CARS-R-COFFINS
Bicycle•Punk Rock•Action
612-822-4130
Just before Xmess, Gay Dave Evil needed a bike shipped to Portland. I said 'bet.' He sent the loot, I sent the box.
Now I'm back from Cancun. (did you know that 'Cancun' is Espanol for "Liver Damage?") Here's my view from the beachside bar. I was there for 6 days. I was on a first name basis with the bartenders after the first hour.
Lance Larson was the first kid in our group to get a P.K. Ripper. Rob Reister had a sweet Powerlite. I had a Rhyno III. We all raced for The Insurance Shack BMX team. This all has not alot to do with the photo, but that there is Lance, founder and owner of the ultra-prestigious L.L.R.P./Under The Bed Burrito Factory Team.
My man Terry Brashear strolled into the shop one day with this Schwinn Volare frameset. I'd never heard of it, but sure did like it's pointy chrome lugs and tangerine metal flake paint job. Seems these were the "Japanese Paramounts" and only made from 1977 - 1978. Terry wanted a sweet fixed gear, and he got one. Rare for a 70's era frame are the vertical dropouts. Of course, they were no match for some sweet White Industries ENO eccentric hubs...
JAUNE+ROUGE
You've heard the rumours, and I'm here to tell you that, yes, it is true. The CRC Coffee Bar/Cykel Garage, indeed, now, has MORE B-ROSE. Thank you, thank you, I KNOW! How awesome is that? Pretty frickin' awesome, I agree.
The Mayor of Drunkingham brought the heckling to new heights at the Powderhorn Cross race. Dollar, dollar bill, y'all...
Coming soon, to a State Cross Race near you.
The Q-laiders had another TT last week. It was pretty boss, and the locals don't know what to think when a ragtag bunch of cyclists are swarming off the sidewalk in staccato one minute bursts. The Heat-Meiser took the W again, with BrauerPower snagging second overall and first fixie.
CRC/Chrome Metropolis bag. In Browwwn. Only 15 made. $130 in the shop, $136 shipped.
CRC Hoodie. Navy Blue. Get one. $40 in the shop, $46 shipped.
Ross's sweet Raleigh. Is it a '77 International? Only RetroRaleighs.com knows for sure...
Jim's sweet old Raleigh Carlton. These bikes are so fucking cool. I wish I could keep every one.
here's the new "girl" shirt. American Apparel, etc. Going fast!
Here it is, the cankle. So I'm finishing my final night lap, it's just before sunrise–a dull twilight is coming over the sky and I'm exiting "The Hideaway" at Afton, so I know I'm home free, with just "Larry's Revenge" to get thru and then a cold PBR will be awaiting me at the finish line. It's been a humid night and the trails are kind of greasy. Traversing an off-camber single track across the side of the hill. Back wheel washes out. I get thrown onto my back, land on my camelback, facing downhill, but my right foot did not unclip from the pedal. Hyperflexion of the ankle and it's a slow roll back to the start/finish. My race is over. Kelly Mac stepped up and rode my remaining 3 laps. Team Red Polka Dot Dress filed a protest with the UCI, but Dr. Fuentes said fuck 'em. We got 25 laps, they got 23. Suckers... But the real sucker will be me, if I am unable to ride the Dakota 5-0 this Sunday. A whole years worth of "training" down the drain. Not real happy about that. Let's hear it for Universal Health Care. If only I were still in Sweden...
As seen in Sødermalm, Stockholm Sweden.
This is it, the bike that is going to Stockholm tonight with me, for the 2006 Single Speed World Championship. It's the 1993 Bridgestone XO-1 w/S&S couplers (and technically a Petaluma Salsa front end, as the original front triangle was replaced sometime in 2000 by Dana Butzow at Dog House). This is the bike that keeps on giving. You may remember it from such CRC hits as Holiday In Cambodia: 9 Single Speed Weeks in Southeast Asia (see CRC #13) It's been raced across the Dakotas, seen much dirt and tarmac action, and just won't quit. 
Plus, it fits in this suitcase.
How cool is that? Pretty F'n cool, don't you think?
PS. the Stockholm Shirts have arrived and are pretty sweet! If there are any left over after the trip, they'll be available at the Cykel Garage.
After the sad passing of my Mother, the very next day I had the great joy of seeing my friend and mentor, Loren Morlock, for the first time since his terrible bike accident in Boulder on April 21. He looked amazing and it was such a 180° of emotion. Thank you Loren & Jennifer for dropping by the house.
Got a few good rides in while I was back in ND, including out in Medora with my brother Paul, and brother-in-law Roger. It was 106° this day and we rode the 38 mile loop on the road through Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
My nephew Breck pulled this old Schwinn pixie sting-ray from a neighbor's trash pile (atta-boy!) and I helped him rebuild the chunky coaster brake. He said he just wants to have it around to look at. I told him to just "run what ya' brung..."
No, I didn't think so...
Hot Rod Raleigh SuperCourse. Reynolds 531 frame & fork. New wheels, tires, tape, etc. 47 x 19. Smooth $375
BLOOZE EXPLOSION: Schwinn Super LeTour 12.2 Japanese-made 4130 Cr-Mo. New wheels, tires, etc. Not shown but will include a front brake. 42 x 16. Get movin' $350
Roll one on these Dura Ace/Campy Omega tubulars. Front tire is punctured, but the hubs are butter and the rims are straight. Don't delay, $100.
I'll be at the shop in the a.m. to meet the delivery guy, but after that, it's gone-daddy-gone, Hurl's gone. I mean, come on; 6/6/6 happens ONCE a millennium. The loose "plan" is to ride 66 miles and then drink a 6-pack. 
Where's Ray?!?!?
UPDATE: 6 or 7 (?) riders are off. But no Meiser, Brauer, or Blake, so we will have a new champeen this time around. Stay tuned...
I FINALLY got some rides in this weekend, just in time for the 90°+ degree days. Sunday I closed the shop early as there was a dearth of action in this town. Coleman & I got out for nearly 3 hours. Started from the shop, headed south on Bryant. In the distance I saw a large inflatable castle –one of those Moonwalk things for kids– in someone's yard. Could it be? Yes, it could . Bootsy Collins holding a 4th birthday party for his boy William Thomas. He offered cold PBR's; how could we resist? A great way to start a ride! Beers slammed, bid the Collins' adieu, we rode down the Parkway, over to St. P on the Lilydale/Hwy 13 route (saw Jim from The Modern Cafe), back up the River Road on StP-side, over Lake Street Bridge, back down River Road Mpls-side, to the backyard tavern at 42nd & Wentworth. It was hot, but I surprisingly didn't bonk. Nice.
Monday, another hotter than hell forecast. Brauer was a no-show (Bleriot?) so the Wrexican and I rode out to Watertown on the Luce Line trail. This was a shakedown ride on the "new" Osell touring rig, which I will be riding to Bismarck for my 20th High School reunion at the end of June. It took me nearly 4 hours to get the brakes dialed in on Sunday night, trying 3 different pair of cantilevers before finally getting the old school XT M-732 cantis to work. It had a lot to do with the angle of the brake cable exiting the levers, and the fact that this old bike (1989) only has one spring hole for the brakes rather than the more common 3-hole. The newer XT cantis that came on the bike just didn't have enough spring tension. So anyway, the bike worked flawlessly today, rides real smooth and all. But me? I was having problems due to the heat, and perhaps ganged on top of yesterday's 3-hour ride. I had packed some sandwiches and when we rolled into Watertown around 1:30, we stopped for Gatorade & Coke and had ourselves a straight up trail-side picnic. Pointed the rides back towards the city, and shortly after, I had to stop and rest in the shade. Wrexican was stalwart as usual, making sure I didn't ride into any ravines and waited up when I was lagging. We finally made it back to the trailhead and made a bee-line for Medicine Lake. Rode ride up the water's edge and just sat up to our necks in water for about 20 minutes. What a lifesaver. The only downer was watching the Jet-skis and ski boats whizzing around such a small lake. After sufficient cooling, we got back on the bikes and rode down Glenwood Ave, making a stop at the American Legion club. The locals were in full effect. "Don't worry, they won't get stolen," a gent tells us as we roll up to the patio. "That looks too much like work!" Indeed. In for one and out again before ending the ride where we started. Cuppa Java for sandwiches and Sprecher Root Beer. I am smoked, but stoked to have gotten in back-to-back rides. First time that's happened in awhile...
ALL PHOTOS KELLY MACWILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY
Girl, you'll be a woman, soon...
Flameburger, Parts Washer, & Deep check Lucky's ride, yo!
Zitox heading for the pave!
Zito had the wild f'n idea for me to open at 6:30 am, rather than the usual 7:00 for his inaugural CRC-to-QBP Time Trial. The morning dawned soggy, but I got to work on time and soon the ne'er-do-wells were showing up. Hell, Chef-Dogg was waiting at the door...
Matt Anderson brought timing equipment. And the team car...
Sov brought his game face. Stay tuned for updates.
Preliminary reports have Smokin' Joe Meiser as the victor. 
Back in the day we used to ride trails located southwest of Mandan on a piece of property simply known as "the World." As in, "do you want to go ride around the World?" We'd load up the bikes into the yellow Dakota Cyclery VW bus, or on top of Klemer's Jeep Cherokee, throw a cooler full of Coor's beer in the back, and go have a ride. Afterward, there'd be the obligatory boolshit session about who got jacked on the Ho Chi Minh trail, how many rattlesnakes we bunnyhopped, and why XT was better than XC Pro... After about 9 beers one evening I snapped this photo of Klemer, Loren, and myself. Loren dubbed ii "rubba soul" perhaps due to it's wavy-gravy appearance, or maybe Klemer's muffintop.
Check out this crazy ride from the late '80's. It's in pretty rough shape, but the uniqueness of it made me buy it. All this talk about "69'er's" (29" front wheel w/26" rear) is nothing new. Cannondale was doing this 24"/26" thing in the late 80's with the idea that the smaller 24" rear wheel would give better acceleration and handling in the tight east coast singletrack. I think Pintz Guzzled has a pink one of these that he uses to haul his kegs around. Seems like a valid use for such a weird bike. Come check it out if you're in the neighborhood.
