Falling Leaves :: Random Musings

Hey there folks.  My apologies for the infrequent content here over the past few months.  Suffice it to say that we have been busy settling into our new home and singularly focused on digging out from under the back log that we created during our move.

This past week has been an interesting one in that several experiences have caused me to pause and reflect a bit on why all of the hard work and challenges associated with this move have been worth it.

Riding to the shop on Monday morning, I had one of those moments that you just know at the time is going to be burned into that scarce permanent storage space that we all have in our brains.  You know, those few memories that you have that are still lucid years later.  Riding through the falling leaves in that morning light that is so unique to New England in the Fall, I just smiled.

Later in the day, walking to the Post Office with two frame-sets heading off to Taiwan, I just smiled again.  I thought to myself, how cool is it to be walking down the main street of a proud old mill town, bringing something that we made here to be shipped to Taiwan?  Even better that Thelma, the lady behind the counter, knows your name, and Tony, the Postmaster, comes out to say hello and thank us again for coming to town.

Little things.  Small things.  But it is the human scale that we've lost so much of, and the things that make all the difficult stuff worthwhile.

So, what about those bikes?  Well, we've been putting out some incredibly nice ones, if I do say so myself.  Unfortunately, in our efforts to get them out the door to customers that have been more than patiently waiting for them, we've been remiss in documenting and sharing them.

To try and make up for that, Chris Milliman will be in the house next week to lend his keen eye and sharp lens to the cause.  He'll be shooting bikes, people and place, so stay tuned.  If you haven't heard of Chris, then you haven't been paying attention to the photo credits in just about any cycling magazine out there.  He's a fellow Granite State resident, so we are psyched to have him ply his craft with us.

In the meantime, here's some random stuff that has been collecting on my iPhone.

Chris, placing the first Newmarket mill tower decal on a frame:

Filigreed fenders, to match each end of a fade:

Shawn inside the custom green and yellow welding fun house:

Torch-rific...

Tuesday night burger ride. Do the miles, earn the meal:

Everyone should have their own custom bar stools.  Ours were made by Jonathan Rummel at Hand Forged Iron Works:

A comfy place to sit and watch TV, or read a magazine.  I'll be there watching la classica delle foglie morte (Giro di Lombardia) today.

What a difference...

Stop by and say hello:

Happy falling leaves, and smiles with your miles,

G.