We have a winner! No, its not Mark Weir nor Jason Moeschler. No, it is not in the Super D or XC race category. I’m talking about commuting. That’s right, the ride to work. WTB’s Sales and Marketing Director Gary Gleason won the QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) 2010 Espresso Fund Commuter of the Year Award (Vendor)!

We’re not sure if this is allowed in the rulebook of commuting or not, but Lucy wins too! Lucy, originally from Guatemala, is a German Shepherd/Daschund mix who gets free rides via the dog trailer. The two commute 12 miles each way from Fairfax to Mill Valley, rain or shine.

Viva la Commute!

Brian Miller is from Mill Valley, CA, and he’s been dropping by the WTB office for years. After the first couple of visits a couple of things about him really stood out: he always had a great attitude and hardly asked for anything despite the fact that his bikes were always falling apart. Before long, we started to realize that his skills went well beyond “local ripper”, and we can’t say that we were surprised to see him claim third place at the AT Showdown dirt jump competition earlier this year.

It looks like Miller is really getting his act together. He has full support from Haro bikes, some kick-ass video segments on the web and a great profile on Pink Bike. Anyway, we’re proud of our local boy. Even though he’s now living in dirt jump Mecca Aptos, CA, he’s still our favorite local dirt jump rider.

Nothing but excitement here at WTB on Thursday. The day started with a shuttle run at dawn. A crew came out from the East Bay for the ride—including Forrest Arakawa, Ryan Condrashoff and Amado Stachenfeld. We were more fired-up than usual because of the visiting out-of-towners and perfectly tacky soil (thanks to some recent rains). Our group of eight was freight-training down a notoriously steep, loose, rocky and overgrown singletrack. We were laughing, hooting and hollering as the wet rocks and roots contributed to a few multi-person pile-ups. It was all fun and games until one of the crew clipped a rock with his brake caliper so hard that it busted the brake tab right off his fork!

We continued laughing and carrying-on—all of us except for the poor sap stuck riding front-brakeless—all the way back into Mill Valley. We don’t get guys like Forrest around Mill Valley too often. He’s big, he’s loud, he’s disruptive, he sprawled himself out across a busy sidewalk and cried out for help when he got a rear flat. The employees of Whole Foods Market (who were giving out free coffee for Customer Appreciation Day) were awe-struck, the staff here at WTB all abandoned their cubicles and gathered ‘round Uncle Forrest.

Shortly after Forrest left we were once again torn from our telephones and computer screens when an old lady lost control of an orange Bronco II and slammed into the building next store. Apparently the woman was pulling away from the curb and merging into traffic—in reverse! She managed to hop the curb, take out a 3-foot brick wall and a water main. It was quite a sight: the startled old lady, a flowing geyser of water, smoke, police, ambulances, fire trucks and half the town out in the street fired-up on free coffee.

A few more noteworthy facts: Justin, WTB’s graphic designer, saw a foreign Consulate vehicle on the scene moments before the bucking Bronco II backed into the Art Store. He believes the two vehicles are related and suspects a conspiracy. Also, the crayons used in the Bronco II Terror illustration were purchased from the Art Store shortly after the dramatic crash. In an unrelated incident, a Mazda Miata hit me on my ride home from work. The chubby-faced gentleman driving the Miata made a right turn just after passing me. I was uninjured and stayed upright (I just made the turn with him). The driver was visibly shaken and probably hopped-up on free coffee.

Chris Schierholtz was the first on the scene with a camera, he found WTB’s President Patrick Seidler already there helping out. More Bronco II terror. Amado’s fantastic Chevy Savannah, the ultimate shuttle vehicle. More Bronco II facts: here