My Last Race

You know that Fall is coming when the Catamount season is drawing to a close. Last night was my last race of the season, as next week, I am supporting the actual last race of the season.
It was Nat's last race too, as he is scheduled to have kid #2 next week.

I brought out Red 5.1 for it's second ride, and first race. I pretty much guaranteed it would rain by mounting my WTB Weirwolf LTs, and switching over to my "crusher gear" 34-19. It's actually not that bad until you encounter steep hills of any length. I found that even standing and mashing as hard as I could, forward momentum was hard to keep. I don't know how I made it.

I'm glad I only did 2 laps, I developed a searing stitch on my right side in the middle of my first lap that didn't go away until the last downhill of the second lap. Ouch.
It started to sprinkle at the beginning of the second lap, but it held to that. I thought to myself "I just knew it......!"
I pretty much spent the race alone. I knew I had to be somewhere near the front, but couldn't catch the leaders. I ended up finishing my 2 in 29 minutes, coming 3rd in my age, 7th overall.
Not too bad.

Red 5.1

Since the retirement of the original Red 5, I have lamented it's absence. It was such a fun and responsive bike. It was my very first Niner, which replaced the Karate Monkey as the resident singlespeed. I owned it for several months, but ultimately retired it because it was a first generation One 9, and it lacked the appropriate tire clearance.

For a while, Kermit was a good stand in, but has since taken on other roles in the stable.
I was without a singlespeed in the line up for about 3 months when the golden opportunity to replace Red 5 came about.


And when Red 5.1 came, it brought it's pimp stick.

As with any "x".1, upgrades from the original were made. This time, instead of Delgados, we have the Stan's Arch rims, run with Bontrager ACX Tubeless tires, the White Bros Magic 100, Avid Juicy Carbon brakes, an Easton EC90 seatpost, and Easton EC70 Monkeylite bars. All told, with pedals and signature carbon bottle cage (that's right Jay, carbon...), Red 5.1 weighs 22.94 lbs, a full pound and a half lighter than it's predecessor.


You'll note, the Rogue bottle cap on my YAWYD. Red 5 is Luke Skywalker's call sign in his X-Wing, and he flies in Rogue Squadron. I am such a NERD!

No go out and Pedal Dammit!

BOOM!

Well. I had my first blow out today. We were riding out in Jericho, and had just completed a pretty technical loop, filled with all sorts of fun rock outcroppings, logs and roots. I had let some air out of the tires to get a little more "cush" and traction in the technical sections, and had no issues whatsoever.

Then we got out to a big wide open meadow, where I let it go. I guess I came into a turn pretty hard and then BANG! I blew the tire right off the rim. My thoughts are that the pressure was simply too low to be railing a high G turn, an that the large round profile of the tire was just too much and it popped right off. It happened right at the apex of the turn, and we were able to deduce what happened from all the marks I made in the ground. It's a good thing it was the rear wheel and not the front.

The good thing, is now I am forced to change the tires to the ones I am going to be racing on. I was putting it off because the conditions have been so dry, that the high volume and fast rolling characteristics of the Weirwolf LT have made riding my rigid singlespeed so much more fun. I'll be replacing them with the Bontrager Jones ACX. Still a relatively big tire, but with knobs, so that you will actually have grip in the wet and mucky. This dry stuff isn't going to be around for much longer.

Note to self, more air!

Shop Shenanigans

The latest project nearing completion, is a partial build for a customer in Texas.
When I say partial, the only thing we aren't doing, is the grips and seat.


The frame is the much loved Niner SIR 9, built with WTB hubs and Salsa Delgado rims.
The drivetrain is the legendary White Industries ENO crank, and Niner's Cogalicious cog.
The bike was a pleasure to build and set up.
I know it is even more fun to ride.

Meat-up II (Electric Boogaloo)

Last fall, Bike 29 and a handful of other 29er riders gathered at the Kingdom Trails in North Eastern VT for a 29er festival of sorts. We called it the Meat-up, and it was a hoot. Some folks though it was such a good idea, that they decided to threw an event of thier own. The folks at the Crooked Cog Network is having the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in the Midwest in late June (of which I am a proud sponsor).

Lots of folks have asked if there will be another one, and I'm proud to say that there is.
While the final details still need to be worked out, the date of Meat-up II is July 21st 2007. The venue will be Catamount Family Center in Williston VT. There will be on site camping available, but for those without tents, the proximity to Burlington will be helpful.
But here is what is different this year.

In addition to the Meat-up, The weekend will include the inagural New England Single Speed Champion Chips. A real race held at Catamount on Sunday July 22nd.
The race will be open to all singlespeeders, on any size wheels. More details on the whole weekend to follow in the coming weeks.

All in all, it promises to be a weekend of fun. Mark your calenders!

Rebel Yell...

...is what is in the bottle that Maggs is christening his bike with.
We are getting closer to completing the bike overhaul we started in Jaunary.
The big updates this time include a White Industries ENO crank, and a Chris King wheelset laced to Velocity Dyad rims. Bright yellow rims.
Way cool.