyclists, and they appear to be kick ass graphic artists to boot. What I mean by 'incidental cyclists' is that they are not, as far as I can tell, part of the incestuous world of bike industry hacks, but rather just plain ol' folks who like to ride their bikes and like to drink beer and they put together a ride to do both. That's pretty cool in my book. Click here to get there. First stop is Yacht Club Nordeast at 9pm.


Exhibit B: The Homey Fall Fest is coming up quick. While BrauSovCor (although the ride is ostensibly not associated with them) still haven't exactly got their shit together (ahem), this should prove to be a fun one assuming the rain holds off. What is the Homey? It's a rally for people who like to ride bikes and have fun. No whiners allowed; that's pretty much the only rule. It isn't a race, although there will be a couple of actual riding events this year involving mass starts. It's going to be on Sunday, October 30th, so that working folks (read "bike shop employees") can make it too. This year will be a two stage deal, starting with a hare-n-hound for those who need to burn off their Old Style breakfast (can you catch Brauer?), followed by the main even at Theo Wirth. No need to do the hare-n-hound unless you want to though; you can just read the non-existent flier (ahem) to find out when and where to show up for what. Flier coming soon with full details (AHEM).
If you're reading this you're invited. This means you, messengers. This means you BMXicans too. This means you, unicyclists (assuming you actually exist). This means you people from out of town, and you too Bender, even though you're too 'elite' for offroad.

More steel things in stock

- Track threaded cogs, 1/8" and 3/32" thicknesses, most sizes, in stock today

- Stainless chainrings, all sizes back in stock today including the brand new odd tooth number sizes. Here is a listing of the actual sizes we now carry.

94mm BCD x 30t-36t (all sizes)
104mm BCD x 32t-36t (all sizes)
110mm BCD x 34t, 35t, 36t & 38t

- Nice racks, front and rear, black or silver, in stock today

Just when you gave up hope on us sorry suckers for not having stuff in stock, BLAMMO! Mountains of steel for the world to share.

The Homey Fall Fest is happening on Sunday, October 30th in Minneapolis. More info coming with locations, times and what to expect as soon as BrauSovCor get their shit together.

We just got a load of Cross-Check complete bikes in stock today. Not all sizes and colors, but it should satisfy most of you out there that have been patiently waiting. Thanks.

For all you locals that like beer:

The 5th Annual Autumn Brew Review

Brought to you by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild

When: Set for Saturday October 8th, 2005
From 1pm to 7pm

Where: Peavey Plaza - Downtown Minneapolis

Cost: $25 in advance - The ticket gets you a commemorative glass that you get to keep and unlimited samples throughout the event of the crafted brews made by some of the finest brewpubs and breweries in the Midwest. Local bands will play the sound stage and keep you entertained as you are sampling all the great beer.

Check with your MN local brewpubs for tickets soon.

I'll be s(w)erving beer at the O'Hara's tent, so swing by and have a sip or 5. One for you, one for me.

More stuff going into stock

- Pacer framesets- 42, 46, 50, 56, 58, 60 and 62cm sizes, in stock today

- Instigator frames- 18" and 20", in stock today or tomorrow

Aw crap! And by "crap", I mean F'ck. We won't be seeing Karate Monkey framesets for approximately 3 weeks now. Please try to be more patient than me.

Product ETAs

Nice Racks, all models- should be in stock sometime next week.

Cross-Check framesets- random sizes and colors, limited quantities, should be in stock by the end of this week.

Karate Monkey framesets- all sizes and colors, should be in stock by the end of next week.

Thanks

The casinos in Vegas (at least the ones attempting to be expensive...no mean feat in a town where a simple cheap lighter costs $3.50 on The Strip) pump in a weird gas. It's a combination of oxygenated air and some sort of air 'freshener' that smells like formaledhyde and urinal cake. I swear you can see it; you can sure tell when you're breathing it. A walk through a rendering plant situated next to a sewage treatment facility would be slightly worse. There are lights flashing and sounds blaring at all hours, everywhere you go. Getting anywhere is a huge pain because of all the f*cking people, most of whom see fit to walk slowly and stop in bottle necks to chat or to take pictures of the strangest crap. I saw more than one person standing in the hallway just outside of La Scena in The Venetian to snap a photo of the performers therein. Not only is the hallway a good 30 feet or more from the stage, there is absolutely no reason not to go in. Another weird thing is all the people who save their plastic drink 'glasses' as memorabilia. It's funny how easy it is, in the Vegas airport, to spot the Freshies coming in and the Wastoids returning home looking, well, like us. On the way out of Vegas we met with 2 people (unrelated to Interbike) who, having partied a little too hardy and a little too recently, were still barfing into whatever receptacle was handy. One was a girl in the airport near the ticketing counters, holding her hair back and cry-puking into a garbage can. The other lady was on our flight and was taken away at flight's end on one of those airport golf carts, looking equal parts sick and ashamed. She was in the back of the plane with Nick, Sov, and TJ Hooker. I was near the front, right behind first class seating. Everytime I got a glimpse in they'd shut the curtain. Classists.

All in all, though, a good Interbike experience. Got to see lots of folks I don't see except at events like this, and I stuck to my policy changes this year: more sleep, less drink, and being on time for meetings and awake in the booth. It worked, insofar as I felt great most of the time...except for the last 3 days, which started with a sore throat and worked its way into my sinuses and then my lungs. My slots are still paying out, if you catch my drift.
Some notables this year:
>>After wandering around the show for over an hour (and this near the end, when I had heard all the "you have to see" stories) and finding almost nothing worth a second look, I started taking pictures of things I didn't like because there were so many. Top of the list were the helmet covers that made any helmet approximately twice as big and were designed to look like brains, horns, scalp with cartoonishly big, bloody nails hammered into it, a frog, etc, all with flashing LED lights. Need I say more?
>>In that spirit, I'd like to thank all the people who come to sell us stuff at the booth. These people are so obvious when they're walking toward our booth that I almost feel sorry for them. For one thing, they wait until the last day, and it's plain that they're only coming by as a last ditch effort. Listening to them, they have obviously bought and read every self help sales technique book out there and have no idea who we are or what sort of conversation they're about to walk into. At this point I can pretty much blot out the actual words they say and just listen for the pauses in their sales pitch. We listen politely, let them shove their 'literature' in our hands (all the books say to get your product in their hands!, so they do, before bothering to find out if we're even mildly interested), then shoot them down point by point with a pleasant smile and watch them flee, but not without them first wordlessly taking back their precious literature. Poor things. They'll never learn.
>>Surly got a Golden Toidy award from The Society Of People Who Actually Make Their Own Shit (SOPWAMTOS) for "Best Company Making Stuff In Taiwan." This award, a toilet seat embossed with glitter glue lettering, is sort of a back handed compliment, saying "we like you, but we'd like you better if...". And it's in that spirit I'd like to thank all involved; for example, the toilet seat itself showed no indication of hand-fabrication, meaning it was probably purchased from a home supply store of some sort, and therefore was probably made in China, Malaysia, or somewhere in that area; i.e., not made by SOPWAMTOS. The part they did do was the lettering, which began to come off less than 30 minutes after we received it. Fine American workmanship. Thanks fellas. We'll hang it proudly. [disclaimer: i love many U.S. bike companies and crave their products like junkies crave The Horse. I have a great deal of respect for companies that can make a go of domestic manufacture in this era, and come from hardy midwestern stock of working class Americans. I know who I am and where I'm from. I said what I said herein to point out hipocrisy in a satirical manner, not to piss off U.S. manufacturers. Save the emails, please.]
>>Best line of the week goes to Andy Olson who, on the last day we were in Sin City, recalled the previous night "shooting the stank eye at a solid four across the bar." Andy swears she wasn't a cougar, but we know how these stories change when there are no witnesses to corroborate the allegations.
Hi jinx were plenty, cutting edge product sighting was slim pickings (though while not cutting edge, Brooks saddles does have a very nice looking black and tan merino jersey now...growl!), and we did eat some spectacular meals.
One last thing: I'd like to send out a global thank you to Rie Okamoto, our Japanese partner, who may just be the hardest working person in the bike business. She has never once told us what to do or been anything but good to us (as a company and as individuals), but she has never once settled for mediocrity. Thank you, Rie, for always making me a better person. I'm serious, you rock.

On our way out of town we grabbed lunch in an airport restaurant. The waitress obviously took pleasure in flipping crap to weary looking wastoids and we fit the bill. At one point she made Nick take off his shades and said "you boys have a late night last night?" There was a long pause. I filled it by saying "Actually, last night was several days ago." There was a subdued chuckle all around. Dim laughter in the harsh light of truth.
O.k., that's my Interbike report. Next year I'm thinking about doing a run of shirts that say "The first person to ask me how Interbike was gets punched in the face."

This was originally posted Thursday, August 25, 2005.

Singlespeed World Championships could be coming to your town in 2006. If you think your trails rival some of the best in the world, your town can accomodate up to 700 bike freaks, there is an airport within a reasonable distance and you have organized some sort of bike event in the past, this is your chance.

Why does Surly get to decide where it is in 2006? You have to go back to the first (official) SSWC in 1999 held in California. To determine where it was to be held for the following year, the winner of the derby got to decide on the location. Since the Minneapolis Mafia cleaned up on the skimpy array of challengers that year, it was then held in Minneapolis in 2000.

After a few years of some random committee chosing where it would be rather than having the derby decide it, the SSWC 2005 organizers smartly brought back the derby to decide it’s location. Since we Surly slugs were the last people still upright on 2 of 3 derby rounds, it’s our choice. If you don’t like it, you should’ve been there to knock Skip Bernet and myself off our bikes.

In trying to be fair to everybody and not have Minneapolis be the host city again, we’re asking you to submit a proposal to host it in 2006. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE think twice about this before replying. Some of the things to consider are:

· Your staff/friends/volunteers/drinking buddies must commit to many hours of unpaid work to organize this event.

· The host city must be able to accomodate up to 700 participants with hotels, camping, restaurants, bars and lawyers within a reasonable distance from an airport. Ideally, the trails would be nearby.

· The trails in your area must not only be kickass, but you must get approval from local government and/or land owners to hold this event on the property. Special permits may be required and you may have to kiss some serious forest department butt to make it happen.

·You’ll have to round up some volunteers to help with everything from course marshalling, to porta-toilet aqcuisitions, to being the last person to ride the course and pick up some chump’s GU packet and look for mangled bodies.

·Don’t forget about having emergency medical services present.

·This is the WORLD championships, so any country is welcome to host.
SSWC2005 was in the USA, so let’s try to get this thing somewhere else next year.

·Please see SSWC05
for an idea of what the SSWC06 website should entail. The online registration with prepay only seemed to work quite well also.

What you get out of this experience is being the most popular person in town for a whole weekend. Your town will get to showcase all the trails you’re so proud of by having people from all over the world embark upon your backyard. I think I speak for everyone by saying it better be somewhere cool, because I don’t want to buy a plane ticket across the pond for some lame dirtroads.You are not in this for the money, you’re in it for the glory. What do you say?

Send me a serious proposal for hosting SSWC06 by October 31st, 2005 to nick@surlybikes.com. Also, sending me a random “do it in Jamaica, man” will automatically disqualify your town. Please be serious, we’re too busy to handle extra insignificant e-mails. Can’t wait to hear from you.