Perennial Cycle

Minnehaha Bag Co. make a variety of well made canvas bags with a classic look. We have enjoyed selling their bags since they were first introduced two years ago.

One minor issue we've found is that their Small Saddlebag mounts to saddles with one strap, though when mounted to a saddle with saddle loops (think Brooks), it looks as though 2 straps were used. We created an instructional video to answer the inquiries about the bag mounting set up.

My neighborhood K-8 school (Lake Harriet Community School) here in Minneapolis added bike racks over the summer. I was blown away the other morning when I rode my daughter into school and saw over a hundred bikes in the racks. The school is already due more bike racks. Wow.

I shouldn't be so surprised as one of the teachers in the school is Mr. Carlson and he has been doing a fall and spring bike club for several years. How cool is that? Way to go Lake Harriet (and Mr Carlson).

Inspiring High School kids to do things is a real challenge. Add to that that what you want them to do is create and express. Good luck with that, eh? Well, an art teacher at Southwest High School here in Minneapolis is succeeding. Ms. Leierwood motivates her students to create art in ways that connect with them. Artbikes is one of her units. Drawings with sports related themes are another unit. She even gets the kids out riding the Artbikes in a local favorite parade called The May Day Parade (put on by The Heart of the Beast Theater). I believe that extra credit is awarded for the kids brave enough to ride in the parade.

Tonite at the shop Ms. Leierwood will be showcasing some of her students work in a gallery exhibition from 7:00 - 9:00. There will be a variety of Artbikes available to check out as well as drawings created in class at Southwest High. Word on the street is that Bill Eggert of Evolutionary Transport will be joining in the fun.

Here are some pictures from The May Day Parade as well as a Bike Expo earlier this spring:

Quality Bike Product is one of the largest cycle distributors in the US and each year for one weekend in February they have a big industry show called Frostbike.

This year's shop ride to Frostbike was well above zero the whole way and we suffered no flats. Sweet!

The event was well attended as always and basically is a who's who in the bike components and accessories world. Civia Bikes come from QBP so we got to check out the full 2010 Civia line up which is looking very impressive. Henry is a sales rep for Schwalbe that has visited us in the past. He gave us all a nice run through the Schwalbe products. For products of interest it seemed that lights were a bright spot (ha!). Portland Design Works looks like an up and coming parts and accessories company that will be good to have around.

The lunch was spectacular and the ride both ways was a fun one. Riding with a group of friends is an absolute blast and being 10 of us there were big smiles all around! Here's a video of the ride and event.

We ended with pizza and a Brompton seminar back at the shop. Brompton is looking especially good for 2010!