Cost of the War in Iraq

uuhhhh -
holy shit

Hello Kitty AR-15 Assult Rifle

Hurry, buy one of these California Legal AR-15 Assault Rifles before your local WalMart runs out!

Seriously - this is a real gun (AR-15, post Clinton Ban production, with California legal grips). It's not sold in Walmart, but is an example of some someone trying to make their Assault rifles less "Assault looking"

Hope you enjoy!

Frozen Dead Guy Festival

Be there in March 2008, or be square...

it's real, and it's tons of fun. I'll have a newborn by then - so I doubt that I'll make it up there.
if you have a chance to go for the weekend, I highely suggest it!

For the background story

Anthony Bourdain

Who watches Tony's show, No Reservations?
I'm not a big TV buff - but I think that Anthony may be my long lost brother. oh yea - the show's pretty entertaining too.
Here's 2 clips -





BTW - I'm working on my "portfolio" today, and I'm pissed that hedge funds are only available to the extra rich wacko's that don't need a monetary vehicle as bad as the rest of us.
The rich get richer....

Tara Llanes

Tara Llanes has a clip on Access Hollywood today - be sure to check it out.

http://video.accesshollywood.com/player/?id=198604

Please don't forget to donate to her overwhelming medical bills.

Tara's the strongest and most determined person I've ever met, and there was not a single person who ever met Tara who didn't immediately want to be her friend or spend more time with her.

http://www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com

http://www.tarallanesracing.com

Tara's Myspace Page

Here's a shorter clip on the Denver news channel - the above story is better

Where's Santa?

MapMyRide.com

Looks like there's another fun service for us cycling folks. MapMyRide.com provides a service where you can upload your map, and allow for mile markers. there's even a calorie counting function for you concerned types...

Town Production

Last night, we headed over to a local youth production. It was a dance/play put on as a charity for a local foodbank.

It was fun seeing kids of all ages (from just 3-17) in the production as our first child is expected in February. Kind of puts things into perspective... all the kids on stage and their families in the audience, it was fun to see all the interaction.

Energy Drinks Rule

Loving your bike

Some people take their bike love a little too far -
Click Here for the story

Mountain Bike Buyers Guide

Big Props to the boys at Decline for putting this together...
it doesn't have everything - but it comes pretty close!

http://www.mtbbuyersguide.com/

Working From Home

I love working from home -

Right now it's 70 degrees, the leaves are falling, and the skies are blue.
And I'm working on my Deck in the Backyard.
And a leaf just fell in my tea.

Life is good,

I'm out

What to do in case of encounter with Cougar

Please click on the image to read all the detail.








Courtesy of your friendly Front Range Mountain Bikers.... I hope I'm not riding with these guys when it's time for the showdown.

Bud-weis-er

ReSkin

wow -I couldn't make this up if I tried

protect the taint

• ReSkin® is applied to the perineum. The perineum is the piece of skin between the anus and the genitals. The perineal area contains sweat glands,hair follicles and sebaceous glands that can often become irritated by rubbing,leading to an infection.
• We advise ladies to cut the strip off along the dotted line marked on the product for enhanced comfort while using ReSkin®.

Rap Chips

Yo... playa
www.rapsnacks.com

Corsair

Looks like these guys have an innovative idea -

I encourage you to check out their frame designs at http://www.corsairbikes.com/
If you have no other reason - they have a cool "animate suspension" feature built in to some frame pages.

They have a unique linkage system (called an Iron Fly, but looks like a true scissors link, and a low leverage ratio (2:1 on the DH bike).

The bikes are definetly oriented towards the technical and burly riders - one look at the geometry and you'll be thinking about gravity. The head and seat tube angles are all pretty slack - but I bet their all mountain frame would make a hell of a Super D bike - or VERY good at megavalanche events...

Also - check out the DH frame with their optional "blow off shock". I've seen some successful custom builds with this concept, but never in production. It adds some travel and some weight, but maybe be the added cushion needed for those extremely diverese trails, where a race setup won't work, but neither will a freeride setup.

Tomac Primer 220

Many people have been anticipating a release like this for some time - myself included. Tomac's bikes have always been very, very nice... and the new lot look to be on par.

Can I explore some suspension with you?
Some of you may remember the days of old - when Tomac Bikes originally released their 204. It was a Lawwill design, also used by Schwinn (I have a customer built Schwinn Lawwill DH rig) and now by Rotec.

Schwinn's Design (they had 2 vesions) was by far the most inferior from a frame design standpoint, but given the rear shocks available at the time - was the best implementation for the day and thus was th best performing.
Tomac had a much better design (front traingle AND rear neo-floating shock), but the dampening was always overwhelmed due to poor shock design.
Rotec's got it nailed - almost. The frame uses a concentric bottom bracket, floating shock, and a stiff front end with low clearance. Rotec should also offer a version that sheads a few pounds as well as offering a frame that will accept multiple shock types (now limited to 1 choice)

Tomac did see their shortcoming and envoked a simple single pivot later (no real leverage problems here) - but still ran into shock limitations.

I digress - on to the new shizzle

Tomac's latest offering looks to be similar to Commencal (single pivot, with modified linkage to lower the leverage ratio) - but I haven't seen a pic that shows the non drive side of the bike.

The photo's that Tomac released show a full build - but their site details frame only info. No Smalls? WTF?



The geometry seems to be "race" specific - and thank god. I thought Devinci was the only company out there that understood DH race geometry.


Some spy shots up in Whistler show a differnt build - with a craptastic crapitou at the helm. Manipoo has failed many of my friends and fallen to the wayside.... I hope they get their act together... back to the bike. The pivot looks a little high for my taste... but who knows. Maybe that kind of placement is working better these days.


I'm toying with the idea of getting one... but the Devinci design is spot on - and very light this year...
single crowns are cool too - and they are getting more attention from manufacturers lately.

Whatever I decide - I'll have a nice little rant for all my dedicated fans

Today's Words of wisdom -
Don't poo where you sleep

Very Cherry

Has anyone else noticed a disturbing trend with canned fruit?

No one makes Fruit Cocktail with extra cherries anymore. It's now called "Very Cherry" and it uses Cherry Flavored Syrup.

I'm being ripped off.



New bar called the Waterloo opened in Louisville, CO - They have great Chicken and Apple Sausage (goes well with a brown ale).

Beer Bike

I'll take 2

Searle Pass, Kokomo Pass

Riding and riding... I didn't think that the ride was ever going to end. Or the climbing...
I'll post some pic's soon (Dan's got em all - so I'll blame him)

Some of the best views I've ever seen... some fun, but well earned delirium at altitude

Props to my boy Dan for the pics and for riding way to much.
Please visit his blog by clicking here - good content, if you're into that kind of thing

Searle Pass, Kokomo Pass

.


Sorry Folks -
post removed...

Alternative post to follow



.

Breckenridge Oktoberfest

Tons of fun this weekend!!!



Breck had a good little festival this weekend. Tons of men dressed in funny shorts, W dressed in funky skirts, lots of funny hat's, Brats, Schnitzels, and LOTS and LOTS of beer.



Sat and Sun mornings were dedicated to epic singletrack riding - but the rest of our time involved Oktoberfest. They had great bands (very German/Austrian), and some very good food booths. I'd recommend this trip to anyone... they even had a huge "kids" section to make this a family type event. It wasn't unusual to see babies and little kids running around with parents in tow.

Having a festival like this in an "old" Colorado mountain town was the perfect setting. I'm sure that some other areas (like Vail) may have more architecture dedicated to the Swiss alps feel (overlapping into Austrian and German styles) - but this town gets the celebration right. Vail's been faltering a bit in the summer festival department in the last couple of years (maybe due to the construction?), but I'm sure they'll be back on track soon.
The mountains, with good festival beer, lots of smiles and lots of German polka music playing made this one of the better mountain festivals that I've been to in a while.


Today's words of wisdom -
Drink beer, be merry, and pass it on

James Brown

I love the music... but guns, lead pipes, alcohol and drugs just seem like too much love.

Panaracer Tire Review

I've been getting a fair about of questions regarding my current tire setup on my "All Mountain" Commencal (much more than on my DH rig). Seems that the time is right to post a review. Tires are finally broken in, I put in some miles on diverse terrain, and I've got them pretty much figured out.

From a tire standpoint, people look for different things. To give you some perspective on my (tire and tread) views, I'm pretty picky (tires are the most important item on your bike). I generally look for a very predictable cornering tire (different than a tire that grips like hell) and I look for something that allows me to run lower pressures. As a DH'r, I like to rip corners and love tons of grip... but as a mature gravity and technical rider - I know how to corner faster than most and can decsend faster than most as well. This leads to me an evolving viewpoint that I have, which is to say that I need more help keep up with my friends on climbs while still having a tire that will allow for me to ride some pretty techy terra and have fun doing it.

I'm running a Panaracer Razor MX (2.3) and a Panaracer Rampage (2.35) These are two hugely different tires and I'll run through my opinions on both. My current setup has one Rampage in the front and a Razor in the rear.

These tires took a significant amount of time to break in, and were unpredictable the whole time. Once broken in, then became very solid and sure footed.

Panaracer Rampage
Many people compare this tire to the Kenda Karma because of the tread pattern being similar - but don't be fooled. These are hugely different tires with hugely different characteristics. My time on Kenda Karma's revealed a sticky tire tire with moderatly heavy rolling resistance (slow for a XC tire) but pretty good cornering grip. My probablem was that the tire felt lathargec unless it was gravity bound. The sidewalls felt unpredictable and the tire would HOLD HOLD HOLD a corner, but tsuddenly, just let go. By contrast - the Rampage doesn't have a sticky rubber compound, has a much livelier feel, low rolling restistance, it doesn't hold a corner as tight as a Karma - but breaks slowly and predictably (more important to me), and the sidewalls are more predictable.
You'll notice the use of my word "predictable". For me, it's more important that a tire be predictable through a corner and AFTER it breaks loose than a tire that will hold really tight, until it breaks loose. This might have something to do with the outside knob config AND the sips on the inner knobs. Karma's are great until they break loose... then it's a disaster waiting to happen. They are SOOO unpredictable in even the slightest of slides or drifts. I can hold a Rampage in a drift for any amount of time without fear of highside'ing or stacking up. It also breaks loose AFTER the tire tells you it will. Predictable also applies to the sidewalls. These are LIGHT tires and require more airpressure than I'm used to due to the thinner sidewalls. The upside is the light weight - and that the Rammpage sidewalls will let you know when they need more air or when you have too much. The Karma's are too disconnected from this, almost numb.
All this talk about grip is not to say that the Rampage's don't have grip. I was surprised at how much grip they have! I would be willing to argue that outside of sticky rubber - these tires have the most grip of any tire I've run to-date. DH and sticky rubber is a different story, and require different handling skills.

The Razor is a wholey different tire. It's got ultra low rolling resistance and great off camber grip - but it doesn't hold at 30mph speeds as well the Rampage. That being said... it does hold better than any other small knob design that Ive ever ridden at 30mph+. As a front tire - it would be great for buff singletrack, and riding on rock. When the trail gets really loose, the soil break often, or the ground is unstable - I'd opt for some more knobs and some more sidewall. This tire is a 2.3 and weights in at 537 grams (claimed at 530 grams). For a 2.3, that SUPER light. You'll definetly need to pay attention to your air pressure - but like the Rampage, the beauty of this tire is it's predictability. Mostly ridden as a rear tire - i have flatted once (not enough pressure) and have had NO grip issues. It's light, corners well, hold off camber, accelerates great, and has no rolling resistance.


How would I compare these tires? Who would I reccomend them to? Well - If you know me, I'm pretty picky about my tires. I feel like this is a near perfect setup. I've not hit a speed limit with my current config (Rampage in front, Razor in rear). I've ridden this setup on extremely technical terrain with NO confidence issues (Vail DH and Golden Gate State Park), and on buff singletrack (colorado trail, high county rides) and I love it. My High Roller 2.1's have a speed limit and aren't great on really techy terrain at any speed, but climb really well and have great sidewalls. The Karma's are great tires but need to be more predictable in the corners and need to feel a bit more alive (like comparing the to K2 Skiis - they feel dead, but Volkl's are alive and rip). My Michelin Al Mountain Extreme's have GOBS of grip - and INCREDIBLE sidewalls but are like riding on Velcro.

Current Setup
9/10 for grip
8/10 for sidewalls
10/10 rolling resistance
9/10 confidence

My only wish is that the rear tire had slightly thicker sidewalls - but i don't care enough to change it out. I'm hooked.

Check out Shiggy's site for some great tire reviews as well

9/12 edit
beware of high speed impacts in square edges when running the razor on the rear

Spread the word, fight the power

Don't give in and be a slave. Fight back - be an individual.
If you are liberal... this is a huge infrigment ofour rights and privacy.
If you are evangelical - the bible metaphorically warned us about this, recieving the mark of the devil... jut like Hitler marking Jews or the devil's right hand man marking with 666.

This is for real, and it's scary.

Today's Joy's and Tomarrow's Entertainment

Another big day at Vail... forgot my camera (I'm an Idiot).

I've had a few requests for a review on my current tire set up... I'll be posting something this weekend about those.

Some Entertainment until then...

Unemployment Bliss - In Vail

I've been unemployed since Thursday... and loving it.

Today was trip to Vail. Rode from the base of the mountain (8,300 ft) to Benchmark (11,818 ft) then down the backbowls (9,100 ft) and up to Two Elk Pass (11,710) - then back down the valley, up the the back of the mountain, down the front side and straight to Subway.
I ran through 100 oz of water (could have used an extra 20 oz or so), 3 cliff bars, 1 cliff shot, 1 bag of cliff blocks. Subway was a foot long meatball sub doin the math - my ride burned about 3850 calories (5.5 hours at 700 calories an hour). I think that i need to eat more during these long rides.

Breckenridge Singletrack Festival

Be There - or be Square

Breckenridge Singletrack Festival

Don't be a poser - show up. It's the first Carbon Nuetral Festival in Colorado - and one of the first in the world that doesn't have anything to do with eco-politics.

The Riding is not going to suck
The Beer isn't going to suck

Now you are out of excuses.... IM me for more details....

Max Roach

Max passed away yesterday in NYC - this was a big loss to the world of Jazz.
I grew up in a music oriented family and was a music major in college - and of course, I am a Drummer.
I can say that in percussion - there have only been a select few individuals how have been able to influence my playing. Mostly, I find inspiration from a song, a riff, a style, a group, or even listening to natural patterns found in both rural and urban areas. The individuals who were able to shape my musical perceptions and development were my Father, Buddy Rich, Dave Weckel, Chad Smith, Carter Beauford, Louis Bellson, Gene Crupa and Max Roach.
Max's contribution would have been great without his solo efforts, his place in immortalized jazz history would have been solidified. His work starting in the 40's and into the 50's defined what modern drumming has evolved into today - and his solo efforts helped to stretch what was possible. His album revolving around 3/4 time showed me that there are no restrictions, and that you can always do something different and even in the world of music - out of the box thinking is still possible. The style of playing was something that I was never able to create an internal comfort level with - but layed the groundwork for my now infamous 6/8 latin jazz efforts.
Innovation, constant change, constant re-definition, new standards. These are all values that I live by, and are all values that I learned from music. This is what Max did for Jazz, and how he influenced me.

Rest in peace Max, you've earned it.

OMG

there are no words,

Cycling Race Nutrition

Yea... good ol' midwestern race food.

Frogs?

Here's a good one... click each pic as it appears -

Frogs

Formula ORO Brake Review

Howdy all -

sorry about my absence (again) - but I've got a whole file of reviews that I'll be posting for you to read!

Today's review is on the new (for 2007) Formula Oro Brakes. I've got a pair of the k18's on hand, these have 99% of the functionality of the k24's - but cost a bit less.

Short and Dirty review of the Formula Oro Brake Family

Most people use power, modulation, adjustability,weight and ergonomics as their evaluation criteria - so I will too.

Modulation - yup, these things feel good! It's nice to have a brake that allows you to feel what's happening at the wheel and on the ground. I've ridden lots of high end brakes in my day - and the only other brakes that I've found with a similar feel were the Juicy 7's... but even the Juicy's fall short when it comes to the brake's feel

Adjustability -
So here it is - the base model is missing what the other models have - an "FCS" system that allows you to adjust the pad's contact point (pull). As I own the base model, but have ridden the other models - I can tell you that I don't feel like I'm missing out. The Juicy's adjustable system is too adjustable and doesn't much power - the Hayes adjustable system blows... so there's no real comparison out there. All of the models include a reach adjustment for the lever. High amount of adjustability here - top ratings for this!


Ergonomics -
This is the only area where the brakes fall a little short. The clamping placement is a little funny. It just happens to get in the way of most folk's shifter placement. This is no reflection on the brake itself - but shows that they didn't use racer's to test out the model... As a former pro racer - it were these kinds of details that we would be able to give as feedback (other than "this sucks" or "can I have another one"). Luckily, new Sram and Shimano shifters are offering more adjustability that they have in the past (being able to place the clamp into multiple spots on the shifter). This took care of the issue for me (90% of where I like my placement)

Weight -
well under 1lbl for every model, including rotor, bolts, hosing, caliper and lever. It's light, and it works good.

Power -
By far the strongest 2 piston brake I've ever ridden. Maybe the 2nd or 3 strongest brake I ever ridden (including 4 pods). Magura's DH brake and Formula's DH brake take top power awards, although I haven't tested Avid's Code DH brake yet.



Summary?
They are crazy strong - Super light - feel great - and are crazy reliable.
The drawback? they aren't cheap.

My Advice -
Drop some coin - you won't regret it!

What's wrong with me?

more posts shortly...

in the meantime - enjoy this

New Belgium Brewery has their tour up and running cross this here 50 states.
Click here for more info

I'm moving - check it out yo,

Tour De France

dopers rejoice! The tour is here... so if you dope - we've got your gig.
We'll be watching it on versus - and wouldn't you know it... Comcast is gonna have all the showings "on demand". Looks like we are going to have a a few visitors over the next month.

2008 Commencal

The 2008 Commencal's are here!! Well, not quite - but I've got some pic's!!

Looks like the big changes are the graghics and the rear swing arm. The rumor mill is saying that the headtube's will be 1/2 a degree steeper - I guess some people thought the 07's were too slack? (I love the slack headtube)

Rear swingarm is a real arm these days, not a flying triangle... supposedly stiffer.Meta 666



2008 also introduces the Commencal Meta 666. This bike will have an adjustable headtube sleeve and will come stock with through axle wheels (the meta 5 comes with hardware for both quick release and through axle).



Commencal Meta 4

Commencal Meta 5.5

DH Goodness...

Gary Busey

Once again - I'm speachless...

CIA Releases Project Details

Wow.. you guys read this? It's like an 80's spy novel... oh wait - It's the real thing.
After reading this, my first thought was, "sure you can trust the government".

Here's the link -
From the WSJ
From Yahoo

and at the same time, the White House gets subpoena'd regarding Bush's eavesdropping program.
from AP and Yahoo


I need to move...

Keystone Opening Weekend

The lines were there - the trails were torn up - the snow shut down the top half of the mountain - the new trails aren't built right -

I can understand the snow and such... but the trails need some serious work. The braking bumps are getting a little out of control, the bridges have lost their traction pads, some of the bridges have broken pieces - and then there's the new trails...
The "new" trails aren't built correctly. They have very little flow, the jumps aren't consistent, the jumps aren't spaced correctly, and the lips aren't built for DH bikes.


Maybe some of these items can be corrected over time - but to build a new trail incorrectly is a pretty big foul.

Looks like I'll be spending more time at Vail this year...

Today's words of Wisdom -

Do it right the first time you jackasses

Colorado Crankworx Updated

Looks like the Colorado Crankworx Site has been updated,
they have lodging prices, (69 per night), event schedules, event prices, and all the goodies!

http://www.crankworxcolorado.com/

Entry Fees -
* Super Downhill, $35
* Amatuer Downhill, $50
* Pro Downhill, $65
* Big Air, $50
* X-Country, $50
* Slopestyle, $100

Swobo Rind Review

Shorts are good, and good shorts are great...
you know how a great product seems to be lost on you until you lose it?

My new Swobo shorts are pricey, comfy, light, they move with me, they breath well, and I can't find a reason to not like them.
I only realize how great they are when I put on any other pair of shorts.

Buy some - they are cool

Balls

Talent... pure talent

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Ride

Thought that I'd let you know about my wonderful ride today... I decided to take a solo adventure in Golden Gate today. I've heard how great the place is but I've not had the chance to explore the trails - so I maxed out my camelbak with water, grabbed a bunch of calories and off I rode.

Started at with the lower section of Mountain Lion and got a little pissy with the loose and steep climbs, but found my rhythm eventually. I rode out towards panorama point via snowshoe hair (pinned the long rocky descent like a rock star) and rode up to the point. I rode down what I thought was a trail heading south for the "long loop" - turns out the cool ass trail I was riding had been shut down for several years. Oops...

Got back up to the point, then headed back to snowshoe hair. The climb back sucked, but I was able to ride most of it. Got back to a descent and rode to the top part of mountain lion. Climb, switchback, climb, switchback - repeat 6 or 7 times. Finally got to the top (legs are a bit worked, but I was riding really strong) and I finally found out what all the hype was about. The descent was long, rocky, loose, and TECH. Seriously - I've raced NMBS DH courses that didn't work me like this.

For the whole techy descent I was killing it - pinning everything, jumping the gardens, passing riders and pedestrians (showing off a bit) - and found some big bike riders that started to follow me (7 inch bikes). We got down to one of the last difficult stream crossing and literally had pedestrians run out in front of us. We had warned them early, told them we were coming, made eye contact, they moved off the trail - and at the last second one of them tried to cross the trail in front of me. I ended up riding off the trail (to avoid the 50 year old lady with huge knockers staring at me) and everyone else stacked up into me to the person next to them. we literally had NOWHERE to go that was safe. The trail was steep and loose, no way we could have stopped. The crash was pretty bad, I didn't have any pads and neither did the guy behind me. The other guys had some padding and full faces... you can tell where this is going. Sharp pointy rocks and two riders stacking up on each other equals some serious pain. long story short - my bike's mangled (brakes are toasted, bars are bent, derailluer's bent, saddle's bent, glasses broke) and I'm pretty beat up. right arm, shoulder, right shin, right thigh, and right hip are all really swollen. The other guy broke his helmet and was pretty mangled... it sucked. we had to limp out the next few miles.

I'm more than a little pissed off - the guy and his wife/girl took off and non of us were in any condition to chase them down.

On the way home, I saw a guy highside his motorcycle, with no helmet and land against a rock wall in a ditch.
Then I almost got hit by a minivan
10 minutes later a truck locked up on 93 and got rear ended by an Avalon and I almost hit the car in front of me.
I ran out of paint for the nursery
My upstairs bathroom drain is leaking on my downstairs bathroom ceiling
I ripped my jeans
my air conditioning doesn't work in my house
I'm out of booze

then I bought my first lotto ticket ever.

today sucked.

Babies

Looks like I'm gonna be a dad... nothing's ever scared me more.
We are creating an entirely new person from scratch... that's a tough concept to wrap your brain around.
There's something cool about passing on a legacy, helping to create and shape the next generation, keeping the family tree growing, being able to teach a human more than any other human will ever teach him/her. I've been hesitant up until this week about having a kid before next year - but after my wife told me, I had nothing but joy and excitement running through me.

Wow, the past few weeks have been pretty crazy! Bought a house, dad had open heart surgery, I turned 30, and I found out my wife's pregnant.
Anyhoots - got lots of articles written about product, trails and training - you should start to see these get posted soon!



Oh Babies....

Overtraining

When do you know that you've been riding too much?
My legs are getting this constant pain, and I feel like I'm hitting the wall after about 10 minutes of climbing.
I thought it was a nutritional issue at first, but I haven't been able to fix it - in fact, it's getting worse. Oh yea, I pulled my hamstring. That sucks. I keep riding on it. That makes it not better. That sucks too.
Maybe I'll take the next few days off and dust drink, instead of the usual ride and drink.

Speaking of riding - Casey (ADD Outdoors) is getting married in July and I think that we are going to get some saddle time in. Ahhhh - Indiana mountain biking....

ouch

I like Audi's... but this guy crossed the line at critical mass,

Fox Inline Glove Review

I've been riding bikes for quite some time - I've been an Expert cross country racer as well as a Pro Dh'er and have been relying on one glove for the last 7 years. The Fox Inlcine Glove.
In general - I'm not a bog fan of fox - or of "big" brands... but I can't give up this glove. Recently - I starting riding on some other gloves to try out the competition (I fugured 6 years on the same style glove was enough) - and I came to the conclusion that I'm already riding the best.

There's no padding to speak of - it vents on the top - and it's got a good snot wipe in a good spot.
I love it...

The fit had gotten a little more slim through the body over the years, which is bad for me as I've got some thick hands - and there's a little more material in the palm than there used to be... but it's pretty darn close to the same glove!

I've got to say that after you get used to riding without padding - you can't go back. You can feel the bars more, and you don't have a need to death grip the bars as there's no slippage.

I'm giving this glove a 9 out of 10... a definite best buy in my book!

Pearl Izumi Divide Trail Short Review

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been on a riding rampage, been getting a ton of climbing in and trying to get my lungs back.
I'll be posting a bunch of product reviews in the coming weeks. I'm shooting for a couple of reviews per week - I've been riding on a bunch of new gear.. enough with the small talk, here's the first review.

I recently acquired a pair of Pearl Izumi's Divide Trail Short for review. The Divide trail short's name is a toss to the continental divide, and some pretty unforgiving terrain. Giving this name, I started thinking about epic 60 mile rides over harsh backcountry terrain covered in loose rock and boulders a high altitude in the Rockies.
The outer shell contruction is top notch. There are vents on the upper thighs, and no zipper or clamp for a closure system. The Vents are of adequate size - I've used them more than once at White Ranch during some of the long grinding climbs and persitant heat. The lack of a closure system (waist) had me a bit concerned at first - but the spandex construction on the upper half of the short ensures no slipping and a nice snug fit. With no extra plastic or metal - there's nothing to poke into your skin or break on you. The shell definetly looks good - black with grey (almost white) exposed sturdy stiching looks pretty good.
The liner is one of the best yet one of the worst that I've ridden. I'm a big fan of the lightweight material - and it breathes really well. No slipping, it's nice and comfy, and vents really well. The chamios is also well contructed. My problem is that the pad is not placed correctly. I've tried to move around inside the short, and I've tried riding it the way it is - but the pad is too far back. What a way to ruin what should be a great experience.

All in all - I'd say that this Could have been one of the best shorts I've ever owned - If the pad was positioned correctly. Because of this bad placement, I'll never be able to wear them and be comfortable. It's a shame that one mistake ruins the whole short - but ouch! What a mistake!

Lyons Fat Tire Fest?

Too bad I won't be around... I have a non-descript B-day trip planned (turning 30).

Looks like a good time - the boys at redstone cyclery know what therir doing, and aught to keep it real (real painful if you like climbing)

bored and aimless

Rode white ranch again - what's wrong with me? My legs hurt sooo bad.
Monday should be an easy ride for me and tuesday will be a day off - I need it

On to current events,
how'd you like to ride with this guy?


Me neither - too much fire in those eyes...

Looks like Commencal pulled off a world cup win - an it's about time. Gee was killing it on the 4x, and edged out the win... On a side note, looks like age may be catching up with Lopes? He's not racing nearly as much these days. That guy's been really fast for an unnatural amount of time.


aight - I'm out!

White Ranch Riding

got in a lot of climbing today - I think that it's a record climbing day for me (not saying much as I'm a DH'r)

Rode Belcher up (via Round Up) to Maverick,
back to Belcher (and Round Up again),
Back up to Mustang,
Out to LongHorn and back down,

Estimated elevation gain - 3,600 Feet
Estimated mileage - 13-14 miles

definetly not my longest ride - but I think it's about the most climbing I've ever done.

loving the retro racers

Man... you remember these guys? Bobby Roll talkin bout cavemen...



the 80's were sweet

I'm a Slacker

Man, it's been few days since I've posted... I need to get back on the wagon.

For those of you who live in Boulder County - I rode up Flagstaff Mountain last night. Got caught in a hellacious hail down pour. Starting drizzling halfway up the mountain, started to pour 3/4 the way up, and right before the summit - the hail came down with winds that might have picked me up off the ground. It was a little hairy...

I'm in need of some new DH parts... Brakes, Fork, Shock, Saddle, Grips,
I'm open to opinions.

here's the short list
Avid Code's
Boxxer World Cup
DHX Air
Bel-Air
Ruffians

I hate spending money...

On another note - I just bought my Colorado Pass for 07/08,
I thought that I was going to get summer lift access as well, but it appears that the promoted summer lift access is only for "scenic tours" and doesn't include the bike in the lift ticket. what a sham...


I'm out

Spoof's

Who likes spoofs? I do...



Who like to rag on GW?
Not just me...

Something Ominus?

Something weird gonna happen today? it might... meteors from the sky, marshmellow men running through the streets, cats and dogs getting along - it's gonna be chaos.

today's 05/06/07 - just wait until the time is 08:09:10... that'll be trippy, man.
05/06/07 08:09:10

It's raining way too much - can somebody take care of that for me? I can't ride my bike (only have a mtb these days). My legs are screaming at me - and my bike's getting pissy.

Want to read some f'd up stuff about roadies in the 80's? Long live doping!
Click here for an insiders story

I'm out...

Boonen... Oh Man

How dedicated are you? Tom Boonen's probably a little more dedicated than most.
If you're a cyclist, I'm sure that you'll figure it out pretty quick - if not, then I don't have the heart to tell you. Click the pick to blow it up and figure out this mystery.

Bearclaw Invitational

Looks like the Claw's thowing down a contest of his own,

should be good! Check it out HERE


August Road Trip Anyone??

Artsy Fartsy Bike Ballet?

Check out the Billy Bad Ass Bike Messenger types being all cute-sy

Finally Back in town, had a hell-uv-a layover in Minneapolis. At least they had a tequila bar in the airport.