STUFFE

MESSENGERS
From sashae's Flickr stream comes this interesting New York Magazine piece on bicycle messengers, originally published in 1986;

"Fast Company: Wheel Tales of Manhattan's Bike Messengers"

"...they are fast becoming folk heroes - the pony express riders of the eighties."

GAZZETTA JERSEYS
La Gazzetta Sportwool Jerseys now available. Made in the UK by the EXCELLENT folk at Shutt Velo Rapide, La Gazzetta's jersey is now available at a special pre-order price. If you've never tried a proper merino jersey, you're in for a real treat - synthetic jerseys will never seem quite as good to you again.

The Pre Order Page is here;
"La Gazzetta Sportwool Jersey"

ADVENTURE CYCLING
I believe there isn't really such a thing as a "do it all" bike. This is why it's ok for me to have three, and be thinking about the purchase of AT LEAST another two.

Fortunately, Salsa disagree, and showed some interesting takes on the idea at the recent "Sea Ottter" show.

Singletrack World has a good run down of the new stuff coming our way from Salsa. The attention to detail is really nice in their new line - swinging dropouts on the bikes (allow single speed or geared setups without the use of half links for the former), and rack beds contoured to hold roll shaped luggage like karrimats or sleeping bags are the standouts for me.

There's a nice looking seat stay/seat post mounted rack too that would make an ideal support for a large saddle bag. Interesting stuff. Road.cc has a "first look" piece on the "Vaya" road bike too.

Is "Adventure by Bike" a better slogan than "Ride and Smile" though?

SKETCHBOOK
It's Marcelle Holt's birthday today. She's splendid, and deserves a large cake, SO I DONE HER A PICTURE.