Right outta the gate were gonna go big with this Craigslist posting Sky sent me on October 2nd;

Secondly, from October 8th, an email from the fine folks who were responsible for throwing Seattles Monument alleycat race;

"Swobo sponsorship of the Monument race in Seattle 091908. Thanks so much for the prizes! They were much appreciated by the racers (now Dung has shorts that aren't just spandex) You guys really helped out! If you are interested in sending more prizes, please contact us, we will be racing all winter, and hope to set up some Emerald Sprints (oh yeah) And if you feel the need to maybe get a little moss growing on your back, come visit, we'll show you a good time.

Thanks so much to everyone that came out to race, hang out, and supported the Monument Race in whatever way you did.

The stops were Chief Seattle downtown, Lady Rainier in Georgetown, Lenin in Fremont, Husky Spirit in the U-district, the Statue of Liberty in West Seattle, and Jimi Hendrix on Capital Hill. The finish was at the Healthy Times Fun Club on Pike.
28 miles was the fastest route one could choose. The manifest listed questions that had to be answered correctly in order to win. So many were turned in without names or numbers on them, that the first place rider was the only one that could be confirmed.

2nd place on are listed in the order that they came in. Remember kids, no name on your homework means no credit.

Race Results (38 Registered Racers)
1st- Robin (First to finish with completed, correct manifest, 8th to cross finish line. the remaining riders are listed in order of crossing finish line.)
2nd- Daniel (First to finish line)
3rd- Ponch
4th- Mike O'
5th- Jake
6th- Tall (B)ryan
7th- Felix
8th- Greg B
9th- Pavel
10th- Zach
11th- Clayton
12th- Dung
13th- Dave B.
14th- Mike D.
15th- Rob
16th- Ignorant Brian
17th- Brian W
18th- Troy H.
19th- Rae-Anne (first girl)
20th- Koos
21st- James A.
22nd- Beau
23rd- Matt B.
24th- Brian B.
25th- Brian K.
26th- Chris C.
27th- Russell
28th- Renai
29th- Kyle A.
30th- Mark
31st- Matt S.
32nd- Minjae
33rd- Tarik
The rest did not finish.

A big thanks goes out to Healthy Times Fun Club, who's residents were nice enough to let us have an after party there, with a projector playing such gems as Rad, American Flyers, MASH, and BMX Bandits.

The sponsors of this race were also very generous, with Robin picking up the $100 towards a powder coat from Seattle Powdercoat! Zombie Hearts, FessUP!, Swift Industries, Counterbalance, Party Bots, Swobo, and Chicken Kid- Thanks so much for your support in the race!"

Thank you all for the thank you.. If youd like to see a big old pool of Seattle alleycat photos, just click here..

Now, so theres no confusion, we threw some goods to these kids some time ago. Since then, a good number of events have contacted us, and without exception, Ive elaborated on the same point which is that we have way overextended ourselves on the sponsorship end of things over the course of the Summer and Fall, and now are in the process of collecting bearings, and getting our proverbial feet beneath us, so that eventually we can begin the process all over again.

Also on October 8th, Fred sent us a Gong Show clip featuring The Worms;

Cocaine is awesome.

Also on October 8th from Doug, we present honesty in advertising;

The fine print states 'we cant go on a bike ride without our big stupid Ford truck.'
See? It feels good to be honest.

A young fella that Ive linked here before set an email to me on the 12th of October with an offer that made my eyes leak salty water;

"Howdy,

I introduced myself to you at Interbike during the Joe Parkin book signing event. I gave you a flyer with some of the hats i make. You were gracious enough to link my website. Reading your blog i've noticed your love of Anheuser-Busch products. A couple of days ago I came across some Budweiser label fabric.

The person selling the fabric said it was rare and hard to find. Who knows. But, as a thank you for the link I would like to make you a hat. If you send me your head/hat size and shipping address I will hook you up. I've included a couple pictures of a hat I made for myself using the new fabric.

Avoiding the bummer life down in gator country,

StrickyBobby"

I cant begin to tell you how good it is to be me sometimes.

Michael sent this to me on October 13th;

Granny is unflappable.

The rides to work are becoming increasingly dark these days, but I aint skeered;

Except for on Monday when I was riding along behind what I momentarily thought to be a baby mountain lion. Then I shot a bit of the brown for a second, but as it turned, I took a reassuring glance at its stubby little tail and noted that it was in fact a bobcat accompanying me on my morning commute.

You dont want to mess with the baby anythings...

Except baby terrorists, and as documented by our own Brian, weve got this guy out roaming the mean streets, ready to spray Coors light on any terrorists who are up to their nefarious ways;

Knowing my unfaltering appreciation for the circus of retardation that is Metallica, Mat sent this on;

Mickey from Spooky Cycles wrote in to let us know that his band of hair farmers know the hell out of some cross;

My god, is that Lorenzo Lamas?

The man has long been known to have the sharpest elbows in cross and is not one to be tangled with.

TP from the heartland sent some goods on at some point during the month of October concerning his good, God fearing neighbors;

"Senor Stevil,

I’ve finally figured out what’s been causing me the bummer life all these years. I was born into the sign of the devil!!! No fucking shit. See, I was born and still live in Topeka, Kansas, zip code 66604. Fred Phelps actually ran for mayor here on the platform of changing the zip to something less attractive to devil worshipers. Asshole! He picketed my mother’s funeral, and she wasn’t even gay!!

I was also rear-ended in a car accident by his daughter. OH! The irony! I’m just grateful she wasn’t driving a Ford Probe.

So, that explains it. All I have to do is move out of this hell hole. Any suggestions on a new home turf?

tp"

For those not in the know, Fred Phelps is the sociopath whos behind the God Hates Fags phenomenon, but as we all know, and as Ive elaborated here many times, if God does indeed hate fags, then its fairly safe to assume that he hates a bunch of other stuff as well.

Id mentioned back when Fred and his gang of lunatics picketed Heath Ledgers funeral in Los Angeles (for his portrayal of a homosexual cowboy in 'Brokeback Mountain', dontchaknow?) I wanted to join in on the fun with signs that declared such points as 'GOD HATES PANTS' and 'GOD HATES FLY FISHING'.
However my personal sign was going to exclaim "GOD DEFINITELY DOES NOT HATE BACON AND MOUSTACHES'. Though I didnt follow through with it, it doesnt look like their insanity is loosing steam, so Im sure Ill have many more chances to join in on the fun.

Finally, Im very proud to announce the official launch of a project that Ive perviously eluded to within the hallowed pages, (which it should be noted IS live, but for some reason seems to be inaccessible to me for the moment.. Awesome..)

To quote our official release statement issued by El Corpo;

"For Immediate Trash:
Guys Who Cut Their Own Hair . COM is now living and breathing.
October 23rd, 2008
tim@swobo.com
(415) 332-2009

Swobo has launched a new site dedicated solely to the emerging track bike fetish. The site can be found at Guys Who Cut Their Own Hair(dot)com and will scan the globe to bring visitors the constant variety of everything fixed. The new site will be monitored and authored by several interesting folks from around the U.S., and will then move on to authors in Japan, UK, Germany, Australia, and the Republic of San Francisco.

Julie Benedetto, Prolly, Kevin Sparrow, and Stevil Kinevil will begin sweeping up what's happening across the country, and updating the new site on a daily basis. The track bike scene is growing in some unsuspecting corners of the globe, and guyswhocuttheirownhair.com hopes to capture an up to date snapshot of everything fixed gear from those nooks and crannies. This initial team of authors has had extensive experience, and knowledge surrounding the new scene, and Swobo is stoked to have them on board. Julie Benedetto from Brooklyn, USA, one of the site's authors, added, " I've really enjoyed seeing this track bike scene blow up (in a good way), and when Swobo asked if I wanted to play along, I jumped on it. New York City has a lot going on right now.... Prolly is also from NYC, so we'll have it covered the best we can from our point of view."

Swobo's founder, El Corpo, noted "We wanted to create a site that was authored and managed by people and ideas that fall outside of the traditional bike industry. This particular urban bike enthusiasm (the track bike scene) is pure, and is being "born" by anonymous kids across the country and beyond. Nothing could be healthier, or more real, so we wanted to create a place where people could post ideas and the progression of what's happening right now." El Corpo also went on to add ".... this is something we've been waiting for, for a really, really long time. We're just happy to be here to witness it."

Swobo began in 1992 with the core mission to change the way people and culture view the bicycle. 16 years ago the company started with an unusual assortment of sportswear, and has since grown the line to include a line of urban bikes in 2006, which includes the Sanchez, a steel fixed gear.

Guyswhocuttheirownhair.com is also looking for other enthusiastic contributors to add their track bike radar and inputs to our portion of Al Gore's World Wide Web. Anyone who is interested can contact stevil@swobo.com for a hair study.

Thanks."

To quote The Thermals, "I cant believe I got so far with a head so empty."

Anyway, check back on the regular, because Im sure very soon, the site will be up and running again, and at that point we will all rejoice.
I mean, seriously, when has technology let us down in the past?

Its time to let the sun set on this installment of the avoidance of bummer life-ness, and I thank you all once again for joining me on the ride. Like I always say, its Wednesday-
Im pretty sure you know what to do.