psssst, don't forget....

I'm over here !

DW

Enterprise Rent A Car, kiss my ass.

Yep, the title says it all. First, let me give you a back story.
I have a frequent renter number with them for about 3 years now. Whenever I travel, I use Enterprise because they had treated me very well in the past, and actually don't mind paying a few bucks more because of the treatment. Past being the key word.

As NAHBS was fast approaching back in February of this year, I reserved a car online to make the drive to Richmond, VA. I had my friend drop me off at the airport to pick up the car. I went to the car rental desk for Enterprise and paid for my car, picked up the paperwork and walked out to pik out the lucky car that was going to carry Les and I to Richmond. I meet the "lot girl" out in the sea of rental cars and I pick one out. I start signing the final copy of paperwork after the walk around and then she springs it on me; "where are you driving to?" I tell her Richmond, VA and she says "hang on, I'll be right back" and she walks into the little office in the parking lot. She comes out a few seconds later and informs me that I can only drive to states that share a border with Indiana and not pay an additional fee. As it turns out, Virginia is a couple of states away, and each state beyond the Indiana border is an additional $10 per state, per day. Take 9 days that I would have the car and 2 states beyond Kentucky and you have an additional $180 charge.

I informed her that I had never heard that rule before and she called over one of her co-w0rkers and he confirmed the rules existence. I let her know, "hey, its nothing personal, but BULL $***!" so I said "hang on a few minutes, I'll be back." I walked into the Car terminal and walked up to Thrifty. I asked the counter gal, who was all smiles when greeting me, "do you charge extra for states beyond the Indiana border?" She said "Of course not, why?" I explained that Enterprise had neglected to inform me of that when I rented the car and asked of they had any vehicles available. They did. And you know what, it was even cheaper than Enterprise. I immediately reserved a car with them (did I mention it was cheaper walking up than Enterprise's online reservation?) and then walked next to the Enterprise desk. I told the counter guy to cancel my reservation and refund my money. He did just that and asked what the problem was and I said "I'm not paying 20 bucks a day to drive beyond Kentucky. You guys have lost me as a customer".

I will still call the Enterprise main office and let them know where my blog and my ass is, and let them pucker up if they still want my business.

FWIW, I don't think they will issue an apology, which is fine with me.

DW

Milwaukee? Nope, not this time.

Hey, its been a while, I know. But its good to see you again, dear blog.
Today's tale comes courtesy of the Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A month ago I was contacted by Collinson Publishing ( http://connectyourmeetings.com/ ) about going to Milwaukee to serve on a board of some sort answering question about NAHBS. Sounded good to me. I jumped at the opportunity. Lets face it, I enjoy jet setting around the globe ( in reality, I am a white knuckle flyer ) but I really like to eat on someone else's tab. Well, a week ago, I still don't have an itinerary. Odd. I do get an email from someone telling me that they need to book my flight. I respond saying, yes, you do. Then a call on Friday to discuss my itinerary with the CVB, but still no itinerary. Yesterday, I get a phone call in the morning from someone and they said they would call back in a few minutes with the details. 4 hours later, I get said phone call. I realize that there have been missed communications (to say the least) and now I have changed my mind about going. I don't like "wingin it" when it comes to travel. I like things to be well planned and organized, believe it or not. So I politely bowed out of the opportunity. Its best this way. If I had been out of the shop for 2 or 3 more days, that puts me farther behind schedule.

Anyhow, I was really looking forward to going to the Comet Cafe ( http://thecometcafe.com/ ) because I saw them on Diners, Drive In's and Dives. Hey, any place that will give you a basket of bacon when you buy a beer on Sunday night is more than OK in my book. I just wish that the trip would have worked out. Damn the bad luck. I guess this means I have to wait for next year when my brother comes to the Midwest for a visit to go there.

DW

Joseph L. Walker, Nov. 9 1923 - Jan 1 2010

For those that didnt know, my father passed away on New Years Day. Its been a rough few weeks already. He was in the Hospital in Sacramento for a week before he passed with Pneumonia and irregular blood pressure.

The memorial was a good one that was attended by many of our friends and almost all of our extended family. My mom is crushed. She now faces the rest of her time here lonely without her husband of 63 years. Please say a prayer for her. Thanks.

I am sad, mostly for my mom. Yes, I will miss talking to him and visiting him in Ca. a couple times a year. I hope he knows he raised a good son and is proud of me.

See ya on the other side Pop.

Love,

Your Son

Hey, over here!

Howdy.

I have a new blog. Located at http://donwalkercycles.wordpress.com/

I will be switching this blog over to my more personal blog, with less bike construction and more stuff about racing, riding and other fun stuff.

Thanks

DW

Why DW, why??

Recently, I have had some questions arise about why I am supportive of Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky instead of a more local school. Well, the short answer is that 2 of my sponsored track riders attend LWC, Brooke Crum and Mike Souers.

The longer answer would be that "... I had attempted to work with a local University, and sadly, it didnt work out."

I enjoy supporting junior and collegiate cycling. Admittedly, I don't enjoy monetary profits from it, but I enjoy supporting the young cyclists to the best of my ability, because I like looking into the future of our sport.

So, why bother explaining this?;
Because recently, in September, Lindsey Wilson had a real good showing at the Collegiate Track National Championships. I had loaned them a few track bikes and they represented my brand well. As of late, I have been asked by a growing group of folks the dreaded question... "werent you supposed to be building bikes for XXXXXX?" Its difficult for me to discuss because of how it all went down, and the less said, the better.

Since that time, I had discovered quite a bit of talent at LWC. Depsite the distance between Speedway, Indiana and Columbia, Kentucky, I look forward to be able to assist these talented young riders, whether on position or technique or training tips, whenever possible. This is something I would have loved to have done on a more local level.


Thanks for reading.

DW

Status of bikes in que.

Status updates for the bikes in que.
Crum Road: Needs finish work on fillets and will ship to paint.
Stone Road: Waiting for special sized seat tube reamer. Needs touch up before shipping to paint.
Haldeman Track: Needs finish work on fillets and will ship to paint.
Karthauser: Drawing complete. Mitered.
McKinney Track: Hot! Nuvo photographers will shoot the build process within a week or so. Drawing complete. Tubes in stock, awaiting fork.
Ernesto SS Cross: Drawing Complete. Tubing in stock.
DW Fixie: Drawing Complete. Tubing in stock.
Hudson Max Road: Drawing Complete. Tubes, fork crown, blades and BB shell in stock.
Gabriele Trike: Drawing complete. Transmission and wheels are in from U.K., tubing in stock.

More updates soon!


Karthauser
McKinney


Ernesto
Hudson

DW

Haldeman's bike

Been a while since I updated with pics. Here's a few of Seattle's Matt Haldeman Track bike.

Columbus throughout, except for the Reynolds Seattube. Fillet brazed and sexy. More pics of the finished bikes soon!

its been a while...

Yeah, I know. I have missed you, too, my dear blog. Forgive me for not giving you the attention you so need and deserve. Thank you.

Now that we have that out of the way, its time to rant about a few things.

1.Nothing pisses me off more than someone who tells you one thing, then does another; and that "other" thing has a deep or profound impact on the original person in a negative way.

2. Getting sick sucks. I just recovered from what the Dr. termed as "advanced Bronchitis". The illness kept me from attending Interbike. Damn.

3. I don't give a crap if some over-opinionated ass is offended if I wear my kilt on occasion. If I want to wear it and it offends you, too effing bad. You shouldnt be so sensitive. Thats all I got this time. See ya next time kids. DW

Whats happening in Vegas today.

I am in Vegas at the Connect Marketplace convention. ( http://connectmarketplace.com/ )
I have 42 meetings over the course of 2 days. Its like speed dating for meeting planners.
I made several good connections today and look forward to booking the NAHBS location for 2011.
Just a few of the folks I met today were representatives from Providence, Milwaukee, Chattanooga and even San Diego.
Tonight, we have a dinner meeting with the wonderful folks from our next location, Richmond, Va.
I will keep you updated with our next day of meetings.

DW

Hey, check this out!

I was interviewed by Justin from the South Florida Fixed website a week or so ago. He posted the interview this morning. Check it out when you have a few minutes to kill. http://www.southfloridafixed.com/ DW

uhhhhh, owww!

In my quest to lose weight, I'm riding my bike much more these days.
Todays ride was a CIBA ride. ( http://cibaride.org ) Its my first experience on a CIBA group ride. I opted for the middle distance of 47 miles. Plus I rode to the location the ride starts from.
All in all, 65 miles and about 3.5 hours in the wind. Plus, it was unseasonably chilly this morning. Yuck!

I rode with a group to the rest stop and then it was just me and 1 guy leaving the stop at the same time, so we rode almost 20 miles on the way in together. We were caught by a group, getting close to home, and I had nothing, so I let him go and ride with the group. I soloed the last 8 miles in, by myself, in the wind (carrying my invalid brother on my back... but thats a different story for another time...) and then I had a nice tailwind all the way back to the shop.

So, how do I feel? My legs feel like lead, my lower back is screaming obscenities at me and I'd just love to lay down and take a nap.
Weather permitting, I'm going out for 2.5 hours alone tomorrow. Wish me luck!
DW

Even when I am sick I have a good time....

By a strange coincedence, I found myself with a nasty headcold while my daughter Tessa visited me here in Indy. What makes this odd is that I closed up the shop for the week while I blew yellow snot, coughed, sneezed and was miserable, just to spend time with my kiddo. So, whats the fun part you ask? We came across a book signing from a couple of cool dudes whom many folks might know.

Yep, Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes of Ghost Hunters on the scifi network. As nice a guys as could be, they were all smiles and very, very friendly. While I may not be a Ghost Hunter fanatic, I enjoy their show quite a bit and based on how down to earth they really are, I am quite pleased to pledge my support to their show only, and not of the ghost-come-lately type of shows.

The last pic is of an ice sculpture of a commode, since before their TV success, they were plumbers for Roto-Rooter. An ice toilet... HA!

Check out the pics!

at long last.... 19 years between track races

Yes, you read that right. I raced my new track bike last night. I know better now that I need more than 10 minutes to warm up.
So, heres where I tell you the results.
the flying lap of 333 meters was 23.2 seconds. Not as slow as I thought I was. However, I still had minimal warm up and it was the bikes maiden voyage. I am still dialing in my position.
I believe my bars are still too low to breath properly.
The 3 lap scratch, I won. Now, I was only going against 5 other riders, 4 of which were women. I really should be ashamed, but I am old and fat and have no speed or endurance right now and only 650 miles in my legs for the year. Not much confidence in my ability right now. The only reason I won was experience. I doubt that I was the fastest rider in race...
The 5 lap scratch, dead last. In fact, I wasnt warmed up yet...still.
Miss and Out, I won. It was 3 laps and then they would start pulling riders. I sat at the back and picked them off one at a time. Again, I only won on experience.
I packed up my stuff, half ashamed, yet half happy that I didn't totally suck. I will try again next week and with any luck I will have more than 1 ride in my legs for the week when I go back...

DW

My oh my... Good news that I just happened upon...

Ok, my all time fave band is actually playing a show in Indy! How I was so late in discovering this is beyond me, but lookie here!!! http://newmodelarmy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=511:north-american-tour&catid=3:dates&Itemid=7


Yaaaaaaaay! I dont have to travel but 20 minutes to this gig. Yeeeeeeehhhhaaaawwwwwww!
Now, if only I can get them to stop by my shop in their downtime....

DW

The battle thus far.

I have been losing weight on a fairly regular basis. Some weeks I am up, others I am down.
The loss total thus far is 17.4 pounds. I am fairly happy with it. Riding is doing the trick along with eating better and no drinkie drinkie. Well, how about waaaay less drinkie drinkie.

ciao for now

DW

just some random stuff...

I am happy Joey is here. She helps me AND she cleans the shop. Props!

I jacked up my knee playing hockey 2 Wednesdays ago. It still hurts. I hadnt been riding because of it, but am going to try after I leave the shop today.

For some unknown reason, my twitter account wont work. wth?

Jason Lytle's new cd sounds so much like his former band Grandaddy. So much so, he should get the band back together.

I bought a USACycling license. I am a Category 5. Ouch.

Last night, Brooke Crum won her first race on the track bike I made her. Congrats Brooke!

Thats all I got for now...

DW

Meet Joey!

The search for a new apprentice has ended. "Joey" Brown has come into the shop to learn about all things bicycle. She comes from an art/sculpture and furniture background and I am excited to have this self starter in the shop. She made it through her first week at the shop, so thats a good sign...

She is seen here cleaning a 1960s Hercules 3 speed bicycle in for a tune up.

DW

Brilliant!

Ok, so I am hearing thru the grapevine that Indy's Major Taylor Velodrome just lost Masters Nationals. I am hearing that the change in admin at Indy Parks Dept. was kind of a factor, since the new admin didnt have the money to spend to host Masters Track Nationals. I'm no rocket scientist, but why would you bid to host Nationals when you don't have the money in the budget or at least in an escrow account? Why does this matter? I brought NAHBS to Indy and it was a tough sell to my exhibitors, but most of them came. The one's that didnt said there was no cycling culture here. The only thing is that now Indy Parks, in their infinite wisdom just undid what I had accomplished, the masses thinking Indy is a great cycling destination. Thank you Indy Parks! Dumbasses. Done ranting. DW

well, the misery continues...

Thursday nights group ride. After I switched wheels, used Chain-L lube on the chain I was about 6 miles into the group ride and then it started.... The chain went skipping, no matter what gear I was in. I adjusted the derraileur cable and that seemed to stop it from skipping real bad, but I already lost contact with the group. Rather than torture myself with the 20 miles solo, I turned around and headed back to the start. I was glad I did because the chain never really got a good feel to it the entire way back. I have ordered a new chain, a new rear derraileur and will replace the derraileur first and see if that solves the problem. All this from a tip-over crash.... damn. DW