Guitar Ted Productions

Bike Shop Tales: Big Changes

2009-11-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I left off with the story about my Mechanics 101 class. This time we go back for a little backround.....

As was stated last time, I was a jeweler by trade. I designed custom jewelry, oversaw its production, was a trained gemologist, and wore suits and ties everyday for about ten years. Bicycling and fishing were my two hobbies. I spent tons of time in the jewelry store, so when I got outta there, I played hard. Even though I had been married for a couple of years, that didn't slow me down any, but one day that all changed in a flash.

I went into work, as usual. Then I was "asked to come into the office". Well, if you've ever had that happen to you, you know what is coming next. I was fired. Never really ever found out why, and after this long, I don't care anymore. Thing is, at that time, I was gutted. I was out on the street and didn't have a clue as to why, or where it was I was going to go next.

So I hit the ol' unemployment line, got the low down on the way to get my checks, and hit the streets. I had to "make an effort" to find a job daily. What a farce! I tried to utilize the so-called "services" available to help unemployed folks find new employment. No one at the Job Services was helping me at all. I guess it was in their best interest to keep a steady flow of unemployed folks coming in the door, because if they helped us all find jobs, they would be out of one. Great!

One of my stops in "finding a job" (read: Making sure I got my unemployment check) was the bike shop. Advantage Cycles was always my last stop of the day, since I liked hanging out there. I would soak up all I could, watch the mechanics, and shoot the breeze with the owner, Tom. They had lots of time to spend with me too, since it was the off season and all. Well, one day Tom offered me a job. It wouldn't pay as much as my old job, but I didn't care. I was super pumped to not only have a job again, but have a job at something I really enjoyed.

It had been about three months of unemployment, but now with winter waning I was going to go back to work again! I was really looking forward to this new opportunity. Tom set up a time for me to come in for my "introduction" and to start my training. I couldn't wait!

Next week: Making A "Good" Impression.

Trans Iowa V6: Thoughts Part VI

2009-11-23T01:00:00.001-05:00

Course In Flux: Well, I just found out something tonight that is going to switch up the plans for the course. It was something that I had figured in early on that won't work out now. Bad deal. Thing is though, I just found out where some killer hills should be instead. Yay! Good deal.

That's the thing with course recon. You start to research it, go to see it, and it is forced to be different. That's why I never get my heart too set on any one feature. It always ends up that you lose one or two things you thought would be cool only to find three more things that rock to add instead.

Registration: I am pretty certain T.I.V6's roster will fill up today. If it doesn't, I'd be surprised and Tuesday I am certain will be the last day if we get that far. Here's the deal that amazes me. I wrote the rules in what I considered to be a pretty concise and easy to understand way in regards as to how rookies to T.I. were to time their entries. I said that if you sent them in too early, they would be thrown out. Guess what....

Lots of entries got thrown out.

I know I'll hear about it too. But, I won't be changing my mind. Just so you know... And no- I won't be putting those on The Waiting List either. Only entries sent in at the proper time and in the proper format and with the proper information will be considered for the roster and the Waiting List.

I'm betting I'll see the Fed Ex and overnight postal dudes early Monday morning!

Volunteers: I am getting volunteers e-mailing and calling me already, which is awesome. Keep in mind that if you get on T.I.V6 as a volunteer, you get an automatic entry for 2011, if we do a T.I.V7. (Whoa! First time I've written that, or thought about that version of T.I.) Anyway, also keep in mind that a Trans Iowa may never happen again, so don't go counting on that offer coming through. It is what it is. If you volunteered last year and want in, you can get in, but you need to send in that post card before November 30th!! (Yes- they get in even if I have 75 on the roster, but hey! They volunteered in 2009, and that was the deal I made with them.)

Off Topic: Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational: d.p. was up over the weekend for a ride and we discussed the 2010 running of GTDRI. It was bandied about that GTDRI should occur on the weekend that ends RAGBRAI instead of the opening weekend of it. That way folks in the industry, or fans of RAGBRAI that want to do that could and they could bail on the final, mostly meaningless day to join us in West Union's Echo Valley State Park for GTDRI which would be on Saturday. Saturday night we are planning on a barbecue and camp over. Sunday we could all make our way home.

Anyone that cares should make suggestions in the comment section. I want to set a date for this ASAP. Dates would be 7-31/8-1 2010. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Gravel Ride With A-Lo

2009-11-21T19:38:00.003-05:00

<===A Great Blue Heron stalking in the backwaters.

My old co-worker A-Lo was back in town for a friends wedding this weekend and wanted to hook up for a gravel ride. I missed the last one he was back for. Not this time!

I was planning on some T.I.V6 recon with d.p., but I invited him to come along instead. So, if the T.I.V6 recon gets balled up, you can point back to this day and say, "ah ha!" Oh well, it probably won't affect that, and it was too nice a day to not be out on a bicycle. I mean, this late into November and to have close to 50 degrees? Yeah.........recon can wait!!

<===A-Lo and D.P.

The ride started out for me at my house. I had to traverse Waterloo and Cedar Falls to get to Bike Tech where the ride was to set off from. It was chilly and pretty dang foggy. I was almost tempted to put lights on, but the forecast called for clearing skies, so I took my chances.

I got over there just in time and there were three others besides me. A-Lo, d.p., and mtbidwell were there. After some futzing around with my air pressure with a pump borrowed from The Thin Man, we were off. It was decided to go around Big Woods Lake, then head over to Ford Road, and wherever we wanted after that.

<====I need work on my "Kerkove Shot" skillz!

The ride didn't get very far when we heard this awful screeching, scratching noise. It was emanating from mtbidwell's rig. His Coda front hub shat out it's bearings and was dying a horrible death. He had to bail out, so we bid him adieu.

Not 50 feet later, I realized my rear tubeless tire was squishy. It was going flat, and the sealant was dried up. So, out came the tube and pump. After a tube install and huff up session with the excellent Lezyne pump, I was good to go. Yes Tubes! WooHoo!

d.p. was sportin' the War Axe eagle on his legs!

After this there was no stopping us. We went north, east, north, west, north, and then ended up in Janesville where the requisite convenience store stop was made.

After a bit of refueling we took off again westwards. Trouble is, everything west and south of Janesville is pretty much pavement. We wandered around searching for limestone goodness, but were coming up empty handed. Heading westwards toward New Hartford would have solved our dilemma, but A-Lo had time constraints, and with me spinning a 34X18 on my El Mariachi with monster truck tires against two cyclo-cross rigs, it was not making me want to find a longer route either.

Gravelly Glory. It's up ahead and to the left.....

Eventually we made it back to Ford Road and went against a stiff southerly headwind back into Cedar Falls. I dropped off A-Lo and d.p. and made my way slowly and steadily back to my house in Waterloo.

It was a fantastic day out on a bike, but after three hours of ride time spinning like a whirling dervish and working those big meats, my legs were cooked!

It's all good though! I hope everyone had a great weekend and got to ride a bicycle.

Trans Iowa V6 Post Card Gallery!

2009-11-20T01:00:00.001-05:00

Here are some more post cards from the Trans Iowa V6 entrants for your perusal. These cards come in every year, and I always have had plans to share them. This seems as good a way as any.....

Gary Cale wins every year. No...not the event. He wins the best post card sent in "award". (I know he would find this small consolation)

At any rate, as long as he enters Trans Iowa, and he has every year so far, the rest of you post card senders have a higher standard to meet!

Lincoln Crew Represents!

These guys are awesome folks. Hopefully you'll get to ride with one of them.

Oh yeah, I finally got to drive down "O" Street earlier this year. Pretty Cool!

The resourcefulness of self supported racers evidenced by things as trivial as post cards made from cardboard.

I got several of this one from different folks.

Kind of disturbing!

Another "recycled" post card.

Somewhere in Lincoln, Nebraska there is a dirty bathroom with a camera running!

Hey! A 36"er cruiser!

(Having been an art major in collage, one of my pet peeves is pictures with bad perspective and scale)

But it's a cool message!

From the T.I. V5 winner and champeen!

Yup!

More Lincoln Crew goodness!

And the last card for today.....

A fitting saying to leave you with for the weekend!

This is happening in Cedar Falls, IA tomorrow!

Do It!

Ride your bikes, and ride them for a good cause.

Bonus: You will have good weather and good people to ride with.

Have a great weekend and ride yer bicycle somewhere!

Trans Iowa V6: Thoughts Part V

2009-11-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===Shark Teeth

As you read today's post, you will note more images of cards and stuff I got with T.I.V6 entries.

Registration Questions: I got a couple good questions regarding registration that I'd thought I would share. First off- folks are wondering exactly when first time T.I. riders can send there post cards in. It isn't clear whether they can be received on the 21st or after the 21st.

<===Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

Answer: The new, non-veteran entries will be accepted after the 21st!

The second question had to do with how I have enumerated the classes on the T.I.V6 webpage. Someone wanted to know if that was how I was limiting each category.

<===These chips RULE!!

Answer: No- the way the numbers are laid out is totally arbitrary. If we get more than 20 Single Speed/Fixed riders before the roster fills out, than I will add them, as an example.

I just broke it up the way I did to approximate the way it has broken down in years past to make it easier for me.

<===Gas card and Red Bull. I'm ready for recon!!

That's about it. The roster is just over half full with today plus two more days for vets to get in. Monday the 23rd it's a free for all!

Then I suspect it'll take two, maybe three days max to fill up, and then we'll have Waiting List folks.

Good Luck to all sending in entries!!

T.I.V6 Post Cards And Sacrificial Offerings

2009-11-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

Okay folks! I am going to try and share a bunch of this T.I. Post card madness with you all. It's a long post! So settle in and enjoy! You can click on any image to make it bigger.

<====Soooo......I'm a doctor now? Good take on the "Vitamin G" theme. It actually has gravel inside!

<====I got one of these last year too. Something so stupid about this that it is brilliant!

Still makes me laugh!

<====Another Florida themed card.

Funny- you never see the reverse- You know, when they are getting blown away by a hurricane and we are enjoying wonderful late summer weather. Ha!

<====I like New Belgium. I like their beer. I like that they like bikes.

I also like this post card. "Redefining Folly" Perfect for Trans Iowa, eh?

<====MG, I don't know where you got this, but it is hilarious! Thanks Brother!

I'm left wondering what went wrong with models 1 through 24.

<====Been here once as a child. Funny how it looks so great on a post card!

<====You're welcome!

<===Things are still a bit fuzzy concerning T.I.V6, but they are quickly coming into focus!

<===I guess this artist is famous in the Twin Cities newspapers.

I just think it is pretty cool.

<====A few guys went down early in T.I.V5 due to mechanicals.

I'd stay out of their way if I were on T.I.V6!

I'll be sharing more in the future. One thing is for sure. You guys have been super creative and super generous this year. It is greatly appreciated. I am humbled- Thanks!

Bike Shop Tales: Learning To Wrench

2009-11-17T01:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I left off with the Klein Attitude purchase. Now it was time to learn how to take care of them....

After I dropped the big coinage on the Attitudes, I figured I'd better learn how to take care of the things. Lucky for me, Advantage Cycles had a mechanics 101 class in the evenings. I signed up and I was super stoked to find out all I could to get up to speed on maintenance.

I knew a few rudimentary things from back in my childhood. I was blessed by having been in the great tornado of 1968 in Charles City, Iowa. It was after that carnage that as a child, you could find a bike out in the weeds around the edges of town on any given day. They were like apples fallen from a tree. It was pretty amazing. We would take these things, disassemble them, reassemble them, modify them, and pretty much destroy them. Hey! They were free and a dime a dozen. At least for a few years afterwards.

That got me by with my old bike, but there was so much I didn't know about the new stuff. I wanted to find out what I could do to keep these Kleins going for a long time. It helped that they both were set up with Grease Guard stuff from SunTour, and Klein Attitudes had very forward thinking bearing set ups in the head set and bottom bracket. In fact, the Kleins were totally useless as a bicycle to learn on for the class, so I ended up doing maintenance on shop cast offs for the class. Old bikes that had what we were talking about- Serviceable bottom brackets, head sets, and quill stems.

So it was during these classes that I met a car mechanic by the name of Vance McCaw. He often came to the class still dressed in his work duds. Little did I know that years later, I would end up in the same outfit. But that's a long ways down the road yet. Vance's and my paths would cross again a few times, I just didn't know how or when.

All I knew was after the class was over, I was really interested in finding out even more. I gobbled up all the bicycle info I could get my hands on. I was "bitten by the bug", I suppose you could say. That said, I was also still very much a custom design jeweler, salesman, and gemologist. I wasn't planning on being a bicycle guy anytime in my life beyond being a rider. But even the best laid plans can go astray, and mine did one early November day.

Next Week: Big Changes

In Full View

2009-11-16T01:00:00.001-05:00

<===The Gun Kote El Mariachi

I put up a teaser shot last week of the head set and stem, but here is the whole enchilada. The El Mariachi started out as a Superior Blue model with a matching blue CroMoto stem. I sent both in to be Gun Koted by Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee.

I gotta say, the finish is awesome! I am very impressed with the way it came out. Long term use will show how well this will stay on the frame, but I am feeling good about it now. The threaded portions didn't get taped off and I didn't need to chase any threads at all. Pretty cool! That and the pre-treatment basically coats the steel tubing inside and out, so I have rust protection that should last for years. Finally, the panel and graphic is Gun Kote, so it should hold up really well, just like the rest of the frame covering.

<===Hideous blue chain will be replaced by a purple one.

Everything you see here weighs just a shade over 23lbs too. I was pretty stoked by that fact. Especially when you look at some of the parts, which could lose some grammage pretty easily. Not that I am too concerned with that, but it is possible to get this really light- for me- and not be stupid light.

And the bike rides really well. especially with the fork and Cane Creek ThudBuster seat post. Man! Talk about smoooooth! Well......as smooth as a rigid bike gets. The rig flys, and I could probably go faster, but my front cog is a 32 here, not my usual 34T. I'll have to rectify that over the winter, but it is fine for now.

Bottom line: I am really glad I got this particular frame redone. This ol' El Mariachi is so sweet. Salsa Cycles just nailed this frame when it was in production. There aren't too many things I'd change about it, and what I would are very minor details. I'm thinking I'll have this one around for a long, long time to come.

Post Card Madness Begins!

2009-11-14T01:00:00.002-05:00

<===Carlos da Jackal is in!!

Well, as you all probably know by now, Trans Iowa V6 registration is live. I kinda figured I would see a card or two dropped off right away the first day. It seemed inevitable since this is the third time around registration has been handled like we are doing it now. Folks catch on.

I also figured that I would get some cool, creative entries, but even one I got Friday threw me for a loop.

Carlos da Jackal stopped by and dropped off his entry. He was an "original" T.I. vet from the first one we did. I was pleasantly surprised by his entry, and he did a nice job on his handmade card. Pretty cool, and these days, fairly typical of what I get for a T.I. entry post card.

<===This will take a while to get to! I'm still workin' on T.I.V3 whiskey!!

But the honor of "first in" for T.I.V6 went to local "fat guy" Jeremy Fry. (I'd keep an eye on this critter!) He dropped off a nice whiskey with his card. By the way, take a look at the writin' he wrote. That barely passes muster. Compare yours before you send it in. If it doesn't pass "The Fry Test", you better have your entry printed at Kinkos, okay?

Then there was the one that threw me for a loop. My boss orders stuff and has it delivered to the shop often. Office supplies, car parts, and other weird items you wouldn't think of getting in at a bike shop. So I didn't bat an eyelash when a guy came in with a case of oil. I figured my boss was doing some maintenance on a vehicle he owns.

The bill was signed and the guy delivering it said he didn't see my bosses name on the stuff, but I still didn't think anything of it. I sat the oil and the invoice papers in his office, figuring that when he finished with the customer he was talking to he'd figure it out.

Well, not long after he comes out chuckling and said the box was for me, at which point I read the paper stapled to the invoice for the first time. It was a T.I.V6 entry from Warren Weibe!

Good thing my boss didn't need a case of oil! So, that one ranks right up there with the oddest T.I. entry yet.

But I'm betting I'll see more of the same in the coming week to ten days!

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

It's Your Lucky Day!

2009-11-13T01:00:00.001-05:00

So- You Wanna A Peice Of This?: Or- Trans Iowa Registration Announcement:

It is time! If you have a hankerin' for a heapin' helpin' of Iowa limestone goodness, here's how you get some. Pay attention! The specifics are important if you want to get your name on the roster.

Veterans First! For anyone that wants to toe the line at T.I.V6 that has been in a previous Trans Iowa, you get first dibs on a roster spot. You can start sending your post cards today and Veterans Of Trans Iowa Past (VOTIP's) can be assured they will have the first rights until November 21st!! No new entrants will be accepted at this time. This is to honor those who have supported Trans Iowa with blood, sweat, and tears in the past. You new folks have to wait until after the 21st.

Leftover Spots: Whatever doesn't get scooped up from the 75 available spots after the 21st is open game for all who want to get a post card in. In the past, it hasn't taken very long to fill in the empty roster spots available, but I will entertain all comers until November 30th if spots still remain. Once I reach 75 entrants though, the Roster is filled. However, I will fill in a Waiting List with overflow post cards received up until November 30th.

T.I.V5 Volunteers: If you were a volunteer on T.I.V5 and want in, you have automatic guranteed entry, but you still need to send in a post card.

Now for the pertinent details........................

Post Cards: Post cards must be received with legible writing (judged by me) and include the following information:

Name
Class (Choose one: Open Men's, Open Women's, or Single Speed/Fixed)
e-mail address (make sure it is valid and working!)
Phone # (preferably the one you will be reachable at during the event)
Past Trans Iowa events you have raced in (if applicable)
How many support people will be with you. (This is for pre-race planning)

Again, there is no "official post card", but you must have the information listed above in legible form. I reserve the right to refuse unreadable entries or entries missing information I asked for above.

Send post cards here:

Europa Cycle and Ski

c/o Guitar Ted

4302 University Avenue

Cedar Falls, IA 50613

Fine Details: Once Post cards start coming in, I will post the names on the Trans Iowa Roster found on the T.I.V6 site every evening. Again- NO ONE BUT VOTIP's CAN ENTER FROM 11/13 to 11/21. If you are a first timer, I will disqualify your entry if I receive it before 11/21.

Available roster spots could feasibly be taken by all veterans. It "could happen", and if it does, so be it. I am okay with that, but I doubt we'll see that happen.

Available spots are taken by a first received/first posted on the roster basis. It is basically determined by the U.S.P.S. driver and how he/she arranges the mail for the day. In other words- totally random and unbiased. Other ways of receiving entries are slotted in by me as they are received. (Examples: Over night letters, pizza delivery, carrier pigeon, etc...)

Waiting List: If you do not get the spot on the roster, you will get on the Waiting List. Once Registration closes on 11/30, I will e-mail everyone on the Waiting List with their spots number. This number corresponds to your position in line. Last year we got through over a dozen names on the Waiting List before the list was terminated on January 31st. If when you receive my e-mail in early December and you want to opt off the list, just respond in kind, and I'll move folks in line behind you up. If you want to stay on and take a chance to get in, do nothing. When I get word from any Roster spot holders that they are cancelling out, I will e-mail the first in line with the opportunity to take the vacated spot.

Okay, that should do it, but if you have specific questions or concerns, e-mail me here.

Good Luck!!

Trans Iowa V6: Meeting Report

2009-11-12T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===Looking westward on the T.I.V6 course.

Well, Wednesday was the big meeting day and a lot of things for T.I.V6 got dialed, filed, or were put on the table for further discussion.

In attendance were "Super Rep" Rob Versteegh, d.p., and myself. We also did a bit of chatting with Craig Cooper of Bikes To You , and Sheryl Parmley of the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce. I am pretty stoked by the level of excitement and interest taken by the folks in Grinnell. Here's a rundown of some things that are solid for T.I.V6.

<===Rural traffic jam....

- The Start Line: The starting line for T.I.V6 will be right outside the front door of Bikes To You. Same 4am start time as always. Rumor has it there may be coffee available at the start. Don't hold me to that coffee thing, but it is being put on the table for now.

-Finish Line: In a total break from past T.I. tradition, the finish line will be announced ahead of time. I can't give an exact address as of now, but here is the deal: We'll be finishing inside a barn! That's right folks- Trans Iowa V6 ends in a barn. Not only that, but plans are currently in the works to host support people throughout the night Saturday/Sunday where you will be able to get race info, food, enjoy a campfire, and hang out as Trans Iowa finishers come in off the road. It'll be a regular "Hoe Down at The Barn" sort of gig. Even if the route gets truncated, or no one makes the cut offs, this still should be a pretty good time.

-Motel Deal: I can't announce specifics as yet, but Sheryl Parmley of the Chamber of Commerce already has some deals worked out for us to work on here. I will announce specifics on the T.I.V6 motel discount- hopefully along with the Registration announcement.

<===A lonely stretch of T.I.V6 gravel....

-Sponsor News: Rob Versteegh is stepping up in a big way for T.I.V6 and along with that we can announce that Oakley will be a featured sponsor of T.I.V6. Stay tuned for details, but we want to let ya'all know that Oakley is going to be helping us out with prizing and more.

Also, Bikes To You will be our bike shop sponsor. If you all need anything last minute when you hit town for T.I.V6, Bikes To You is the shop where you'll be able to score your bits and pieces to help make your T.I.V6 a smooth one. Not only that, but "Coop", the shop's owner, is really supporting T.I.V6 with logistical help and hook ups to make our Friday pre-race meet up a good deal. Coop also said he'll be able to get your rig assembled if you ship it to him at the shop, so for folks that may be flying in, you should check him out for that service.

Okay, there is more- a lot more! That will have to wait for further discussion, fine tuning, and approval, but rest assured, this Trans Iowa is going to be FUN!! (And not just for the racers either!)

I did get in some recon as well. Looking good! I nixed a few things and connected a few dots, so things went really well today. Stay tuned for further updates............

Big Meeting Day

2009-11-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===This is where the purple King head set resides.

I'll be on the road today to Grinnell for a big meeting that I hope will clear a few things up in regards to Trans Iowa V6.

If all goes as planned, the announcement of Registration will soon follow. Then it's off to the races as far as recon goes. In fact, a little of that may happen tomorrow as well.

I probably will throw the Gun Kote El Mariachi in the "Truck Without A Name" and hopefully get some riding in on a secret surprise part of the T.I.V6 route. That way I'll kill two birds with one stone. Recon and ride a new rig. Well......not new really. Just different than it was. It's good to have the El Mariachi back and now it is a single speed. Good stuff for sure!

<===My ol' Buddy hit the glossy pages!

Take a looky here local freaks! That's Mr. 24 in Mountain Flyer Magazine. He got the lead photo on their story about the Breck Epic. Pretty cool there Jeff!

It was fun following all the travels of Jeff and the rest of Team Ergon Topeak all year. It makes it more interesting when you know a few of the people personally and have met a few of the others. Anyway, I'll be checking them out in 2010. Oh yeah.....and I'm a big fan of the grips and packs too. Check that stuff out here.

So, that's it for today. Look here tomorrow for a report on the "big meeting".

Bike Shop Tales: An Introduction

2009-11-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to "Bike Shop Tales". This is the new series I will be writing up for awhile about my experiences as a bicycle mechanic, but won't necessarily be limited to that. In this post I want to outline what you can expect, and give you a bit of back round.

First off, this series will be mentioning real people and real events. I am running off of a 16 plus year old memory on some of this stuff, so I may not get things the way "you" remember them, assuming some of you reading this were party to these events. (Please feel free to comment in the comment section if you find motivation to correct me, or e-mail me from my link at the right).

I promise to reflect things as close to the truth as I am able. Some of the things I write may rankle a few folks, but hey- I am not going to write anything I am not ready to stand behind. So take that for what it is worth.

Okay, so enough of that. Here is the generalized back round of these tales. A context- if you will- of my life in the late 80's/early 90's. I wasn't always involved in the cycling business, and this is where I came from.

I had always been a fan of riding a bike, but found that most of the time, they wouldn't hold up to where I wanted to go. Basically, I wanted to go where I wanted to go, and usually it wasn't paved. Most of my college years were spent off the bike because of this. So when I found out more about mountain bikes in the late 80's, I thought they might just be the adventure vehicle I was searching for.

I bought a Mongoose Sycamore from Bombay Bike Shop in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 1989. That thing was awesome! I could ride it "anywhere", or so I thought, and I did. Flooded trails? Not a problem. Mud-pshaaw! Snow? That's just more fun. Well, all that "fun" was taking a great toll on that old Sycamore. It wasn't a great bike, in terms of the grand scheme of things, so its components weren't up to my abuse. Well.......probably no bike was really!

So it was that I became friendly with another bike shop in town. Bombay had closed up shop, and a co-worker of mine at the jewelry store I worked at suggested I check out Advantage Cycles, so I did. The proprietor, Tom, was a great guy. Easy to talk to, excited about my passion for mountain biking, and had sensible prices for service. I found myself stopping by at fairly regular intervals, since the Sycamore was often pretty "sick". Tom was checking out my bike one day, and after wheeling it back out to me, he carefully and tactfully explained that it was obvious my passion for cycling exceeded the ability for the ol' Sycamore to deliver. It was time for a new rig.

Well, I worked at a jewelry store as a salesman/designer at a place where we did custom jewelry and design. I suppose that was part of why I thought I needed something unique, something different. Tom loaded me up with all the catalogs: Mantis, Klein, Alpinestars, and about every off the wall, cool mountain bike company of the early 90's. I saved, scratched, and ate baked potatoes for three months, (really!) to save up the money to get the ball rolling. And not only that, but my first wife was going to get the same thing, so I was throwing down cash for two ultra cool rigs.

In the end, I ordered two Klein Attitudes. They would be the first Klein mountain bikes in the area. Very different, and with Klein's wild "Linear Fade" paint jobs, very unique looking. When the frames came in, Tom displayed them in the front window of the shop. I was pretty proud of that. I used to stop in about three times a week just to hang out and pour over catalogs deciding what to hang on these aluminum wonder bikes. That was a lot of fun, but I couldn't wait to get riding this bike, and learn how to take care of it.

Next week: Learning how to wrench.........

Weekend Report

2009-11-09T01:00:00.001-05:00

<===I'll shoot my deer with a camera, thank you!

Wow! If you didn't drop the rake, leave the dishes unwashed, or forget about washing the car and get outside, you were daft! It was a beautiful last chance to get out and enjoy shirt sleeve weather in 2009. (I'm betting)

I got out Saturday and rode at the camp- for a short bit! My chain sucked on the Big Mama and then not 50 yards down the trail it snapped in two. Not good for prospects of forward motion by two wheels. And I without a chain tool! Bad me! I should know better. I should have been riding a single speed!! Ha! So, now a full drive train replacement will be in order. It's time, and this was a sign.

<===Wait just a gol durn minute!

The fork for then Gun Kote El Mariachi came in last week. A 100mm through axle Manitou Minute 29"er fork. This will determine the wheel set now, which will be a Bontrager Rhythm wheel set I have had in reserve for months now. That means I'll most likely set it up with some Bontrager tires, or Specialized 2Bliss, which works well on the TLR rim strip too.
This Minute has the Absolute Plus damper and lock out, which could be upgraded to the MILO remote lock out if I wanted it. The fork, with an uncut steer tube weighs a paltry 4.2lbs. It'll be less than that once I cut it down a bit.

<===A bear of a tire.

The WTB, Niner Bikes distributed, Kodiak 2.5" tire showed up here too. I've gotten them mounted and ridden a bit too.

What do I think? Well, you'll have to wait for the Twenty Nine Inches reports, but I will say that it is a very different tire from the WTB Dissent that I also am testing here. Actually, they hardly share anything at all in common! Wire beads and Inner Peace sidewall protection, and that's about it from what I can tell so far. Stay tuned!

<===Some long overdue "love" for the Fargo.

I got a Chris King bottom bracket a while ago now. I finally installed it in the Fargo the other day. I think the green goes good with the stock paint, but really, the King BB is smarter than that!

I can maintain this one by injecting grease from time to time ala the King grease tool, which I have to get yet. Hopefully the Fargo will be fine for some time to come, but I need to order that tool anyway for customers at the shop that will be wanting a fresh shot of grease in theirs soon.

<===The frame isn't tiny, the wheels are big!

I saw a thread on mtbr.com that showed this prototype 29"er DH rig from Intense Cycles.

This is serious folks. Intense doesn't fool around with DH. They helped define the genre', and if they are fiddling with wagon wheels for DH, they have an inkling that it might just work.

This would be revolutionary if it proves out. DH has long been thought of as an area of mountain biking that 29 inch wheels were just ridiculous for. They would never be used in that application other than by experimenters and dreamers. The debates will rage now, but if racers start showing up on these, and more importantly- winning on them- then the last barrier to big wheels will have fallen. Will it happen?

Well, it doesn't really matter in the end, but what will happen is that many new ideas will be birthed from the experiment that will benefit long travel and any full suspension 29"er bike. Rim technologies, tire technologies, and of course- fork and damper technologies all stand to be altered by these DH experimenters. It'll be interesting to watch, at the very least.

Trans Iowa V6: Thoughts Part IV

2009-11-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

Meeting Time: This Wednesday there is a meeting taking place that should help define a few key points in regards to T.I.V6. There may even be some recon as well. If all goes well, and there is no reason to believe it won't, a lot of dominoes will start to fall real quick in regards to how the rest of recon will go, and the key parts of the event should be well defined.

Registration: One of the immediate outcomes of this upcoming meeting will be the announcement of Registration. I suppose you could say this is an announcement that there will be an announcement! At any rate, look closely for that directly after the Wednesday meeting.

You can expect that I will be letting in past participants first. This means you took the starting line at a T.I. before. Then after about a week or so, the registration will be opened to anyone else interested that gets a post card in for one of the remaining spots. A daily tally will be kept so that those of you waiting to know what is going on can keep track. Again, we'll be letting in 75 people, and a "Waiting List" of any overflow will be kept to fill in any roster spots that become available through attrition. I'll do this swapping in from the "Waiting List" until 1-31-10. After that point, no fill ins will be taken on, and the roster will be allowed to contract if folks drop out after that point.

Registration will be by post card only. You can get your post card in by whatever means you want. In the past I have received overnight express packages, pizzas with cards attached, beer with cards attached, cards slipped under the Europa Cycle and Ski's front door, drop offs by courier, and of course, by regular mail. You can bring your post card by donkey or carrier pigeon, but it has to be a post card. Also, there is no "official post card". You can make your own up, or have someone else do it for you. You can buy "el cheapo" post cards at the Post Office, or use fancy-schmancy ones from far flung travel destinations. Again, it doesn't matter, but the more fun, the better.

Finally, I will be asking for specific information on that post card. Every item of info I ask for must be on the card, and it must be legible by me! Important point folks! If I can not read yer writin', you are not gettin' in. I won't warn you, or let you know. You have one chance to get it right. Don't blow it! Write legibly or lose! I will announce what the specific information I want is at the time of the Official Registration Announcement.

Volunteers: We'll be relying on volunteer help to put on T.I.V6. If you can swing it on the weekend of 4/23-24-25/10, then we would love to hear from you. You can volunteer for all or part of any of these days. Here's a breakdown of what we usually have a need for:

Pre-Race Meeting help. This might include stuffing bags for racers, hauling stuff into and out of the pre-race meet-up site, and facilitating the handing out of race packets/bags.
Start Line Help: This requires an early riser, as you'll need to be "on point" by 3:30am in the morning of the 24th! If this suits you, we will need some corner marshalls to safely get folks out of Grinnell. Plus, you'll get to witness the spectacle of riders streaming down the road with blinkies blazing. It's pretty cool!
Checkpoint Help: This is the big need. We will have three checkpoints in far flung places in rural Iowa. The first checkpoint will require the most help, and will take the least amount of time. It happens in the morning of the 24th around 6am and should be over and done with by 8-8:30 am. We'll likely need about 5-6 folks to handle a constant barrage of folks in a hurry. The other two checkpoints can easily be managed by two or three patient folks. You may be "on point" for 6-8 hours depending upon where in the loop the checkpoint occurs. The second checkpoint usually goes from about 12:00-2:00pm until 6:00-8:00pm. The third checkpoint can go from 7:00pm till 2:00am depending. At any rate, you can see that it might be a long, lonely wait between riders.
The Finish Line: We would like to have two folks minimum to man the finishline and again, it can be an early morning for this job. We will likely see some folks attempt a sub-24hr Trans Iowa, which means you might be called upon to be there around 3:30am! The Finishline festivities will last till around 2pm in the afternoon or so.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering for Trans Iowa, or anything else from today's post, leave a comment, or e-mail me.

How Far Did I Go?: A Year With Salsa Cycles Fargo

2009-11-06T01:00:00.000-05:00

A year ago on November 5th, 2008, I got on a Salsa Cycles Fargo at the first Salsa Fargo Adventure Ride in the Twin Cities. Salsa Cycles graciously provided me with the Fargo for testing/review for Twenty Nine Inches, and this ride was my maiden voyage, (not counting an Interbike test ride) on the newest 29"er from Salsa Cycles. It was a great ride with great people, and I'll not soon forget things like the breakfast in the woods, the great folks, and the beautiful day.

After the Fargo Adventure Ride, I started riding the Fargo in earnest. I was bound to for the review, of course, but I was also really enjoying the bike. I took it all over the local area despite the coldish temps and wetter weather we were experiencing in November last year. The Fargo even helped spark a bit of the "shutter bug" in me as I explored for things that caught my eye aboard the Fargo to take pictures of.

Well, it wasn't long before winter set in, and I and the Fargo were pretty much relegated to commuter rides for awhile. I modified the spec by this time to include some personal preferences in the saddle and handle bars, along with different wheels with tubeless tires and a 185mm front rotor. The Fargo only got better. Unfortunately, the weather only got worse!

Getting rides in was hit and miss during the cold, blustery, and very snowy winter we had, but I busted out the Fargo when I could during the deepest part of winter.

I had envisioned doing a bikepacking thing with the Fargo, and had been experimenting with a rack, but unfortunately, the attendant gear purchases never materialized, so I've yet to pursue that part of the Fargo. I'll get there though!

February was pretty brutal, and I didn't get much of any riding in. (Actually, I cross country skied quite a bit during this period) March finally got warm enough to melt the gravel roads clear, and I started doing some gravel grinders in preparation for Dirty Kanza.

But before that, April and a lot of Trans Iowa stuff had to be done. Oh yeah, did I mention I had to go to California and cover Sea Otter too? Yeah......so not much Fargo-ing during this period.

Then after those two big events, I spent a lot of time on the Fargo. I had to hit the gravel in preparation for Dirty Kanza, and I was taking a vacation directly after the event to Nebraska. So, I was tweaking out my DK 200 set up most of early May. Gone was the rack. A new set of lightweight wheels went on it, and I slammed five cages with full water bottles on for training. Lights that I cobbled from a department store headlamp were fashioned into my light set up, and I had some great rides. One in particular with my T.I. partner in crime, d.p. That was a night ride out of Traer and one of the funnest rides of the year with a good friend and that Fargo. Good stuff! Then it was off to do the Dirty Kanza 200, and although I was pretty sick with a bad head cold, the Fargo was one of the best bikes I could have ridden for that event for me. Perfectly comfortable, capable, and it handled those ol' flinty roads like a champ!

Then it was on to Nebraska, where I sampled some totally sweet single track, and I hooked up with my good friend Matt Gersib. We had a fabulous day on Fargos doing Jewel Park and Platte River State Park single track. The Fargos ate up the miles and handled the challenging trails with no problems.

We hooked up with Kyle who was there from the Brady, Nebraska area and had a great ride with a nice post ride brew and chat session right in the parking lot while we watched the moon come up in the East. Killer ride on an awesome day! Thanks again guys for that totally sweet memory. I'll be back in Nebraska again to sample that single track, and I wouldn't be surprised if I showed up on a Fargo!

Well, I got back in June and turned my attention to some other needs, but the Fargo was not very far from my mind. In July I had planned on doing the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational and that was going to be done on the Fargo.

Planning for that and doing a ride here and there on the Fargo was mixed with a lot of testing on other stuff and then the news that another Fargo Adventure Ride was planned for the week after GTDRI! Man! I just had to make it, so I finagled my way outta a few things and did a lot of sweet talking to my wonderful wife to let me make all of it become a reality. The GTDRI went off without a hitch, but at just barely shy of 10,000 feet of climbing in 118 miles, that ride and those hills kicked me in the jimmy! Wow! I almost ate it on the first big downhill of the day too, but somehow I and the Fargo held on to ride it out till the end and live to tell about it. Good times!

The next weekend's Fargo Adventure Ride was totally awesome! Great friends, good trails and roads, and an epic rainy start to the day were capped off by a hot, humid afternoon with some of my closest friends all aboard our Fargo rigs, kicking out the last few miles to a campground in the Twin Cities. Beer, good conversation, and friends made for a perfect end to that epic day. One I shant soon forget, and a perfect end to the summer for me. Thanks Jason, Matt, and Captain Bob. Oh yeah, and all you other Fargo-nauts and riders that showed up that day. That was sweet!

Then I was whisked off on a two month whirlwind that saw me in Utah, Nevada, and back home where I was scheduled to appear in Nebraska again. Unfortunately, the Nebraska trip never materialized due to a family emergency. The Fargo was limited to commutes and shorter area rides during this time.

Fall set in, and I haven't had the opportunity to get in a big adventurous ride, but I still am getting the Fargo out on local single track and commuting. Now a year has swept by since I have had this bike around. Amazing!

I can honestly say that the Fargo is the best fitting bike I have around. It is super fun to ride. It ranks up there as one of my favorite two bikes I have here. (The other being the OS Bikes Blackbuck) and if I had to get rid of all my bikes but one, it would be really hard to do it, but I think the Fargo would win out. It is just sooo versatile, fun, and it rides really well.

All I know is that I can't wait to see where the Fargo takes me in the next year! I want to go farther and do more with it. It's gonna be a good time!

Muddin'

2009-11-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===Things got a bit messy out there!

One thing about riding in the Green Belt is that if it's muddy, you really can't hurt anything by riding in it. Those trails get so flooded so often that the constant deposit/erosion factor far outweighs any damage one measly bicycle could ever think of doing.

Not that you should ride out here when it is muddy, because if you do you can do incalculable damage to your bicycle if you are not careful.

<===That Dissent 2.5 tire is a great mud tire. It floats!

Since I am intimately familiar with this trail, having been on it often through the years, I understand how things can go. I only use it during times like this for tire testing. So it was that I rode the WTB Dissent 2.5"er to find out how it dealt with the sticky, gooey river bottom silt that lines Black Hawk Creek's bottoms.

<====I found a great bike camping spot in the midst of these Red Cedars by accident.

I found out that the Dissent/Gordo combination was excellent in mud and sand out there. Lots of floatation. But not enough to "float" me across the water that cut my forward progress off not far from Meyer's Lake. I ended up hike-a-biking through the scrub until I came across this awesome bike camping spot. I will have to remember that area when it comes time to test out some camping gear and sort out a good bike packing set up. The site was really well hidden, although there was evidence that I am not the only one aware of the place, as I found a fire ring with the remnants of a not too ancient fire still visible.

<===Tooth sharpening evidence.

Once I got out of that area, I found my way to the lake trail, which is usually high and dry. It was, but I did find some evidence of beaver activity. Beavers have come and gone in the Green Belt before, and now it seems that they are back again.

I finished out the ride on the bike path and wended my way back to my home. It wasn't a fast ride, so I ended up being out two hours! In dry conditions, I can do a similar loop in under an hour easily. Not so fast today! Mud and wet ground will do that to you, not to mention the bushwhacking I had to do in spots.

I got some time in on a new hydration pack and some fancy-schmancy bottles I received for testing too, but that will come in another post. Stay tuned............

What's This?!!

2009-11-04T01:00:00.001-05:00

So last week I posted shots of the Gun Kote El Mariachi frame on this here ol' blog. That prompted the following comment from George Wissell from Bike29: "OK, OK, that bike will look totally awesome with a purple King headset on it....Send it to the shop?"

I responded in the comments with "Yes! Please and thank you!" But you all know the sort of silly banter that goes on in these comment sections on blogs. Besides- we're talking about a purple Chris King head set here. You can't get one anymore. So I figured it was just George taunting me with this "dangling carrot". I never for a moment let myself believe he was actually going to send the thing. I mean.............really!

So, this box comes in Monday. Mail call! Box for Guitar Ted! Wha?!!!!.............

I look inside and holy cats!!!!!

Here it is all spread out so you can see it better.

A couuple of cool t-shirts, Swiftwick woolies in the Bike29 livery, a sticker, and............

.............that purple Chris King head set!!!!

Amazing! I was floored.

Thanks to George at Bike29. You are too kind, my friend!

And as for this purple Chris King head set? Yeah.............it's safely installed in the El Mariachi ala sinister style. Looks great, if I say so myself. I'm still not quite ready to show the El Mariachi yet. I'm getting some details taken care of, and more goodness is being devised for it which may take awhile to come to fruition.

Speaking of goodness for the El Mariachi, I should also take a second to point out that "Bobby the Ogre" from Salsa Cycles sent me some transfers for the stem. (Awesome! Thanks dude!) So that will lend a nice touch to the bike. I'll be working on this rig, testing it out, working on it, and as soon as everything I am expecting to pull together for it comes in, I'll post a pic or two. Until then, I will remain in "image silence" on the project. It'll be good! So stay tuned!

Touring Tuesdays: The Road From Here

2009-11-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I want to first thank everyone for following along as I told the stories behind my two big cross country tours back in the 90's. Getting to tell these stories was a big kick for me, as it was something I wanted to do for years and the blogging format finally gave me a reason to put that stuff out there. Again, thanks for putting up with my story telling!

So, the question is, what happens to "Touring Tuesdays"? I have been thinking about this since mid-summer as I was planning out the telling of the "Race Against Death Tour". I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do- if anything- until I wrote the last entry to the final big tour story last week. I was thinking about those times- pretty crazy times- that went along with the mid-90's era where I worked at a bike shop and right afterwards a car repair joint. I figured some of those stories would make for some fun reading, so I have come up with an idea.

I thought I could relate some of those crazy stories from the era of my first bike shop job. I can't promise that they all will be riveting reading, or maybe all that interesting, but I will put it out there and let ya'all decide. I will be calling it, "Bike Shop Tales", and it will include things like what it was like working in this shop, the day to day stuff, nights on the town, bits and pieces of my life from then, and even a few ride stories.

I'll post it every Tuesday, but it won't be "Touring Tuesdays", of course. For some of you, that will be enough for you to tune out, but I thank you for reading. For the rest of you, hold on for next week and the first edition of "Bike Shop Tales". I guarantee you'll get to read some stuff that will surprise you about me!

Back In The Saddle Again

2009-11-02T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===The last day of October was pretty.......pretty windy!

So after several days off the bike due to weather, sickness, and work related reasons, I finally got a commute in on Friday and Saturday morning I got cut loose for a longer ride. Being that the trails had been soaked with several inches of rain of late, I launched an "adventure" ride instead.

I observed that the wind was out of the northwest and was gusty, so I set off in that general direction, which works great for me since it takes you right into the best adventure ride stuff around in Waterloo/Cedar Falls. I headed right for the new road through the old John Deere assembly works, just to see what was going on.

Amazingly, the old plant is being dismantled piece by piece, building by building. A process that started in the 1980's and continues on to this day. I have been casually observing the disappearance of the place all along. Well, now there are so many buildings gone that there is room for a new connector street. It is basically done, but I was just riding through to see it. Remarkable, since not more than four years ago where this road is I used to service tricycles in the truck shop there. Weird! But probably not as weird as what some of the former 16,000 strong labor force that used to work there thinks about it all.

Then it was on to Shirey way/Hartman Reserve. I had noticed grading and signs of construction there back in September, and it needed checking into. Dirt roads are always fun anyway. But to my surprise, the road had been graveled with some dang huge rocky chunk. Like rip-rap almost. That fact was made even more absurd by the observation that I made. The rock, freshly laid, was already sinking into the previous mud holes that had been there for years. Band aid- didn't work! Oh well! Our tax dollars hard at work and all..........

Well, I went through to Pfieffer Park, across the bridge, on over to the North loop trail around the lake. It was really windy, and pushing the 37 X 18T was working me pretty good.

<===Hey little guy! Kinda late for you to be out, eh?

I stopped here to use the restroom at the northwest side of the lake and adjust the grips and bars I was using. Amazing how a little tweak on the Antler Bar and the Ergon grips can make a huge difference in comfort!

Anyway, back on now and heading towards Black Hawk Park where I noticed I was running out of time. I needed to be home to get ready for church and play in the band, so I planned on just short jaunt into the park and back on the bicycle trail. However, the park was closed. Gated off. Seemed there was a bit of flooding. All that rain and all, ya know.

So on the way home, I saw where I had ridden once was now under water. Well! I guess the water is still on the way up! No wonder the park was closed. Not much eventful happened after that, but it was a great two and half hours anyway. Not the gravel adventure that was held up north this weekend that I wanted to go on, but it was something.

And I'm just glad to be riding!

Trans Iowa V6: Thoughts Part III

2009-10-31T01:00:00.002-05:00

<====Trans Iowa V6 mobile office/recon vehicle will be seeing lots of gravel miles soon.

Note: If you haven't already caught on, I'll be posting regular updates on Trans Iowa V6 of the more "non-official" type here every Friday or Saturday. Just so you know......

Spot Tracking Comments: The jury is still out on this, but I want to thank all the folks that chimed in and gave me their two cents. I really appreciate that. No......really!

You never really know quite how to take comments, since there is no "voice inflection", no emotions attached, so I find it curious how several commenters said something to the effect of, ".....it's your race, run it your way and we'll show up." I get that on a very simple level. T.I.V6 will be run how d.p. and I see fit and you either will come or you won't. Yes. I understand. However; I don't get how that affects you folks opinions on GPS units and specifically using Spot tracking for Trans Iowa. Especially in light of some of the very considered and passionate comments I got otherwise.

It's like if I were to say, "We're going to ram bamboo shards under your fingernails and waterboard you as a qualifier for entry.", and you guys saying, "....whatever! It's your race, etc........" I am just making observations, so don't read too much into this. I just find that part curious.

Other than that, I really do appreciate the comments, I consider all of them, and if I see a trend in thinking, or if I get a well thought out, considered opinion for or against something, I weigh that heavily into my decision making. So, it makes a difference to Trans Iowa and ultimately you- the competitors- if you do chime in.

So, what do I mean in real terms here? What about this issue?

Well, to a commenter, everyone expressed remorse about the "no T.I. Radio" thing. It seems that ya'all got a charge out of it, used it as a sort of "audio post card", or had relatives and friends that thought it was cool. Okay.....point taken.

On Spot Tracking: I didn't get a very positive response to this. I got some very well thought out reasons for not having it, and a lot of ambivalent comments. It seems that this idea is on the ropes from a competitors standpoint. I will say that from a directors standpoint, there is some reasons to desire this. It will be weighed carefully and in light of the T.I. Radio comments. I'll make an announcement around Registration time.

And what of Registration? It will be announced around mid-November. Stay tuned!

Gravel Racing Series: Well, you knew it had to happen sooner or later! Yes, some of the "under the radar" classics are banding together into a series. Mostly located in Minnesota, the Almanzo Gravel Road Series "Race For The Cup" consists of The Almanzo 100, The Ragnorok 105, "The Gentleman's Ride", The Heck Of The North, and the lone Iowa event, CIRREM. (All links can be found for these events from the AGRS site)

Of course, there has been talk of creating a "Gravel Triple Crown" series for several years now, even before a Nebraska based event existed. Now that the GLGA is up and running, the talk of the "Gravel Triple Crown" has resurfaced with Trans Iowa and Dirty Kanza 200 filling out the limestone triumvirate. Of course, it is all just talk right now, but if what I am hearing actually happens? Yeah.......... Crazy stuff!!! And throw into that mix that the GLGA is going to be the "Official Gravel World Championships" , well, things could get "big". And well........I have some reservations about that.

I'll keep it brief and just say that these developments most likely signal a slippery slope downwards. You see it all the time with stuff like this. You can call me pessimistic, crazy, and downright wrong if you want to. I say, let's revisit this in five years and see. I am not saying this is all doomed, just doomed to change, and I wonder if it'll be for the better. I'm not feeling all that great about it sitting here today. That's all I'll say.

Friday News And Views

2009-10-30T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===Hey! It's sooner than ya think!

Whelp! It's the end of October, and the end of Daylight Savings Time, (turn em back Saturday night, ya'all!), and the end of fall. That means the annual Turkey Burn ride at The Camp is going to be real soon. Generally the last off road ride, (or there abouts) of the season. So if you are around, make plans to show up. Plus, you won't want to eat too much turkey, or you will miss out on the chili!

Hard to believe winter is nigh, but it is folks!

<====Thinking these would be nice on the El Mariachi Gun Kote frame.

Scouring the Globe for appropriate parts to hang on that El Mariachi I've been posting so much about in the last week. Purple stuff? Yeah....we'll see. I have started the build, but some stuff might be awhile in coming. Hopefully it'll be my Turkey Burn ride.

<====Still diggin' the Carnegie's Bar

Saw on Twenty Nine Inches where Brant Richards dropped the info on us all that three versions of the Carnegie's Bar would eventually be released. The one you see here, a version identical to it, save for the logo being inverted for those sick puppies that want to run this bar upside down, but can't deal with the logo thing, and a "flat" version. (No rise)

Also there was a hint dropped that this bar will appear in another material someday. Veeery Interesting!! I will say that this bar has become a favorite of mine, but then again, I am a bar freak. I have a ton of handle bars. Always trying to "get a grip" but never quite do! Ha ha!

<====So many things about this pic just make me smile!

Scammed this one off of Gary Fisher's Twitter feed. It is Gary in the backround on a fully modern 29"er FS rig following Charlie Kelly on a period correct clunker caught here in mid-drift. (On Mt. Tam, I hear) Old school guys, old vs new bike, birthplace of modern mountain biking, old versus new garb, and gravel!

That's just a cool shot and pretty much sums up mountain biking in one image for me. Nice!

Have a great weekend folks! Ride yer bike right into Standard Time................and beyond!

Forced Rest Period

2009-10-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

<===Quite possibly the oddest Ergon grip set up ever.

The Pofahl is now all set up with the Antler Bar and I went ahead and put on some spanking Ergon grips. This set up is awesome comfort-wise. I can't wait to put in a multi-hour ride on this set up to see, but I am sure it will pass with flying colors. The bars? Goofy looking, but they so remind me of drop bars without the drop part. Brilliant!

<====In the "Whatever Happened To That Trend" file.....

So I was playing around with some old stuff on the computer the other day and came across the image here from T.I.V2. Notice the "prayer rug"? I remember back in the day when these were a big deal on a lot of guys bikes. Whatever happened to that trend? (Or maybe more correctly- Was it ever a trend?)

I guess I thought it was kinda funny and cool. Maybe we should have a T.I.V6 carpet sponsor that would make us about 50 of those with embroidered race numbers right on them. How cool would that be? (I know, I know........but I've had a lot of time to sit and think lately. More on that in a minute)

<===England just seems to be chock full of these "epic landscapes".

So, being a cold weather cyclist and all, I pricked up my ears when I got an e-mail the other day from a guy introducing Finisterre, a U.K. based technical clothing company. So what? Well, they are a pretty environmentally conscientious company that uses techniques that are winning them awards, getting them in seminars in front of companies like Nike and adidas, and have helped save and develop their own exclusive breed of Merino bearing sheep. All this out of a six person company located on the northeastern coast of Cornwall, U.K. If you want to see a company that is in tune with today's conscious and "gets it" when it comes to "green" and manufacturing, but still has kick butt outerwear, check this out. I was really impressed.

<===Meet "The Enabler"

When I was at Interbike, Salsa Cycles Mike, "Kid" Reimer says to me, "Hey, ya got a minute?" as he looked around like he was about to pull out some illicit drug to peddle me. Well, what he showed me was a "fat fork". Or for those of you who are uninitiated into snow bike terminology, a fork that's really wide! Wide enough to swallow a Surly Endomorph or Larry 26 X 3.7 inch tire. This fork has a wider front spacing too, so it takes a rear wheel standard (135mm) width mountain bike hub. So, your next question might be, "What is this good for?" Good question, and the Enabler fork seeks to "enable you" to find out. (Get it?) If you do, this might be right up your alley. When will you get your hands on one if you want it? Another good question, but if all goes well, I wouldn't be surprised to see this come into stock yet this winter. Maybe later in winter, but we'll see.

So, I have been kid-sitting a sick child the last three days, and I have not been doing all that well either. (Sort of fatigued, and lethargic) It's looking as though I may get out to go to work today, but we'll see. A forced five days off the bike isn't at all what I had in mind, but it might just be what the doctor ordered. At least I have a serious itch to get out and do some riding, which is going to come in handy now that I have stuff to test and ride.

The Gun Kote Frame

2009-10-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

<=== It's here! (Formerly a Superior Blue El Mariachi)

Well, the Gun Kote frame is here and I am excited to be building up another single speed rig. Now mind you- I am taking one apart to get this one together, so it is a legit "add one, take one away" sort of situation, although the one that is being "taken away" might return again someday!

Enough about that. This turned out really neat. I like it a lot. It has a sort of eggplant color in the natural light, but the camera flash brought out the purple. If it's sunny out tomorrow, there may be some glamour shots taken to see how it looks outside.

<===The Salsa Cycles CrMoto stem got the Gun Kote treatment as well.

If you haven't been schooled up on Gun Kote, check out this post on it. That should get you up to speed on this amazing frame treatment. I hear it is tough, durable, and actually keeps rust out of the frame as well.

I'll be testing the claims, but some of them are apparently true just from looking at this frame.

<===Inside the EBB shell.

One of the verifiable claims is that of the thinness of the coating. It is thin! Check out the inside of that EBB shell and you can see the scoring from the previous installment of the Busnell EBB. You can even make out the tooling marks on the shell from the manufacturing!

By the way, there was white dusty stuff from the packing that is showing on the edge there and looks like bare metal. I assure you- it is not! I just didn't notice it until after I took the pic with the flash on, which showed it up. At any rate, it is easy to see this coating is thin, yet they claim it wears like iron. Tough to believe, but I aim to find out!

<===Check out those threads!

Another claim is that you do not have to chase out threads, again because of the thinness of the coating. Looking at these derailleur drop out threads, I'd have to agree!

It is a cool product that might revolutionize the way we get frames coated someday. My understanding is that the process is still in evolution and new techniques and effects are being pulled off with this Gun Kote all the time.

<===And there will be a build going on soon....

Yes, and I will be kitting this out with some cool stuff. I have a White Industries ENO crank set, and I have a Cane Creek short travel Thudbuster seat post coming to test which will go on this initially. I am going to put a suspension fork on it, but the jury is still out on that one. A decision on that will affect wheel choice, and brakes, so I am waiting for those "dominoes" to fall yet.

I suppose a purple part or two might look at home here. That said, I am gunning for Chris King stuff, and the only known available NOS King headset in purple in the world belongs to an East Coast Evil Genius. Knowing his love for all things purple ano, I won't be seeing a purple King headset anytime soon! Not unless I pry it from his cold, dead fingers, or Chris King starts up the magical Purple anodizing machine again. Neither of which are likely to happen. (I like "G" too much to do any harm to him, ya know?)

So the build will likely head in a red ano direction instead. Stay tuned!

Touring Tuesdays: The Race Against Death Tour- Angel Or Devil?

2009-10-27T01:00:00.001-05:00

With the "Race Against Death Tour" over and done with, a few days after arriving at home a party was thrown in honor of the three travelers at the home of their boss from the bike shop.....

August 19th, 1995: With the tour behind us we went back to our "regular" lives at the bike shop. It was still pretty busy, being August and all, and I slipped right back into the regular routine. Saturday after work was going to be a big party at Tom's house for our return home. More of an excuse for a party, rather than a real reason, but what the heck, ya know?

So I decided to ride my bike over since I planned on having a few beers and escaping the notice of "The Law" on my bicycle after being "under the influence" was easier on two wheels under my own power. So it was that I pedaled over and found the party just beginning. It was just like any other gathering for me. I never was too adept at being "in the flow" of a party with a bunch of people, and this time was no different. I sat around, made a few comments, and had my fair share of beer. Later in the evening, I decided to bug out. I wasn't really feeling it.

And to be honest, it was a anti-climatic deal anyway. I was done with the most exciting thing I had ever done on a bicycle with no prospects of anything around the corner, an empty house, and no one to share my experiences with. WooHoo! Yeah.....big deal and all. So I turned the ol' Mongoose towards home and waved goodbye.

Now in those days, I didn't ride much with a light. I usually went at a fairly easy pace in the dark and just took it easy. We had bike paths, so staying out of harms way was easy to figure out. Back streets and bike paths all the way home, and I'd be in the sack trying to forget about all of this. Or so I thought. Turned out that this last hurrah for the tour had a pretty weird punctuation mark!

My plan was to hit the main bike path through George Wyth State Park, link up to the East Lake Trail, which would dump me out near the San Souci bridge. Then some industrial area back streets would guide me to my neighborhood and home. About a ten mile ride in all. It started out just grand. No wind, coolish temperatures, and plenty of street lights to guide me on the way into Geo. Wyth. That's where the speeds were dropped down really low. Darkness in that canopied trail was thick and it was hard to see. That being gotten through, I figured it was a no-brainer now the rest of the way in. That is until I got to the start of the Sans Souci bridge.

I heard crying. Crying like a young ladies cry, and it was saying, "Please help me!" between heavy sobs. I stopped to make sure I was hearing this for real. Yep! No doubt about it, and I could tell it was coming from the direction of the grassy sided dike that lined the river here. I dismounted my bike in search of the source of this crying. Well, it didn't take long to find it. A young woman laying in the grass. She looked to be a teenager. Maybe in her very early 20's at best. I told her I wasn't going to hurt her as she shrank away from me at first. I said I only wanted to know if she needed help. She sat up and said yes, she did need help. She had been pushed out of her boyfriend's car and had no way home. I said, "Pushed out of a car! Are you okay?!" She said she didn't know.

I asked her to stand up if she could, and she did with little effort. Well, at least she was moving all right, and I couldn't see any outward signs of trauma. I began to suspect her of lying about the car deal. She seemed really out of sorts too. Maybe high on something. Who knows in this town! Well, things seemed odd, at best, but I figured I could at least get her home. She steadied herself on my arm as I pushed my bicycle with the other, and we started out down the side walk.

I asked her again about the car, since it seemed rather incredible that she could have been dumped out of a moving car without injury. Well, it seemed the car had been at a stop when she was shoved out. Okay.......maybe she's legit, I am thinking now. Well, apparently she had broke the news that she was pregnant. Okay......now I'm upset and concerned!

I felt really bad for this gal now and was determined to see her get home. I kept telling her it would be okay- we'd get there- don't worry about me. At one point she tugged me to a stop and asked, "Are you an angel?" Hmmm.....I shrugged that off. I was taken aback. Surely this was the oddest thing anybody had ever said to me. I just wanted to keep moving, but I felt an odd feeling inside me when she asked that question. Then, in an instant, all hell broke loose.

Red lights were flashing all around us. An intercom voice said, "Put your hands where we can see them and move away from each other! Slowly!" A blinding light was in our eyes. It was two squad cars and I could see men moving cautiously towards us. Well, I was confused! What the........... And then I was answering questions. "No sir, I don't know her name. No, I have no idea why she was there. I was just trying to help her." Meanwhile, I could hear her upset pleas to not bother me. That I had nothing to do with the deal. I told the cop my story, and then he asked that I just stay put for a bit while they pieced the story together from the young women's side. I agreed to stand still and wait.

Maybe it was ten minutes, I don't know, but it seemed like an hour. I stood there and then after that excruciatingly long wait, a cop ambled back towards me. He said, "Well, it's obvious to us you had nothing to do with her and what happened to her, so we're going to let you go. But, I suggest you head straight home!" he stated firmly. I said, "Don't worry about that, Sir!" And with that, I mounted up. As I pedaled away, I heard the young lady say thanks. I waved goodbye.

As I started across the street to hit the last couple of miles to the house I was freaked, amazed, happy, and wired all at once. I swore I would get home as fast as I could. I didn't want anymore weirdness on this night, as I figured I had burned through all my "good luck cards" already that night. I passed through quiet city streets quickly, reached my house, and hit my bed still breathing hard. I was at home.

It was all over.