It's the end of another calendar year. Does anybody really care? Does reflection on the past 12 months only occur to some people now, rather than in June? What should matter is that you rode your bike today and feel good because of it. If you haven't, stop reading this right now and go for a spin.

No wait, I have just one more thing to say and it's one of my favorite quotes. Just wish I could remember who said it.

Trying to relieve traffic congestion by adding more lanes is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt. - Unknown

In Stock Tomorrow

- Cogs: splined, track 3/32" and track 1/8", bunch of sizes.

- Fixed cog lockrings

- black Singleators

In Stock Next Week (we hope)

- more Cross-Check framesets

- Pacer framesets

53cm and 56cm (charcoal metallic) Steamrollers are in stock again. All other sizes should be available in approximately 3 weeks.

So you think you're tough? I'll bet Jakub Postrzygacz is tougher. Do you think you're crazy? He's probably crazier. Why? Jakub rode his Pugsley bike across the 2,000 km desert in Australia WITHOUT SUPPORT. This truly amazing journey was captured by camera and I highly recommend spending a few minutes to look through the photo gallery.

2 things on the docket today (Nick beat me to the punch with The Stockard Channing Route photos):

1) The Who Wants A Mustache Ride
Year 3, I believe, for this ride/slash/facial hair growing contest from the whack jobs at Category 6 Racing. Grow all the facial hair you can muster for the next month or so, then shave it down to the ol' Ned Flanders for the night of the ride itself. The hair growing part of the ride IS a competition complete with prizes, although the ride itself is not a competition, but neither portion is gender specific, so if you're a swarthy woman or just good with a Sharpie, then climb on for the Mustache Ride. Oh, and this is a MPLS local event, so it helps if you're actually here for the ride, though I bet if you wrote in to Derrick at C6RS you could work out some sort of web linked conference call 'stache comparison thing. Click the thing up there for info.

B) Custom Headtube Badgers
Mentioned over a year ago on this here blog, custom jeweller Jennifer Green continues to make custom head tube badges that that rock so hard they will make your face melt. And as fate would have it, she has 2 castings specifically for Surlies. Both designs are cast in silver; one is the Karate Monkey his bad self and the other is the same design as our standard head tube badge except made from real metal (no picture of this...go look on the front of your Surly for an example). And remember, you're not just buying bling for your bike. For every Jen Green head badge you buy, you help a fellow cyclist get one step closer to achieving every cyclist's dream of a real vacation. You can always find her by clicking on the link on the lower right portion of this page that says Need A Headbadge?, but for a limited time we are also offering this link at the beginning of this paragraph at no cost to you.

One of Surly's many field correspondents, Chris Alabama, recently sent us this missive. I thought you might like it so I'm posting it, although if you're eating maybe wait until later to read it. You'll see. Have fun out there, and have a tolerable Festivus.

I really, honestly, don't understand TV. It seems like people use it like a drug--to escape from reality. I also don't understand people who believe there's an "off-season" for riding. I can understand people who aren't that into it, and would rather do something else for a change, but if you want to ride what's stoping you? I, like you, go crazy if I don't get out and pedal something around.

Which reminds me of this man who used to live in Grand Junction. When I knew him, he was an old man. He used to ride a claped out POS townie around for no apparant reason, and thus, he was a bit of an outcast. Later in his life, he lost the ability to balance and began to push his bike around. Feeling sorry for his father, his son went to Brown Cycles and bought the man a tricycle. The man happily pedaled this heavy-ass, blue tricycle daily. As the man grew older, he was no longer strong enough to pedal the tricycle and returned to pushing his old townie. Weeks later he died.

Why the man never gave up and retired to a chair in front of a TV I don't know . . but someday, I hope to find out: that's how I wanna die. I want to go down actually doing something. And since I don't know when I'm gonna go, couch surfers can fuck off. Or, even better, they can just wait for the next reality show and watch me do something they, too, are capable of.

Well, I got bogged down with a bit of angry, single-speed, bitterness, and gotta take a shit. I hope it smells so bad that the toilet melts. Which reminds me: never through a fire-cracker in the toilet. I may seem like a good idea, but it is not.

Bama

Wow. Maybe the only time you'll see a Surly rider wearing a Peugeot jersey. What's really strange about this photo, however, is the story that accompanies it. Someone idetifying himself only as 'Dave,' an american evidently stationed with the US military in Germany, wrote to us to send the picture and said: "I took this picture at the Fat Tire Festival in Garmish, Germany September 11, 2004. It is a race put on by the US Army and part of a military race series."
The Army puts on bike races? Hey, if they throw in a pair of night vision goggles as a prize I'd be interested in signing up. Well, for the race anyway, not the Army. But wait, there's more: "Anyway, this guy raced expert, chugged a beer on the go every lap and came in third. I never got a chance to talk to him." Or thank him! Yeah, that's what I like to hear. Mr. Peugeot jersey, you're aces. But if you come to Minnesota you might not want to wear the Peugot jersey around BRose, as he's a bit opinionated about francovelo-related topics.

-Steamrollers: 53 and 56cm sizes should be in stock next week. 49, 59 and 62cm sizes end of January.

-Pugsley: 16" size won't be back in stock until 1st or 2nd week of February. As of today, there are only a couple weeks worth of 18" Pugs left in stock.

A group of riders are planning to ride their bikes from California to Massachusetts in just 28 days next summer, RIDING ON FIXED GEAR BIKES! The reason they are doing this is to create awareness and raise money for a rare disease called Histiocytosis. It is similar to cancer, but is so rare there isn't much money for research into the disease.

We're honored to be a sponsor of this trek because it's for a good cause. It's also such a crazy idea to ride cross-country on fixed gear bikes, why not support it? Their suffering will help to reduce the suffering of many, many children. Check it out, they still need riders and donations, it's quite admirable.

I was out riding trails on Saturday with a few folks. Cold? Not for Minnesota. Snow? Sure, but the trails were in great shape, like when it's dirt, but with occasional ice underneath to make it exciting. In fact, the snow pack filled in some pitted sections, making it smoother than usual.
At one point, stopped between laps, I heard a voice I had not before and started looking around to see where it was coming from. No one else was there besides us. I heard it again: "Hey! Let me out!" It was coming from Luby's pocket.
"Luby," I said, "there's a voice coming from your pants."
The voice answered for him. "It's me, Flasky! Let me out! I know you're riding, I can feel myself sloshing around. Come on, I wanna party!"
Luby pulled his flask from his pocket. "Ah, that's better," said Flasky. "Fresh air, singletrack. Drink me! Let's rock!"
Luby looked nervous. "I dunno, Flasky, you got me in trouble last time I let you out."
"Look, we can have some fun. No big whoop. Now open me up."
Luby still looked nervous. "I don't think so, Flasky. You're a mean drunk."
"Listen @$$hole," said Flasky, "you take me out now or next time you drink me I'll make you puke. Think about it."
Luby's resolve wavered, but he didn't open the flask. The rest of us just stood there watching it unfold. Flasky got impatient.
"O.K., seriously. This is getting old. Open me up right now."
I looked at Backer. He shrugged.
"I've about had it, mutherhumper," said Flasky. "Drink me! DRINK ME!"
"Shut up, you stupid flask," said Luby, and he started to put the flask back in his pocket.
"O.K., how 'bout this?" Flasky was getting angry. "You like to sh*t fire? Cuz I can burn comin' out too!"
Luby thought hard. We knew he was thinking hard because he stuck out his tongue and furrowed his brow. Also, we could hear the squeaking of the gears in his head. At last he took the flask out of his pocket, opened it and took a swig. He passed it around, while Flasky made happy noises: "Oo, that's it. Right there. I make you warm, eh? A'right! Let's ride! Yeeha!"

And we did. It's a strange world. They oughta sell tickets.

Side benefits of getting a Pugsley that most folks don't think about:

Bonding with the pooch AND getting some court time to work on the jump shot - all while getting dumploads of new snow.

Product Availability

We have good news on production and having more stuff in stock:

- STEAMROLLERS should be ready to roll sooner than expected. Hopefully right before xmas holiday or shortly thereafter.

- More Pacer and black 1x1 framesets around the same time.

- More cogs, track lockrings and Singleators around the same time.

- New colors of 1x1 and Long Haul Truckers look to be around early February.

Product Outages

Although our inventory has gotten significantly better in the last week, we're still out of a few key items.

- Steamroller framesets- these shouldn't be too much longer because we know production is wrapping up in the next few weeks. But it's safe to say we won't have them ready until the end of January or early February.

- Large Marge Offset XC rims- this lighter weight version exceeded our sales expectations, so we were caught a bit flat footed. We're honestly not quite sure when these will be ready again, but if you're planning on building your wheels for Pugsley anytime in the next 6-8 weeks, I recommend buying the non-cutout DH offset Large Marge.

- New Lemon/Lime Green 1x1 frameset- end of January

- New Utility Blue and Dark Cherry Long Haul Trucker framesets- end of January.

Very recently, a Surly forum was added to mtbr.com. Fortunately, most of the information is accurate and helpful. But, as you can well imagine, some of the threads contain speculation, misinformation, ego, and outright stupidity. And, there aren’t enough hours in the day for us to police the forum for errant information. You’re on your own with this one.

I honestly appreciate the posts from those in the know….the ones that clarify the facts and disprove the misinformation for the masses. I offer sincere thanks to all of the helpful individuals who are not just talking shit and starting false rumors. Your pictures and posts are great vehicles for unbiased testimonials and helpful information. Thank you.

SSWC06 update

Actually, there is no update other than we're not taking any more proposals to host Single Speed Worlds in 2006. We're just becoming unburied with day to day business and will begin the process of narrowing down the locations/hosts.

If you have a proposal in already, you should be hearing from us in the next two weeks. Hopefully we'll make a decision before Santa Claus comes to town.

My commute was notably sweet last night. It has been snowing lightly on and off for the last couple of days, and it has stayed cold. Most of Minneapolis and the surrounding ‘burbs have 2-3 inches on the ground. With 20psi in the tires, the Pug was rippin’ on the mostly-plowed streets and alleys. 2-wheel drifts through the corners, at speed, are predictable and safe with the big meats when rolling on the mostly-dry snow. Sometimes, I speed up before the corners to test the limits of the tires and myself. I just get low...lots of times sitting on the toptube...and shift my weight back and forth with a foot out on the inside of the corner. The exaggerated fore/aft weight shift is the key. I’m damn-near having intimate relations with the stem, if it’s really loose and the front end starts to slide a bit too much. Mom would be so proud to know her boy is regularly humping his bike in public. A good line through the corner doesn't hurt either. When auto traffic is light or nonexistent, I use the whole road to properly apex that corner and keep my speed up. When it gets slick, I'm all about wide...wide bars, wide tires, wide turns....wide-angle lenses, wide loads, wide eyes, wide world of sports, why'd you wink at me you creepy old man with your hand down the front of your orange and brown plaid trousers, etc, etc.

I arrived home in a great mood. That quickly faded when I realized that I’d lost my bag off my seatpost rack somewhere along my 16-mile commute from work to home. The toe straps holding it on had loosened and allowed the bag to slide off the back of the rack. I had no idea where I dropped it. What a sinking feeling. Luckily, I had my wallet and keys in my pockets. But, my bag had some valuable goods in it: my phone, some clothes, a new tarp-tent, some other new camping gadgets that got shipped to the office yesterday, work-related paperwork, and my check book. It was a big loss. I had to go back and look for it…even if I had to ride back to the office. It could be anywhere. Somebody could have picked it up, or it could have been run over by 100 cars and smashed to pieces…but, I had to look. After wolfing down some pitted dates, chocolate chip cookies, fruit juice, and a cheese stick, I exchanged a couple layers of wet clothes for some dry ones and headed back out to look for my lost goods.

While riding, I was thinking about all the places that I would have bucked it off the rack…all the curb hops, snowy fields, bumps and berms. There were too many to count. I was getting more bummed out as I calculated the probability of successfully finding everything intact. Then, as I approached Portland Ave...about 20 minutes from home, I spotted it. My yellow drybag was lying right where it had fallen an hour earlier…in the snow, between the parkway and bike path, at the point I had hopped up the curb. Damn, that’s a nice feeling. At that point, I didn’t care about the worry and waste of time. Life was good again. I was hungry and tired, but so happy to not have to deal with the hassle of replacing my phone, canceling my checks, and redoing my paperwork. I definitely used up some good kharma, last night.

There is a law known in nature as natural selection. The weakest of the herd are caught by the predator, the bighorn sheep with the biggest horns defeats his competitors and mates with the hot lady bighorn sheep. The Minnesotan drives his pick up truck across the partially frozen lake with only 4 inches of ice and plunges to an icey death. It still happens today, whether it's weakness or stupidity, the evolution of animals (humans are animals too) is constantly evolving.

So as I got dropped by another cyclist last night who seemed hellbent on going faster than what seemed safe on the snowy roads during rush hour, I notice he didn't have ANY tail lights on his bike. Just the standard issue reflector, as if that's going to do anything. C'mon guy, it's winter and motorists have a hard enough time driving already. Not to mention believing their eyes when they see us riding a bicycle this time of year.

Being that a car is like the badass hungry lion and you are like the wimpy gimpy bunny rabbit, you're going to loose. You won't get to mate with the hot bunny girl, you won't pass go and collect $200 and your revolution will not be televised. Go get some flashing lights and keep the batteries fresh. I don't mean one of those dangling flashers hung onto your courier bag that point straight up in the air, I mean put some serious LEDs back there and watch how much room cars will start to give you.

It's winter, get lit up.

The snow was starting to come down steadily as Luby and I mounted our Pugs and headed toward the park on our ride home from the QBP compound (also, Surly headquarters). Luby was riding his 32/17 single; I was on my geared rig. He ran 20psi in his Endomorphs; I had about 28psi in mine. We settled into a good pace and pointed toward SE Minneapolis.

All was going well…auto traffic was pretty light, the meek majority was hiding from winter inside their houses, and traction was good despite the icy/snowy condition of the road. Then, as we turned left off of 84th to duck into a little neighborhood, a miniature Doberman ran right at Luby, smacked into his wheel, flipped over onto its back, and was run over by the back tire of Luby’s Pugsley. Holy shit. I expected that little rat dog to be dead or maimed or, at least, impeded in some way, shape, or form. Nope. It leapt up to its feet, dashed out into 84th street traffic, and ran out of sight. That mini doggy is damned lucky that he encountered a big, squishy tire rather than a high-pressure skinny pumped up to its max rating. Luby, staying upright through the whole incident, probably came out of it better as a result of his vehicle and tire choice, too.

After that little bit of chaos, the rest of the ride seemed pretty tame. The snow fell faster, and we settled into a good pace again. We chatted about all the stuff that bike geeks chat about, and we made our way toward our homes. One topic of conversation: The Arrowhead Winter Ultra. Taken from the website… “The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions starting at 7am--Monday, February 6 through Wednesday night, 7pm--Feb. 8th, 2006.” It’s put on by Cheryl and Pierre Ostor and a whole lot of other folks who are eager to watch you push yourself to your limits…while doing their damnedest to keep you from permanently resting tits-up in a snow bank. Luby and I will be riding our Pugs in this event. We’ll be joined by fellow cyclists, runners, and skiers.

Last year’s winner, Matt Evingson, completed the course a few minutes shy of 29 hours. And, he did it on pre-production Surly Endomorph 3.7 tires rolling in a frame and fork made by his big brother, John. Coincidentally, John was the catalyst to Surly’s plunge into making snow/sand/adventure-worthy rims, tires, and framesets. So, we owe John a great deal of thanks for getting us into this fine mess. If you are interested in an adventure bike (John coined the term…I’m just borrowing it because it most appropriately describes bikes like the Pugsley) but want something other than a Pugsley, John will build you a custom Evingson frame and/or fork. Give him a call: (651) 257-6635.

If you’ve got a hankerin’ for a new adventure, you should join us. Luby and I, along with many of the other folks who are destined to take part, are newbies to this kind of stuff. So, you’re in good company if you don’t have the first clue about what it’s like to participate in this type of event. It’s 2 months away, so you have time to do some research (the Arrowhead website is a good place to start), time to get your gear together, and time to do a little bit of training. And, If you do have a clue...even some experience with this type of adventure, you should really be out there showing us novices how it's supposed to be done. See ya there.