ivan's frame *finally* done, and some build shots from friends.

man, i think this is my 4th cruiser this year, i'm not sure. i think there are around 10 out there or so. i'll figure it out when i'm rested and can think............
whoa!
dogs sleeping with cats? you never know what to expect at the Garro house.
Frank from Washington DC sent me a pic of his coconino cross/commuter {finally!} looks nice all campy-ed out...........FYI, lugged cross forks are an available coconino option, and look quite nice....
keenan got his no-file fillet bike all running! he's the stylin-est kid on the trails in bend, OR!

damn, cruisers make me feel like i am living in a time warp or walking {or wheeling, i guess} through molasses. there's just so much time in these beauties. but, as they say, it's a wrap. going to paint for a coat of dark blue along with it's waltworks fork. Ivan - thanks for the patience, man. i appreciate it greatly. same goes for all my clients - i try and make it worth you while by going that extra bit that separates a great bike from a not so great bike. that's all for now, i am SO tired. steve.

a visit to the markagunt plateau

sidney peaks trail heading towards the trailhead atop brianhead peak at 11,000+ ft.
lowder ponds trail
peak colors.
just add beer for a fine afternoon!
there's some mighty fine trails up there.

looking out into the great basin from the edge of the colorado plateau. below me is yankee meadow.
sidney peaks is one steep mofo.
yankee meadow reservoir.
i love the alpine stuff. found an arrowhead right here, too.
beauty & the beast.

the pink cliffs from the virgin river rim trail.
good stuff!
rippin' it with sally dog!
this is lodge trail, i believe.
camp at 10,000+ ft.

the pink cliffs from cascade falls.
grunting up the VRRT.
overlooking zion national park and the kolob plateau.
sometimes even cripples can have some fun............
damn, that's pretty!


pretty much letting the pictures do the talking........we took a five day vacation to southern utah for a much needed mental and physical recharge. the only thing that coulda been better is if the wind would have died down so we could have went boating and fishing, but as you can see, it certainly did not suck! next time, we'll make it a week.......... steve.

an update on front burner projects before i split for a couple days.......

Kerry's frame & fork. RAL# 6010. maybe my favourite orange yet, and i really like orange! sweet fork from Jruss at sabrosa cycles.
a big stack'o'work. from the front to the back - Ivan's, Kerry's, John's, my old rock lobster, and coconino #70 in for a disc mount add-on and some new gravy.
sometimes shop helper Barry got his cruiser back from paint - he's pretty damn stoked! he's been working on it since winter. i did the drawing ,the brazing and the bending and Barry did all the grunt work. looks nice!

coconino cycles will be closed from the 18th - 23rd of this month. we are taking our first trip out of state since February, going to southern utah for some trails & boating and hopefully nice weather and some fall colors. sooo........Kerry - your frame is gonna ship. i'll call you with the tracking numbers. John - i have not seen the bars yet. they should show while i am gone and i'll get it all assembled & shipped ASAP. Ivan - i ALMOST got your frame all polished and then realised that the paint wasn't here yet so i'll probably get it and your fork to paint on the 25th and then sent to you ASAP. sometime shop helper barry got a start on sub-assemblies for Roabie's bike. there ya go. full plate! orders continue to roll in, and i am taking orders for august 09' now. see you all in a few days, steve.

ivan's bike all brazed up.

still hot!
them's some nice curves!
the only burns i can show publicly.........

a quick post just to show ivan's cruiser. man, this frame has taken a toll on me! it has cut me, burned my arm twice, and when doing the dropouts a 1000*+ drop of molten flux dripped off into my lap. unfortunately for me, my leather apron had slipped down and the glob burned through my pants and stuck in between a couple pieces of male anatomy and sizzled........well, i couldn't stop brazing in the middle of a dropout so i just started yelling oh-F!, oh-F!! until i could stop and check the damage. damn, i'll be OK but something like that sure will dampen your afternoon........i'll post more pics when i get this baby de-fluxed and polished. steve.

great times on empty trails!

rippin' it up with cody! cody is pretty damn fast. sally wants to herd the last person, but cody wants to be a co-leader.
here is sally in her very important role, making sure the herd stays together. a very important job for a little black dog.........
my little personal "crux" on sunset trail. it took me awhile to get this one dialed. you have to cut the rocks at the bottom hard left and then veer sharply right, wheelie both front wheels onto the roots and line up your rear wheel with the little root "ramp" and gun it hard.
schultz tank full all year!
hanging out with the horny toads. these guys are one of our only reptiles up here. we also have some garter snakes and little bluebelly lizards, but these little guys are the hardiest - i've seen them at over 10,000ft. elevation! they must tunnel deep in the winter. all they eat is ants, and if they get aggravated with you they will squirt blood at you out of their tear ducts - no lie!

out enjoying an empty schultz creek trail after an all night rainstorm. way nice! we didn't see anyone the entire ride.
how sweet is that?
i love all the beautiful little details in the world. maybe that is what helps me polish metal all day and fit perfect miters. people really should unplug themselves sometimes and really look at what is out there.
damn - i always forget how many steep-ass kickers there are on meadow trail!
denise, taking her photo journal duties seriously!

i've been trying to get out and exercise more lately. most of the "disabled" athletes concur with me that often it is the only lime that they are able to control, or at least mask or ignore the pain of everyday life. i have quite allot, and sometimes it just rocks my world and i just barely cope. i got up friday morning with full intentions of getting ivan's bike well along, but upon waking my feet just turned purple {i have vassal constriction caused by my spinal cord injury that screws with my blood flow and makes my feet cold and purple. } and cranked nerve pain. i started getting spasms in my feet and more severe pain until i was barely able to tack the chainstays on or even hold the 6000*F torch straight at all. by noon this turned into worse spasms and violent kicking accompanied by electric fence shocks all the way from my spinal fusion to the toes on my right foot. this went on until about 8am the next morning.........not much sleep at all. pretty horrific night. still, i got my ass out on the trail and pedaled up climb three and down sunset. that made me good and tired and i finally got some sleep. pretty crazy life, ya'll........... steve.

a quick update on john's, ivan's and kerry's bikes.

check out john's slick green machine!
ivan's is soon to follow. got the fork here too, and i'll be needing to get a color choice.

OK, quick post. i'm waaayyy tired after seeing camper van beethoven and cracker last night {they ROCKED.} and getting up 1st thing to go to the dentist. then, i prepped and did a partial assembly on john's cruiser and then disassembled it to ship. looks like i have to get a bigger box for the frame and fork and try to ship it tomorrow. looks great! i really dig the color, it reminds me of my green machine trike i had when i was a kid. ivan's bike is progressing smoothly, i have the front triangle{s} all tacked and i'm gonna work on the stays tomorrow. it will be ready for paint in a few days. kerry's bike went to paint today, and i should see it back in a few days.........that's it for now - must go lay down. steve.

back to regularly scheduled programming.......

kerry's bike ready for gravy!
final check off - cable routing.
it may not look like much, but there's a sweet cruiser in this box! should have ivan's bike ready to go in a few days. i'll try to have more pics tonight.

i did lookout trail super smooth the other day. rolled just about everything! there's one spot where i have to get out & use trees for crutches.
don't let this picture fool you! this was the ONLY smooth spot on weatherford. the rest was softball sized rocks mixed with bigger rocks.

a very seldom used route in the drylake hills.......only one track {an elk} and nice, moist dirt.
the san francisco peaks.
a quick hand plant & a bunch of scraping........
very nice! we were the only trail users.
gotta love the ferns..........

doing a little better here at the garros' today. thanks for all the great comments. i got kerry's frame finished a couple days ago, and it's only waiting for the paint to show & it will go to painters in plenty of time for 24hrs. of moab! looking forward to seeing the color, a dark burnt orange. ivan's bike will reach at least front triangle status today. got in a few handcycle rides last week, i wanted to see some ferns before they all died. with the impending first hard freezes on the mountain coming any day they will all be gone. fall is in the air for sure, with it getting cooler every day. summer 2008 will be one that goes down in the books as one of the best flower years ever! steve.