This Just In: Recess!

Once again, the time has come for me to take a short leave of absence.  This one will commence immediately at the end of this post and will continue until Monday, December 1st, at which point I will return with regular updates.  If this displeases you, I implore you to at least take solace in the fact that there are encouraging signs from the Chris King Headset Composite Index.  When we last checked on November 14th the CKHCI was at 71.53, and it is now at 72.21:

Or, to put it another way:


As you take your seat at the Thanksgiving table, I hope you will join me in not only giving thanks for this uptick but also in praying for the CKHCI's continued growth.  Hopefully, this bodes well for the retail orgy that is Black Friday, as well as for the regular orgy that is Sepia Saturday.

I hope you will also take solace in the fact that I will not be squandering my recess.  I've long known that you can build a custom fixed-gear over at Pedalmafia (home of the tiny fixed-gear models), but until Stevil Kinevil of HTATBL sent me this mind-blowing creation I simply did not appreciate the full potential of the application:

As such, I will spend at least part of my recess virtually fabricating my own "whip."  Personally, I wanted something less Dr. Seussian and more practical, and I'm already off to a ripping start:

As you can see, though, I still have a long way to go.  You'll note from the pile of top tube pads and grips on my worktable that I'm still deciding on accessories.  Note also the Look Ergostem, which I'm using in order to dial in my position.  (I think I can get the front end lower, though I'd hate to ditch that Cinelli Alter stem since it looks so sweet with the lime green Skyway Tuff Wheel II.)  Still, I think it's pretty sexy.  And it's even sexier in sepia:

Then again, everything's sexier in sepia:

And yes, this image is perfectly safe for work--not only because it's sepia-toned, but also because it's pre-20th century.  While sepia alone can't always legitimize a photograph, any art historian or porn-monger will tell you that pornography automatically becomes art after 100 years, no matter how explicit it may be.

So if your nationality and/or disposition compels you to observe Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy yours.  If not, you may still feel free to take part in Sepia Saturday.  And regardless of how you choose to spend this week, I'll see you again on December 1st (otherwise known as "Mauve Monday").

Many thanks for reading,

--BSNYC/RTMS