Cover Up

Just like we give the Dinosaurs their catastrophic meteor, I think the cockroaches who will be overpopulating the planet a million years from now will point to inadequate sunscreen as the cause of our demise. They will uncover remains of a glorious picnic spread that some humans had enjoyed at Colt State Park on Memorial Day 2008. Although they will definitely find nothing that would constitute litter, they will piece together the imprint of several adult humans and their bicycles in the fossilized grass, a stray tortilla that flew from my nose when Chris Bull made me laugh, a drop of sunscreen their science would determine to be spf 15, and then somehow they would find this picture and connect the obvious dots: humans evolved far enough to develop a delicious snack chip, had good times, then burned their flesh off in the direct sunlight.

One More Reason

As y'all must know by now, tomorrow is Bike to Work Day just about everywhere in the Free World, and as if you needed another reason to leave the car in the driveway and pedal into the old 9 to 5, here it is: You might win a bike. That's right, your friends at RIPTA and the Hub are teaming up to throw down. One Jamis Commuter 1.0 with fenders and a rack valued at $375 (Sorry ladies, Peter not included) will be raffled off between 3 and 6pm for all those participating in the BTWD festivities at the B of A Skating rink across from City Hall. There are speakers scheduled during the morning session from 7-10; and live music as well as commuter workshops planned for the afternoon. Check out the schedule of events here.

J2K Bags have arrived!

The Hub is proud to be the first outlet for J2K bags! Led by local entrepreneurs Hayden Prouty and Josh Bonnenburg, J2K has raised the messenger bag bar with their thoughtful design and color choices. Josh and Hayden were recently awarded with a $1000 grant from Entrepreneur 360 which is a local organization to get young businesses going.
All bags are made to order at their West End studio. Come by the Hub to check them out and order one for yourself.

product of the month!

What you are looking at in the above image is the hottest new gadget to his the streets.
It's a steerer tube extender.
for doing bar spins.
on a 700c bike.
yes, bar spins.
Get 'em while they are hot right here.
and while you're shopping, don't forget to pick up the necessary conversion plates to make that old fixie you found in gramama's attic into a road worthy 10 speed, with brakes.
We'll I'm off to go install a spoiler on my civic.
wish me luck.

What's Happening?

There are some great events coming up as well opportunities to support local friends who are doing good things for your neighborhood:

First, Sunday (May 11) is the Spring Bike Swap at AS220. Whether you're buying or selling, the swap is a great place to run into all those bike geeks you see out around the city. This one is indoors noon - 5. Show up early to get the best spot to sell that box of Bio-pace chainrings.

Friday (May 16) is Bike to Work Day here in the Capitol city. This event coincides with the national Bike to Work Week. Now more than ever, having a bicycle in your personal transportation aresenal is essential living the New American Dream. Whether you're making a statement or an actual lifestyle change, come out to support a more bicycle-friendly Providence.

Thursday - Saturday (May 15 - 18) is a fundraiser at the Steel Yard. Stop by and drop some money in support of local arts and culture. Check out the action-packed schedule on hand including some sort of Iron-Chef-style sculpture competition on Saturday afternoon followed by a BBQ and late night dance party with local legends Micah-Jackson.

I'm a believer, that in this day and age with food prices rising like a plume of smoke on the horizon, its time to start making friends with the local farmers. The best time to do this in Providence is Saturday and Sunday May 17 and 18 at the Southside Community Land Trust annual plant sale. The SSCLT farm has been around for 30 years at the corner of Dudley and West Clifford Streets providing space for local gardners and growing food for local families.

To the untrained eye this might seem like just two happy hairy dudes on recumbents, but to me, it may be the beginning of the end. They said there would be four horsemen, right? Well, pair these two up with $4 a gallon gasoline and melting ice caps and maybe you see what I'm getting at. I don't know about you, but I'm going right home to start digging out my shelter.

Oh, and by the way, we'll be staying open till 8pm on thursday starting this week. Mention the coming Apocolypse and get a free water bottle(half empty of course).

Saddle Up

Winter has been taking its sweet ol' time walking out the door this year. Its been like having one of those conversations where you're cornered and can't get a word in edgewise. Suddenly, winter turns to leave; and just when you think its gone, something blows across its cloudy skies and it turns around to talk at you some more.

But the sun will warm things up one of these days soon and when it does, its on...I mean "off" like this saddle here. Winter can be hard on a bike, so now is the time to bring yours in for a spring tune up. This time of year we sell a lot of new tires, brake pads, and handlebar tape. A new saddle on this rig will mean that at least one customer won't be sitting in April showers while smelling the lovely May flowers.

To the Max

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Stage 5 Cycling's Eric Bascomb and Tom Scotto were at the Hub to put some local racers through their paces today. Eric and Tom are fitness trainers who specialize in creating training programs customized to the individual. Local cycling legend Kip Bradford is shown here having his VO2 max threshold tested. Stage 5 has a full time studio in Woonsocket where they provide the soup to nuts treatment for developing your fitness to is full potential.

After returning to his Clark Kent heart rate, Kip stepped out of the phone booth, straightened his tie and pedaled off into the streets of Gotlam.

You talkin to me?

In case anyone needs to be reminded, Rhode Island is in New England - which means we might as well live in Canada - which means that this time of year, although we pay for our own health care, we should expect it to be a little cold. It is these crucial, cruel few weeks in the transition from winter to spring that makes us the bitter, mean, puritains that we are here in Providence. Don't fight it - embrace it. Roll the giant stone of winter from the mouth of the cave and emerge into spring proud that you made it through another one.

We'll always have the Mayflower Hotel

It doesn't happen often in my day to day dealings with customers' bicycles, but I must admit I am a sinner. Ever since Benno hired us to build his a Surly Crosscheck with Nexus 8-speed internal drivetrain, Schmidt Son 28 Dyno hub, and Honjo hammered fenders, I have strayed over the line more than once. After touching the supple Brooks Honey Brown saddle, stretching the matching leather tape around the bars and feeling the smoothness of the Phil Wood and Chris King bearings, it was all I could do to get back to the shop after a quick test ride around the block instead of pointing her west and heading straight for Albany. There will be plenty of that for this one I'm sure. Now that Benno has come to take it away, it will just have to be without me.