Cleaning House

My new bike is...

not this bike, but I must admit this bike looks nice. If I were to build a bike I would probably pick some of the very same parts... oh wait, I did. Can you tell me how many parts the Meatplow has in common with this impostor?

Some of you might have noticed that I spent the four day weekend cleaning house on the old blog. Gone are the sponsor logos that are no longer part of what I'll be doing in 2010. Nostalgia does not play well here, and as heartless as it felt I had to cut the final ties. I also changed the very bottom of the blog (if you scroll down really far) to reflect the return to the "salad days mentality" I'm gonna work hard to dredge up and bring to the forefront once again. The new sponsor that recently jumped on board after extensive negotiations will be added tomorrow. I'd give you hints, but that would be something akin to insider information that could be used for financial gain. I'm not going down Martha Stewart style, so you'll have to wait 24 hours to find out.

Being that I will no longer be sponsored by MOOTS I also added a blog list of folks that I felt might have been inappropriate to list when I had a frame sponsor, but now it seems okee doke. Who are they?

Furry Knuckle: This would be the blog of the Silverback, Mike Ferrentino. It's called 104 Bronson (the address for Santa Cruz Bicycles), and it has an obvious SCB tainted POV. Regardless of that it has a nice Mike kinda style... the kinda style that makes my writing look like dookie. I have not owned a Santa Cruz since the early 00's, but that doesn't stop me from admiring them from afar. I do have to put up with "Wednesdays with Weir" posts, but since my buddy Mark hasn't kept in touch since the Hell Ride this is the only way I can keep up with his ultra cool lifestyle of shredding, modeling, Bud pounding, racing RC cars, and facial hair grooming.

Walt Works: I love Walt, but I don't know if Walt loves me back. He built my first quality rigid fork which I sold to Big Worm, which he broke, which caused confusion and weirdness, but I love Walt no matter what. He's a thinker, he builds bikes with the power of the sun, and he's built some bikes that are not quite beyond reason, but not necessarily something you can talk any builder into building. He blogs about the process of building quite a bit, and I like to read about that kinda stuff since I'm a curious individual.

Groovy Cycleworks: Rody is pretty neat, and the fact that his spirit has not been quashed by living in Ohio is a testament to his willpower and gumption. He builds creative stuff in a creative manner and blogs a lot about the process. His paint is divine, and he's got some cool ideas that he makes a reality in steel and ti. Being an Ohioan he might know Garth Prosser, but I will not hold that against him.

The Real Rock Lobster: This is not the Rock Lobster blog, but the blog of the man behind Rock Lobster; Paul Sadoff. He is quite the curmudgeonly opinionated builder, but with all the years of building experience he has behind him his opinion is well... well... his. I like to read what he has to say, and my only regret is that he doesn't say something more often.

I also added the Surly blog, the Salsa blog, and the Independent Fabrications blog. I read them on occasion, and I'm gonna keep them there so I remember to look at them once and awhile. The Salsa and Surly blogs have interesting industry tidbits, and the IF blog just has some pretty bikes now and then... and this really cool messenger bag with built-in beer holders.

I took the time to weed the garden of my other blog links. Some folks have pretty much dropped off the face of the earth or at least stopped blogging, so I let them go. Things were getting crowded over there on the right, and I needed to make room for the new additions. Sorry.

My schedule for the 2010 "season" is now up for the world to see... well at least the first few months worth. I've officially signed up for the P36 over the weekend, which I'll talk more about later when I have time to get more wordy. You might also notice the question marks surrounding the Tran-Sylvania Stage Race. I've got a few ducks that need to line up to pull that one off, so it remains on the "definitely maybe" list. I really wanna be there, and I've been planning on going since I heard about it, but being a true privateer has its limitations. Everything else on the list is SOLID. I will be at Hoffencross, the Six Hours of Warrior Creek, PMBAR, and the Breck Epic. I will be adding more races as I get around to it. Some stale favorites will be added to the line up, but hopefully I'll have some fresh events to boot.

That's enough for now. Come back tomorrow for the story that not even Cycling News could break (and they even have an inside man... errr... I mean woman).

Do not tell me that onion rings are not meal.