Thursday was a busy day.

Busy for most of us, anyway.

We had some really fun visitors in the shop. While JJ and I were helping two delightful folks from Atlanta pick out an easygoing recumbent bike that would suitable for touring, our friend Steve stopped by. Steve is recently back from his epic cross-country tour raising funds for research into Parkinson's Disease, in association with the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's. He is following up by speaking to groups of Parkinson's sufferers and their family members, sharing a positive message about what physical activity can do combat symptoms and improve quality of life for patients. I embarrass Steve by telling him how inspirational he is, and he embarrasses me by telling me that during his 4500 mile trip towing a trailer hauling 100lbs. of gear, he'd had the wheels I'd built for him trued twice, but that "they didn't need it." I hope to write more about Steve's adventures soon. 

If you're interested, the wheels were Salsa Delgado Cross rims on Shimano XT hubs, with DT Competition spokes x 36.

While Steve talked touring with Carol and Susan from Atlanta, Zac from Webb Works (and another bike shop whose name we won't mention—just kidding, it's Sunshine Cycle) dropped in with some t-shirts and some good news: the frame that Scott ordered over the holidays is in about ready to ship. Scott's bike is going to be pretty sweet—custom geometry bamboo frame, Shimano Alfine 11 internally geared hub, Velocity Dyad rims with ELVS reflective powdercoat, etc. He's promised that it is going to be available to test ride for people who are curious about either the Webb Works bamboo frame or the Alfine 11 hub, but I hope people don't abuse the privilege or he'll never get to ride it. And he only gets a new bike every 6-7 years, unlike me, and many of our customers who live by our friend Molly's maxim that if you know how many bikes you have, you probably don't have enough.

Speaking of Alfine 11, Shimano certainly is low-key about it. They announced it this time last year, showed it off at Interbike, and even came close to hitting their (revised) release date. However, right now—even though it is available for purchase—it doesn't even appear on their consumer site. Weird. Anyway, in a few weeks you'll be able to satisfy your curiosity about the hub and the bamboo bike here at TTR.

Pro tip: the Shimano people pronounce it AL-fi-nay. Do with that knowledge what you will. 

Ultimately the Atlanta crew decided on a Bacchetta Giro 20, a really solid pick for a recumbent touring bike. They headed back to Atlanta, Steve went on his way, Zac continued his ride, and the rest of us went back to work patching flats and truing wheels and doing the other things that we do when the weather warms up a bit and people bring their bikes out of hibernation. Well, most of us got back to work . . . I'm sure you can guess who the holdout was.