Lastest Posting
The new Capricorn Bicycles workshop is almost completed! The space is rustic, homey, and feels inviting to me. I look forward to crafting bicycle frames within, sipping on a piping hot cup of coffee whilst the autumn rains I hear so much about patter on the tin roof. Check out the interior shots over at the Flickr page.
If there’s one guy I know who’s instilling the the youth of tomorrow with the spirit of the bicycle revolution it’s Mike Mason. I built his Capricorn “El Burro” touring bicycle at the end of last summer with custom front and rear stainless steel racks. He’d come by the workshop to check on the progress, or show up at last year’s Minnecycle, each time with his three kids in tow. His enthusiasm for bicycles is infectious, and I was (still am) happy to reciprocate by partnering with The Angry Catfish and building for him the bicycle that I did. Pictured above is Mike and the posse returning home from an overnight camping trip. Note: he’s in the big ring, no sweat.
Photographer Peter DiAntoni contacted me earlier this summer looking for a front rack that he could pack up along with his bicycle for an upcoming trip to Europe. Since the Capricorn front racks are adjustable the struts can be removed. My solution for his dilemma was simple: all I did was build a “Camper” rack with a squat rail to protect the front brake from his cargo. The whole thing can be packed into about 2 inches of space in his crate. How many other porteur racks can claim that?
Photo taken at the Berlin train station by Rie Sawada. Peter’s website is PeterDiAntioni.com. Both were on a mission from COG.
The beer is fresh but the music’s been sitting in my parents’ attic for the last ten years. Funny how the combination takes you right back– and I can still sing right along to most of the songs.
Designed by Peter Smith for the Heartland Velo Show last month. The new Capricorn t-shirt features an abstracted landscape that unites the four elements (fire/air/water/earth) with a Capricorn headbadge at the center. Updated with “Eugene, Oregon” which some Midwesterners thought premature, but something in the imagery conveys a sense of optimism– the light of a new dawn blazing through the emblem.
Screen-printed white on olive. American Apparel unisex tees in medium and large. Womens’ size medium (fits like a small) also available. $20/per. Write in your order please. I’ll get more made if necessary.
Physical Limits, or “Breathe Through the Pain”
When daydreaming back in Minneapolis about a new life out west, one of my go-to ruminations was the idea of waking up at the crack of dawn, donning my Sabrosa woolie and heading the short distance out of town for a brisk road ride in the rolling hills that surround Eugene. I still wake up at the crack of dawn– even before first light sometimes. But all I can manage is to grab the heating pad off the floor and lay it under my aching shoulder before succumbing again to much- needed sleep.
As mentioned in the previous post I am dealing with pinched nerves in my back. Riding a bicycle sends sharp pain shooting down my right arm which I can barely tolerate at times. The problem starts at my spine, up into my neck, and seems to terminate at the first joint of my index finger. It’s as if my muscles need a good stretch, but no amount of bending or twisting seems to get at the right spot, and the cramped feeling persists.
Last week I visited a chiropractor for the first time. Immediately he could see that I am somewhat lop-sided: mild scoliosis compounded by years of hard physical labor. A crooked spine has become a part of my physiology; my back muscles built up around off-center anchor points. Over the years I got so used to the posture that I never thought anything of it until now, when it’s manifested in real, persistent pain.
My spine now has already been adjusted several times in only a few days. The work of the chiropractor is a fascinating art that is fundamentally disconcerting and profoundly physical. On the table you put yourself in their hands, and they twist you in ways that are simply impossible on your own. You have to trust or it doesn’t work, but when the adjustment “pops” you feel it resonate through your entire body. While I’m a little disappointed that the pain persists still it’s important for me to also realize that my spine, my foundation, has suffered from years of neglect and now the process of righting that is only beginning.
Off the table generous dollops of Tiger Balm, 800mg doses of ibuprofen, and anti-inflammatory green tea seem to manage the pain– though I’m still uncomfortable most of the time, and they don’t treat the unfulfilled daydreams. My chiropractor tells me to “breathe through the pain,” and he’s absolutely right. It’s his way of telling me to cope, to relax, that this is a process, that I’m older than I used to be, with more issues than I thought that I had. Now that the move is coming to an end comes a time for rest and recovery. With luck and his help I should be out riding pre-breakfast 50-milers this autumn. I can hardly wait.
It’s been a gruelling couple of weeks, but we made it to our new live/work space in Eugene, OR last night; and except for the pinched nerve in my back we’re safe and sound. There’s still much unpacking and arranging to do before Capricorn will be up running, including tearing the wooden flooring out of the new “factory,” and building myself a proper workbench. This shouldn’t take too long, and I hope to be brazing up new Capricorn frames and racks within a couple weeks.
Thanks to all my friends back home (and here) for the well wishes and encouragement. This has been a big step and a hell of an effort, but its something that needed to happen. Minneapolis has gotten too regular, comfortable, and predictable for me. A predicament that more or less saps any pleasure from living in a big city, and I figure living through 33 Midwestern winters is enough for any one person. Our updated address is in the footer.
Recently
December 8, 2011
Amber and I will be in Portland this weekend for the annual Portland Bazaar. Amber, of course, will have her Sketchbook bags on display and for sale. She's also bringing along her Capricorn "Selavy" to fill out the booth...
December 3, 2011
