Man, what a ride. To quote Dickens (not Dicky) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”, it was truly the most difficult year I’ve faced in my adult life. Here is my gratuitous end of year blogpost, all the cool kids are doing it. Instead of breaking it up into multiple posts, you get one long one. I’m just going to limit myself to a few pivotal points, after all, you only have to click on the archive links if you want a more in depth look.

January

A 14 year partnership ended in a truly crushing way. It was not easy for either of us, but “staying together for the kid” is the worst thing parents can do for a child, and we are both committed to raising a happy healthy child. Instead of letting it fester into a viper pit of ill feelings towards one other, we decided that we would quit while we were still able to be rational with each other, and try and appreciate the good things we brought to the table rather than fixate on the negative. Through it all, we have managed to remain good friends over the last year. There has been a lot of adjustments made, most of them difficult, but we are better for it. This is all I will ever say about this subject on this blog.

February

The 3 week road trip to the southwest. The timing on this couldn’t have been any better. It was good to get out of Dodge and the many empty miles between here and there allowed me some time for some much needed introspection. Once there, it was fun and friends, and fabulous riding. The highlight was the short time I got to spend in ABQ with my “big sister” Di. She is the best, and I am thankful for having people like her and her husband Slick in my life. While riding White Mesa in NM, something woke up inside of me that can only be compared to some sort of a spiritual experience. It is after all, the Land of Enchantment.

March

The return to reality. Winter in VT is cold, dark, wet and relentless. I moved into a shitty apartment. How shitty was it? I paid almost $500 to have the carpets professionally cleaned before I moved in, and they were still filthy. That place was definitely a landing pad. I developed a nasty respiratory condition, no doubt because of the mold and dust and other vile airborne floaties in this place. I could feel myself sliding into depression.

April

Cold. Bitter cold. Gravel Grinder was interesting, I think I might have emotionally bottomed out. I was surrounded by friends though, including some long time friends from San Diago who helped me through it. Having Dejay fly out and surprise everyone at SSAP was probably the best thing that happened to me, it was here that he convinced me I needed to go and crash the Topeak Ergon Base Camp. Highlight: my first ascent of the Bolton Valley access road on  my road bike.

May

Arizona again. Still riding the roller coaster, but it was nice to see sunshine. I didn’t realize how bad my lung fluid problem had become until I got into the arid desert air. I had an amazing time in Sedona, another truly beautiful place. Highlight: Sonya Looney feeling sorry for me and hanging back a bit after getting dropped by everyone on the big ride. It sucks not being able to breathe. Get back to VT, to pouring rain, find that the rain actually causes a waterfall in the living room of my shitty apartment, no longer surprised that this place made me sick, but at least it was warm enough to have the windows open. Rain causes huge flood, washes out roads, ruins annual Burke camping trip. Finally rode App Gap on my road bike.

June

SSUSA. Back west again, surrounded by friends, fantastic riding and best of all sunshine. I had the entire Niner crew crashed out in my hotel room. Somehow managed to ride really well out there at altitude, even began to have some happy thoughts again. Returned to VT to deal with a crappy local economy, more crappy weather, and the departure of Trek from the shop. Sales didn’t support the massive inventory I had to carry. Happy feelings vanish.

July

Fireworks and riding new trails in western MA. A much needed ego boost thanks to Dough partnering up with me at the Eastern Cup 6 hr Duo race. A well fought second place due to my front tire exploding, would have been an amazing win had it held. Selling the sort of bikes I should have focused on selling all this time instead of feeling I needed a mainstream brand. Lesson learned.

August

I miss out on SSWC in Ireland. Turn 40. Irene. And I thought April was bad.

September

Aftermath. Devastation of the entire town of Waterbury is unbeleivable. Move Jaypro’s PT clinic into the empty bike shop while they rebuilt. The already difficult task of finding a new non shitty apt in Waterbury just became impossible. Moved in w/ Keller until I could find a place to go to. Annual Burke trip had a different tone, everyone felt beat down.

October

Move to new nice apt in Stowe. PT clinic moves out. Try to squeeze some good rides in. Very pretty foliage this year, and the tourists helped bring some money into our local economy. A visit from my mom was well timed.

November

Weird weather. Rode a bunch, a lot more than I thought I would. While business has been in a bit of a black hole since August, there have been signs of life. Powering through, fighting for every sale. Thanksgiving was difficult, but once again, friends and family were there.

December

Starting to feel a lot better about life. Making plans and looking forward to next year. Christmas didn’t suck. Spent time with family. Rode my bike twice so I can safely say I have ridden my bike in every month of the year for the last 6 years.

That’s it in a nutshell. Somehow I’m still standing. I’m ready to put 2011 away, and welcome 2012 with open arms. I would not have made it without the help of my friends, old and new, and of course my family. I am really thankful to have all of you in my life. We have a lot to get excited for next year. I’m gonna leave you with this song, not just because I have a huge man crush on Dave Grohl (he’s dreamy), but because there has never been a song that sums it up so succinctly.

Happy New Year.

OK, this is really it. Dough did point out that there was only one Wednesday left in the year, so I may as well use it. Looks like Dicky has “Mullet Wednesdays” now anyway, so there is much to look forward to. And I’m a day late because of the holiday hoo haw. This question came in via email from Jack in New Zealand.

What’s your spin on Niner EBB set up?

I’ve been on this system for as long as there has been a Niner EBB. I have had minimal issues with it over the last 5 years. I’ve used the original EBB on Rambo, was part of the test team for the OG prototype Bio-Centric (it still lives in Kermit), and now am running a problem free, production Bio-Centric on Rambo and The Gozarian. I have had it move on me when I’ve tagged something hard with my pedals, but we are talking tagged really hard. I carry a wrench with me so I can fix that should it happen. But most importantly, it has been virtually creak free for me. It has only gotten creaky on me in cases where the bike has been in extreme mud and wet, like Singlespeedapalooza, and a thorough cleaning always cures the problem.

I’m a big fan of this system, but because I’ve been around it for so long, I’ve figured out how to avoid some of the pitfalls that some folks have had with it. I’m pretty sure that no one is still using the old school EBB at this stage, so I will be talking strickly about the Bio-Centric. If you still have the old kind, I strongly encourage you to get the new kind, ASAP, it’s worth it.

As with anything, initial set up is key. Lot’s of people have opinions on how things go together. Sometimes there is more than one way to skin a cat, but in this instance, there is only one way to set the EBB up, the right way.

• Start with clean parts. Like really clean. I generally will use White Lightning Clean Streak, not only because it is one of the best degreasers out there, but because it smells good too. Clean the EBB shell, and the EBB surfaces too, and let them dry. A clean EBB is a happy creak free EBB!
• Fit the EBB into the frame, taking care that the halves are going in straight and flush. Do not use grease. The EBB is to go into the frame clean and dry.
• At this point I crank down the pinch bolt nice and tight so I can instal the BB. You don’t want the EBB to spin while you are trying to tighten the BB, so you will want to make sure that it is really cranked down. 1 Grr should suffice*
• Once the BB is in, you can back the pinch bolt off and install the cranks.

Then it’s the standard EBB tightening procedure that I blathered on about here. I just so happened to be messing around with the Gozarian, so I snapped a couple of pics to further illustrate the process of getting the right tension.

loosey goosey

crank it

I’ll use an allen wrench and the crank spider to rotate the EBB if it doesn’t spin freely. This generation of XTR cranks are especially finicky, so I always loosen the left crank arm which lets the EBB spin more freely.

making my mark

Once the pinch bolt is cranked down, I usually take a grease pencil and mark the position of the EBB. This is just a little visual indicator that tells me if it does move, and also a benchmark to return a slipped EBB back to it’s correct spot.

itsh toight!

The long and short of it is that there is no one perfect system, but if you follow these basic installation procedures, you will have less headaches. I’ve set up countless EBBs this way, and have had a consistently high rate of success. If you have set up your EBB any other way than this way and are experiencing creakiness or slipping, I encourage you to get your bike in the stand and try it my way.

* Grr, unit of measure regarding the tightening and loosening of bolts when a torque wrench is not available or required. eg 1Grr will cause a slight sound while tightening a bolt. 3 Grrs will cause your face to turn red and veins to bulge out, and is seldom recommended unless you are loosening a frozen bolt.

MAIDEN

It has always been Maiden. And I’ll tell you why, in this first installment of a trilogy that I almost titled “Episode IV”.



When I were a wee lad, growing up in the Old Blighty (that’s England for those that don’t know) we used to have this show on Thursday nights called Top of the Pops. It was a half hour top 20 countdown show, that highlighted what was hot in music that week, video snippets, live lip sync’d performances, bad hair, corny hosts and the Top of the Pops Dancers. It was the highlight of any young boy’s week -keep in mind that there were only 3 channels on TV back then, BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. Channel 4 didn’t even exist. It was a huge deal when it came though, my brother and I watched the test pattern for that channel for about a week straight once because it was so exciting, but that is another story…

So summer of 1982, Maiden’s Number of the Beast was released and Run to the Hills was burning up the record charts. They had by far the most exciting video I’d seen on ToTP. Compare that to the quite boring Depeche Mode or Human League or Toya Wilcox (who I had a crush on) and you came away either afraid or hooked. I was hooked. I remember quite clearly seeing that video for the first time, I was glued to the TV, fighting off my mother and step father’s attempts to change the channel on the telly, at least until the video was over.

“But mummy! I like Iron Maiden!” (I had an English accent)

“No you don’t”

click

Well, that was how it started. I’m self diagnosed with ODD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder. When someone tells me I can’t do something, I’ll go ahead and do it anyway. Some might call this arrogance, but I prefer to think of it as being driven to get what I want, you know, like opening a bike shop or something… Being 11, I didn’t have much of an allowance for records or tapes. Heck, I didn’t even have any way to reproduce music on anything of my own at the time. I didn’t even get my first tape player until the following Christmas, along with a copy of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance. Instead I was relegated to playing my parents records when I wanted to listen to something, which basically meant I was forced to listen to Elton John, The Beatles, ABBA and Kate Bush. I had to wait a long time before I could listen to Maiden in the privacy of my own room. But wait I did, and once I had the means I was enjoying Maiden, which opened the door for all the other metal greats I have loved over the following years.

My very first CD was Maiden’s Live After Death, which was quite an olive branch extended by my step father. He was the lead violinist for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and had returned from a tour with it. I was shocked. I still own that CD today, and it is probably one of the best gifts I have ever received. The caveat was, that I couldn’t listen to it if my parents were home. No problem, then volume would never be an issue…

Tune in next week, when I continue to blather on about metal, and other non bicycle related things. BTW, did you notice that the “injuns” in the video rode bikes?

Also, so as not to disappoint Dough, I will do one last Ask George post. After being my 6hr riding partner at the Eastern Cup this summer, I can’t deny him 1 more lap. This time there is decreased chance of slicing a tire. Tune in tomorrow for that nugget FTW!

OK, last one here. I swear. It has been fun, but no one is playing along so I am going to quit while the quitting is good.

But not before I ask one last question of my own, one that was recently posed to me in a non bike related topic of conversation.

Priest?

Or Maiden?



Oh don’t worry, I have a diatribe ready to answer this, but I figured I’d give you a chance to chime in first.

I like the woods.

This particular spot is one of my local favorites. I spend quite a bit of time here walking Seamalamadingdong in the mornings before work. He likes to tear about, and I like how the light is never the same in there. I’ve taken to bringing my camera on the morning routine now because I kick myself every time I don’t bring it. It was overcast when I went in, and overcast when I came out. At some point during our walk, the sun came poked its head out.

I’d wanted to go for a bike ride over the weekend. I had found my really cold weather gear, and I was looking forward to some more time on the Spot Rocker. I spend a good chunk of Saturday overhauling the brakes (the pads were down to the backer plates), and the bike was ready and raring to go. Arrangements were made to go to Pine Hill Park in Rutland on Sunday and I was all set to go early in the morning.

Except, when I woke up on Sunday to cloudless blue skies, Mother Nature had dug out a cruel prank from her bag of many evil trick. Extreme cold.

ouch

So instead of the 4 hour driving commitment required for a trip to Pine Hill, the plug was pulled and a new plan was formed. Instead we went for a hike up Snake Mtn in Addison. It is a big chunk of rock that abruptly rises up from the rolling farmlands of the surrounding area. It’s a hike that pretty much goes straight up for a long time, and goes up some more after that. The reward is a pretty breathtaking view over Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks to the west.

the west is the best

It had warmed up to about 20° by the time we got to the trailhead, and thankfully there was no wind. While it would have been more fun to ride a bike instead, it was nice to get outside and do something. The alternative would have been to hide inside all day.

My cold ride on Monday really bummed me out. All of my subsequent outdoor activities since then have been pretty lackluster, and have left me feeling less than satisfied with my current location. I think I have what some people call “short timer’s syndrome”. Now that I know I am headed to the beautiful southwest, it’s all I can think of. Screw riding in the cold! Screw freezing my extremities! Screw riding on gravel roads! Screw the grey bird skies and the darkness in between. I was developing what some people might call a “bad attitude”.

I felt that I needed to do something about that, lest I take a turn toward the dark side. When I woke up, there was a dusting of snow, but it wasn’t that cold. The weather had called for warm temps, and maybe some rain towards the end of the week, so I knew if I was going to ride, I was going to have to just make it happen. On my morning Yellow Loop walk with Seamus, I was overheating, in a t-shirt and wool jersey and shell. It really was warm. And there wasn’t really that much snow either. Somewhere around ZZ (if you were a loc you’d know) I hatched one of my famous cockamamie schemes to do what some people call “mountain biking”.

Well, in the way that life seems to work for me, I had a pretty busy day in the shop. The morning flew by so fast that before I knew it, it was 3pm. It was going to be dark very soon, but that did not phase me. I was going to go up to Town Loops on the Spot Rocker with my headlamp. I pulled into the parking lot just before dusk, and got my stuff together.

I didn’t check my tire pressure, nor did I bring a pump. The squeeze test at the shop left me feeling confident that there was plenty of air in the tires, but once I actually swung my big behind over the bike, it was clear that I was shy a few psi. I decided I would take it pretty easy.

I wasn’t actually sure if my light was going to even work, as it has sat neglected since September. I didn’t even charge it, so I knew that the ride had the potential to get interesting. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to feel my way out of the woods, but I figured I’d ride as long as I could before I really needed it. I got almost all the way out to the upper loop before I needed to turn it on, and was pleased to see that it was shining brightly, with no indication that it was going to quit on me.

slickery bridges

Actually, I felt as though the low pressure was helping me out on some of the icy spots. The overall condition of the trail was quite good, there wasn’t a ton of snow, but there were quite a few icy patches. 12 psi in my Panaracer Rampages gave me a pretty sure footing most of the time. I only had one moment where I though I might end up on the ground when I hit a bridge a little too quickly and immediately started sliding and fumbling with the steering and brakes. A very close call indeed, as I would have wound up in a calf deep mud hole.

Spot the ski trails on Mt Mansfield in the background

All in all, it was a fantastic ride. I’m incredulous that I am riding my bike in the woods in VT in December. The Spot Rocker continues to give me the giggles. I want to keep riding this bike. I love the belt drive. It has this feel that is so much more engaged when compared to a chain, and this bike just handles like a dream. I think that if I still have it in February, it will be accompanying me to AZ. There are so many trails out there that I’d love to rip that bike around on. I got my stoke back, and that felt good.

And then I remembered that I have a lot more riding in inclement conditions before I get to play in the warm sun…

• Have all your equipment ready. In addition to your wheel and tire, you will also need Stan’s Sealant, a tire lever, spray bottle of soapy water and a valve core tool. If you are switching tires that are already set up tubeless that already have sealant in them, a Stan’s Injector comes in handy to transfer the sealant into the new tire without making too much of a mess.
• Inspect the rim. Make sure the rim is clean of muck, grime, compacted vegetative matter (Shackleton/DA, I’m looking at you), old sealant, and make sure the tape, or airproof barrier is undamaged. If the barrier is compromised in any way, the wheel will not hold air, and the sealant will leak into your rim and exit through the spoke holes.
• Mount one side of the tire on the rim. You’ll want to take care to make sure you are putting the right tire on the correct wheel, some are front/rear specific, and you will also at this time want to be sure it is pointed the way you want it. Some tires have directional tread, others can be flipped around to get better traction vs fast rolling. It’s easier to do this now before we bust the sealant out.

• Add the appropriate amount of Stan’s sealant, it’s a good idea to shake the bottle well before measuring out to agitate all the latex particles that may have settled. It is generally a huge help to have a place to hang the wheel while it is off the bike. Here in the shop, I have a hook that I use, or sometimes I will use my repair stand. It definitely makes things easier and less messy, so if you don’t have a place to use, I suggest conning a friend into holding the wheel for you while you add the Stan’s to the tire. Candy or beer usually does the trick.
• Then you’ll want to mount the other side of the tire on the rim. I find it easier to do from the bottom of the wheel up, that way you will minimize any spillage scenarios.

• Make sure that both sides of the tire are pulled around, or are covering the valve stem completely. If you can see the bottom of the valve stem at all, you will have a tough time inflating the tire, because you will be pumping air past the tire and not into it.
• Take the spray bottle of soapy water and spray the beads of the time on both sides. I just use an old Windex bottle filled with water and a very generous squirt of dish soap. This not only helps the tire beads snap into the rim, it also makes bubbles appear wherever air is creeping out of the wheel.
• Inflate.

• Once the tire is inflated, it’s time to do the Stan’s dance. I take the wheel, and give it a good spin holding the axles. I’ll hold it at a slight angle, so as to keep the puddle of sealant rolling over the bead of the tire and rim. As the air escapes the tire, it’s bringing sealant with it, so it is crucial to make sure you are allowing the sealant a chance to fill any pinholes or other voids in the tire.
• Hold the wheel level and gently shake it up and down, flip over and repeat on the other side. If there are no more soapy bubble coming from the tire, you have probably done a good job, now you can take your floor pump, and inflate it to the desired riding pressure and go ride it around.

Just because the sun is out, doesn’t mean it’s going to be warm. At least ’round these parts anyway. What we had today was the False Sun. Sure, it looked pretty and bright, but if you were in the shade, you would be pretty darn cold. The temperature was supposedly in the very low 40s, but where I was, it was barely in the 30s. I was hoping that the blue sky and bright sun might kick the temps up a bit, but that was not the way it was going to be.

I chose to ride River Rd, just to get my first miles in for the month of December. I managed to do a fairly good job of layering this time around, but my problem areas were my feet and hands. I’ll use those toe warmer packs on my feet, but my gloves are pretty much useless unless I am really working – like riding in the woods. On road rides, my hands freeze into claws, and don’t get warm again until I’ve been inside for at least 20 minutes. Gonna have to do something about that…

frozen hand claw

Oh wait, the title of this post has to do with riding in the sun. River Rd is definitely not in the sun, nor do I actually think it gets any direct sunlight this time of year. It was definitely cold. And there was some sort of a funkiness out on the road. There was this dusty  haze that hung in the air that made everything grey, the frozen puddles in the ditch looked like concrete. Passing cars kicked up huge clouds of this dust, and I could hear my tires throw tiny bits of rock against my down tube. I could see where the frost was beginning to force it’s way through the gravel road bed, and there were times when I thought I might loose it and go down in a heap. It all added up to give me a very strong feeling of not being stoked. I couldn’t quite place it, but there was just an odd feeling of melancholy, likely accentuated by the coldness. Or Dementors.

Still, I managed to ride for about an hour without calamity. And I managed to pick an appropriate outfit that kept my core warm, even in the shade. I had dressing for the upper 40s down, so now I guess I gotta be prepared to get back to practice, and subtract a few degrees. It’s going to be a while before it gets warmer.

After much procrastination, flights have finally been booked. I’m going to AZ for what will be my 4th trip to SSAZ. I am very much looking forward to this, as we will likely be buried under feet of snow in VT. I will welcome warmer temps, dry desert climate, blue sky and warm sun with open arms.

Fantasy Island

I’ve built in a few extra days around the event to try and hit some of the areas I’ve wanted to visit for the last few years. I’ve heard many good things about the Black Canyon Trail up in the Phoenix area, an 80 something mile trail with over 20 access points, so I could potentially ride certain sections without having to commit to the whole thing.

I’d love to get back up to Sedona. I want to ride the Dells in Prescott. But most likely, I’ll be hovering around Tucson, which is not the worst fate in the world. I’ve really grown to like it there, and I’m really looking forward to seeing my southwestern friends.

Guess I better start “training”. Anyone have any suggestions on trails I should try and ride?