Power transfer and Cycling shoes.

After years of cycling, reading the literature and spending hours and hours on new equipment of all levels and qualities you develop ideas about things that you just stop questioning in your mind. The problem is that over the years, as equipment changes and riders progress advancements in products are for the most part small incremental changes. Updates to products are the results of geeks on computers in labs and wind tunnels. We generally accept that what their computer models say are true, but the actual difference you feel on the bike is so small that you have to believe that all these product testers for magazines are simply regurgitating what the manufacturers say simply because the have to say something.

The discovery I made today comes not from side by side duels of the latest and greatest, but rather from backing up a few years.

The standard line on cycling shoes is that the stiffer the sole the better. The logic goes that a stiff sole basically becomes the platform of the pedal which is why we can get away with having tiny little pedals like Speedplays or Eggbeaters. This stiffness allows more energy to go into each pedal stroke and less energy to be lost trying to keep your foot from flexing around the pedal. As an exaggeration you can go ride barefoot and see how well you do.

The problem for me is that the last time I did a serious ride in tennis shoes I was a freshman in high school. From there is was a slow progression. My first pair of cycling shoes was a pair of resin soled velcro Shimano shoes and I attributed the boost in performance to the clipless pedals that came along with it. Maybe once in the history of all the shoes I have had have I really noticed a significant boost in power transfer between the old worn out shoe and the new one. So while I have sold and been sold on various shoe designs in the past it has always been more of a theory than experience. Because of this I have passed up Carbon soled shoes because they didn't seem to warrant the expense.

Today by taking myself completely out of my normal element I learned the real value of good cycling shoes. As many of you know my winter project bike this year is a 1982 Schwinn Fixed gear bike. I have been riding it mostly in sneakers and toe clips. The performance dip from my other bikes is across the board. In other words I didn't just change to sneakers, I also changed to a fixed gear and toe clips and a frame that was made when I was just learning to ride my first BMX bike.

But todays ride was a little different. I had left my fixie at the shop and I wanted it back, so I jumped on the Fat Chance with a pair of old SIDI shoes, rode to the shop and switched bikes.

For the last few week I have been learning to skid on the fixie. I feel like it is a skill I need to be able to ride safely, but the problem has been initiating the skid from high speeds which is where you really want it. As I headed out in the SIDI shoes with toe clips I hit a little skid just to see where I was at and found myself actually pedaling backward while still moving forward. The difference of changing only the shoes was amazing. No longer will I make fun of the people in spin classes who want cycling shoes but aren't using cleats. As it turns out the performance enhancement that until today I had attributed mostly to being locked in the pedal comes largely from the stiffness of the sole of the shoe.

Mind you I am not advocating that everyone go back to toe clips and just use cycling shoes, but never again will I regard the shoe design as just a little perk of going clipless. The difference is night and day. It just took linking pedaling power to braking to demonstrate just how great the increase is. So for this winter I will be wearing cycling shoes and have a lot more control over the bike. Next season maybe I will spring for some carbon soled shoes.

It's my fault, Sorry

I have a long standing tradition of building up a strange bike and riding it through the winter. The logic has always been that in the off season training is not as important to have dialed in. Keeping things new and interesting is the key to having fun on the bike, and having fun is the key to successful training. Also it sucks to take a $5000 bike out into the salt and slush when you could build up a beater and not care about it.

Back in Maine I has a single speed Trek Antelope with drywall screws in the tires that I would ride on snowmobile trails and ice tracks when available. Also raced a February Ski Resort Downhill race on it once. Did pretty well, but got taken out in the semis.

Here in Kentucky I have taken to riding Fixed Gears. Two years ago I went with a stock KHS Flight 100 that broke me into the fixed gear realm, but this year I went full on hipster and built up my own out of parts that we found laying around the shop and a Schwinn Traveler that was built when I was still in diapers (perhaps before).

As we didn't have any brake levers laying around, we went hardcore fixie. Toe-clips and No brakes. The front wheel is set up with the old school 27" wheel, but we had to put on a new rear wheel to fix it, so I am running a 700 in back and as it turn out a 700 X 32 tire that we had lying around has exactly 2mm of clearance between the tire and the chain stays. Looks crazy, but works great and gives me a little extra rubber to burn through as I learn to skid.

I should have known that I had jinxed myself by going to the fixie a little early when the temperature dropped for the maiden voyage. We have been having great luck with a late season, but when I strapped on the lights and took it out for a 3 mile night spin in jeans and a hoodie, the temperature seemed to drop just because I was out there.

Yesterday I skipped the Cross race and took the fixie out for her first real ride. Bright sun cut the cold as I rode to the start of the 30 mile club ride, but it was clear that winter riding had begun. A small group of riders started the loop unaware that they were accomplice to the winter bike jinx. And we weren’t but 3 mile in before the first of the riders decided "screw it, it is too cold".

Four of us finished up the 30 mile ride. And the ancient fixie held up well except for a small problem with the braking system (I lost one of the toe clip screws so the strap kept sliding to the side). When I got home I parked the bike and took one of those long showers that you have to take. You know the ones where it is a race to see if you can get your core temperature up before you run out of hot water. Had some dinner and went to bed.

This morning I woke up to see snow on the ground. So sorry to all the drivers who wrecked on the Gene Snyder this morning, and all the riders who hang it up when the white stuff flies. And all you business owners, myself included, who's livelihood depends on nice weather, I have brought the long awaited winter by breaking out the "winter bike" a little too early.

Whats up with headsets

Tech Questions #1- Headsets

Question from customer: "I'm looking at headsets, and the tech sheet says 1 1/8", non-threaded, integrated. What is all this?"

Our answer in three parts:

1. Headset size
2. Threaded vs. Threadless
3. Standard vs. Integrated

Definitions you will need to know.

Steer Tube - The part of the front fork that sticks up through the frame

Head Tube - The part of the frame that the Steer Tube passes through.

Headset - The part containing the bearings that allow the steer tube to turn freely in the head tube (more simply this allows you to turn the bike)

Headset size:

1 1/8" headsets are the most common on the market right now. Second most common is 1" and there are some 1 1/2"s out there but they are rare. Almost all modern mountain bikes use 1 1/8". The measurement is actually the diameter of the steer tube on the fork, so it is basically the interior diameter of the headset.

Non-threaded vs threaded headsets:
This refers to how the fork is attached to the frame. Threadless means that there are no threads on the steer tube so the fork is held on by clamping the stem to the steer tube. On a threaded headset the headset screws onto the top of the forks steer tube (this means that the fork has to be purchased with the proper length steer tube and can't be cut) In a threaded system it is the headset rather than the stem that holds the fork to the bike, and a quill stem is inserted down the center of the steer tube. Threaded headsets are seen mostly on older bikes, inexpensive bikes, and BMX bikes.

Integrated vs Standard headsets:

Traditional headsets have the cups pressed into the frame. In integrated headsets a sealed bearing inserts directly into the frame and then the top and bottom of the headset are the same as normal. Remember that with a sealed bearing the balls are completely contained so there is actually no movement against the frame so you don't have to worry about damaging the frame the way you worry about damaging the cups in a traditional headset. Integrated headsets are a little lighter and a little less complex than traditional headsets.

For the most part, the type of headset you choose will be dependant on what frame you pick. If the frame is set up for 1 1/8" integrated, that is what you will have to use.

USGP Derby City

Given that he is the CFO of a bike shop, it seemed only logical that he start racing. So this weekend shop mascot and Cookie Finding Officer Lane entered his first race. Now there is no going half way for this kid so he started out at one of the biggest Cyclocross races in the nation, Derby City USGP.


After a considerable amount of effort trying to corral him away from the big boy course he settled into his grove on the junior course which was complete with a couple of run ups, a mud pit (bikewash run off) and a staircase run-up.

A couple of warm up laps and he was off to the obligatory port-a-pot visit.


And then the start.

The first lap held some excitement with a three-kid pileup that blocked traffic right from the start. After a short pause Lane was able to take the inside line and get around. He blew through the Cannondale tent and was out on course.

As the only one with training wheels Lane was at a bit of a disadvantage on the back section because as it turns out when you are on an off camber slope, the training wheels try to push you over rather than hold you up. It is because of this section that his pit crew believes that he so narrowly missed the overall win.

He blasted through the mud pit and dismounted for the staircase where he did have to receive a little outside assistance lugging the bike up the stairs. Back on the bike he headed out for lap 2.




With an uneventful lap 2 under his belt, his race was over, but he was not going to stop for something as silly as everyone else being done. Like a true champion he headed out on a victory lap so while everyone else was at the award ceremony Lane was turning a few extra.



Eventually we had to drag him from the course, but if you ask him today what he wants to do, you are sure to get his new standard answer.

"I want to do cyclocross"

Never go on vacation

Ok, after taking a week off to go on a vacation with the family I have learned that Vacations are a bad thing. Those of you who were in the shop while I was gone or since, may have noticed some changes. We pretty much had some major disastor each day. One day a construction crew cut some fiber cable and took out phone and internet service to the shop (and half of LaGrange and Crestwood) which is no good when you run an internet buiness and like to process credit cards.

A couple of other snaffoos set us back a bit, but the big one occured when one of the employees downloaded a virus into our inventory computer. "I was just trying to charge my ipod, I swear..."

So that has blinked out one of the computers and made our cash register useless, so we are back in the stone ages and taking orders by hand. You can still order off our website, but we will have to wait for the holiday weekend to be over so the rest of the world will come back to work and we will can get our tecnical issues solved. (hopefully we won't have lost too much data). Anyway. I am back and we are trying to get ourselves back where we need to be, but if you see us running around like chickens with our heads cut off it is because nothing is working the way it is supposed to. Oh well.

So while vacation was largely a disaster, I did get a couple of interesting tidbits out of it. The first was this lovely picture of a bike locked up outside one of the buildings where we were staying. If it doesnt't strike you as funny, look again.

There were also some fringe benefits to being able to step away from my work for a while and rething my approach to a couple of things, so once we get all of our current problems sorted out, look for some cool things coming down the pipeline. Stay tuned...

Whats new...

Ok, so it has been a while since we posted, but there has been a lot going on at the shop (which is why the blog is getting neglected) So here is what is new in a nutshell.

New Sign out front.
So it only took a year, but the sign is hanging and looks good. People seem to be able to find us a little better which is nice.

Home repair taking off... Our mechnics have been keeping themsleves busy working on repairs, we still have some room to grow the home bicyle repair side of things, but people are starting to figgure out that it is easier for a mechanic to come to them that for them to load their bikes up to get to us. We are also running weekly special deals for our home repair customers that adds a little value to the service for them. If you haven't checked it out, you can get details here: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/ServiceForm.htm

Little ones go mobile- The munchkins of GCC have gone mobile. Lane has discovered the Adams Trail-a-bike and often reuses to get off. This works to our advantage as he now helps out with post office and bank runs. When he is not on that he is terrorizing customers on his Free Agent Lil Speedy. The coaster brake is his new best friend, so I am going to have to buy stock in Cheng Shin Tires. Landon has taken the first step now and he and his mom went on their first ride in a Adams trailer.

New products- As many of you know we have had some supply issues with our road bikes, but we are working to resolve this. We do have one new brand in the pipeline (deatails later) and we are starting to build up some frames that we have always had access to but never stocked. Look for some Pakes and Somas to start hitting the floor next month.

The holdiday order fo Dekline Shoes came in a little early so we will have our shipment of new shoes soon. Along those lines, look for in store sale pricing offered first to our local cutomers that will go live online as soon as our new shipment gets here. all our casual and skate shoes are marked between $34 and $50 in store right now.

Online inventory expanding at a rate you won't beleive. We have restructured a little so that some of our online inventory is stored off site (it wouldn't fit in the shop) so while this is a little bit of a bummer in that you can no longer look online to know exactly what is in the store, our online customers will be served with a better selection of parts and still have shipping within 1 business day of their order. And hey, if you are local you can always just have it shipped all orders ship for only $3 and they arrive pretty quickly. The first expansion push was in the trainer department, check out the selection here: Trainers and Rollers

Anyway, thats it for now we have been so hectic at the shop that I am sure I have forgotten something, but stop in and see us and see all that is new.

Bicycle Service to your Door

Those of you who have been with us since the beginning... no the VERY beginning. Remember when we operated out of a small room dubbed "the ugly room" and the entire inventory was stored in a couple of Tupperware containers? Yeah then.

Well those of you who remember that will remember that at that time the logo we had on the business cards was "If you are going out, it should be to ride" At the time the concept was simple. The customers needed parts, I wanted to go for a bike ride, so I would get on my bike and ride the parts to the customers. It was win win.

The problem with all this is that I forgot to take into account one simple truth about cyclists. People who can install their own parts are generally people who like to hang out in bike shops. While they will grumble about wearing out a tire or breaking a spoke, they enjoy going to the shop to look at the new toys and put their hands on parts. What we realized was that we were not saving our customers the chore of going to the bike shop, we were impersonalizing what should have been a fun time out to see the gang at the shop.

So now, a little over a year since, canning the delivery service, we think we have fixed the glitch, and we are bringing back the "to your door" service from Goose Creek. To do this we have had to recognize that not everyone is the die hard, eat, sleep & breath bike stuff fanatics that we are. There is a portion of the population for whom going to the bike shop IS a chore. These are the people trying to shove a bike into their backseat, or borrowing a friends pickup so they can get both of the kids bike in to go get a flat tire changed. For these people we are now offering to your door repair service.

As of this week we are launching our pilot program for Buckner, La Grange, Crestwood, Prospect, Goshen, Skylite and certain Lousville Zip Codes. Basically the east side of Louisville and all the little towns between there and our shop. Customers will be able to contact us either by filling out a form on our website or by just calling the shop. We will set up a time and then come out for their bikes. Simple repairs will be performed on spot, for more complicated or time consuming repairs, we will actually pick up the bike, bring it to the shop, do the repairs, and return the bike when it is done.

There is a small premium, between $5-$15 depending on location, but considering that our normal labor costs are lower than many of our competitors anyway it all comes out in the wash. For instance if you live in St. Matthews, a tune up would be $25 + $15 for the pick up, so your total tune up cost would be $40 which is about what you would pay if you took it into your local shop anyway.

Official advertising for this service will start in the next couple of weeks, and we will have to get the vehicle painted up and some official uniforms for the guys so people won't think we are going to steal their bikes, but a temporary service request page is now up and functional and you can view it here: http://www.goosecreekcycle.com/ServiceForm.htm

I realize that if you are reading this blog you are probably the sort that likes to come into the shop yourself, but spread the word to your friends and neighbors. Thanks and see you out on the road.

Dirt Sweat and Gears.

Ok, so our trip down to Dirt Sweat and Gears last weekend was a bit of a milestone for me. Not necicarily a good milestone, but lets call it unfortunate timing on a change that was three years in the comming.

For a number of years I raced in with the pros in the hyper-endurance events. To me it seemed a bit silly to travel around the continent to compete for a secondary prize like a age group award or an amature tite. On a number of occasions I have sat back and compared lap times to discover that a race that left me back in the double digits somewhere in the elite race would have put me on the podium or winners jersey had I only been competing for one of the lesser prizes.

At the beginning of this month we celebrated my sons 3rd birthday. This marks roughly three years since the last time I went out on a ride that I considered a "training ride". It also marks the first time that I fealt comfortable registering for a race as an amature rather than a pro. Although I have only got about 12 hours of time on the bike logged this year I was still really concerned what might happen if I actually did well in the amature ranks? As I said to one of my friend going down. "I will feel like a schmuck if I do well here"

The ultimate irony is that the training I did for this race was actually better training than most of the seasoned racers who showed up. For those of you who haven't heard the details of the race, the rain started while we were on the start line. Rain made the trails sloppy, but the rain stopped soon after we started. Most of us turned the first lap in about an hour and a half, and then everything turned to peanutbutter. Mud clogged every aspect of the bike every time the wheels turned making almost the entire course unridable. Without a doubt this was the slowest and most demoralizing race I have ever done.

My second lap took around 4 and a half hours. The picture above was taken sortly after I discovered that it was faster to carry the bike than to push. Pushing the bike was nearly impossible because the wheels wouldn't turn, so most people moving forward had their bikes in the air. Sortly after this picture was taken, I walked past my friend who is a much stronger rider than I am. It was then that I realized that my training for this race was better than most. While everyone else had been out riding bikes, I had been carrying a 40 pound toddler around all day. You tell me, if you are going to carry a 50 pound mud coverd bike through the woods, which is better training?

So I walked. Lap two took roughly three hours longer than expected so I was low on fluids, but I took on a lot of energy and fluid in the pits and went on out hoping that it would either start raining again or dry up so the third lap would be more reasonable.

My third lap took 5 hours. At one point I got stuck. I tried to ride down a hill to a gully, and my wheels locked up and I almost made it to the bottom. Three of four steps dragging my bike to the bottom left me in a ditch trying to get out the other side. My bike was so caked with mud that I couldn't lift it and the wheels were so clogged I couldn't push it out the other side. I was stuck. Eventually I took on some fluid and cleaned enough mud off the bike that I could lift the frame and carry it out the other side.

What I didn't realize as I was slogging along was that only two amatures actually went out on the third lap. So with a 2 mile and hour average, I walked my way to the podium. The leading pro did four laps and my three laps would have put me in 4th in the pro catagory.

So while I do feel like a schmuck for taking a podium in the amature I have to think that this race was an outlier. As we return to the racing season I thing the advantage will again return to those who train by riding their bikes.

Don't get a Flat...

Ok, someone forwarded me this picture. There are times when i complain about narrow shoulders here in Kentucky, but my days of complaining are over....

DNA Shoe Show

Ok, so on Monday we all went up to Ohio to check out shoes and play with the pros. In additon to getting some new product orders in to get new skate stuff, Bobby got to skate the mini with Josh Kalis, Seth got to get whooped in a game of skate, and Will spent a long time hanging out with Omar Salizar and working the broken leg angle to get a lot of free swag out of the reps. Thanks to the guys at DNA for taking care of us. Below is Will on his big wheel with Omar. - Jon

Going throuhg the Drive through

I wonder if I am alone on this, but it seems to me that I have not seen a lot of bikes using drive throughs at fast food restaurants. Until today I figgured that this was simply due to the low volume of people using their bikes as transportation and the higher probablility of a person who rides frowning upon fast food.

So it has never occured to me that that fact that I take my bike through drive throughs might annoy those businesses with drive through. I regularly use the drive through at the bank, and have been know to ride my bike through the drive through at fast food places when I am out running errands. Basically this saves me the hastle of trying to find something to lock my bike to when I go in to eat.

So it seemed like a reasonable plan to stop at Taco Bell for a burrito on my way home from the afternoon postal run today. I must say I do look a bit odd on the post office bike (a single speed with the largest basket we could fnd) and my Vigor Demise BMX helmet with the skull and crossbones guy on it, but whatever freaks eat burritos too.

I was contemplating the menu when the girl came on and told me that the drive through was for cars. "You Serious??" I replied. She must not have heard me that well becuase I looked at her through the window when I said it rather than talking at the little microphone on the menu board, and there was a long silence and then someone else came on the microphone.

"I'm sorry sir, go ahead with your order". So I started in with my order and by the time I finished, it was yet another person on the headset. "Sir, you are going to have to come in to pace your order"

I was a bit befuddled, so I just said "Thats okay, thank you" and rode back to the shop where I ate a Luna bar instead. Oddly enough I wasn't sure if I was more annoyed that I had wasted the time riding over there, or with the pricipal of the thing, perhaps it was just that I really wanted a burrito but I wasn't about to go in and buy one if they wouldn't let me use the drive through. In retrospect I probably should have walked in with my bike just to see what they would do, but I didn't feel like pushing it.

So for now it is just a "note to self" that if I want lunch while on the post office run it will have to be somewhere else. There is a McDonals next door where I have ridden through the drive through, but now I am just curious if there are other reastaurants where they won't let you use the drive through on a bike. Maybe tomorrow I will hit the Arby's and see what happens.

Thanks for bearing with us...

Some of you have been with us here at Goose Creek since the very beginning. Those of you who remember when our entire inventory was two tupperware containers stored in the back room of my house are true veterans and know how much we have grown.

You also know that after our first two years of slow steady growth the last year has been an amazing ride which has brought a lot of changes to our business. The biggest change was opening of our retail store in La Grange. The second and maybe more important change was that shortly after our doors swung open, some changes in my personal life pulled me to St. Louis and away from the shop.

As such a new venture I was concerned that this move would doom the shop, but I was determined there was a way tomake it work. As it turned out, what in my mind was just a way to survive a bizarre turn of events, turned out to be the catalyst that changed the direction of our business and has pushed us into new areas and new heights.

As I brought in new employees to fill the gaps that would necissarily occur when I was 4 1/2 hours away, not only did new bodies come through the door, but so did new ideas. After some gentle nudging, Ryan convinced me to start selling skateboard products as a sideline, and Will and Seth have now taken that enterprise from a sideline to a full scale operation.

Schoen has taken the reigns as shop manager and had the unenviable position of dealing with a job description written be me which basically stated "I'm out of here, your in charge, good luck figguring it all out".

On top of that I left him trying to keep the shop alive through the winter in a down economy. The fact that the doors still swing open every day is a credit to Schoens work.

Meanwhile Will has developed our new computer system and the new website went live January 1, and he is now developing our skate team. Luke is in the process of redeveloping our cycling team.

So what am I getting at here? Simply put, the manpower and brainpower that has been added to our organization for the last year was designed to replace me, but it has grown beyond me. And we are about to take another jump forward (I hope)

As of next week, I am back in town.

For many of you, the only difference you will notice is that I will be pulling a wrench at the shop again, but those of you who have been friends of the shop and who have continued to support the endevor through all our growing pains, you will also notice that the increased manpower will now allow us to again become active in the racing and touring scenes.

So as spring approaches, expect to see us back out at the races, faster turn around times on repairs, larger inventories, new BMX riders on the ramps at Ollies, New Skateboarders and some new MTB team members.

And from now on, If I am not at the shop, it is because I am out riding, not because I am 2 states away. Again, thanks for your support and I can wait to be back and see everybody. - Jon

New Shoes at the Shop

It is always exciting when we bring a new product or product line into the shop, and Skate shoes have been a long time comming. Since the first week we decided to expand into the skateboard market the question has always been, "what lines of shoes are you going to carry?" Now, half a year later that question has been answered, but who would have thought it would be such a journey.

With most of our products, picking a company has been as simple as trying a bunch of products, seeing what we like, and ordering the product. As it turns out shoes are a bit different, so for 7 months now, skateboarders in LaGrange have been skating in BMX shoes.

When we first sat down with our list of 30 shoe manufactures the early eliminations were easy. We got rid of all the ones that had a history of low quality right off the bat. We then took polls of out skaters to see who liked what an why. More brands were eliminated based on style and fashion (I was kept out of this process, because I have neither style or fashion sense).

Then we hit the snag that we hadn't expected. Manufacturers of nice skate shoes are fiercly protective of their immage, and as we are both a bike and a skate shop, on paper we don't look "skate core" enough for the reps who don't bother walking through our door. Never mind that we have one of the best in store selections of skateboard products in the state, and a dedicated skateboard staff, on paper we are still not "skate core".

This left us with a decision to make. Do we just open up an account with one of these big sell to anybody, reasonable to questionable quality, shoe lines that you find in the big box stores, or do we hold out for a nice shoe company and try to convince them to send a rep out. We decided not to comprimise on quality so for a long time LaGrange skateboarders stayed in BMX shoes.

And then we discovered Dekline

Dekline is a small company that has only been on the scene for a couple of years. This is long enough to establish themselves as a quality shoe, but not so long that we had to fight over dealer territories. Finally we had found the perfect match. A young high quality comapany that was not afraid to take a chance on another young company. Now with everything in place, we are proud to introduce Dekline Shoes.
The spring order will be showing up on Monday. A more complete line will be here this summer.

So if you are a skater who needs shoes, or a biker who needs something comportable to wear in the pits, come on down and check out the new line. I think you will like it.

The Worst Cup of Coffee

Ok, I probably shouldn't share this, and Mark Ritz will be disappointed in me, but now that I have had a decent cup of coffee and the sun is almost up, I have to share the story of my morning and the worst cup of coffee in recorded history.

Those of you who know us at the shop know we are caffeine driven. A couple of years ago we started carrying Kinetic Koffee as a nod to a fellow team sponsor. What started as a nod became an addiction, and I now am used to drinking good coffee.

Recently we started carrying the AeroPress coffee maker which we talk up as both a better way to make coffee, and also a great tool for camping. What I am ashamed to admit is that I don't actually own one yet.

Now the transition to our new website has not only lead to some late nights, but an increased importance of caffeine in my life. So last night I was up until the wee hours of morning entering in all 130 of our Derailleur Hangers. When I finally got them all into the system I dropped bleary-eyed into bed.

The next thing I remember was a pair of cold feet on my face as my two year old crawled into bed on top of me. As my clock wasn't visible I had no idea what time it was, but all I new is that it wasn't time to get up and it was still dark. I made all attempts to get him to go back to sleep, but he wasn't having it, so I gave in and decided it was time to start the day. Once downstairs I discovered that it was only 4am, but I was in it now, and I just started on my day. And that was when the trouble started…

Lane and I were just working on our bowls of oatmeal, and I was about to brew a pot when the power went out. We have a gas stove, so hot water wasn't a problem, but like I said before I was not yet a proud owner of an aeropress. Now I could have gone without, but trust me when you go to bed at 2, get up at 4 and you are playing with Choo Choo Trains by candlelight, coffee is important.

So here was the issue. No Coffee pot, no Coffee grinder, no light. Fortunately I had some Folgers in the cupboard that I save for emergencies so I didn't have to grind anything, and as I said, I did have a gas burner so I had hot water. So here was the brilliant solution I came up with. Boil water in a teapot, dump in some coffee grounds, let it sit for a bit and then dump it into a cup, let it settle and drink.

How did it turn out? Let me just say that if you ever find yourself in this situation, you have two options. Option 1: use your aeropress. Option2: just wait for the power to come back on.

Incidentally I was chewing on my second cup when the power came back on. We are now half way through watching the Lion King, and the sun is coming up. This is going to be an interesting day.

Turns out buying stuff is fun

Ok, Happy newyear everyone. I have finally emergeg from having my head in a hole trying to figgure out end of year numbers, and I am back to getting the shop in order and talking to people again.

So this is the fun part of the year. We go from trying to thin out inventory so we don't have to pay taxes on it to replentishing inventory with NEW product.

As it turns out I really enjoy buying stuff, so I highly recoment that everyone come in, check out the new product as it arrives, and most importantly, keep buying it, so I can keep these big orders comming in.

For you bikers the last big order was relativly unexciting as most of it was just repletishing products that haven't changed much. The big changes are in the Minoura line of trainers. Minoura has finally reorganized their line after years or no change. I am still sorting out opinions on the new system so I will let you know when I have a good opinion.

We have seen a lot of new clothing come in in the past couple of weeks. Most of it winter stuff, and there is more on the way, so if you are needing clothing the inventory is on the rise.

For you Skaters, things are a little more interesting right now. We just had a huge batch of decks, completes, and clothing show up, but the big addition is
DVD's!!!!!

I am sitting here looking at 20 or so new titles Including some pretty hefty box sets, instructional DVDs and your traditional hard core sountrack crazy skating videos. So if you can get out there and skate, get in here.

Other than the huge amount of stuff comming in the front door, things are a little slow here, so if nothing else, come in and bother Will, Seth, Schoen, Luke, Lane and Me. We are here and hanging out.