Friday News And Views

Riding Off Into The Sunset

Last evening I spent time with Brian, a coworker of mine, who is leaving after today to start a new chapter of his life in Minneapolis Minnesota as he is going to attend the University of Minnesota in pursuit of his medical degree.

We started out with a nice ride around on our great bike path system here and afterward there were "adult beverages" consumed, which eventually resulted in the late posting of this edition of "Friday News And Views".

But it was totally worth it.

The shop was filled with laughter and the guys all seemed to have a great time. So missing posting last night so it appeared here "on schedule" isn't a big deal. Not investing time with people? That is a big deal, to me anyway, and I am glad I went.

Good luck in Minnesota, Brian. You'll be missed at the shop!

Very red

Becker Sewing And Design

The Fargo Gen 1 got gussied up the other day when a box showed up bearing a red Becker Sewing & Design frame bag.

Head honch, Tupper Becker, lives up there in Fairbanks Alaska where he does some amazing work for cyclists and mushers. Some of his sled bags are really amazing. His company's motto is "Our gear is tougher than you are", and it probably is, since his designs get tested in some of the world's harshest conditions.

This bag is already field tested as I used it last evening to ferry a sixer of bottled beer to Brian's going away gig. I had room to spare and I look forward to stuffing this bag with actual camping gear and what not for adventures on the Fargo. The Gen 1 Fargo is a good choice for a frame bag, since the frame's main triangle is so big. That's a result of this version not being suspension corrected, which allows for the maximum volume for a frame bag. This one is a bit more voluminous than the bag on my MukTruk, as an example.

But let's say you don't have such a huge main triangle, or that you are a smaller person. Does having a frame bag make any sense? I think so, just look at my son's Mukluk here. That's the XS size and it's got the tiniest frame triangle you'll likely find on most any bike. The frame bag Tupps sewed up for this is amazing in detail and fits the bike great. Yes.........it's tiny, but there is room in there to put stuff in which otherwise would have to go on your back.

I'll be talking more about these bags in detail, but for now I just wanted to show them off and introduce you folks to Becker Sewing and Design which can make you your own bag for your adventures in most any color and configuration you can imagine.

TIMP Update:

As the month of August runs out the TIMP will cease to be anymore. The last scheduled run on the course is an ITT attempt by multiple Trans Iowa finisher and Tour Divide finisher, Mike Johnson. You can follow along with his progress today HERE.

I wish Mike all the best as he rolls across the state. He let me know he plans on doing this in 38 hours, so keep checking back. There will be soft B Maintenance roads and possibly bad weather for Mike to deal with, so it'll be a tough ride, no doubt, possibly made tougher, depending on the weather.

That's a wrap on this late edition of Friday News And Views. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!