Late Thanks and Some Interesting Blogs

I wrote this several days ago but work and family life has kept me from posting it till now.

There isn't much else that I can say about The Path Less Pedaled presentation that hasn't already been said, much more creatively, by others (here and here). It was a resounding success thanks to the efforts of Bernie and Bryan as well as the many others that spread word about the event. Ashley Akers deserves credit for actually setting this whole thing in motion by opening up her home to Russ and Laura. I'm really honored that when Ashley was looking for a connection to the local bike community, I came to mind.

Here are a few interesting blogs that I've recently found and wanted to share:

Bicycling In a World Built For Cars: While recently working in Fort Worth's east side, I found it necessary to stop at the Trinity Trails trailhead on E. 1st and make quick use of a porta potty. It was at that time that I noticed a young man pulling off the trail riding a Kona Ute. We chatted for a bit before I learned about his blog, Bicycling In a World Built For Cars. I can't believe that I haven't run across him before. That bike really stands out. He sounds very pleased with it.

The Pondering Cyclist: I originally met Zach at the first Bike Friendly Arlington Ride and I ran into him again at the Path Less Pedaled presentation. Sometime this month Zach will be striking out on a bike tour starting from his home in Arlington to the west coast. I started following his blog. Like another ponderer we know and love, he's got a way with words. I'm looking forward to following his journey as he's headed out in the direction that I think I would also choose which is northwest through Amarillo, Durango, Moab, and so on.

Good luck Zach.

Jim's Bike Blog: If you run into a guy cruising around Fort Worth on an Atherton touring bike, you've found Jim. I had a chance to talk to Jim over a plate of Mexican Food at Benito's before the Path Less Pedaled presentation. I learned that Jim has a blog and has done some long distance touring (coast-to-coast) after retiring in 2008 as editor at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, our local paper. My interest was really peaked when I learned that he was an Associated Press correspondent assigned to Moscow, before the wall came down, and Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid. You can imagine that Jim has a few interesting stories to tell.

That's Jim on the right in Red Square in the early 70's.

Carsick Designs: Not too long ago I mentioned an interesting blog I had stumbled on, Lifecycle, by Bryan and Monica from Sacramento, California. It wasn't too long after that I purchased an old sewing machine to teach myself how to sew. About the same time Bryan inherited an old Singer industrial sewing machine and set about learning how to sew bags and panniers. Well, here I am still learning the basics while Bryan took to sewing like a duck to water. He's sewn some great looking stuff which he's been able to sell at local events. He and Monica have started a business called Carsick Designs, maybe you've seen the link on the right hand side of my blog. I hope they do well.

They'll make custom panniers on request.

Brian, hard at work.

Monica doing some product testing.

As if learning to sew and starting a business weren't enough, Brian built this cargo bike from the ground up in his spare time.

One Speed: Go!: I recently started following this blog about John Romeo Alpha's ramblings around Phoenix. To be honest, I really didn't think much about Phoenix until I found Upside Out. It's an interesting area and much more scenic than I would have thought.

Russ & Laura in Fort Worth

Russ & Laura braved yesterday's strong winds and pushed on into Fort Worth. I thought for sure that they would take the day off and rest but they were interested in doing some sightseeing around town. I offered to meet up with them and give them a brief tour. We ate lunch at La Familia and then rode over to visit with the good folks at Colonel's Bicycles. By the way, while at Colonel's I learned that Mike, the owner of A.N.T, is originally from Fort Worth. That's cool, I love his work! We rode by Trinity Bicycles but unfortunately neither Bernie nor Bryan were in at the time. We then headed over to the Fort Worth Water Gardens and spent a little time there before parting ways. I enjoyed my visit with them, they're good people. I had a million questions I wanted to ask about touring but I figured that I'd wait until the presentation on Wednesday.

We rode through the Fairmount neighborhood in the Near Southside.

Fort Worth Water Gardens.

Russ doing what he does best.

Don't forget Russ and Laura's presentation is at 7:30 PM, Wednesday night at Trinity Bicycles. At about 5:30 PM we'll be riding over to Magnolia Avenue for dinner. I hope to see you there.

The Path Less Pedaled

After enjoying a few weeks of well deserved rest in Austin, Russ and Laura are back on the road and are expected to arrive in Fort Worth this Friday or Saturday. As of right now it looks like they will be giving their presentation on Wednesday, April 28th at 7:30 PM at Trinity Bicycles, 207 S. Main Street in Fort Worth. If anybody wants to grab a meal beforehand, at about 5:30 PM we will do a very short informal group ride from the shop to Magnolia Avenue where there are multiple restaurants to choose from.

If any of you Dallas area folks are interested in attending, you're in luck, Trinity Bicycles is just around the corner from the T&P train station and since it's a weekday the trains will be running till 10:38 PM.

Trinity Bicycles to the Rescue

A few days ago I mentioned that bloggers, and cross country bike tourists Russ Rocca and Laura Crawford (The Path Less Pedaled and The Epicurean Cyclist) will be riding into Fort Worth sometime in late March or early April. They have been doing photo and video presentations all along their route and are interested in doing one here. After some brainstorming about venues with the BABBLE folks I decided to contact Trinity Bicycles and see if they would be interested in teaming up. Trinity Bicycles haven't opened their doors yet, that will be sometime late this month, but they do have their website and Facebook page up and running. I received a very positive, enthusiastic response from Bernie Sheffler, one of the shop's owners. He said that they would be willing to use the shop for the presentation. If the shop isn't large enough they may be able to obtain a larger facility in the area. Bernie was also excited about the group ride idea. Whats great about Trinity Bicycles is that their shop at 207 S. Main Street, will literally be just around the corner from the T&P train station. This should make it very easy for Dallas cyclists to hop on the train and attend. Things are shaping up nicely.

Trinity Bicycles will be focusing quite a bit on the commuter market with same day repair service, showers, indoor bike parking and commuter friendly hours. I'm really looking forward to their grand opening. The photo below (stolen from Fortworthology) is their new building, the renovated Sawyer Grocery Store. I had the opportunity to take a quick look around the shop this morning. I've got to say, judging from the contact I've had with the owners, Trinity Bikes will be a great addition to the local bike scene.

Some Interesting News

Ashley left this message for me the other day in the comments section of one of my posts:

Hi,

I am a fellow Fort Worthian and met you once at an Etsy Dallas show. I am writing to tell you about a friend of mine who is on a bike tour of the U.S. and will be passing through Fort Worth soon. Their blog, if you are interested, is http://pathlesspedaled.com. I am not a bike person, but know Laura through jewelry making and am planning to host them while they are here. They occasionally put on presentations of their trip and I have asked her if that is something they would want to do in Fort Worth. Anyways, I thought you might be interested in their blog at least.
I hope you enjoy it!
Ashley Akers

After a few emails back and forth with Ashley, I received an email from Laura. She and Russ, you may know him as Russ Rocca The Epicurian Cyclist, are now in west Texas. Laura says that they expect to be in Austin in a couple of weeks. They will be staying in Austin for about two weeks before pushing north to Fort Worth. I'm guessing that they'll arrive in our area at the end of March or early April. Laura says that they would like to get together with some of the local bike community. I was excited to hear that they are also wanting to do a presentation. I'm going to help them out by finding an interesting venue. I was thinking that it might be cool to have the presentation coincide with another BABBLE group ride. I'm open to suggestions.

You can keep track of their progress on The Path Less Pedaled.

********************************************************

Since all this is coming about due to Etsy, I figured I would promote a few of the related Etsy shops.

Tangerine Treehouse is Laura's Etsy shop. She is creating her items while she's out riding across the country.

Ashley Akers Jewelry is of course Ashley's Etsy shop. She creates her jewelry using sterling silver and gemstones. She is one of the few people on Etsy that offers free worldwide shipping.

I need to put a good word in for my friend Chandra (Green Commotion) and his wife Teresa. They sell hand crafted soaps which can be purchased from their Etsy shop or their blog. I recently purchased a bar of Rose Quartz for my daughter, and a bar of Emerald Gem Stone soap with patchouli and rosemary for myself. These soaps not only smell fantastic, they are little works of art. I will be trying a bar of their Coffee Haus next.