Category: Bikes
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A Study of Dutch Top Tubes
I’m enjoying being in a world where everyone gets around by bicycle. Here in the Netherlands there is bikes absolutely everywhere and under every kind of person. Good safe bike roads are all around too. Surprisingly to me I don’t recognize any of the bikes people are on. With 100s of bikes locked up on…
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Bike Check: My Rig for this Ride
A number of folks have asked for a bike check of my touring rig and so today I’ve sat down and written one for y’all. I started with a Fairdale Weekender frame and fork set. At 6’1 I can ride both the large or XL size frames and chose an XL this time around. No…
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Wondering About White Bread
I sat outside a tiny little grocery store eating bananas and having a soda. I’d been out on empty farm roads and it was the first store I’d seen all day. A bit dazed by all the pedaling I watched the folks coming and going in the same way that I catch myself staring at…
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Day 2 Is Always a Hard One
I felt like I couldn’t do it. I pulled off to the side of road and dismounted my bike. My mind was revolting against this plan. “You can’t make it. This is a terrible idea,” it said to me. I looked back at the narrow two lane road I had just swerved off of and…
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First Day Pedaling
Yesterday I started pedaling. I left in the rain and throughout the day the rain was ever present ranging from light to medium downfalls. In the end I pedaled 94.7miles (152.4 km) over a long 9.5 hours. I started at my Aunt’s house in Fenton, MI and ended up crossing into Canada via a ferry.…
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Leaving Whistler
In the blink of an eye two and half months at Whistler have passed. Remarkably I’m still in one piece and feeling strong. My bike has not been so lucky. I’m not even taking it home. I donated what was still useable but there wasn’t much left. Riding the park understandably accelerated the wear on…
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I Got Podcasted
PinkBike had me on their podcast talking for a while. Being on podcasts kind of gives me anxiety to be honest. As soon as we were done recording and I was alone with my thoughts I started thinking about all the silly things I’ve said. Some possibly offensive and more most likely to be misunderstood.…
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Top of the World
I’ve made a handful of friends up here in Whistler leaning on my old BMX days. That’s fairly normal for me as I’m very rarely outgoing enough to actually meet anyone on my own. Fabes was working behind a bar and recognized me. He took me out on a couple local’s route rides when my…
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An Animation Project with Greg Minnaar
The recent World Cup Downhill race at Val di Sole reminded me of an animation that I made with Greg Minnaar. Greg had won the World Champtionships at the 2021 Val di Sole race but at the 2022 Val di Sole race he had a bad crash resulting in a broken neck. I interviewed him…
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Overheard in the Gondola
I’ve been riding a hardtail up here in Whistler for the last month and half. A lot of bike parts have been rattled to dust but otherwise it hasn’t actually been that big of a deal. It is an odd bike choice though when the rest of the mountain is aboard full-suspension squishy-bikes. I seem…
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The Bike Path
It’s a wonder to me that after all these years I still waste time second guessing how much of my life-force I direct at riding bikes. Back when I was a pro I managed to wrestle this thought line into submission but now that I’m just a normal person with a cycling hobby the self…
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Wandering…
5 weeks ago… I sold my house and got rid of most everything I owned. I drove away. 10 hours later I stopped at my Aunt’s house down in Fenton, MI and left a box of taxes and a box of friend’s art. My Aunt said, “I figured out the true meaning of TAJ– it’s…
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Vans X Fairdale Animation Project
Along with the Vans X Fairdale bike and shoes collaboration project I animated a short story about Giraffe. I tapped into a handful of my giraffe dad jokes for this one and sneaked Monty into the art too. Giraffe also performs the never-been-done-before kiss of death jump. We had originally planned to shoot this whole…
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Vans x Fairdale (and kind of ” x Taj” too)
I had the wonderful pleasure of working with both Vans and Fairdale Bikes on a colab package. We started with one of my signature bikes, the Taj 27.5″ cruiser, and covered it in some special decals I drew. My character Giraffe is the star of the Vans x Fairdale bike. He also appears on two Vans shoes they let…
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Books By Taj
I currently have two books out in the world. “Bernie the Bike Builder” and “Back Before They Invented Open Face Helmets“ Bernie the Bike Builder is a children’s book. Bernie the Bike Builder Buy Now Bernie is a master bike builder. The bikes he designs and builds are sought after by bike racers all over the…
Think Up Good Things 