New Hoops and New Track

No, Im not trying out for a new version of Star Wars. Saturday morning I really had to test my level of HTFU by riding the moto to Greeneville, SC. for a USAC moto-ref class. Up and at'em at 5am to eat breakfast and get dressed. Oh and how I dressed 5 layers on top and 3 layers on the legs. I figured if I dressed as warm as I did for CX Nats in Wisconsin I would be ok. Well, I used that as a primer then added a couple more... along with a couple packs of hothands hand and feet warmers. All dressed and ready to roll.... Yea, it's 24 degrees outside at 6am. The cold flowing through my helmet makes me realize that I didn't take into consideration the cold in the helmet. Oh well I'm 5 miles from home and rolling up the entrance ramp to I-26 east bound. It was painfully cold crossing Sam's Gap

at 6:30am in the dark. I made it to Hincappie's main office in Greenevile, SC at 8:20 for my 9am USAC moto class that would last all day. I will say this was one of the best instructed USAC ref classes I have ever attended. As soon as class was over I was motoring home at 90 MPH trying to beat the extreme cold of the mountain. The best I could do was cross at dusk. Either I was getting used to this ridiculous cold weather or the temps were at tad warmer.... NOT. It was so bad after getting back I curled up on the couch with a heating pad between my knees under a quilt. The good part of all this cold drama is that I made it round trip from E-town to SC and back on $12.13 of gas on the moto and even better news; I acquired my USAC  moto-ref license. I hope to advance to an A moto over time.

 

Sunday I wake up and can barely move for some reason. Anywho, I'm going for a bike ride somewhere or somehow. I get a quick hour in on the trainer before heading out to the local trails. I've been itching to test this new 650b Chinarello I've put together. I like to experience new things as they come down the bicycle pipeline since I work part-time at a bike shop. When our customers ask me questions I like to have some sort of an opinion or a tad bit of knowledge.

 

So Schyler and I hit the ETSU trail for a quick spin. The bike is nimble! It 's really quick maybe because I've been riding a carbon air 9 Niner for the last year? The wheels accelerate faster than my Stans Crest 29 for sure. Ive got a X Fusion Enix fork on it and it was as smooth as butter! People I tell ya X Fusion suspension is the most under-rated out there and you can save HALF over the big names; Fox, Rock Shox and Manitou. I'm bias to MAxxis so I went with the Crossmarks 27.5's for this build. I'm sorry I would not recommend one of those for the front of anyone's rig. If it was dry? maybe. I'm going to give a couple others a try and see what happens. This bike gets a solid A from me.  I'll keep it around for a while before I sell it to get the Focus Raven 650b so I'll have something from the shop. I would have liked to have ridden longer but a previous engagement had me cutting my ride short and besides I already had a good stiff ride on the trainer earlier.

 

So my next stop was to run over to the site of the new soon to be BMX race track and stake it out with the excavator guy and a few helpers. It's hard to see the little flags but It took almost 3 hours to pin flag a 900ft BMX course. This is soooo coming together! Patience is key here. All the IRS paperwork is in the mail and it looks as if this is going to be a reality soon.... can't wait. Those tiny pin flag orange buggers can hardly be seen in the picture...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAter G.........................