Ergon's G-Ride!

I was recently able to catch Mr. 24 in one of his increasingly rare appearances in the Cedar Valley. He's finally gotten the new wheels and it's pretty sweet.

Here you can see the tiny Ergon decal on the rear "C" pillar. (Body shop talk) Anyway, I suspect this to not last too long since the original plan was for an Ergon wrap job, ala NASCAR.

I've a feeling Mr. 24 would assume leave it in this state which is predominantly in the colors of The Kerkove Nation. (read: black!)


Here's the rig fully loaded. I don't think it'll pass through the overheads at the drive through there buddy!

If you happen to see this giant black rig festooned with bikes and boxes coming down the highway at you, never fear! It's just ol' Jeff. Give him a honk and a wave. If you see him at an event, say howdy for me, won'tcha?

He doesn't get around these parts much anymore.

Can't say I blame him either!

Ergon's G-Ride!

I was recently able to catch Mr. 24 in one of his increasingly rare appearances in the Cedar Valley. He's finally gotten the new wheels and it's pretty sweet.

Here you can see the tiny Ergon decal on the rear "C" pillar. (Body shop talk) Anyway, I suspect this to not last too long since the original plan was for an Ergon wrap job, ala NASCAR.

I've a feeling Mr. 24 would assume leave it in this state which is predominantly in the colors of The Kerkove Nation. (read: black!)


Here's the rig fully loaded. I don't think it'll pass through the overheads at the drive through there buddy!

If you happen to see this giant black rig festooned with bikes and boxes coming down the highway at you, never fear! It's just ol' Jeff. Give him a honk and a wave. If you see him at an event, say howdy for me, won'tcha?

He doesn't get around these parts much anymore.

Can't say I blame him either!

Friday News and Views

Hey ya'all! It's the weekend already! Didn't we just have a weekend? (I get thrown outta whack by this mid-week holiday stuff!)

Anyway...............here's a shot of that RST fork that didn't make the Twenty Nine Inches story. It's the new M-29 air shock with 80mm travel. So far I've got it mounted up to my Dos, but I had to order a part. A disc mount to be precise. You see, everything fork-wise from here on out is going 74mm post mount, so I had to invest in the proper Avid mount to get me up and rolling. Well, not rolling just yet! The part is on order. I'll be really rolling it by this time next week.

In other news, Specialized's newest 29"er offering that I linked to yesterday is getting mixed reviews from a looks standpoint. I don't like the way it looks, personally, but hey! Maybe it performs just fine. If so, cool! I just don't think it's going to add up to a bike that will rip Mid West single track. I'm hoping the Big Red "S" has some of these at Interbike to test ride so I can check it out for myself and see if I'm wrong.

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational has been moved to Saturday, August 4th. If you can not make the new date, I appologize, but since it is my ride I thought it might be important for me to actually be there! The previously mentioned date was already committed to something else that I had mistakenly thought was on a different day. Whoops! My bad!

Anyway, this gives me time to get the Pofahl Custom together to ride and also gives myself and my "route finder extrordinaire" Wuzbeen, a chance to get a handle on the route. It's been a challenge so far what with all the flooding. Roads under water and whole bridges washed away! We hope to have a finalized route by next week.

Camping option: We are putting out the chance for a group rate at a local to the ride campground. We could get a rate of $25.00 if we see enough interest. That would cover us for one night, as I understand it. There is an e-mail link under the "My Events" column at the right here where you can contact me if you are interested in this option.

Well, I pretty much negated any reason for you to click on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational site, but do it anyway so you can see Mr. 24's cool banner he did up for me!

By the way, anybody spot the FJ Cruiser yet?

Ride yer bikes this weekend and have some fun already!

Friday News and Views

Hey ya'all! It's the weekend already! Didn't we just have a weekend? (I get thrown outta whack by this mid-week holiday stuff!)

Anyway...............here's a shot of that RST fork that didn't make the Twenty Nine Inches story. It's the new M-29 air shock with 80mm travel. So far I've got it mounted up to my Dos, but I had to order a part. A disc mount to be precise. You see, everything fork-wise from here on out is going 74mm post mount, so I had to invest in the proper Avid mount to get me up and rolling. Well, not rolling just yet! The part is on order. I'll be really rolling it by this time next week.

In other news, Specialized's newest 29"er offering that I linked to yesterday is getting mixed reviews from a looks standpoint. I don't like the way it looks, personally, but hey! Maybe it performs just fine. If so, cool! I just don't think it's going to add up to a bike that will rip Mid West single track. I'm hoping the Big Red "S" has some of these at Interbike to test ride so I can check it out for myself and see if I'm wrong.

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational has been moved to Saturday, August 4th. If you can not make the new date, I appologize, but since it is my ride I thought it might be important for me to actually be there! The previously mentioned date was already committed to something else that I had mistakenly thought was on a different day. Whoops! My bad!

Anyway, this gives me time to get the Pofahl Custom together to ride and also gives myself and my "route finder extrordinaire" Wuzbeen, a chance to get a handle on the route. It's been a challenge so far what with all the flooding. Roads under water and whole bridges washed away! We hope to have a finalized route by next week.

Camping option: We are putting out the chance for a group rate at a local to the ride campground. We could get a rate of $25.00 if we see enough interest. That would cover us for one night, as I understand it. There is an e-mail link under the "My Events" column at the right here where you can contact me if you are interested in this option.

Well, I pretty much negated any reason for you to click on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational site, but do it anyway so you can see Mr. 24's cool banner he did up for me!

By the way, anybody spot the FJ Cruiser yet?

Ride yer bikes this weekend and have some fun already!

Speaking of Knees

I wouldn't normally put in anything on this blog about corn. I'm surrounded by it every year and quite frankly, it's a thing taken for granted here in Iowa. However; something remarkable has been happening here, so I thought I'd mention it.

I went out for my traditional 4th of July ride, a gravel grinder, and I noticed how tall some of the corn was already. My Grandfather and his peers always used to say about the early corn crop a saying that goes like this: "Knee high by the 4th of July". That meant that if the corn was at least that high by the fourth of July, the crop was thought to be coming along quite nicely. Well, that saying has been blown out of the water in modern times. Now if it's not man high by the fourth of July it's a poor planting!




The thing that caught my eye was that this field that I have pictured here has tassles on the tops already! That means that by the end of July this field might already have ears and be "drying down" already! Yikes! That usually doesn't happen, (tassles on the corn) until the end of this month. I also noticed a lot of wild flowers are about a month ahead of schedule too. Does this mean I'll be riding in the snow in October? Crazy!


Then there was my little episode stepping down into the ditch to get into that corn field I photographed. I stepped out thinking the ditch was shallow, but it wasn't. So, where I thought my foot would hit solid ground was actually about a foot off an off camber slope. My full weight came down at that awkward angle and I felt a searing pain in my knee. Really bad! I had to cut my ride short and I went home and iced it down and hit the old ibuprofen right away. I'm not sure, but I think I tore a connective ligament to the bottom of my patella a bit. It still hurts this morning, but the swelling is down and I can at least walk without a limp.

What I won't do to get a photograph! Ha ha! Oh well, I just hope it heals up soon. I've got alot of riding to do.

Speaking of Knees

I wouldn't normally put in anything on this blog about corn. I'm surrounded by it every year and quite frankly, it's a thing taken for granted here in Iowa. However; something remarkable has been happening here, so I thought I'd mention it.

I went out for my traditional 4th of July ride, a gravel grinder, and I noticed how tall some of the corn was already. My Grandfather and his peers always used to say about the early corn crop a saying that goes like this: "Knee high by the 4th of July". That meant that if the corn was at least that high by the fourth of July, the crop was thought to be coming along quite nicely. Well, that saying has been blown out of the water in modern times. Now if it's not man high by the fourth of July it's a poor planting!




The thing that caught my eye was that this field that I have pictured here has tassles on the tops already! That means that by the end of July this field might already have ears and be "drying down" already! Yikes! That usually doesn't happen, (tassles on the corn) until the end of this month. I also noticed a lot of wild flowers are about a month ahead of schedule too. Does this mean I'll be riding in the snow in October? Crazy!


Then there was my little episode stepping down into the ditch to get into that corn field I photographed. I stepped out thinking the ditch was shallow, but it wasn't. So, where I thought my foot would hit solid ground was actually about a foot off an off camber slope. My full weight came down at that awkward angle and I felt a searing pain in my knee. Really bad! I had to cut my ride short and I went home and iced it down and hit the old ibuprofen right away. I'm not sure, but I think I tore a connective ligament to the bottom of my patella a bit. It still hurts this morning, but the swelling is down and I can at least walk without a limp.

What I won't do to get a photograph! Ha ha! Oh well, I just hope it heals up soon. I've got alot of riding to do.

News and Views For The Fourth

Hey, it's the Nations Birthday, so I took the morning off. I'm a slacker, I know! At any rate, I hope you all reflect upon what it took to allow you your freedoms this Fourth of July if you partake of those freedoms here in the U.S.A. Enjoy what you've got, because not alot of other places have it.

Enough of that..........now on to the news!

Specialized presented it's full suspension 29"er recently in Mexico and you can catch a picture or two of it here. It's got the Brain rear shock, a new design that shares features given to the redesign of the 26"er version, and a Reba fork. Huh? I thought Specialized was into making it's own products for suspension. Apparently a 29"er fork was considered too big a risk or not feasable at this time.

An interesting thing mentioned in the text of the launch detals was that the head angle had been increased by one degree over the 26"er model for the 29"er version. Hmm.......purusing the Specialized geometry charts reveals.......confusion! At best, all I can say is that it would appear that the new Stumpjumper FSR 29"er is going to err on the slack side of the current geometry for 29"ers and will be a slower handling beast due to the Rebas 38mm offset. Great for bombing down SoCal down hill singletrack, but not so great everywhere else. The rear travel had to be reduced as well, or the chainstays would have been astronomically long, (they look a bit longish as they are). They went with a 105mm at the rear which calculates out to a shade over four inches.

It'll be interesting to see what the wheelbase and chainstay length actually are on this bike. I'm betting it's got limo-like proportions. Just judging from the pics mind you, I've got nothing against Specialized per se. I actually have fond memories of my 94 FSR S-Works bike. It's just that translating a design to 29"er dimensions is fraught with pitfalls and it looks like Specialized may have fallen into a few by the looks of it.

Finally, check out Twenty Nine Inches to see the new RST M-29 fork that I'll be putting to shame on the Dos Niner as soon as I get an adapter for the post mount brake studs on the fork. Everything is going to go post mount on forks, so I've gotta get tooled up!

Have a great Fouth of July and ride yer bikes!

News and Views For The Fourth

Hey, it's the Nations Birthday, so I took the morning off. I'm a slacker, I know! At any rate, I hope you all reflect upon what it took to allow you your freedoms this Fourth of July if you partake of those freedoms here in the U.S.A. Enjoy what you've got, because not alot of other places have it.

Enough of that..........now on to the news!

Specialized presented it's full suspension 29"er recently in Mexico and you can catch a picture or two of it here. It's got the Brain rear shock, a new design that shares features given to the redesign of the 26"er version, and a Reba fork. Huh? I thought Specialized was into making it's own products for suspension. Apparently a 29"er fork was considered too big a risk or not feasable at this time.

An interesting thing mentioned in the text of the launch detals was that the head angle had been increased by one degree over the 26"er model for the 29"er version. Hmm.......purusing the Specialized geometry charts reveals.......confusion! At best, all I can say is that it would appear that the new Stumpjumper FSR 29"er is going to err on the slack side of the current geometry for 29"ers and will be a slower handling beast due to the Rebas 38mm offset. Great for bombing down SoCal down hill singletrack, but not so great everywhere else. The rear travel had to be reduced as well, or the chainstays would have been astronomically long, (they look a bit longish as they are). They went with a 105mm at the rear which calculates out to a shade over four inches.

It'll be interesting to see what the wheelbase and chainstay length actually are on this bike. I'm betting it's got limo-like proportions. Just judging from the pics mind you, I've got nothing against Specialized per se. I actually have fond memories of my 94 FSR S-Works bike. It's just that translating a design to 29"er dimensions is fraught with pitfalls and it looks like Specialized may have fallen into a few by the looks of it.

Finally, check out Twenty Nine Inches to see the new RST M-29 fork that I'll be putting to shame on the Dos Niner as soon as I get an adapter for the post mount brake studs on the fork. Everything is going to go post mount on forks, so I've gotta get tooled up!

Have a great Fouth of July and ride yer bikes!

Road Tech Goes Mountain Biking

I have been pondering all of the standard breaking technology coming out in the road bike market over the last few years and especially for '08 products. Cannondale, Specialized, and now Trek are smashing road bike tradition in terms of component standards with oversized bottom brackets, differentially sized head tubes/bearings, and integrated seat masts. How long could the mountain bike as we know it hold out? Well, the dam has burst just a bit!

It seems that Specialized has thrown down the gauntlet with their '08 Stumpjumper Carbon. I figured it was only a matter of time before somebody got ahold of the differentially sized head/steer tube for a mountain bike. Of course, the Stumpy has a long uphill battle in the face of all of the current suspension fork makers. Certainly Specialized with it's newly founded suspension line up can afford to take on new technology, but the other fork manufacturers won't be as quick to jump on board with this new standard. However, this is something that's not going away, and you are going to see more of it in the future. A lot more of it.

Why should it change? Well, the mere fact that these new ideas have radically changed the way road bikes perform and handle should be a clue. The ideas work, and work well. Not just the head tube/steer tube design, but the bottom bracket has seen some oversizing to a great benefit as well. The integrated seat mast is another thing all together, but even a hardtail mtb was shown at Sea Otter with this frame design.

The changes coming will some day have a positive affect on 29"ers. The head tube/steer tube idea is tailor made for 29"er use. The oversizing of the bottom bracket is a long overdue change that will help 29"ers as well in frame stiffness. Finally, I think it's high time the overlock dimensions for the rear wheel and front wheel be changed to 150mm and 120mm respectively. These changes would allow the wheels to have a wider flange spacing which would dramatically increase wheel strength.

Sure, all your "old stuff" would be obsolete, but you would get to buy new stuff! Besides, if you could ride something made in the ways I am detailing, I think you might just heartily agree to park your "old technology" anyway. The bottom line is that it just makes a lot of sense to do these things. When the headset went to 1 1/8th", we were just starting to use suspension and we still had cantilever brakes, when the bottom brackets went to European shells we were using adjustable cup bottom brackets and square taper spindles, when the overlock dimensions were set for mountain bikes we were running 7 speed systems and rigid forks. Now you wouldn't dream of using canti brakes, adjustable/serviceable bottom brackets, or 7 speed drivetrains. Why should the standards set then be kept when changing them would increase the effectiveness of brakes, wheels, drivtrains, and suspension forks?

Or maybe we should go back to the old stuff!

Something to think about...........

Road Tech Goes Mountain Biking

I have been pondering all of the standard breaking technology coming out in the road bike market over the last few years and especially for '08 products. Cannondale, Specialized, and now Trek are smashing road bike tradition in terms of component standards with oversized bottom brackets, differentially sized head tubes/bearings, and integrated seat masts. How long could the mountain bike as we know it hold out? Well, the dam has burst just a bit!

It seems that Specialized has thrown down the gauntlet with their '08 Stumpjumper Carbon. I figured it was only a matter of time before somebody got ahold of the differentially sized head/steer tube for a mountain bike. Of course, the Stumpy has a long uphill battle in the face of all of the current suspension fork makers. Certainly Specialized with it's newly founded suspension line up can afford to take on new technology, but the other fork manufacturers won't be as quick to jump on board with this new standard. However, this is something that's not going away, and you are going to see more of it in the future. A lot more of it.

Why should it change? Well, the mere fact that these new ideas have radically changed the way road bikes perform and handle should be a clue. The ideas work, and work well. Not just the head tube/steer tube design, but the bottom bracket has seen some oversizing to a great benefit as well. The integrated seat mast is another thing all together, but even a hardtail mtb was shown at Sea Otter with this frame design.

The changes coming will some day have a positive affect on 29"ers. The head tube/steer tube idea is tailor made for 29"er use. The oversizing of the bottom bracket is a long overdue change that will help 29"ers as well in frame stiffness. Finally, I think it's high time the overlock dimensions for the rear wheel and front wheel be changed to 150mm and 120mm respectively. These changes would allow the wheels to have a wider flange spacing which would dramatically increase wheel strength.

Sure, all your "old stuff" would be obsolete, but you would get to buy new stuff! Besides, if you could ride something made in the ways I am detailing, I think you might just heartily agree to park your "old technology" anyway. The bottom line is that it just makes a lot of sense to do these things. When the headset went to 1 1/8th", we were just starting to use suspension and we still had cantilever brakes, when the bottom brackets went to European shells we were using adjustable cup bottom brackets and square taper spindles, when the overlock dimensions were set for mountain bikes we were running 7 speed systems and rigid forks. Now you wouldn't dream of using canti brakes, adjustable/serviceable bottom brackets, or 7 speed drivetrains. Why should the standards set then be kept when changing them would increase the effectiveness of brakes, wheels, drivtrains, and suspension forks?

Or maybe we should go back to the old stuff!

Something to think about...........

Weekend Ride Report

The weekend saw myself and Captain Bob make an early morning assault on the Boy Scout Camp this past Saturday. Sorry, but we both forgot our cameras, so you'll have to form your own mental imagery on this one!

The Scout Camp is, of course, being used heavily this summer. We arrived to find ourselves surrounded by scouts, tents, and vehicles in the parking lot because of the two week Jamboree going on. Since it was six o'clock when we started out, we had to go into stealth mode and steer clear of the campgrounds. Shhhh! Sleeping Scouts!

The other two things that were a bit of a challenge were the cold morning air, (63 degrees) and the dark under the trees. Night hadn't loosed hold of it's grip there yet and silly me with my shades on! The first switchback and ravine section was interesting to say the least! I was leading because Captain Bob said he didn't want me to run him over when he crashed. (Is he saying I'm fat?) He never did crash, by the way.

We managed to clear out into a slightly less dark section and then the sun started peeking through the trees, totally eliminating the sight problems. The trail was dry, rough, and even wet, soft, and muddy in some select few places. A real potpourri of conditions to test out the ACX Tubeless Ready front tire I had just swapped out to. The back was still the Dry X. Great hook up this time and really, no worries at all. Handling was spot on from the tires.

I have had a broken right shifter on the XXIX+G since my horrendous lawn dart endo of about a month ago. I do have a replacement waiting for me to pick up, (sorry Brent!) but I've been so dang busy lately I can't get over to pick it up. So I suffered single speed style on Saturday. That is until Captain Bob morphed into Captain Obvious during a rest stop and said, "Doesn't your front derailluer work?" Duhhh! And all the heinous climbing was already done! Bah! I guess I am just a single speeder at heart!

Anyway, we didn't ride all that long, but we had a great time and I learned that the Tubeless Ready set up could work really well. So, it was a good trip to make. Look for a more detailed write up on the ACX Tubeless Ready tire soon on Twenty Nine Inches along with a Tubeless Ready wheel update.

Weekend Ride Report

The weekend saw myself and Captain Bob make an early morning assault on the Boy Scout Camp this past Saturday. Sorry, but we both forgot our cameras, so you'll have to form your own mental imagery on this one!

The Scout Camp is, of course, being used heavily this summer. We arrived to find ourselves surrounded by scouts, tents, and vehicles in the parking lot because of the two week Jamboree going on. Since it was six o'clock when we started out, we had to go into stealth mode and steer clear of the campgrounds. Shhhh! Sleeping Scouts!

The other two things that were a bit of a challenge were the cold morning air, (63 degrees) and the dark under the trees. Night hadn't loosed hold of it's grip there yet and silly me with my shades on! The first switchback and ravine section was interesting to say the least! I was leading because Captain Bob said he didn't want me to run him over when he crashed. (Is he saying I'm fat?) He never did crash, by the way.

We managed to clear out into a slightly less dark section and then the sun started peeking through the trees, totally eliminating the sight problems. The trail was dry, rough, and even wet, soft, and muddy in some select few places. A real potpourri of conditions to test out the ACX Tubeless Ready front tire I had just swapped out to. The back was still the Dry X. Great hook up this time and really, no worries at all. Handling was spot on from the tires.

I have had a broken right shifter on the XXIX+G since my horrendous lawn dart endo of about a month ago. I do have a replacement waiting for me to pick up, (sorry Brent!) but I've been so dang busy lately I can't get over to pick it up. So I suffered single speed style on Saturday. That is until Captain Bob morphed into Captain Obvious during a rest stop and said, "Doesn't your front derailluer work?" Duhhh! And all the heinous climbing was already done! Bah! I guess I am just a single speeder at heart!

Anyway, we didn't ride all that long, but we had a great time and I learned that the Tubeless Ready set up could work really well. So, it was a good trip to make. Look for a more detailed write up on the ACX Tubeless Ready tire soon on Twenty Nine Inches along with a Tubeless Ready wheel update.

Bedtime Stories

With the passing of the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo and my post event, behind the scenes work. I haven't had much time lately to get around to doing much more than work at the shop and get the important tasks of the week taken care of. That hasn't stopped me from doing one nightly activity though.

That activity would be my catching up on the Great Divide Race. This is really epic stuff. The event, which has been going on for two weeks now, is a backroads race down from the Canadian border to the Mexican border along the Great Divide route as set up by Adventure Cycling. The rules are pretty simple. Time trial the route as a self sufficient cyclist. (Well, there is a little more to it, but that's pretty close to the mark)

This year there were more people lining up for this event at the start than in the previous four years combined. They all are required to call in every day to a specific number which records there message which is then transcribed by Tom Purvis and posted to the site linked above. It helps you see the agony, drama, and hard work involved in this trek across the U.S. Pretty interesting stuff, especially in light of the morass that road cycling has fallen into.

The Tour de France used to be my thing to check out, but not anymore. This Great Divide Race has supplanted it. Why? Well, it's more in keeping with the spirit of challenge and overcoming than the Tour is. It's not over hyped, or hyped at all, really. It's still a grassroots, underground, for the spirit of it all event. The tour? Gutted of any of that. Empty and devoid of anything "true and good", if one can say that about cycling. Maybe I'm a romantic luddite, a reto-grouch, and just not seeing what others find in the Tour. Whatever. All I know is that these Great Divide racers have captured my fancy and I love a good cycling tale before bedtime.

So, I'll keep reading!

If you are so inclined, catch up on the story so far and get ready for the first finishers sometime this weekend. It's going to be awesome! I think it'll inspire you to go out on your own long epic ride this weekend. Do it! I'll be riding somewhere too.

Bedtime Stories

With the passing of the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo and my post event, behind the scenes work. I haven't had much time lately to get around to doing much more than work at the shop and get the important tasks of the week taken care of. That hasn't stopped me from doing one nightly activity though.

That activity would be my catching up on the Great Divide Race. This is really epic stuff. The event, which has been going on for two weeks now, is a backroads race down from the Canadian border to the Mexican border along the Great Divide route as set up by Adventure Cycling. The rules are pretty simple. Time trial the route as a self sufficient cyclist. (Well, there is a little more to it, but that's pretty close to the mark)

This year there were more people lining up for this event at the start than in the previous four years combined. They all are required to call in every day to a specific number which records there message which is then transcribed by Tom Purvis and posted to the site linked above. It helps you see the agony, drama, and hard work involved in this trek across the U.S. Pretty interesting stuff, especially in light of the morass that road cycling has fallen into.

The Tour de France used to be my thing to check out, but not anymore. This Great Divide Race has supplanted it. Why? Well, it's more in keeping with the spirit of challenge and overcoming than the Tour is. It's not over hyped, or hyped at all, really. It's still a grassroots, underground, for the spirit of it all event. The tour? Gutted of any of that. Empty and devoid of anything "true and good", if one can say that about cycling. Maybe I'm a romantic luddite, a reto-grouch, and just not seeing what others find in the Tour. Whatever. All I know is that these Great Divide racers have captured my fancy and I love a good cycling tale before bedtime.

So, I'll keep reading!

If you are so inclined, catch up on the story so far and get ready for the first finishers sometime this weekend. It's going to be awesome! I think it'll inspire you to go out on your own long epic ride this weekend. Do it! I'll be riding somewhere too.

You Are Welcome...........

I'll be wearin' it with pride!

In other event news, the GTDRI blog has a new update if you are interested.

Also, the planning for the next Ballyhoo is taking place with analysis of the just completed inaugral event. We won't be changing much, just tweaking it out and doing a better job up front.

As far as Trans Iowa goes...........don't ask! There are some definite hurdles to putting on another version of this event that may prove to high to clear. The jury is still out. I'll keep ya'all informed on any updates concerning the status of another Trans Iowa. I'm going to be concentrating on the laid back prep for GTDRI first, then a short break before Interbike. After that I'll make a call on T.I.

Stay tuned.....................

You Are Welcome...........

I'll be wearin' it with pride!

In other event news, the GTDRI blog has a new update if you are interested.

Also, the planning for the next Ballyhoo is taking place with analysis of the just completed inaugral event. We won't be changing much, just tweaking it out and doing a better job up front.

As far as Trans Iowa goes...........don't ask! There are some definite hurdles to putting on another version of this event that may prove to high to clear. The jury is still out. I'll keep ya'all informed on any updates concerning the status of another Trans Iowa. I'm going to be concentrating on the laid back prep for GTDRI first, then a short break before Interbike. After that I'll make a call on T.I.

Stay tuned.....................

I Fall Down

I was just thinking last night about my crashes this year. Hmm..........let's see now. Full on slam onto concrete for the right side at the Ballyhoo: check. Full on biff onto concrete for the left side, (non-bicycle related) from a semi-trailer: check. Two major endos, one a full on lawn dart which split my Bell Ghisallo in two. At least two handle bars to the rib cage, and several spectacular dismounts.

Wow! I must be doing a lot of mountain biking lately.

I don't think crashing is a bad thing. Actually, they used to say that if you weren't crashing once in awhile you weren't riding hard enough. I don't know if that's true, maybe it was just a way of explaining away the poor technology of those times. Maybe. I think it's still true though.

Crashes are cool from several standpoints. You've got your buddies, who need to be entertained. I mean, who doesn't want to be the star of the story, right? Then you've got your battle scars to remind you of "that ride" for at least a few weeks, and if you're really lucky, for a lifetime.

For instance, I was showing a guy where my solid axle gouged my inner leg when I was a kid. This guy looks at me with wide eyes and says, "Ya mean like this?!" He shows me a scar just like mine he got in the same way as a kid. Instant brotherhood man. Awesome! It wouldn't have happened if not for the crashing.

So, besides being a weatherman, I can't think of a single thing I could do that seems to reward failure with such a high regard. Crashing is cool.........well, to a degree it is. There are those truly heinous hits.

Let's try to avoid those, shall we?

I Fall Down

I was just thinking last night about my crashes this year. Hmm..........let's see now. Full on slam onto concrete for the right side at the Ballyhoo: check. Full on biff onto concrete for the left side, (non-bicycle related) from a semi-trailer: check. Two major endos, one a full on lawn dart which split my Bell Ghisallo in two. At least two handle bars to the rib cage, and several spectacular dismounts.

Wow! I must be doing a lot of mountain biking lately.

I don't think crashing is a bad thing. Actually, they used to say that if you weren't crashing once in awhile you weren't riding hard enough. I don't know if that's true, maybe it was just a way of explaining away the poor technology of those times. Maybe. I think it's still true though.

Crashes are cool from several standpoints. You've got your buddies, who need to be entertained. I mean, who doesn't want to be the star of the story, right? Then you've got your battle scars to remind you of "that ride" for at least a few weeks, and if you're really lucky, for a lifetime.

For instance, I was showing a guy where my solid axle gouged my inner leg when I was a kid. This guy looks at me with wide eyes and says, "Ya mean like this?!" He shows me a scar just like mine he got in the same way as a kid. Instant brotherhood man. Awesome! It wouldn't have happened if not for the crashing.

So, besides being a weatherman, I can't think of a single thing I could do that seems to reward failure with such a high regard. Crashing is cool.........well, to a degree it is. There are those truly heinous hits.

Let's try to avoid those, shall we?

Rotor Envy

Okay folks, rant mode on!:

It's high time that all 29"er bicycle manufacturers equipped their rigs with 185mm front rotors. Why? Because they work far better than 160mm ones do on a 29"er, that's why. It's safer, more performance oriented, and helps bring out the best in 29"er wheels.

I've got a couple bikes with 160mm rotors up front and all of my brake systems are Avid mechanicals, so I can see a direct comparison. The 160mm rotors just do not cut it for me. Hauling my 240lb carcass to a stop is no easy feat and the 160mm set up just can not stop it like a 185mm rotor can. Plus, think of the better heat dissapation on longer downhills. That's something to consider. I really do not want to look down and see glowing dull red heat waves eminating from the area formerly known as my front hub.

Then you have weight. Sure, some will whine about 185mm rotors weighing more. Well, who cares? I mean, really.......I would rather be able to stop more quickly with better control. What's a few more grams when it comes to that? Sheesh! Cut out the extra beer, ice cream, or heck, leave your water bottle at home if it comes to it. Give me a 185mm rotor up front on every new 29"er. Weight be damned!

I think it's plain silly to spec a 160mm rotor on the front of any 29"er save the most XC race oriented steeds and their are only a few that I would put in that category. (The Orbea Alma 29"er, the Salsa Mamasita, and the upcoming Fisher carbon hardtail) The 29"er, by it's very nature, is going to attract your larger than life mtb'ers anyway, such as myself. And as I said, it's no easy feat for a brake to stop a raging Clydesdale coming down the mountain. Outta my way, I'm large and in charge!

It just is a thing that makes way too much sense not to do. So, if you are a person that works for a company that produces 29"ers, dump the miniscule front brakes! Give us real stopping power and spec 185mm rotors on the front of our shiny new 29"ers.

Okay, okay..............please spec a 185mm rotor up front!

Rant mode off!

Rotor Envy

Okay folks, rant mode on!:

It's high time that all 29"er bicycle manufacturers equipped their rigs with 185mm front rotors. Why? Because they work far better than 160mm ones do on a 29"er, that's why. It's safer, more performance oriented, and helps bring out the best in 29"er wheels.

I've got a couple bikes with 160mm rotors up front and all of my brake systems are Avid mechanicals, so I can see a direct comparison. The 160mm rotors just do not cut it for me. Hauling my 240lb carcass to a stop is no easy feat and the 160mm set up just can not stop it like a 185mm rotor can. Plus, think of the better heat dissapation on longer downhills. That's something to consider. I really do not want to look down and see glowing dull red heat waves eminating from the area formerly known as my front hub.

Then you have weight. Sure, some will whine about 185mm rotors weighing more. Well, who cares? I mean, really.......I would rather be able to stop more quickly with better control. What's a few more grams when it comes to that? Sheesh! Cut out the extra beer, ice cream, or heck, leave your water bottle at home if it comes to it. Give me a 185mm rotor up front on every new 29"er. Weight be damned!

I think it's plain silly to spec a 160mm rotor on the front of any 29"er save the most XC race oriented steeds and their are only a few that I would put in that category. (The Orbea Alma 29"er, the Salsa Mamasita, and the upcoming Fisher carbon hardtail) The 29"er, by it's very nature, is going to attract your larger than life mtb'ers anyway, such as myself. And as I said, it's no easy feat for a brake to stop a raging Clydesdale coming down the mountain. Outta my way, I'm large and in charge!

It just is a thing that makes way too much sense not to do. So, if you are a person that works for a company that produces 29"ers, dump the miniscule front brakes! Give us real stopping power and spec 185mm rotors on the front of our shiny new 29"ers.

Okay, okay..............please spec a 185mm rotor up front!

Rant mode off!