Well, there’s no turning back. I am into my 41st year on this planet. So far, it’s been pretty good. I got a bunch of riding done, took care of some pesky tequila that needed to be drank, but now it’s back to business. There are a couple of things that I’m going to cover this week, that I think you’ll find interesting. Or not.

My leg did indeed return to almost normal size, allowing me to go for a very fun and enlightening birthday ride. I rode my WFO and a Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC back to back.

I got my polo bike built and riding.

Kermit’s return to the rotation.

The business and what’s next.

With any luck, I’ll be able to cover those subjects and more this week. It is back to school for a certain little boy on Wednesday, so there is 2 days of summer to cram in before it’s time to hit the books and get back to the grind. I myself am headed out to cram in a ride before I open the shop. I’ll see all’y'all tomorrow.

 

It’s what those big wheels were always about.

But what happens when that big old wheel grinds to a halt? What if all the bumps and hollows in the trail have been so numerous and severe and relentless that the wheel eventually rolls to a stop? It takes a little effort before it can roll again.

I’ve always tried to keep this blog fairly light, upbeat and pertinent to all things 29er, so lately, I haven’t had much to talk about. That isn’t to say that there is nothing going on, in fact, my life is quite the buzzing center of excitement. Only it’s not the sort of thing you’d really want to read about.

I’ve been off the bike for a while. A rather long while. I’ve ridden my bike more in February than I have July and August combined. I’m in the ugly process of divorce. It takes a lot out of you. I’m also in the process of running a bike shop all by myself, a webstore, trying to be a good parent and maybe having a tiny bit of a social life. On top of all that, there were the house guests, and let us not forget SSUSA. I’m le tired.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am injured as well. Not so much injured as incapacitated. Long story short, I had a pretty severe allergic reaction to a prescription med that rendered me practically immobile and reduced me to a crying pile of shit. Not kidding – I had to switch cars with Mandy because I couldn’t drive stick, just so I could go to work and writhe in pain behind my desk. A whole ‘nuther round of drugs later, and I might actually be able to ride my bike on Friday. Friday is my birthday. I’ll be 41. This getting old shit is becoming scary.

So I’m really trying to pull it together here. The big wheel is gonna turn again. I’m in good spirits, and even though I have hoisted the FOR SALE sign up, I’m still very stoked about the future of B29. We’re going places, so…

 

Sometimes, you get a project that is both challenging and fun.

Not that long ago, a piece of mountain bike history showed up at the shop, a very rough looking, late 80′s Gary Fisher Advance. This is what the bikes we ride today spawned from. Where most shops might overlook this bike as a POS with no greater destiny than to take up space in a landfill, I was able to see some potential.

diamond in the rough

Just look at that chain.

stripped down nekkid

The directive was to make the bike ride again, but also give it some flair. It wasn’t going to be a mountain bike anymore, so there was some latitude on how it was going to look when it was finished. After doing some research, I knew what needed to happen. After I removed everything but the headset and stem from the frame, I got busy cleaning and polishing. For a bike this neglected, the paint was in very good shape, save for a few tiny spots of surface rust.

The wheels were dead straight, but the skewers were rusted in place, and had to be discarded. The spokes had a bunch of surface corrosion, so I wasnt able to make the entire wheel shine, but I did make them look a lot better. The bearings were smooth, so there was no real reason to replace those. The tires were of course, nice and dry. We went with some white wall cruiser tires as replacements.

that's "mountain" LX

I was able to salvage the rear derailleur. Despite the surface pitting, it cleaned up pretty well, and had full range of motion after I lubed the linkages and exercised it a few times. The brakes were seized, and the pads dried out, so those went away after I finally freed them from their mounting posts. These were replaced with some inexpensive Avid linear pull brakes.

I really wanted to keep the thumb shifters, but they were just too manky to make work. Plus, they were mounted directly to the huge, and now incompatible, plastic brake levers, and I was unable to come up with an alternative mounting solution. For the time being, shifting is being handled with a crappy MRX level twister, until I can find a more decent 7spd trigger.

I cleaned and rebuilt the BB, and replaced the Bio-pace chainrings with a single 36 tooth middle ring and added a Spot bashguard I had laying around. Of course there was a new chain, but the cassette still looked good after I cleaned it up, so I opted to keep it.

The saddle was replaced with a classy looking brown leather Brooks knock off. The flat narrow bars replaced with an alloy cruiser style one, which were outfitted with the comfiest non-Ergon grips I know, the Oury, also in brown. White shift/brake cables added some zing. The rear rack was also a nice choice, and really brings the whole thing together.

ta da!

So after about a couple hours of work, a couple hundred bucks in parts, we have us a fully resurrected bike. It went from sitting dormant for years, to being ridden everyday. It has all but replaced a car for around town errands and commuting. Now if that isn’t a feel good story, I don’t know what is. This is by far one of the more fun projects I’ve taken on lately, and I sorta wish more folks would take this route with their old, forgotten bikes.

Not even a joke.

Bike 29 has been my entire life for the last 6.5 years. I started out with an idea, and somehow built my little mini-empire with the help of some great friends and a ton of hard work. Just goes to show you what is possible when you put your mind to it.

Change is good, and I think the ship will swiftly sail to new adventures with a new captain. I’ve taken it as far as I can go, and it’s time for me to step down.

So if you are considering getting into the bicycle industry, or are looking to expand your portfolio, I’ll be taking SERIOUS enquiries.

Until then, it’s business as usual.

Have a great weekend!

Its no secret I have a serious bike problem. At the moment, I’m in the process of thinning the herd. Tough times for all, and maybe I don’t really need 17 bikes anymore. I choose to think of it in terms of cooking. A sauce that reduces over a period of time is almost sure to be tastier than one that you just throw together and serve immediately. Right now, the sauce is very very good.

I’ve dabbled in this medium before. Some of you may remember such experiments as Pandora and Shreddie. Well, I’m here to tell you that the 3rd time is indeed the charm. However, if you were to tell me that my 3rd attempt at this would have a 120mm fork, I would have looked at you funny. This bike is straight up bonkers.

Bonkers I tell you!!

I had put the v1 version of the RDO Speedwagon up on the chopping block as I am in need of funds so that I might acquire a new B29 Executor. The Saab is getting on in years, and I have no Astro Mech to keep it running smoothly. But I had also sold off Rambo, my go to singlespeed A9C of 2 years. Yup gone, just like that, and all that is left is a pile of leftover parts. I had fully intended upon replacing the bike ASAP, but after my race at the 40, I’m not so sure. At least not yet.

I spent the best part of a Friday night after the shop closed abducting parts form my other bikes to make this project work. Breaking the rule of “don’t mess with your shit before a race”, I cranked up some METAL and went to town. Some would call me crazy, I call it winning. I proudly present the v2 version of my RDO.

I robbed the rear derailleur from my road bike to use as a chain tensioner. Sure, its a SRAM RED mech, and might be a little excessive for the average guy. It’s what I had available, but most importantly, it really works. You can use any road or short cage rear derailleur for this application. I looped a shift cable through the barrel adjuster to set the pulleys in line with the chain, and voila. I never once threw the chain while bouncing over the rock gardens of Stewart.

shifty bits repurposed

I also had a BB30 XO crank laying about. I did have to buy the 104mm spider though, so I could run my e*13 34t chainring.

cranking it up a notch

Overall, the bike is a hoot to ride, which is really all that matters. It weighs 23.7lbs, which isn’t a whole lot heavier than the A9C it replaced. Being able to have the control and confidence of a full squish bike is so much fun, and paring the gears down to one makes for a way different ride. The suspension on the RDO is pretty darn efficient, so with the right pedaling style, bobbing is at a minimum.

It's the best!

Good times! But I think I am going to run a 22t cog out back for riding around here…

Late for my race report. Sue me.

This last weekend was my 3rd appearance at the Darkhorse 40. It’s a fun race. This time however, I was only responsible for 20 miles of the 40, as I was racing in the co-ed duo class with Ginger. When I signed up for the race, I was out in Tucson for SSAZ, and Ginger was undecided as to wether she was going to want to race or not, but I let the offer stand to spilt the race up with her. A few months after we returned to the East Coast, she had made her choice. We were going to run the race as a team. But she was still not decided as to wether or not she was going to race gears or single.

I had signed up for the expert singlespeed category, so I was semi commited to running what I brung. I made the offer to Ginger, if she raced singlespeed, I would wear a dress. She accepted.

I look good, I mean, REAL good

Now, some people might feel odd about my decision to dress up in women’s clothing, and they are entitled to their opinions. However, I grew up in a country where it is perfectly acceptable for men to dress up like the ladies.

I did it as incentive to get Ginger to ride her singlespeed, but mostly I did it because I thought it would be funny, and I didn’t get to play dress up at SSUSA as I didn’t ride.

Well, I was the only one wearing a costume. But, all the ladies thought I looked good, and I have to say, I was a lot cooler than I would have been had I been wearing my tight and brights. The dress is pretty much made out of the same stuff bike clothes are made of, only I was pretty much pretty much topless. I did have some issues with the hem snagging my saddle, but I was able to deal. In fact, my only real issue was that the bow jiggled itself untied very quickly.

So about my lap. I was overgeared. Stewart is a bit of a bastard. The singletrack is punchy, and the roads that tie it all together are flat. And I am out of shape. I probably would have been fine on my A9C with the 34/20 I picked out, but I was lugging 3 more lbs of bike with me. Which bike? The Speedwagon. More on that tomorrow… But alas I was behind my gear most of the time, and with the near 90° heat with a bizzillion % humidity, I was a hurting unit. I walked a lot of stuff I could have ridden if I had just a bit more MO. I still managed to turn in a lap time close to my goal of 1:45, and I stopped for beer twice, and water. I only had 1 bottle available to me on the bike, no place to stick a second on my hot little outfit.

When I could get speed though, I crushed. FS SS is the jam. In fact, I am not replacing my A9C at all. Nor am I selling my RDO. I will be offloading some sweet parts pretty soon though so stay tuned  for that. It just makes things so much more fun, and to not have to worry about which line to take through the rock gardens, well… Needless to say, the RDO is getting repurposed.

I tagged out with my partner, and off she went, leaving me to get changed and hang out while everyone else rode 20 more miles. Or not. Half of the WaBrah contingent pulled out after 20. For good reason too. Our crew is so banged up it isn’t even funny, and Stewart was hungry. I had a beer with DH George while getting changed at the car, and he said that about 65 had already DNF’d, and at least 3 people had been pulled from the course in bloody heaps. I was stoked for my 20, and hoped that Ginger was having a good enough time to get hers in too.

smiling is winning

Turns out, she was!

We somehow missed the protest window, which put us in 5th place. We would have had 4th had we been more vigilant, but oh well. We both had a blast, and that is all that mattered. We were still one place away from prizes, but we both know that we gave it a good solid effort.

 

 

And that is a wrap. Almost. SSUSA came and went a week ago, and I’m still dealing with the aftermath. A lot of people were here, close to 200 riders. I’m still getting a lot of thanks from a lot of people for the event, but I feel that everyone should know, I had a huge amount of help and support from others.

Mandy had a large hand in designing the logo, organizing the course, marking the course, calling some shots and doing a lot of piddly little things that no one else wanted to do. Her prize? A t-shirt and a bottle of booze of which is TBD.

I also need to thank my friends for all their help and support. Doug & Ginger, Shaun, Matt, Ian, Keller, M2, Rosy were all there to do the day of dirty work.

Ron Murray from iRide provided a lot of help massaging the course into the sucker punch it was.

Scott Search for riding sweep and making sure everyone got off the course alive. Huge help there.

Taylor at Capitol Offset Press for the number plates.

Jonsie at Factotum for the amazing shirts (once again!)

The Alchemist for providing a pretty killer “aid” station on the first part of the course.

Drunk Cyclist for providing the mother of all “aid” stations.

MTBVT, Ryan Thibault and Jake Goss for organizing the photobooth. The pictures came out awesome.

Tabbatha Henry Ceramics for the 1st and last place awards.

Our pize sponsors:

Twin Six, Ergon, Blacksheep Bikes, Club Ride Apparel, Velocity Rims, Stan’s No Tubes, Walz Caps, Paul Components, Niner Bikes.

The Black Owls for the rocking good music on Saturday night. Amazing.

And of course, thanks to everyone who came out and took part of what our little corner of the world has to offer.

We’ll see you next year in Minnesota!

 

…now where was I..?

heading back out

Oh yeah, the DC aid station, where those that did not stop were heckled to “come back and get their aids!”

Well, with the front of the pack making such ludicrous time on the course, I didn’t have a lot of time to hang out. It was time to get myself and the kegs to the finish line and get set up before they got there. With my army of volunteers in tow, we hauled our butts to the end of the line, with a small pitstop to grab a sandwich. A good thing I did too, because it was pretty much all I would have had to eat, with the exception of the 2 doughnuts I was able to yoink from Dough before finally making it to dinner.

It seemed that no sooner did I get the banners up at the finish line, that the first guy blazed through with an improbable gap between 2nd place. I was at first questioning wether or not he had cut the course in some fashion, but T-hom assured me (also comng in at a scorching pace), that this dude was no joke, and his time was legit, although he probably did not stop and get his aids. Shortly thereafter it was a steady stream of riders for the next few hours.

how fast? 2:38. really fast

At first people didn’t know they had finished, they were expecting another evil rooty climb, and didn’t stop until they were chased and yelled at. We, the course organizers decided that a nice easy finish was a just reward for all the ridiculous climbing. But after a while, enough had finished and it made it that much easier to corral the riders, where the race turned into a keg party in the woods.

just like high school

In a spur of the moment decision, Mandy and I decided that we would give out the awards and have the derby for the belt, lest we be stuck out there after dark  As there are only 3 awards in singlespeeding, first man, first woman and DFL, this didn’t take long. First place male was Paul Simoes, and first place female was VT’s own Kim O’Connell, who had raced an old converted Fat Chance Yo Eddy! How awesome.

The derby for the belt was held, and although there were a good amount of people hanging out, not many of them seemed to want the belt. The rules are simple: ride any bike but your own, hands on the bars, and keep your feet on the pedals. Foot comes down, and you are out. There was a little pushing and dirty derby happening, but it came down to Dejay Birch winning the mens belt for the second time, and Kerry Montgomery taking the ladies. As the host for this year’s event, I was not allowed to participate, but I can tell you that I will be hopping on the bike for some derby next year.

getting belted

After some prizes were dispersed, it was time for the hosting shenanigans. Of course it was a good old fashioned VT syrup chug! Seven toed the line, but it was a neutral party, or actually an anti AZ party, that put down a pint of Grade B in an alarmingly quick manner. So fast in fact, that I didn’t even register, as I was watching a very close race between AZ and PA. Ultimately, it was the fastest chugger’s choice, and he chose Minnesota. There was a bit of protesting from the PA crew, but it was decided.

There were a few more folks to come through, including the DFL. I had a call from our sweeper, Scott, who said that he was close by, and that everyone was accounted for. We started to break down the party, many folks had left to take naps or get some grub. And lo and behold, VTer Wil Blanchard finally crossed the line to win DFL. According to ScotT who escorted him across the line, he had the best attitude the entire time, which is always great to hear. The course was rugged, and it was nice to have someone earn DLF for a change, instead of “winning” by taking naps or slacking off.

Sadly, my camera ran out of batteries right after the belt derby, but there are more than enough images and even some video on the FB page. Go “like” it if you are so inclined.

My summary, and the credits, will follow tomorrow.

The 5th running of what has become the “official” unofficial singlespeed race is now history. I will admit that after “winning” hosting rights last year in Boulder CO, I had no clue what I was actually getting myself in to. Sure, I’d been to the last 2 events, but I was not really expecting what happened this year.

The madness began with a certain madman from AZ showing up at my shop on a rainy Thursday night. Mandy had been out on course in the afternoon doing some pre-emptive marking. It is not a fun job, but she got done in time to meet us at the Rez for dinner. It was after dinner that we all decided it would be cool to meet up at The Back Yard in Stowe (local super dive bar) and get our pre-party on. We closed the place down.

even Seamus had a costume

Friday came too early, and I had to be at the shop to meet and greet all the folks who were coming into town to play bikes. While I was shop bound, Mandy was out marking the 28-esque mile, 3500 ft-esque of climbing course. Lots of folks were rolling in, and while it was nice to get to meet and hang with some of them -Pat from AZ rode from the airport in Burli to my shop, where I was able to reward him with beer. Shortly thereafter, Eddie and Namrita O’Dea showed up, and then B29 rider Chris Muddiman. Being a Team 29 rider means you have to help me schlep kegs, and Chris helped me wrangle 111 gallons of PBR into his truck for Saturday. Then it was off for a quick bite, a change of clothes and up to the Matterhorn, a Stowe apres ski favorite, for registration.

Another late night had me rallying early to get the final details organized, mostly the aid station items. Team 29 rider Dough was very helpful in selecting “dough”nuts, chocolate covered ones to be exact, and he made short work of getting rid of half of them before we got back in the car. I almost lost my hand trying to grab one. We all got ourselves to our appointed positions, me with last minute/slacker registration, course marshals to their appointed spots, supplies to their designated areas etc etc.

Amazingly enough, the race left at 10 on the dot. I did have a bit of fun and made every one gather as close as possible around my podium (Scottie’s truck) for my pre race diatribe before I simply uttered the word “go”.

go

The course pretty much featured everything that there is to offer in Stowe. The route was figured out by Ron from iRide, Stowe’s real bike shop, Mandy, and myself over a few beers a couple of weeks ago. We put a lot of effort into the it, trying to showcase everything there is here, without having to do laps or get way out into the boonies. Managing a big group of riders in this area is tough, you can get pretty remote if you aren’t careful, and if something goes wrong… well, no one wants that.

The first half of the course is pretty rugged. Sterling Valley to be exact. It took me 2:15 to do it last weekend, albeit hung over. I figure it was a good gauge of how long it might take the average person to do the ride. Upon arrival at the mid point, one was greeted by the mid point “aid station”, hosted by Drunkcyclist. Lots of things other than water and nutrition here. I will admit that I was slightly horrified that the fast guys were here in less than 1.5 hours…

well stocked, for a bar...

Come back tomorrow for the second installment!