Generic shop visit

...ah hah.  That elusive raffle prize at the state championship event in Telluride.  All the other MSC events were busts for me.  I sat there after the races, raffle ticket in one hand, 1^st Place keychain in the other, hoping to walk away with something of value after almost killing myself riding through the woods at dangerous speeds.  But luck always evaded me.  I always had to fill my hands with a beer, not because I like beer, but because my empty hands were lonely.  Besides, most of the time I was only in it for the XTR goodies and not the pickles.  So instead I didn’t win anything.  It has something to do with Karma, I think.  And after the MSC State Championship, in which Generic Cycles gave away three custom builds (one each to the men’s and women’s singlespeed series champions, and one up for raffle), I walked away with a sweet new camelback, only to find out later that it was a women’s model.  So it goes.  A few days later I get a call from the race director telling me that I had “won” the raffle, and will be receiving a custom built singlespeed frame from Generic.  She explained the conditions of my “winning”.  It has something to do with winning all the MSC races I competed in, but I won’t go into detail.

At any rate, I finally got to stop by Generic Cycles in Denver, meet the Owner/Operator/Craftsman/Artist, take a look around the shop and current projects, and discuss my new build.  I’ve never been so excited to get measured.  Somehow getting measured for a suit, or getting poked and prodded on an operating table doesn’t stack up (unless you are on an operating table but you actually feel like you are floating on a cloud in some intergalactic fantasy watching a cartoon unfold before your drowsy eyes, because that can be pretty cool, yet the results tend to be less exciting).  It’s the real deal.  We discussed what I want the bike to be, what I want it to do, what I like in a bike and don’t, and on and on.  We discussed cool things like drill bits and tube-bending dies and CNC machines.  We nerded out a little.  They specialize in titanium, and he’s building me their Ultimate hardtail frame, custom fitted to me, with my specific fork choice (probably Lefty) in mind.  It was an amazing experience.  And what a cool guy at that.  I dropped off a little beer from the brewery, and walked out smiling.  Bada bing bada boom!

Build pics and more info to come, as I get it.