X-mess Ride...

Burnsey Rollin'

Ran out on Christmas for a quick ride at SMP. It was freggin' chilly riding down the Lawrence hill. I about froze solid in that 1/2 mile. I then took the Mill Creek access trail into the park, climbed the hard hills up to Bluebird Point and then dove into the MTN Bike trails.

The Red trail was feeling good. I had finally adjusted my suspension fork to work as I like, and it was as if the rocks did not exist. Speaking of rocks not existing; There is a weird rock garden on the red trail, you know the one. It is a bizarre section of relatively flat single track through what appears to be an old pasture, and has a few dozen large rocks (approx 6-10" tall by anywhere from 1-3' wide) that look as though they were dumped across the landscape years ago. The line through the rocks is not really great due to this one lunker right in the middle of said trail that is just tall enough to bash your chain ring. The Red trail is relatively new, and this rock looks like it's been hacked at with an axe there are so many chain ring marks in it.

The Missing Rock...FOUND!

Going back to my 'rocks did not exist' comment; [The] trouble rock was gone. Someone had moved it (way) off the trail and left a crater in its place. I can't say that I was all that disappointed, but I am sure the other locals might have a fit about it. I took the liberty of filling in the hole where the rocks once lived, and the line through that section flows much better now, and is of course way easier (which is not as good). The rock was eventually located, about 20 yards off the trail.

Tim swears by the warmth of that ski helmet!

Just as I finished cleaning up the mess, Tim came around the corner on his new Moots SS and I joined him for a few miles of riding. We had a good time on the trail on a fairly nice Christmas day. It was good to get out and spin a little...

Junkyard Cyclocross...

My Bro Chasm turned me onto this lil' vid. Pretty much my idea of what CX should be...that is if I were ever too participate. This course is bad a$$...

Leg Explosion...

Had a great couple of rides over the weekend. Saturday I hit up Swope with Steve for a 2 hour ride that was great. Got to see Steve take a good fall on the newer technical section and thought he'd split his noggin in half, but I must have been seeing things because that tough ol' bird got up and tried the section two more times. Way to go Steve. We hit everything (that I know of) at Swope, including some new, un-burnt trails that we got fairly lost on (probably shouldn't have been riding them anyway). Had a great time on the SS and hope to make it out there again asap. My legs keep blowing up early...but as the ride went on, I felt better and better. It takes me a good hour + to get tuned to ride. No wonder I hate CX!

Steve entering 8-pins

Sunday I did a few hours of riding from my casa into Shawnee Mission Park. I did the Ogg Rd/ Hill, which about kicks your a$$ three times over, and that was the warm-up. I've even pulled my kid up Ogg before in the kid trailer, successfully, on my SS. Today I swear there was a dead cow strapped and being dragged behind my bike. F-ing horrendously hard climb!

I took a detour to see how things are going on the 'under-construction' freeride trail. Looking pretty cool with some rad potential. Lots of flowy ups and downs and the first stunt that some Eagle Scout built looks strong enough to drive a garbage truck over. Sweet.

Over to the XC trail and into the goods. Met a few familiar faces on the trail, which for a guy like me is always a good excuse to stop and chat for 30 seconds (rest), then off again to the races. I had a great time and as usual I was able to exit on the new Red trail, which is great, then onto my super secret rogue stuff back to my house. The climb back up the Lawrence hill, which is required when riding from my house, about killed me, as once again my freaking legs have been dying lately. I need to train..but then again, screw training...I have too much fun having fun, and when its not fun, forget about it!

Good Read...

What are you waiting for? The weather is COLD, the mood is DULL so YOU need to check out my OLD BLOG POSTS. I just spent some time looking back at the last few years of cycling on SingleSpeedPirate and man, there is some great and entertaining shit on here! Check it out!

Irie Land...

Ireland is to host the 2011 Single Speed Worlds....YES!

I've always wanted to go to the motherland and now I have better-than-average excuse.

Landahl Drift...

Kansas City was blessed with clear skies and 50+ degree temperatures on Thursday and Friday. In December that is just never a reality. I was so super F-ing psyched to get out and ride for hours and hours in the perfect weather on dusty trails. It never happened.
Saturday the temps dropped from 50+ down and down until well below stick-your-tongue-to-a-lamp-post temp. Snow was blowing with 40 m.p.h. wind gusts. Crazy! So much for taking advantage of that window of warm riding weather. Boo hoo, cry a freakin river.
Jesse, Travis, Garet, Kevin and I made plans to ride on Sunday. We knew it would be a challenge. We only had a dusting of snow, maybe a few inches at best, but with wind and a morning temp forecasted at 5 degrees, we planned for the worst and hoped for the best. Landahl was going to be the proving grounds and we were planning to tear it up until our toes froze.
Garet’s funny. He dawned his snowboarding helmet and camouflage balaclava to stay warm. Comedy is always a part of our rides…otherwise we’d all be 20 pounds lighter and be pulling a diamond out of our ass’ every other week; we don’t go there.
Landahl is one of Kansas City’s finest trails. The mix of ‘everything’ keep me coming back year after year. We started out on Rim Job, then Family Trail, on to Tasty Goodness and finished up on Swedish Erotica (I think this is what we did? I was the caboose so I just tried to keep up.) The tree roots and rocks (which are in abundance at Landahl) were all slick and would shift your bike suddenly from one side of the trail to another. I know I biffed hard at least twice, and the fellas had to of nailed snow covered dirt too…I was just in the back and never had the pleasure of the show. No one was hurt too bad and the ride was a success, even with Jesse’s mechanical issue; [He] lost two of his four chain ring bolts and almost a third. He rides a single speed, so there is some major power going down and with those bolts missing he bent his chain ring. Fortunately I carry this little bag of repair crap in my jersey pocket. I’ll post-up about the contents that later, but it will be some recommendations as to what is good to carry to be self sufficient on the trails. I happened to have a spare bolt and as far as the fourth…we rigged that crap back in order with a couple zip ties and he was good for the remainder of the ride. YES!
Our plan was to ride for an hour and a half, which we believed is all our exposed skin could take in the blistering cold. We ended up clocking-in just shy of three hours. It was a blast, My legs got blasted, bonked, cold. Good Times with the Original Ethos Posse, always good times.



Kill creek...

Killer time solo @ Kill Creek Today...

Three, Two9er, One...

Since I have no new and exciting rides to write about, I have been looking at old bike photos and thinking "maybe I should build another 29er, give those big wheels yet a third try". Maybe not...

Here's the last one I gave a go at. Custom Podium Frame made by Chris Chambers (That'd be Cameron Chambers uncle out of Denver, CO.) Helluva sweet ride...

And lets not forget about the Monkey...A tank but super fun.

I can't complain too much about the On-One Imbred...Wishing I still had all of these 29er's. Maybe I'd have learned how to ride one by now...

But, I do love the 26' bike. I always say "It's like riding a BMX for adults". I love the way I can toss the bike around with ease on technical terrain (my favorate). I love feeling all nimbly-bimbly like. I love how they blast off right from the start and I like the bike feeling small; not like I'm bare-back riding a giraffe. I've heard all the 29er hype, and I'm just not sold on it...yet, but at least I gave these three loyal steeds a go to see for myself.

Happy Trails!

Mobile image upload - test...

Surly Not...

Poor Harter... on his last hump day ride before he moves to a different state, on the trails he worked so hard to build, he goes and breaks his Karate Monkey...Sorry I was not there to heckle you Harter!



Rocket Man...

Garet made the mad dash into KC for the evening to 'ride bikes'. I was able to get a kitchen pass and join him, though we had to ride my local venue, the baby head death trail. I thought I was being a pussy always complaining about how much SMP beat my ass, every ride. This time it would be Garet making comments about the bumpy-ass workout. I feel better now.

The ride was fun, we cut it a mile or so short of the norm due to the temp dropping, for a total of only about 10 miles. We started out at about 8 p.m. and 32 degrees. When we arrived back at the house, it was near 20. My toes were freezing and I had what Ice Climbers refer to as the 'screaming cold barfees'. This is the feeling you get when your toes or fingers get so cold, then begin to re-warm. It hurts so bad you want to scream and makes you want to toss your cookies. Once rewarmed you are good to go.

All in all I had a fun ride. Garet...not too sure, though I now refer to him as the Rocket Man; this is because he can climb hills like a mutha-trucka! On the ride back to my casa there is a long climb that just zaps every last bit of energy you have. Rocket Man was a solid 150 yards ahead of me by the time he reached to top. Maybe I'm just slow.

And what of my newly installed suspension fork? All I can say is  'Amen to the squish'!

Totally Screwed...

I was forced, my arms twisted behind my back, to miss out on a few days of riding my bike over the thanksgiving holiday. Instead, I was dragged kicking and screaming out to Aspen, Colorado to spend T-day with some great friends, to ride my snowboard and to do some product testing for Spyder (Our friend LinZ works for Spyder and was out for the Women's Downhill World Cup Race). It's pretty crazy the style that Skiers and snowboarders are wearing theses days. We were hell-bent on putting together combinations to pull-off the best 80's style get-up. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

  

Durango Dave...

My old climbing buddy Dave stopped through town for a beer or two. He couldn't say no to the back yard playground, so I shot a few pics of him crushing some skinnies. I don't know why more of you pussies don't come over and play?

Of course Dave, who does not even own a bike, sent most of the stunts like he was still a teenager on a BMX. I think we have, on more than one occasion referred to him as 'off-the-couch Dave'. Good to see ya bro!

Elbow Pads...

a.k.a. Squishy Fork...
Just back from a fresh rebuild and suspension drop by the team at BikeSource. Thanks fellas!
Adds some weight, but lightens the load...

Training day...

yeah, I know how to get it done...

and so does little big man...



SMP Double Dipper...

Saturday I ran out for a quick test ride on the new digs. Had a fun time all alone at Shawnee Mission Park. Did a solid lap and am loving the Monolith. I am however looking forward to a call from BikeSource with news of either my Fox or White Brothers suspension forks being repaired and ready to pick-up. I am having some major tendonitis issues riding the baby-head, rock-garden madness that SMP provides. Since SMP is in my backyard, I’d prefer to be a bit more comfortable riding there (I’m there at least twice a week and am getting totally rattled). So with that said, my first changes to the new build is going to be a suspension fork. Call me a pussy, I can take it.

Sunday Night I hooked up with my good bros Travis and Jesse. Travis, Jesse, Cameron, Kevin and I are the founders of Ethos Racing. It’s always more than fun to ride with this crew and especially these two…being that we’ve been rock climbing pals for going on 15 years.

Jesse had his new build out for it’s maiden voyage; a Fixed Gear Specialized Stumpy 29er. F-ing Jesse, the ”Manimal” was riding that sucker like he was born on it. It was ride two for me on the Monolith and Travis was just riding for fun on his blingy carbon full suspension after a bummer of a day CX racing (blew off his chain and bent the crap out of his rings and more…). So we headed out for one of my members only rides; the complete mountain bike loop and a few miles of top secret 'other' trail in the darkness. I must have wrecked six freakin times. All ended well and we followed [that] action up by tossing back a few of these…

I am loving the new SS. Feels great and will feel even better with a squishy fork, can’t wait. YAHOO!!!

Vicious Cycles - Monolith...

Over the weekend I was able to get my new Vicious Cycles Monolith Single Speed built-up. I enjoy building up new bikes and this was no exception. The Reynolds 853 steel frame is light and the Vicious paint job is awesome. I could not believe how great this frame looked when I pulled it from the box. My expectations were blown out of the water for sure. Dougy-Fresh hooked me up with this rig and I am very psyched and grateful to him for sending the frame my way. I have already made use of the sweet bottle opener that is welded to the bottom of the rear triangle… a couple of times.

So as you loyal Blog-readers know, I broke my Rock Lobster in August and this is it’s replacement. Special Thanks to Sean at the Trek store for taking a few minutes to help me swap the BB and Headset off the Rock Lobster and onto the new Monolith. That saved me about an hour of driving to the Ethos Racing Garage to do it myself! Almost all of the components are directly off the old Rock Lobster build.

 

Build List for you Tech Freaks: 22 lbs

Vicious Cycles Monolith SS Steel Frame – Team Paint
Thomson Stem & Post
Chris King Headset
Ritchey Carbon Low Rise Bar

Ergon GX-1 Grips

Avid Juicy Seven Hydraulic Disc Brakes

Pace RC-31 rigid Carbon Fork

WTB Silverado Saddle

White Industries ENO Cranks

32 tooth White Industries Chainring

17 tooth White Industries ENO Freewheel

Crank Brother Candy Ti Pedals

SRAM 8-speed Chain

Chub SS Hubs

DT Swiss 42D Rims

Maxxis Crossmark 2.1 Rear Tire (tubeless)

Specialized The Captain 2.2 Front Tire (tubeless)

Salsa Lip Lock Collar
Bontrager Race Lite Cages
Shimano Square Taper BB

So she’s built and ready for a ride. I hope [that] happens very soon. When it does, you’ll hear about it!



Guy in a Brown Uniform...

Dropped this off at my house Friday...

Lifestyle...

New Digs...

Special thanks to Dougy-Fesh for the hook-up. I'm super-psyched to get this frame in the mail some time very soon, to build her up and take her for that ever so blissful maiden voyage. It's been to long without a freewheel. I am ready to feel that 'go fast', relaxed SS feeling once again!

Thirty in fifteen...

I stopped by the Trek Store on my way home from work last night. I just like to tool around like a kid in a toy store and check out the goods. I've talked a bit with a few of the fellas that work at the shop; Joel, Marco and Sean. They seemed like stand-up guys but I had never had a chance to ride with them (well, I have done a few rides with Joel...but that's a whole different story...).

After chatting it up with these guys for a few minutes, I was invited on a ride out at one of my favorite local trails, BURP. Marco said they'd be there after work, and would ride a hand full of the good stuff and to come on out and join them at around 7:45.

I know how my nights go, and tonight was no different; get home, help with dinner, feed the boys, baths, get them to bed and then take a deep breathe. I look at my watch and it's already 6:35 and I am not even home yet! Yikes! If I want to make this ride, I need to get home, do all my chores and get loaded and packed-up faster than is really possible.

7:35 and I'm out the door. I call Marco and say "Hey, I'm ten minutes out, can you wait for me?". Marco says sure, they are not there yet either. I drive ludicrous speed and make the thirty minute drive in fifteen. Sweet!

We end up riding in a group of five guys, all on single speeds sans Sean, who is riding some fully loaded squishy bike. We hit Wagon going counter-clockwise, then over to the east side, across basement, over to little Moab, back up to middle and then a return trip to the cars.

The ride was great! I only crashed once, leaving my bike about 15 feet behind me and off the trail as I did the classic running man to keep from skidding across the rocks. Sean took a good dive at one of the creek crossings. For the most part we were a solid crew getting it done in fun fashion. The weather was perfect, Trails were dusty and the air crisp.

I love fall rides at night, especially last minute, late notice rides with new friends. Thanks fellas for the invitation and for a fun ride! Hope to do it again soon!

New Cockpit...

Squishy Fork = Happy Elbows

Tree Hungging Good Times...

This season has been crazy. I’ve tried to get in tune with a regular riding schedule and it never fails; something f*%*s it all to hell. If you have kids, you understand. If you are a man trapped in a women’s body, you understand. If you are a washed-up, has been trying to re-live your childhood memories, you too understand. So what’s my deal? Hell if I know. Maybe it’s the fact that I can’t say NO. I take on too many projects around the house. I try to see my friends and family regularly. I try to be a good dad and husband. I try to be a kick ass mtn biker (or…err..at least look good trying).

I was having a great season until my sweet baby, my little princes, my lone bicycle got destroyed whilst driving into the garage with said bike on the roof rack. Holy shit! Yes, you just did that and it might be o.k., if your really damn lucky. That day, I was not lucky. Moving on. Still paying for a bike I’d sold to a friend. Buying [it] back and riding the rigid fixed gear on the trails. This set me back a few light-years in speed and ability. I think I can finally ride the thing over whatever I want, but I’m still not very fast. Blah!

 I’d been getting out to ride quite a bit as of late but my local trails combined with a fully rigid fixed gear was starting to get to my tendonitis in both elbows…again. I had suffered from this a year ago and had bought a suspension fork and things were better. So I’d been looking for a new fork (yes, my old one got whacked in the garage scenario too) and I thought I found one. Turns out I bought a 120 mm fork for my bike built for an 80 mm. Stupid me! Screw it. I’m gonna ride that thing chopper style and see what happens. That’s when we get to the following short story of…

The Old Fat n Slow Guys Ride Part 1 (a.k.a. treehugger):

I invited a hand full of old pals over to ride at SMP at a fun and casual pace with lots of stops and potential for beer drinking and goofing off. Brad had just bought a new bike (at the expense of his daughters college experience) that had never touched dirt. Nick was a seasoned rider (but has, more/less a broken back and is so tall he has to ride in the fetal position to clear branches). Randy is getting into riding harder (but I think he needs a beer hanging in front of him on a string to keep him pushing it to the max). Then there’s me…I was trying to ride a Harley…and I knew better!

We left my casa and headed into the park on some paved trails. At the ‘Y’ I asked if we should take the easy or hilly variation. No answer…so I took the hills. We all cried like girls but made it…eventually to the summit and bushwhacking section of the adventure. After gaining the single track we all started having a good time in the dirt. Dabbing seemed normal to us, as we were going so slow we’d bounce backwards upon impacting a rock or root. None of us seemed to have the stamina to really crush it today.

Miles of technical rocky trail was conquered. We were nearing the 4-way were a decision would be made as to what direction we’d go home; long, medium or short in length. I decided to sprint through some fun downish hill section of bench cut when my front end washed-out to the downhill side and directly into a good sized tree. I had never hit a tree full-on before. I had never even tried to break a 2x4 with my karate skills and in all my years snowboarding had only hugged one insignificant aspen. This was a good hard thump. I tried to brace for impact by tucking into the tree with my shoulder, which was followed by my shin. WHAMM!!! I thought to my self “ I might be hurt”. I had a ¼” deep dent in my shin but could stand and walk. My forearm had a nice monkey-bump on it and otherwise, I was still ride-ready. I caught up to the group and was hurting. I think I verbalized that I might be hurt but we seemed to avoid talking about it much and rather, chose our route home and took off.

All in all we had a great ride. The fellas were trying all of the hardest obstacles, and successfully riding most of them. I was pretty impressed overall with the quality of our Old Fat n Slow Guys Ride. It had been too long doing rides with the bike-crazed, racer types (or alone). I needed the experience and good low key vibe of old pals, gentle flow of single track at a comfortable pace, and of course a fine malty beverage awaiting me at home. Lets do it again sometime soon!

Race Accross the Sky II...

Good times with Timbo, Dave and Jamie at the Thursday viewing of Race Accross the Sky II, The Leadville Trail 100 (2010) Movie. The crew minus Dave having some beers afterwards...

Mad props to Ethos rider and pal Dave Wilson for shredding the 100 mile race in seconds over the 9 hours mark...but he still got his buckle! Way to go Dave!

Another Day, Another Night (ride)...

As planned...Andre and I burning in some new, local trail during the wee hours of night, followed by some tasty brews and chillaxin'.



Psyched...

I picked up my new Kuat NV over the weekend...and I'm psyched!!!

My first impression was something like this, " That rack is really going to make my bike look like more of a p.o.s. than it already is!". But I'll let you be the judge of that.

Give me a week (or two) to really give this rack hell and I'll tell you all about it . I'll also fill you in on my visit to Kuat HQ's and will have a few photos of the fun that goes on around the shop...stay tuned!



Tonight...

Night Vision...

It was 9 p.m. and I headed down the hill-of-pain to my usual trails. It's was a bit chilly and seemed really quiet and tranquil. For some reason I was feeling uneasy, like I was a prime target for a mountain lion or sex offender. I turned off the pavement and into the dirt single track and immediately had a black rabbit cross my path, stop in the woods beyond and stare at me as I peddled by. I feared this an omen as I had never seen a black rabbit in the wild.

During the ride I had planned to hit random rogue trails of varied difficulty, some gravel road, paved trail and groomed single track. After the first bit of single track, which was fast and flowy, smooth and blissful, I popped out onto a gravel road section. I noticed the moon, though not full, was producing a grand light. I proceeded to go sans headlamp from here and see what I could do with my night vision; rabbits can see pretty well in the dark so maybe this is what I was supposed to be doing?

The gravel glowed bright under the moon, and I found myself floating down the road. An occasional critter would run across my path and send my nerves jumping for a moment. It was the large Buck that really got my blood pressure to rise. Usually Deer are not alone, and I had visions of another crossing just in time to hit me. I did not want to crash and/or get kicked to death while all alone in the woods. I was still feeling quite nervous.

My riding plan changed as I continued on. With my light off, and depending only on the moon, I could not see trail features; just a vague openness in the woods. I would ride light on the front wheel and just hope for the best. I was feeling good about the riding, but still nervous as a kid about some monster or ghost coming to get me. Totally weird, totally not me. I have done this ride a hundred times and never once felt uneasy.

I decided instead of dirt that I'd hit the pavement and ride fast, like the wind, escaping the evil that I felt was chasing me. I kept hearing "Hey" or other voices as I focused on just staying on the trail. I still had my light off, I was still in the woods, I was still feeling very small and alone.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this story, but I was scared. And that rabbit? WTF?