Thanks for reading the newsletter. I hope your coffee is good and your week is the best it can be.

Winter

Drinking coffee with my wife at Generations in Palmdale I overhead a door to door sales team having a meeting about their future plans for pushing sales. While discussing the coming time change on November 5th the leader of the crew said something to the effect of, “When the sun sets it’s not really later in the day it’s just darker so keep knocking on doors, people are home, do not give up.” This is choice leadership and wise words to keep the crew motivated. While I could go on for a spell on the time change I’ll spare you the pain and give you a thought or two about how the nature of the shop changes when the sun goes down.
We sell more lights. Simple as that. People will still ride into the artificially induced night time while commuting or enjoying the trails after work. The increase in sunlight in the morning helps the early bird riders that need every bit of warmth from the flaming orb to make the Saturday mornings bearable. But still, I’m getting out my warm gloves from now until 2024.

Flat Tires

We’re in the middle of a flat tire epidemic. The recent hurricane that was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached Southern California has resulted in goat heads blooming and spreading their tire defeating thorns across the Lancaster area and beyond. If you’re unfamiliar with goat heads (also known as sand spurs, vine thorns, those pokey things) they are a small green vine (weed) that spreads out yellow flowers and a green bud that contains a nasty thorny sphere that looks like a goat’s head with horns. They are sharp and relentless. The damage they cause to cyclists tubes is the most common complain we’re getting lately. It is truly one of the most frustrating elements of cycling for people in the area. I have installed inserts, liners, and sealant more in the last two weeks that ever before during the same time of the season. Even the spring time perennial California Golden Poppies are experiencing another bloom. Is October the new March?

Barber Shop

Last week I mentioned that the bike shop was a place like no other; meaning that the confessional style of conversion goes deep and personal sometimes. I realized that the barber shop is very much the same venue for sharing and oversharing. Thinking back to the days when I frequented barber shops it was always filled with small talk that would go all directions until everyone was laughing and having a good time before taking their cleaned up dome out the door. Those hirsute days are long gone for me. Thankfully I have the bike shop life so the wisdom can continue to flow and we can share and solve the problems in our lives with strangers and friends alike.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week and go for a lighted bike ride.

Peace,
Paul