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....