Bicycle Olympics, Part Two

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

Hey,

So we decided to split up the bicycle games between us again. Now, this second group of events consisted of many things that we both do regularly. I know that in the time this second session started I did a lot of bike maintenance and definitely carried a few loads. Unfortunately, we don't always have a camera handy.

We decided to take a picture of Sierra's current set up for carrying her books to school. She uses a large a wicker basket that she's had in her possession for a while now. These pictures are of her coming home from her psychology class with her school books loaded on her bike.

For the event on decoration your bike, I decided to put together my own top tube pad after seeing some designs on other people's bikes. I made it all myself with some sheets of foam from Michael's. I just took one complete strip and glued a design right on top of it and making a layered piece. I stitched it all together to make sure it doesn't fall apart.

Yeah, both Mexico and Italy lost the world cup so it is perfect timing for riding with the red, white, and green.

Sierra and I are trying to compete in this year's Bicycle Olympics, click on the banner for more info!

Family Ride

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

This is Sierra typing here! Today my brother and I went on our family bike ride portion of the Let's Go Ride A Bike Summer Series. It was an excellent bonding experience for two siblings who have done almost everything together since life began! We rode downtown to the library, stopped at La Playita para almuerzo, and then we rode to the creamery for ice cream. On our way there, we managed to spot a bike that looked like it was in need of encouragement, so we left a post-it demanding that they "continue to SMILE." I certainly hope they did.

Hugo and I are trying to win some prizes from this year's Bicycle Summer Games. Check out the link for more info!

The People's Bike

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

Sierra decided to split up the last couple events in the Summer Games. I took it on myself to find a non-cycling friend to go on a bike ride with.

This past Saturday I called up Alix and asked him if he wanted to meet up and ride over to Melody's barbecue housewarming party. Alix doesn't have a bike of his own so he borrowed The People's Bike which is the public bike at the college.

It was a good ride, we rode from the college out to Melody's.

Alix doesn't have a car so checking out The People's Bike has inspired him to do more of his commuting around town by bike instead of trying to find rides all the time.

The party was fun, it was a healthy mix of Santa Rosan vegetarians and crazy Napa meat eaters. I met a guy who has a tattoo of Lois Griffin nude on his forearm. He also has PUNX along his arm. I'm still trying to figure him out. Melody's boyfriend is goofy and it was good getting to know Melody's crew.

All in all it was a good night. Alix had to take off early to take his bike back and I ended up riding home with Sierra. I hope she gets a headlight and rear blinker set soon!

Sierra and I are trying to win some cool cycling stuff by participating in this year's Bicycle Summer Games. Click on the banner below for more info!

Bike Date

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

Sierra and I went on our Memorial Day Bike Date today. First we went out to Cuttings Wharf and rode around there for the morning. We unloaded out by Slack's Ranch and I realized I forgot my water bottle. We had to survive on the one Camelbak for the both of us.

It was a good morning, we had to stop out by the train bridge to do some repairs on Sierra's bike. She's been having trouble with her bottom bracket, it keeps coming loose and the whole drive train gets thrown out of whack. I used a questionable technique to hold the nut and space in place, but for the rest of the day it held tight.

After riding in Cuttings Wharf, we went out to Sonoma to get some lunch. I stopped by the office and said hi to Dan. He's going off to Haiti in three weeks to be a part of the relief effort.

After lunch we rode around on the Sonoma bike trail, it was pretty cool, kind of crowded though but still a lot of fun. There were a lot of people in the plaza and around town in general. A ton of bikes.

It was a pretty good day, we're looking forward to our next ride together!

Sierra and I are trying to get in on some of the prizes for this year's Bicycle Summer Games, check it out!

Group Bike Ride

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

Sierra and I put together a group bicycle ride for today and I couldn't be happier with the results!

We got a good group together, two newcomers who I hadn't really formally met but they turned out to be pretty cool.

We started our group ride at Veterans Memorial Park in Napa and took off North towards the Napa Valley Creamery on the corner of Pueblo and Jefferson. We decided against riding on Jefferson in order to avoid crazy car traffic, so we rode up Main through some mellow residential blocks.

After a stop at the ice cream parlor to have a few scoops, and a stop at Safeway to get some food, we ended the first part of the ride at Fuller Park. We had our picnic and bid farewell to a couple of our riders along the way.

Julio ended up catching up to us at the park and we weren't satisfied to not have rode with him as well. So, we ended up making another trip to the ice cream shop along Napa's Bike Blvd. It was a ton of fun and it was a great day to go for a ride.

Kristine suggested we make this a monthly event which I am all for. From now on, the last Saturday of the week is Cycle Saturday! I want the full Wandering Rose crew to represent next time around.

We'd really like to win some swag in the Summer Bicycle Games competition. Go to the address on the banner for more info!

InDIYpendent Culture Faire

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

This past Saturday was the InDIYpendent Culture Faire at the old JV warehouse.

Sierra and I were able to peddle a lot of books that day. We completely ran out of our latest issue of the zine as well as a good deal of the back issues that we brought out. We have nine people signed up for our subscription services and I even sold some of my Mexican Portrait books.

I got to meet Comfort Slacks (pictured here) as well as John Thill, who I had talked to online before but never met in person. I'm working on setting up our second zine release show with these two bands on the bill. Buttercream were a big hit last time and Pete says he's down to play again this time around too.

Sunday was our one year anniversary. Our original plan was to go to the Academy of Sciences, but we decided against that at the last minute in favor of doing one of the museums "date nights" on a Thursday. We can't do this Thursday because Sierra has her scholarship awards ceremony. I'm excited to go to a cool museum with my girlfriend, without kids! Sorry, but sometimes kids are the last thing I want to see when I'm out trying to relax.

Slack Ranch Show

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Originally uploaded by legally_beaumont

Hey,

I'm just coming off of a great show at Slack Ranch. It's the first show we've put together and I couldn't be happier.

Buttercream Gang really played a good set, they even had some guest horn players come on during my favorite song of theirs.

Next up is the Independent Culture Fair. We've got a booth/table and I'm trying to round up some new shit to peddle off to people. You can expect new stickers, and the beginning of our mail/subscription service.