Sac is Starting to get fun

There has been a lot of trail work at Sac in the past year or so.  The trails are looking good & the randomness is gone.  Now nice long single track sections.  Still a flat mecca.  Can't remember the last time I rode out there & didn't get a flat.  Rear tire today.  Guess if I'm going to keep riding out there I need to go tubeless.  Very fall like today.  Cool temps, overcast & lots of leaves falling.

Bike Tech Sunday

My bikes were in desperate need of some TLC. Sunday I spent the vast majority of the day overhauling & modifying.

Look closely. See the tricks?

Shrink tubing to hide the cables.
That's a die spring to give me a better feeling brake action on the TT bike. TT bikes are notorious for shitty brakes. Not with this little trick. Snaps right back & very linear.

New to me Dura Ace 7800 crank & external BB. No more Octa Link on this rig.

Back to my old sponsor Oury Grips. Not the lightest option but hard to find a cushier grip. No more bruised palm for me.

That's right. I built my road bike back up. I figured if TK the dirt road king did maybe I should as well & give my CX bike a well deserved rest.

I know white before Memorial Day, but need a little pizzaz. Thinking white saddle as well.

This Sucks!

***Bone Bender Postponed***

The official word from the trail boss....

Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this latest round of rain just put us over the top on soaking the trails and making them un-rideable for this coming weekend. Sorry but we will have to postpone the Bonebender MTB race until the scheduled make up date of April 18th comes around.

I am just as bummed as you are about this but the volunteers who build and maintain all these sweet trails will appreciate your respect of the trails by not wanting to damage them with a race in muddy conditions.

Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to seeing all of you at the Bonebender MTB race on April 18th!

John Harter,
Trail Manager Smithville Lake Trails



I was looking forward to racing on the dirt. Oh well I need more 3+ hour rides anyway. What is bad is the make up date is the day before the Tour de Tick MTB race in Neosho. That would conflict with my one race a month policy. HMMMM

Dave Wiens:Mountain Biker

This is a bit old but worth the 5 minutes to watch. Dave & Susan are two of the nicest people on the planet. Dave is a Gunnison Icon. Didn't get to ride with Dave too much but logged miles with Susan & Jason Stubbie who is also in the video. A little brief footage of some bad ass trails @ Hartman's as well. Makes me want to call up Irwin & do a little rode trip.

Don't like the weather? Wait 5 minutes

Saturday AM I woke up @ 6 to let the dogs out. No snow as predicted. Came back 30 minutes later to let the dogs in.

In an hour 2.54cm had piled up on the deck. Guess the weather guys were right just off on the time.

Sunday I decided since the sun was out I'd head to Sac for some frozen trail time. Got in a couple hours before the thaw started & started freezing mud to the bike. My toes froze so it was time to head home to a bowl of left over chili from Saturday.

Knobbies part Deux...psssssttttt!

Two days in a row on the MTB. Got out after work. Put my headlamp in my pocket just in case it got dark on me. Last year Amber & I got a new water proof/impact resistant camera to replace the one that didn't survive the trip to the Dave show. Its nice since you can throw it your pocket & forget about it. That means more pictures.

It got dark on me because its not a ride @ Sac without the beloved thorn. Front tire this time. Cheap tubes are going on the shelf & Conti's are being ordered this AM. Conti's tubes have better rubber & removable valve stems so you can put Stan's in them. In the winter I always stick a vest in my pocket just in case. Once the sun went down in got really cold in a hurry even with the insulated skin suit on. The vest made the trip back to the car bearable.

BRRRR! Found out the head lamp needs new batteries as well.

A little tuning & the R7 is damn plush. Reading is a valuable skill.

Friday at work I fixed a problem on a machine that had been going on for over two years. According to the operator 5 different maintenance guys have tried unsuccessfully to fix it. It took some head scratching & a lot of beating my head against the side of the machine. Give a guy a print, a meter & a little common sense & you can fix anything.

Not my actual opponent but the same model. Did I mention the manual is in Japanese not English?

Knobbies

I finally broke down & pulled the semi slicks off the MTB & put on some real knobbies. Thanks to a "flextime" like system I was able to bail early Thursday to get in some dirt/mud time in just shorts & a jersey in January!!

Sometimes you have to like Global Warming.

It wouldn't be a ride @ Sac without a flat. Took about 45 minutes. Sections are pretty muddy so its easy to pick up the beloved thorn.

After a good couple of hours. Its a start on my build up to the Bone Bender. Hopefully I can get on the MTB once or twice a week before March. I guess trail conditions will dictate that.

The knobbies(we'll call them that for now since I have several sets to try before determining what I'll stick with)worked pretty good. Great for the dry loose conditions, but sucked in the mud. Clogged too easily. Its been a long time since I've been on a really good MTB & the Kona is F.U.N.! to ride. I would bet in a short track it would be incredible, though way to fast for me. I need to sit down with the R7 manual & learn a little more about it to get it dialed better. I bottomed it out a few too many times. Just my current lack of knowledge on "modern" MTB technology.


Mia is at Nanny & Granddad's house this weekend so its a mommy & daddy weekend! Plus I get a chance to hang out with my two wheel BFF(Amber's word's).

2009 Races

First race of '09 for me. That's right an MTB race. Will be the first one since 1996. Plus it's a Chris Locke race & I'm a huge supporter of Chris Locke races after he stepped up & helped me out during CX season. I'm excited. Now I just have to get out & log some hours on the MTB.

When life kicks you in the nutz....

go mountain biking. I think that might become my new motto.

An hour worth of the above is worth more than a whole bottle of anything a shrink can prescribe you. At one point I was singing Xmas carols I was having so much fun. My back is F'd though today. Turns out when you get to my age you can only switch back & forth between 2 bikes not 3, especially one you haven't ridden in about 6 months. For you overly observant readers yes that is a flat rear & yes those were the WRONG tires for the conditions at Sac. I didn't feel like swapping them out. That is also a 400mm seatpost! Holy Treefarm. I figured its a Kona why not.


Mia is now designing her own clothes.

Since I'll probably be a no show at Natz I'm practicing my viewing by reading about the USGP final in Portland via the live feed. CXMag is doing it for Natz as well.

18 days till CX

First is anyone besides me bothered by the fact that Hamilton is now the US Road Pro Champ? Irks me. Yes he's done his time, but he's not man enough to admit his wrong doing. Pony up, admit it, & I'll have a little more respect(not much, but a little). I'm taking 3 days off next week to follow the ToM. If he's a last minute addition I think I'll make a giant hypodermic needle with his name on the side. Then stand on the side of the road all down the course. Then on Wednesday chase him up the hill with it during the TT.

Pate is the peoples choice for US Pro Champ anyway. The guy is the perennial bridesmaid at US Pro. I really want him to get the stars & bars soon. I loved his off handed remark about doping control @ US Pro's.

I read the live feed on Sunday as the race was going. Huff tore it up! On the front all day. Just wish he would have placed instead of that DNF. But hell he earned that DNF. Now he has to rest up to get ready to take on Cavendish. Speaking of Cav did anyone watch the Tour of Ireland coverage? He made the fields look like a bunch of cat 5's when he took off. Also on the ToI. If Magnus Backstedt has a JoB next year I'll be shocked. Dude has done nothing but DNF this year. His job at the ToI was to lead out Julian Dean. He never made it past the 1 K to go without totally blowing up. David Millar did more of a lead out.

My ToM plan is to watch Euro style. Watch it go by, hop on back roads till I get ahead of it, then stop & watch it go by, & repeat till the finish. I need to figure out how to listen in to the race radio. I found the spreadsheets with ETA's, etc that the UCI uses.

Friday I got in a pretty good MTB ride, first one in quite awhile. Little dry & dusty @ Sac though don't think that will last with all the rain predicted. Enough rain to make me think I might get to do some cross training in the water this week. I hope it rains a ton since I'm tired of feeling like I'm dieing everyday with my allergies. I got in a tempo ride on the Frisco trail yesterday & between the dust & the pollen I felt like death warmed over the rest of the day. Sat on the couch & read the rest of the day doped to the gills on allergy meds.

Riverside Storm & MTB Spec'ing

Steve Tilford has some pics on his blog of the storm that canceled Sunday's race. Read the blog entry about Toyota United. I'm not pointing fingers but doesn't Tilford's guys usually take all the prize money @ races? Though not to the extent Toyota Untied did. They did pretty much ruin the race from what I heard.

My mtb fork finally showed up so its time to build her up & start hitting the dirt! I guess they had production problems & didn't ship them till this week. 1.27kg claimed weight will be nice compared to my old lead rod I was hauling around. I have Hayes Stoker Carbon's to stop me. This is my first go around with disc brakes so it could be interesting. The rotors are attached to Sun Ringle hoops.
The brake levers will be attached to Answer Hyperlite Carbon bar & ATAC XC lite stem.
I'm guessing when all is said and done my mtb will be around 9 kilos give or take.

Tire Talk

Words on tires by those who know.

Tires

AHHH CRAP!

Just when I thought I had whittled the wish list down to a manageable level I go & see this:

Lucky Bastards

The Goods.

How cool is this?? Man I'd like one. I used to really want one of the originals.

Uni Pics

This pic is for TM. Plus its the view most people will get of the Slimen Unis, from behind.

The Gun Show for Hogan. You wish you had pythons like mine.

My podium girl.

Slimen Unis

New team kit showed up this AM. Looks cool all black with old English Lettering.I'm sure TM will rate it high on his list of cool kits in the peloton. Boulevard Brewing Sixth Glass has signed on as a sponsor so even cooler unis will be out this summer.
I have a love/hate relationship with this beer. I found out the hard way you should only drink one bottle at a time (10.5% alc by vol). I'm still saying the tuna played a key roll in it taking me down though.

08 Team

Post XMAS ????

I got a gift card to A&B for XMAS (really my bday it was a little late). I'm going to retire my old semi slicks & purchase some new tread with it. What should I get? Remember I'm running tubes & refuse to run tires over 2.1. I've always like Conti's but I'm looking for something that's a good all round tire for the mixed conditions Sac has. Suggestions? I'm thinking Continental Speed King or Mountain King Protection though both are 2.2 so I'll have to change that 2.1 rule.

I'm once again gainfully employed. Start in around a week or so. I'm taking over the helm of the maintenance department at Buckhorn. I guess its about time to do the grind again. I low balled myself though, should have asked for more since I think I could have gotten it. Oh well. The plant is in the Partnership complex so I'll be TM's neighbor. Not going to be able to commute by bike either since Mia has to go back to daycare for a few hours everyday now since Amber is working 2nd at her new Massage digs. I'll have to do the 2 a day split workout routine again.

Night ride off

Looks like everyone bailed on the night ride. I'll head out early then by myself & not have to worry about stopping every 30 sec waiting for everyone to get their skirts out of their chains.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Break out the lights. TM has spoken, the date is set. Friday Night Lights (Skip that gives you 48+hours notice). 6PM should give us a nice start on the cold & dark. Nut Sac parking lot. If it doesn't work for you tough you should have spoken up. Kudos to TM for manning up & speaking his voice for a change. So quiet and unopinionated that one.

Lights?

Its that time of year. Racing is done, gets dark around noon, temps drop to about -50F. That means conditions are perfect for some night riding at nut sac. Pump up those nobbies to 90psi, warm up the lights, bundle up, lets get in some night riding. Anyone, anyone?