new bringheli alignment table

got my first chance to use my alignment table yesterday, it is super cool! it's custom handmade to my special needs, and groung to .005 across the entire surface. i was really stoked to see that kathy's frame was totally straight to within .5mm without any outside input! just anothr tool to help me make your bike better, faster. steve.

off road handcycle world championships all wrapped up.

boy howdy, quite the beatdown! sitting in an internet cafe in gunnison just feeling tired drinking coffee while denise is off mtn biking. all in all, it was one of the coolest events i've had the pleasure in participating in, and i did much better then i expected! the first day was the hillclimb - 2 miles straight up the side of the mountain to well over 10,000 feet. i was dicing it out the whole way for 2nd with last year's silver medalist, drew wills, after passing 5 riders after the start. it was grueling! i came in 3rd with seth arseneau winning and steve ackerman in 4th. the second day was the x-country, three miles up and down the muontain with a mass start. i was seeded near the back of the twelve starters as they put the fastest riders at the back to make it "more interesting", which it surely did. i ended up yo-yoing back and forth with last year's bronze medalist, steve ackerman, renound hard-man, the 1st guy to hand cycle around the world! it was a gruesome contest of who could endure the most pain with drew in 2nd and in sight the entire time and steve won, putting me in 4th with seth taking the gold once again. all in all i think i did really good for a rookie, it was a treat and a surprise to duel it out with the world's finest and to sit on the podium for both days in a world championships less then two years after almost dying, something i would have never belived would ever happen!{the $500 in prize money was pretty sweet too!} thanks to all, everyone was soooooo supportive, from my bro-and-sis-inlaws michelle and greg to one-off handcycles, ron andrews from kingcage, the crested butte adaptive center, the u.s. handcycle federation, all the vollenteers,and drew will for some great additional photos. and especially my wonderful wife denise for sticking it out with me through all the hard times and all her love! rock on, ya'll, steve.

a few bikes i hope you likes.

got alot of bike stuff goig on trying to get our shit together to go to the off-road handcycling world championships today - i think i'm good to go! first, jeni c.'s pretty blue s&s coupler touring bike. i really dig the color! that gonna be a trusty life long companion, there. look for it around sun valley, idaho. next, jeff t.'s long-travel mtb in battleship with a pearl topcoat. this is jeff's second coconino, he owns a fully rigid 29er in addition to this 26" wheeled rig designed around a 120mm suspention fork. it will be cruising the trails above boise. also, had a drive-by-smiling from matt b. of ada, oklahoma to show off his built up gold rigid 29er with it's custom waltworks fork we designed especially for this rig with walt. it sure looks cool n' comfy with the fat tires and the titec h-bars. good to see matty out here on the beautiful coconino plateau enjoying the trails and tipping a beer over some evening wheel building with gullo. lastly, kathy g.'s tacked-up mtb. i got it all brazed up last night, but it's gonna have to wait until we get back to be polished up. there's only so much one guy can do! when i get back, first bikes up: david m.'s 1-speed and simon z.'s 29er. thanks for all your pacience! rock on, steve.

this day of fishing is gonna be hard to beat!

boooyyyyy.....did me and barry slay trout yesterday! i got one at 21.5" 5lb, barry got a 21" 4lb, and i got another 18" at 3lb!! just a totally amazing day of fishing! limited out too, 12 fish. the big trout took some amazing battles to land,just peeling line. i even fell out of the boat when barry landed my big trout! barry threw me a seat cushion, asked me if i was o.k., i said yep, and asked him if he still had my trout! the crazy thing was that there was another trout on the hook as well - a 10"er. i don't know if it got hooked during the fight, or if the big one hit the first trout. we will never know. also, saw herons, ospreys, and an eagle. wow. i'm still amazed. the three biggest trout i've seen all season in half an hour! and, boy, are they delicious. i got eight 1" thick steaks off the biggest one alone, blood red flesh. nothing like eating local and organic! rock on, happy boating, steve.

work in progress

here's some pics of kathy's bike in progress. you may remember kathy's bike from a few posts ago, it as the red one that was going back to get blasted and re-painted. well, upon seeing it blasted, i just thought "i can do better then this now." it was frame #20 from about 4 years ago, and my skills have progressed soooo much that i was tenetive about putting my sticker back on the downtube of something i just didn't think was my best work. so, she gets a free new frame. this one will be SWEET. i got ALOT done on it the last few days after getting shut down the day before by loosing all out power for a good part of the day. this morning i'll go out and get the chainstay sub-assemblies on. i'm really tired and sore today. handcycling, filing, rowing boats, wheelchair pushing, crutch walking, man, my arms hurt lately......also, a pic of my new bringheli alignment table. it's gonna make my life alot easier when it comes to making straight frames! it's ground to within .005" across it's entire surface and the frame bolts to it. i'm gonna have to have it bolted to the middle of my shop floor before i can get much use out of it, however. not cheap. $2000 + $700 shipping. probally in the 600lb range! that is one cool addition to the frame shop, for shure! and, i'm starting to get worried about these sunflowers......i think they have plans for taking over the shop.....and, lastly, a pic from a quick ride we did up waterline road the other day. thanks for reading! steve.

two days off, little bear trail and a bit of fishing.

had a couple good days off. rode climb 3/sunset/little bear/little elden trails, about 9+ miles of singletrack in a little over six hours. tons of climbing and lots of really hard off-camber riding on little bear, that's what really slowed me down. had to have denise spot me on alot of sketchy spots. definately a first handcycle decent. tough stuff, an absolutely unbelivable arm workout! been wanting to do little bear for the last two summers. good to be getting my endurance back finally so i can do longer rides! yesterday we went fishing at blue ridge again with barry and eric. nice to get in a full day of fishing without getting rained out. the quality of fish was markedly alot better, some definate non-stockers with pretty colors and plenty of fight! got 14 trout in all, and one big suckerfish, biggest fish of the day! later, steve.

trying to get things done.........

well.....getting there on denis's bike.....slowly. i culled/ruined two pairs of seat stays before i got a set i liked. i just wasn't happy with the results and the way the sliding disc mount was going to work on it. now, however, it looks really cool! sometimes you just gotta man up and say "not good enough", no matter how much time you have invested in a project. it's what seperates your custom work from the mass-produced junkcycles. trying to get frame building done while managing all the other aspects of running a buisness is hard work. i spent three hours yesterday just cleaning and re-arranging the shop so the new bringheli alignment table could fit. it finally showed up today - all 700+ pounds of it. i'm gonna have to use some bro-buddy credits to get some pals over here to place the thing. i'll post some pics when it gets all settled in. also, did some work on the armbike today, it was a hurtin' unit after the rainstorm it got stuck in on saturday. the knee pads were totally full of water, it sat in the rain as we waited for the lighting to mellow out enough to put it on top of the car. i had a great ride, but forgot the camera - conditions were fantastic! rode up climb 3, down sunset to the road crossing, up coyote downhill, down the *new* sunset trail, back up climb 3 and down weinie walk, and still felt pretty dang good! also, went out to blue ridge resevoir and caught this rack of trout with barry ward. they were yummy! more cool bike pics soon, jeff's bike should return from paint soon, steve.