I got home today and plugged in my cell phone. The batteries had died halfway through the work day, so I missed a few calls. My voicemail had a gem hidden in it - the Bike Oven was featured in the an article entitled “Peleton Panic” by Cole Cooper in the September 13 - 19, 2007 issue of Los Angeles City Beat.

Some of the facts in the article are a little off, but who really cares? Not me. Just for the record: the guy who started the Bike Oven in his garage is named “Josef”; he’s not semi-retired, he’s just lazy; and, the original address was on “Avenue 42″ (not 42nd Street), but I digress.

Onward toward glory, and the blockquote:

“It was a sweet and sticky summer night, and the Highland Park ‚ÄúBicycle Oven‚Äù on 42nd Street was certainly cookin‚Äô. A swap-and-shop co-op operated by Joseph, a semi-retired thirtysomething bike mechanic who has altruistically opened up his apartment garage‚Äôs doors, the Oven on any given Wednesday night attracts a motley assortment of bicycle enthusiasts and advocates. On that night, some geeky white kids were trying to build up a stripped-down, surplus road bike frame and were mulling the differences and nuances of a pile of sundry salvaged derailleurs and gear clusters and whether to shit-can the concept of changing gears altogether and just turn the lonely frame into a single-speed ‚Äúfixie.‚Äù A Latino dude offered his two centavos about at least screwing on some brakes. An Asian gal on a PowerBook scammed on a neighbor‚Äôs wi-fi signal and was perusing Craigslist and Google Maps. Joe fielded questions from customers and directed traffic as some donors pulled up in a Toyota pickup stuffed with sun-blasted frames with rusted handlebars.”

-Cole Cooper

Wow - we got press! How ’bout that. Follow the link below to catch the full article.

• Peleton Panic [LA City Beat]