Monday I got a very nice and unexpected surprise from some friends at Doma Coffee. Six bags of the brown goodness, two of which I pulled out and presented to The Skipper. Now its not often I hear any grown man squeal with glee, but he did just that. Its with the utmost sincerity that I offer humble thanks for this gift, and suggest that should any of you be in the market for some supremely delicious coffee beans, contact Doma post haste.

El Gato sent on another email containing a link to a barrage of weirdness;

"Stevil,

Cyclocross hecklers avoiding the bummer life in a Phillipino Prison.

Lots of great clips....sorry, no WhiteSnake as far as I can tell.

Also love the intro lines "Some people really can't believe that this prison dance actually is happening and it has proven to be an effective tool for transforming extremely negative people into positive individuals."

Or one might say.....heckle at a 'cross race, spend the next 5 years rehashing Michael Jackson correography.

El Gato"

Ive watched the 'Thriller' clip several times before, and I still cant quite wrap my mind around what Im seeing, but truth be told, El Corpo, The Skipper and I have all used the art of dance for months to resolve conflict within the ranks of the company.
There really is no argument that a little synchronized poppin' and lockin' cant take care of.

And know this.. If this was the punishment for heckling at cross races, you can bet that the lot of us would be the bitch of every single Belgian to ever throw some profanity (a cup of beer, cowbell, small child, etc.) into the middle of a cyclocross race.
Those people are fierce.

And speaking of fierce, Erin the sales maven and Sky went one a short walk about to Austin this past weekend and hung around the celebration of that Lance guys new shop Mellow Johnny's.. Ifin you feel so inclined, you can read up on the melee at Bike Radar (dot)com, or if you wish, a more home grown account at The Bike Snob.

Heres a picture of some bikes at the bike shop. Youll notice that theyre very shiney bikes, and the wall behind them is made of brick. Totally.

Now then, why dont I share this site that DPow! graced us with on Monday morning?
Sit back and soak up some famous moustaches.

C.D from King had some choice words for me regarding the pictures of my handsome, handsome new steed;

"My ride to work this morning was powered by a rage that only the envy of XTR cantilevers can sustain. While you are deserving of them, I loathe you nonetheless.
Good day, sir.

DiStefano"

C.D. spent a fair amount of time in the employ of Shimano, and Im shocked that he doesnt have a garage full of the things. Or maybe he does, and hes just hoarding.
You know how bike nerds operate.

Nick sent us this article about the rising gas prices resulting in a bit of a boom in the bike world.

I dont know why, but this article kind of reminds me of one time when I was wrenching in a shop and San Franciscos channel 4 news anchor came in with his camera man. I yelled "Pete Shapiro!" and he walked back to me and inquired if he could interview me about the dot com bust that was happening in the Bay Area at the time. He then asked me if I thought that it would have an ill effect on my employment. I said "Pete, I was broke before the dot com boom, I was broke during the dot com boom, and Id imagine Ill be broke after the dot com boom, cause Pete... Broke is broke."

I watched the news that evening with great anticipation, and they cut the whole interview. There was just footage of me polishing whatever turd was in my stand at the time and they simply said "Stevil Kinevil of Mikes Bikes in Berkeley said he doesn't think the bust will effect him."

And so one more chance at my fifteen seconds of fame was flicked like a booger.

Anyhoo- Slappy and his alter ego, Max from The Stomarillaz tag teamed in with a bunch of gobldegook about their recent Xtracycle bash;

"HIo, another friday night, in fact last friday night.. I was also drinkin' Jack and rockin' out, but at that time I was also seeing shit in the throes of HOT antici-pation . . For the midnight start of the 18 hrs of Fruita. I suppose, had my faculties been a lil more "about" me, it may have been possible to discern that this was to be The Greatest Bike Race so far para me. BUt Hot Damn! A week has passed, the glow has been sufficiently basked in. The STompaRillaz XTracycle Race Squad has regained some equilibrium, I guessmaybe. And so I find myself left with a query, a question for all you thinkIn' folks out there . Ifn' said Stomparillaz, aRe the greatest XtraSncycle Race Squad Ever.. Where is the competition gonna come from? The future i suppose. . peas.. slappy

STevil, not gonna lie, I think I blacked out for a minute there, or at least in the parlance of our times, ascended into the next hyperlank known and wrote posted to your readership.. . wheew.. Hay, bye the bye, After SSWC I'm gonna ride an Xtracycle to Brooklyn, maybe you know some sponsors, who make wool I can wear the whole time basically, HA !!
Oh here's another idea, maybe your capacities could equal Collab of sorts.. SSWC special gear, I've always wanted to design a hat.. you know, where there isn't as much sharpie.. ok seeya MaX"

For the love of god, would somebody please get them a keyboard thats not broken?

In all honesty, I dont know where the competition is going to come from. Those cats in Murderapolis were rocking the Xtracycles in a big way, but once Surlys big Dummy hit the scene, I think the Xtras got hung up in the closet.

While the subject of SSWC is fresh on my puddle of a mind, El Corpo and I have been brainstorming about a very special and limited edition jersey to debut this year. We spoke briefly about bringing the old beer mug jersey out for another go around, but you know, its just not our style to do something twice. Ive poured over literally hundreds of stock embroidery samples, and although Ive settled on one, the jury is still out in the corner office.
That being said, Id like to take a second and present for you all, for the first time anywhere, what might possibly be the crest proudly emblazoned upon the chest of this years Single Speed world Championship commemorative jersey.
Take a deep breath and drink it all in.

Like The Skipper said "single gear, single wheel. Same difference, right?"

And finally, Patrick writes to us with a subject that as you all know, is near and dear to our hearts;

"Ess Kay,

Delivered an envelope to what may be as close to your dream address as possible: 606 Bacon Drive.

There is no 666 Bacon Drive or I'm sure I would have seen you unloading your moving van into the garage as I rolled by.

Sorry the picture quality is so crappy, I took it with a cell phone.

P77
Northstar Cycle Courier,
Warlocks BC Boise, Idaho"

Out in the deepest, darkest recesses of San Franciscos Bay View district there actually is a 666 Bacon Street. Ive often enjoyed entertaining fantasies of residing there, but its usually interrupted with the harsh realization that my time would most likely be cut short with a bullet falling on my head, as that sort of thing is about as common in that neighborhood as grass growing, so until I procure some bullet proof head gear, or perhaps develop a skull as thick as Garros, I imagine Im going to be staying put.

I will leave you with a flyer that I was sent for an alleycat race in our backyard that we threw some goodies to. Its for just girls, mind you so if you are one, like bikes, and wanna get down with some of your own, get to it.

The countdown is on for me having nothing left to say. Throw your horns in the air, and rejoice that tonight we all deserve to howl at the moon.