Thursday, September 24, 2009


Ron "King Cage" Andrews

As I sort of offhandedly mentioned, when I arrived in Durango I was dropped right into ground zero. Ground zero of awesomeness that is. My friend Jane had put me in touch with her friend Ron (she didn't mention his last name), as a potential host. When we started exchanging emails I learned that her fiend was none other than Ron Andrews. There are certain big names that get thrown around in Boston area bike culture, then there legends. Some of these legends I have never met, they are as real as Sasquatch to me. Wait, I kind of believe in Sasquatches. They are like a Burrito in Boston that doesn't suck to me. Ron Andrews is one of these legends of the industry. In reality he's cooler than you'd ever imagine. Kind of like I'd imagine a Sasquatch to be.

Ron is basically a hub which a whole lot of great things rotate around, he played a major role in the success of SSWC09 Durango. All the major players in the scene there look to Ron, his energy and creativity is inimitable. He graced the very cover of the official SSWC magazine, he built the bicycle arch which spanned over the finish line.

Photo stolen from Mountain Flyer, more great photos over there, check 'em out


He made a bunch of official SSWC09 Top Cap Mount bottle cage holders. I had the opportunity to custom stamp (horribly) two of my own. One for Miriam and One for my 6 year old nephew. M can only mount one cage on her Hi-Fi and my nephew has no cages on his bike. It's a great solution for the no cage/one cage issue, or endurance racers looking to carry more water without dealing with the whole unwieldy Camel-Bag thing. Freakin' brilliant.

For a couple years I've been running plastic cages which work well for the most part but deteriorate rapidly, leading to bottle ejection at the most inopportune times. Ron's buddy George was telling me how he hadn't ejected a bottle in ten years, I was sold, I bought two. The Ti guys of course. I ran them during the SSWC race, my bottles didn't eject on Raider Ridge, that means they ain't gonna eject anywhere.



I stole the above photo from his site since my camera died before I could document the magnificence of the Andrews' yard. Everywhere you look, a beautiful flower or crazy metal sculpture. Go check out the the video on the King Cage site. Ron moves at double speed in everything he does (following him down the bike path was terrifying), whether he's making cages or making coffee.

Thanks Ron and Shari for putting me up in Durango, you guys rock.



You should see the bike Ron built this cage for.

The last photo my camera took. This was the view from my futon in
Ron and Shari's living room, the giant Jade plant

1 comment:

EndlessBikeCo. said...

Good times!