Ahh...the start of something beautiful.
Tonight, after a couple ofyears of dreaming and a couple of months of sweet-talking I finally have, in my kitchen, a good and proper kegerator. The fridge, free. Kegs, procured cheaply. CO2 tank, regulator, and faucet, borrowed. RaceFace Turbine LP tap handle, well...good friends forgive.
I now have an IPA in the keg, intended to be a moderately strong (6%) and hoppy beer. However, I made two changes from my normal fermentation routine. I lent out my normal 6gal primary and had to use a 5gal with a blowoff hose. No big deal. I then left the carboy in the kitchen instead of the basement, subjecting the beer to 20 degree temp. swings throughout the day. Anyway, the result is a sweet, viscous, incompletely fermented beer that falls well under the legal limit in Utah. Damn. At least it will make a good breakfast beer.

A little something in my email inbox this morning:
"

Pilgrim Pillage 2007 Bicycle Race

November 17^th 5p.m. North Park . Alleycat style open road race . Fixed gears, Single speeds, and Cruisers highly encouraged. To enter simply show up with $5 and 3 cans of non-perishable food. For more info please email billingsironcan@yahoo.com Hope to see you there."

Again, I'll try to get off of work early so I can make it. Who else wants to go?

In other news, Captain Entropy's last alleycat brought the most participants we have yet had, with something like 35-40 showing up to throw down. Dallas, Other Seth, and I made a pact to have a shot at every bar we entered. This meant shots of JD at the Hideaway followed by more shots at Plonk. I think the heat of the competition and the self-induced fuzziness from the Jack (and the two pints of Tetley's Ale before the race) kind of altered my decision-making processes:

Steve at Plonk: " Hey John, what can I get for ya?
me: "uhhhhhh......uhhhhh.........ThreeShotsAPatronWe'reInARaceblahblahblah....."

Pricey, but well worth it. And I made sure to take the extra moment to savor that fine nectar, race be damned!

Plans were made to also stop at Ale Works and Bozone Brewery. I was relieved to learn they were closed.

Anyway, the race went smoothly (aside from Mason's riddles and momentary confusion between east and west), nobody got hit by a car, a couple of guys showed up from Billings, and C-Note won. I forgot who won the Women's race. Sorry. Big props to Steve and Katie for racing on the vintage Scwhinn Tandem and to Ryan for racing in the, uh, phallic costume.

I think that's going to be it with the Alleycats until spring, unless this summer weather sticks around for a bit.
BUT that does not mean the bicycle hijinks are going to stop. Plan on pub rides and Ice derbies and crits this winter. Bike Polo is still happening, now at the Basketball Court on campus by 11th and College. Wednesdays at 7:30.

Big thanks:
Steve at Plonk- Go there, this guy has done a lot for our races and pub rides. And not all their stuff is highfalutin either. They've got plenty of $3 beers, you dirtbags.

Stan Smith with Team Native- not only did he race on a purty Salsa cross bike, he also supplied the bulk of the prizes.

Ryan at Rockford Coffee- Rockford has been supporting the general cycling and racing scene in Bozeman for about the whole time they've been around here. Don't forget to watch the Giro and Tour de France live there on the big tv.

And thanks to everyone who showed up- you're helping the illicit cycling community grow in this town.

PICS HERE!

Yet Another Alley Cat is here. Sunday November 4th 3pm @ Cooper Park. Bring $5, A bike and a bag. Be prepared to bring your A game, or B game, or really what ever game you got. All bikes are welcome; cruisers, fixies, tall bikes, mini bikes.

Maybe?
Ok- I reallyreallyREALLY want to play bike polo this Wednesday...to the point where I'm about to go get a #1 soccer ball to play on grass, a la Chicago or SF. But I'd rather play on hard, unforgiving pavement or concrete. So this shot is of the parking lot for the dog park and baseball fields on Highland Blvd. There's lights, I saw some pylons nearby, and it's fairly level. So who'sin for polo here on the 24th? Let me know.
I've also started to make my way through to the people I need to talk to in the city to get explicit permission to use public property after dark during the week. If I am successful at this, it will open up the very real and probable outcome of having a bike polo invitational here in Bozeman. Good things are coming, just hang in there.
Also, I just rode by the basketball court on campus, just south of the corner of 11th and College. There are a few lights surrounding it (ok....2), it's 80% walled and fenced in, and it's level. The downside is I'm SURE we will get kicked outta there before long. But I'm game for giving it a go.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

There comes a time in every man's life when his thoughts turn to fancy. Fancy new bikes that is. My new hot and fancy bike is a Redline Monocog 29r. I bought a frame on closeout for a song and built it up as a fixie/SS commuter. I know that it kind of looks like a hybrid. So what? I wanted clearance for studded tires and fenders so the 29 frame made sense. It has ample clearance for both. The wheels are Salsa Delgado 29rs on Deore 9sp disc hubs. One brake, a Juicy 5 w/ 185 rotor to shut her down. Stanley at SJ Customs built me a 19t cog machined to bolt on to a ISO 6bolt hub. Thanks Stan! The final gearing is 36/19 and the final gear inch is 51.2 . It makes for a nice all round speed for easy riding in a wind or in snow, especially once the studs go on.

Two Questions:
1. Who's in?
2. Who's driving?

Billings Ironcan Bicycle race 10/20/2007 6pm Swords Park parking lot (corner of 27th and airport).
15 miles 8 beers open road bicycle race. Can you handle the ironcan? To enter simply show up and bring 8 beers, 4 tall cans or bombers (to be drank by you).Fixed gears, single speeds, and cruisers highly encouraged. Let the journey begin.

Pashley chromed mercy-and-love-from-heaven incarnate in the form of a bike. Pashleys are in the same style as Raleighs of yore, except that they didn't get bought by another company and move production out of England. Stratford-on-Avon, to be exact. They also own (or distribute) Moulton bikes.

Mmmmm.....Waterford. Those letters are all individually brazed on, as is the headbadge.

Jelly Belly Harley with sidecar, kinda like a miniature Wienermobile but smaller. And painted differently.

We got some time to kill, so what better things to do in an airport than order liters of beer and play with our new tools! Here Pete is just about to start fodling the new Phil outboard bearing relacement kit we picked up for the shop. This will allow us to put Phil bearings in any manufacturer's outbard bearing BB. also in the pic is Pete's new White Industries sealed BB for his Monkey. And now it's time to drink our beers......
more pictures from the last two days will make it on the blog, I promise.

Drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&RIDE! Drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&RIDE! Ridin long bikes and drinkin through the night! Drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&drink&RIDE!!!!

So one might wonder wha kinds of things goes on at an Xtracycle party. Let's just say that first a healthy amont of tequila and a couple of readily available bikes results in..

Xtracycle pursuit races in the hotel room. But, that's not nearly interesting enough, so after five laps, each competitor has to switch diections, without putting a foot down.
However, that's not really interesting enough either, so we thoght that maybe we should...uh....switch bikes, without putting a foot down. There's a challenge. Pete and I just about successfully performed this switch, with me riding away with no dab and Pete dabbing only once.
The cops did show up, however. Level 5, people.....level 5.

At the Brooks booth (which is inundated with the glorious smell of hand-worked leather) is a beautiful Pegoretti with wood rims and fenders. To die for.

Hooray Crumpler! 4pm Cooper's Ale and Vegemite on crackers. These guys( and gals) are great...they support the messenger community and brought it strong at the Wednesday night goldsprints.

Sram had a hell of a booth. Every day 5pm brought free Fat Tire and Greg Herbold throwing product out to the drunk and greedy masses. You can clearly see the X0 hat I got from SRAM. It's pretty nice. Oh, the SRAM girls were there too.

Why do we love Surly? Because of their bikes? Yeah. Because of their accessories? Yeah. Because they're really cool people? Yeah, sure. That too.
But we also love Surly because they give us shots and beer. *smooch*

Pete, 10 minutes after downing a shot of Beam and a Leinenkugel at the Surly booth and 5 minutes after Goldsprints with Wiley. He didn't look so good. Luckily, his liquid burp didn't come all the way up and within a half hour he was back to his chipper self.

Ok, this is going to be it for the reports today, even though I have more pics to write about. Double Down bar, a looooong walk from our hotel (like 3 miles) there were Goldsprints. Two bikes, fixed gear, set up on Kreitler trainers and hooked up to a computer that had a display of who's in front. Esentially drag races indoors on bikes, and plenty awesome. They've got Schlitz here too.

SRAM Red cassette. Now we know how it be so light! I didn't get to pick it up, though.

Calfee Spidey bike!