Sunday, August 24, 2008

welcome to the internet fellow bike people

this is the first of many fun and interesting posts about my world of bikes. i just feel it needed an outlet other than my big mouth. anyone who knows me has probably heard most, if not all of the stuff i might talk about here.

whats in store:

plenty of fixed gear talk. (you name it, i got something to say about it)
bike maintenance (repair how-to's and funny customer stories)
ride's (fun rides, group rides, charity rides and other ride related stories)
messengering (all encompassing 10+years worth of good times in multiple cities)
frame building (i make custom frames and will share my builds with you)
teh netz (links to other cools spots i think are worthy of sharing)
bike porn (photos of bikes i think are sexy)
bike shops (who, what, where and how good)

a little bit about me.

i started riding a bike when i was 4 years old. i grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. i've had quite a few bikes over those years. i started messengering in NYC the mid-90's and took to fixed gear bikes soon after.

i rode across the USA on a mountain bike in 1996 and moved to S.F. CA. i spent 10 years messengering in S.F. on a brakeless trackbike (yes, up and down the hills). though out these years, i became skilled in the art of street bike maintenance and a full time mechanic for a while. i went to frame building school at UBI twice to learn about lugged and fillet brazed bikes. i was also in the bike movie MASH SF.

at one point i had over 10 bikes in my stable, but now i whittled it down to 4. i ride Ditta #1 still almost daily. i also own 3 3Rensho's: 1980's Specialized Allez road, Katana road and my baby the triple triangle 2x700c pursuit trackbike. i just recently sold my Italian stallion, the 80' Coppi trackbike.

i am currently living in San Diego with my lovely wife Chiaki and my 2 year old son Tatsuya. i work at Adams Ave bikes and build custom bikes in Santee. i share shop space with the one and only Brian Baylis, one of the worlds top frame painters.

RSD,

richie ditta

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