Congrats to Signal team rider Pete Z. for destroying the single speed race last night at short track. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing it in person but I heard he attacked at the last second to take the win. Sweet! I wish I had a photog to share but I don't so instead I'll share this shot taken awhile back of the seat that Matt uses on his touring bike.



In shop news. Getting started on Chris D's bike this week. It's headed to battle the cross scene in sunny Scotland! Ellen's MTB, Leslie's coupler, disc touring rig and Emily's light tour/club racer are all at the paint shop. Lot's of sweet stuff coming soon.



Like Smokey, I was in a world of pain last Saturday. Matt Hall somehow convinced Matt and I to go on his birthday mountain bike ride. Climbed up to Timberline Lodge via a dirt road and came down Pioneer Bridle trail. Super fun but reminds me that I will never go up hill very fast. Never in my entire life.

Thanks for stopping in.

Cool photos on display at ampersand on Alberta street. Myles runs a really cool book shop. I dare you to walk in there, look around, and leave without thinking "I really wish I had that ______" I'm pretty sure it's not possible. The photos that are up remind me of Gerhard Richter's paintings. monochromatic and minimalistic. mmmmmm those were good art words!

Also,RIP MJ. I've been a believer ever since off the wall, and I'm pretty sure we all owe you a collective apology for turning you into a super freak.

I took a spin over the St. Johns bridge and home again last night. Big old grin on my mug and the exhaust popping just enough as I let off the throttle. Vrooooom!!!... pop...popp.pop...

I was working in the garage this morning trying to put the final touches on Ellen's sweet 29er when my back did a tweak move all on it's own. I've had back problems before, they usually crop up when I'm really stressed and lift something heavy. This time it didn't take any heavy lifting. The good news for me is that I got to go see Autumn Peterson for a massage. Autumn is rad and I feel a lot better already!

So where did all the stress come from? I've got a big old bucket of responsibility that I'm hauling around these days. Everything in there is something I am excited about, but the bucket is getting full! Add to that my ancient age of 37, and it's a recipe for aching backs. I'm pretty sure yoga is going to be the prescription for my continued health. Anyway, tomorrow is a new day.

In other news, our baby is growing inside Liz's belly. We see a lot of movement going on in there in the evenings when we sit on the couch and relax a bit. Baby girl Cardinal is pretty active. We are at 30 weeks, so someone is going to have a birthday soon!

So I turned 30 a few weeks ago and to deal with my depression and hopelessness Emily and I a a few close friends from college left town for a trip to the beach. We lounged, drank, hiked, and best of all, ate lots of fresh seafood. I love the pacific nw. Just think, when Signal reaches 30 I'll be 58 and Matt will be....

Just got Mac's bike back from the painters. Rad. Really rad. Photos are up on our flickr and more will come once the parts kit has showed up. Leslie's bike is done besides the braze-ons for racks. Its nice to have the racks to help decide on mount placements. We have tubes and have started a bit of work on Ellen's 29er and Craig's cross bike.

On a fun family note, congrats to friends Jeff and Kelly on the birth of their daughter. They are the type of folks that you just know will be great parents and look good doing it. I'm off to work now that I'm loaded up on a sleep-inducing mound of cheesy eggs, fried potatoes with chives and about four cups of coffee. Have a good weekend.

the impossible project now I have a reason to keep all my old cameras and keep my fingers crossed.

signal cycles from matt cardinal on Vimeo.

A black and white video shot by Matt Cardinal of Nate Meschke working in the Signal Cycles bicycle workshop Portland Oregon 2009. From the interview with future film maker Matt Cardinal: "I felt that low resolution black and white was the only way to film this act of attaching dropouts to chain stays. It is clear to me that this kind of work with "hack" saws and "grinder" wheels is complimented beautifully with the video output from the 2002 canon digital video camera."

You be the judge...

Riding up on the Bear Springs race course, which happens to also be motor bike heaven. It took us a while, but eventually we rode out of the craziness. It was pretty slow going for the first hour or so, we jumped off the trail whenever we heard the motors approaching.

How did this happen? I can't believe the speed that the days go by. After a crappy few weeks that included loosing the big old cherry tree, and Otto the most beautiful annoying cat, and traveling to Arizona to visit my Dad in the hospital after open heart surgery, I am SO ready for a relaxing summer. I've decided to opt out of the creampuff and just focus on building bikes, and lowering my stress level. Sorry Matt H and John D, but I can't imagine spending the next two months putting in the necessary miles to survive the creampuff, while my pregnant wife sits and watches. The creampuff will always be there.

In the shop this week we are working on a s&s coupler lugged disc/fender touring bike, a singlespeed 29er and our first geared cross bike of 2009. We have a few more lined up later on, but this one is for the winner of the Rapha roller races from the Oregon Manifest last year. Yeah it takes that long to get your free bike. Sorry Craig!

We'll be posting build pictures on our flickr page as we take them. Follow the developments there!

Nate and I were working in the garage as this storm rolled in. Maybe "rolled" is the wrong word choice, it was more like it exploded or hit. I was getting a little worried about it and told Nate we should go in the house, so he walked over to close the window and the huge cherry tree in our backyard fell over right outside the window. It was some crazy stuff!