Taking no prisoners!

Let this be a warning shot across the bow... the second phase of The Bicycle Doctor is about to begin. Make no mistake -- this IS a threat, and you ain't seen nothing yet! Nick, Alan, and I have already built an amazing shop, but it is time to ramp it up a few notches. I needed a break, but it is time to come back stronger than ever! I worked full time while getting a master's degree from GA Tech -- it was always fun seeing my the jaws of my professors drop when I told them that. Basically, it was unheard of -- and it wasn't like I was taking basket weaving, either. And I graduated with high honors doing the "impossible." This isn't bragging -- anyone can achieve whatever they want if they want it badly enough. However, it won't just be handed to you. I am willing do whatever it takes to succeed. My father never allowed me to have excuses. I learned to work (very) hard for what I wanted, and to never give up.

I have fought tooth and nail to build my business. I'll admit it -- I was worn out. Four and a half years took their toll. I was burned out. Ok, maybe that isn't a perfect analogy. There were hot coals, but no real flame. It isn't like my business isn't doing well -- quite the contrary. We had our BEST week ever last week -- by a LONG shot! My competitive fire has just been smoldering. Every once in a while you need to take a step back and reevaluate. When I was at Tech, I never let my competition (other students) trip me up. My ONLY competition was myself. I almost forgot this rule recently. There are several big established shops which have deep pockets. I see new upstarts every once in a while with "fresh" ideas. There are guys out there dumb enough to let investors pay for their new shop. This is akin to the young couple where the wife's parents cosign for a house. Are they really ever free -- do they really own anything? I started the shop with absolutely nothing. I'll admit it -- I was in way over my head. Ignorance was bliss. When you don't have a net, you will do whatever it takes not to fall. I started with one brand (KHS) and grew that into a stocking dealer for KHS, BLUE, FELT, Redline, Santa Cruz, Niner, Tomac, and Gunnar -- without borrowing a dime from anyone. Again, this isn't bragging. It is proof positive what hard work can accomplish. If only our leaders in Washington had a few members from the business community instead of professional politicians. Oh well...

Riding home tonight (yes, you read that correctly), I realized that the competitive fire was stoked again -- for the first time in a while. The only competition I have is myself. I even felt my legs coming back -- I took five minutes off my normal commute time! I am back! We have almost 4,000 sq. ft. of space now, with a greater variety of stock than almost any other shop in town. We really don't have any competition except for ourselves! Nick and I have been talking about how excited we are for winter to arrive so that we can start our projects -- why wait?! No one seems to care that the floors haven't been acid stained except for us. However, that is no excuse. We have the best store in town -- time to finish making it look that way! The warehouse has really been coming along, but not fast enough. If we don't have time, we will make time! Watch out Atlanta -- here we come!

Last week was such a blur -- we are finally catching up. Nick and I are completely worn out. He has been putting in six days a week -- I think he finally realizes what my life has been like for the past several years. Much like me, it only fuels his fire, though! We have been riding before work several days a week, and it really makes a difference. You would think that we would talk about anything BUT the shop! However, we are constantly bouncing ideas off each other the entire time. It is a relatively painless way to get back in shape, and we are productive at the same time!

A few weeks ago I stripped down my Storck Absolutist 1.0 frameset. I LOVE Storck, but since my vendor stopped carrying them, I decided that I should probably start riding my custom Bicycle Doctor frame. I have two, so I could still leave one on display. As much as I loved the Absolutist, it was time to tear it apart and sell it. So, I transferred the parts and actually started riding to work -- and with Nick. I figured that the Absolutist would be on display for a while -- maybe the right buyer would stop in one day. No worries -- I have a lot of other things going on.

Monday, I heard Nick on the phone -- "Yes, we have a 57cm Storck Absolutist 1.0 in stock. Let me see how much Scott wants for it." We get those calls all of the time, so I wasn't really too excited -- until I heard that it was Andy inquiring. Why would he want a new frame? He had an Absolutist 0.9 (900 grams versus 1,000 for the 1.0). Did he like it so much that he wanted a backup bike? Well, I found out Tuesday morning. Does the term "catastrophic failure" mean anything to you? This was NOT a Storck issue -- Andy crashed into several tangled riders on a local morning ride, snapping a $3,000 carbon frame into two pieces! I have never seen anything like it! The most amazing thing is that he wasn't even hurt -- barely a scratch on him! Wow!!!... What are the odds that my frame would be available? There are times when we get lucky, and this was one of those times!

In other news, I am delving further and further into my obsession with computers. I finally restored the netbook which Ubuntu fried -- that was no easy feat. Due to the known issue, I will just load it through Windows. My next larger laptop is running Ubuntu flawlessly. I will soon load it onto my "mack daddy" laptop -- maybe even a true dual boot install! I will definitely back up that machine first, though! I am really enjoying Linux -- reminds me of my days with MS-DOS. Once I feel comfortable with Linux, I will dive into Python. I miss programming!


Ali's birthday is Sunday. I couldn't resist giving her one of her presents early -- a Barnes & Noble Nook Color. Let me start over... I couldn't resist giving myself my Nook, which meant that I wasn't about to let her think that her Nook was an afterthought. So, she received her Nook Monday -- which meant that I could immediately play with mine! The guys were even nice enough to eat somewhere different for "Pub Night" so that I could pick up the units... Now, you might be asking yourself, "Why would such a computer nerd buy a book reader instead of a tablet?" It's simple -- the Nook Color IS an Android tablet!!! Buy a Nook, spend a day rooting/uninstalling/re-rooting (right Alan?), and you have a kick-butt tablet! Seriously, this thing does EVERYTHING I want it to do -- Netflix, YouTube, web browsing, and the all-important Angry Birds! Once I was confident that I knew the procedure with mine, I rooted Ali's with her permission. Although I couldn't join her tonight for her camping trip with her parents, I am happy to report that she played with it during their entire drive to the mountains!

If my new Android wasn't enough to satisfy my technology addiction, I have one more word: "Spotify." It is the future. I am a user.

That's all I can think of for one day. Time to mess with Linux!