I bet you didn’t think I was going to keep doing this did you?

Question submission has been a bit slow, but I think I have enough in the comments to come up with some more posts before I have to start making shit up. At the very least, it will force me to get creative. So, this week’s question came from my friend Michele (aka Dr Z):

Where do you ski?

It’s a good question, but I don’t ski, I snowboard. Regardless, my participation in winter sports has been in decline since I opened the shop. But back in the day, I used to chase winter around. I was late to the “sport for fun” concept. I was not especially coordinated, nor especially quick, or even that strong. A late bloomer if you will. Growing up in England and forced to participate in team sports that I hated, I was bullied away from anything outdoors and active as a child. Ironically, I rode my bike everywhere, but it was for transportation only and I was almost always by myself. It’s how I got around, we lived in hilly country, and if I wanted to go anywhere, I had to ride there. For fun, I’d sometimes ride the 6 miles to the BMX track and ride around for a while, then pedal home. That must have been how I developed my abnormally large glutes… It was most certainly how I developed my preference for non-team sports.

It wasn’t until after high school that I discovered snowboarding, but I was hooked on it absolutely. I spent the next few years from totally sucking to being pretty OK, and eventually getting kinda good at it. I made the move to Colorado. I brought my bike, I mean, how was I going to get around right? I didn’t own a car, so in the months when there was absolutely no snowboarding, I’d ride my bike. I guess this is when I probably got hooked on for reals mountain biking. During the year I lived in Dillon CO, I shredded gnar at A-Basin, and rode my bike on trails in and around Breck. 111 days on a snowboard, maybe 15 on the bike for fun, but many more for commuting.

I moved back to VT, and continued my quest for gnar at Stowe, where I worked for my season’s pass for 2 years. I got to know a lot of the secret spots on the mountain that were really special back then. Nowadays, those stashes are veritable highways, if you don’t get the freshies, seven have already beaten you to it. Sometime during the mid to late 90s I was slowly crossing over into the bike riding camp, and was caring about snow less, and dirt more. Time passed by, and I started working in bike shops instead of kitchens and snowboard shops. I moved to SoCal to work for the BIKE INDUSTRY.

During that period of my life, friends were made who loved the snow, and went to Mammoth a fair bit. Sure it was a hike, but we would go for days at a time, often during a storm that would give us tons of that lovely Wind Buff pow. Good times. And then, almost as quickly as I was out there, I was back in VT, this time working for Burton Snowboards. Stowe was my local haunt again.

shredding the groomed gnar

But this time, I would find myself trending more towards 2 wheeled fun instead of sliding down a hill sideways. I started riding my bike in the winter. And once I lacked the means to obtain an affordable pass, cheap or free lift tickets, it was that much easier to ride my bike in the cold. And now, I have been snowboarding twice in as many years. These days, instead of a pass, I get a plane ticket to AZ!

 

After getting pounded by the trails around Lake Massabesic, we headed out to get food and more beers at a place called Shorty’s. Not bad for Tex Mex, and the riding had given us a hunger that would have allowed us to eat just about anything. Then it was time to shower and rally to some friends for more socializing, beer and Thanksgiving leftovers. It was a late night, but I didn’t have to be anywhere until 1pm the next day.

You thought I was going to put Electric Boogaloo in the title didn’t you? I don’t want to be too predictable…

After a delicious breakfast of Iron Mike’s signature Belgian waffles, bacon, homefries and the best Bloody Mary I have had in a really long time, I headed off to the next stop, North Hampton MA. The plan was to ride at Batchelor St, a place I have just recently gotten to know and enjoy. The trails here are extremely technical, it took us 3 hours to ride 6 miles. I’d love to post up a map of the ride, but at some point my Garmin parted ways with it’s mount. There was no way I was going to be able to go back and find it amongst the leaf litter. Meh.

Anyway, I was once again impressed at how well the Spot handled the terrain. The gearing was a bit stiff for me once again, I spent the first 3rd of the ride struggling to keep up, the middle 3rd finding my rhythm, and the final 3rd trying to stay on my bike. There were 4 flat tires, the fallen leaves hid a lot of sharp pointy rocks, so there was plenty of time to stop and be social. I was glad I was tubeless… but I was really glad to have the chance to take the Spot on trails other than my own. It’s one thing to know what to expect on any given trail that you are familiar with, but it’s a completely different experience when you are trusting the bike in unfamiliar territory. Again I was impressed at how well the bike tracked on off camber rocks. The high BB allowed me to clear big steppy rolldowns without dragging the front sprocket. Pedal strikes were at a minimum, even in the super chunky terrain we were riding. Again, zero issues with the belt.

partially upgraded Spot

Where I could let the bike fly, it swooped into the turns like an owl chasing it’s dinner. It tracks right were I want it to go every time. The bike begs to be ridden fast, but it’s also more than capable of conquering terrain at speeds slower than walking. It handles loose rubble strewn downhills with authority. I can’t say enough about how much I love the way this bike rides.

don't fall on this

We had a great ride despite the loss of personal electronics, flats and damaged bike parts. I was thoroughly worked from two days of tough biking.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and hanging out with friends. I don’t think I could have attempted another bike ride on Sunday, I was shot. After saying my goodbyes, I hopped in the car and headed north, and spent the drive thinking about how I’ve really enjoyed this extended biking season. I mean, we really got robbed here in VT this year. It snowed through May, and rained through July. Then of course, we had Irene to deal with. It was the Summer of Bummer for sure, and all of the nice weather this fall has feels like some sort of an apology from mother nature. I am still in disbelief on the warm weather we have been having. I know it’s going to end soon, but I am going to do my best to cram as many more rides in as I can. As nice as it is now, I know it will be the polar opposite before too long. Polar being the operative word.

How did everyone do? Over eat? Over slack? I’m a little guilty of those things myself, but I more than made up for it with a couple of killer rides in snow free southern (and western) New England over this long and protracted All American Holiday. I’m hoping I burned as many calories as I consumed.

Let’s rewind the clock to last Tuesday. One of my new favorite bands came to play BTV, Red Fang. I first became aware of these guys this summer, after a buddy of mine forwarded me a video.

rocking the fang out

I was hooked immediately. Well, suffice it to say, they were equally as awesome in real life. The show was amazing, but I’d have to say the best part was drinking beers with them after the show, not back stage either, but on the floor. Turns out we have a friend in common, which just goes to show you how small of a world it can be…  Cool dudes regardless. What was not cool, was the 2″ of snow that had fallen since we were in the club.

what the truck?

This pretty much meant the end of local riding as we have known it all summer and fall.

After a Wednesday at the shop, it was a holiday Thursday with family and friends, that was both brand new and filled with tradition. I ate only one meal, but it was frikkin huge. Between lunch and dessert/football/beers, I stopped by the shop to get the Spot ready for the upcoming weekend. This meant switching wheels, brakes and handlebars. Why handlebars you ask? My brakes were attached to them in exactly the right spot, and calipers are pretty easy to deal with…

The cockpit was much more to my liking – carbon bars are more forgiving than aluminum, and my Ergon grips are much more familiar to me. Plus, I now had the big front rotor, quieter, organic brake pads, and my I9 wheels that have better engagement than the stock WTB wheels, which makes a huge difference to me. It felt more like my bike. I didn’t mess with anything else, and the bike felt great. I left the Silverado saddle, and kept the stem slammed as before.

rolling south

Bright and early on Friday I headed to sunny (and snowless) southern Cow Hampshire to attend the 17th Annual Turkey Burner. I’d been to a few of these before, and knew that it would be a fun place to put the belt drive to the test. I met up with Shackleton, Iron Mike and family. Instead of snow, they had gotten rain, so the trails were slick and a bit muddy, but the belt didn’t care. Traction was a premium in some sections though. I ran Panaracer Rampage tires front and rear, (@16/17 respectively). For anyone that has not ridden the FOMBA trails, they are extremely rocky and rooty. Everything is low speed. The climbs are short, steep and rugged, and often feature an inconvenient sudden left or right or even a combination of the two. I have no idea how, but I made it out of there unscathed, despite riding a rather long trail the wrong way, and hitting Shackleton several times on the punchy ups. I had high hopes for him to clear them, what with his gears and suspension and all, but I had to give it everything to keep my MO. It didn’t always work out.

But when it did, I was more than impressed. My position on the bike was actually really good, good enough for me to try and translate it to the rest of my quiver. The back end felt nice and tight, no torsional flex whatsoever. The tightened chainstays made hupping over oncoming boulders a task as easy as letting pressure off of your hands. The QR15 and oversize crown on the 2012 Reba (and current SID btw) helped to keep the bike tracking straight and true. It rolled easily, in a way that gave me the giggles. When the trail opened up, you could lay off the brakes and carve turns. Sudden obstacles could be dealt with handily by using either the high BB, or quick steering to your advantage.

Shackleton

After a few hours, we remembered that there was beer in the cooler back at the parking lot, and finished up. I gotta tell you, I was glad when we did. I know where I need to work on some upper body muscles and flabdomen over the winter at the gym.

Oh, and I’m not done talking about the weekend yet….

 

 

 

 

Yet another exciting installment of Ask George greets you. The questions have been a little slow in coming, but I see no reason to stop posting, even though Dicky has been posting on Wednesdays. So, this next question was one from Team 29 rider Emily Brock:

What should I be doing to keep my fork riding well? Is custom fork tuning just kind of a scam?

Good set of questions. For the most part, forks these days are pretty low maintenance. They aren’t no maintenance, but you really only need to make sure you aren’t doing awful things to them. Back in the olden days, this was not the case. I was an early adopter of suspension, and learned the hard way what to do, or sometimes what not to do. Basically there is a short list of simple things that you should do regularly.

1. Keep it clean. A clean fork is a happy, good working fork. It’s actually pretty easy for dirt to compromise the seals, which if unchecked can deplete the oil bath (if your fork has one), or worse, scour the stanchions.

2. Inspect it often. Look for any signs of damage on the stanchions, check for any excessive oily crud build up on them. If it’s really bad, you have a defective seal, or you didn’t follow step 1.

3. Check for any play between the uppers and lowers. This can be a sign of premature bushing wear. If there is play or knocking and your headset is tight, you need to get this addressed, or find yourself a new fork before too long.

4. Get it tuned up once a year, more if you ride in excessively nasty conditions. This means new oil and O-rings. It’s a good idea to get this done during the off season, when you don’t need your bike. Most good LBSs will have the capability to get this done. Not all shops will have bushing presses, and if your fork needs those replaced, it’s generally best to have it sent back to the manufacturer.

As for the second part of the question, is custom tuning a scam? Well, it is my opinion that it depends.

One way to consider custom tuning is the  ”hop ups” one can do to a fork to make it behave differently/better than stock. An example would be the Enduro Wiper Seal upgrade I like to do to all my Rebas. Besides upgrading the fork’s seals, this also gives me the opportunity to make sure that the oil bath is actually there. These days, the forks are mass produced in China like everything else, and quality is not always job 1 with products that are assembled from lots of little pieces. There is a reason why my forks feel super plush.

The actual “custom tuning” aspect is a bit more complicated, and can be interpreted 2 ways. One is correctly setting the fork up for the individual rider. Making sure the air pressure or spring rate is correct for the rider, and adjusting the compression and rebound settings to their preferences. This is all pretty straight forward, and can be done by either the rider themselves or the LBS.

The other would involve tearing apart the whole damper assembly to achieve a specific performance trait. Here is where I call BS on some claims to custom tuning. Some forks, like Rock Shox, use a modular cartridge for the compression damper. The cartridge must sit in an oil environment for it work properly. Others, like White Brothers, treat the entire leg like a cartridge. On both of these systems, oil height is crucial for proper performance. There are stock damper components specific to each fork, that should provide enough of a range of either compression or rebound to please most folks. If it isn’t working properly or feeling punky, chances are the oil height isn’t right.

Forks like Fox are more complex, and use a series of washers, or shim stack, that are easily accessed when the fork is apart. In the right hands, they can be rearranged to gain a certain performance trait. In some cases there are negative springs, that can be rider weight sensitive. Having the right one for rider weight is also crucial for the fork to operate properly. These forks come from the factory with the 175lb rider in mind… This is where having a fork like that can be “customized”, but in reality it’s just being appropriately set up for a rider’s weight and/or riding style. I myself have found it hard to get an aftermarket Fox to feel awesome right out of the box, the adjustments are far too finicky and in some cases redundant (RLC), all of the OE models (RL) have felt fantastic after the seals have had a chance to break in.

But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that your fork has the right set up and oil height. Maybe you have spent $70-100 at your LBS making sure the oil heights are correct, and spring rates are appropriate. 99% of riders out there -professional athletes included, are more than happy with the stock manufacturer’s adjustment offerings between + and -. If you can’t find a setting you like, you have a very specific set of needs, oryou might be too picky, and should try riding a rigid fork for a while.

The fork on my bike costs more than my first mountain bike, and I expect it to perform as advertised. We should hold the manufacturers to a higher standard when it comes to these forks, but the reality is that they are mass produced things that may or may not be assembled correctly. If you are not happy with your fork, you should get it looked at.

 

 

My second ride was a doozy. Warmer temps had me rallying K-Dog for a visit with his favorite auntie so I could get out on the trails. Un ugly rumor that snow was on the way next week had me motivated to get out and ride while the riding is still good. K’s daytime visit put me within striking distance of Pine Hill Park, a city park with no hunting allowed. Unless you were hunting for buff singletrack, where it can be found in spades.

Overlook Trail

Seamus and I went and rode for about 2 hours straight, stopping only so he could have a dip in the pond a couple of times, and a few times where I let other riders pass. It’s funny, not a lot of riders around here know that the climbing rider has the right of way, but I didn’t mind. I used it as an excuse to take a break from the rather stiff gearing of the belt drive. My summer time gearing is 34:21 on a chain, the Gates Belt Drive is a 46:28. The gear ratios are 1.62 and 1.64 respectively, which shows that they are kinda the same, but they sure don’t feel the same to my legs.

Some of it  is probably that my legs are in Slowvember mode, my fitness is definitely lacking. My other theory is that the belt feels much different than a chain does. There isn’t any way I can actually measure this, but it feels like the belt delivers more torque. It feels as if it is “on” the entire time. Over the summer I would make it a point to try and ride the belted Gozarian and one of my chained singlespeeds back to back to get a feel for the difference. I can feel a dead spot on a chained bike that just doesn’t seem to be there on a belt drive. Maybe it’s just me though. Regardless, the Rocker rolls over the ground with the unyielding purpose of a tank.

this bike will literally climb up anythng

PHP is super buff, I could really haul some ass on the berms, and with the quick turning characteristics of the bike, big smiles were formed. Even on some of the lower angle climbs, I felt as if I could power right through the turns, building my momentum and accelerating. Again I noticed how well the bike tracked over some dumb lines that I chose specifically to try and get the belt to “pop” as I had on my first ride of the Gozarian. The belt didn’t pop, and I was rewarded with pulling off my silly lines. It made me wish I had an entire summer ahead of me to enjoy this bike.

over size

One of the other things besides the rear drop out that I think helps the bike hold it’s line is the new 2012 Reba. The crown is bigger, I’m betting it’s the same forged crown as the tapered version, only it isn’t bored for the 1.5 tube. Also, it features a 15mm Maxle found on the new SID forks. It definitely goes where it’s pointed, and doesn’t talk back

I’m digging the wheels and tires. This is the new TCS system, WTB’s take on tubeless, and it’s working quite well. Still have to dial in those air pressures though. I ran the Bronsons on a Stan’s Flow earlier in the year, and I was not that into the tire, at the time. The TCS version’s sidewall seems to be supporting the tread a bit better, I don’t feel like I am rolling the tire off the rim. No complaints on the tires at all.

Now for the niggles, and there are only three little ones. Firstly, the grips are not my cup of tea. I’ve been off round grips for so long my hands had a hard time adapting to non Ergon grips. And secondly, after riding King/I9 hubs for over 12 years, I have a hard time with hubs with slower engagement. Several times I fumbled my pedal stroke fully expecting it to engage a lot sooner than it did. This is a personal preference thing though, I know it bothers many people a lot less than it does me. And lastly, the brakes. They are powerful enough, but I run a 180mm rotor up front and organic pads. The 160mm front rotor had me braking harder than I am used to, and the metal sintered pads were noisy and didn’t grab as quickly as organic ones.

And now for some surprising finds. I did get a chance to bust out the tape measure and grab a couple of interesting readings. The chainstay is a short-esque 17.3″, with a wheelbase of 44″. The rear wheel is definitely tucked right up into the rear triangle, but probably the most surprising measurement was the BB height. 13″. Wow. That is East Coast high! It was totally working for me in the rough stuff. I had my eye on the trail on many occasion, trying to time my pedal strokes so I wouldn’t tag the ground while trying to figure out when the hub was going to engage. I misjudged a few times, but I never once bashed a pedal. This explains why.

I have to say that this bike is really fun to ride. I really like the positioning I have on it and the handling is downright awesome. It looks like I might even be able to carve out a few more solid rides on the bike, the forecast is for more unseasonably mild weather after Big Bird day. Let’s hope so!

 

Schralp Spot! Schralp!

Schralp is not a “real” word, although I know plenty of people who use it. The Urban Dictionary defines it:

v.,n.,adj.(sh’ralp) To aggressively negotitate terrain using any manner of vehicle. schralped, schralper, schralping, schralpingest

 

That is the best way to define how this bike rides. I was just straight up tickled. I’ve gotten two pretty decent rides on it, but have yet to bust out the tape measures and dangleometers to get all the numbers I want. My first ride was a chilly afternoon incursion at the traditional proving grounds of the Town Loops, the second was a solo mission out at Pine Hill Park in Rut-Vegas over the weekend. When living in VT and November hands you 60°, you better go outside and ride your bike.

This particular post is going to be my thoughts on the bike based on “feel”. This is a size large bone out-of-the-box-stock Rocker SS. When I assembled it, I didn’t even change the stem’s position to where I usually have it, instead ran it under all the spacers, pointed down. Slammed if you will. I made some minor adjustments to little things like the brake lever position and saddle position, air in the tires, shock settings to close to my own etc. The stock stem is a 110mm x 8° (mfg’s site has no spec for the rise), I prefer a 100 x 0°, and since the stem is slammed, the bar position is a somewhat lower than I would normally ride. The reach however was quite comfortable. I didn’t feel overly stretched out, so I decided I would just run the stem as is, and see how I felt about the new bike it in it’s stockness.

Turns out I like it a lot. It was a little different, but not in a bad way. It’s very first ride was to go get a coffee from the Empire (not Starbucks). I had a coffee card that was ready to be turned into a free coffee drink of my choice, so I made the trip by bike because walking that far for anything is just dumb. 1 Hot Shot later (4x espresso in a regular coffee), I had the task of negotiating Waterbury’s erratic traffic patterns one handed on a strange bike. This was when I noticed that the slightest dip in my shoulders either left or right and the bike was turning that way right friggin now! I was not riding it well, but consider the fact that is was 34°, a bitter cold wind was blowing, was riding one handed, and was more concerned about keeping my pants out of the belt AND not spilling my free/otherwise $4 coffee drink. I made the mental note that this bike was turny. Not twitchy, because it goes in a straight line for days, turny – big difference. It never once gave me any indication that it would fold mid turn as some other twitchy bikes I have ridden have. Confidence inspiring.

A trust was formed.

I really took notice on how the bike behaved on the trail out on the Loops. It was exceptionally nimble, and, I have to use a word I hate, flickable. It really seemed to like being tossed around the trails at the medium speed I was traveling. Line changes were executed quickly and stably. There wasn’t any discernible frame wind up, which I felt was a little odd since this is a steel bike, but the feel was spot on. While seated and pedaling, it felt as one might expect a steel hardtail to ride like, buttery smooth. But get out of the saddle and drive it hard, it is as stiff and precise as a thru-axled squishy bike. I imagine that some of this might have to do with the way the rear drop out is constructed.

keyed for stiffness

It is a rather elaborate, machined and keyed slider type. Once bolted together, there is no way that the rear axle can orbit due to torsional flex, and you can totally tell when standing on the pedals going up hill at low speed.

extra screw

There is also a rather ingenious “3rd” set screw that resists any torsional flex that is applied when the rear brake is activated. Does it work? Well, let’s just say I didn’t notice any flex at all, braking or pedaling, so obviously it’s doing it’s job quite well.

I found the bike to be very playful, and was binking of just about any lip or rise in the trail, but when it was time to get to business, the bike dug right in and got the job done quickly and smoothly. More to come tomorrow!

rockin' out on the Rocker

 

So one of the upcoming projects I had mentioned in a previous post arrived today. Boy was I surprised when a huge bike box showed up. What was inside? This.

This right here is a Spot Brand Rocker SS. I knew they were going to send me a bike to check out, but I didn’t know what I might get. My fingers were crossed, and luck was on my side. I’ve wanted to try out a Spot for quite a while now, and now I’ll be putting this belt driven 853 steel frame through it’s paces for the remainder of this season.

 

I’m excited to check out an out-of-the-box stock bike for a change. This bike comes well equipped with a 2012 Reba fork with 15mm Maxle, WTB TCS tubeless wheels, Avid Elixir 9 brakes and a Truvative cockpit, and of course the Gates Center Track belt drive. Without pedals the complete bike weighs 24.6, which is on point for a ride like this. In contrast, The Gozarian weighs just under 24.9 with pedals.

Right out of the box, I’m impressed with the quality and contsruction of the frame. It’s handbuilt overseas, much like the Niner SIR9, but what sets this bike apart from the others, is that the frame was specifically designed with the belt drive in mind. It has a rather nifty dropout that I will go into more detail on in the next post.

I’m very excited for the first ride, impressions to come tomorrow!

Yes, that’s right, another installment of a weekly Q&A with yours truly. This week I have selected a question from WillC who wrote:

Why don’t more people have asymmetrical beards?  That is a very odd question, but considering it’s “Movember” I have been giving it some serious thought. I had the following brainwaves:

1. Most people are asymmetric in some form or another. There is a dominant side of the body. You are either left or right handed. You may have one foot that is slightly bigger than the other, etc. but visually, humans prefer symmetry. This is probably a result of having arms, legs, eyeballs, ears on each side of our body. It’s the way we are built. I mean, what would our perceptions of normal be like if boobs were arranged vertically on one side?

The left side of my face grows hair better than the other, but you would only know that if I didn’t take my personal grooming semi-seriously. I have a feeling that most people have jobs, and therefore need to take similar precautions to gain acceptance-at-a-glance amongst their peers.

2. Growing an asymmetrical beard is not socially acceptable outside of certain social scenes. And looking like you belong to one of these social scenes, is generally unacceptable.

3. You have an asymmetrical beard because you lost a bet.

4. You can’t grow facial hair.

For at least those reasons, it is something that shouldn’t be done. Seriously, asymmetrical facial hair just doesn’t work. It’s best not to dwell on this anymore. Asymmetrical leg hair, well, that’s a different story…

 

Again I have managed three days on the bike in a row. This is just ridiculous. The high daytime temps and the early darkness have me completely turned around as to what day it actually is. I spent most of Wednesday thinking it was Friday, and spent most of today thinking it was next week.

Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary

That didn’t stop me from getting out and enjoying the sunshine. On Tuesday I grabbed the Gozarian and rode with Team29′s T-Vo out in his neck of the woods. The trails were dry and fast, and it was super good to get out and do some singlespeed friendly high speed trail riding. Of course i was way over dressed, but thankfully I grabbed my sleeveless Dicky’s Death March jersey, as I often do when I think I am grabbing the one with sleeves. I decided not to wear arm warmers too. It was warm enough to have a gun show.

large external fuel tank

T-Vo snapped this shot of me riding down a rock spine. I’m hoping that like the Space Shuttle, I get to jettison the large fuel tank after a while. It was a super good ride, despite tagging a tree pretty hard with my left shoulder.

Pedal Dammit

The following day I grabbed my A9C and did my River Rd spin to Jonesville and back. It seemed to go by pretty quickly, and I was appropriately dressed. For May. FTW! My contact with the tree the day before made climbing out of the saddle a bit uncomfortable, but I have since been training myself not to rock the bars back and forth on the short climbs. Instead, I try and keep a static upper body and try to get more leg extension into my pedal stroke. Not sure if I’m gaining anything by doing this, but it does feel like I am not mashing the pedals as hard. Too much lateral motion on the bars was pretty painful, so keeping it to a minimum was the right thing to do.

I like to ride my bike next to water

And on the third ride, I took a spin on a loop I had been thinking about for a few weeks. The ride profile is less rolly, and more spiky. The hills are bigger, the flats are flatter. I had envisioned this loop as something a lot harder and longer than  it actually was. This was both good and bad, bad because I felt as though I had worked a lot harder than I thought I would for a 19 mile ride with 1500ft of climbing, good because I can do it in about 1.5 hours from the shop. It was pretty fun, and once off the pavement, there is minimal traffic. I will be adding it to the repertoire.



If you open the full details of the ride, you will note, that I hit 48 mph. I could have gone faster, but totally chickened out. The bike just kept accelerating, and I was running out of straight road quickly. I had just swapped out my Rocket Rons for some Race Kings for pavement and dirt road riding, and the bike rolls an awful lot faster now. I was duly impressed, though at the time absolutely terrified, and now some part of me wonders if I can break 50…

Rifle season starts this Saturday. I will be avoiding certain trail networks for the next 2 weeks. I’m really hoping that this November remains on the warm side, I’ve discovered that I’m not quite ready to stop riding my bike…

After rereading my last post, and all the comments I’ve gotten thus far, I found that I had maybe taken more credit for this whole thing than was due to me. Yes, I am the guy on the phone, in the shop and behind the emails, but there is another force at work. Some of you know her, some don’t.

Mandy is the one who conjured up the website, V1 and V2. Made the blog possible. Orchestrates things like the Gravel Grinder every year. Executes travel arrangements. Processes about every image on the webstore you see. Deals with a crummy boss. Designed every B29 jersey etc etc etc.

Yes, I am not alone in this venture. I think that the saying goes, “behind every successful man, is a strong woman”. This is definitely true.