I met a giant

While I was in D.C. this last weekend, I went the Cavs-Wizards playoff game with a couple of guys from work. My buddy Dave spotted this enormous man in the luxury box behind us. We quickly realized it was 7'7" George Muresan. We snuck past security and took this picture.

He makes me look like a 10 year old kid (and not just because of the goofy look on my face). Check out the size of his hand compared to my head.

btw - I'm just under 6'

Who likes tacos?

This is starting to get old. I think I've got a 2:1 ride to failure ratio. It seems like every couple of rides, I pay for with another broken part. Some, a little more costly than others. Some, a little more bizarre and disturbing than others. Apparently the flow left town and took my pride with him. Luckily, only the entire Bellevue Fire and Rescue department saw.




Mark took the picture. Thanks buddy. He was also kind enough to build me a new custom wheel, strong enough to handle the fury, or the flow, whichever seems to be present at the time.
So the story goes like this: Mark said that the trail was like glue, which it was. The Rampages supposedly bite hard in the corners, which they do. So the tires and the trail formed a velcro-like partnership, leaving my front rim to fend for itself. I'm sure the super low tire pressure played a part in this situation also. As you can see, the tire was completely peeled off and twisted around the rim and tube. The rim didn't even put up a fight. Mark gave it the best trailside persuasion I had ever seen, but there was no bringing it back. Throw it on the pile of carnage.
If there are any manufacturers out there that make parts they think are bombproof, give me a call. I'll be more than happy to break them for you.

Ouch

The Fox Canundrem

This makes the occasional deer sighting seem lame. Maybe it's just a regional thing though. If this guy is used to seeing fox's on the trail, perhaps he'd be blown away by a half dozen deer bounding down the trail ahead of his bike......This picture does remind me of the time I saw a Kangaroo on the trail while I was riding in Georgia, but that's another story for another time............It's raining really hard out right now.


via

Brass nipples, spitters, and flow

I was able to get out to Tranquility last night and ride a couple laps. It was one of those rides where all the insignificant details disappear. Parts, new and old, clothing, accessories, tire pressures (well, for a little while), they all molded together to what I can only describe with my finite mind as flow. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion as to what the flow is, but I think we can all agree that the flow is good.

That's not to say I didn't have my share of sidetracks. On the first lap I landed a bunny hop on an off-camber portion of the trail, blowing the tire bead off the rim and causing the wheel to become untrue. I flipped my bike over, deflated the tire, adjusted spoke tension, reseated the bead, and re-inflated and was back on the trial in about 13 minutes. Finished out the lap and the smile never left my face.

During that lap, however, I did come across a bunch of trash on the long uphill (counterclockwise) portion of the trail.

Apparently a pack of wild hyenas stole someone's precious tobacco spitter collection and scattered them all over the trail. I grabbed a trash bag out of my vehicle and started lap two. I encountered a nice fellow on a blue RIP9 (lucky!) who rode with me until we got to the clean-up site and then carried the trash bag out to the parking lot since he was leaving. Thanks buddy! Finished out the second lap, same big smile on my face. Ended up riding two of my fastest laps there ever, subtracting the duration of the stops on each lap. I hope you all took advantage of the beautiful night, too.

Log Smack Down

If you would like to see the correct way to execute a log-roll-over, go here.

Now, if you would like to see everything that could possibly go wrong, press play.





via

Hoverbike

Unfortunately,I never made it to Manawa this weekend. The times just didn't work out. I did get to Jewell on Saturday evening with the Professor. The trail was loose and a bit slick in spots. It made the steep sections that much more difficult. The lactic-acids really made their presence known. On Saturday Afternoon, I rode a couple laps at Tranquility. The trails were pretty crowded with riders going in both directions. I think a trail sign that designates clockwise and counter clockwise directions on an every other day basis would be a good thing. There's more than a few blind corners with disastrous potential.
I think a few Goatheads will be at Swanson tonight around 7. Maybe we'll see ya out there.

Jim Flowers - 0 Goatheads - 1

Jim Flowers, I admit you are a worthy adversary, but victory belongs to me........You may have prevented me from riding all week, but the weekend belongs to the Goatheads!!!

4 rode in / 2 walked out

This has been the worst start to a mtn bike season for me. First it was the weather and lately it has been my bike. I was going to celebrate the risen Savior by enjoying His creation (in other words I was going to squeeze in a ride at swanson with Lumpy). We got there and met up with the official Goathead mechanic (Skinny D) and his buddy from the Trek store. The weather wasn't too bad and the trail was pretty good. A mile into the ride somebody got a flat, a half mile later I caught a little air (very little) came down and could tell something didn't sound right. I looked and couldn't see anything. I thought my wheel was bent, it wasn't. I rode some more and the sound persisted. After looking more closely at my bike I realized my chainstay broke!!!! I thought that only happened on Haros at Tranquility. Oh well. Hey, anybody have a Magma I can borrow????

Great ride last night!

Met JC4300 at Tranquility last night. It felt really good to be out on such a nice night. I don't think we could've asked for any better conditions. The trail was perfect with the exception of a couple greasy spots, one of which is pretty much unavoidable (Dale, what's the best way to handle that spot: to just blast through it, or to slow down and creep through?). After JC left, Lumpy showed up with his brand new drivetrain, courtesy of the folks over at the Trek Store. We rode a lap, and he showed me no mercy. It's all good though, I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds this season. I'm starting to grow into the new gearing , I rode my first nonstop, no walking, lap last night with it. It may be more difficult, but I like getting the climbs done faster.
Still riding on a bent seatpost. It forces me to stand more to avoid reaching a new level of intimacy with my bike. The Bike Way is hooking up the warranty replacement from Redline for the original post, and then when that one comes in, I will send in the Sette post for warranty. I need to start riding with a little more finnesse.

Not bad

So, it is April 2nd and that represents the amount of days I have spent on a mtn. bike trail (2). Great weather yesterday, would loved to have been at Swanson, Lewis & Clark, or Tranquility. Oh well . . . had a great road ride with JC and Lumpy. Since I have not been able to ride on the trails I am stuck looking at pictures of other people enjoying mtn. bike trails.