Well suck me sideways. Its damn cold out eh? Nothing like coming back from Colorado to a frigid weekend. For those of you who aren’t aware, but this past weekend had a whopping high of -2 degrees. Overnight low’s around -15 and windchills doubled that. Only fitting that the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships fall on the coldest weekend of the year. There’s nothing like going outside on frigid nights like these, look up into the clear black star studded sky and take in a deep, long breath. Can’t get much closer to pure oxygen then that. Welcome to winter in Minnesooota!!!
The service managers at Erik’s were treated to their first ever service managers trip. We spent a week out in Colorado Springs for some training. We spent the first 3 days at a program called STU. Sram Technical University. 3 days of theory, discussion, and overhauling SRAM products. Their full line of Rock Shox forks, hydraulic brakes, the new road shifters, and rear suspension. The only program of its kind in the industry. Hats of to Hercules and Dave for another killer STU session. Oh, and I can’t forget, we got to see the new Rock Shox SID up front and in person. Goody gumdrops. I want one of those things so bad. The second half of our trip was spent at the OTC(Olympic Training Center). We along with 50 or so other mechanic’s from around the country got the honor to spend 4 days with some of the best wrenching minds in the industry to get trained in and become certified race mechanics. Racers need mechanics. To do so one must have the proper certification. These were very long and grueling days. Class from 8am to around 9-9:30pm with breaks for lunch and dinner. Lots of information, but well worth it. I must say, I have never talked to people that have such a passion for the bicycle then what I observed at the OTC. It truly was inspiring. That will be the thing I will remember most about my experience there. The passion these people have for our industry and the bicycle. Race mechanics are a different breed. You could be the best mechanic at your shop, but at the races you could be the worst. We were told, “There are two types of bike mechanics. Shop mechanics, and race mechanics.” Very much true. We met the man that started Wheelsmith and now works for FSA. We met the president of Independent Fabrications. We met the man who has pretty much been the go to guy for mountain bike race support for U.S riders worldwide. We met the man who is the leader of Mavic neutral race support. If you watch road racing, you see Mavic support everywhere. A very cool experience, and I hope to apply some of that knowledge this summer.
Purple Palace Brewing is in full force. The draught tap was a hit for New Year’s. 5 gallons of Witbier were gone in a couple of hours. Next up we have and EPA(English Pale Ale). This should be on tap sometime around Valentines Day. We just brewed up an Octane IPA yesterday. That should be ready in late Feb. early March. Just in time for Umphrey’s McGee. Wednesday we are brewing a Belgian Trippel and that will be done sometime in October of 2008. We are also in the works for a logo to be stamped onto a tap handle. My good friend Matt is going to help us out with the design. He’s a computer whiz and can’t wait to see what transpires. His only request? Purple Palace at no charge for life. No prob.
Thats all for now. Just a quick update on some things. The next couple of months while our store is getting revamped I will be floating around at some shops, so maybe I’ll see ya there. Otherwise, we’ll be back open sometime early March. Next time I find a computer long enough to write I hope its on my new MacBook with Leopord. Cheers, and go Wild.
