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Ruby, are you mad at your man?
by Surly
|
June 30, 2010
If you are a dyed-in-the-wool bicycle 'enthusiast', you likely know by now that Surly’s pimp is bicycle components distribution monolith QBP. That Surly exists as the thought balloon within the Family Circus cartoon that is Big Q (as they call it there) is one of life's little paradoxes. We, being us, have a hard time sitting still and being good because they do things like call themselves Big Q. They, being them, behave like an exhausted teenaged babysitter coping with a toddler that won’t go to sleep. But sometimes as if by divine intercedence the pristine tranquility of Big Q’s Valium-like ambience is, through no fault of ours, muddied by some big fish swimming too close in the shallows (metaphorically speaking, of course) and it is an easy thing for us to whack it with the oar and haul it over the gunwale. Viz:
While this sort of communiqué seems to be unusual for Big Q, people regularly send to Surly similar requests, updates, and various other flotsam unencumbered by lucidity. It’s really very sweet.
Despite the intent of the paper it is written on, this was not in fact faxed to us. Johnstonteeno sent this as an actual piece of paper, carefully folded and neatly placed in an envelope which was somehow then correctly addressed and mailed, and which arrived safely in our hands. And he makes a good point, potentially. Send us your drugs. They sound awesome.
At least that one is mostly self contained. I will not share or even try to explain the nuanced tragedy of the many murky and mysterious missives we are occasionally sent by someone who calls himself Linus Cloudbuster. Suffice to know that they involve pictures cut from magazines of swarthy men, references to our Long Haul Trucker, and they seem loosely to be clues in a riddle thought up by lab monkeys testing LSD. Perhaps they are headed somewhere. The clues, not the monkeys.
Although I am only getting to it now, no less than 3 people wrote at the beginning of June to alert us to this guy who happens to ride a Cross Check, and who saved 2 little kids from big trouble. Bernie of Trinity Cycles in Ft Worth, TX, was one of the people who wrote in. He said:
I wanted to direct your attention to a customer/friend of ours here in Fort Worth, Peter Canning, who made the local paper. He was riding along our Trinity River trails when he heard a cry for help. He ditched his bike, jumped in the water, and saved two young boys from drowning. Then he rode away without giving anyone his name.
In other news, a long while ago now we donated a Big Dummy complete bike for Dirt Rag’s raffle. The person who won, John Sandlin, is a musician who uses a bike a lot to get to practice, to gigs, and for all sorts of other things. He was so jazzed (I crack myself up) that he wrote to thank us:
Hello, my name is John Sandlin and I am the Dirt Rag Mega Sweepstakes Grand Prize Winner of the Surly Big Dummy. Many thanks to Dirt Rag and Surly for their commitment to the art of cycling, and their dedication to fantastic customer service. Now, after having ridden the BD for 2 months, I can happily say that it has changed my life! If anyone has ever seen a Big Dummy, and thought, 'that's a cool bike, maybe I should get one,' go out and get one now! I can plainly say, it has become my Main Ride. The do all bike, the workhorse, the cruiser, the commuter. I am a professional musician and I can strap my gear on and ride to the gig, how cool is that? I can head to the grocery, hardware store, plant sale, and beer store, all in one trip, with room to spare on the Xtracycle rack. My 25 mile daily commute has become easier and faster than ever before on the Big Dummy. That's right, I said faster. There is some kind of magic built into that big heavy Surly that allows me to ride toe to toe with those light bike drop bar riding foes during a bike path battle. It is a pleasure to pass a roady when I imagine them saying to themselves, 'what is that and how can it be passing me?' That's the Big Dummy and it's unstoppable! Now I'm off to ride; get one now!
Once again, extra special thanks to Dirt Rag and Surly for making me the luckiest guy in all the land.
Another person using the Big Dummy big style is Wend magazine editor Rick Olson, who is using a Big Dummy to retrace an old path around 12 U.S. National Parks. As he himself says in his bio, “Rick Olson has never toured. “ This should be good. Follow along here.
And finally today, our favorite dentist/bike shop owner, Dr. Jon, sent a refreshingly lucid update of his recent travels:
“Because I know you guys love all that urban shit and stuff.
Here's a pic from our shop trip to Chicago to 'check out the scene'.
the verdict - they like to have a good time and don't mind if you ride a bicycle.
Surly Bikes
