It kind of flies in the face of the proud, self determinant American mindset to base our fate on whether or not a rodent sees a shadow but so it is on groundhogs day.

Kind of a moot point this year anyhow as winter failed to happen. Glad I did get out for one day of snowy fun in the White Mountains with the  BBW Team Vehicle, which, thanks to the talented Jen at Cut Paste Love, can be anything I can get the keys to since she made me a lovely magnetic signage kit for Christmas.

Doubt I’ll be getting to do this February 2nd over again like Bill Murray, so I better get moving to get it right the first time.

The new tinted clear powder coat is an antique bronze that looks amazing with the substrate visible beneath, as per usual my photography underwhelms but I hope he likes it when he sees it.  I’m excited for his trip and will be following his preparation for it when he re-fires his blog at Old Man Up the Mountain. One of the joys of building bikes for folks one at a time with hand tools  is that I put enough of myself into them that it feels like part of me gets to go on all the eventual adventures that the bikes do, I guess that is also why I can be a bit of a nag to customers that aren’t riding their BBWs.

Gifts gifted and toasts toasted, I am back home and back to work and the dust is beginning to settle from the whirlwind that was my trip to the folks house in beautiful Bucks County, PA.   Being more than a comfortable trip away means I don’t go home much, doing so always makes me wish I got to share more than rushed holidays with the people that brought me into the world.  One day, when I strike it big, I’ll give them all jobs at Budd Bike Works.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/11/28/first-look-retroshift-brake-shift-levers-for-cyclocross/

Looks like I’m not the only one fed up with overly complicated shifter mechanisms sullying the beauty of the sport.

I like the way Retroshift went about adding the shift mount directly to the brake lever,  I still think my version is a little better since they can be shifted from the tops and drops as well as the hoods.

I’d have to guess yes.

New England CycloCross 2011 will be winding down and I am fraught that failing to find time delve into the fray of the CAT 3 field to fight for a finish in the mid fifties, I’ve failed maintain my muscle tone, let alone finagle a few points.

There is still a bit of time to tune up and tie up my tip money in a day of travel and trying to muster the most of my traction in the trenches three minutes and change behind the triumphant.  I think I may have to,  racing offers its own rewards even if you aren’t in the hunt for a trophy, if only for the extra pop in your pedal stroke you get from trying to make it to the next corner first.

That, and I miss the familiar faces and this feeling.

Hunting Photos of yourself on facebook is a dangerous thing.

The brown MTB bike I just joined my customer on its maiden voyage may as well be a case in point.  While it is a point of begrudgement that the globalized supply chain and  credit backed capital of the big players can reduce the price of the commodity I supply to a tenth of my expense, I can’t deny that I benefit greatly from the same system since damn, that SRAM shifts quite nicely and if it weren’t for venture capitalists, a technician in bio-tech would not have had the money to commission me to make something the slow way. Whittling away with hand tools at the advanced alloy steel that a belching furnace forged to perfection while listening to tales of strife boiling over among the multitudes on the radio I wondered if working on something so small while so many big things are happening in the world is the equivalent of putting my head in the sand, getting out for a ride on the thing I made makes me wonder if I really care.

My friday night light is low, and the camera was shaky.

So the seven billionth human on the planet is predicted to have been born today, I hope there is room for fairies on a crowded planet.