Bike Hugger 

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p> I like fire. I like setting fires. In high school, I used to steal chemicals from the lab so I could colour the family home’s fireplace. LIthium in enough quantities would create this red/fuschia flame, while cupric chloride would make green flames. Luckily no one at the shop has taught me to use the brazing torches, otherwise I would have slagged frames left and right and burned Davidson Bicycles to the ground by now.

That’s why Will Meyers is brazing my new frame, not me. Here he’s doing a fillet braze around the head tube. Notice the glowing red spot visible from inside the head tube; that’s the steel where he’s laying down brass. I didn’t have my camcorder otherwise I could have shown you how he carefully flicked the torch to keep a steady temperature without over cooking the tubes. The flame is a lot less than when he brazes lugs.

(Byron and Val meeting up on the road)

Aaron’s Bicycle Repair and Redline Bicycles are raffling off a Redline 9-2-5 to benefit one of Seattle’s best bicycle men. Val Kleitz is currently battling cancer and all raffle proceeds the will go towards helping him cover his medical bills.

Val and I worked together at a shop when I was in High School and College. He then went on to open The Bikesmith in Wallingford. He’s worked at a number of shops around Seattle since then, most recently as the Rock Shox Warranty and Service Manager for Seattle Bike Supply and the Sunday mechanic at Aaron’s Bicycle Repair. He’s helped out with a number of Bike Hugger projects and is just an all around great guy.

UPDATE: Aaron has setup a PayPal account for donations as well.

Raffle tickets are available at Aaron’s Bicycle Repair in <a href= http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=&daddr=6527+California+AVE+SW,+Seattle+WA+98136&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=15”>West Seattle (through Mid-December).

A still from riding in Delhi video shot yesterday. We’ll publish the video and other huggacasts from the Mobile Social Worldwide once we’re back in the States.

Riding in Delhi was safer than it looked because of a curiousity bubble around me. A folding bike and helmeted rider was a spectacle with cars, scooters, buses, carts following to get a closer look. Wasn’t my intent to create a scene, but then felt I’d added something to India. Bikes aren’t status symbols in India or something a business person would ride to work.

That’s an opportunity for change here and the businessmen I talked to in the hotel lobby were very curious about the bike.

Like riding in China, I just rode right into the flow. Wish I had a huge horn though. That’s what they do in India: honkity honk, honk.

Loyal readers will remember that a few months back I announced a super-tacular program Specialized was running, inviting people to compete for the one-year use of a Specialized Stumpjumper as part of their Trail Crew program. You might also remember that I shamelessly plugged for myself to be a recipient of said awesome-ass bike.

Well, I did. I’m now officially part of the Stumpjumper Trail Crew and this, my good readers is a photo of my new love Stumpy, just built up after finally getting it away from the idiots at Fedex Ground.

This means three things. First, I’m going to be doing a lot more mountain bike riding again (whoooo hoooooo). Second, I’ll be blogging about it on our new Specialized-hosted blogs (when they’re done being built, ahem,) and third, I’ll be putting a disclaimer in all of my posts about Specialized bikes and mention that I’m a Trail Crew guy. It’s only fair.

I’ll be shooting on and off this bike a lot and inviting people to come on group rides. In fact, my first group ride is planned for Wednesday the 11th of November at Stewart Air Force Base in NY. If you’re interested please send me a tweet @davidjschloss and I’ll get you the info.

Now, it’s time to ride.

When the rack of bikes is covered in cycling laundry, it’s a good sign. It means that I’m riding consistently.

Sure there are a lot of embrocation products on the market, but for years my favourite product is good ol’ Tiger Balm. It’s cheap, I can get it at better grocery stores, and unlike a disconcerting number of cycling-specific embrocations, it doesn’t cause my skin to FREAKIN’ BLISTER. On cold days I’ll smear it across my knees mainly, and it protects against tendonitis. Actually, my left knee had been bothering me for about a week, and yesterday I rode with Tiger Balm on that knee for 3-1/2hrs in bitchin’ cold rain. I don’t know what my reasoning at the time was, but I didn’t use it on my right knee. And behold! The left knee feels great while the untreated right knee is just a little tender.

Sure, I prefer pricey Assos Chamois Creme, but I’m rather keen on Tiger Balm when it’s not my bum. It’s a bit greasy, but I actually think that attribute may help reduce heat loss from cold rain and spray. Also, my old teammates used to smear Vaseline on their knees during rainy criteriums with the idea that they would reduce road rash in the event of sliding out in a corner, so theoretically Tiger Balm should have similar properties.

I’m using Tiger Balm “White”, but I’ve also used “Red” and the less greasy “Soft”. I don’t have a preference between the first two, but the “Soft” variety is less greasy and hence seems to wash off sooner.

Denskies chose Kramer for the head tube badge of his Roll.

Uploaded by denskies | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Freeriding in India is when your bro on a scooter pushes you along to the market.

Daily Transport

Note this is another in a series of posts from the Mobile Social Worldwide.

Building materials are delivered by bike in India – brick, pipes, steel girders anything you can imagine.

Note this is another in a series of posts from the Mobile Social Worldwide.

While Prague and the Czech people comprise a culture of resistance, it’s not to the car. Cyclist there ride mountain bikes for the cobbles, hilly terrain, and to make quick escapes onto trails when the hostile drivers turn violent. As a symbol of westernization, the car dominates. They proudly make Skodas.