The Taste of Dirt

I remember the first time by brother really actually hurt me. We were playing catch with a tennis ball and he got very confident that I could catch anything he threw at me, so he launched one. I got hit in the nose. So hard, that it just fell cold and blood started gushing out of both nostrils. His immediate response was to *sort of* compliment me by telling me how cool it was to get a double bloody nose. I have to say, I felt pretty proud of it; even though it hurt like crazy. And I went to tell my mom on him.

The taste of dirt was on my nephew's lips on Thanksgiving. We went to the Lake Arbor dirt jumps. He doesn't know what to be scared of yet and he sure did rip through several jumps for about an hour. Then comfort set in... and.... POW! His bars turned to the side on a landing and his face stopped him from skidding. I watched his head bounce on the ground (with his helmet) and the pause before the scream. I tried to pull the complimentary comment out: "That was a great wreck! Wow, I'm impressed!". Aidan looks at me with dirt on his mouth, a little bit of tears and lots of rage in his eyes and says exactly what I first thought when I had a double-bloody-nose. "I DON'T CARE!".

He got back on the bike within 10 minutes and was doing the same jump within the half hour.

"Gotta get back on the horse"

Aidan: Giant STP 125
Carl: Bridgestone MB4
Andres: Mountain Cycle Hardtail
Scott: Brooklyn Park Bike

Three Sisters walk into a bar

We rode Three Sisters today. Everyone wrecked atleast once. Everyone will be sore tomorrow. And everyone ate too much food afterwards. It was a blast. I can now endorse the follow items whole heartedly: 1) The Giant Trance (Holy Crap) 2. Adidas El Moro Shoes #3 Rock Shox Reba 100mm (Zero Problems) 4. Chickening out of hairy sections (5) The Louis Garneau Gemini Jacket (Just right on everything).

Please enjoy the photos and come along on the next ride.

The Race I Want

I want there to be a new kind of race. It will be a race to not make cycling companies more money, but to have the cycling companies make better bikes. I want a race that will be fun for everyone involved. It will have a little mystery and a little flair. Here goes:

Racers gather at a destination with a properly tuned bike and tires selected. This is where the race gets different. They don't know what kind of race it will be. It could be road followed by a downhill course. It could be a short track cyclocross style course followed by an uphill scramble. There should be 4 or 5 different variations, but only 2 used. Perhaps, even the list of events could change. Maybe for the final race of the series, you just have one event. Or maybe all of them! Fun.

The reason this could draw some attention is because the cycling giants that be would have to produce a bicycle that could work on the road, in the mud, on downhill rock gardens, in the air, etc. The industry needs the specialization to keep it going financially. This would be the jack of all trades bike. It would change the whole market if it were successful.

My prediction about the winning bike would be this: 29" wheels, front suspension, maybe a soft tail. Tires would be somewhat tacky, mostly slick. Super light tough wheels, probably Mavics, and the rest doesn't make enough difference to comment on.

I hope this race happens someday. Maybe I will have to put it on.

Denver Film Cycle

I should've posted this a long time ago. Sorry DFC...

There is a film festival today and tomorrow in Denver specifically for bicycles. Pretty cool idea from some great people. If you are interested in finding out more, go to http://www.eleventooth.com/dfc.html. Lots of good stuff happening. I will be speaking on the physical happenings of a wheel at 6:30 on Saturday in the Science Building.

I believe this is going to be an overwhelming success and there will be more people than seat by a 3 to 1 margin. All of this goes to benefit the Derailer cycle co-op. Derailer is a bunch of kids doing the right thing and getting pushed around by the man (mostly because the man is cross-eyed and gun happy)

See you there.

29ers 29ers 29ers

This may be an obvious post, but I want people to know about this.
29ers are 700c mountain bikes. The tires would be like 700x60s. Big tires. Big rims.
The 29er technology is finally catching up to the frame builders who reached their stride really quickly. If you haven't ridden a 29er in the mountains, you need to.
Advantages:
They roll over things more easily.
The foot print that the larger tire makes is much larger (25% and up)
Climbing is easier because of the last 2 listed
Because of the size of the tires and wheels, suspension is much less necessary for the rough stuff.

Disadvantages:
Still not much of a selection on tires and forks
In tight singletrack techy sections, you may find you need to go slower to clear quick turns.

All in all, if you are over 5'7" you may be a candidate to go faster with less effort. We are getting in Kona Unit 29ers for demo and I would love to show off the ti black sheep that gets parked at the shop. We believe that if you go on a familiar trail that is not ski lift style, you will go faster. The builder for Black Sheep went about 15% faster on his favorite loop in Fort Collins, on his first ever 29er ride. That was enough for me to be impressed.

Favorite 29 tires: Maxxis Ignitor
Favorite 29 frames: Black Sheep
Favorite 29 rims: Salsa Delgados (I hear rumors of Mavic soon...)
Favorite 29 fork: Black Sheep (lots of healthy flex)

Have fun. Go ride.