Jeff Hantman (in pink tutu to the left) is old school. He started his stint here at Clif Bar somewhere around 2002, although the date varies depending on who you ask.

If you're a Clif Bar retailer, sales rep, or industry insider, chances are you've talked to Jeff, as he was a jack of all trades here at the CB&C headquarters. If you raced cyclocross here in NorCal, you probably knew him as well, as Jeff was one of the best, if not hairiest, riders around.

Although Jeff certainly enjoyed coming into the office everyday, eventually the call of the circus life was too strong for him to ignore, and he soon found himself in Bucharest, performing daring acts of gravitational defiance for the Creţu Brothers. Soon, though, after a bitter argument with one of the brothers over intellectual property, Jeff abruptly left the circus and found himself back in Oakland, building incredible works of art out of just about anything he could scavenge. If you’ve ever had items disappear from your sidewalk before the sanitation engineers arrive on Oversized Garbage Day, chances are they ended up in a Hantman original.

But, even though Jeff’s art career was taking off and his work was being shown in galleries far and wide, the bicycle bug was still with him, and often he would put down his paintbrush and rotary saw and throw a leg over his Retrotec for a cruise in the hills. On these rides, Jeff would often wonder “How can I make my art and bike worlds cross paths?”

Since he had been experimenting with bending plywood for years to make works of art, the answer was simple: Really freakin’ stylish bicycle fenders. And, after fabricating a few pairs for friends, and at the urging of all who saw them, Jeff is now selling some amazing custom wood fenders under the Halfwheel Fenders moniker. Check ’em out.

The circus world may have lost one of its rising stars, but we cyclists gained some serious style. When are you coming back, Jeff? We miss you so bad.