Get Some...

 

You had me at "Beer Hand Up's"...

Ready 2 Roll...

Installed my new fork today. Now all I need are some dry trails and a few hours of pure joy could be had.

Goodbye Monkey...

Hello White Brothers Rock Solid 29er Carbon Fork! I think I could put three of these forks on my bike and it would still weigh less than the current Surly Karate Monkey steel fork that I have on there now. I am beyond psyched to get this puppy mounted on my bike tonight after the work day has passed. I got hooked-up on this sweet fork by a fella named Kevin who works at Highroller Cyclery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was super cool and laid back in getting me this primo piece of weaponry in mere hours. UPS can work some magic! Special 'BIG thanks' to Kevin.

I'll be posting some photos of this sucka installed on my 29er very soon...stay tuned!

Lumberjack Saturday...

It is absolutely colder than a witches tit here in KC. Just freaking bitterly cold. So cold I get chills thinking about how cold it is. Luckily we had a strange warm feeling part-of-a-day recently and i got out for a quick ride. It was so nice in fact that I wore my red flannel shirt, some cut-off jean shorts (that I like to refer to as the Pat Warren Memorial Shorts) and summer gloves. It was great! I was warm and feeling as far from a lycra-wearing pansy as possible. Pure awesomeness.

I have to admit something. I love my 29er. It's all I've been riding. I have a new White Brothers Rock Solid Carbon fork on the way and I am going to rage some trail this season. Hope to see you out there!

Simplify...

simplicity

The heart and soul of riding a bike in the woods, to me, is the quiet solitude and a natural focus on what blissful fun might be around the next corner or over the next rock. The more 'pieces & parts' you have on your bike, the more shit there is to break, make noise, fail or just plain get in the way of enjoying the wind on your face. "Why do you single speed?" some folks ask me - This is one of my many answers.

mIX-mATch...

My 3 year old son dubbed the term Mix-Match. This goes for just about anything that does not match, or is a combination of things. I think my bikes are all built with some kind of mix-match, parts-bin technique involved. Other examples of mix-match might be; two different colored sock's, mixing foods such as yogurt and broccoli during family dinner, two different shoes, etc. The list is endless.

Trail conditions are at a high-low (that's mix-match for the ultimate in suck-ass). All of our snow has been melting and the trails are a soupy mess. Even roads and paved trails are at a minimum wet; mostly stomped-out ice and piles of rotten snow. Riding right now is just a sucky, mix-match-of-a-mess.

O.K., now lets change momentum here and talk cup-half-full. I did get in a ride on both weekend days. I did ride my bike on the road, however I made sure I had fun, hit every 'feature' I could find and tried not to go fast...just fun. I took out the new 29er and got her dialed-in as far as fit and comfort. I actually like it. With a suspension fork I might actually make it my main trail steed; it's that good. The route I took around my hood was a good one with a crap-load of hills and good farm-land scenery. The big wheels really do keep on rolling and both rides were a blessing. On the Sunday ride was I was accompanied by my cuz, Brad. We had a good time in the sub-freezing temps, frozen faces and all...

Moving on, mix-matching away...enter Sunday dinner: This is a mix-match pepperoni/BBQ Chicken Pesto pizza, complete with a divider crust; homemade by my wife and son. Freakin' Kick-A$$!

Here is a little tech-tip for you. I have been thinking that I don't really need a seat bag just to hold my extra tube. I mean really, why the extra 'thingy'? My pals have all been using electrical tape and just lashing a spare tube to their bike at random locations. I'm not so down on the tape thing, so I came up with this great use for those old, rarely used, bottom of the parts-bin toe-clip straps. As you see in the photo, I just strapped my spare tube to the bottom of my seat and wha-la, still have my tube; don't need a seat-bag. Done deal.

I also managed to take advantage of my Kuat Trail Doc for a quick pre-ride brake adjustment. This little gizmo is a pretty dang handy bike stand if you are away from home and need to get trail-ready. Those fellas at Kuat sure do have some creative ideas and do a fab job getting them put into production. Speaking of Kuat...stay tuned for my product review on the Kuat NV later this week. You don't want to die wondering what you should have been using for bicycle transport...and the best part, your bike will love you for it.

The Smack Down...

Mug Shot

Yes, Slaughter Pen Hollow happened. I had just enough daylight after a days work in Fayetteville to check out the place. I could not believe how close to the highway these trails are (maybe too close) or I'd have hit them many months ago. Anyone traveling 71 hwy through the N.W. corner of Arkansassy best make a pit stop, and have some fun.

Did I mention 44 degrees, sunny and NO F-ing SNOW!!!!! A welcome change from the arctic-like conditions we've had for weeks here in KC.

My SS and one of the many fine features built at the park

Birds eye view of SPH Phase 1 trails, and my ride via GPS

I had limited time, so I was only able to check out phase 1 of the trail system. Situated on a hillside above a pedestrian trail, the access was as easy as it gets. All trails were marked, and even some obstacles were labeled with 'caution' signs. Kinda weird, kinda nice...dunno. I first climbed up and left to ride all of  Medusa, which then dropped me onto the middle line called Tatamagouche, then back across a lower trail called Armadillos Last Stand, and finally back through the terrain park and onto Seed Tick Shuffle. The trails were perfect for Single Speed sending. There were also some well built ladder bridges and skinnies all over the park. I tried my first dab at video taping myself riding one of said ladder bridges, and was reminded that the first time you video tape yourself doing something like riding a bike, you are bound to do something dumb; I was no exception. I proceeded to crash in the most retarded way (showboating like G-Wiz would do). I'll go ahead and apologize for the 10 seconds of nothing mid-vid, but I don't have video editing software...yet.

29er's Maiden voyage

The guys at Phat Tire Bike Shop were awesome and gave me great trail and dinner beta. Pretty classy shop they have too. Check'em out next time you're in Bentonville.

The Shop...

Slaughter Pen Hollow or Bust...

It ain't long, but it's Skinny...

Winter is upon us here in the Midwest. I have been cooped-up in my house just dying to ride, but after last weeks meager attempt at riding in this crap*, I just feel the depression setting in. I guess it's a good thing that i am building a new bike. At least that is something to look forward too (and the fact that i am actually having trouble getting the 29er build dialed-in, so I'm constantly thinking about it).

So to pass on the gloom and the general dire state of blah that has become trail riding in Kansas City this winter, below you will find a few too many photos of my snow covered, backyard skills trail. Enjoy...

* Way too damn much snow to have fun on anything that's not a snowboard, inner tube or buck-naked...

One Step Closer (29er project)...

 So with winter comes my 29er project. Mostly a parts-bin style build, meaning I am not spending much $ on this rig and am pretty much grabbing the parts on a free or beer-trade basis (more-less). I'm pretty psyched to get her out for a test-ride as soon as I figure a few more things out. I'm having a little trouble with some second (or third) hand BB7 mechanical disc brakes giving me a headaches due to the fact that they are in less than desirable condition...and I might be missing a few small pieces...

So moving on to the build list;

-Kona Unit 29 Steel Frame

-Surly Karate Minkey Fork

-Bontrager Race Lite Wheel set w/ SS spacer kit

-Geax Segaurro 2.2 Rubber

-Race Face Turbine Forged Cranks, 175

-Salsa 34t ring

-Surly 19t cog

-Sram 8-speed chain

-Crank Bros Candy Pedals

-Hope Headset

-Thomson Stem and Post

-Bontrager Big Sweep Bars

-Yeti Lock-on Grips

-Real 'old school' Levers

-WTB Slim Line Saddle

-Salsa Clamp

-Avid BB7 Mechanical Disc Brakes

-Salsa QR Skewers
-Spot Bash-ring

I think that once I can save my allowance and can buy a carbon fork and get the tires set-up tubeless, this will be a fun and mean little bitch!