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.