Well friends, July is indeed flying by, I cannot believe its almost over. So many more gigs and several of them will be happening in the evening. This is exciting because Shorty got some bad ass Efx this afternoon, and I simply cannot wait for the sun to go down and show them off! Yes, I know, what have I done this time? Gone over the top yet again? perhaps. This is only stage One. and its gonna get Cooler!
So I was all finished up a few weeks ago at Beer Revolution, on a warm monday night, I was hangin on the porch with the doorman and two very not sober patrons who were a little sad I had run out of pizza. They went to Domino’s after eating like 2 whole pizzas from me over the course of the earlier evening. they were very apologetic about the uncomfortable situation, having to do that right in front of me and all, but i was like, its cool man, Shit let me get a slice…I had run out of pizza, and as I often do, I neglected to properly feed myself that evening, so I actually tried a slice. I can’t believe I’m even telling you all this right now, but it wasn’t as horrible as I remembered. 20 years since i tried it, and 10 billion more pizzas and they finally got something that resembled food to come out of all those little stores across the country.
While i was munching and talking, out of the corner of my eye comes this glowing bright red and maybe blue bicycle rolling up and parks in front of the bar. The guy takes his helmet off and Its a friend of mine, Jefferson, who runs the Roll up bike shop in East Oakland. I’m like still tingling from whatever was in that slice and I was like Yeah man, that shit is off the hook! Where did you get those crazy lights for your Bike? “My friend is starting to build these little kits for about $100,” he says, and I’m like shit, thats it? Whats his number?
Enter Robb Pope, a young entrepeneur like myself, trying to make a dent in society by lighting up bikes, cars, vans, Short buses, buildings and whatever people ask him to light up with these incredibly bright, durable, waterproof LEDs. He is just now launching his new company called Brighter Cycling. Highly worth a Click through, especially if you ride your bikes at night, or out at one very popular Playa this summer! Winter is just around the corner too, and I guarantee you will be SEEN at night, from about a mile away I think. Possibly from space, yes, if enough people buy a single kit and all get together and line up their bikes, perhaps something could be seen from a great distance. Just a thought. I called him the next day.
Boom, we start talking about doin Shorty. He came by the next day and took some measurements of the bus, we talked a little more about how we’d do it, and got a simple game plan going. He showed me some Numbers, I said lets do it, and We set a date to install the Van’s components. That was today. It only took a few hours, a couple of pizzas and a few beverages to complete the task. (and some good ol american $$) I made food while he did the soldering in the dash. When he was all done I went to put the panel back on and realized I did not account for the new switch depth, so I had to dremel away the plastic, so to speak. Its hidden from view, and thank goodness because its not pretty under there. Its done, and we left some extra bits in there to add a few more little touches as the project continues in the next couple weeks. We’re waiting on more $$ from me and a controller from him. The trailer will be next and we have some special plans for it, so watch for that later this month!
Check out the little gallery. I’ll add some more pics after dark, maybe even get my partner to video me driving up the block…