RAIN

It has done nothing but rain here, which is really lame. Our trails need serious time to dry out. We’ve been rained out of our Thursday night shop rides more times than we’ve actually had them. It has been a rough year weather wise for sure, and thankfully I have the road bike to help me when the madness takes over.

Not tonight though! My dancing partner was to be the WFO, which I have named The Honey Badger. I was counting on it’s attitude to get me through the ride unscathed.

The doppler said impending doom, but we were going to try and sneak in a cheeky one at Town Loops anyway. I know I needed a change of location, even 8 miles away was going to be enough, and lets face it, The Loops are fun to ride. We pedaled into the woods under darkening skies in a light mist.

The trail conditions were not great. Variable at best, but as bad as I have ever seen or ridden it. Every rock or root was as slick as a trout (a neat VT saying I overheard today). The thing about the WFO, is that it is a very stiff bike. If one of the ends changes direction, the whole bike changes direction. Speed was not sought on the ride tonight, nice and easy was the tempo

After the last ride I had on it, I determined that leaving the WTB Bronson tires on the bike would be a bad choice, and after a face chat with Mandy about which tire might be good at wet roots, I decided to try the Schwalbe 2.35 Nobby Nic, with the new and improved triple density Pacestar compound. Was it good?

Well, Imma gunna preface this by saying I don’t actually think there is any 29er tire out there that is good at wet roots. So I at least expected them to be bad, and was not dissappointed. Although, I found myself letting air out of the tires during the ride several times, which seemed to help.

Let’s back this thing up a bit. The Nics in 2.35 are pleasantly plump, high volume, round and have a directional tread pattern that is designed to dig in and stay in. My tires were in the  760g range, which puts them firmly in the pocket of a big lightweight tire with actual knobs. It has a pretty aggressive shoulder, but nowhere near that of the overly aggressive Bronson.

I started out the ride with ~28psi, which felt pretty firm to me. After some time on the forest floor, I wished I had the ability to better monitor how much pressure I was letting out during the ride. My gut tells me that these tires would do pretty good ~23 psi for someone my size. My gut normaly tells me good things, like “put bacon in me” or “how ’bout a beer?”. I have learned to trust it.

Back to the question “was it good?”

On anything BUT the wet roots,these tires were nothing short of awesome. Even the slimy rocks. But it was the roots that gave me the most problem. Letting air out of the tires definitely seemed to help. There is so much volume in this tire, that I think with low enough pressures this tire could actually envelope those pesky slick roots and tell them who is the real boss.

They roll surprisingly fast for a tire with such blocky non ramped treads. They excel in loose/mud/soft conditions.

I think I might even go out in the morning and try them out again. I’ll report back with my findings tomorrow. I think this tire has some really good qualities, and I am pretty stoked to learn more about it. Then I will be off for the weekend. And when I come back, I will have more awesome stuff to talk about.

Alright folks, I am back and blogging again. I feel that the funk that has blocked my creativity has passed. I can get past all the storm clouds. There is a lot of big blue sky beyond. I have a backlog of interesting things to talk about, but for now, I am going to finish what I started yesterday.

Yesterday, I posted up some images on the Facebook that shook the tree a little. Some might say they are a little unsettling. They might make you wince, it isn’t an easy thing to see. No less than 47 (47!) bicycles were taken from my store yesterday. I had a lot of texts, face messages, emails etc asking me if things were OK, if I’d been robbed, skipped town and/or let loose the hounds of hell. I appreciate all of them.

I can assure you that everything is ok over here, situation normal. How are you?



Boring conversation anyway…

Let’s revisit the past a bit shall we? (taken from my first post ever – in case no one clicked the link yesterday)

BIKE, for instance. The bike is a magical machine, for me, not only can it transport me back in time to when I was a kid, it can give me moments of clarity when everything else is falling down, it can scare the crap out of me, and it can reward you with an unbeatable sense of accomplishment when you can pull something really big off.
LOVE is another. Anything that you love is worth spending time on.
WORK, is a good example of a four letter word that can be both good and bad.
SHOP. Now there’s a good one…

Here is how it translates in today’s world.

LOVE, I still love what I do. Because of what I do, I get to meet some extraordinary people. Awesome people. Peers and customers alike. I get to live on the leading edge of bicycle technology, and let’s face it, that is just more stuff to love.

WORK, I’ve worked my ass off 7 days a week for the last 5.5 years. I do my best to keep the bases covered, even when I’m not at the shop. It can be tiring for sure, I’m just one man, but at least I can go to sleep knowing I’ve tried my best. Sure, I might not get it right 100% of the time, but I try to every time. I would not have changed this for anything.

SHOP, a physical manifestation of some place that traditional bicycle retail has come to expect the sun. moon and stars from. A location. An anchor. The one thing from this list that has been the single, most consuming thing in my life. I’m not going to lie, I have a love/hate relationship with it, mostly because it has always been a compromise. What I want to do, vs what I think I have to do. I’m about to turn it on it’s ear. Compromise will now be on my terms.

I saved BIKE for last.

I love my bike(s). I love everything about them because they are the way I made them. My bikes have taken many shapes and forms over the years since I started this business. I still have and ride my trusty old Karate Monkey, and Kermit, along with a few other revolving stable mates. I make bikes for people that love bikes. I always have. But they are still my bikes. I make them for the people that ride them. And I’m damn good at it too.

Pre-packeged TV dinners are out. Gourmet is in.

Get some.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was called out by a good friend for posting such a morose post yesterday.

Sorry about that. It wasn’t meant to be so, and I have to thank all those that were lurking that have contacted me asking if things are OK. I appreciate all of it. Things have been tough here on many levels this year, and I feel blessed to know so many good people.

Imma gunna tell you a quick story, which will hopefully clear all this up. I will preface that this story is not a bitter one, there is no bad blood here. This is an impasse. It isn’t for lack of trying on either part. While it might take a while to shake out, the relationhip ended with the best of intentions for all concerned. I am of course, talking about my relationship with a certain big bike company.

It goes like this.

Five winters ago, I started a little tiny company called Bike 29. I sold what amounted to 10 things, because that is how many 29er specific components there were back then. I sold Niner, and Surly. I was essentially working from my then basement. B29 was born in late 2005, and had to become a “local bike store” in order to hold court with certain parts distributors. Having been around this carousel a few times, I knew that I had my work cut out for me. My relief from gainful employment kicked things up a gear or two, and so I took my first retail space. I was going to be a bike shop.

Check out my very first blog post. So filled with hope. Knowing nothing of the future. Now I can think of a few other four letter words now… I’ll get to those on the next post. What? No posts for like 3 weeks and all of a sudden I have things to say? I have a lot to say.

Over the last 5 or so years, I have seen a lot of shit happen in the bike industry. Some if it has been good, some of it, not so much. I could go on about my thoughts on how things have changed, how some stuff has never changed, how certain voices have been heard over others, how nothing has been said, but that isn’t my style. Nor am I complaining about the way things are. That isn’t my style either. I am  a doer. I draw my own conclusions from my own experiences. When you call me to ask about tires/forks frames/wheels, I know the answer.

I can tell you that I have lived this business since the 90s, sometimes at great personal expense. I have seen, bought, ridden, sold, and broken everything. I have practically held every position possible in the bike industry, worked at every level, from shoprat to sales manager for a bike company to shop owner. I’ve been around enough of this business to know what works and what doesn’t. I started a bike shop in rural VT, where there is no economy, with no money but my own, and continue to make a good run at it. I’ve grown a business against all odds in an environment that the competition thinks they can buy into. I am still here. Still answering the phone. Still selling the things I started out selling. It has never changed.

But somewhere along the line, I got lost. I felt compelled to follow the “traditional” bike shop model, all the while I was creating the very thing that keeps my business alive. I’ve spent vast amounts of money over the years trying to be the “local bike shop”. I’m not going to even go into how much money that costs, even in my podunk little town. The market isn’t here yet. It’s coming, but it will take a while.

I’m the guy that learns the hard way.

I’ve cheated myself into thinking I needed to be something I never was. I’ve never been able to enjoy my success because I was always scrambling to cover my failures. Yet my success continues to provide. Even today. I had a ton of products that I am no longer authorized to sell removed from my shop today, yet I still had a great day at the register. Proof that I don’t need to follow the traditional bike shop model.

I’ve been better than that, and now I know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems to be a constant in my life lately. Without change, there is no growth, but when everything is changing, it’s hard to know what to hang your hat on.Add crappy weather, remove the ability and free time to ride bikes, and things start to look a little bleak.

Tuesday, one more big change is going to come. Details to follow after the event.

For those that aren’t local, we have some of the best riding in New England less than a mile from the shop. It is classic New England, roots rocks, technical tight singletrack. It is a blast to ride. Lots of people think this too, and the trails see a ton of traffic. On any given night in the summer, there are 30-40 cars parked at the trailhead. We figure the trails see 700-1000 riders a week.

While the trails are pretty stable in some spots, there are parts that need a lot of help. Stowe Mountainbike Club will be hosting a work day on Saturday June 25th for fix part of the well travelled Rastaman trail. Here is the info from the Club newsletter.

There is a big trail day planned for Perry Hill this coming Saturday June 25. The plan is to work on the upper section of Rasta Man, where the trail has gotten rooty, wide and generally degraded. We need a big show of support from riders – those who use the trail. As always, the regulars will be there (a big thanks to them) and we really need… to see a lot of new faces too.
Meet at the parking lot by the tunnel at 9 a.m., work until 1 p.m.
Bring water, snacks, work clothes/gloves, we’ll provide tools. Be prepared for a morning of hauling and crushing rock, digging fill material, bench-cutting, building berms, and generally making Rasta Man an awesome trail once again! If you are not inclined or capable of heavy lifting, there is plenty of brush to cut back and pruning to do!

BBQ provided afterwards by Stowe Mountain Bike Club. Bring your own beverages

As a bonus the sockguys are kicking down some free sox for us to handout to people who show up for trail work on that day. Who doesn’t love a pair of free sox!!

Please RSVP so we can get a count for the BBQ and sox.

We will also be hosting another work day on July 9th to do some other smaller projects to get the trails ready for the VT Mountainbike Festival. Folks who attend any of the workdays will get a raffle ticket for each day they are present. what do you win? How about a sick pair of Oakley shades? There will also be other prizes in the trail work raffle when we do the drawing on Saturday July 16th, at the post ride/BBQ/Festival hang out.

Please, local riders, we need your help, show your love for the trails you know and ride. And bring a friend!

 

 

 

… unless you might be interested in a sneak peak of possible SSUSA 2012 routes…

I made the best out of a free afternoon by scoping out a newer piece of trail that I had yet to ride. It is not super easy to find, but not to be missed if you happen to be in the right place at the right time.

This video is the bottom 1/4 of a much longer downhill specific trail. It’s isolated, and comes at the expense of a big climb. Now all I have to do is find a good way out of there…

If you are not a fan of stretchy pants for bike riding, there is an answer. I have spoken highly of Club Ride Apparel’s 2011 collection. I stand 200% behind it, even though I have been spotted riding a road bike, and wearing brightly colored leotards.

The fabric is awesome, the style is right on, and comfort level is high. It might even give you game.

 

The other night, I decided to see just how much one of the jerseys boosted my game. This is me in the Go Long. It’s a good looking shirt. I was called out as the urban cowboy at all of my local haunts. Best part though, the ladies couldn’t keep their hands off. GAME.

 

Now, think about how one might look all tight and bright having a post ride beer. ZERO game.

 

It isn’t always roses. In fact, much like the Poison song “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”, when it is roses, it comes with a price. You take the good with the bad.

Many of my close friends know that this has been a difficult year for me. Lots of change, bad knees, bad economy yadda yadda yadda. I’m not complaining though. If I was complaining, this would be someone else’s blog. This isn’t why you read my words. You want to read about SSAZ, cool bikes, the trails, the fun, not how much the alternator in my car costs.

My mom always used to say “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, and as everyone knows, I’m pretty much a momma’s boy. So I apologize, but really, it hasn’t been roses.

But you know what? Put life in terms of mountain biking. Everybody crashes. Everybody gets banged up, some worse than others. But those that aren’t mortally wounded eventually get up. And maybe keep riding. And those that keep riding learn. Gain experience. Know the line better. Are better riders for it.

I’m getting the fuck up.

 

I know, I know, I’ve been slacking on the blog. My problem is a serious case of writers block. I’m having a really a hard time re-adjusting to “normal life” after this last trip, and I know I’m not the only one. It was just that good.

I’ve written, re written, deleted, re rewritten, re deleted, and finally quit writing an SSUSA2011 summary post. Sensory overload. My mind is broken. My writing style is too long winded to make this any less long and boring as Atlas Shrugged, and I was about to give up completely until I saw this video on the Face Books.

Shot by observer Barry Reese, this video does a good job of catching most of the total anarchy that is SSUSA. While it is almost 9 minutes long, it is worth the watch. Try fitting 30 hours into 9 minutes.

I’ve watched this video at least 5 times today. I have my work cut out for me in 2012…

I have a couple of good friends that are taking on one of the toughest most grueling races ever. Jake and Dejay leave this morning at 8am mountain time, 2700 miles from Alberta Canada to Antelope Wells in New Mexico. That is a long assed way. Oh, and they are doing it on singlespeeds.

This isn’t your average race.

I will be following along here.

Yet more friends of mine will be covering the ride as well on PushPedalCrank , and hopefully updating their page with lots of pretty pictures.

My thoughts are with the racers. A lot can happen out there.

Ride on.