Friday location: Seven | Studio || 7:15 am – 8:05 pm – home work
- Press: One of Seven’s retailers posted a video about our company. Check it out.
- Design: Working through the Seven Cycles brochure; what a surprise. text editing just about complete.
- Production Management: Seven Cycles is way off for September bike production. It’s a very short month, we’ve got Interbike, our brochure, and the new website all happening at once. Too many of our limited resources are going to non-production items. We’re trying to pull it all together for the final week of September – the final week of Q3.
My only friends | Photo: Rob Vandermark
Thursday location: Seven | Studio || 8:00 am – 5:45 pm – ride – then homework
- Consulting: Was invited to consult on a power generator project; it’s bike related and very interesting. No time, of course, but I’m meeting with the team next week to discuss. Too many projects. Not enough time.
- Development: Met with a high-school student today for some guidance counseling. D.M. is interested in welding, sculpture, and law. He also wants to start his own business. He’s pondering possible school and life directions. Since I went to art school, did sculpture and welding, and am an entrepreneur, he was interested in advice. I rarely talk in depth with high-school kids about long-term goals. I’ve certainly talked with many high-school groups, but rarely one-on-one. It was interesting to see the ways in which we are similar and the ways in which life has changed since I was a kid.
Seven Cycles has only offered a winter trainer a few times over the years – and only once with Woolistic. This is a matching piece to the long sleeve wool jersey; similar design but subtle changes. This is a very limited run. I’m guessing we’ll sell out within a few weeks. We have reasons for doing what we do. Not always good reasons, but reasons nonetheless.
It’s a nice piece that is long overdue to be back in our line.
Project timeline in reverse:
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Seven Cycles is offering three winter jerseys this year. Some years we have zero so this year we’re making up for it by offering three jerseys:
The center-piece of this collection is our standard weight jersey. We’re working with Woolistic on this piece. It’s a great three-season jersey. It’s black and white. A new design that’s a bit tricky – it’s been causing Woolistic some problems. And it’s a limited edition; when they’re gone, they’re gone.
Project timeline in reverse:
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Wednesday location: Seven || 7:40 am – 9:55 pm
- Hiring: Today was “hire Lily day.” I’m psyched about this. She’ll not be starting soon enough, but that’s okay. This will be a great situation. I’ve got piles of work collecting dust; I can’t wait to get back at it. Lily is hire number four of seven. More than 50% there – until the next time we want to grow or trade up.
- Note: There’s a sad joke in the bike industry: Question: “How do you make a million dollars in the bike industry? Answer: “Start with two million.” This isn’t so much a joke as a business plan. The joke is on those that sign up for that. I had a meeting today wherein two bike companies that followed this strategy(?) came up. It’s really sad. More about this later.
- Consulting: Was invited to work on an electric bike project. I’m betting that this international group is going to be one of the real deals in e-bikes. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time to take on anymore projects this year. I think that for my short-term sanity it would be wise to pass. My long-term satisfaction may be another story. I’m meeting with part of the team next week; I’ll try to be dispassionate.
Tuesday location: Seven || 7:25 am – 9:10 pm
- Hire: Hired a new full-time barista at Ride Studio Cafe today. He starts part-time tomorrow. Once he’s full-time I’ll post more. Double Plus Good. It took us a couple months to find the right person. Everyone seems happy. Three hires complete; four more to go.
- Product Development: Working on a new seat stay design. We’ve prototyped it on a number of bikes but it’s now going into production. This stay is coming up because of the proliferation of disc brakes on cross, utility, touring, and road bikes.
Monday location: Seven | Studio || 7:35 am – 8:25 pm – Home work
- Hiring: I believe we’ve found a person for the Studio. We’ll know for certain tomorrow. Two more to go for the Studio. For Seven still two to go. And one for Honey. Piece of pie.
- Time Marker: I was barista at Ride Studio Cafe this afternoon. I’m pretty sure that will be my last weekday baristaing for a long time. In honor of my appreciation for the Cafe baristas that will be taking over for me, I played B-Bands for the entire shift. B is for Barista. I think the music at the Studio rocks. I never post playlists. By the way, we tend to play albums at the Studio, not mixes. I’m an album person. Here’s the album playlist for second shift on Monday, September 17, 2012:
- Booker T. and the MGs: Soul Dressing. A good way to start the shift.
- Buffalo Tom: Buffalo Tom
- Lo Borges: Lo Borges
- The Bellrays: Let it Blast
- Beth Orton: Daybreaker. Had to mellow it out for a few customer. Kids.
- David Bazan: Fewer Moving Parts
- Brazilian Girls: Talk to La Bomb
- Big Chief: Platinum Jive. This is something I would not normally play at the Studio but it was a special occasion and it was right around closing time.
Sunday location: Studio || 8:00 am – 7:15 pm
I want to ride this.
Nailed it | Photo: Rob Vandermark
Saturday Location: Studio || 7:30 am – 7:40 pm – homework
- Project: Inaugural weekend mountain bike ride at the Ride Studio Cafe today. It was a blast.
- Graphic Design: Worked a couple hours on the brochure. We’re at the point where we’re dealing with design details. Font point size. Color details. However, there’s still a lot of photography and layout work left. I save that for weekdays with Skunk.
- Note: The Studio is getting to the point where we’re averaging about five group rides each weekend. Some more cross rides to com.
September 15, 2012
in Rides
Had the first weekend mountain bike ride with Ride Studio Cafe today. It was a blast. Adrian B. led the way. We headed out out of the Studio and were on dirt within a quarter mile. We were offroad for 80% of the ride out to Landlocked Forest. Great weather; great ride; great company.
I’ll be feeling it tomorrow.
I can’t wait for next week’s roll. Most people don’t realize how much off-road riding there is in Lexington proper.
More photos after the jump.
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Friday location: Seven | Studio || 7:15 am – 8:05 pm – home work
