Monday News and Views

Rest and Relaxation: Successful and most appreciated would describe my past weekends experiences. I and Mrs. Guitar Ted went to the Minny-apple-puss area for a much needed weekend away. I got to ride at Lebanon Hills again, which reminded me how much I need to challenge myself on more technical terrain. I mostly just hung out with good friends and had a great time though. I even managed to stay away from the innerweb and from posting anything all weekend until I got home last night. So, about 48 hours in all of web free living! Hey, if I can do it, so can you! Special Thanks to all those who contributed to our great weekend! You know who you are!

Tubeless Ready or UST? I posted a story on Twenty Nine Inches about wheteher we need a "true UST" tire for 29"ers or not. Check out the story and post your thoughts in the comment section. I'm going to point out the story to some industry tire folks, so this will get some notice. My take? I think tubeless ready systems do 90% of what most riders are wanting with a lot less weight. I think a UST tire would be heavy, but perhaps an All Mountain sort of model would make sense from a toughness/durability standpoint.

Niner Bikes E.M.D. 9 New Color: Niner Bikes has released a new color for the Eat My Dust 9 (E.M.D.9) which is the yummy looking A&W Rootbeer color. For those of you not familiar with this, the E.M.D.9 is the least spendy of Niners offerings yet a very, very nice aluminum frame. A&W Rootbeer? Well, let's just say ya had ta be there to understand the whole A&W experience. Think car hops, intercoms, frosted mugs, and icecream and you'll come close. Lets just say the color is memory provoking for it's accuracy and looks simply delicious on a bike.

Trans Iowa Open Registration Starting Soon!: Starting Thursday anyone wanting in on the remaining spots left on the 100 person roster for Trans Iowa should send in their post cards. (Right now there are around 80 spots left) You will have until midnight on November 30th to get your post card here and be included on the roster for Trans Iowa V4. The course will be reconned soon, so look for an update on that in the coming weeks!