Things I added in 2025
Y’all know my bike is kinda infamous for being dumb heavy and having allllll manner of bullshit hanging off it. I thought it’d be fun to detail a dozen or so little things that I added in 2025. Some of them are useful, some of them aren’t, all of them mean everything to me.
Is It Piss patch - HAND MADE by @russetpeach and given to me about a year ago when she came down to LA for a little visit. Showing an incredible fade after living on my bag for the last 20k miles.
South City Stitchworks Frame bag - Just the absolute best centerpiece for my entire rig made by @southcitystitchworks from a road sign I found in Portland like two years ago.
Ruthworks handlebar bag - One of my longest saved eBay searches finally paying off AND it was even an 🍊 one! Holds caps and gloves and pens.
Clickstand - I know I know it's a bit ridiculous but I use this to hold open dumpster lids and despite not being designed for this it's such a perfect deployment.
Saddle charms peach and orange - little AirTag holders made by some luxury bag brand that I got for me and Taryn to saddle dangle. Y'know because she's peach and I'm orange.
Jacks Sacks ODS - these on demand storage bags debuted at MADE and they've become an utterly essential part of my setup. I've always wanted something easily accessible in my cockpit that can hold an ENTIRE bag of chips, and Wes invented exactly the thing.
Underberg cap - Dangle I made from a post-drinks drink, shared with @bicyclecrumbs in Indy after we met up at a random cyclocross race.
Hobo Hubworks dangle - hub cleaner that'll live on the extender bar, catching all sorts of who knows what, reminding me of the great times I had in STL both times I've been through.
Angry catfish patch - Finally got to visit this legendary shop up in Minneapolis. Had to put this patch next to the my Hope one because obviously.
Spindl wallet - Lil wallet guy I grabbed from Ez when we went through Atlanta (also when I finally got to meet @wandrer.earth!!!) that I use to hold my fire starting supplies.
Wolf tooth bottle opener - given to me at MADE 2025, which was a damn fun time with all the best people. One of four (I think four) bottle openers I have on my bike but this one is definitely my favorite.
Camp and go slow patch - I just love how perfect of a wordplay this patch-patch is. Easily earned a drive side spot on this hip bag that used to belong to @kat_bikes.
Clover zipper pull - titanium dangle given to me by @fairweatherbummer when we stopped in Chattanooga for a few days waiting out a cold front. Jarrod is one of those long longgg time friends that I don't keep in touch with as much as I should but anytime I'm lucky enough to see him it's always a reminder of how much he should be credited with influencing where I ended up in my current life.
Dead End Badge - Another STL reminder, hand crafted by the incredible Leah Dematta and gifted to me on a group ride the first time I came through. I love looking down at this on my top tube and seeing how it's been aging through all the different climates.
Dead End Badge - Another STL reminder, hand crafted by the incredible Leah Dematta and gifted to me on a group ride the first time I came through. I love looking down at this on my top tube and seeing how it's been aging through all the different climates.
Mackinac Island
MACKINAC ISLAND Y’ALL! Apparently the only city that has a 100% walkability score? Not sure if I believe that but it’s certainly a nice place to ride, even if it’s 99% tourists and the power was out on the entire island when we showed up. The rest of our Youper Tour was lovely after rolling through Marquette and seeing some old friends. Dude at a gas station gave us a stack of MRE’s which is just a bout the best @ride_finds I can imagine (tied with when Little Caesars has something other than pepperoni). Dips in Lake Superior followed by niiice roads and even nicer folks at a steakhouse we came across who ended up treating us to many rounds of drinks and a solid burger dinner.
Mitten
After a lil hang in Chicago we hopped on The Badger for a ride across Lake Michigan and after 38,000 around the country miles I was back in the mitten! Lots of good roads and rail trails, farm stands with amazing cookies, crashed a CX race, got some Bells Two Hearted, found a sticker I put on a Little Caesars dumpster two years ago, and Taryn finally got to meet my parents! Good times hanging out for a couple days before heading on to a pretty magical place...
Chicago Handshake
A Chicago Handshake is a drink combination (boilermaker) consisting of a shot of Jeppson's Malört and a can or bottle of Old Style beer. This pairing is considered a Chicago institution, often referred to as a "rite of passage" for newcomers due to Malört's famously bitter, wormwood-based flavor.
Malort uses the same process as vodka, but instead of using potatoes they use recycled tires.
Earwax and gasoline sipped through a straw placed in a possum carcass.
Malort is what happens when you load up a Keurig with original recipe Listerine, then crush a cigar into the K-Cup slot and let 'er rip.
It gets a lot better after you accept that's it's going to taste like a racetrack.
Malort: The Gary, Indiana of liquor.
It tastes like you'd imagine dead ladybugs would.
Malort: Tonight's the night you fight your dad.
STL
Suppose it’s time that I finish up the tour from LA to Chicago? Here’s some snaps from St Louis where I was lucky enough to meet some amazing new bike people, rode a velodrome for the first time, and got plenty of good rambles around the city. Much much love to Matt at @hobohubworks and Zach at @southcitystitchworks for letting me sleep in your shop for a week as well as mess around with bike stuff and dabble a bit with making bags. Also midwest bike packing protip: hit up those Caseys dumpsters because DAMN they always score.
Nice
Yes literally. Contact points on a bike really matter and I feel pretty damn lucky to have found something that works well for my bits and won’t ever ever die. These @brooksengland cambiums just keep going and going and going. Keeps me comfy while riding back to back 200km days nooo problem and never needing a single bit of maintenance. Oh yeah and y’all know I have all my pieces of flair dangling under there.
Patchy patch
New lil thing by @camp.and.go.slow on an old lil thing by @skingrowsback. Looking very much forward to seeing how this patchpatch fades over the years.
Autumn in the Midwest
Some more orange on orange on orange because it’s that time of the year in the Midwest. Been a biiig fan of this Madrone derailleur as well.
Fishing in SLC
Jumpin’ back in time about 3 months when I got to hang out with @fish_ski.designs for a few days in SLC ridin’ bikes and river dippin’ and makin’ stuff.
