More Transformation...

Now for all you tech-savvy folk out there and on the slim chance you are following me over on Twitter might have noticed a picture I posted a night or two ago... Last week, I decided that Red was going to transform a bit from her current state to some thing new with all sorts of little hints and teasers along the way...

This was a quick picture I took before Tom and I's late night ride for cheap food...


That's right, we rode to get food and good food... and cheap food. I digress... I've got a few other things to get before new pictures of here will be shown but in the meantime I've been rocking Red brake less the last few days and it's been fun. Not a new experiment by any means but really allows me to remember how badly I wish I could skid.

Another addition to Red will be a new brake lever. Over the weekend I did some modification to what started as an all white brake to better fit Red's decor.


That's it for now. More later and to those of you who were wondering, Leadout Racing had a pretty dang good showing at the Tour de Gaslight Crit this past weekend. Way to go guys! It made for a great day to sit and watch a few races.

I'm not happy with you right now... Red

Tonight was to be a big night and it started out great. I got out of work and headed over to the barber shop to get a haircut and shed the beard that I've been sporting for the last year and a half or so. It was big step for me, I realized that I have friends in my life that have never seen me without the beard and if I do say so myself, I pulled the beard off well.

In the last few weeks, I've felt like I wanted to shave it off. If only to be able to grow it back but I knew if I didn't, the beard might be a life long addition to the face much like my fathers. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I have no memory of my father without a beard and I am convinced that his chin only exists in beard form. Much like Chuck Norris, if he shaved it off there would simply be another beard underneath of it. I needed freedom from it. In a way my beard had become much like a horrible girlfriend that you can't break up with. You know you should end the relationship but the familiarity and although it's bad you know what it will be like, as compared to the unknown of flying solo.

So was my beard, I had attempted to shave it off myself a few weeks ago but ended up just looking at myself in the mirror unable to do so. This time, I paid someone to do it because I knew I couldn't go through with it. When I told the barber this story, she laughed at me as she allowed me to sport a killer mustache for a bit.

Clean shaven and a haircut I decided to take Red out on her maiden voyage. It started out great. The normal sounds of spokes popping as I rolled down the street as they found their place. I headed downtown to meet up with some co-workers before the weekly Wednesday Night ride. Up until this point, it was good but like so many things what started good ends bad. I left Founders to head to the start of the Wednesday right when...

My chain broke. Yes, Geoff you were right, piecing together to chains together link by link does make for a weaker chain. It broke on my first climb and I was suspecting something was up because the chain was making unusual noise. No carnage though! Thankfully. Because I had feared that the chain might do this, I had a spare chain with me in my seatbag. It was already cut to length and all I had to do was push the pin through with my trusty Crank Brother Multi-tool.

I was able to throw it one without any major issue but still was very frustrated with what had just happened. The ride leaves the start at 9:30, I finished the change over at 9:28 and made a sprint in the direction that I hoped I would intersect the ride. Fortunately it's still getting dark around 9pm so I was able to track them down with all the red flashers.

The route was good and ended up swing back to around my place so I broke off from the group and headed home. I wasn't happy about having to leave the ride earlier but in all honesty I didn't trust my bike at this point. I soft pedaled home just to make sure I wouldn't have any other issues because the last thing I wanted to do was to have to walk home. As I rounded the final turn home and road up the neighbors driveway Red decided to take a dive. I still don't know what happened all I know is that I had to bail on her and fortunately I caught the bike before I went completely down and only had the pedals scrape the concrete.

Note: Concrete beats anodized metal.

I'm not too happy with Red right now. The last thing I need right now is more girl problems in my life and needless to say it was unexpected to say the least from her. She's been my pride and joy since I got her together last year and always worked flawlessly. I'm a bit frustrated to say the least and am looking for some thing to blame... which I might blame to Salsa stem on it sense the last fixie it was on, I crashed on. The stem is totally fine but I think some bad karma might be wrapped up in it.

[Sorry no pictures of Red until I decide what's next... she's being punished for her vanity now]

She pur-deee....

It's getting close... real close...

Red's getting close.

Now, I must first start off by apologizing for my lack of posts in the last two weeks. Honestly, I was extremely excited to write this month, which hasn't been the case for some time. But as life happens, and when I'm completely honest, I get overwhelmed. And well, life has happened. It hasn't been the greatest of times lately but I've saved you from that until now and so I will continue to do so now...

But with the persuasion of F2 [aka Michelle our resident spell checker,editor, and dedicated Saturday Night Ride rider; and good friend] I've gotten back on the horse a bit. I've had a few bike projects that have been completed in the last few weeks if you've been following my twitter. The first was a good friend of mine's single speed project for his wife. Then it was Michelle's fixie which is HOT!!! [and will be featured here soon hopefully]. Then my roommates bike transformation... this to this.

Needless to say, I've had things going on to write about... then add on bike to work week and day last week, the ride of silence today in Grand Rapids. There are plenty of issues and topics that I should be writing on. But thank you for your patience and understanding that, well, as much as I hate to admit it there is often more drama in my life than I would like and after 27 years, I just now have discovered I don't respond well to that.

Today was a day off for me though, which always helps serve as a time to come up for air, regroup and hopefully shut of the ol' head of mine. Since I've been waiting on a few parts for Red recently I've had time to think about other ways to make her shine... This was the latest...


Now, I am be generous. Normally I have only teased at what has been done to her. But today I gave you as atonement for my lack of posts a full picture of my wheelset. They are Velocity Fusion rims, that I had earlier this spring put red nipples on and now have added 8 white spokes on the non-drive side of the wheels to for a 4 pointed star of sorts... Why you might ask? Because I can.

If all goes to plan, I will have the bike together FINALLY, next Wednesday, just in time to take her on the Wednesday Night ride that happens here in Grand Rapids each week. I might be making a last minute change to the pedals but you will have to wait and see for that....

Go By Bike: Weight Loss

Today's One World, Two Wheels statement concerns weight-loss...

'The average person loses 13 lbs. their first year of commuting by bike'

Now, this is a statement I can attest to. This past year was a big year for me and the bike. I've always loved cycling, loved how the bicycle itself worked but like so many, even though I have worked in a shop since 2000, I didn't make time to ride. I will be the first to admit that I will give up just about everything for the sake of social commitments or friendships. More often than not, I would use that as my excuse from riding or that I was simply burnt out from being around bikes all day [which was a lie].

So back in October of 2007, Brian and I began to talk about a challenge for November, much in the spirit of no shave Novembers but something much more entertaining and less likely to keep the ladies away [hey, I'm single]. From that the first No Drive challenge was birthed. I believe Brian pretty much rocked the whole month and put me to shame, but this month long challenge did make me want to do some thing more drawn out, more long term and with getting Geoff in on it last year, real miles began to be had.

At the start of the challenge [April 2008 I believe] my weight was around 255 to 260 pounds. Like many, I avoid scales so I don't know exactly where I landed on that. My daily commute was 10 miles round trip and with the No Drive Challenge I attempted to drive my car as little as possible. In June, I accidentally sold my car on Craiglist in less than 12 hours. Yeah, I put it on there more to see if I could find any takers or offers. Needless to say, not having a car forced the riding which helped.

I went car-less for around 2 months and it was maybe one of the most freeing times of my life. Money issues weren't a problem, my energy was high, and I looked forward to my rides home on the bike after a long day at the shop since it served as a way to unwind and get all the negativity that we can often carry with us from our job to home to be relieved.

By the end of the challenge in November, my weight had gone down to 220 lbs. I did this simply by riding. I didn't even change my diet which I'm sure would have shown an even greater weight loss. Like many the off-season and winter can be a difficult time not to put on weight and I now come in around 230 pounds.

This season I have around a 3 mile round trip commute at the shop I currently work at and so I'm preparing to be even more intentional about my riding to driving ratio, making more effort to get away from what I'll call the college diet I have been on the last 5 or so years. I'm thinking that come November of this year, I'll be down to around 195 pounds if all goes to plan.

Sure, depending on your body type and the amount of exercise that you currently do the amount of weight will vary but results I promise you will be felt, if not seen for sure!

What's your excuse? Get out and ride!



I'll leave you with a Project Red teaser... more red ano!

A Friday Teaser

Hi! I'm Adam and I have a problem. Project Red started way back in the late fall when it got too nasty outside to ride Red outside. Sure, at the beginning I teased that there were only a few things that I'd be doing and well, one thing always leads to another and I decided to mess with the wheels a bit. After that I have to order one more part and Project Red V.1 will be done for this year, and you read right, there will be a version 2.0 next off-season.

I stumbled onto this quote a few weeks back and haven't really found a good way to throw it out there but since we're talking about Red and fixies today, it's close enough for me...

'If you truly like riding fixies, your world becomes inverted. Everything you previously loved, you come to loathe. Long fast downhills are miserable. It takes everything you've got just to keep your legs pumping in time with the speed of the wheels. Berms and jumps? You avoid them. Catching air on a fixie is a tragic comedy. Speed is not your friend, either. Instead, you crave slow, technical climbs and meaty downhils where you have to think through every single pedal stroke like it's an advanced calculus problem'

_ Gramhm Averill, from his artical Strange Brew in the November '08 Bike Mag.

Red got ugly.

I've hinted at Red's transformation for some time. It's still in the works and I'll be the first to admit I've gone a bit far on some the things that I've done to her. But here's another glimpse, before I was running a Yancopad which had been great and I had no real complaints about it. But a season worth of use, the white wasn't as white as it had started out to be. Tom had mentioned the Ugly! Pads. After looking into them, seeing that they were handmade out of California by a 'one man army' I was hooked. Topped with the fact that they were also customizable, it was only a matter of time before I pulled the trigger. Less than a week later, my custom Ugly! pad was at my doorstep.




Yep, pimping the site. Figured she already knows her name, and if you don't know it then you don't need to. I highly recommend getting one for yourself if you're looking into them. For less than $22 dollars, it's great!

Sunday Thoughts.

Stage One, complete. Sorry only teaser pictures right now on Red's transformation. Call me selfish, but I really want to make the final unveiling some thing special. What I will say though is sitting in front of the devil box today watching House [which if you didn't know is the new Law and Order thus being on ALL the time] I won't lie, it's beautiful but I was amazed by the amount of times I saw some sort of ad for the next fitness gimmick... oh the New Year resolution season.

I also received another frame for the stable... an old Fuji track frame, circa 19-something, 70's-ish. I got the frame, fork, headset, seatpost, bars, and stem. Guess who just so happen to have some other parts floating around... this guy! I'm going to run it brakeless with toe cages, I'm pretty much done working on it until spring comes around.

Looks like the ride details for next Saturday are starting to work themselves out via the great G-Ted. The more the merrier, final details will be posted soon.

So it begins...

Just a quick post before I head into work... with all the snow that Michigan got the last few days, Sunday really didn't amount to much of anything productive unfortunately. BUT! I was able to begin Reds transformation...




Just a teaser for now, with no explanation.

Red's Winter Transformation

A month or so back, I decided that I was finally going to give Red a bit of a face lift. I haven't posted much for photos since this post back in April but she does have new wheels, she got the white Velocity Fusions with black spokes and rims; and I have recently also added a little bling by adding red anodized chain ring bolts. Let me tell you, it's pretty sweet. I'll give a full pictorial once she's complete and probably end up finally submitting it to Fixed Gear Gallery to top it all off. I'm not going to give all of my details but here is on my shopping list:












I won't say for sure what color I'll be using for all of these but I will hint that one of these will have multiple colors mixed and the other two will only have one. But I have to take my time on this transformation, which is often very difficult to do since often once I have it in my mind to do some thing I'll do it pretty quick.