Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Another report from Collin

Collin took 2 pictures - of the parking lot - to accompany this report. I have chosen not to reproduce them here. Enjoy!

Why is Granogue, DE magical? Well, I went up there for a bike race, and even after the gas, tolls, Starbucks, and Quiznos, I came back with more money than when I left. Keep in mind, this was a bike race, something we all know isn't supposed to profitable to the racer.

More importantly though, I made a bunch of friends almost instantly thanks to my charm (and Waltworks bike that eveyone seemed to love). Wes, Matt, Harlan, Marc, Tom and many others were all very helpful.

It turns out, the Colorado boys have been missing out all these years. Granogue is a private estate in Delaware and the race is part of the Mid-Atlantic series. Fat Marc Vettori puts on the race along with some other fine folks I had the pleasure of meeting. The track was really cool with lots of punchy climbs, roots, rocks, and a stream or two. 3000 feet of climbing total. It was probably 80% 1-track, some double track, and brief section of pavement, and the race ended on a climb! I didn't have to present any sort of bicycle organization license and for only $25 I got to subject myself to 3 laps of pain. The fans were also great and cheered everyone.

The riders out here are talented, that's for sure. I struggled a bit with the wet roots and mud, but the WaltWorks held her lines very nicely and Ignitors seem to be a very good tire choice. Chris Eatough was the "household" name there along with some other east coast regulars that I stalked prior to coming to the race and each seemed to possess an impressive race resume. The actual race report is not all to interesting, I started in about 10th place and moved up to 6th by the end of the first lap and stayed there to the end. I came within about 40 seconds of 5th place, but I suffered from a case of the stupids on the last lap and lost about 1:30. Well that and 5th place (Harlan from Independent) threw down a scorcher of a last lap.

Cultural Notes:

1) East coast races pay out 20 deep and are run very smoothly. Pay out is pretty impressive, I scored $105 for 6th place. First place comes with $300
---I must note, there are no gravity events at the MA series, so perhaps this aids in the prizes and organization because gravity stuff really seems like a pain in the arse to organize. I don't have a problem with gravity events, but if that is why Colorado entry fees are nearly double Eastern entry fees, something should be done.
2) East coast mountain bikers are just as nice as other mountain bikers I have encountered. I now have a wealth of new mtb knowledge and some folks I can call to carpool or go ride with (assuming I can get out of D.C. first)
3) There are a lot of toll roads out there
4) There are a lot of states here, and most are very small.
5) I passed a Decoy Museum and an Ordnance Museum. I wonder what kind of decoys and if the decoys ever attract anything the Ordnance could hit. Maybe they have some sort of deal worked out. Maybe it's not even a real museum, maybe it's just a decoy..ha
6) They only have starbucks out here, so many, that I bet there is a starbucks inside a starbucks somewhere.
7) They have actual vegetation, mud, streams, and rivers

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Wheelz for sale

So I've had these for two years, and they're great wheels, and I've never had any trouble with them whatsoever, but I'm lusting after some new Stan's rims and something different, and I feel bad just pulling them apart to put new rims on, given that they're in perfect shape.

DT 240S 6-bolt/centerlock (rear is centerlock, front 6b) singlespeed hubset, laced up with 32 spokes per wheel, 3x, to black Velocity VXC 29er rims. 14/15g double butted (wheelsmith) spokes. Rear wheel has silver nondrive/black driveside, front is all black. Very light, very trick, work well tubeless, etc, etc. $350, plus shipping (probably about $20 if you're in the US, more elsewhere). Email me if you have a question or want a picture.

Friday, May 23, 2008

A smackdown from Mother Nature


I managed a new singlespeed personal record on Flagstaff this afternoon (15:03) but I think I would have *smashed* my record if it weren't for the wind. Check it out, and guess what time I started riding up...

At one point after I'd ridden back down to Sarah, we were struggling up towards the blue barrel zone (for those of you not from Colorado, the barrels are full of sand that can be spread on the road to allow your car to make progress if it's icy - the barrels indicate a REALLY steep grade) and realized that we were only going _3 mph_. That's when we gave up and flipped it for good.

I'll be working some this weekend, as I've fallen behind where I'd like to be on bike building. Hopefully will be riding too. Enjoy your days off, y'all!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Collin on the Least Coast

A report from the WW/Fuentes rep in DC (picture formatting is his fault, not mine):

Hey boys. First race coming up on Saturday in Delaware. $25 entry, it's on a private estate, cash for the pros, and no license necessary, sick!

Highlights from yesterday: I rode in Maryland, saw where they test dairy cows, scammed the DC parking system, and saw two men kiss on the street.

As for training, my low elevation for the day was -11 ft., I sleep at +100 ft. Does that count towards the adage: train low, sleep high?

Today I attempted to head over to some singletrack on the outskirts of town. The guidebook actually rated the trail as difficult and showed some pictures of some nice looking 1 track. However, they added, "allow for plenty of daylight because the neighborhood you have to ride through to get there is very bad." They also added "bring your armor." The sentence is a little ambiguous as to whether the armor is for rocks and tree protection or stopping bullets. Anyway, it was getting dark and looking like it might rain, but I thought I could make it and assumed the neighborhood couldn't be that bad.

As I rode through the neighborhood things weren't looking that great. At one point I rolled past a parked suburban and the driver dropped out a half-full mancan of Icehouse beer onto the street, a bunch of people on the stoops were drinking Maichelob, and everyone stared at me... There was also lots of yelling between the homies and their "babymommas", lots of enormous Cadillacs, and plenty of trash and broken bottles...pretty sweet. The funny thing is that the brand new Washington Nationals baseball stadium is literally two blocks away.

I proceeded to make some wrong turns and the neighborhood got worse looking, so eventually I had to cut my losses and get out of there. Yeah, the little colorado springs cracker was getting his chamois all in a bunch, that's for sure. Maybe I'll come back on a nicer day, I think I know a better route now to get to the trail. I guess I could also look up a place to get some gold up in my grill and some spinners on the 29er, you know, for street cred. Maybe a 12" sub on the bike could work too.

For your viewing pleasure, I am leaving you with a picture representing my love for our great nation, and a picture in front of this really nice house in the middle of the city. I hear the guy inside likes to ride mountain bikes, maybe he'll go with me over to the ghetto.


--C$

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Chris' new bike, and the bag


First off, here's Chris' new roadie. Full SRAM Red, DT 240 wheels, optional zoot suit (not pictured), the works. Plus some really swanky Forte brand pedals and bar tape (wow, is that stuff crappy...)

It fits me almost perfectly. I'm really, really tempted to steal it. But Chris already paid for the darn thing. Doh.

As nice as the Red parts are, the amount of waste packaging that I threw away while building the bike up was *astounding*. Here's the best part - every single part has a little cloth/satin baggie with a drawstring. "What's this?" I wondered to myself - "spare parts and screws? How thoughtful!" Then I opened the baggies, and discovered that, yes, they are protecting...

THE USER'S MANUALS

Yep, it's made of paper. It's not in any physical danger from anything but water or fire, and the bag is susceptible to those same things. Every single part comes with its own baggie and manual. Nice.

Now, in my opinion, if you can afford a $3500 custom bike with a full Red grouppo, you *probably* own a computer. And you probably also could, like, use it to look up the user's manual info online, if you wanted to. I also imagine, though, that most of the folks riding this kind of stuff are either hotshot mechanics, or having the bike built up by a hotshot mechanic, so they'll probably never even look at the manual anyway.

Bottom line: I put almost 10 pounds of cardboard, paper, and plastic in the recyling today. What a waste. Shame on you, SRAM.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Prizes ain't what they used to be...


Check it out - not even a plaque, just a piece of paper! Good job anyway, guys.

Battle at the Bear - WW kicks ass


Fuentes won the pro men's XC, solidly dropping Jungle Jay Henry, and Yuki won his age group and was third overall in the Front Range 50. Nice work, boys!

Race report is online at Fuentes' site.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Tobias' frame


This is a weird one (sorry, T, but it's true): a singlespeed specific, disc specific, compact road frame. With post mount brake mounts on the fork (and on the rear end at some point too). Craziness. Building a lot of road and 'cross bikes lately, as well as doing quite a bit of road riding is kind of making me want to build myself a skinny tire bike for the first time in like 5 years (I haven't had a road bike in a long time - I just throw slicks on my 29er when I want to road ride).

Unfortunately, I'm super busy (hence I was working on this frame on a Saturday, which *never* happens normally) and I'd rather ride than build myself a bike. Maybe this fall it'll happen.

In the meantime, here's a picture for Tobias. Fork isn't in the pic, sorry. I'll get another one soon.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Motivation


Sarah, Martin, Casey, and I went to "A Chorus Line" at the Buell in Denver last night. I can't say I cared for the music all that much, but the dancing was phenomenal. And let me tell you, whether you're a lady or a guy, seeing the people in the cast makes you feel fat and out of shape, pretty much no matter what. Talk about ripped...

In any case, I felt fat and out of shape, so I went and flogged myself into doing a hard effort up Flagstaff on the singlespeed this afternoon. I haven't been riding enough (or hard enough) to be in any kind of real shape, so I was expecting to be pretty damn slow. The climb is about 1000 feet in 2.8 miles, and the record is somewhere around 12 minutes, set by some freak in the 1980s. I've done somewhere in the mid 13 minute range, but that was back in the day when I was in shape and had an actual road bike. So I was pleasantly surprised to manage the climb in 15:07, even with a mild-to-brisk headwind for part of the time. I think I could probably do it in the low 14s if I, like, trained, and maybe in the 13s again if I had a road bike. But that's just idle speculation, I probably won't do any of those things. Unless I can afford to blow $50 a day to see that musical over and over again.

For those who need motivation, I've included a snapshot of the cast. Trust me, this hardly does them justice. Badasses, every one.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sanjeev's fork and sold the travel frame


Sanjeev, check it out - pictures of your fork. I've been playing with a slightly tweaked version of my thru-axle design (David H got the first one for his tandem) and I really like the look. I cut the blades at an angle, fusion weld a piece of 4130 plate, and miter the 20mm pinch clamps. Cleaner than the old way I was doing it, which left a LOT of space on either side of the axle and made removing it quite a chore.

I also like these Marzocchi QR20 bolt-on (what kind of sense does that make? If it bolts on, it's not a "QR" item, right?) axles. They're reasonably priced, nice and beefy, and not too heavy or complicated. As a matter of fact, they're really simple. I plan to use 'em for all my 20mm forks in the future (well, ok, that's not going to be many forks, but still).

Second item: the travel frame is sold. To some crazy Spaniard who is coming out this summer to race the SSWC. Which is apparently in NAPA, of all places. Weird - will wine coolers be the beverage of choice for Adam Craig this year, rather than PBR?

Thursday, May 08, 2008

For sale: My sweet travel bike


I have a new (full suspension) travel bike in the works, and I'm getting rid of this one to (cough) pay for it. Here's the vital info:
-29" wheels, disc or v-brake ready, packable into an airline legal travel case (available for an extra $300) with S&S stainless steel couplers.
-24.4" toptube, 18.5" seat tube (center to center)
-71.5 degree head angle, 73 degree seat angle, 12" bottom bracket height, and 450mm chainstays. All-around XC ready, built for a rider up to 200 pounds.
-Clearance for 2.3+ tires.
-Rack mounts.
-Few minor scratches and grease/dirt from a life travelling the globe, but no dents or other significant damage.
-Includes a 27.2x400mm Thomson seatpost, Cane Creek Solos headset, and LX front derailleur. Full build kit available at my usual screamin' deal prices!

This package would set you back a solid $1700 or so new, but I'm selling it for $900 including shipping (in the continental US, others must pay). Full warranty for the purchaser.

More details and pictures coming soon - email for details.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

More racing in Fort Collins

Pics from the latest race - Nick and Yuki went 1 and 2, Redcoat fought valiantly but was undone by his total lack of riding for the last 6 months. Ride report is here.



Sunday, May 04, 2008

Bikes and Beer


A brief report from the Avery ride to Carter Lake yesterday: Avery employees are fast, a 2.5" tire on the front isn't so hot on the tarmac, and I'm really tired. Also, Adam rules for buying the barbeque supplies (and providing the beer) afterwards.

Of course, I took no pictures, but Sarah and I put in about 80 miles yesterday. That's more road riding than I've done in at least 5 years. And I can tell you that I'm feeling it today...

Friday, May 02, 2008

Some days, you just can't win

Yesterday sucked. Of course, all of it was my fault, but still:
-It was snowing. In May. Stupid Colorado weather. Ok, this one wasn't my fault.
-I left my townie outside overnight. So of course, the cheap foam saddle got soaked and I had to ride around with a plastic bag over it all day. Classy.
-I left the car windows down. It's not like I really drive it regularly, so when I left them down, it was 80 degrees and sunny. Of course, I actually had to drive somewhere, so my butt got soaked anyway.
-I forgot to put a front derailleur cable stop on poor Dennis' frame. After rushing through the process of building him a replacement frame after DHL killed the first one, I managed to forget the cable stop before it went to the powdercoater. Nice work, Walt.
-I was wicked hung over (again, my fault, I was out late drinking with the Avery crew, which is always a really bad idea, but it was their 15th anniversary, and the new "15" special brew is pretty awesome...)

On the plus side, weather is supposed to be decent this weekend, so maybe if I prevent my self from drinking too much tonight, I will actually get a chance to enjoy some riding...