Category Archives: Events

Moonlight Mash

Posted on April 7, 2012 | 3 comments

Last night was the Moonlight Mash ride around Eugene. There were a lot of great people, music, dancing, and bike riding. Starting at Kesey Square, then onto the rest of downtown, river paths, the university, and ending at Falling Sky Brewery. Hopefully there will be more rides like this in the future. Due to the fact that it was night time, I didn’t get any photos of the ride.

360 of the pre-ride roundup

Moon over the Willamette from Autzen Footbridge

Bikes outside Falling Sky Brewing

Falling Sky’s Blueberry Carrot Ginger and Blueberry Pomegranate Orange Sodas

3 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Day Ride, Events, FOOD

Tagged bicycle, bike, eugene, food, moon, Moonlight Mash, Oregon, photo

Velo Cult, Pedal Nation, & Great Portland Food

Posted on March 26, 2012 | 7 comments

Yesterday Angel and I got a chance to hang out in Portland after taking her sister back from a visit. We started out the day by going to the newly opened Velo Cult Bicycle Shop. Started in 2006, the shop originally is from San Diego, but decided to move the entire shop to Portland, employees and all. We visited them Sunday, on the morning after their Grand Opening Party. (They were still cleaning up after it). The shop caters to commuters, tourers, randonneur riders, and other subcultures of cycling with refurbished and new bicycles, but this is not just a place to sell and service bikes, but a place where all “bicycle culture” gets to meet. There is a large and open floor plan. They have some amazing mechanic work stations, with benches for customers to talk with their mechanic right in front of them; a bar offering local beer and food, a photo booth (which sadly was shut down when we were there), and even an authentic castle drawbridge (which doubles as a stage) in the shop!! I believe the drawbridge is from Canteburry Castle, after it was demolished in 2009. This is a really cool shop and you should check it out if you have a chance. They plan on hosting shows, and screening movies there in the future, as well as putting on other fun events for cyclists.

Also while at Velo Cult I got the chance to check out the Complete Surly Troll. I wouldn’t mind getting one of these as my first mountain bike. I also think it would make a great touring bike for Angel. It would be a good companion to my LHT. If only the Troll came in some color other than orange (her least favorite).

Before we went to Pedal Nation, we stopped by the Off The Griddle food cart. With super nice staff, they offer amazing veggie burgers from their solar-powered cart. Angel went with Vegan Cheeseburger, and I went with O.T.G Burger (no lettuce, tomato) just grilled onions and added BBQ sauce; I like my burgers simple. It’s always fun waiting for your food to come out while you read through some Trivial Pursuit games.

After we arrived to Pedal Nation, I spent a lot of time talking with different people about their products and learning whatever I could. There were a lot of cool things there. The spectrum of booths was across the board, with everything from wooden helmets, a fat tire recumbent, to an upcoming indoor mountain bike park (The Lumberyard) and other great cycling groups. Full list of exhibitors HERE. One thing I thought was really cool is that Nutcase is coming out with 4 bell designs based off of their helmets, which will be available for purchase in the near future (possibly June), along with a new visors to attach to their helmets and even cycling jerseys to match the helmets. Those should all be great. I’m sure Angel will want a watermelon jersey.

Before leaving Portland we had to get our favorite pizza at Sizzle Pie. I went with 2 slices of cheese, and Angel got a rabbit salad. There was no Spiral Tap in the case, (our favorite) so we got one to go that we could eat at home. It was a super great idea. Angel wanted the pins, and I thought I might put the patch on my safety vest. This is truly good pizza.

7 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Events, FOOD, News, OTHER, Reviews, Reviews, Trips, Videos

Tagged bicycle, bike, bike commute, bike tour, food, mountain bike, news, Oregon, photo, Portland, Surly, vegan, vegetarian, VeloCult

Leatherman Factory Tour, Hot Lips Pizza, and Black Star Bags

Posted on March 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Last week some friends and I went to the Leatherman Tool factory for a tour. All Leatherman tools are made in Portland, Oregon in this factory, and they are proud of it. Sadly, on the tour they do not allow photos to be taken. It was really cool to see how the tools are made from big steel rolls. Then they’re punched, bent, polished, and assembled into a finished product. (Parts that are forged do not get made here). I have been carrying a Leatherman Wave for the past years and use it everyday. Leatherman has this video tour on the site to make up for no photos in the factory, and it is really nice because you can see things closer up than what we got to see some of the time.

After the tour we went off to the retail store not far away. It had a case that contained the first prototype of the multi-tool from Tim Leatherman, along with a really old, giant, multi-tool made of hundreds of pieces of the tools. I picked up a new knife for Angel, and for my dad. If you ever have a chance to take a tour of the factory, it’s pretty cool, more info about that HERE.

Hot Lips Pizza
After the tour, we ate some lunch at Hot Lips Pizza. It was the first time I ate their pizza and I thought it was great. I have had their sodas. It is great soda made with fruit from the Pacific Northwest. You can find it bottled all over the place out here. I had a Black Raspberry along with a nice simple slice of cheese pizza, and garlic bread sticks. It was all really great, and I can’t wait to have at all again the next time I make it up to Portland.

Black Star Bags
Right Down the street from Hot Lips on Hawthorn is Black Star Bags, which moved into that location a year ago. The company has been around for the past 5 years, offering great handmade and costume backpacks, messenger bags, panniers, and accessories. David Stoops (Owner/Designer) has great skills, and is capable of making all your bag dreams come true, along with his amazing freestyle embroidery skills on his machines, you can get a piece of art on the bags. Be sure to check out Black Star Bags and stop into the shop if you are looking for a new bag.
My friend who was with me in the shop was getting the design and features of his backpack worked out with David. With David & Black Star, my friend was able to get everything he wanted for his bag, and in a couple weeks he will have his own custom bag that is perfect for him. I can’t wait to see my friend’s backpack after it is finished.

Photo: February Adventures

Posted on March 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Throughout the month of February I took a lot of great photos that I never used in any of my posts here. So instead of letting them fade back into the darkness of Flickrs past I have collected them all here for anyone interested. February was quite eventful this year. I ended up going on a couple good long rides with friends as well as by myself. I had some good foods I haven’t had in a long time, like a Voodoo Doughnut. And had some great finds like a compost bin and roller trainer.
Now, on to March for even more exciting new adventures for me.

If you don’t use or follow me on Twitter, or have the Instagram app for the iPhone you can always find these photos and more in my Flickr Album: Instagram.

Eugene’s First Bicycle Job Fair

Posted on February 27, 2012 | 1 comment

Collin’s Cycle Shop held Eugene’s first bicycle job fair on Sunday February 26th. This might even be Oregon’s first bicycle job fair altogether. This was a great opportunity for people who could make it out to the fair to meet and great with some great company representatives looking for talented people to fill all sorts of positions. I don’t have the numbers, but a lot of people came to the job fair today. With gas prices going up, green culture is growing, and the over-all popularity of bicycling is increasing. Portland, Eugene, and other cities across the US are growing their bicycle industries from small bikes to big name companies. Hopefully there will be more events like this across Oregon and the US in the future.

Companies Represented
Castelli Cycling Clothing (Portland, OR)
Collin’s Cycle Shop (Eugene, OR)
Cyclone Bicycle Supply (Portland, OR)
Garmin (Salem, OR)
Giant Bicycles (Newbury Park, CA)
KoKi Bags (Hood River, OR)
Seattle Bicycle Supply (Seattle, WA)
Specialized Bicycles (Morgan Hill, CA)
Rolf Prima (Eugene, OR)

Thank you to all the companies for this opportunity for so many people.

Photos from the Bicycle Job Fair

360 Degree Photo

1 Comment

Posted in BIKE, Events, News

Tagged bicycle, bike, bike commute, eugene, news, Oregon, Portland

New Friends Ride

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 3 comments

Yesterday was a bike group bike ride organized by Eugene Bicyclist. It was a great ride even though there was some rain. There were 16 people who showed up, plus 6 kids in tow. We had a great ride around the bike paths around the Willamette River. It was about a 10 mile ride from EWEB Plaza, to the Autzen Footbridge past the Delta Ponds, then on to Ninkasi Brewing for drinks, where we had a nice time talking. It was great to meet all these people and make new friends.

Thank you to all who came. It was a wonderful time; hopefully we can have another meet up.

All the photos are also on my Flickr.

A little distorted post ride panorama.

More photos from others there
EugeneSRTS – Flickr
Eugene Bicyclist – Post: A little rain never hurt anyone

We made a nice video of the time. Sadly I forgot my GoPro at home, but Angel still got some good footage. Enjoy.

Special thanks to fellow bloggers:
Eugene Bicyclist
EugeneSRTS
Eugene Doom Bike
And businesses:
Ninkasi Brewing for being so kind after the ride.
GreenCycle Services for joining us on our ride.

3 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Day Ride, Events

Tagged bicycle, bike, camera, eugene, Oregon, video

Kickstand Cyclery Open for Business!

Posted on January 2, 2012 | 4 comments

Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery comics are back today. The comic was on a short hiatus while Rick Smith and Brian Griggs figured out what to do with the strip. There was a Kickstarter to raise money for Volumes 2, 3, and 4 to be printed into books. They only needed $18,000 for their goal to produce the books, but ended up with a breathtaking $44,054, from 660 backers. Which is great, I can’t wait to get my volumes in the mail anytime now I would imagine.

Open for Business 12-30-2011

Now for 2012 the comics will be published 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. The new comic will be for Kickstand Club Members, pay $1 a month or $12 for the whole year. With that it allows you to get: Access to the new comic, and view old comics by year/month on nicely organized pages. Non-members can still view old comics, they just have to navigate through on a large pull down menu or clicking through them like the old days. Members will get discounts in the store, and freebies. So become a member now to see the new comics. The comics will also appear in Bicycle Times magazine again starting with issue 15, Feb 2012. Thank you again Rick and Brian, for all the hard work with the comic and for keeping it going. YehudaMoon.com

And again, just like my post about the Kickstand Kickstarter: If you haven’t heard of Yehuda Moon you can still get started reading them, They are all online still, here is a link to the first strip. Yehuda Moon 01-22-2008

4 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Events, News

Tagged bicycle, bike, bike commute, bike tour, Kickstarter, library, news, Yehuda Moon

REI Year-end Garage Sale

Posted on January 1, 2012 | 7 comments

Saturday December 31st, 2011 was the REI Year-end Garage Sale in Eugene. This is a big sale at REI, where they sell slightly used gear, returns, and display items. This was the first time I have been able to go to one myself, and let me just say it was well worth the short wait in line to get in. There was a lot of great gear to pick up there and I got myself some presents that I’m quite happy about.

ALPS Mountaineering Mystique 2.0 – MSRP $199.99 bought at $9.83
This is the first real tent I have ever bought, but it seems like it will be perfect for me: 3 season, fits 2 people, pretty light at 5lb 2oz total, packs pretty small. I’m quite excited, the only thing is the tent was not cleaned up before packing away after the last use, so it smells like the outdoors (Angel claims it smells like mossy earth and radishes). No visible mildew, but I should clean it as soon as possible. If anyone has any ideas on how to clean it in the middle of winter, indoors let me know. The biggest problem right now is all the rain we’re getting, so I can’t set it up outside to clean it out and hang. So I’ll need to do this inside maybe in stages. If I can’t get it cleaned out well enough it’s no big loss, it was $9.83.

Novara Arosa Bike Gloves – MSRP S29.50 bought at $9.83
These gloves fit very well and should be a great cool and dry weather glove, when my Novara Stratos Bike Gloves are just too warm. On the tag, the reason for return was “not warm enough”, but these will work well for me. They just needed a little stitching fix, and now they are perfect. I can’t wait to get to use them this coming spring.

Merrell Chameleon3 Stretch – MSRP $120 bought $19.83
The shoes are hardly broken in and all the tread is there, including the fine tread that wears off fast. They should be great for hiking and walking.

GoPro HD HERO Camera – MSRP $239.99 bought $99.83
It was a big surprise for me to find this, and it was a hard decision to get it but I did. Angel and I shoot lots of videos together and we have always talked about getting one. This price was too fair to pass up. I can only imagine no one got it before me because: A. They didn’t know what it was, or B. They don’t do video editing themselves. The camera is in perfect condition. The reason for return was “didn’t like product”, and I don’t really know why they didn’t like it, but I like it already. It has HD video up to 1080p at 30fps, with 127º wide viewing angle. 60fps at 720p and WVGA resolutions allowing smooth slow motion playback with 170º wide viewing angle. With a waterproof case allowing it to go to depths of 180ft (60m), my Fuji XP10 depth is only 10ft (3m). Comes with mounts, including a one for vented helmets. This should get a lot of good, fun video footage that we can use. Great for long bike rides, or trips to the coast. Can’t wait.

I’m excited to get to use these new items and after I will write reviews for them, so stay tuned. There will be new videos as well with the help of the GoPro Hero.

7 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Events, Reviews, Trips

Tagged bicycle, bike, bike commute, bike tour, camera, eugene, GoPro, hike, Long Haul Trucker, Oregon, REI, review, video

OHBS & Cyclocross in Bend

Posted on October 31, 2011 | 2 comments

The Oregon Handmade bicycle show and Day of the Dead Cyclocross Festival was held this past weekend in Bend. More information about it HERE.

Angel and I went there and had a nice trip there. Here are some photos from our adventure. More below the break.

Angel at the lava fields on McKenzie Pass

Ahearne Cycles at Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show

Starting line at Day of the Dead Cyclocross Festival

More collections of photos from the trip below the break.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in BIKE, Events, Trips

Tagged Bend, bicycle, bike, bike commute, cyclocross, mountain bike, OBCA, OHBS, OHBS11, OHBS2011, Oregon, Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association, Orgen Handmade Bicycle Show, photo, UBI, United Bicycle Institute

Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show 2011

Posted on October 19, 2011 | 1 comment

The Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show is happening at GoodLife Brewing Co. in Bend, OR this year on October 29th & 30th. I have gone to the show the past 2 years in Portland. This is always a great event where builders from the Northwest can come and show off their great bikes they have built. With over 30 exhibitors, this event is put on by Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association. I will be posting photos from the event.

This event is happening during the same weekend as the Day of the Dead Cyclocross Race, which should be a great time as well. It’s happening just over a mile from the OHBS at the Old Mill District. There are a couple other bicycle related events going on as well, full list HERE.
This should be a great time for everyone.