I'm sure some of you out there like those fancy "clothiers" that supply at high mark-up the appearance of a life you don't actually live. You know what I'm talking about... places like Abercrombie&Fitch or J.Crew, where for only hundreds and hundreds of dollars you too can look sort of like you might have a cabin in Maine (instead of a studio with a mini microwave and a dorm fridge), a well-groomed and charmingly playful springer spaniel (instead of a goldfish floating in algae), and a statuesque, chisel-jawed boy or girl by your side, wind-swept hair perfectly messy as you…

Beer Report Did you know there was a goddess of beer? There is and her name is Ninkasi and she has been granting us some pretty excellent new beverages lately. 1st, new local brewers Surly Brewing Company have been putting out some amazing stuff for about a year now. Their standard flavors are an over the top hopped pale ale called Furious and a taste bud overloading brown ale called Bender. They've also have some seasonals like an excellent version of a Belgian saison, an Octoberfest and now a Russian imperial stout. These polar-opposite-of-Mich Golden Lite beers have only been…

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDE REPORT, PART 2 (scroll down and read Kenny's report 1st) Picking up where Kenny Bloggins left off, the remainder of the group was still a dozen strong. We ripped up more gravel hills to the base of a skijump that overlooked suburbia. There was some man made snow up there, so we unsuccessfully attempted to slide or snowboard down it on my Xtracycle snapdeck. It would've worked if the snow was a little harder. Stupid sexy Indian summer heatwave. Our Zeigle Scout guide said we just had a few more hills to climb, liar. Roller after roller,…

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDE REPORT I am the passenger And I ride and I ride I ride through the city's back side I see the stars come out of the sky They're bright in a hollow sky And it looks so good tonight... -Iggy Pop A big, bright moon, illuminating reddish-purple corduroy clouds, and 65F air (tropical for Minnesoter this time of year) set the scene for a real good WNR. We rolled more or less south through the belly of MPLS, over lake paths and streets, into and back out of cul-de-sacs, got pooped out into hidden suburban singletrack, and…

Big Dummy is Stoked Todd Fahrner, Mr. Cleverchimp, sent me a Stokemonkey bracket for the Big Dummy. I installed it last night/early this morning, so I could ride it into work today. I'm happy to report that it works great. The lighter, stiffer Big Dummy carries the load of the motor and battery better than my Instigator Xtracycle, and the mounting hardware is a bit tidier. I've been experimenting with different battery mounting locations, and I prefer the top of the Snapdeck. It frees up both of my Freeloader cargo bags and centers the weight of the battery on the…