WOW. I feel as if I’ve  been in a time warp for two days. Let’s start from the beginning.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I picked up the rental car, they were fresh out of minivans. I got this instead.

I named it the Executor.

Scott and I got on the road at 6:30, greeted by 1″ of slippery snow on the roads. We had to take it pretty slow. In fact, the first 2 hours of the trip were spent trying to get out of Vermont.

New Your State wasn’t much better, but we actually made Albany in 4 hours, which is not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Then it was all highway. We were greeted by a lake effect snow plume that made visibility poor, and driving conditions marginal. By the time we got to Ohio it was semi-raining, but the roads were clear so actual highway speeds could be realized.

Then, things got a little hazy after dark. We only stopped for gas and food. Our strategy was working well. We started out with 8 hour shifts, and switched to 4 hour shifts overnight. I took a 5 hour energy drink before my night shift, as I was having a hard time taking a nap during Scott’s shift. I think I made a critical error when we stopped at a Wendy’s, the combination of the Baconator and 5 Hr Energy Drink and Road Rapture caused some odd hallucinatory side effect.

We reached the Oklahoma border around 5am, and we made a small detour to visit Scott’s Grandma, who was only about an hour out of the way. Scott woke her up at 5:30. A small detour, but very worthwhile, he made a 93 year old lady’s day.

Then it was back on the road. In Texas the sky began to show signs of turning blue, and when it did, it was about lunch time. Wouldn’t you know it, we were driving through Amarillo. We went to The Big Texan, hhow of the 72 free steak if’n you could eat it in less than an hour. We didn’t go that way – that would be an almost fatal mistake with 4+ hours left to drive, but had a very good brisket sandwich with a side of mac-n-cheese.

The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the end was in sight. We passed several wind farms. I love these things, to me, they are simply big beautiful pinwheels making electricity. I find them quite relaxing.

Then we reached the New Mexico border, and soon enough the Sandia Mountains rose from the desert floor, and we finally arrived at our destination, my friend’s house Di & Slick’s house in Albuquerque.

36 hours. We were greeted by a delicious feast and beers, got caught up on old times and went to bed tired full and happy.

It begins tomorrow. What will most likely be heralded as “George’s Midlife Crisis”, but I prefer to call “The Great American Road Trip of the South West”, begins with an early start, and feats of endurance driving. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I should be able to stay connected. I’m going to try this whole Twitter thing out, I’ve dabbled with it over the last year or so, but haven’t necessarily found the motivation to keep at it. I think this trip will be a good time to get the hang of it. If you want to see how we are doing, go to Twitter, and follow @bike29.

The first stop is Albuquerque NM. I’m going to be seeing some great of friends of mine who I haven’t seen in a really long time. The plan is to ride as much as possible, and eat as much as possible, I love the food out there. I got some great suggestions for places to ride, breweries to visit, and places to eat from NM native Sonya Looney. And of course, I’ll be blogging as regularly as I can.

After our brief stay, we’ll be making that left turn and heading on out to Tucson for more of the same. Besides the SSAZ big ride, everything is sort of up in the air. There is no time table, nothing scheduled. Except there is a slim possibility I might stand in for someone a the 24hrs of Old Pueblo. Good thing I’ve been training.

Have a great weekend, I’ll be back Monday.

Yeah, so, I grew my face hair out for a bunch of months.

It was itchy, patchy, and annoying. But I had a goal in mind, to grow some awesome facial hair for SSAZ. I talked a little smack, and even got a couple of extra suckers to participate.

News on those fools later…

It didn’t take long for me to sculpt my pitiful facial hair. I had only one goal, to accentuate what little positive I had. Let’s face it, I’ve been growing my face hair since the end of September, (4 months!), and many other of my contemporary manchild’s face hairs would have them looking like Chewie in 4 weeks. At least the forest is still thick and healthy in the north…

It looks like I got a little Captain in me…

Once upon a time, there was a young heavy metal band from Britain called Iron Maiden. They were and still are (very) awesome.

They were awesome before hair bands like Poison and Motley Crue pretended to be as metal as Maiden was. And Maiden still remains awesome even after the so-called “metal” flavor of the day bands have long since become a distant memory. And their awesomeness prevails to this day over the modern day shite that sounds like dogs barking at heavy metal filing cabinets filled with crap and monkeys that are falling down the stairs.

What makes them so awesome? Besides a giant dead guy named Eddie that not only graces their album covers? Who also roams the stage during concerts? They rock harder than any other band in history. Maiden has always been Maiden *(except between 1993 and 1999). They have never tried to be anyone else  They don’t take themselves too seriously. And they invented the harmonized guitar riff. Sure, the Allman Brothers had that nice little noodly lead line in Jessica, and Steely Dan had that nice little peck on the cheek of a guitar solo in Reelin’ in the Years, they all fall miserably short when compared to how awesome THE TROOPER is.

In case you didn’t click the links above (you really ought to), here is the quick visual reference:

Jessica

THE TROOPER

OK now that we have that straight….

Maiden’s awesomeness prevailed for a very long time, and they ruled supreme over they who would call themselves “metal“. But one day, there was a disturbance in the force: due to creative differences, Adrian Smith (awesomest – and my personal favorite – Maiden guitar player) left the band, and was replaced by Jannick Gers (awesomest named Maiden guitar player). In 1993, “The Air Raid Siren” Bruce Dickinson left the band because it wasn’t quite as awesome without Adrian. From that point on, there is a black hole in Maiden’s repertoire, and one that I will never recognize as part of their body of work.

*Much like when Nigel Tufnel left Spinal Tap, and they had to resort to Jazz Odyessy.

Fortunately, Adrian and Bruce came to their senses in 2000, and released one of the very best Maiden albums ever, Brave New World. And you know what? They even kept Jannick Gers. So wait, that’s one… two… no THREE guitar players? I listen to it thrice weekly at a minimum. In fact, I’m listening to it right now.

Yeah.

Awesome got a glimpse of just how awesomer awesome can be.

So what am I prattling on about?

You will see next week.

I’ve had this discussion a with a couple of folks over the last couple of days, and I am no closer to a decision now that I was last week.

Because I am driving out, there is a good chance that I could probably bring two bikes if I pack the car up properly. At the moment, there are two singlespeed bikes in my stable that I would consider worthy bicycles of being part of the big road trip.

A9C, aka Rambo. Light, nimble, fun to ride and dead sexy. I’m pretty sure that this bike will be more than adequate, provided I don’t fall and bash myself to bits like I did last year.

Jet9 SS, aka Shredward Van Halen. There is no way you can tell me that this bike would not be fun to ride.

I got on the full suspension singlespeed thing a bit too late in the year for me to just put it on the back burner. I mean, I could really start playing with the set up, and get it out on some really good rides.

Or

I can just bring one bike, just like everyone else. I’m pretty sure it will not impede my fun in any way.

This is the sort of thing that will drive me nuts during the trip. Sure, it is nice to have options, but lack of them sometimes is OK too.

I can pretty much guarantee a few things:

1. I would not be able to decide which one to ride at any given time

2. No matter which one I decide to ride, I’ll wish I was on the other

3. I would likely regret bringing two bikes just as much as I would regret bringing only one

How did this get so complicated? And I only have until Friday night to decide!

Up next is another local rider, Amanda Voyer. She has been a big fan of 29″ wheels since last season, and is beginning to show her true colors as a baddass on the bike. Here is what she has to say:

I’m a shorter (under 5’5″) woman who rides a 29er and it has changed my life. I feel like I could be the poster child for what a 29er can do for pure riding pleasure and ability. My riding confidence and strength has improved tenfold since I’ve started riding the big wheel. My previous bike was a 26 inch full-suspension and I feel I now ride smoother, faster, stronger, and with more confidence on my big dog. When I first started riding a 29er a couple of summers ago I’d get all kinds of looks and questions from other riders, (guys and girls), not used to seeing a smaller woman on a big wheel and I would take every opportunity to talk up the 29er ride. I just love to ride and ride often. I also enjoy the thrill of competition and have dabbled in mountain bike racing, and off road triathlons, and I am desperately seeking to add cyclocross and single speed racing to the resume.

We welcome Amada to the team! Look for her tearing up the trails this summer on her Fisher Paragon.

I can almost show you what it’s going to look like.

It isn’t going to look anything like that.

I know it’s wrong of me to tease you like this, but we are still waiting for the final proof. I don’t want to get folks all excited about something, and then have it be completely different. The 2010 kit is a prime example of that. While it looked good graphically, the fit was terrible, almost as if apes had made the garments. And they were also horrendously late. We learned our lesson there. Chasing a “deal” isn’t necessarily the way to go.

No, the new kits are going to be made by Panache. They are going to be a little more expensive, but they’ll fit right. And depending on how interested people are, we may do additional pieces like arm warmers, jackets, vests and the like. As soon as the art is finalized, I’ll post it up here, and maybe we can get some sort of a pre-order thing going for non-team folks.

Move along, move along.

No but seriously. Blogging about crossing my t’s and dotting my i’s is not that interesting. In a little over a week I am headed west, which I am very excited about, yet it seems that the little annoying things that need to get dealt with before I leave are multiplying.

Meh.

This weekend’s weather forecast is making me wish I was leaving tomorrow, a high of ZERO on Sunday. It’s looking like outside ride time will have to wait until I get to my first “stop” on the trip, Albquerque. Anyone have any beta on where to ride/eat/drink?

… are better left to the professionals. Over the course of the morning yesterday, I found that stripping a frame of it’s paint, is a little like screen printing: better to do if you know what you are doing, and have the necessary equipment to do the job properly. This is why I don’t do things change my own oil or even point a wrench towards my car when something needs a fixin’.

But I was interested in the process, and went out and bought a wire wheel attachment for my drill, and 4 drained batteries later, found I hadn’t made a lot of headway. I had learned my lesson. While it was very satisfying to reveal the metal underneath the once glossy Root Beer SIR9 frame, I became increasingly aware that I would never be able to get the paint out of all the nooks and crannies of the drop-outs, braces, disc mount etc. This will require a media blasting to get rid of all the paint. It isn’t in my budget to blow a few grand on a proper sand blasting booth, so I called quits on the frame prep.

So I’ll be boxing the frame up and sending of to Bilenky, along with some liquid appreciation. Now I can get on with the task of picking what color it will end up. Right now, I’m thinking of a darker sparkly grey. All my supporting bits will be my typical purple/blue/silver/black flair.

I will say this though. I really enjoyed being close to the metal. A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (England) I used to custom fabricate wheelchairs for the NHS at the apprentice level. Everything we did was spec’d to the individual person who would be using the chair. There was a lot of measuring, cutting, mitering, welding, polishing and painting. Different, but not dissimilar to making a bike. My experience yesterday made me remember those days long ago, and I think that I decided I would like to attempt to make a frame some day. Yes, I think that would be a very worthwhile dream to pursue some day.

Arleigh Jenkins, aka Arsbars, aka BikeShopGirl, hails from Charlotte NC, and is a cycling industry staple and media maven. I first met her at QBP’s dealer expo Frostbike, and had the pleasure of dinner and beers with her, Tim Grahl (founder of twentynineinches) and Brent Gale of Twin Six. As a twenty niner freak since the beginning, she was riding road rims on her early production Surly Karate Monkey. We welcome her wholeheartedly to the Bike29 team. You will see her at many races in the south east this summer, including:

NC Cyclocross

6 Hours of Warrior Creek

Burn 24

Dark Hollow 100K

Fools Gold