Several months ago, Handsome Jon and I set out on a slow, off-road ride adventure.  I brought a fast bike. This is where the "Ry Cooder" story begins. 

Armed with 42c tires, neither dressed correctly for the occasion, and a late start, we set out on a 50ish-mile ride. All the climbing was at the front end, a quick 2800 feet of elevation in 15 or so miles, followed by a paved descent into a green valley giving biblical vibes. A quick left, then another at the port-a-potty, and we were there, a decommissioned RR turned "trail."

Bitchin' right? Hell yeah!! Fortunately for us, there was a gnarly headwind and a sickly-looking wild turkey to welcome us. We charged it as one does (the wind, not the bird), thinking only in the back of our minds, I sure hope this wind dies down, and damn, this gravel ride sure is rocky.

In the end, it was a bike ride, an adventure with an old friend, and that is super rad! But I think I speak for Jon, as well as myself, when I say the last 5 miles of that godforsaken trail were of the "I can't get back to the car fast enough" variety. 

As I pondered the adventure days later, images of pretty flowers, bunnies, conversation, gummy life-savers, the carcass of a large majestic bird or remnants of said bird, the fucking rocks, remembering not to ignore the GPS, and to not end up 6 miles off course ever again. It also occurred to me how much my shoulders and back hated me, and it's worth mentioning how cold it gets when the sun begins to set. 

I also remembered thinking this would be the perfect route for an MTB of yesteryears, but not really ample for one from today. So I rode a few different bikes and devised a plan for "an all-day slow-ride adventure rig," or, as my new best Mr. Muzik says, a "proper old-man bike."

The theme - spread a little Tonic Fab on a Charlie Cunningham-style Dirt Drop MTB. Throw in a Tonic Built Switchblade Fork (i.e. Gurn•Blade), disc brakes, 29 x 2.4s (maybe a lil more? maybe a lil less?) dropper, dynamo and lights for when sundown catches you slippin. Tune up and/or delete a few details. Using a Switchblade style fork allows sending the clamping and stem preload responsibilities down south to the fork crown, cleaning up the stem quite nicely. Machining a two-bolt bar clamp adds a touch of Tonic Fab stealth to the clamping area on the oversized handlebar, which is one of the details I find unsightly on more recent LD stems. Four-bolts would allow you to run any handlebar out there, but this is not a carbon-friendly or aero kind of ride, and let's be honest, setting out to make an LD stem look cool is a pretty tall order. Sacrifices were made. 

I'm a believer that a maker should make, so this year for Made (as well as last year), I set out to do just that. Made tooling to bend the LD stem. Machined the drop-outs, fork crown, handlebar clamp, and post mounts and internally relieved 1-1/8 head tube (very futuristic). A lot of chips were made, chainstays and seatstays formed and bent in-house, all to make this white-as-snow Tonic Fab dirt drop a reality. 

I can't wait to take this jammer on some single-track, off-road adventures and the longest route home from wherever I am. A do-all to celebrate bike rides in the woods with friends and a creative project to flex my maker's muscles. 

With love, 

Tony B

Ps. If you made it this far? I just so happened to have machined two of everything, so I can make one in your size, too. Plans to create a more production-friendly "RyCooder LD-DD" for all are underway in my brain and on several pieces of scratch paper within my reach. I'm also working out the details of producing the Gurn•Blade to be offered with other future Tonic builds. 

Pps. Why the name "Ry Cooder"?  Well, that's easy. My sweetheart made me a mixtape, and on that mixtape was a song about a guy named  "Ry Cooder." The song states, "Ry Cooder is a real straight shooter," and I liked it. Now, being one of the most earworm-able folks that has ever lived, those 7 words have been bouncing rhythmically inside my brain since early May. Recently, I went down the rabbit hole that is Mr. Cooders music and came to the conclusion I dig the sounds of his bottleneck guitar slinging and had I known of him in 2002, Seth B (my love child) could very well have been named Ry Cooder Batcheller. Sadly, that ship has sailed. However, it is a fitting name for a new Tonic build. 

Come check out Tonic under the big "furry T" at the Made Bike Show this weekend, August 23rd, 24th, and 25th.