PDA for PDW; Doldrums

We have entered the doldrums of the bicycle season. Apart from an event here and there, it's pretty much a dead, dejected, stagnated pool of a creative void in the cycling blogiverse. Luckily if you dig around, you can find some tasty nuggets here and there and luckily, NAHBS is next weekend so that'll provide 'pert near a week's worth of bicycle pictures and "tall tales". Anyhoo, The Blog didn't realize the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo "went down" last weekend. From the looks of it, the hot endurance action really started "sizzling" between the Ergon Team and The Stan's Team. Since we proudly distribute the heck out of both vendors, The Blog shall remain neutral in future 24 hour feuds that may involve these factions. However, after a few dealings with the always friendly Sonya during the catalog construction process, the graphics department at Hawley proudly supports the Green and Black when it's up against the Red and White of Stan's and their "Hippie Ninjas". Seriously, who names these teams? Ugh. Although if Hawley does in fact sport a team at a 24 Hour Race this summer, make no mistake, we shall be named "Welcome Back, Gymkata" to cash in on this whole martial arts irony craze and Gabe Kaplan's new found fame as a television poker personality.

"River card" this and "flop" that! Now that's where the real action is! Speaking of real action, Portland Design Works (PDW) has started arriving on our sunny shores. They're a pugnacious bunch of folk who make things like pumps, grips, lights and card shufflers (endorsed by none other than Gabe Kaplan!). Pretty sure they're based out of Portland but that could also be some sort of marketing ruse. "Oh yeah, we're from Portland... MAINE!" That would explain all the Stephen King paperbacks they include in their shipments. I mean, who doesn't need 14 extra copies of "Tommyknockers"???. My favorite part of "Tommyknockers" is where the alien probes Christopher Walken and then the spaceship thing shows up. Yup, great read! Anyhoo, check out this wacky pump called The Magic Flute ("Die Zauberflote" for all ya'll opera enthusiasts). It's got a bamboo handle and an extra nozzle for a CO2 cartridge if you're in a hurry. Most importantly, hidden deep within the pump's inner-workings is a bright green pump shaft! At 110 grams its light enough to tickle the backs of cherub wings, but heavy enough to bludgeon small woodland creatures until they are festering piles of blood and gore!!! METAL!!!!!

The cartridge docking-interface:

The emerald innards: