icepick's blog

Thank you to Lyle over at Cognition for bringing it to my attention that Ram Man never got the credit he deserved. He was probably my favorite Masters Ot The Universe action figure. I'm not sure if Ram Man is becoming the meme of the moment, but I'm glad to see his kind around again.

I put something up on the PDW facebook page the other day, but I wanted to mention it here on the Blog that we are excited to be hosting the 2010 edition of Bike Craft. Please stop by on December 4th and/or 5th and check out the goods! If you love bikes, or love someone who does, there will be something for you at Bike Craft. Plus you can check out our new HQ.

Speaking of our new HQ, we've been putting in some hours over there getting our new offices built out, and we're getting excited about 2011. We've got some big things on tap, so stay tuned. On that note, here is a picture of Erik working on his specialty "upside down hammering". If anyone is really awesome at taping or mudding drywall let us know...

Growing up one of the best things about the fall was the back to school shopping. I went to a school where we wore uniforms (light blue button up shirt, dark blue pants) so new clothes were not something I got too hyped about, but just about every year we got to pick out a new Trapper Keeper, pencil case and a book bag. I'm pretty sure that tradition has played into me being such a bag junkie. (Working in the bike industry for the last 13 years has only served to compound the addiction.)

I can recall walking into The Bivoac in Ann Arbor, Michigan in about 1995 to order a custom Timbuk 2 bag. I wanted to go with the bag they had called Tag Junkie, but just couldn't get the cash together and ended up getting the next largest messenger bag they had. In 2000 I ruined my left shoulder and switched from messenger bags to backpacks which have allowed me to carry quite a bit more weight. Since then I've had a sucession of bags that include offerings from Mountainsmith, Vaude, Soma, and a couple different ones from Chrome.

Up until recently I was saving up my pennies for a Mission Workshop Vandal, but then the gentlemen from Blaq Designs moved into the Tin Shed. During an after hours beer drinking session, we decided to have them crank out a PDW/Blaq version of their Blaq Pack. About an hour ago Paul told Erik the bags were done, so we rolled over there on lunch and picked them up. Wow, these bags are huge! Every detail is well thought out and executed beautifully. If you are in the market for a new bag (or some toe straps) check out what these guys are working on. I'm looking forward to the next time I have to live out of a bag for a few days. Thanks guys!

The Mach Schnell Goggle has arrived. What is the Mach Schnell Goggle you ask? Well this should tell you everything you need to know about them. If you have anything else that needs clarification I'm going to defer you questions to this gentleman:

It is a common known fact that I love watching cyclocross. Every once and a while, I also like to actually race it. It is true I'm not very fast, but what I lack in speed, I try to make up for in style. I don't always pull it off as well as I think I do, but I've long been a fan of halloween cross races and dressing up. This past weekend, the Cross Crusade hosted a two day feast of all things cyclocross at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds near Astoria, OR. I didn't race Saturday, but kept my costume mostly under wraps and jumped into the Men's B race at the last minute on Sunday. We traded a bottle of tequila to a co-worker of my wife who constructed me a life size ET replica out of brown cardboard. I installed him in a milk crate on the front of the Ahearne Cycle Truck and raced as Elliot. As much as I believed in him, he did not help me fly over any barriers. It was a painful 30 minutes (sadly the race lasted for 45) but from the constant cheering I heard all the way around the course, it sounded like my effort was well recieved. Photographer David Haines captured the pretty sweet shot you see below. Enjoy!

Following the Backyard Blam's Holeshot in August, Brad at Urban Velo approached me to write an article about the event. I was more than happy to oblige. You can read all about it in the new issue, which you can check out right here. If you've never seen Urban Velo, you really should. I've got a lot of respect for Brad and Jeff. Like PDW, they struck out on their own and I really like what they've been able to do over the past few years.

I've never seen mud like I saw yesterday at the Cross Crusade race a PIR. It was epic in every respect. Here is a picture I snapped of Mike from Showers Pass during the men's pro race. It looks like both he and the cone are slowly sinking...actually they are!

A few weeks ago I received an email from Aaron Dykstra at the 611 Bicycle Company looking for some Speed Metal Grips. Over the last two years we've seen our grips pop up on quite a few custom bikes and that is always a treat for us. However, when I saw the 29er that Aaron had built, I was blown away! Right on, man. He hasn't been building bikes as long as some of the other guys (gals) out there, but Aaron has an eye for the details. Check out 611.