Bad Bicycle Designs Website

My old friend Gary Coffrin sent a link to a site by Charles Kelly of some of the worst bicycle designs in recent memory. You really need to check these out!

The interesting thing to me was the Alenax, which used levers rather than cranks to propel the bicycle. I remeber seeing these at the trade shows for years, but I don't know of any dealers who acually sold any.

Not exactly a new idea, as I have a poster from c.1909 with the very same concept.

Look familiar?

Again, this shows that there is very little that is truly new in the bicycle industry. Sometimes it takes a while for technology to catch up with concept (full suspension bikes were made in the late 1800's) and others are just plain wrong no matter the era...

Playing Catch Up

I just realized that it's been a while since I've added anything to the blog (some would argue that I have yet to add anything...), but today is my first day off at the roastery since my last entry. Even then, I was in the office for three hours today getting caught up on long-neglected maintenance there.

A highlight of the past few weeks was having my brother stop over on his way from Portland to the Bay Area. We hadn't seen each other for awhile and it was great to see him and his wife, Shelley again. Of course, the week he chose to drive down corresponded with our first major winter storm. So the usual 7 hour drive turned into more than 10 as he had to drive through rain, hail and snow to get here. We even had snow here, but it didn't stick.

We went to dinner at one of our favorite hang-outs, the Plaza Grill, where we shared a bottle of Seven Deadly Zins and a fabulous dinner.

Mike, Shelley, Charlie and me. Note the check is still sitting there...

Too early the next morning, we bid adieu to them as they had to drive another 7 hours to their son's house in Livermore. Charlie and I really have to get up Portland way to see their new house in person...

It was the worst of times; It was the best of times...

Things have been more than a bit crazy the last couple of weeks. Thanksgiving weekend was very full - a full-on dinner Thanksgiving Wednesday evening for our daughter, a bike ride on Thanksgiving am...

Overlooking Moonstone Beach

...followed by dinner with our friends, the LeBels. The rest of the weekend was spent tucked away at a neighbor's "cabin" in Willow Creek, a 45 minute drive from Arcata, and almost literally a world away. No internet, no cable tv, just a chance for Charlie and me to relax and chill (this would be the "best of times" part of the program) ...

The view from the kitchen

We took our AeroPress and some freshly roasted Kinetic Koffee Holiday Roast Sumatra with us and life was GOOD!

After a very busy week (including roasting both Saturday and Sunday), it was time to drive to Lakeport (3.5 hours south) to get ready for a 10am appointment Monday at the Neurology Center there. I spent over 2 hours being electrocuted while the doctor tried to figure out what was going on with my back and the numbness in my legs. Final diagnosis: "undetermined." (This would be the "worst of times" part). I have some neuropothy in both legs (meaning that the nerves are being damaged by the compression in my back) and I have lost sensation in both feet. Not enough to worry about yet, but rather troubling..

On the plus side, local dungeness crab is back in season and Charlie and I just had our first fresh crab of the season tonight, with a very nice Napa Viognier. Mongo like crab!

Sunset du jour