Why you don't know what I said you should know...

and why you're still not going to know.

So last week I said I would announce my new 2011 frame sponsor this week. It's Friday, and as some of you have pointed out I haven't said shit. Why not?

Bad Idea Racing History Lesson #1:

Way back in 2006 I was an unsponsored, unprofessional cyclist. In September after I won the 24 Hour Solo Single Speed World Championships I was offered my first sponsorship since 2001, and I went with it. I made the announcement on my old blog, and then there were three months of hype and hoopla and missed delivery dates. Right at the end of the year I ended up with a frame showing up at my house that was all kinds of wrong. The deal fell apart, and I was left without a sponsor at the end of the year that I was most likely to find a sponsor. Meh.

Well, I went out looking and luckily got a new sponsor in early 2007. He was much more pleasant to work with, but unfortunately the builder that was contracted to cut, miter, and weld the tubes ended up becoming just as famous on the MTBR 29'er forum for not so good reasons as the previously mentioned guy. After a lot of anticipation I ended up with a frame that couldn't even be built up. Strike two.

Everything was made pretty hunky dory a bit later, things fell apart again for me, and then things went back to hunky dory times two. Time passed, I rode a few different frames, and in 2009 I got a cherry sponsor. Towards the end of 2009 I announced that I was going to continue with my then current sponsor only to have things come apart a few months later leaving me sponsorless once again.

I didn't name names in all the above situations because I just didn't feel like it. The facts are all there for those that wanna dig deep.

I've realized that when I open my mouth early it seems as if I jinx things. So when I announced last week that I would announce my new frame sponsor this week I had time to reflect over the weekend. I thought, "What the fuck am I thinking? Do I want to jinx this one too?"

So I pulled the plug on the big announcement. Things are being done behind the scenes to get the frame to me as soon as possible, perhaps even at the beginning of next month. More parts should be showing up today (please let the FedEx guy show up while The Pie isn't in the shower), and as soon as it is built up and driveway test ridden you'll be the (virtual) first to know.

There are other projects that will begin once the box of happy from Bike29 arrives on my porch today, but I'll get into that as I work my way through them. Hopefully I'll be racing the short track race on Sunday, but as of right now my liaison/middle man with Bicycles East is still out of town, so I await his call tomorrow. If I do indeed race I should have a post up on Monday, but then my mom's operation is on Tuesday, which means that blogging won't be on any normal schedule until we get her all settled back in her place and happy.

In the meantime, peruse this Surly blog post of the ten best crashes from the 2010 SSWC.