Happy New Year!
Yeah, that happened since my last post 391 days ago. But I think I’m getting the hang of this…
This last year a few things happened that I didn’t see coming. I’d like to fill you in on everything but will stay brief here. Feel free to reach out any time through email, calling the shop 312-587-0878 or stopping by in person. I love getting visitors to the bike shop, the coffee’s usually fresh and at least one shop cat will be looking for attention, guaranteed.
Timely deal here for the next couple weeks- Yojimbo’s Garage shirts in “custom” colors- only available for pre-orders and also 20% off if ordered before printing, which will take place in early December. Order now.
T’shirts (unisex and female cuts), pull-over hoodies, full-zip hoodies and crew neck fleecy sweatshirts are getting made with choice of two fabric colors (black or slate gray) and six ink choices (white, light gray, light blue, orange, lime green or hot pink). Shipping is available worldwide as well as in-person pick up, which saves a few dollars.
Most sales are done through walk-in traffic at the shop but the big cartel site has a small slice of what’s currently available. I’ve listed some new old stock, out of production and other items to the ebay page recently too. Contact me if you’re looking for something you don’t see there; most of the inventory is not online.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve slacked on my professional duties the last 12 months. I’ve been splitting my time between the shop and helping the South Chicago Velodrome Association in the effort to save the 4 year old track on US Steel’s former South Works site; WTTW Channel 11 featured the effort on Chicago Tonight . I stepped forward because no one had taken the steps necessary to keep the track from being removed from Chicago. Helping to keep the velodrome here wasn’t something I prepared for but felt it was an important thing to do, both on a symbolic level as well as for the people of the city as a whole. Having a track here is the best way to expose future generations of riders to the sport and maximizing that potential means reaching directly to nearby schools and creating opportunities… I could write all day about this; needless to say- this is important in a lot of ways and close to my heart. I didn’t mean to spend this much time away from the shop, sincerest apologies to my customers, but I had to do the right thing. * The velodrome isn’t saved yet; please visit the web site to see where it’s at and how we can all help. Great things will happen but it will require more people, funds and time.
If you haven’t been on our street recently, protected bike lanes have recently been installed on Clybourn Ave. It’s taking a little “getting used to” but I welcome our new urban-planning overlords and am willing to be a part of this experiment. Everyone has feedback and tips for improving the design; don’t hold back from giving me an earful during your next visit.
Shoutout to Trackasaurusrex and Radavist for the props.
If you’re looking for Yojimbo’s Garage on social media check out youtube, twitter, flickr, shop facebook and personal facebook (still a lot of shop stuff). I know my online presence isn’t all that, but I’m still here. Let’s catch up soon.
Thanks for your support and company in this life.
