Thats right- Were going away to the pit of the West. Well try to find a computer to fill you all in on the highs and lows of the International Bicycle trade show. Until then, heres some goods for you to ponder.
First off, this here is Dennis and he rules.
He might not fit the description of a died-in-the-wool bike racer, but this man has more tenacity in his little finger then most folks have in their whole being.

Anyhow, young Hightower and I made our way to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to partake in this, the thirteenth annual Cross Dress series finals and it was a sight to behold. The debacle started out with a lemans style start in which a few hapless souls steeds were moved around to, you know, keep the jocks on their toes and what not.

So there was, what? 150 people racing?
Understand folks, that this is strictly a word of mouth outlaw style event. 150 people showing up to one of these now in comparison to the 40 or fewer I remember in the old days is testament that cross is picking up speed. All the rest of the proof you need is here, though the following photo of The Breather shot by Pamela Palma sums the general mentality of the series up fairly succinctly.

Kathleen won the womens title, and Cam the kid won the mens.
Afterwards, we meandered over to the San Francisco Film Festival to cross paths with friends and to get another gander of Vernors film.
Papa Joe, the man responsible for the infamous DFL 'team' sat behind me in the theatre and just as I snapped this shot was saying, "so help me god, if you make a peep during the movie, Im gonna break your fingers with a ball peen hammer."

By the way, at some point during the evening, I finally put the finishing touches on whats going to be the award winning pickup line at the next moustache party.
However, to hear it, youll have to go.
Standing outside the theatre were three of Da Trunk Boiz who have achieved acclaim with their hit 'Scraper Bike'. We slapped hands and I extended a whole bunch of appreciation for their contribution.

Ill put it here again just cause its cool and so were they.

Apparently none of us got the memo that a mandatory fashion accessory for this years festival was a high slung messenger bag that without exception needed to be worn at all times.
Its 11:30 on a Saturday night, youre at the bar, you MUST be wearing a bag. A call might come in that someone needs something delivered, and you can be the hero that will snap to action.
Sheesh.
We capped the evening at a dive bar where Brad the Breather made all of the folks sitting around us flee by drinking his beer from the finger of a rubber glove held above his head much like a baby cow might nurse.
The vision is forever burned into my psyche, and if I didnt know him, I would have gotten the hell away from us as well.
We finished the weekend with a mountain bike ride in a hollow attempt at evacuating some of the poisons from our system which was just fruitless.
However, we did go by Mojo Cycles in the morning... If you find yourselves ever in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood, absolutely take a peek at this joint.
That place is awesome..

Up now, we have a word from Matt. He writes;

"Hey Steve-O,
Have you seen these two yet?

Makes me want to cut my hands off so I can never butcher a musical instrument again...but that would mean no 'me-time' every again either....hmmmmmm....a difficult decision for sure.

Matt
-Ghostship Clothing"

Now for a dose of art that doesnt suck.
-Reminds me of that Neil Gaiman book 'Cages' where the crazy guy operates on books to find their souls. I suspect that if the books souls could be extracted, theyd look a little bit like this.

Ok now, would you all do us a favor while were away? Stay out of trouble, arrive alive, play with your cats, dogs or kids, ride your bike, and remember to not take life too damn seriously.
We like you guys. We really do.