Kwame.

That is all.

New Bike Day: 2012 Trek 9th District.

I was lucky enough to receive the proto for the 2012 9th

District. The Aluminum frame and fork were made in Waterloo

Wisconsin by Jarod Brown for geometry and styling evaluation.

After passing, it was broken down to frame and fork to eventually

be given to me. As a proto, it has no bottle cage bosses and a few

differences from the final production model.

I wanted to make the bike a tribute to Detroit, the city I

learned how to ride a bike in. Detroit is mostly flat yet has

some of the roughest roads in the country compounded by

broken glass and metal shards that line the shoulder. I started

with bomb-proof Bontrager SSR wheels and 4mm thick thorn

resistant tubes. I kept the gearing a shallow 11-23 9 speed

with a 48t SRAM courier crankset. To tell the story of robustness,

I went with the Shimano Saint downhill rear derailluer and crank

bros stem. The Bontrager Krivits bar is a fun MTB bar that really

gives the rider a feeling of control and stability over rough terrain.

Lastly, the graphics are derived from the production graphics, but

where the production bike shows Osaka Japan's streets, my bike

highlights some of the fun spots to mash around Detroit. The bike

is matte black with gloss black/gold decals and an unfinished raw

aluminum fork. This was to reflect Detroits incredibly technical

and developed engineering abilities while admitting to its "unfinished"

state.

The geometry is fun and whippy like all the Districts and it has

been a hoot to ride all over Detroit, Chicago and Madison.

I have been riding it for 4-5 months now and can finally show

everyone now that the 2012 model line up is out now.

Stop on by a Trek Dealer and take one for a spin!

New House.

3829 Busse St.

Madison, WI 53714

Send me your letters!

RAGBRAI: Aftermath.

Mornings at RAGBRAI aren't the best parts

of RAGBRAI.

But they exist.

"Travis,

Where the hell did you get all that glitter on your chest from?"

"What the hell are you talking about"" [Chugs High Life]

-End Scene-

RAGBRAI: The Corn.

Majestically Ominous.

I urinated all over it.

Shitty Garage Band.

The drew us in with their 80's covers and free Coors Light.

But we didn't stay for long.

RAGBRAI: Brauns.

American Gothic. Except Brother/Sister.

And a Bontrager Oracle stuck in for good

measure.

Luke.

This enterprising young man was filling up water bottles from

his neighbors hose for tips.

Paul filled up his water bottle 3 times in 20 minutes.

Ken K, pulling the Shack.

Ken riding high and mighty on his 7200. Pulling the Research

team on their Madones and Cronus'.

Ragbrai: Krautbauers.

Krautbauers doing Krautbauer.

Trek Research Ladies.

Jess was getting concerned with the diameter

of her ankles.

So she was working on fixing them.

Test Lab Joe.

Joe took a back pack filled with computers and a bike filled

with strain gauges to test real world bike strain. He could

then compare it to the results seen in our own in-house

test lab to ensure that what we see indoors is meeting the

requirements and needs of real world riding.

Trek making Treks better.

The Anti-LoneWolf?

This guy is awesome and deserves a "Lone Wolf" like title.

Ideas?

Ride Hard.

Sit Down.

Look Up.

RAGBRAI: Petting Zoo.

SRSLY.

RAGBRAI: Desaturated Characters.

These photos have no color.

The people have it in spades.

Mr. Porkchop

This family hits every day of RAGBRAI offering

full pork chops for $7. No seasonings or condiments,

just meat and a napkin. No Plate. But with 49 miles

behind you and 13 miles to the next town, it's 7 dollars

well spent. The family makes all of their money during

the week of RAGBRAI and one other private event.

They have pork distribution down to a science.

A delicious science.

RAGBRAI: Rider Shots.

Bike riding at RAGBRAI is incredibly diverse. Road, Cross,

Tandem, Unicycle or Touring. You name it, people rode it.

There were even two Brooks reps riding high wheelers in

wool jerseys. 130 degree heat index in wool jerseys.

Keith von Huben. Potato Oles.

Engineers love fried starch discs.

RAGBRAI: Oddity

2010 BMW M3 with the Competition Group. Roof Rack.

Trek 7200, Fisher Superfly 100.

One hell of an impractical support vehicle.

Similarly impractical bikes for a 468 mile ride across Iowa.

The Rig.

This year, the Trek Research Team attended

RAGBRAI in style. The Four Winds 5000 had

two pop-outs and was equipped with our rad

12-bike bike rack. Definitely an upgrade from

last year and certainly a benchmark for our

future RAGBRAIs.

Trek Light Cycle

I developed a toddlers "Kick Bike" as an innovation project

to display at Trek World. Here are some of the finished shots

of the model. Hubless Wheels. Glow-y Lights. Fun!