i hope these come out before i leave the shop:

for the sceptical, the join in the spindle is called a hirth joint and is used to connect engine crankshafts.  100g lighter than previous campy cranks and one thing that i find interesting is that it will be available on all groupos from mirage upwards.

for more: procycling.be
cyclingnews.com
bicycletech.blogspot.com

so it's not too suprising that when Manolo Saiz and several others was arrested in Spain last week that a bunch of money and doping paraphernalia was uncovered. but what seems most interesting is the following line from the article announcing Liberty Seguros' withdrawal from sponsorship:

 The guard allegedly found a list with 200 Spanish and non-Spanish cyclists' names linked to doping practices.

Ullrich and Basso have already denied involvement with Dr. Eufamiano Fuentes who is supposed to be a key player in supplying doping products and transfusions to cyclists.

1.  Lena Lewis was just getting groceries.  BORING! but at least it didn't cause me to miss Gilmore Girls!

2.  Yes, that is my Giro d'Italia hat in the photo!

on wednesday eryn and i drove upto orange county in his corvette to goto a seminar/promo thing at the velodrome for raleigh/diamondback and sram.  the best part was i got to test ride the new sram stuff, and i was very impressed.  seems like they've really thought about the ergonomics a lot and produced a good system.  the double tap thing seems pretty intuitive, it feels super positive like shimano 10 and i like the lever shape and how they angle in a natural direction.  there seemsed to be a lumb in the hood right in my palm but maybe that was just how the bars were wrapped.  anyway, i'm not gonna be trading in my campy stuff but still, it's nice to see a good new product competing with everything else.  ps, it's super light.
raleigh also had some nice new bikes like the rush hour pro, a steel singlespeed 29er and a cross bike.  diamondback had a $400 commuter that we will probably sell lots of.

i got an exciting package at work today.  it consisted of a pair of century grey centaur hubs, 72 black dt revolution spokes, 72 black aluminum nipples (of which i will beusing 64) and 2 black velocity escapes.  whenever i feel like staying late after work i will be the proud owner of a new tubular wheelset.  now all i need to decide is whether to get challenge or vittoria tires.

i also got a pair of dimension cross cranks for evas bike so i'll be able to take back my suginos and get my commuter back up and running.

eva and i made dinner together tonight. it was barbeque tofu, kale, chard, biscuits and miso gravy. it was good. the kale and chard were growing in the garden 1/2 an hour before we ate them.

ryan was in town from portland for the weekend. we went on a ride today and it was fun, despite the flats. the first one ryan got on the climb up to golden hill park. as we were changing it i noticed the spare tube that had been sat in my bag for the last 6 months had suffered an abrasion from being there so long. it didn’t look like a hole so we risked it. of course it didn’t hold. at this point i had a patch kit but no more co2 or a presta adapter to use at a gas station. we walked over to thomas bikes, got his fixed and as i pumped up my tires a little to avoid any pinch flats on the way home i noticed my front tire was at 20psi. then ryan saw a goathead sticking out of it. awesome. at least i noticed it in the shop and not half way back though. so we were $20 down.

i’m not used to having other people work on my bike and i felt bad beedily watching the mechanic fix my flat. i pointed out that the tire wasn’t seated right when he started to inflate the tube. and then i asked for my old tube back too so i can patch it. i’m a horrible, picky customer. the rest of the ride was uneventful thankfully. we came home and ate cookies and talked about portland and san francisco.

ps please note that in the 24hrs previous to the getting the flats, i commented not once, but twice how i hadn’t had a flat for a year. take heed.

if you click on the link to flickr it's way cooler.

jesse and i went thrifting in spring valley today. then we watched tremors.

i went on a ride out to marion bear park today. it was meant to rain but it decided to be sunny and hot instead. it's totally raining now though. hopefully my skin should be a bit better prepared for the desert sun this weekend now; eva, jesse, sharon, veronica (maybe) and i are going to joshua tree this weeekend. i'm excited. i even got a leatherman on saturday in preparation and promptly cut myself with it the first day. at least i know it's sharp.

eva's stuff to build her interloc cross bike should come tomorrow. i'm also getting some paul neo retros. excited.

got hit by a car on the way home tonight. i was in the left hand lane and a car in the right just decided to change lanes right into me. somehow i didn’t go down but the car didn’t stop either despite my yelling and fist waving. my chain somehow came off during the incident which gave me a handicap in trying to catch up to them. i finally did after about 7 lights but by that time i really wasn’t sure if i had the right car. i went up to the driver and talked to him and he’s like “i’d have felt it if i hit you”. totally shady answer if you ask me. i just turned around and went home.

on the positive i designed the new mhb waterbottle. it’s looking pretty good.