Bryce Boosting Big on a Boogie in Bend

Steel WÜleur Bryce Hart making it look easy while on vacation in Bend. I believe he is in the elite club of pedal pushers who can lay it down on an 8 hour road ride in the mountains with the best of them and then air it out with the all the youngsters. It's good to have wizards in the Peloton because they can work their bike magic behind the scene and keep everyone upright by absorbing our subtle mistakes. 

On the road with Steel WÜleur Eric Highlander

Hey Jake, 

First I need to say I sure do miss the Steel Wul rides, I will have to get my fill durning the winter time. This summer has been a whirl wind of great times, hot weather, high elevation, long drives, beautiful bike rides and amzing people. I have been to Denver, Evergreen, Durango, Fruita, Grand Junction, Fort Collins, Moab, Salt lake City, Park City, Bend, Hood River, and Portland. 

You will enjoy this little story, I was in Durango for about 6 days with the east coast demo team and we were hanging out in the front yard of some friends house after a ride drinking beer and who walks by in black jeans, a t-shirt , and tennis shoes carrying a tennis racket? Bob Roll! Turns out he lives down the street from where we were staying. Who would of thought he was a tennis player? 

I have attached some photos to the email, just wanted to show some of the things I have seen so far. Everyday I feel beyond lucky to be doing what I'm doing within and industry that I love . 

I hope everyone is doing well and that the fire season for you is not to crazy. 

Cheers, 

Eric

Headed to Durango outside of Red Mountain Pass

Hermosa Creek Trail Durango

Kokopelli Trail Moab

Life of a Demo Driver

With 732 mile sectors, here is a little tribute to Highlander.

SW Math -if we can see the top from here, and you have a credit card...

With Henrieta Peak in his cross-hairs, John Caletti takes a moment to crunch the numbers. In the big picture, whats the difference between 85 and 135, besides 6 additional pastries?

Edward Norton had Tyler Durden, who do you have?

If you've ever been off the bike for months sometimes your subconscious takes over to help keep things going. Mama WÜleur heard someone rustling in the SW Lounge the other night and captured this little piece of evidence. She said I looked "peaceful" and turned the light off on her way back to bed. 

WÜlini Chamalini rides again..

Seeking motivation one LP at a time...

I woke up this morning after a 300 hour work shift feeling like John Prine looks on his Sweet Revenge album. After a cup of bengal spice tea and email confirmation of a Wednesday boogie with a few WÜleurs, I started to feel almost as good as Dick Dale looks on his Surfers Choice album.

For the record:

Dick Dale played a right handed guitar left handed without reversing the strings. All of his guitars and amplifying systems were built for him by Mr. Leo Fender. It had to be built to withstand the punishment of Dick's playing.

Energy cost at Steel WÜl HQ: 33 cents per person per day.

We have been waiting for the PG&E June billing cycle to show up so we can compare notes and sure enough, we accomplished our goal of a buck a day at Steel WÜl HQ for energy costs. That just might motivate us to get down to a quarter a day per person. After reading an article in the Huffington Post ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/21/save-energy-by-unplugging_n_136625.html ) regarding unplugging electronic gadgets to save energy, we realized that they have it all backwards and it is the gadgets that we need to rid from our homes not just unplug them. It is much greener to simply not own it than have to unplug it. Check out one of the ridiculous responses to the energy article, some softy claims, "we need to engineer our way out of this energy situation". I bet this guy complains about the cost of inflation also. What would MMM think of this guy?


here is his comment:
This is just plain silly. Many devices include clocks and other settings that are lost if they are unplugged for long. Asking people to run around all day plugging and unplugging is just NOT the ANSWER and an example of a bad way to try and help people be green.

Design a phone charger with shuts down when the phone is charged and no longer pulling a load. The user could then plug in, push a button or something and start the process over again.

What about a VCR? That must maintain memory so it will kick in while you are out and record the show you want. Build it with a rechargeable battery. It can then shut off it's transformer when not in use and only turn it on when it's time to record the show or give itself a quick battery recharge.

We need to engineer our way out of this not tell people, the vast majority who will never do it, to unplug things. My wife is gonna have that coffee turn on in the morning no matter how much you hate her coffee pots transformer. But the pot can be engineered to be more green.

That can be done NOW, with todays tech and would not add much to cost. Lets push for that and stop this non-sese of asking people to crawl around unplugging stuff.

"I'll meet you at Piggies after 5th period"

Jake,

Your blog took me back.  Battin fighting with drivers.  Big Ed and his gigantic gears.  Shane K when he showed up for his first group ride kind of chubby, then a beast later.  Pregnant Katrin Tobin riding to work at Giro.  Breaking my collarbone on a t,th ride and piling into Chris Chaput's truck with the other casualties to avoid paying for the ambulance that was on it's way.  Starting every disrict tt behind larsen because of the damn alphabet.  Hunter Allen going to Europe and being beaten up by his host family.  Pat Heaney and his bible.  Erbe's son coming to watch me race in Capitola and crashing right in front of him and traumatizing him enough that he cried every time he saw me for about a year.  Housesitting for Big Ed and his dog attacking me while they were backpacking in Yosemite and lying about his address so they wouldn't put his dog to sleep before he got back.  Pat Connelly and I getting ready for a ride in Nisene right before the 89 quake.

Vern

                          Pat Connelly, Derek Updike, Brent Marks, Jeremy Gilbert?, Shane Klepfer

                                              The one and only Kim Davis (RIP)
              

For the record:

Derek was employee # 2 or # 3 at Speedplay and this photo must have been taken just after Pat rode his bike down from Seattle. He was an electrician and said that he and his buddy started to drink coffee because it was free at most "cafes". Brent was pre UC Davis at Cabrillo and Shaney Shane was post skate life and pre aerobisourus-rex. Kim was the fastest female in California for many years.

"FEAR -False Evidence Appearing Real"

The one and only Zig Ziggler coined that phrase years ago and I have had to repeat that quietly to myself on a number of occasions over the years during sketchy situations. For some reason, my inner voice sounds like Bill Murray's character in 'What about Bob' and goes something like this, "it's just false evidence appearing real...just some good old false evidence and it appears sorta real". The reason I bring this up is that the tables have recently turned and I have been the false evidence appearing real and it's not cool at all. Lets just say for argument sake that I was riding my bike on a road that is questionably public, honestly it depends who you ask, for example I had the county road department say one thing and CHP say another (I know, its shocking).

While gingerly pedaling on this road minding my own business, I was verbally and physically assaulted (does a small dirt clod count as assault?). I could not figure out what I did to this person other than pedal my way past his home on a human powered machine because the day before I drove past this person in front of his house in a four stroke (intake, compression, power, exhaust, did I mention exhaust) internal combustion engine vehicle. The only thing I could think of was Bill Murray's voice saying, "you're just a little false evidence to him, and you're evidently appearing real".

I have seen this phenomenon before with humans traveling on foot. Why do most folks feel more comfortable to have a vehicle zoom past their home rather than someone on foot or bike? Does it have to do with the fact that he could see my face or hear me breath, and that was just too much F.E.A.R. from him? I suppose we have just become so numb to vehicles that it is as if they are not even there. When I drove past his place, I could of had a roof mounted turret and he probably would have just thrown a perfunctory wave my way. He saw something so different when I pedaled passed him that it cause a visceral response.

The moral of the story is to just tell these folks that everything is going to be alright, and that your vehicle is parked just up around the corner. Or you can go with our fly fishing guide Greg Hector's quote, "hey... we're all Americans here, so lets just share a little river and then we'll be on our way". He pulled that one out of the clear blue sky on the upper Trinity and it was strangely patriotic. Regardless, just keep pushing those pedals because the rest of the world knows us as pedal pushers not button pushers, our folks will eventually come around.


Here is a little False Evidence Appearing Real for you...

Steel WÜl Trivia: Super Prestige Pernod

Question: Who are these classy gentlemen?

Answer: Jean Francois Bernard, Sean Kelly, & Ronan Pensec receiving the Super Prestige

Three granite cobbles seeking comfortable mantel...

Something tells me that a confident Dan Perry has already determined that the red one will go well in his living room, the white one will go well in his kitchen window and the blue one will complement his garden. Being a marked man, he might have a harder time hiding in the group these days...

Endangered Species: Great Service...I know right?

We have been thinking a lot lately about service and more importantly good old fashioned quality service. Everyone has been demotivated before after experiencing poor service or even worse, no service. When Mama WÜleur and I bused tables together at Palapas in the early 90's, we were constantly reminded by one Garin Gates that folks were more likely to share a bad experience with 10 people and pass on a fabulous experience to only 2. SW headquarters would like to share a few outstanding local businesses via the inter-web. These folks and related businesses motivate me to go that extra mile when its my turn to "serve".

General Feed & Seed 

These folks have absolutely set the bar regarding friendly attitudes. When Olive and I make the right hand turn into their parking lot and see the iconic barn, we always feel more relaxed knowing that we are about to visit our own little version of a county fair. Oh yea...and their chicken feed is quite affordable, however, beware of their Breyer Horse collection if you have a 9 year old daughter as it is quite impressive. 

Spokesman Bicycles - Harry Gurney
If you own a road bike that is more expensive or more important to you than your motor vehicle, than I hope for your sake that you are dropping your rig off at the Spokesman so you can experience what it is like to pick up your bike after a Harry-build. There is an  indescribable quality to his legendary work. I have heard folkloric tales of his bike magic from other mechanics. His bar wrap alone is worth at least 5 watts because it's absolute perfection and you feel obligated to ride just a little bit better.

East Cliff Video 

Not to brag or anything, but we are one of the last members of East Cliff Video who are still in the elusive  "movie club". This club was formed on the eve of the NetFlicks (destroyer of local video stores) phenomenon. Not having any form of television, we do visit ECV enough to never have to show our ID or present a card. The folks are very helpful when it comes to screening content for those 9 year old sleep overs and they found a movie for us that was filmed in Corsica (hard to come by). All the employees seem to dig their job and over the years we have seen them come and go and some return. Come on out of video store retirement and pedal on down to your local store. Sammy's videos have only been on a plane once. 

Holser's Tires 

This family run business was recommended to me by a buddy in 1995 and I will never go anywhere else. I love the way you just pull up to the parking spaces in front and one of the brothers (usually) meets you before you even make it into the office. When they ask me what I want, I simply say, "tell me what I need". After they look at our vehicle they typically say, "well you don't need anything fancy, that's for sure". Its been years since we have been there and I was getting tired of using the floor pump on our slow leak the other day, so Mama WÜleur swung on by and the boys fixed the front left tire for a few bucks and sent her on her way with a recommendation to replace 2 if we were going to do any long distance driving, thank god we don't do that.

Who is your favorite provider of service? 

1979 was a good year for Detto's, TA, Suntour &...

Pflueger Medalist reels. If Pflueger made a crank set I am pretty sure that I would put one on my tangerine orange 49' Schwinn DX. I have a feeling that Grant Peterson probably pedals around with a couple of Pflueger fly reels in his bags. This 18 dollar baby showed up on the doorstep only needing a little Phil Wood lube and some novice fisherman love. It reminds me of a trusty Suntour bar end shifter - leaves you wondering what roads or rivers it has seen. I have to find a reason to pedal around with this thing in my mussete bag.



For the record: I think Paul Willerton would appreciate this photo

The Full Wilder - Ball Mauler June 22nd

Join the Ball Mauler crew as they serve up a plate of spaghetti trail criss crossing every boogie in Wilder. Make sure to say hello to Sunny in the maintenance yard. 

Geospatial Data Visualization or I spy for the FBI

The Edward Snowden issue was absolutely perfect for Google to slide off the radar screen. Ever seen the Google car with all the hardware strapped to the roof? Well, their little stunt they pulled with Keyhole Inc (now owned by Google) cost them 7 Million in settlements. They realized that those little cameras were able to capture endless amounts of Wi-Fi information from all of us. To celebrate all the spying that is going on we busted out our 1986 Untouchables Dance Party LP - side 2, song 2...enjoy.



For the record: I never saw the Untouchables at the Catalyst in June of 89' but I did stop and listen to them from Pacific Avenue with AC & Kev McGill on our grey and white Bridgestone MB-1's with Ritchey vector force tires, Nitto seat posts, and coski forks.

Sir Silky's boogie report of Gibraltar

Hi Jaker,

While you were away, I had the opportunity to support a tandem dealer of ours with a demo weekend in Ventura. Having scouted this area previously, I had my minds-eye focused squarely on an ascent of Gibraltar. I first heard about this climb back in '92 while swapping routes/rides with the collegiate team from UCSB. I allocated just enough time Friday to get this guy done. I sniffed around online and discovered a winding, hilly approach through the foothills; tons of twists, turns, up and downs. I think I racked up 2k in 'ele prior to hitting the foot of the beast! I hunkered down, found the comfortable cookie and spun for well over an hour. I shot a photo of my Garmin; it took me 2.5 hours to cover 24 miles! Indeed, turns out those 2.5 hours were about 6k in vert gain. Sweet satisfaction. I shot some snaps with the "right tool for the job" at the summit, spun around, and slid downhill. The views East were particularly stunning.

Check out the Garmin data; http://connect.garmin.com/activity/326565234#

Here's some "rider notes" on Gibraltar; http://www.toughascent.com/blog/2010/06/05/santa-barbara-gibraltar-road-climb/

Looking forward to pedaling with you soon.

Steel WÜl Trivia - "Remember the Alamo"

Question: Who are these two junior racers and what boogie did they just finish?

Answer: Kevin Livingston and Jan Neal.

Hint: They both eventually turned pro and one of them road the TdF many times.He also pedaled with Postal, Cofidas, Telekom, Saturn, Spirit of St Luis. The other one road for Saturn and was hit by a car in the Tour of Mexico with Clark Sheehan and was evidently a SF bike messenger at one point.

We fought our own battle that day in the sweltering heat not unlike Davy Crockett at the Alamo. Hincapie finished that day only wearing a chamois. 

Corisca in 26 months, can you hear me now?

Steel WÜl pulled off a recon mission to Corsica to inspect the first three stages of the 2013 TdF. I hope those sprinters have been doing their climbing homework because the stage that cuts through Corte is going to split the field like a Corsican knife through wild boar sausage. Here is how we did it:

Step 1 - cultivate a disliking for AT&T

Step 2 - realize that AT&T will survive without your $125 per month 

Step 3 - pick your jaw up off the floor after you realize that 125 x 12 = $1500

Step 4 - discover that Air France will get you to Corsica for $1100 from SFO

Step 5 - complete the math equation: no cell phone bill + 26 months = 3 tickets to Corsica

Step 6 - find a large glass jar to collect monies (preferably a Martinelli cider jar)

Step 7 - live 26 months...stress free sans cell phones
Step 8 - be willing to sleep in a 350 year old stone cabin with an outdoor kitchen and shower

Bonus Step - provide emergency medicine to an unconscious passenger in seat 44B at 36,000' above Reykjavik Iceland and receive one extra cup of orange juice, a free headset, and two small packages of "cakes". Oh yea...and two complimentary round trip tickets on Air France. 

view from cottage

below cottage

Piana

Portu

Bonifacio

Spelunca Bridge

Stage 3 of the TdF

6000 year old Megaliths

Corsican boar sausage

For the record: Greg Shapleigh's former Corsican teammate was correct - Corsica does have better roads, mountains, climate, beaches, food, mountaineering, cycling, and scenery. We will return in 26 months to entertain this idea- GR20 .

George Meyer - Hornitos Ca

I had to think on my feet, rely on my memory, and use some verbal-judo to win over George this year. He entertained (verbally eviscerated) the group last year as we sat on the curb in front of his barn. We chatted about the inevitable early fire season, Sacramento politics and cycling shorts. 

Giro / Steel WÜl Spring Sportive

 .

Someone created a monster - DP was an Olympic caliber long distance swimmer for 20 years, he recently turned to road cycling, his kids are now in school 8 hours a day, he has "mandatory" physical training while protecting our state beaches four days a week, he has his own siogner acupuncturist as a spouse and he is eligible for retirement in 4.5 years. Come on Dan, with that line up you no longer need to look over your shoulder on the steep stuff because...you've done dropped them all.

For the record: Dan was chasing  SF Mash rider Dominic "Steve" Giovani for the unofficial KOM

I don't concider it a gate, I like to think of it as a filter

Backyard Boogie with a twist