Commencal Meta 6

yea yea -

that's right boys and girls, Commencal's putting out a 6 inch version of their infamous Meta series.
As a proud meta 5 owner - I'm pretty stocked on this! Looks like I may be buying one when the 08's get shipped state-side.

Commencal - Meta 6
Video
Envoyé par supreme sur wat.tv

Fight?

on yesterday's fight club theme... one of my readers sent me this -

Niki Gudex and Yarding

I get to ride into work following a Denver RTD bus every morning... and this used too be a painful sight - but recently Oakley bought the back of the bus for advertising and put an Oakley Women advertisement...
My Morning Commute is now better that I get to see Niki Gudex every morning.

I used to hang with her at Nat's - met her through some Kiwi's that I'd bum around the country with. She was a DH racer at the time, but it seems that she's faster at XC and is making some waves in the "women's sport" world. Good for her - I was never "friends" with her, but it's good to see some old associates making good on their dreams.


Aight - no words f wisdom today, but check out this posting at "How to avoid the bummer life"
I used to do this all the time... it's how I got my mad sprint down,
it ocured to me that these little groups seem a bit like "Fight Club"


Good Memories....

Golden Enduro

ok - I just got Jesus Camp... get to watch that tonight so I can go to bed all pissed off -
Don't have much, It's about 6:30 AM and I can't think.

Got this email from Dan, did the Golden Enduro on Saturday

From: Dan
Subject : Golden Enduro Retrospective

12 guys showed up to start at 5:14 Saturday morning, including two Pro's from some team I couldn't identify because it was too dark and I was too groggy. The race started when one of the Pro's said, "What are we waiting for?" and took off for the gate. Halfway up Belcher, where I was in 4th position and riding alone through groups of indifferent deer, only the light of the 3rd placed rider was visible ahead of me. The Pros were already out of sight, and would finish more than an hour in front of #3 (Stefan is his name), (they did it in about 7 1/2 hours. I would see them about 4 hours later as I was weaving my way up Mt. Falcon. They were on their way down.) I looked back to see a group of wobbling lights behind me. Daylight started to appear, I cleaned the entire Belcher singletrack climb, but slid across a waterbar on the descent and crashed before I passed the first "casualty", Taylor, looking at his directions, having missed the Belcher singletrack and ridden directly over to the Rawhide trail. We would end up riding the entire race together. Well, sort of. He didn't feel like going back to get on-route, so, as I was trying to explain to him where we were, another guy, Kevin, came by, and we quickly chased him down. Lights off, the three of us descended Longhorn as the sun started to rise.

After dropping our lights off at our cars, we took off for Chimney Gulch. Actually, they took off. I was still fishing through my pockets looking for some food. I re-caught them at the base of Chimney Gulch after descending through Golden. We rode the first half of the climb together, but after the first road crossing, Taylor, whom I had dropped early on Belcher, started riding away. Right then, an hour and a half into it, I realized I wasn't having a very good day, and I was going to suffer for the rest of the ride. There was a brief moment when I thought I was going to catch him before Lookout Mountain, but I crashed hard on my hand. (Yes, going UP the climb.) It would start cramping about an hour later, then go numb for the last three hours. The organizer's dad was standing at the second rode crossing, he told me I was in 5th place.

After descending Apex, I finally caught him again on 40. Kevin, who apparently never stops for anything, happily cruised by us at the Red Rocks parking lot. (Someone had to take care of some business there. By business I mean poo.) But we again quickly caught and passed him. The climb wasn't too bad, but Taylor dropped me as soon as it got steep. Somehow I managed to catch him at the top, but all that effort was wasted when he crashed into a pile of rocks on the descent. Nothing broken (besides the snapped spoke on his rear wheel he started with), so we took off again.

Mt Falcon was torture. Taylor dropped me immediately. The climb went on forever. It started to get hot. The trail, after about 45 minutes of climbing, finally leveled out before we hit the loop at the top and descended. But then came more, steeper, climbing. I walked all the steepest parts. Near the top, where Taylor was waiting for me (he had lost his directions), an old couple hiking asked us if we had started at the bottom parking lot, I replied "Yeah, the bottom parking lot of White Ranch." It's location apparently didn't register with them. On the way down, I almost crashed into a picnic bench in a gazebo. This needs no explanation, nor will you get one.

At about hour 5, we stopped in Morrison for water. I hadn't drunk half the contents of my Camelbak, but decided to fill it, and the water bottle I had, completely. I think this was a mistake. The trails, bike paths and roads from here to Golden, besides the climb up Green Mountain, weren't too bad, but Taylor decided we still had to pedal, and my ass really started to hurt. To compensate, I was tensing up my back muscles and triceps to get the weight off my saddle, and they started cramping, too. I was a little dazed by this point. From the bottom of Mt. Falcon to the bottom of Table Mountain (again excepting Green Mountain where he dropped me yet again), I didn't do anything but stare at Taylor's back wheel.

If you're heading south on 93, just before the turn to White Ranch you can see Table Mountain on your left. It doesn't look like much. We first made our way up a road from Golden to get to 93 and then over to the entrance, but as soon as we hit the service road leading to the top, I couldn't pedal anymore. I walked the entire road. Halfway to the top, I saw Kevin behind me, turning off 93 onto the dirt road and thought, "Shit, I have to walk faster." 2 minutes later, I looked back again, and saw him dismounting and starting to walk. I slowed down.

It took me about 20 minutes to walk to the top. Taylor, who rode the whole way up, was coasting down in the opposite direction. Had he already ridden the loop? He stopped in front of me and said, "I'm lost." After a sigh, I pulled out the official directions. "Right onto the North Table Mtn service road. Right on doubletrack. Descend the singletrack on the east side and follow this around to the north side." We looked up, saw doubletrack to our right and started pedaling towards it. A few minutes later, some singletrack appeared heading east. After 5 minutes or so of smooth, fast descending, we came to the top of a cliff. People were climbing on it. We later found out that we were supposed to go down the second doubletrack. Of course, how could we have been so stupid? The directions were generally terrible, but this was aggravating, and the end of my mental stamina. (I never would've found my way from Mt. Falcon to Green Mountain if it weren't for Taylor.) 8 1/2 hours into it, we were both too upset to turn around, so we portaged down the cliff, then down a trail that was impossible to ride, descended through a neighborhood and ended up halfway back to Golden. So, back up the road...

By the time we made it to White Ranch, it didn't matter that we had gone off-route 5 miles from the finish. We had ridden [and walked] ~72 miles, with ~11,600ft of elevation gain, in just under 9 hours. I hurt for the last 7. But just so you don't think I'm soft, I did Super Walker yesterday.

White Ranch

Had a great ride on Sunday - rode White Ranch from the lower parking lot, got in almost 3,000 feet of climbing. I'm a little worked this morning from yesterday's ride, but I felt so good that I'm going to ride again after work today.
According to the Map, the initial climb from the parking lot is 1740 feet in 4.4 Miles. That's no joke... DOT won't build roads that steep. I think for the first 1500 feet I had to take take a short breather (otherwise known as getting off my bike to prevent hurling puke all over the place) - but I was fine the rest of the ride. My legs were strong, and lungs felt good.

Ok - enough with me being all happy with myself...


Today's Words of Wisdom -
bitch it bro

Ride Central and Sunn

check it out here -

The Boys at Ride-Central got to demo the new Sunn Bikes...

How do I get one of these?

Pay the Rent

I'm lazy, and I don't have anything to say -
tonight's gonna be a Tahona Night - they have a new anejo flight.... I got nuthin else.

Virginia Tech

I don't want to be yet another guy writing about the same stuff everyone else writes about. This was a pretty big event, and still seems to be unfolding (thanks to NBC). It was horrible, and it'll live for a long time in a lot of memories. My heart goes out to the victim's, their family and friends.

So hear's the deal - NBC somehow was chosen to receive a package from the purp. The package included some video, some pics, and a written manifesto. NBC's been releaseing it bit by bit - and there's alot of pissed off people saying that NBC shouldn't release this info.

Maybe it's bad timing - maybe it shouldn't be released at all. I would be pretty disappointed if it was released at all - but for me, the issue is how the media is handling this whole "manifesto" type situation.
There's 2 sides to the media's handling of this - the first is the side of the organization that received the package. NBC looks to be releasing this in stages instead of all at once. What's that all about? Marketing... they may want to keep their name out there for a longer period of time.
2nd side is the reactionary media. They are reporting without reason. There's no focus, no value for the consumer, just idiotic babble-crap.

I don't know what the answer is... I don't pretend to have it. I do know that you shouldn't talk without a point, and you shouldn't present without having value. Maybe MSNBC and CNN will figure this out one day.

Today's words of Wisdom -
take a back seat, look around. it's a big world with alot of problems - but you probably don't have it nearly as bad as someone else who's not to far away.
Be grateful, be happy, and help someone out every once in a while.

Senator Stevens - Series Of Tubes

I ran across this last night... gave me a few good laughs


Then I realized that he's also in support of drilling in ANWR... has anyone explained to him what the problems are with that? what the limitations are?

any way - check out some fun criticism here...

24 Solo Movie Premier

I'm attending the "24 Solo" movie premiere on Thursday - it happens to be a fundraiser for the DEVO team here in Boulder. If you're in the area - I recommend showing up, it's a whopping $12 to get in, it's at the Boulder Theatre, and you'll be downtown to throw down some debauchery after the shin dig's up.

Here's the trailer -


If you're in town - look me up. I'll take you on Phil's Famous Tequila Tour...

Dakota Ridge and RedRocks

Rode the Dakota Ridge / Red Rocks / Morrison loop on Sunday. The ride was a ton better than Saturday. No puking...
Ride the Maxxis 2.1's again - was pretty happy about their performance. There's no real fast sections, so I didn't approach the tire's speed limit and was able to love those big side knobs on the off camber rock sections.
I hit the Dakota Ridge Section twice... I started there and then tried to do another loop, but I bailed after riding Dakota the second time (took the road back)

Anyhoots - check out this story... it's a bit on the sarcastic side, but provides a little Monday Morning humor for Bicycle Commuters (like myself)
http://www.csbj.com/
Here's another good one for the day -
Mountain Bike Dictionary

Today's Words of Wisdom -
Never under-estimate the power of eating,
Especially when you have a hard ride coming up

Hall Ranch and some Puke

Wish I had a camera on my ride yesterday. Legs felt like crap until I puked... not sure what I ate - but there was a whole lot of orange chunky crap that smelled like fermented meat and tequila spewing out my my mouth for a good 90 seconds. Dry heaves came afterwords.
I had chunks all over my top tube, wiped it off with my glove - then realized that I'd be smelling that puke smell for the rest of the ride since My cloth glove was now soaked in the previous night's mexican fiesta.
Follow my mexican rambling's below,
Rio
Juantia's
Zolo
Tahona Tequila Bistro

btw - I started riding on maxxis 2.1 high rollers, they're not too bad. The speed limit is above that of other 2.1's. They definitely corner better as well. I'm starting to become convinced that 2.1's are just too small for me. I always seem to ride over their ability and speed level when coming down from a lollypop with some elevation. If you ride mostly rolling terrain - even if it's really tech, I'd recommend these tires.
I'm gonna pick up some Panaracer Rampage's next - should have a report for you soon!

Today's words of wisdom -
When in Doubt, drink more tequila

Legendary Drummer?

You've got to read that - Click the pic to blow that shizzy-nittle up, yo
I remember having that much passion, and I don't really know what happened to it. Maybe I started to have a life outside of music, maybe I tried too many different things - but I remember it.
Go get em kid

Today's Words of Wisdom -
Don't let the passion die, and don't forget what it's like to have passion if it's gone

US Spending in Iraq

I was bouncing around some "watch dog" sites.... found this,


I highly recommend taking a look. You'll get a look at the Dollar Amount the US has spent on the Iraq War - and be able to compare it to our other spending initiatives as well as what YOUR community has spent on the war.

It's F'n Depressing

Today's Words of Wisdom -
Ride your bike - Fight the temptation to use Oil

Check these out -
http://nationalpriorities.org/
Cost of War.com

Looking for Inspiration

I'm a little low on inspiration, so I went to my usual source... The Muppet Show. I thought that you could also find inspiration here.



Here we have the 1978 Classic Show Down between Animal (he's an Animal, embodies every stereotype of drummers around the globe) and Buddy Rich (Embodies almost everything that a Drummer wants to be, but also embodies everything that a decent human being doesn't want to be).

Today's Words of Wisdom
When in Doubt, Get a Bigger Hammer

Happy Easter

Stolen from the Drunk Cyclist Big John himself...
Happy Easter All - Enjoy it while you got it

I'm In Love

So pretty much everyone that knows me, knows that I'm SUPER picky and passionate about my bikes. Of all the brands and bikes out there, I'm a true fan only a select few bikes and even fewer brands. The 3-4 brands that have influenced me the most over the years are
"Old School" Schwinn - pre-sale to Pacifc (late 2001)
Yeti
Commencal
Sunn

There are some stand out bikes to be sure - but these are the brands that have not only been able to influence The Industry, Suspension and Frame Design, and Racing in HUGE ways.

Recently, I got my first glimpse of Sunn's renewed efforts and I'm in love! Just when I thought that everyone had given up - Sunn starts to put out.

Nico, Carol-Anne, Cedric.... they all know.

Here it is...

Oh Yea.... It's on
Now all we need is a US Distributor.
Any Takers?

Did I mention 36.5 Lbs out of the box for the DH bike? It's all over, I'm ruined


Today's Words of Wisdom
Always ride your best (not the best),
you'll never be disappointed

NYC Dirt Jumps

Jeff Lenosky and Kyle Ebbett built a big dirt jump zone in New York City that is totally legal. Here's a small video of the completed course (right click + save as). Go to nycmtb.com for more info.

'bout time sombody did this - east coast riders got it goin on... even the masshole named ebot (Ebbett rips - see him killing it on a hardtail at crankworx?)

Today's Words of Wisdom -
Jump, Jump, Jump Around
Get Up, Get Up and Get Down

Bike Messengers

Bike messengers are billy bad ass - all of em.

I used to ride DT Chicago alot to get my sprints up and grow some jingle bells. I thought I was balls-y till I started riding with messengers. Those guys are insane.



I got nuthin -



Today's words of wisdom
Don't trust your friendly neighborhood messenger, don't ride with em, don't eat with em, and most of all - Don't drink with em.

Denver Auto Show

As any true dreamer should, I attended the Denver Auto Show this weekend. It's nice to get my auto-fix every once in a while. Living in Boulder helps me to keep grounded, and helps to keep the attitude that keeping your good gas mileage car till it's absolutely un-driveable. Then there's these auto events - where I regain my old-school "big engine, little car" attitude.
I miss V-8's...
High Points -
Rousch figured out how to properly update a modern mustang (Better then they have in the past)
CTS-V's are still the best bargain out there
OEM'd Brembo Brakes are everywhere
Lamborghini's are still fun to look at, but horrible to drive
I still don't like Camero's
Audi's are still great
BMW needs to not hire American Engineers
Mercedes looks to be hiring the French for exterior design
Test Drives should be available - to limited Manufacturers
Accessories Market is taking off again
I want a Ferrari

Aight - I'm out... going to get on the bike since I can't drive my new Audi RS4