SCOOBY'S SNACKS

MIA

2012-01-25T22:13:00.005-05:00

Scooby Doo where are you? School is back in full force now and one class especially is giving me a hard time. Pre-Calc (trig). I had this back in '84-'85 but I'm having a hard time recalling Tangent, Sine and all those functions....it's kicking my arse.

Anywho, I've been blogging just not here. I've been getting out of a beginner's art class for a few semesters now, 2D. Last advisement I was nailed to the cross and required to take it if I wanted to take anymore digital media classes, le sigh! In one of my classes, PoV, we are learning an AutoDesk program called Maya. It's a 3D rendering software and holy cow I want to sit and create 24/7 it's that much fun! I just received my free $3495.00 AutoDesk license to install this on my laptop so I may not be getting much sleep in the near future... Here's the first homework assignment we've had. Create a spaceship! This started out as a 5x5 cube and via the software you design and add features along with a sweet little glow from the thruster engines.

My art blog is called Quiet Fish and you can go see it here, if ya want.

Ok, ok sorry about all this software and no bike talk.

So after I posted the pic of the new carbon sweetness on FB with all the packing still on it I received several texts wanting me to unwrap and publish.... So, here she is all the way from China. It only took two weeks to get it from half way around the world... I'm impressed! I think I could put a few BMC stickers on it and pass it off as a BMC to some people. Friday I'll get to swapping out all the goodies and see what weight savings I've gained. As best I can tell it has the same frame cosmetic characteristics as either a Scott 29er or Stevens 29er. Crazy resemblance!!

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

DAINTY SRAM PARTS

2012-01-19T20:54:00.004-05:00

A rear derailleur that weighs 112g? What do people think when they come up or create stuff like this? This would look good in an art exhibit! I got this from Bikerumor today. Look at the lower pulley... how long do you think this would last until your chain is stuck in the cage and has you "coasting" out of the woods. It is very trick, don't get me wrong, but you'll need to buy one every 4 or 5 rides probably. Light stuff is cool but usually isn't practical. It does however give goofballs like myself things to comment about....

Short post this time cuz the teachers have already started laying down the HW.....

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

XTR SHADOW PLUS "TEST"

2012-01-16T20:53:00.010-05:00

After getting the new Shimano DynaSys 10 speed XTR M985 shadow "plus" rear derailleur. I quickly installed it and lined up a ride! I've read good things about this little jewel but as with everything you can't please everyone. I had heard that there was more drag than a normal XTR derailleur in the thumb when shifting up on this but I only read it from one popular testing site on the internets but I'm not going to say who. If it does what it claims I''ll definitely take a little friction for a quieter ride. Lets go ride it...

"Second to shifting, chain management is the most important job a rear derailleur has to perform. Today’s ultra-light long-travel trail bikes have us riding rougher trails, faster – all factors which collude to pop chains off both the cassette and chainrings. Enter Shimano’s new Shadow Plus design, which allows the sprung lower pulley cage to be ‘locked out’ below its parallelogram linkage, dramatically reducing chain movement." - Bike Radar

This little gold anodized lever is what all the fuss is about. It is supposed to keep the derailleur cage from losing tension on rough trail and letting your chain beat everything within reach of it. You know, it's that clanking and beating sound that beats and scrapes your chain stay to death unless you have one of those cover/ protectors on it but it's still noisy metal clanking sound in rough terrain.

We loaded up and rode Warriors. Oh yea, rocks, roots, rough, bumpy Tennessee single track for this test! It was quiet muddy as you can tell below. Melissa went along with her Haro, she's already progressed enough and is wanting a carbon mtb! Is the TBRA Tennessee State Road Race Champion coming to the dark side??

When we got there there was trash all over the parking lot.... lazy pricks! There's a trash can 20ft away! Jeeezz!!! I quickly put this trash in it's place before we rode. #*^&%##$%&^& !!

Ok.... the test. Once on the trail I started easy to make sure Melissa was getting used to Warriors ok, it was her first visit there on a mountain bike. After I got into the rocks and rooty sections I let the BMC TE29 roll.... wow! Silence! Pure silence! No clanking, banging chain noises what so ever! Holy cow, IT WORKS! The shifting?? I noticed just a little drag maybe but to tell ya the truth if I hadn't been biased by the review online I don't think I would have even noticed it it's that minuscule! So it was "hardly an issue". It shifts as easy, if not easier, than my DynaSys XT that I had on the bike before this test if that says anything... I'm not running my normal housing all the way back on the 29 right now either so I may not be able to tell anything at all after I re-cable it later. On a carbon bike I think it would even be quieter! Yes I do! It really lets you hear things better without all the clanking you normally get in the rough stuff. I'm impressed!

So if someone doesn't use this derailleur for the excuse of "increased drag" in shifting. You're an idiot... plain and simple or you're P/O.... or a SRAM fan.

So in closing I would whole heartedly recommend this part for your bike and I give it an honest 4.5 "scoobs". The ONLY reason it didn't get a 5 star (scoob) rating is this technology ONLY comes on the XTR (right now) and it's pricey! $249.99 retail, ouch! I bet the XT has this by next year... IT SHOULD! All you die hard 9 speeders..... sorry!!! If you ride a mountain bike... YOU WANT THIS, it's that good! REALLY!

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

CX NATIONALS (part 2)

2012-01-15T13:22:00.007-05:00

Madison's weather was rare while we were in attendance. Although it was quite cold to we Tennesseans we were assured that it's usually very windy and snow blowing sideways. The day I raced the course was totally frozen. The other days it somewhat thawed at least the first inch of permafrost was. Here are a few pics of some of the local East Tn racers that also traveled up there....

Dr. Seek!

Some had more difficulty than others... a lot more!

Nolan after a pit stop for a clean bike

2 inches of slop on frozen SOLID ground! If you went down, which most did, it felt as if you landed on concrete... no joke!

Dwayne taking care of business!

Aaron in Collegiate Div 2 race

Everyone did great for the conditions. Sadly I could not find any pics of me... boo hoo. This race was more for conditioned athletes and ones that had skill. You could easily spot true roadies in the slick conditions. I had a ton of fun and hope to attend this next year. For the other 1,148 pictures click here to take you to photobucket. Be patient until they are all loaded then enjoy the several hours of upload time by yours truly...

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

CX NATIONALS (part 1)

2012-01-11T20:42:00.005-05:00

Wow what a looooooong week up in Wisconsin! The drive which would have normally taken 12 hours or so turned into a 2 day trip due to rules and regulations that pertain to the schools transportation policies. Anywho I managed to get AC and myself up there AND back unscathed. This was a hoot of a trip and in the middle of fall and spring semesters so it was more of a mini vacation to me. I only raced the non-championship race while there and did my usuall "I suck" routine even though I tried warming up to go ride in/on/around an ice rink USAC called a CX course.

We had a great parking place at the venue outside of the $200 boundry for "expo" parking. Right beside a row of porta johns that were cleaned everyday (too cold for the smell to permeate) so there were not any bathroom issues in our pits nor were there any lines until the last day. I had to snap a pic of the logo though! " We are #1 in your #2 business" Love it! Speaking of EXPO, well there wasn't much EXPOing of any kind going on. Heck SRAM packed up and left early... Shimano provided support for all types of drivetrains while there, one of the collegiate guys had a sram rear derailleur installed on his bike by them. I guess everyone slums sometimes, wink, wink.

One night there was several of us met at the Great Dane Brewing Company for dinner, a place that came highly reccomended by a few friends up there. That place rocked some awesome food too. I had to pass on the brews though since I was driving the school van. Saliva was dripping from the corner of my mouth as I watched D-Wayne and the Seekster partake in the fine choice of brews. I was afarid to snap pics with my iPhone at the USAC gallery because I was afraid it may have been inappropriate so I took this one covert ops style! The bike art was very simple and somewhat eclectic.

While in downtwon Madison (the capital of Wis.) we wandered aimlessly through the streets just taking in the views of a wonderfully mild evening, very rare this time of year. There was an art show sponsored by USAC in a gallery that we visited, Starbucks and another hole in the wall bar only for a second looking for another art show display sponsored by USAC. This has to be one of the cleanest towns I have ever visited in my life, it was awesome! This pic here above had us almost walking on the capital's lawn.

OMG! I have found a new favorite beer!!!! New Glarus Brewing Co. I love you. This stuff is the smoothest ale I have ever tasted!!! Thank goodness there were other vehicles headed back this way so I could get some home. Its against rules to transport any alcohol in a state vehicle so I had some brought back to Tennessee in another racer's personal vehicle! 1 case and a half should last me 'til the end of January if I enjoy it and not just pound them back.

This little event here had me coming to a screaming hault and doing a "U"ey in the median to go back and get a pic with this van. I have tried numerous times to contact the car lot but it's been unsuccessful so far..... I want this van!

Oh the racing you ask?? Well, I took 1,150+ pics while up there at the track so I haven't had enough time to go through all of them and choose the good ones that's why its going to be a couple more parts to this post. Please be patient....

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

LAND of CHEESE & ICE

2012-01-05T13:16:00.005-05:00

After a very long, snowy and sometimes nerve racking drive from Johnson City to Madison AC and I rolled in to the venue to check in and proceeded to get our bib numbers at the Holiday Inn Express in Verona. We then drove over to the course to check out how accurate the video was that had been posted ob FB. After some non-signage park entrances our smart phones figured it out for us thanks to Google Earth maps.

Upon arrival at the course we bundled up for the walk around the frozen Wisconsin tundra.

Every turn had ice, hell every part of the course was icy and pretty treacherous. Yea there was some parts that you could manage to get traction but your racing momentum would push you out of the only traction groove available. Hats off to some of the top riders that can motor around a course like this at race speed and keep it up on the skinnies with knobs...

There were many places that were almost completely covered like this. I actually fell on the ice while walking around checking out the course.

You have to cross the ice sooner or later..................

One of the hills on the course. Every hill is rideable except the stair case. The riding line keeps moving into the prairie grass going up...

By the time I raced the new line had moved to the right and deep in the grass...

This section that takes you back to the starting grid onto the pavement was MORE bumpy than rocky Iron Mountain in Virginia near home.

Here is the run-up. There's about 15 railroad ties that have been laid into the hillside by digging out a spot for them to lay. They were super sturdy and felt solid while running up them yesterday.

This section claimed so many riders. There's a long gravel road descent that makes a right hander into this straight that's laden with ice all in the grass. By the time I raced the dark lines were right up against the white stakes holding the tape. This was a very tough section at speed.

Everywhere you walked or looked ice was all in the grass. It wasn't crunchy or wouldn't even break when you walked or rode on it. The tundra was frozen deep. The promoter applied salt and driveway HEET to the course but all it did was thaw about 1/4" of ice and let it become a thin coat of mud on top of the ice creating an even slicker course. I give them an A for effort but - meh, didn't work..... it's still RE-freezing at night.

With my lack of fitness and my last race being in early November before my ankle injury I didn't think I would have anything in the tank for racing. I was right. I crashed twice, once hard, and managed to get 3 laps in for my feeble attempt at a CX Non-National race. I would have made four but the person at the finish gave me the "you're done - good job" speech so I eased up and started with the cool down even though I really didn't ride hard enough for a "cool down". After realizing that the leader was doing his last lap it was too late to get back in - nor did I care. The ice was ridiculous. I would have really liked to have the chance to ride this course on a dry day! I loved this long course. It had swoop, flow, technical, hard and also easy sections to play on. I have now raced on a CX National and NORBA National course in my lifetime. It's sort of a mini-bucket list items I can check off. I think I'll pass on the road part though.

Aaron races on Sunday so we are in limbo until then. We hooked up with a few of the peeps from the house while we're up here so it's not boring at all. One could describe it as a little mini-winter vacation. I would seriously consider going skiing if I could find "the mountain". It's flat as a pancake up here!

More to come.

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

No More Chian Slap????

2012-01-03T23:30:00.003-05:00

Per Shimano;

"A new addition to the SHIMANO XTR Dyna-Sys drivetrain is the RD-M985 SHADOW
PLUS rear derailleur. It features a switch at the pulley cage to enforce a heavier
spring tension and activate a friction stabilizer to counteract the forces of up and
down chain momentum in rough terrain.

Chain bouncing can often cause noise as the chain slaps the top and bottom of the
chain stay, or even derail from the front chain ring in extreme circumstances.

The switch when selected to the “ON” position dampens the cage and consequent
chain movement for a nearly silent and stable riding experience. In the “OFF”
position it eases the installation and removal of the rear wheel by relaxing the spring
tension of the cage."

This little thing is supposed to eliminate chain slap, we'll see soon!

LAter G.........

AND... Not one Hardtail!

2011-12-28T13:20:00.004-05:00

Mountain Bike Magazine has a story on "their choice" for best 2012 bikes. I try to keep up with stuff like this being in the biz and all. But I'm also skeptical to use these reviews as bench marks for the upcoming new 2012 bikes due to the demographics here. Everytime you read these articles the bikes have been tested out west somewhere in California or Moab. I've ridden my bike in many states when I was an over-the-road truck driver and I've also been on vacation on Moab. After three days In Moab I was very bored and longed for the Appalachian trees and single track that my region is so blessed with.

I am particularly interested in one bike though! A six inch travel trail bike that pedals efficiently? Wow! Enter Yeti SB-66. It's true I'm a big Yeti fan and would love to ride one of these! That's alot of bike though at 29.5 lbs to be climbing very far with.

Now of course all the big three got a spot on the top 12 with Special-ed getting two in the article. Niner, as I expected, had earned a spot with the carbon RDO but it's well deserved they make nice stuff. One thing; where the hell are the hardtails? The article says nothing of specific disciplines, just these are the best 12 bikes of 2012? BULLPUCKY!! I would assume that they are referencing ALL bikes because they have XC, Trail and DH bikes on the list. Anywho this will help one local shop that caters to all the "garage biked" riders in our region. They'll read this, run right down there, buy the bike, ride it a couple of times then hang in the garage for who knows how long. Poor bike! I'm mean? Well it's what happens alot more than you think and not only in my region!

Specialized, Trek and Cannondale ALWAYS get a bike in the "top" whatever list because they're the big 3. This crap is like politics; If you've got the money you can get anything you want! The only magazine that gets my approval (big freakin' deal, right) on bike reviews is Dirt Rag. Those cats seem to be more down to earth, a little bit hippish, and a better fit to our region.

One thing noticeable though; most of the bikes are carbon! It's nice to see that carbon has made it's way into the manufacturing process of almost all bicycle companies.

OH! I have to slam one choice for sure... the Kona??? Really???? I wonder what the "testers" got for adding that one to the list?? DH Bikes account for less than 5% of bikes sales in the U.S. so why in the hell does a DH bike make top 12 in 2012? Sorry for the rant today...

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

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:15:00.007-05:00

I made a plan and stuck to it this year for Christmas shopping! With that said I totally finished Christmas shopping a week early this year. Yesterday I had some errands to run and some final things to do before the big move next week. It's amazing how much "stuff" one can accumulate just by living life. I hauled a bunch of boxes and two buggies full of clothes to the Goodwill so if your looking for some cycling related Tshirts for .75 cents Goodwill is your place.

After all that hoopla I was to head to the shop to throw out a life ring. Supposedly it was over ran with many a customer. (I even had customers texting me and Facebooking me as I was headed in to the shop). Upon arrival I find: B laying in the floor assembling a Christmas present (scraper bike) for a customer, several people in the shop needing help and B looking totally frazzled. I jumped in and we both managed to get the customers moving on their merry way completely satisfied with presents for their loved ones. A couple of high end BMC's were paid for while I was helping too! It's kinda cool that you will get to meet spouses that you have never met when they come in to get gift certificates or stocking stuffers for their loved ones. It's kinda funny also that ya meet people that have nice bikes but you never see them on the road or trails and from the looks of their bikes they have to ride quite a bit. Loners I guess, some peeps don't like to socialize in groups, no biggie just ride your bike and enjoy it; that's what it's all about anyway.

Just before I left the shop we exchanged gifts and tidy'd up a bit then headed for the house. B gave me a sweet pair of PI shoes in my fav color, they are so comfy too!

Getting presents from a bike shop makes me feel like being 8yrs old again! I really love working at the shop. I've always heard older men talk in hindsight about working and their jobs in their life. That old saying "if you find something you truly love to do and can make a living doing it you'll never work a day in your life". There have been days that were crazy and a couple crazy customers at the shop but I have never been more content and totally happy with a job in my life working in the bicycle industry. It is true that one won't get rich doing this but there is more to life than money. Well, that's my vision anyway. I hope to take my education to a different side of the bicycle industry when I graduate, from retail to some part of the manufacturing process and I don't care if I have to relocate.

I know so many people that have went to school, paid thousands of dollars for a college education and/or multiple degrees then realize it's not what they like. They work jobs unrelated to what they studied and aren't happy, can't find a job in their field of study (legit reason) or just complacent with where they're at, why? Do you go to work all gloomy or do you have a bounce in your step when heading out the door every morning? One's job effects one's inner self greatly. So just find a job doing what you love (ask yourself this; what do I love doing most of all? Then find a place (or create that place; entrepreneur) that will let you...) and you'll probably never "work" a day the rest of your life! Think about it...

Merry Christmas & God Bless everyone!

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

Holiday Humor

2011-12-21T16:13:00.001-05:00

Sorry it's all I got.....

SUFFERING

2011-12-19T00:50:00.004-05:00

Like I stated earlier I was bound and determined to get on the road bike this weekend and I did! I did not put rubber to asphalt though. Due to the frigid temps and lack of confidence in the ankle I bolted the BMC Team Machine to the fluid trainer and clicked on the little arrow in the laptop video player and started suffering. I was able to get my hands on all the Sufferfest videos for this indoor riding/trainer season. I really dislike the trainer but it was a welcomed feeling to get the pedals spinning again. I managed to do a couple hours this weekend on the trainer. My ankle didn't totally agree 100% with the recent exercise. It's a little bit tender but it's going to be ok, I think. I really don't know if I'll chance it in the woods or not yet. I'm just waiting on the mid 50's to get back this week to get on the road, yes I know I need to HTFU!

Now that I'm a Sufferarian I may continue to do the set of training videos when it's below 40*. If you're not familiar with these just google them. They are some of the bestest trainer videos that I've ever used says I. They keep you engaged with a nice video format and a constant display of what effort you're supposed to be giving along with your cadence. There are also a couple of sounds that alert you to a tempo change as well to keep your attention on the job at hand. For not being 100% and able to get on the trails the sweatfest in the living room this weekend was just what the doctor ordered!

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

In Memory of Megan Baab

2011-12-17T11:48:00.004-05:00

Photo: Dan Jardin

On Thursday December 15, 2011 the world lost a wonderful cheerful young woman named Megan Baab. She was a freshman at Lees McCrae College in Banner Elk, N.C. and a first year member of the LMC Cycling Team. A wonderful customer of the shop since she's been here, we are going to miss her perky, cheerful, energetic personality. The ETSU team competed with her this year in the USAC SE Collegiate Conference and we'll miss her very much.

Updated December 16, 2011

Lees-McRae College is mourning the loss of freshman cyclist Megan Baab who was killed in an accident on US Highway 221 on Thursday, December 15.

According to reports, Baab, 19, was traveling north on US 221 in Altamont, N.C. when a southbound truck crossed the center line and struck her. Baab was air-lifted to Johnson City Medical Center, but was pronounced dead soon after arrival at the medical center from the injuries sustained.

Baab, a native of Euless, Texas, was a four discipline rider for the Lees-McRae cycling team and had competed on the national level at both USA Cycling National Championships (Track and Mountain Bike) this season for the Bobcats. She was slated to compete in January at the USA Cycling Cyclocross Championships for Lees-McRae.

“We all remember Megan as a bright and bubbly member of our campus community,” said President Barry Buxton. “She always had a smile on her face and a friendly word to say. Her contributions to our campus were noteworthy, even though we were only able to share a single semester with her. We send our most heartfelt condolences to her family and friends in Texas and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

“There is a deep sadness in my heart for the loss of Megan, to her family, her friends and teammates, we have lost a wonderful young woman,” said Director of Athletics, Craig McPhail. “She was and will always be remembered for her smile, passion and love for her friends and life, we all will greatly miss her.”

Baab came to Lees-McRae in August 2011 as a freshman and looked to make an immediate impact for the Bobcats in all disciplines, specializing in Road and Track.

“Megan was a breath of fresh air to the team,” said head coach Luke Winger. “She was incredibly positive and super fun to have around. The exciting thing for me, as a Christian, is that Wednesday my wife asked her if she was a Christian, and she joyfully stated she was; which brings me comfort knowing that she is in Heaven with the God who made her. I’m thankful for the chance to have known her.”

Megan's family, friends and school are in our thoughts and prayers, Godspeed Megan.

Plastic 29er Bikes

2011-12-15T13:16:00.003-05:00

I was wanting a carbon 29er but since BMC put the halt to the release of the TE29 carbon frame on hold for another year I figured I would just wait. I'm always wheelin' and dealin' when it comes to bikes so while I'm being patient I'm going to give China carbon bikes a try. I know 3 people that have purchased a carbon China frame from Ebay and really like what they bought. I'm always surfing Ebay just for research on anything cycling related. I have found several carbon frames and I'm just about ready to pull the trigger. Most all of the Ebay frames look just like some of the high end bikes on the showroom floors in all of our neighborhoods! They are just raw or unpainted.

There are many on Ebay but I have posted only a few here and only one major brand as to not hurt some peoples feelings. The resemblance is scary. I've heard comments like "they are seconds" or "they are pieces that didn't make it through quality check" Well for that I have one response... How the hell do you know? Last time I checked these professional commentators don't even work in the cycling industry, not even at retail level. Heaven forbid they ride something that doesn't have a decal on it. Most folks, including myself, could take a "blind" bike ride test and not be able to tell if the bike we rode that looked identical to all the others was different in any way or not. So to that I'm doing an experiment that entails me getting one of these plastic frames and reviewing it. I'll be comparing it to the Specialized, Niner, Lynskey and BMC I have all owned and ridden thoroughly. The Ebay frames run from a measley $329 to $750 so if it doesn't suit me I won't be out much.

Two posts in one day....

Later G..................

Another One in the Books

2011-12-15T09:59:00.002-05:00

It's the same old thing from everyone this time of year... rush, rush, rush and tons of stress. If it's not students bitchin' about finals and their self-procrastination it's everyone else complaining about something holiday related. Yesterday I finished my last final and I think I did better than expected. I'm happy as a tick on a dog's back says I.

Tuesday night after 2 finals the seniors were giving their portfolio presentations to the instructors and it was open to the students of digital media as well. The instructors invited us to see what we would be in for later when we graduate. Tuesday night's presentation consisted of seniors 2D design, Thursday night for 3D. Was it good? No says I! Not to be a hater but only one senior impressed me and not by very much. I think it was because he had created a bicycle catalog in his portfolio. I hope they teach me better or I absorb the courses better than these cats did..... whew!

I still haven't ridden any due to the fact I'm afraid I'll aggravate my injury (I'm a wuss). I stood at the door twice with bike in hand but I've talked myself out of it, dam I'm get'n old. I will be on the road bike this weekend sometime though. I need to see how much pedaling the ankle can withstand. If that works out well I may try to get into the woods but the only thing concerning me is if I have to put my left ankle down abruptly it may add to the injury which means more limping around and I'm sooooo tired of being a gimp.

I guess my mountain bike mileage will set "as is". There are a few of us in our region that are having a small informal contest for "the most mtb mileage" for the year. I haven't kept up with it much cuz I'm out of the loop but I'll soon hear trash talk on FB probably. I'm embarrassed to be such a cycling fanatic and only have a little over 1K in on the mountain bike to be honest. I mean it's a large part of my lifestyle I should have much more. I've put in alot of mileage on the road bike and have some respectable mileage on the CX bike too but my main passion is the mountain bike. I'm certain that I won't be buying anyone a 6'er of their favorite brew for getting the least mileage though. All this mileage chat here brings to mind a few people that have ridden well over 7K on their road bikes this season, impressive - that's alot of mileage on a bike of any kind, kudos!

One more day at my "school" job then 2 weeks off before trekking to Wisconsin for Nats!

I'm a photgrapher...NOT

2011-12-12T11:25:00.007-05:00

Now that I spend all my class time in the Digital Media Center at school there are certain tools I need for my trade. For a long time I've been wanting a really good camera to use for my classes and personal use too. I finally broke down and purchased the Canon T3. I wanted a little more but at the stage I'm at in Digital Media this will work for a couple of years or maybe longer.

This weekend I had to "work" the Kingsport UCI CX race - All I really did was set up a display with the new Focus brand CX bikes for everyone to see. I took three from the shop on Thursday night and Friday evening I had sold one already before I took them to the race on Saturday.

Some of the 1,000+ pics I took on Saturday didn't come out as great as I wanted but I still have to learn the zillion little tricks to my new camera. I do love the action shot mode! This thing will fill a memory card up so fast on continuous sport mode setting. At least I'll have something to keep me busy on the holiday break!

Jesse riding the barriers..... almost. Auto-focus grabbed the trees for this one.

Every one's fav CX rider... Eric Wondergem and 2012 MSG Pro Champion

Dr. Seek setting stuff on fire............

The Man, the legend....... Larry Bishop!

Just foolin' around with the Maxxis banner. They do make the BEST tires ever! Oh yea Wes, THEY DO!
Look at the frost! It was 25* Saturday morning when the first group rolled off the line.

Michael Stewart... one awesome rider and super cool guy!

After the race I wanted to stay and help with takedown but I still had to drive to Hampton to return the bikes and a couple other things at the shop. It was well after dark when I got home then out with the books for more cramming for finals. It was hard sitting at the race and not being able to compete. I did ride D-Wayne's Stevens CX bike over to give Seek a pair of gloves during his race. I was really surprised that my ankle let the cranks go round and round with little discomfort. Maybe there will be some riding sooner than I thought, come on ankle...

Later G................

Traveling to Cheese Land

2011-12-05T11:57:00.003-05:00

On January 2, 2012 I will hook the ETSU trailer up to a ETSU vehicle and head north. For the first time in ETSU Cycling history we will have students competing in USAC Collegiate Cyclocross Nationals. The bad thing is we are going to be there all week! Due to the school's driving times restrictions we can't make the drive in one sitting behind the wheel legally so we'll have to stop and do an overnighter somewhere.That makes the duration of this trip 7 days at least.

Madison Wisconsin in January should provide some frigid temps too. Somehow I have qualified to race in the non-championship event on the first day but I doubt I will since I haven't been riding any for the last two weeks due to the ankle injury. I would like to race on a Nationals course in cross just to say that I have though, you know.... a "mini" bucket list moment?

Above is what the course is going to look like........... just add snow probably.

Got to get...... studying for finals coming up soon.

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

Scooby Doo Where Are You???

2011-11-30T11:58:00.003-05:00

I'm laid up with a twisted ankle. I twisted my ankle on the stairs at the gym just before Thanksgiving and I've been laid up ever since. This really sucks too! No riding at all..... of any kind. The ankle is in the blue, green, purple and yellow stages now. The picture above is just after it happened. I have crutches and a couple more weeks to be on them, le sigh....

Stay tuned I'll try to find something entertaining instead of my whining....

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

Natural Selection

2011-11-15T10:39:00.002-05:00

Below is a video I stumbled upon while surfing the WWW. This is one of the most stupid things I've seen. I could see this coming from some punk kids but I was sorta surprised when this older cat rode of into the skate park...... WITHOUT A HELMET. Then another TARD jumps on double..... WITHOUT A HELMET!

Ride the bowl with a Vespa from JC Pieri on Vimeo.

Trillium trail race this weekend, come get some.

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

Back in the Freight Business

2011-11-09T19:27:00.003-05:00

Since the bike shop business has slowed a little my schedule is about one day per week now, no biggie I still get to wrench on bikes. It's really like therapy for me! Since the crunch on the income (ha, more like nocome) I looked to pad me pockets somewhere else temporarily. I knew several people at UPS so I used my networking skills to land a seasonal job with Buster Brown. This job will do two things to ya; kill ya or get you in really good physical shape strength wise. So far I'm hangin' tough although this has to be one of, if not, the most physically demanding job evvvva! Seriously this is harder than bailing hay when I was a teenager.

UPS and FedX have developed an amazing intricate system to deliver as many packages as they do. The system put me in awe, really. The timely system that moves freight via rigs and delivery trucks with very little room for error is amazing!

The trailers above are exactly what I have to unload every morning while the majority of you all are all snug between your blankies at 4am. So far we are unloading 9-10 of these every morning but will grow to possibly 12 soon with the coming seasonal shipping and Christmas shopping. My share is either 4 to 5 averaging +/- 1,000 packages per trailer. It's no cakewalk!

Oh yea! There are several packages that look like these when they get to me. This morning there was a huge leak from one carton that leaked across the floor of the trailer in/onto several other cartons so I got to witness first hand how their haz-mat team works. Just like the orientation video, it was handled very well and efficiently. Poor customers packages though. I walked in the UPS building this morning and I saw a BMC box on the end of a trailer......... I know where that was headed! I also made it to Hampton to help get it off the brown delivery truck too, hows that for keeping up with the freight? This is supposed to last until 12/23 then I get released, I honestly can't see why someone would want to make this their living, it's very hard manual labor.

Oh, riding you ask? This past weekend Melissa and I traveled to Tsali for some sweet autumn riding. We managed to roll almost 30 miles together. She's a pretty tough road rider and has taken up mountain biking after road season. She still has alot to learn but if you get her where she can open up her engine she will ripppppp your legs off. We overlapped, criss-crossed and ran double on some trails to get the mileage but she wanted to keep going. She's really strong.

This weekend the collegiate CX season has it's second race of the season at King College right here in our back yard at Bristol. Makes traveling a breeze! They finally separated the classes so I'll only get one leg torn off instead of two by the 20 year olds...

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

WEEKEND RIDING

2011-11-06T19:10:00.002-05:00

Brakes on the candy van Saturday morning and tried to replace a front coil spring but it was beyond my mechanics. REWARD? Tsali on Sunday! 29.4 miles of autumn bliss.....

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

Workin' for the Weekend

2011-10-31T20:26:00.003-04:00

This weekend I didn't get to race at the next to last MSG race due to watching the shop for B. He took the family down to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. That left Larry (the A team) and I to fend for repairs at the shop. I sorta didn't mind since the temps took a plunge for the last several days heading into the weekend. It also rained for 2 days prior, that's what I wanted to see and be a part of though but I had to wrench. I really wanted to go in though, I put the finishing touches on the Niner Carbon RDO with a full XTR build..... NICE!

I also chose to skip the NCCX race over in Boone, NC Sunday as well. I had some more HW to finish and I wanted to ride the 29 BMC after installing the new fork, see below. Our CX season, well, hasn't really been CX racing season it's been more like racing CX bikes on grass in the summer. Warm sunny days, no rain but lots of fun. MSG has one more in December and it's a UCI race so it should be huge. Coming up in the next couple of weeks is the King College Collegiate race in Bristol then we have another 3 week bye before finishing up with Mars Hill on Saturday 12/3 and Lees McRae on 12/4

Thursday the ETSU A riders boarded a plane for New Mexico and the 2011 Collegiate MTB Nationals. The day before Angel Fire received 8 inches of snow! So this years Nationals would be nothing less than exciting and or interesting. Honky managed to qualify 2nd on the first day but was unable to match that run on the second sadly. The guys did quite well considering we get no backing or support from the school and we have to manage ourselves as a team. The last day was dual slalom and Joey stepped up his game and finished on the podium in Div II with a 3rd overall. Next year we will probably move up to Div I due to the increase in enrollment at ETSU. The boyz did quite well and I'm really proud of them!

Below is a pic of Pro Roadie Brian Sheedy's team the Brevard Tornadoes. He helped us out by transporting the bikes out for us, thanks Sheedz!

Yesterday I was able to get the BMC 29 out for another test ride with the new Fox fork on it. One word.... WOW! that tapered steerer makes the bike super solid up front and I feel like I can make the bike take lines that I want it to no matter where I'm at on the trail, it makes me feel that confident. The bike is already SUPER STIFF due to the formed top tube and the thick aluminum sidewalls in the frame. The Niner was a smidge lighter but I would say that they are even stevens when compared to one another due to the 2012 Niner having the tapered head tube. There is one "tiny" thing but Im not going to nit pick. Very nice bikes indeed! I would like to have a kermit green Niner though, I just love that color! Word is kermit green "may" return in the future.

Tomorrow I have an interview with Buster Brown for a part-time position early in the mornings. A little influx of cash during the holiday season would be nice! With the Digital Media schooling in my life I'm wanting a BIG monitor since the ones at the DMC have spoiled me. An SLR camera is also on my radar since I will be needing it for classes. Wants, wants, wants why can't humans ever be "satisfied"?

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

Wednesday Night Ride @ETSU

2011-10-27T17:04:00.003-04:00

The first ride of the weekly Wednesday night rides was cancelled due to alot of rain last week. This week's weather was perfect though, perfect says I. Hampton Trails donated a sweet multi tool for one of the lucky riders. Sally walked away with the prize after "we drew sticks" to see who would win.

There was 14 riders when I first counted but a few more showed after we were riding because I saw them at the end. Some opted for 2 laps, some did one and a few others did 1 1/2 laps. I honestly thought we wouldn't need our lights but we did, it grew dark fast after we started! Half way through the ride mine stopped working and I followed Steve for half a lap to get out. That can get quite hairy at times if I didn't hold his wheel.

Alot of people told me they were glad a ride has been posted that will continue weekly. We have great trails and a secure place to park your vehicle so it's a win win. We may meet a buffalo once or twice to mix thangs up a little but for now we'll be at ETSU every Wednesday at 6:30 until Christmas if anyone wants to join us for trail riding fun!

Yes women are welcome too. There was only one gal that was there and it was her first night ride, Melissa had a ball! We even had a celeb show too! Mike Brown tends to show up every now and again to our rides but he's cool and doesn't rip our legs off. About half way through the testosterone got to flowing pretty good by the speed of things. A couple of peeps checked out on the front. It was a great ride though.

I'm guessing there would have been way over 20 people if the guys on the team weren't packing for USAC Collegiate Nationals. The A riders left at 6am this morning flying to Angel Fire resort in New Mexico. Last night Ol' Man Winter showed up and left an 8 inch blanket of snow for them. I've already heard that they are on the mountain with leaf blowers (???) cleaning the trails. This should even the playing field somewhat, ya think?

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

No Racin' Just Ridin'

2011-10-24T10:41:00.002-04:00

This week the MSG series had a bye week. No CX except for way over in NC. I'm not takin' the gas hog over there no way. What did I do for riding this weekend you ask? Well thanks for asking, I had to wrench a little on Saturday. B has been claiming it's been "shoulder to shoulder" for tha past several Saturdays and since I wasn't CX racin' he asked for me to help. It was busy but it wasn't "shoulder to shoulder". Schyler came in and got his 2012 Niner EMD, in black, and might I add the graphics are badass! 3 other Niners came in as well. It looks as if Niners are going to be all over the trails, like the BMC's are all over the road, it's a dam good bike they should be. I also got started on the very first Niner RDO build from the shop with a full XTR group, cha-ching $$$$$$$$$$$$!

After shop time I saddled up with Hammer, a local HT rider, and pedaled the bike towards Hampton Watershed Trails. I forgot about all the climbing that was over there but the beauty of the fall day quickly overcame those thoughts. I had time for a couple laps and Hammer kept the pace up so for a little over an hour it was a nice workout. After getting back home I had to put my nose back in the books if I wanted to ride again Sunday.

Sunday morning COB called and asked me to do a road ride, nope sorry goin' to Bays or somethin'. He agreed to join me so I swung by and picked him up at 1 and headed to the mountain. I was sooooo nice up there I'm mad at myself for not taking pics, lots of color! We passed alot of peeps on the trail and one even turned around and joined us. I took them across the new chesnut trail then over to Mountain Rd climbing the rough rocky double track up to Indian Pipes. COB had never ridden Pretty Ridge so that;s where I was taking him. Pretty Ridge is no doubt the most technical trail at Bays hands down. We managed to get down unscathed but there were soooo many trees down we had to take the goat path hike-a-bike up the ridge to get back to the creek bed. There were some huge trees laying on the ground down in that section so the goat trail looks as if that'll be the way out for a while. Almost 20 miles was had after downloading my Garmin info so it was a very good day. Thanks to COB and Steve for a nice ride yesterday!

Wednesday night 10/26 will be the first "wednesday night ride" at ETSU for anyone and everyone.

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

29 BMC's ARE IN!

2011-10-18T20:03:00.002-04:00

Well my ship came in! After waiting for about 7-8 weeks the UPS truck started unloading alot of boxes at the shop yesterday. B ordered alot of pre-season BMC's for sure. First thing I noticed when I dropped it off the stand after assembly; it was heavy thanks to that big phat fork on the front. That's already been remedied though just waiting on another brown truck.

What does a crazy cycling enthusiast do? Take it straight home and ride it you say? Lord no! "Take it straight home and strip it" says I. Easton goodies in the cockpit, my saddle, Mavic Crossmax wheels, my this, my that! Riding it would be for the next day when it's 80* in October! Where do I go? asks I. I thinks a bit....

I have four close choices; Buffalo (not by myself in the Candy Van - no explanations needed if you live here), ETSU (no that's tomorrow night with lights), Bays (mmmm maybe!), Warriors? hmmm haven't been there in a long while..... ok yes Warriors. One quick once over to make sure this and that is tightened and we're off.

It's such a warm beautiful day and the 20 minute drive over was soo pleasant. Down into the trail head and there are several other vehicles already there, nice! Gear up and pedal away. First thing is that fork again. I had it set about middle on the dampening adjustment and everytime I hit a root or bump it hisses like a pissed off cobra that had 1,000,000 Indians handling it. No not the Native Americans says I. After a few tweaks here and there, a saddle adjustment and a cable twist I had her set. I rode easy being on a new bike and such until I get to my fav part on Boneyard then I let go a little bit. The new BMC handles like the Niner, very nice! It climbs like the Niner which is good but I knew I would find something different between the two. In tight switchbacks I think the Niner has the upper hand but in the BMC's defense it has a poorer fork on it (for now). All in all I'm quite pleased and after I get the Fox F29 fork for it I think it will be as good or top the Niner EMD. I really do wish that BMC had stroked some color on the frame though.... mostly white?? really?? I would almost go with that Buick LaSabre red again..... nah I wouldn't! That's my biggest complaint about the bike, it is very white...YUK! True black and red BMC style is the way it should be in my tiny, unimportant, rude opinion. I may try to get some sign vinyl and see if I can fabricate some custom stripes for it later...

As for Warriors I made a post on FB it was like molded bread in which AC made fun of. It's become stale, very stale! There are more roots and rocks to ride on than dirt, no joke! That whole trail system is need of an overhaul, some sprucing up as one would say. Places where its very rough with rocks and roots peeps have started dropping down or above riding in new lines around that stuff. Problems in the making says I. I guess I'll stick to Bay's and ETSU since ETSU is where I do all my volunteer trail work nowadays. Sometimes I feel bad that my trail work volunteering has only been at ETSU but if we (ETSU cycling club) don't do it no one will so then I wipe that crazy non-sense outta my head. After Ben did his last little bit of magic on the trails before leaving for Ohio I honestly believe we have a trail system on campus as good or better than any trail system near us and when we get the new signage in.... well now it'll then be the bestest says I.

Says I has to go now and get some HW finished. I think it's due tomorrow?

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

SPRAY GARDEN

2011-10-18T09:55:00.006-04:00

You know there's either trouble or fun that's been had when you open anyone's blog and the first picture you see is a case of PBR's!

Downhill racing has it's "rock gardens" so I figured that CX needed something besides barriers, run-ups or the common everyday obstacle one sees when watching cross. I came up with, well Connor and I came up with, the "Spray Garden". A small portion of the track where a racer gets sprayed with anything a person can shake, throw, spew or pour on a racer. I think it was a huge success!

Poor Dwayne, Trevor and Dr. Seek received the worst of all the treachory. Beer, cokes, root beer, gatorade, water, energy drinks left over after races, you name it it was thrown. I think I saw a can or two flying through the air after it's contents had been spewed...

Dr. Seek fights back. He gets a beer from his cooler and hides it trying to retaliate.... He was able to spray a few but missed me as I saw what his evil plan was when he rounded the turn heading into the "Spray Garden".

Yes the mist of liquid was that thick when entering the "Spray Garden"!

We even roped the course down to a 3ft wide section to get Trevor slowed down. Like heardin' cattle! Poor Trevor, he was soaked! He fought back after the race! He snuck up on several of us and showered our heads with beer and sodas to pay us back!

COB has been riding strong this year. The quote he's using? "Nothing beats time in the seat". Here a little mishap slowed him down in CX4 though. This doesn't compare the one Jason took during the CX3 race. It was almost a "Joey" moment he hit so hard.

Yep that's me in yellow giving Dr. Seek a nice hot "Coke Bath".

This is from Pisgah but most of the CX4 races have been this big in 2011 so far. It's amazing how popular CX racing has become. I would guess that 20% are mountain bikes too.

Pre-race strateg-ery maybe??????????????

Oh, a racing report? With all that fun who cares? Ok..... here's the short version.

I'm outta shape real bad, my back locked up on me in the masters, I have no strategy for CX racing, there are so many SANDBAGGERS that you can't get an honest race in during the CX4's, I suck at it but I have sooooooo much fun I keep going back.

So if you can't go fast look pro is my theme......
Candy Van #2 & #3 lined up with our armor - bike stands and all.

I have something sweet I picked up at the bike shop today! I'm saving that for another post....

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

New Trail !

2011-10-14T21:48:00.006-04:00

Friday morning I got up and headed over to Unicoi to be part of the "Grand Opening" of the Pinnacle Trail on Buffalo mountain. Its was a little wet from the night before's rain but I had already committed with the Mayor so it was a go for sho! In the pic there are many of the state Forest Service guys, Tn State Representatives and even people representing from the U.S. Senate too! Good day for trails!

I was approached and asked about mountain biking and the trails we ride by a couple of people while there. We even got our pics taken by the local Erwin press, hope I didn't break the camera! The local MTB club missed a huge PR opportunity by not having a single person there to say thanks for another trail being given to the community. I suppose everyone was working, (just roll your eyes someone stated....) so I guess Unicoi is off their radar. I'm hoping that the pics they took of the ETSU team will be in the paper in the morning. It was perfect fall weather so Schyler and I proceeded to the top after getting back I went into work 2 hrs late.

Hopefully the new guy at the forest service will start letting trails become more of a priority, I heard at the gathering that he's also a mountain biker! Suuuwheeeeet! If the land swap goes through, I found out today, there will be several miles of new trails built by a professional trail building company over in Unicoi from a very large grant that has been received. Very nice!!

The colors were absolutely beautiful up on top of the mountain. The wind was howling though it almost blew our water bottles of the top of the tower when we sat them down. God has created such color in the trees.

Days like these sooth the soul! The views were awesome. East Tennessee has so much to offer, I love this area. Right in my back yard all this beautiful land. This makes me remember to be thankful for what I have and what I am. Sorry I'm getting a little deep on ya here but it just does that to me.

Tomorrrow more MSG CX!

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

AsheVegas CX at Pisgah Brewery

2011-10-12T08:40:00.006-04:00

The after race party that we didn't get to stay for because Papa & Beers were calling our names.

Several of us rolled over the mountain in Candy Van #1 Sunday morning to Black Mountain, N.C. for the final round of the small Asheville CX series. The turnouts have been huge except for the first one but the rest were huge freakin' successes. There had to be 1,000 people there Sunday, it was outrageous!

Here's my face of pain on the flat CX course. I used this race for an experiment. See the "flat" bars? Yes I robbed the Speedfox BMC's 10 speed dyna-sys drivetrain and installed it on the cross machine. I loved it but the 54 frame is too small for flat bars, this may work on the 56 frame I have though. On the 54 it cramped me up too much in the cockpit. That rough course beat my hands to death also, being cramped like that made it worse.

I wasn't planning on racing hard just a workout on the bike but after the first turn crash of 20+ riders, I avoided, it put me up front so I couldn't disrespect the gift I had been given. I pounded the pedals 'til I blew up and blow up I did. I do so much better starting out like a cold diesel and getting to "my" comfort zone rather than hammering off the front and waging battle like a cock-fight. Getting there 30 minutes before my race started and standing in the registration line for 15 minutes didn't help matters either. Oh well, I just do this for the fun factor!

Kim was there with Grace and Larry having a blast. Larry gave us all encouragement!

Jason is released and the wrist braces are off now, he's also back at work so don't get caught speeding.... His new team kit looks pretty sweet too!

This is what karma does to you when you heckle a fellow cyclist about installing flat bars on a CX bike..... That's right Dr. Seek. He called me sissy and all kinds of colorful adjectives heckling me while he was wondering around the course taking pics. On his final lap he snapped his chain in the lawn scape timbers and had to push to the pits (Karma). Upon arrival the only bike that was offered to him was Grace's SMALL cx bike. Having no shame he quickly hopped on and finished his race proudly! Going and coming pictures above and below.

D-Wayne, the king of cross, was tattooed with some Klingon stripes of dust through his helmet vents. The ground was hard as concrete and really dusty. It's nice to see him get to concentrate on his racing this year other than doing so much for the MSG series.

DWayne in action through one if the obstacles, no one ran through this . I was actually surprised that some 'no technical skills' roadie didn't dismount and run through this section. There were several that did crash after clearing the third one though. The first one would make them wobble, before they could recoup the second one would really get them squirrelly then after the third.....they ate it. I laughed so hard at some of them because it happened alot.

Some dude was wearing Jorts, ya know jean shorts? Chris, the announcer, was wearing this guy out during his race too. Jort guy was actually was doing pretty good holding his own. On the last lap he rolled around past me and I yelled " you got a nut hanging out"... he lost it and cracked up pretty hard at that comment. They were pretty short..... just sayin'. He was on a mountain bike too. There were several MTB's rocking the CX scene and also doing well on them.

Well that's about it for the Pisgah races. This week there's another installment of Farmhouse Gallery MSG racing. I think there's a bunch of us camping too should be a hoot!

Last night the ETSU Team had a fundraiser at Alpine Ski Center to raise funds for the team and the guys that are going to Nationals in a couple of weeks. We had almost 100 people show up it was a good night!

Later G.................................

DOMTAR

2011-10-03T18:00:00.005-04:00

This weekend the next stop on the MSG circuit was Domtar Park in Kingsport. The weather was pretty dam nippy so soon in October let me tell ya. Everywhere in sight there were peeps in coats, heavy coats too...... and boggans! Fall is here!

The midget, above, showed up only on Saturday but I didn't race with him that much in CX4...

Mr. Bonnie Kate himself was there again, I love this guy!

COB brought a fleet of bikes as usual

Jesse has been Killing it lately!

The barriers above were at the same spot as always.... wished they would have mixed it up a little this year since there wasn't a flyover.

Grace! This girl gets style points! She rocks! Go Grace! Wont be long - she'll be beatin' her Daddy.

Grace's Mom, Kim, rode the BMC Sunday after I threw a rod in my CX class.

Ole Jordan, yep it makes your tongue hang out don't it? Fast Kiddo!

COB doin' a turn....

Wow! She's been hanging around me tooooooo much! I was jealous but I would have destroyed the wagon if I had got in it , he he.

Boyz, this is how you handle a "bump" on the track. I'm amazed how many people dismounted for a stick....... So - I was on a mountain bike you say??

I did it on the skinnies toooo........ wimps. I might be really slow but I didn't get off my bike, ha ha ha ha :-P

The course lay out wass different, I gave AC some grief about it but it was ok. I would have preferred the techy stuff to be more dispersed more around the course because I'm a wuss and can't keep the hammer pegged. There was alot of roadie sections..... ALOT! If I was capable of producing more than 12 watts max I may have been a threat...... nah probably not.

After it was all over I started pulling up stakes in the back section, that was rough. I worked for about an hour then proceeded back to Candy van #2 to head home. Saturday was my best day but I still finished mid-pack and just goofed off in the MTB class. Yes I did get a beer handup in the MTB class too! Sunday I came with a different strategy, get out first and get through that technical 1/4 mile then rest. It almost worked, i got caught up in the racin' and didn't back off, 2 laps in a hammy locked up in my leg and it was OVER! Needless to say I was spectating for the rest of the day. Great event, great peeps, great sponsors! If you missed it, well YOU MISSED IT!

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

MORE CX - ASHEVEGAS STYLE

2011-09-25T19:08:00.005-04:00

Since we had another week off from the collegiate MTB season I found myself back at another cross race. Yes I suck royally at cross but I have so much fun I keep going back for more! Myself, Jason, Aaron and Dr. Seek piled into candy Van #2 and rolled over to AsheVegas for the second round of Asheville CX Series. It was a very small venue with a tiny course, well for what I'm used to with D-Wayne's MSG courses, in a business park. It was very spectator friendly and where we parked made for a great view of the course. 70% of the course was asphalt and the other 30% was soft, sandy, grassy, energy sucking, grainy soil. By the time I got back to the asphalt every lap my legs were scorched so bad from pedaling through that soft part I couldn't get any speed so I only managed a 21st of 35....... yup I sucked! Face of pain below.

Below this was the only climbing we had. You went in behind a storage unit facility and did a double step up climb around the back then through the parking lot back into the road and around another business. I will admit it was really fun meandering through businesses and lots but it wasn't a typical CX course because alot of spots were very narrow not meeting the 10-12ft width rule that USAC has for courses.

Here is the narrow 90* left turn behind one of the buildings. You could bring some speed into this turn if you wanted to while coming off a good stretch of asphalt. I was using the base of the block as a berm and it helped, I was alot slower when I got trapped behind someone in this section. (all picture credits go to LightBox Blog). After my race I commenced handing out beers to my buds Aaron and Dr. Seek during their race, there's nothing like a beer handup while competing! D-Wayne refused me, he'll regret that in the future, he's into this "training thang" now....

Super mad props go out to Moe's restaurant, Pisgah Brewery (for the 2 FREE kegs of GREAT beer) and Blueridge Crossfit! It's so awesome that sponsors get this involved for us to race. A flooring business even opened up its restroom for EVERYONE to use! That's awesome! For a small venue and race they rocked it out. Great job Ashville CX!!!!

Today I arose and started homework early so I could get a road ride in. I managed to get an hour and a half in on the skinnies before I needed to be back to finish some stuff around the house. First road ride in a week, it felt strange. On a bike note; the Niner frame is history but I did manage to get another BMC TE01 back in my stables, it was covered in Sram but I fixed that real quick! ( I do like their MTB cranks though, well Truvativ's cranks - Sram just bought the company and put their label on them) Someone hit me with a ballbat if I ever think of selling the TE01. No word on the BMC 29er yet, still waiting on logistics. (crickets chirping.....) After being without a hitch rack for several months now I broke down and purchased a new Thule T2. It has integrated lock cables built into the arms, it's awesome!

On another note one of our ETSU teammates WON the USAC National Championships in dual slalom this weekend held on Beech Mtn, N.C.! Great job Thomas Wilkinson on your Cat 1 US Championship. Number one (#1) in the United States Yo!

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

DOUBLE UP (part 2)

2011-09-20T22:14:00.004-04:00

OK part 2..... There were alot of people taking pictures so there are too many to choose from. I really wanted the ones of me knocking down the barriers on the mountain bike but maybe someone will post them soon. Below is Gracie, I was worried, she was giving me the evil eye before the race and I figured she would beat me. Her mom, Kim, was getting her pumped up before her race talkin' smack to me, 2 on 1 no fair!!. Gracie didn't catch me but she killed the course, great job girl!

Oh yea the ETSU jerseys were everywhere!
Below Melissa is really taking to the mountain bike! She's only ridden the thing a handful of times but seems to be getting with it. Go girl!
Here's the famous Mike Seek, not only is he our ETSU co-advisor, but a mean CX machine and the owner of CANDY VAN#1!
Below Tank made sure that almost everyone had a nice shower of Bud Light Lime to keep everyone on their game! here he showers COB as he tackles the barriers.
This next sequence you have to look at from the bottom up. Melissa was having trouble with the barriers on one lap so good ole D-Wayne grabbed her bike and helped her somewhat. I think he's so used to running the barriers that his instincts kicked in and he went into race mode. Melissa had to run her bike down, Oh that was FUNNY!

The most fun all day was riding with Trevor, the owner of Piney Flats Bicycles and Fitness, he's one of our competitors. I tried 100% in CX4 to do well & did but when the flag dropped on the MTB class it was all fun, games, laughter, beer hand-ups and heckling.
We had a blast!

Special thanks to Aaron, Dwayne, Mike & Eric for organizing these races and making them so much fun! Extra thanks to the Farm House, referees, volunteers and sponsors that make events like this possible, without you all we would not have fun like this, THANKS!

Later G.......................

DOUBLE UP (part 1)

2011-09-19T08:37:00.008-04:00

Over a week ago The ETSU team rolled down to Georgia Tech in Conyers, Ga. "looking to make a deal" like Charlie Daniels. We're not big on MTB TT's so we usually skip those but we make up for it on all the other disciplines. I moved up a cat in the gravity and qualified 4th out of over 25 people. (Thanks BMX skills) I did however crash in my 4th round jacking up the bike and a rib for a 7th overall. XC hurt on Sunday with having to do more than 23 miles when we usually only do 15-17 in our class, good training though. The team placed well and with the addition of girls this year we are getting points! Go here for results.... or not.

Now for the crossover----CX!

Our seasons overlap. Collegiate is usually half way through when the MSG and Asheville CX series start. This weekend kicked off one of the bestest MSG events or at least in the top three that I have ever attended. One must know me, I don't train or strive to, that said I attend CX races for mostly one reason; FUN! They are definitely more fun than an uptight roadie race hands down, more fun than BMX, more fun barely than collegiate races and more fun than MTB races only because they are like mtb races AMPLIFIED many times! If I can do well while CX racing then I'll take it as icing on the cake but that's not my priority. Coming out, setting up, hanging with cycling peeps, drinking beer and then trying not to miss your race during all this is what it's all about to me. Race partay!

This is when the Candy Vans feed the need. Candy Van #1, #2 &#3 were all in attendance at this race! 6 ez-ups and a ton of peeps made this weekend perfect. We had the whole straight of the barriers to ourselves, sweet! It all started out with rain Saturday morning that actually got folks excited! Alas it was just a light precipitation that actually kept the dust under control which was nice!

I'm sure there will be more pics because I was having fun! I was such a tard in the MTB class but I had a blast. Saturday I didn't dismount not one time. I log hopped the barriers every lap. During that process my back wheel would crash them to the ground! I leveled the barriers every lap ha ha! In CX4 I dare not try that! It was the Niner's last race with me so it was fitting to send it away with a bang. Sunday I drank beer almost every lap then began to feel like I was going to hurl up the free Bud Light Lime that Holston Distributors graciously donated. There's another good use for that stuff too, I don't know how many beer baths I was sprayed with in the MTB class but... I enjoyed everyone of them! There were a couple peeps taking the MTB class seriously but it was deserved - kept some egos in check actually. My ETSU guys were up front every day making sure the team gets noticed, Aaron and I were in the back getting noticed too for retarded behavior, ha ha.

There were hardly any "local" mountain bikers there though, very confusing. Asheville MTB guys, Knoxville MTB guys but barely a handful of Tri-Cities MTB peeps. They out-numberd us 4 to 1. Free beer, mtb fun and low local turnout..... I'll never understand. I'm moving to Asheville!

CX 3's definitely more serious than I wanna be. Focus Danielsan, FOCUS!

This is what it's all about! COB rode three classes on Saturday and smiled (but not during the actual race). He rode 2 on Sunday! He told me during his Saturday night slumber he rolled out of Candy van #3 with cramps looking like he was at "dance party". Maybe it was the "lime beer"?

After the last race on Saturday James and Schyler hung out for a bit. This wasn't a collegiate race so....... partay. There's too much that happened this weekend for only one post so I will get some more pics together and do another.

This, from the web, should hold ya over til then....

Thanks MSG for hosting another great event! Next weekend 9/24 CX partay in Asheville yo!

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

MY SEASON IS HERE

2011-09-06T21:18:00.006-04:00

All year I plan, go to meetings that could have been conducted other ways, come up with ideas and brainstorming things for ETSU that may/will help campus trails. All that business time invested so that myself and 20yr olds can have fun racing other colleges. Last week we hosted the season opener on campus and with the help of some great volunteers it was a huge success. Rider turnout was a little off from last years numbers but the huge out-of-conference powerhouse Lindsey Wilson wasn't there. We had fun though. I'm really excited about having three girls on the team this year too. They are all three rookies but the guys have been taking them on training rides and showing them all the technical aspects of mountain biking. They are really progressing too, it's awesome.

I did about mid pack as usual at these races racing the "kids". This years B group is more competitive by far. B's have out numbered every group so far this year. Tough bunch!

We left Friday for Tallahassee, Fl. to compete at FSU the home of the Seminoles. Their last club meeting they had 75 students show up, that's just outstanding!!!! At the colleges that don't have much in the way of mountains and steep hills for the gravity bunch they opt for a MTB TT through the woods. Our team isn't big on TT's so it's hard to get many to do them. We did place a guy and a girl in podium positions though at the FSU MTB TT. 4X was held on a BMX track that's not used in Tom Brown Park..... me? I love it! I took home 1st in C's with Mark getting 2nd, we placed 4 guys in B's and 2 in A's for 4X. One of the girls, Melissa, took a huge spill during her first ever 4X race (it's ok she's a roadie that we are trying to convert)

In this pic Melissa takes a huge spill on her first ever 4X race on a BMX track. She's tough though, she got up and staggered away then raced Short Track afterwards. What a trooper she's getting us all kinds of points for the weekend. Great job girl.

Saturday night we hit the same Mexican place we always hit while in Tallahassee, Los Amigos. They always have specials that everyone loves and we have a really good time there. After food it was off to the pool! We lounged around for about three hours with college kids doing what they do best, having a wild time.

Sunday rolled around and so did the tropical depression. It rained alot during the night but seemed to give a dry window for the race, it only sprinkled the whole time, whodathunkit? Only about half the team raced, several of them were BEAT up from Saturday's events and not feeling well, it's ok. We drove home through some of the hardest rain I have ever driven in, thank goodness the rain was only for 50 miles or so.

Traveling - break down issues! First time in three seasons using the motor pool at ETSU. We had a belt separate inside the tire and had to stop and get it replaced/repaired. The owner of the small tire business was one huge douche-bag too and boy was he grumpy! I'll save that for another story! Here we are getting a used tire for $30! Glad we did too because 2 hours later...

150 miles later? the other rear tire has a belt separation issue, dangit! We had to change this one on our own, heck I had 8 strong young backs to handle this.....ahhhhhh! It was pretty nice too there are several guys on the team that can play the guitar VERY WELL. In the pic above Greg lays down some soothing tunes to keep our spirits up in our time of bad luck.

Get it boys! We almost had the fastest pit time too. Nascar who? When we drove through McDonough we exited for dinner so that Matt, a former teammate, could join us for dinner. Good times! This week we travel to Georgia Tech and race in Conyers, Ga where the MTB Olympics were held in the 90's. Weather is looking great and the rider turnout should be huge!

Later G.................

IT"S THAT TIME AGAIN

2011-08-22T11:25:00.003-04:00

Whew, sorry I haven't been rambling for the past week or so. It's been a busy time for sure. So where are we at and what's been going on...

The shop has been busier than a one-legged man in a but kickin' contest. The tour got things hopping at the shop in July and it has carried over into August for sure. We have sold out of all our bikes in the back, hardly any company has their 2012's in stock ready to ship, total nutso nowadays.

ETSU fall classes start next Monday but the first race of the season, we host, is this weekend. We have been busting our humps making sure it's ready to go now instead of waiting until the last minute from previous seasons. It looks great, I single handedly finished up the short track and all it needs is taping Friday. XC is ready to go thanks to all the XC guys on the team, Dual Slalom is also ready thanks to the gravity guys. All we need to do now is clear a tree on the DH course that just fell a couple days ago. That pic above is a spot we repaired last year that sunk in after the repair, hopefully it will settle better than last time. I have already put in a request for nice weather for this coming weekend - hope it's approved!

Short Track racing has been wide open this season. We held off getting this started and I think it helped turnout. We will probably use this as a model now. Wait 'til the end of road season then start short track. That way the CX bug is starting to take effect and gets peeps out riding on the grass. Record average turnouts at every one this year thanks to the CX skillz clinic at the soccer fields hosted by Mr. Seek. CX at 6pm then Short Track at 7pm - starting your week off right on Monday evenings.

Braaap !!! Here's a small jump that is in the short track course. I'm amazed how many "mtn bikers" refuse to hit this small jump during short track. It's only about 18" high and as you can see only two bike lengths long, not bad, people still take the "ride around" though. We have also had a couple of people, including myself, clear this on a CX bike! I will admit it feels very WEIRD getting air on a bike with drop bars. Crashes?? Oh yes! This small jump has claimed many a rider too. Look...

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

SPEEDFOX RIDE

2011-08-06T11:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, after swapping out several OEM items that came on the 2011 SF03 Speedfox, I finally was able to get it out and ride it. Why do I want a 26" FS rig? Good question! I like both size wheels & I was made a deal I couldn't refuse to trade my 26" FS BMC fourstroke for a 29" Lynskey Ridgeline SL = Investment opportunity! Thanks AKS! I had to replace the 26" FS bike, I miss it!

There are trails that are better suited for 26" hoops and there are trails that are better suited for the 29" (trashcan lids) wheels. I don't know why people think that ONE is better than the OTHER. They both have their positives and negatives, that's the way it is and always will be. Ya know, no matter what size wheels you have they aren't going to do you any good if they aren't attached to a frame... I give my buds a hard time for riding 29" wheels even though I have always liked them, it's what I do. I think they finally realized this.

After getting the SF03 home, then getting rid of some parts on it I would rather not use (thanks EBAY = profit), then putting the parts I prefer to use on it, it was ready for a maiden voyage at my backyard trails, ETSU. (punctuation errors everywhere, I know). The complete drivetrain was replaced with Shimano Dyna-Sys except for the cranks (Sram (really Truvativ) X-7's 2x10) a better set of wheels (Mavic's), Avid BB7's and my favorit-est saddle. Now time to play!

This bike isn't a serious XC race bike, it's made to line-up in the middle of the FS group of a full on trail bike and XC racer. One could race XC on this but the climbing would wear ya out even though it has a nice lock-out feature. The Rock Shox Recon is handling the steering duties up front. This is the first time I have ever ridden the Recon, not impressed. Spoiled by all the Fox's, SID's and Reba's I've ridden I guess? It took me 30 minutes of just pedaling around to get the suspension set for me and get the sag dialed in on the front AND rear. So many people just get on their FS bikes and ride never taking the proper time to set and adjust the suspension specifically for their own weight and riding style. Such a waste, pay for all those perks and fail to get the benefits.

After getting everything to my liking and adjustments made I was off. I was in the middle on sizing for the Speedfox but knowing this was just a playbike for me I opted for the size large. It's really comfy, I'm glad I did. I think the only thing I will do cockpit wise is shorten the stem a tad and that should get it.

Ok the ride... climbing: it bobbed pretty bad but lock it out and the pedal stroke delivered a decent level of efficiency, I would say a 7 out of 10, good for this type bike. Handling was spot on just like everything BMC makes, their bikes handle superb! The fork? I'm not a fan of the Recon after riding it only because it lacks the features I'm used to is all. This made me reconsider for a minute, I should have opted for the Sf02 with the Fox outfitted suspension but after looking back at the closeout pricing the next level reflects what it would cost to buy a fox fork, no biggie, I'll upgrade that later. For what I wanted this for it will fit the bill completely. Just a carefree, easy trail riding bike to take on fun group rides when I want the extra cush that this FS offers and to replace my FourStroke that was traded earlier this year. (I still miss the lime green color FourStroke)

Another note: I don't know why I'm adddicted to BMC bikes? BUT I AM! 29ers releasing in two weeks..... ughhhh. All I can say...EBAY is a hoppin! Oh...say what? you have looked for my sales items & can't find them? I have a stealth account you won't be able to find, sorry. Message me if your interested in good quality parts, no anonymous posts please...

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

2012 BMC LINEUP

2011-08-05T00:04:00.005-04:00

Whoooop, thare it is..... B stepped off the plane from Chicago, drove to the shop and put the new 2012 BMC bike lineup catalog in my grubby little paws. I was ooggling through those colorful pages of bike lust like a small child looking for all his Christmas presents. We thought there was going to be a delay releasing these but OH now they're going to be available very very soon. Oh EBAY I need you.... Time to be like a rabid Wall Street broker... sell sell sell!!

Anyone need some spare parts??? Niner, you and that burgundy Buick LaSabre paint job, well you gonna have to find another place to live.... a replacement is on the horizon.

I do not know why in the land of the internets that my pics got turned up but none the less here's the first look at the newly released BMC 29er geometry info.....

Somewhere in a meeting hall/room in Chicago, the windy city, B was treated to all the new goodies from BMC. 29er full squish, too much? Some think so...

29er HT? Yes, thank you and PLEASE!!!!!

The hardtails are only coming two ways.... 2x10 sram w/fox fork equipped and 3x10 shimano w/rock shox Reba equipped. Both are 10 speed, seems that's the wave of the future anyway. 9 speed will probably be on low end bikes only in a couple of years it seems, yes it's on its way out...

More ghostly internets wizardry, another pic on it's side again..... clean graphics which BMC is famous for.

2 more weeks and they will release these beasts upon the public. So that means the warehouse is stocked aplenty already. I don't have the retail pricing cuz that's on a flash drive in B's little bag and he hasn't printed us out a copy yet. Soon soon soon my friends.... dang, I forgot. I don't have any friends, at least that's what Jabba said???...

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

SHORT TRACK INVASION

2011-08-01T23:53:00.004-04:00

Wooo Whooo! Tonights short track was hoppin'. We had about 13 or 14 ready to go and then the ones down at the "new" weekly CX skills clinic, near the soccer fields, popped in at the last minute! There had to be at least 25 now or more. With the addition of the lap counter board and bell, it's a sweet little added touch. Although when you're rolling around nearly spent then look up and see 6 more laps to go! UGH.
We had kids and juniors and teenagers and students and doctors and even old peeps like me racing! It was awesome. Aaron has been doing the scoring duties lately and doing a fine job I might add. Heck he can even heckle while scoring, what a multi tasker.

In the foreground are Shane's dogs. One of them and a rider collided tonight, with the rider going down, so I don't think we are going to be able to let the dogs run loose anymore. We will have to put a leash rule in effect now while the racing is underway. We did have a few complaints about them running loose, sorry. This is the first time we have had this sort of problem and I apologize.

This pic is a week old but yes the infamous COB was in attendance tonight. He was rocking his newly acquired van also. 2 black vans at the same place at the same time?? ohhhh nooooo. Nick, the new cycling club President from a small college in N.C., has been attending and he's pretty fast too. He was the winner of tonight's prize.....

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

CRITS

2011-08-01T11:17:00.004-04:00

I will be the first to admit that the only road bike racing I like is crit racing. TT racing is nothing but torture and road racing requires that you train somehow someway or be dropped like a hot potato. You can get away with just riding to race in Cat5 events but anything higher than that you cannot. I needed to participate in one of the three crit training series before it came to an end, Sunday was the last one so.. opps there it is.

I knew I wouldn't be a threat, I just recovered from being laid up with an allergy attack and still felt somewhat weak but I was going to attend. I decided to race the Masters and the 4's. In the Masters I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up so I just rode my pace for 40 minutes and averaged a 23.7 mph, not too bad by myself, the heat was bad! After a 30 minute break 4's were up. This race was alot slower at first - quite easy actually. After several laps D-Wayne throws an attack for giggles then Andy throws another. When they started playing games I let up because I didn't have the energy to respond to every attack. I rode, got in some good exercise and enjoyed it all except for the heat. Fun day!

It's good to see Mr. Stidham back out on the bike after recovering from a bad back injury at the JC omnium in June.

Big thanks go out to Jerome and Aaron (aka;Marion) ! Without them this training crit would not have happened. Thanks guys!!

Here's Melissa givin' it hell in the Masters crit. Mad props to her for racing 4 of the 5 classes! She's so strong and one of the best lady racers in Tennessee! She also is the (TBRA) 2011 Tennessee State Road Race Champion! Good job girl!

Here's the Masters group just before the start. It was soooo hot Sunday! The cat4 group only had 8 riders so I managed a "top 10" - LOL! I could have said I got 8th and not stated how many were racing like a few peeps do... haha, yea you know who you are, that's right, I see you.

It's Monday so it's short track time tonight! Seek is also starting up CX training near the crit course at 6! Looks like some good riding on Mondays now!

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

A Little THUMP or Poker Riding

2011-07-30T22:31:00.005-04:00

This morning I debated on going to Bristol for the annual poker ride, a small 32 mile ride that has a couple of small climbs in it, or installing the stereo system in the candy van. The stereo system won out. I was up very early "gutting" the candy van so I could either rip out the laminate and or finish installing the laminate all the way up to the front. I wasn't happy with it just going half way to the front. After I started I had more intricate cuts to do than in the passenger area, it was more time consuming to say the least. The stereo took less time to install that the flooring.

Here the new Kenwood 6 X 8's fill the stock speaker holes nicely! They sound ten times better too.

I'm getting very efficient at working on the van. After taking dang near every panel and interior piece out more than once the job goes quicker when I piddle around on it customizing it.
More pieces parts laying around. I wanted to make it look right so I ran wires and cables behind the panels and with the factory wiring harness.
There is a huge difference between the factory speaker and the Kenwoods for sure.

I'm really surprised that nothing was damaged under the extreme sensitive care that UPS gives all it's customers packages. I appreciate that the delivery person left it upstairs at my door but when it's raining? Dude, do you have any common sense? Oh, you do? Ahhh I see, you just don't give a dam! Now I get it! There's a perfectly good porch COVERED at the front door. Oh by the way there were stereo and electronics in the wet box.
Oh, riding? I haven't been on the bike in the last three days.... ALLERGIES! I thought I had slid by this years attacks. I usually get my allergy attacks in May but for some reason I wasn't bothered that bad this year. All of a sudden it hit's me now? I have a new BMC SpeedFox waiting on some new 10 speed shifters and it'll be ready for it's maiden voyage. Other than that there's the ETSU training crit in the morning that I'm going to give a shot. I see that it's only supposed to be 87 tomorrow, WOW!

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

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

2011-07-26T01:04:00.005-04:00

Many times in one's life a person can look at things and only see the bad, remember perspective? I've been a little guilty of that this summer. I'm outspoken no doubt and I usually say what most people are thinking. I've always thought "say what's on your mind, sometimes its bad sometimes it's good, and no one will ever wonder where you stand". I'm not good at tact either, ugh... It would be easier if everyone could handle the truth.

Truth? You can't handle the truth! Sorry I couldn't resist this one, lol.

I'm thankful that I have good people in my life and many great friends. No one gets along with everyone all the time and I know that. Some people take things to heart more than others, some don't give a damn and some people are just _____. You fill in the blank. That's just the way some folks are so you must like it all because it's part of their character. I hurt some one's feelings today and I feel bad. I have no reason of understanding how/why they feel the way that they do but I respect it and honor it. I was always told by my Grandpa when you shake a man's hand give him a firm handshake. For some reason all this makes me think of his advice. Yea I'm in some kind of mood, I know you can tell.

Cycling folks are great people. I'm glad that I'm in a community of such good folks. So tonight I sit here..... Thankful!

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

ODAMM

2011-07-24T22:05:00.004-04:00

If I had known that this was going to have been my number I might have wanted to stay home! The way my morning started I could swear that the last digit shoulda been a 6!

I was to meet Matt at one stop along with Schyler but Schyler had to back out due to GF issues, no prob. Matt texted at the last minute "he was going to be late", no biggie I put a cushion in on the departure time. When he arrives he forgot his pedals so another trip home and then we get to leave at 630. Now the race starts at 8.... We get going and while zipping through Asheville I awoke one of NC's finest that fired up his computer to give me a speeding award, ouch. he was pretty cool though, he asked why we were in a hurry and told him we were late for the ORAMM, he knew what it was! He accelerated his ticket process to get us on our way and I thanked him for that. Now I have an ORAMM entry fee, gas and a $200 speeding ticket for this trip's expenses, nice. We pull in get kitted up and the gun goes off, I still have to do my food drop and get my #, wonderful. Matt and I leave 15 minutes behind. I have never had to go through the back of the pack at one of these type events, very interesting! There was more carbon high end bikes slugging up Kitsuma than 100 bikes shops could sell in a year, no bull. Most were being pushed and the ones that we did see being ridden were being ridden very timidly to say the least. So, to make a long boring story short here'e the main points...

- Started 15 min late!
- Jabbed stick "in" heel of foot to avoid idiot working on bike in middle of dh trail.
- Bee stung in groin
- Broken chain at 33 miles
= DNF

(mystery rider) Hey you're missing a chain? (Me) What, really??? dang.

This is what I did while waiting for Matt after soaking in the creek for an hour, man it was hot. Ohh, I did have several Fat Tires too. I over consumed a bit too many, if I had not rested like this I couldn't have driven us home..... really! Beers go straight to your head after riding, whew.

Even through all the poor luck that I had I tried to change my karma by taking a bag to lost and found! It had a pair of Dragon Sidi's, a Bontrager helmet, a dirty kit and a nice bottle of wine. I dropped it off to one of the guys working the race and he said he would turn it in for me. It must have worked cuz I didn't get another ticket coming home... All in all I really enjoyed the ride. It's one of those races you really don't wanna do but you're glad you did after it's over.

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

OFF ROAD ASSAULT on ME & MYSELF

2011-07-23T10:20:00.003-04:00

Well I managed to find a ticket to get in! I won't be a threat albeit. I haven't been over to Old Fort, N.C. in several years for this so I'm looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the 11,000 feet of climbing though, I hope my back doesn't give out on me! Thanks to Brian Sheedy for hooking a brother up with a spot! It looks like Matt and Schyler, a couple young guys on the ETSU team, will be riding with me as well. From the start we will ride together then I'll get dropped, lol. The weather looks great, I know how to fuel myself for this race and I know what to take and expect from the course so hopefully it will go well! I have been wanting to get away from this area for some different terrain so this may satisfy me for a week or so.

Before classes and the collegiate MTB season starts I would like to do a little trip like I did for fall break last year. I can't make up my mind where to scamper off to though. Next summer I have a stellar trip lined up and some bike mechanic certification as icing on the cake, be very very jealous! I'm thinking of heading up North for this getaway, I like Douthat so that could be one of the stopping points, we'll seeeee.

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

WOMEN AND SHOES

2011-07-21T20:53:00.002-04:00

Some women have shopping weaknesses like buying too many shoes or too many clothes. Most of the time and I put stress on most of the time I'm quite able to fend off splurges of spending money and useless spending. Although the strongest of people have their vices, mine is bicycles. It's sorta like being a sex addict and can't turn down a hooker, LOL! It's pretty bad.

No, no now lets not go there! So what did I do? This time of year bike companies start dumping what they have left in their warehouses as to make room for all the new "next years" product line. The companies that are popular and that are having stellar years don't do this because of the obvious.

Take Niner for instance, almost everything they make or sell is so popular that they have a hard time getting the product to the customer so at the end of the model year there's nothing left in the warehouse that they need to get rid of to make more space therefore no "mega blowout sales" as B says. Well, while at the shop today B throws me a fresh fax from BMC. He knows I have been looking for another 26" BMC and after going over the fax he gives that fax to me. Little does he know it's like giving crack cocaine to an addict, nah, he knows, LOL.

I go over the specs and the sale prices and sure enough I load the needle and inject the warm fuzzies into my arm, ughhhhhhh. Why can't I resist??? Anywho this puppy below should arrive soon, my new play bike. I need both size wheels to complete me. 26/29. Just slap some Shimano DynaSYS 10 speed components on it and it'll be ready to go! Not a race bike just something to have fun on and soak up the bumps. Looks as if I won't be seeing my BMC 29er until Jan though, le sigh. I will have a Niner EMD for sale in Jan for anyone that's interested.... save a little of yo Christmas $$, good deal to be had.

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

BAYS BIKE RALLY PHOTO VERSION

2011-07-20T22:32:00.005-04:00

Jordan and I rolling in.

I looked like I was punched in the face.

The myth, the legend.... Mr. Wondergem.

That was a fun but rough race.

COB tore it up ! Plain and simple!

""NOTHING BEATS TIME IN THE SEAT!""

Photo Credits: Nathan "dirty" Lambert.

LAter G!

BIKE RALLY = SUCCESS

2011-07-19T01:36:00.009-04:00

Well, I'm glad I made the short trek to Bay's for the 20th annual Mtn Bike Rally at Bay's Mtn for Funfest. There were only 66 riders entered which for the most part I have never seen on a bike anywhere in our small area. It's funny how so many people ride but so few help on the trails in our area. Anyway I could open up a huge can of worm there but I won't... you're welcome :-p

Props go out to Wes Lamberson and Eric Wondergem for ripping the legs off the field. I think Wes managed a 1:02:00 and Eric a 1:05:00 for a 1, 2 finish. Wes was shootin' for a sub hour, he almost made it! Great job guys.

Above Matt (ETSU Teammate on a SS), Jared (Former ETSU rider) and Jesse (Anytime Fitness Rider) managed a 1,2,3 but not in that order. The young pups killed it too but Im not sure exactly what their times were. Something in the 1:15ish range I think but don't quote me. They gave stuffed wolves, bears and squirrels away as awards with badges on them from the planetarium.

Our boy C.O.B. managed to win a prize as well! He's a proud mamajamma! Me? I actually did better than I thought I was capable of. I didn't push it as hard as I could have and when you do that you always usually regret it. I managed a 1:29:00 just behind Jordan whom we swung by and picked up cuz his parents had to work late. He's recovering from a broken elbow and I would never had been able to stay with him if it had not been for it being his 4th time on the bike after healing up, he's pretty quick for a youngster. I started out like a deisel as usual and after the warmup climb I was huffing pretty bad. After relocating my wind I set in on Jordans pace which wasn't too bad. There was alot more single track for the guys that have to have ST or else. I made up tons of time passing several riders that would pass me on the climbs. I gota give some love to my Niner though, every time I ride that thing it impresses me. The handling is spot on, not like the BMC TE01, but dam good for big hoops!

Our local MTB club hardly made a presence and I was really surprised! I only saw one, count it, one NTMBA jersey being worn. There are usually several running around at this event because it's right in the heart of NTMBAland. I guess most had to work or something, it is hard to attend when an event starts at 5:30pm. Anywho, lots of thanks go to the people that put this on every year. I think Larry said it was the 20th year, wow! Thanks for sticking in there Larry!

Next ride looks like the White Lightning "fun race" for me. Another event provided by the local Funfest group on Saturday. Sunday I "may" be rolling across the Mtn to ride along with 400 other peeps doing the ORAMM. I 'm not thinking it will be good and my back will probably let go around the 40 mile mark of the 63 but I'm going to go as far as I can for as long as I can if I go. Monday? well short track is back on for every Monday til it gets dark. I'm in for a beating, hopefully a little fitness improvement will come from this madness? No? Maybe? With me who knows.

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

Contemplation

2011-07-15T21:43:00.004-04:00

I did a little google searching and found a newly opened lumber liquidators in Colonial Heights near Kingsport. With a little more searching and surfing I found some closeout laminate dirt cheap. How cheap? These two boxes, 25sq ft each, less than $21.00 WITH tax! Yea, for both boxes not each! I anxiously paid the man and brought them home.

I needed help with this job though! I can't manhandle that big bench seat by myself without scratching the laminate. So Austin flexed his biceps and made this an easy job! The metal floor in the van was as wavy as the local Miss Blue Plum waving in a parade. It was bad! I used two tubes of liquid nails to help the flooring adhere to all that gap underneath, hopefully.... it will. Below I have it all laid out before mounting it to the floor.

Here it is with the seat re-installed. It looks ok I guess. I have been wondering how to cover up the floor in the back and I have had soooo many people say that they had seen vans like this with laminate flooring and it looked so good, I'm still on the fence after the install though. This isn't your typical place one would install this stuff. My other plan was to use an automotive grade carpet with a rubber backing that's used in 18 wheelers but I've been unable to find any. The guy I used to get it from said it's not being made anymore, hogwash!

I have a black metal piece that covers and guards the edge but I didn't have the proper screws for the job, so there's more work for another day.... ugh.

Mad props for Austin throwin' down and helping me on this. He actually did alot of the jig saw work too. I just marked everything and he cut 99% of it. He even sucked all the sawdust out of the van with the shopvac. It's almost finished, all I need now is a decent stereo/dvd installed, a hidden mattress for camping and for the most part it'll be done! I plan on taking it for a test run soon too! A camping trip to N.C.

Contemplation;

I have been contemplating racing the Bays Mtn Bike Rally race during funfest for the past few weeks. The past couple of years I have missed it due to having to work at the shop. This year looks different I may be able to get there this time. Although I haven't been training or riding hard I want to get up there and do this. They have added alot of extra stuff that they usually don't have in the race course so I would like to give it a try. I prob won't do well but I WILL have fun. Shoot I will be lucky to keep up with that guy on the steel huffy in the back.

I have been riding somewhat more though. COB has stepped up his game of late and is throwing down the mileage. He's been calling and we've been rolling the skinnies together quite a bit lately so maybe some of that road mileage may help me.

There's a ton of local rides going on in the next several weeks. The Iron Mtn 100K in damascus, Bays MTB Rally, The White Lightning Ride/Race if you're up front, ORAMM, Short Track ETSU and the last two ETSU/TCRC training crits in the parking lots on campus. It looks like enough cycling events to keep everyone happy in July!

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

TRAIL DYNAMICS VISIT

2011-07-06T18:09:00.004-04:00

Today Woody from Trail Dynamics visited our little trail system at ETSU for an assessment on safety, liability, trail work and biology. ETSU has really got behind the trail system and wants to grow and make it totally legit. They are mostly concerned about liability and I can't blame them. We have done ALOT to the trails thanks to Ben and a few club members. New trail, longer existing trails and new planned trails are on our agenda now.

It's amazing what you see when you aren't on a bike flying down the trail. Matt was naming everything out there (he majored in plant life or somethin' like that) Woody wasn't too bad either naming plant life, me? Yea, see that? It's a tree!

I got a little behind, I'm old.

Here we are discussing some of the possibilities that can be done to some of the trails. Woody was pretty impressed with the trail system and what's been done so far. We saved the best for last and showed them the back section where Ben had moved alot of rock and built some really sweet switchbacks and armored sections. They were VERY impressed! They even took some pictures to use on a project proposal with Ben's permission. I'm really sad that Ben moved away to Akron, Ohio. Not only is he an excellent team mate and a cool bud but a HUGE asset to the mountain bike community. I have never met anyone that has a bigger passion for life, building trails and riding a mountain bike! He rocks! It's been a pleasure hosting him this week for the trail assessment.

On another note I tried, key word tried, to keep up at the pack races last night. I rode from home with COB and ended up with a tad over 50 miles. With all that "racin" in the middle I was spent when it came time to ride home. I managed though, I should have known better with it being only the second time being able to get down there since B changed my work day to Tues from Wed. Anywho 6 straight days on the bike is brought to an end with the rain this evening. First race of the collegiate season is in 7 weeks, I better ride or it's going to hurt more than usual.

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

I DIDN'T CHOOSE SRAM...

2011-07-05T09:33:00.004-04:00

I chose not to provide audio....

Preach it Tyler............... click on the pic and you will see all the professional riders drinking the kool-aid...

I'm sure as everyone knows, that keeps up with the Tour de France each year in July, that Sram pushes these commercials on VS. "I choose Sram" Fibbers, Fibbers, Fibbers. You're team managers or powers that be sat in some dark room far back in an alley and negotiated a deal mafia style for you to have sram installed on all your race bikes dear bike riding professional.

So poo on you, I wouldn't ride that stuff, not only because I don't like it, because they have all of you spewing the "I chose Sram" garbage.

Ok. Yes, you think I'm a hater.... I'm actually just outspoken, never learned any tact and usually say what ALOT of people think but are too afraid, or too nice, to say in public. Oh well you either like me or ya don't, life's too short. I do, though, respect opinions of others when mine are respected because in the end all of them are... OPINIONS. Not law, nor forged in steel, or any other means of anything set in stone. It's just an opinion, put your big girl panties on and don't take it personal. Because if things I post here bother anyone...... YOU PROBABLY DO WEAR PANTIES!

I'm just so hard on Sram because I see so much of it breaking, yes breaking. Like I have said a hundred times before - "they replace it so fast it makes your head spin" so the CS dept. is the only thing that saves them in the road market. Another thing; it IS the cheapest road group on the market too. When customers are buying a bike that's usually what they skimp on it seems, the group. The mountain side of Sram is solid though, I don't see much damage or failure except for rear derailleurs. I do like their cranks (which aren't really Sram cranks but Truvativ - they just bought Truvativ and slapped Sram on them so they really didn't make the cranks) they just sell them, more hating?

This rant came over me during this morning's stage of the Tour de France. I have a popcorn bowl sitting by the TV full of hypodermic needles, I throw them at the TV during final sprints and for the climbs later in the race. I yell "get some - get some" as I throw them at them on TV. Now put your helmet on and go ride your bike oh please don't take this seriously...

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

TEST RIDZ

2011-07-01T16:22:00.004-04:00

Like I stated in an earlier post I would give the Niner EMD and honest review after riding it. Well, it's been ridden and it performed pretty good. I still don't like the color but it rides pretty good and did I mention stiff? Nothing like a aluminum or carbon hardtail for stiff rear ends! Maybe COB could strip it and put a TRIXIE sticker on it for me? COB???? You listening??

As you can see for yourself below I have both the Lynskey and the Niner's "geo" charts for all to see side by side, well maybe over and under...

size LARGE:

Virtual top tube length are nearly the same. The chain stays are slightly different but the Lynskey has a slider and I ran it at different position so...., BB drop is a little more on the Niner (no biggie), Head tube length is shorter on the Niner (no biggie), but the "the biggie" in my book is the 1* degree difference in head angle! I thought it being 72* instead of the normal 71.5* or 71* that seems to be on most bikes of this size would make the bike very twitchy BUT it didn't. It went where I pointed it and turns on banked berms like my BMX bike, very nice for a big hooped bike for sure!

The Niner gives (/) for it's measurements because of the 80 or 100mm fork option that you could run on it. I really think that with that extra 20mm of travel it would slacken the head angle to a 71* (as stated) and take away the nice handling that this has with a Rock Shox Reba 80mm travel fork. I may try a 100mm fork from the shop and see what happens. As for now I really like how it handles with a 80mm fork on it.

Rear flex like on the Lynskey? None on the Niner, that won me over all by itself! I never experienced rear flex until I rode Ti, it's a weird feeling. I just hope the 29er BMC's have a feel like the Team Elite small hooped bike does, fingers crossed. So there it is.....

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

LOVE IS IN THE AIR.... or somethin'

2011-06-30T22:40:00.003-04:00

Congrats to Connor and Danna! They were married this past weekend along with another couple of friends of mine this week, David and Jill.

Below this has to be one of the coolest ways to show up for a wedding bar none, on a tandem! Heck yea! Connor piloted that 2 seater all the way up to the church! Connor is a former ETSU team mate and fastest qualifier! He graduated last year and now resides back in Michigan, congrats my man!

That is so cool!

Below David and Jill decided to swap vows on top of Roan Mountain, that's also pretty sweet too! Congrats to David and Jill also. I hope you have a long and happy life together.

Now this cake is rocking! Check out the his and hers bikes on top, totally cool! She's in front too.... Brian from Bonnie Kate Cafe' hosted the reception and fed everyone, good job bro.

To both couples; may you have a happy and prosperous life together, enjoy the journey...

Sincerely,
Scoobs

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

NINER - MIA

2011-06-28T09:27:00.006-04:00

MIA? Yet it seems so. Sorry I haven't posted anything. But yes, I complained to myself for "lack of" also like I do to some of the local bloggers. What's new? The "candy van" is coming along but lack of funds available is keeping the customizing and tweaking to a minimum sadly. While working on it last week I fell out of it twisting my knee somewhat making riding painful so I took a week off from riding. I just starting back this Sunday. Not alot going on at the shop either just fixing junkers and a nice bike now and again, sales are up though which is good. I did sell the Lynskey! Ti and I aren't a good match. It just doesn't jive with me for some reason, I guess it's the flex? So, since the 29'r BMC's aren't going to be here soon I opted for something in the shop. The Focus was looking really sweet but I wanted to free up some capital in the Lynskey for the "candy van" so I went with a Niner E(asy)M(ade)D(ecision). It's cheap, the geometry is like most all other 29'ers and they are the hottest brand on the market just ahead of Salsa right now. Sad thing is I haven't even had it at the trail yet cuz of the knee thang. I "was" going to Warriors early this morning but it was raining at 6:30 so I went back to bed til 8 - ah the life of a college kid on a weekday.

Niner had the EMD's and Air9's on sale so that was probably the deal maker for me, I will sell it when the BMC 29ers are released. I think Niners are cool, I really do, but they are alot like Salsa. They are a small company and as long as they please the powers that be in the MTB scene they will get good reviews and stay on top. My gripe is that they don't have that many employees and you can't EVER get bikes/frames from them! All their sales guys are traveling demo shops, product reps, CS representatives and anything thing else they can do so they don't have to hire more peeps, bottom line - it sucks. Our sales rep is a voice mail... I will prob get the "I can't believe you trash a brand you sell" line from Capt. Dingo and a couple others but they only see from a customers view point so have at it guys. The shop gets billed for stuff and we have to wait forever until we can get the product to our customer (ain't fair). We are left holding the bag (spent $$) until product arrives to get paid for frame/bike by customer (ain't fair). Frames/bikes get delayed by weeks frequently without calls from Niner - until we call and ask where it's at we don't know this (not cool-so not cool!). Ask Capt. Dingo how long he had to wait for his frames..... that's my biggest gripe with Niner. Ya know I really don't know if they make "good" stuff more than if it's just the hype that they make "cool" stuff - anyway they have the problem that ALL companies wish they had.... more people want what they don't have. So I will ride the Niner "hype" until my BMC gets here.

I will give credit where credit is due though, whomever designed the new carbon Jet 9 did really well. Patent?! very nice! Although the first run gets sold INTERNATIONALLY first (see what I mean) then the second shipment will be available for U.S. sales which they said will be two weeks behind the first. (coughing sound with the word "bullshit" disguised in it). I twitter some and the other day AC and I was talking about Niner. I respectfully tagged Niner in a post TO them asking kindly to hire some help and straighten out their supply chain so that peeps can get bikes in an orderly fashion. This is the exchange:
ME-@NinerBikes ...... P~L~E~A~S~E do something about your supply chain and ....ummm hire some more help! PLEASE!
Niner- @scoobyssnacks we have been working on our supply. This year we have only been out of stock on less than 5% of items we offer.
again- (coughing sound with the word "bullshit" disguised in it). I think we have only been able to get 5% of the bikes we have ordered without having to wait over a month.

My Niner: I went with the Tamale color but I don't like it. It looks like a metallic ruby. Moondust was cool but AC has one. You only have two color choices with the EMD. If I was going to keep it for a period I would have definitely went for the kermit green Air9! My fav color but why spend double the $$ on something I plan on selling anyway. Heck I sell everything! what am I saying, lol!!! Ok Yes, that's right, there is an original aluminum MacFearsome Mongoose BMX frame behind the Niner and yes it's worth more than the complete Niner built up!

I will get a ride in soon and give my honest opinion of the EMD. I have ridden the Jet9 & RIP9 demos and I'm not a fan of full squish big hoops at all. My small hooped (26") BMC fourstroke full suspension was 10 times the bike those are in the squish category in my honest opinion. Ok, Ok, why did I buy a Niner with all this bitchin'? I'm slumming until the BMC's get here.... ya happy?

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

DISCLAIMER NOTE: this is purely MY opinion of Niner and DOES NOT reflect the shop's opinions or the owners by any means. Niner makes a quality product and has problems like everyone else. *** If I offended anyone that owns, rides or loves Niner - go put your big girl panties on, wipe your tears and get the hell over it wusses.***

MISSING SOMETHING

2011-06-19T09:32:00.004-04:00

This is the first time that I can remember that I do not have a mountain bike in my stables. Yes, it's true. So many bikes that usually adorn my wall but yet I'm missing one. That should be fixed sometime this week if Niner can manage to get it shipped out. Aluminum and steel are what they seem to have the most of so we'll see.

To keep me occupied I have been playing with the van getting it cleaned and customized. I wish I had some wheels for it though. Below are some pics of the new seat I acquired from Keeter Ford in Shelby, N.C. Saturday. Yes, I drove 140 miles to Shelby to get this "like new" bench seat that I found on craigslist. The only reason, it was $25! It took $40 in gas so I have $65 vested, not bad for a $1000 genuine Ford bench seat.

Below are some of the finished door panels that I had to fabricate from scratch. All ya do is go to Lowes and get some 1/4" particle board like the center of laminate flooring. It bends and flexes really easy without breaking so it was my choice of product for this job. Then, some contact glue on both sides, wait 15 minutes to join the two together, pretty simple. I do want to find some sort of interior cover for the screws though maybe I can find them at a trim shop somewhere.

This week I should be able to get the rear finished. I'm waiting on the rest of the felt to be delivered cuz I'm running short, I have nearly 10 yards in it so far. I still can't decide if I wanna put felt on the false bottom or laminate wood flooring. I can get two packs for nothing at the closeout store and that should cover it all. One thing that makes me want to put laminate down is the ease of cleaning it. With the MTB's back there after a ride; all that grit and dirt will be near impossible to vacuum out but they may slide all over laminate during transport. Tough decision. A rubber mat may be another option too....

Sorry for mostly gibberish and not much bike stuff... when I get this finished? Road trip with the bike!

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

NEW PLAN & RIDE

2011-06-17T10:14:00.010-04:00

Below are some pics of my summer project. My newly acquired "moto van" although alot of my friends are calling it many different things!

Interior almost ready for the felt fabric that will cover most everything inside customizing it out.

Here on the rear false floor I can't make up my mind. I seen one similiar to this that the floor was covered with laminate wood flooring not felt. Hmmm decisions decisions.

I have actually laid the felt in the drivers section but I had to order some more for the rear, I was about 3 yards shy of finishing. I did learn one thing from the previous one I did before. I used a paint brush to administer the glue onto the felt and walls last time - this time I used a small foam roller, what a time saver!

There a few scrapes and spots on this one but overall it's pretty good. Just what I needed!

I have been making alot of jokes on facebox about my newly acquired "creeper van". I had one similiar to this about 5 years ago when I was racing motocross to haul my bikes to races, I must add it was sweet and very practical! My bro-n-law is an auto broker and came upon this last week for me in D.C. where he does some of his business. There have been many times that when I have been on mountain biking excursions and trips I wished to have "moto van" back to convert it over for traveling and camping in it. Ala, wish granted. Above are some of the pics that I have taken during construction. This one came totally gutted! My last one had racks and storage bins in it that I had to discard before starting. Customizing this will be easier since I have already done it once. I was at a crossroad deciding whether or not to put a bulkhead in this one or not. It makes heating and cooling the cabin much easier and faster but blocks off the rear compartment from view. I chose a bulkhead but I added a false floor for a place to store things. All I'm needing is a bench seat and to finish felting the walls and roof and I will be almost complete. I'm waiting on some funds for a set of wheels/rims too. I ran across some 22" ghetto wheels on craigslist that fit my bolt pattern but they rubbed when I fitted them so I'm going to flip them and make a profit since I got them soooo cheap.

Back to the cycling scene. The Lynskey departed JC for it's new home in Jersey Wednesday. I keep in touch with the guys at BMC through B at the shop and those pesky BMC 29ers are not going to be here for a while it seems, the carbon frame got postponed til fall of '12, dangit! I would rather not ride a brand that we don't sell out of the shop although I have, it seems to bother some people. So below is what I have oredered to ride until my BMC arrives. Niner has a problem that every company ever started wishes they had, unable to keep up with demand for their product. I will admit them being small hurts them and they do need a better supply chain to keep customers happy but it's all about supply and demand. Niner's cool factor is way up there as well so that keep them behind too. I didn't wanna get the moondust grey because AC has that so I went with the tamale red. When the BMC gets here she will be gone anyway.

Shipping problems; I was cleaning out some of the stuff I wasn't using to sell on fleabay and also it generates a cash flow for me and my student status. I sold these to a guy in Seattle, Wa. When they arrived Mr. FedX ground had treated them poorly and damaged some spokes, I wish I had insured them for more than what I did. Anywho they are on the way back to me, a claim was filed (that I still havent heard anything on) so I will keep this event updated as to how this ends.

Yep that's the Lynskey below. For some reason I'm not a fan of Ti for a road bike OR a mtn bike. I do like the way it feels supple on gravel and single track but it flexes too much for my liking. Back to aluminium and carbon for me!

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

NIGHT OWL

2011-06-13T08:36:00.007-04:00

Saturday morning I saddled up the new "creeper van" and headed up to Marion, VA. to make sure a small little fun community race didn't die. Due to logistics and being kind the date lagged somewhat and ended up on June 11. This race should have been scheduled at least 4-6 weeks sooner for a better turnout. Too many competing events and a Bill Collie (rest in piece good sir) Memorial ride had people that would have usually attended scattered out across our region. Anywho I didn't want to see this race go to the wayside so Jason, Geoff and I spearheaded this to keep it alive. I was a little upset at first knowing that the turnout was going to be low and alot of people that said they wouldn't miss this race for anything cuz it was soooo much fun and the camping was the bestest didn't show. I quickly realized that it didn't matter if I only had one person in each class it was worth all the work it took to promote this race when one of the sons of a beginner rider/racer watched his Dad leave the starting line, he was cheering madly for him. Then, upon his return, he was so excited, jumping up and down screaming & hollering for his Dad that just finished the race! Right there I was fulfilled!!! That made my night!! If you weren't there there's no way you had more fun wherever you were at, not possible! I will be doing the promoting for this next year and I hope I can deliver the goods again. Thanks to everyone that kept this alive and attended, you all are awesome! I got this warm and squishy feeling inside too when each rider came up to Geoff, Jason and I to thank us for keeping the race going.

On another note; The Creeper Van. - pictures later...

Several years ago I had a van that I converted to haul my motocross bikes that was a pretty sweet ride. I totally customized the interior like some of the pro motocross riders do, it looked good. I've always regretted selling this and last week I was given a chance, thanks to my bro-n-law that's an auto-broker, to own another one. I picked it up last Friday and went through it making the customization plan for the interior. I put it to the test this weekend camping inside of it too, plenty of room! On the way out of town I decided to get the tires balanced and rotated. When the tech was getting inside to back it out after the service the starter decided to lay down on me just spin without engaging, ugh oh. We managed to get it started by rocking it and off I went. I was going o' no I hope this thing doesn't fall to pieces on me. Driving through Bristol I decided to stop at Advance Auto and get a starter (just in case)! I stopped one other time but left it running as to not to have an issue before I got there. When arriving at the park I found Brandon and Jody and got my camping spot, I then decided to pull out my shade tree mechanic skills and replace that starter. 15 minutes later I was pulling my self out from under the beast, starter installed!

The lemons of the trip would now be consumed in the form of lemonade, ahh! Soon Iron Man Dillow showed up, we pitched his new tent and got him settled. It turned out to be a great weekend. A huge thunderstorm hit 2.5 hours before start time so we dodged a bullet there but the sun returned and made the evening a success even with a full moon shining on us. I want to mention and give thanks for a special rider that graced us with his attendance, Skip Cooper! He rolled in and laid down his mad skillz on the Hungry Mother course, thanks Skip!

Thanks to Hungry Mother State Park, The Friends of HMSP, Jason Carrico, Agave #9 and Road I.D. for helping make this a great time. NEXT YEAR............

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

Crash Test Dummy

2011-06-10T17:06:00.004-04:00

This week I tried to mix it up some with some off-road riding instead of all the road riding I have been doing. I loaded up for a solo trip to Warriors in the record heat we have been having. First I want to say thanks to all the volunteers with chainsaws that have been hitting the park and cleaning up the messes that the May storms left. There was so much chainsaw work that had been done on the trails I can't begin to thank everyone enough! Thanks!! At first I was riding like a monkey on a football. I kept thinking "dude what's wrong with you? You're riding like crap!" I'm just rolling down a straight stretch of high grass single track, my foot hits a log embedded in the tall grass, ejects mt left foot from my pedal, I fall into the frame, right knee hits chainring, handlebars turn sharply left..... endo! ON A STRAIGHT part of trail of all places. I assess the damages. Cut chest, scraped left knee..... right knee pouring blood, hmm, ok wonder if I can ride? I manage to get out of the woods and somehow found my groove on the bike as well before I got to the car. Most of the sweat kept the blood flowing down my leg into the sock so it didn't look that bad although it probably could have used 3 or 4 stitches if I was that type person.

Oh well, enough about my stupid mistakes. Most everyone knows that Austin is 16 now and can get his license at the end of July. I have been feverishly looking for something "practical" for me so he can have the Xploder. I'm not at ease with just "giving" him a car either. My Dad didn't just give me a vehicle when I was his age, I was allowed to drive "one" of the family vehicles which was usually the small Datsun pickup truck that I really loved but sometimes I ended up in the '67 Chevy Camaro RS which wasn't all that bad because the girls really liked that car and thought it was cool, hey whatever works when you're sub 18 yrs old to get the girlies ya know. It wasn't until I graduated high school that I was "given" (I seemed to be told alot I was working off a vehicle between 16-18) the keys to the datsun truck along with the title and an envelope from State farm Insurance Co. with a bill enclosed. Times are different though, I'm divorced and we aren't under one roof family style as I was back then so I'm getting ready to pass the keys 2 years early, he better appreciate it! Even if I was a loaded ($$) individual I wouldn't "give" him a new car he would be getting something well used, I see kids get new cars from their parents and the way they act afterwards is disgusting and disrespectful. Hell some kids EXPECT a new car when they turn 16, unbelievable! Good parenting there huh? A product of gene gardening! Most parents dig their own holes they have to climb out of it seems. Whew, where did all this adult stuff come from? I need to ride and loosen up this knee!

Oh, I almost forgot...... MotoVan may be making a return! We'll have to re-name it Bikevan I guess? story to come........

LAter G......

OMNIUM WEEKEND Part Deux

2011-06-07T13:40:00.007-04:00

Part Deux.....

Ok officiating is over for me and now it's Sunday, crit racing time. I'm in no shape to be doing this especially in Cat4 but none the less I'm in! All the roadies are loving the ETSU kits and it's amazing how many positive comments we get on these. C.O.B. pulls out the skinsuit for this one hoping to get him down the stretch a little faster I think. Hillary, his wife, snaps this pic below while he's get'n in the zone. Hell I even warmed up on the trainer for 30 minutes prior to my race which is very unlike me, this just tells you I knew I was in for a butt whoopin' and not taking it lightly as I usually do.

C.O.B. races first in the 5's and he did very well, way to hang in there dude. I would say something about the pic of the ambulance in the previous post but we have already gave him enough hell.

This is AC and I early on before good sense told me I was out of my league. We were flyin'! After downloading my garmin we were running 35 mph (yea I know, nuthin' for you fast guys) on the straights every lap and one rider said his computer avg'd a 30mph overall crit. I was talking to Andy G. before the start, he told me to hang in for the first 10 minutes and it settles down. Ok, I can do that, I think to myself. After 15 minutes and over 10 laps I look at my garmin...... 27.2 avg and 15 minutes left to go. W~H~A~T?????? I don't have the fitness to be out here like this. I back off a little and coast backwards, I was surprised how many riders came around me too, I wasn't doing half bad, I just couldn't sustain that pace. In the end I knew I couldn't manage that pace for another 15 minutes. I jumped back on the pack after they lapped me and tried to give it another go but to no avail. I figured I should just get out of their way as not to upset someone's finish. Cat4's did somewhere around 21 laps, I got in 19 finishing 31st out of 40 something, anywho I had fun (insert cheesy smile) and at least I'm not wasting my money paying a trainer.

When everyone was finished we all lent a hand to pack stuff up so we could get to the "after party" at One12 and live up to this V.I.P. tag I was given. Free booze and appetizers were donated by the sponsor, People's Community Bank, for all volunteers and we took advantage of it! Yea that's me in the red turbin (a t-shirt / sweat absorbing device)! Just call me Shiek Igotamya$$handedtometoday Abdul Imaslowascrap Adi.

VIP yea you know me....... errrr OPP???

Believe it or not the guy on the left, Scott Stewart, was leaving for Tour de Swiss Monday after the race, he won the pro race up the mountain on Saturday. Brian Sheedy, on the right, got 2nd Saturday in the Roan then another second at the crit giving him the overall omnium win. After the Tour de Swiss Scott is headed to China to race with his Team Type 1 crew, that's pretty sweet that little ole Johnson City can pull some major celebs sometimes. Peter, not in the pic, is one of our Lees McRae College racing buddies and he pulled a 3rd overall this weekend so a big shoutout to our man Peter as well, good job all! (See C.O.B. smoozing the pros....)

Before the racing was over Jerome wrangled me for some more "officialing" help in the Pro, 1,2 crit. I had to watch for guys having flats and put them back in which happened more than a couple of times. Melissa came up to see if I was doing my job correctly.... Above in the pic is Brian Sheedy and Alder Martz, leading, one of the Hincappie development team riders from SC that broke away from the pack to finish one/two. Rumor is that they were flying over Sams Gap and one of Tennessee's finest issued both cars an invitation to the Trooper's Ball at $280 each.

they are still trying to close the bag....... I tried to use my smelly camel arm pits to rush the job of stuffing an EZ-UP back into the bag, it didn't work....

Ok one more event and I'm done until the end of August. The 2011 Night Owl mountain bike race at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, Va. this Saturday night from 8:30 til.... Y'all come!!

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

OMNIUM WEEKEND Part 1

2011-06-06T17:02:00.006-04:00

My first ever official "paid" USAC job was at the Roan Groan road race this weekend. I was hired by Jerome below for my first official USAC road gig. I got to meet several of the areas finest USAC officials, a couple of them even officiated the Tour of California so it was pretty cool listening to some of those stories. I also have a bug for a "moto" ref! They make more and get to ride motorcycles while reffing the race, how cool is that??

Just before the official neutral rollout to start the race. I was a little nervous not knowing what to expect to be honest.

I was the womens official in the Roan Groan which consisted of me following the group watching for any rule infractions. There was a small crash coming up Whitehead hill and someone dropping a water bottle in the pace line seemed to be the only action going on in the women's Pro 1,2,3 and Cat4 classes although I had to give a warning a couple of times on the center line to a few of them. Below Melissa is ripping up the TT course in her ETSU skinsuit! She did very well and I'm pretty proud, she's stronger than me on the road and is soon to get her first experience at mountain biking soon before she moves on to Cat3!

The Roan below. It's such a jewel of a mountain! Beautiful!!

It was a fun day of learning for me and great weather for the event! Below I'm set up at the TT U-Turn to get times and #'s of the riders in case of scoring errors which I'm glad to say were very few! AC were you trying to test the profanity rule on your turn here?? j/k.

Below skipping ahead; on a sad note one of my friends and very good cyclist Brian Higgs crashed in his crit race Sunday and had to be carted of the course via ambulance. He cracked 4 ribs, collapsed a lung, broke his clavicle and is eat up with road rash when he accidentally unclipped while sprinting for the finish. Heal fast my friend!

more tomorrow.

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

PACKING & STUFFING

2011-06-03T00:37:00.005-04:00

One would wonder why I'm up so late blogging? Well because it's so freakin' hot in the attic that I can't freakin' sleep. Yes the attic, for most that don't know, I have rented a friends "in-laws quarters" high above a household just under ye shingles. Lately with all this dang record heat it has been quite un-bearable, unbearable to the extent of looking for relief elsewhere. Before you ask "why don't you turn down the thermostat?" I would if I could! Seems to me the 3cent engineer that laid out the plans for this place should have known that these living quarters need more coooooling in the summer months and designed the vents accordingly thus the thermo cooling wall mounted device for delivering one a cool burst of chilled air resides one floor below, out of my access. Sucks to be me! So therefore I'm blogging at 1am. This sucks too because I'm supposed to meet the Applebeast in the morning for some ETSU trailwork before the days heat arrives. Trail work in the summer sucks arse!

Today I was greeted by the UPS man delivering sweet boxes of cycling goodness. Several BMC race machines in the funky blue color, that I really dig by the way! Also, today was the first time I have been able to hold a Carbon Niner "in hand" and one word describes this frame... WOW! It weighs NOTHING absolutely NOTHING! This carbon sweetness really surprised me, really! Want, want, want! I give the carbon Niner a five scooby approval salute!!!!!!I get online and start checking the geometry with my current Lynskey ride and the only difference is the length of the chain stays, the Niner's are just a wee bit longer, that's it! Hmmmm my mind starts working on the $$ logistics of acquiring one of these 'til BMC releases the 29 carbon version of the TE01....

After work I head over to the TNR ride location to deliver bike parts and pickup some ETSU kit monies from some of the locals that ordered some of our jerseys. After some bench racing I followed D-Wayne over to Fiat's house, his real name is Reneau, for some Roan Groan packet stuffing that I will get to hand out at tomorrow evening's pre-race pickup. Since the TCRC has been such a tremendous help with the ETSU team all year the least I could do is return the favor and volunteer some of my time to thank them for everything they do for us at ETSU. Thanks guys!

It really takes several people to stuff 300+ packets for an Omnium! I did my part by sorting safety pins in groups of 4 that were dropped into the manila envelopes for the racers on race day. We had a pretty good time and the cut-downs amongst one another were premium as well. Good times. My first official USAC paid gig is Saturday, I'll be "reffing" the women's class up the mountain then prepping myself for a butt whoppin' Sunday as I try to hang on in the downtown JC crit, woe is me. I'm definitely not in shape for this but I will have fun and that's what it's all about for me. Long weekend ahead so I will try to get some pics and I may even try to throw some video of the weekend together if I get a chance but no promises.

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

LATE NIGHT BEFORE PEDALFEST

2011-05-29T23:50:00.005-04:00

Beep, beep, beep goes the alarm at 6am Saturday morning after a late night over in Asheville, NC's CX race at the Mountain Festival. I think we pulled in the drive at 1am after dropping C.O.B. off at his front door. So, I was up early loading the exploder. I threw everything in the back except the kitchen sink, I think. I roll into the Elizabethton City Park heading for the same pavilion that we have always held sign up at. To my surprise some dude already had tablecloths set on the tables and balloons taped to the support posts, darn. Ok, well at least the other one was open so I set up the registration in the other one.

I barely start getting organized and riders start filing in. AC arrives and we get hoppin' signing peeps up. By the way AC we talked about the blogging, or the lack of, the other night so I expect to see some verbs, nouns and adjectives start flowing over there. When registration was all said and done we had about 5 less than at last year's event, thanks to all the participants!

Just after they started the iPhone starts lighting up with calls, I'm kinda scared to answer thinking something bad has happened to one of the riders. First call Austin is lost and isn't sure where he's supposed to set up while the call waiting is just beeping away. I switch over, Dawnicakes has destroyed her drivetrain and needs picked-up and shuttled back to the registration area, sagged. A few more calls, nothing serious, and all is well. I set out to rescue Dawn and get her back, 15 minutes later she's safe and sound back at the pavilion with a busted rear derailleur, broken chain and a frown on her face.

About an hour passes and the first riders start showing up for drinks, sammies and fruit provided by our local grocery Food City, thanks guys! They gaze over the sweet raffle prizes that were provided by our sponsors to see if they had won anything. There was some really sweet products donated for this, thanks Hampton Trails! More thanks to all the riders that attended and showed their support and to all the sponsors that provided money or product for our event! Thanks to all the TCRC and NTMBA members that attended too. This ride just about died and went to the wayside 2 years ago but the cycling community came out and held this small community ride together with their support, Thank You!!

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

FRIDAY NIGHT CX RACE - ASHEVILLE STYLE

2011-05-28T17:59:00.008-04:00

This week I had to push to get things organized for Pedalfest so I could make it to Ash-Vegas for the 2011 Mountain Sports Festival. The previous week some of my buds had asked me to head over and have some good ole fun racing CX in May, YES MAY! So Thursday I was running around like mad getting all the final Pedalfest details together, skipping the TNR ride which actually got cancelled due to another tornado threat AGAIN here in East TN., to be ready by Thursday night. Friday morning I swung by the shop to get the raffle prizes for the event and got held up there a little bit because it was pretty busy, I threw down with B to get him caught up before I left though. Now, get home load car, wait for Melissa then swing by and get C.O.B. All that completed and we were off, I got to catch up with C.O.B. on the drive over which was nice.
A good hour of warming up, very unlike me, and I was ready to go. I even got a lap of practice in with and a few helpful tips from Captain CX himself, Mr. Wondergem. We had a pretty big group and on top of that it was my first time at the Asheville velodrome which is pretty freakin' sweet! There were 4 of us wearing the ETSU kits and It was nice when peeps would just stop me and give huge compliments on how sweet our ETSU kits looked, nice. Only bad thing was that there were no barriers and the sand pit was a dump truck load of sand dumped on the course, you never dismounted. Just stay clipped in, easy, and haul arse - something hard for me to do.

There were people shooting pics and video all over the course so I sent a message via FB to the event coordinator asking him if there was a link to anyone's pics. He sent me back the pic above that apparently made the Asheville Citizens Times paper this morning, wowzers! I will say I'm quite amazed because there were much better cyclists at the front of this race other than me at the rear. I think it may have been the kit....... just sayin'.

I'm really glad this dude didn't attempt to race because we all would have been racing for 101st position because with that name he would have easily taken the top 100 spots single handily!

I snuck up behind Melissa to get a better photo op of this big bad dude. I was very nervous taking his picture..... with a name like that I can only imagine what he would have / could have done to me. ???

I didn't want to find out...................... Really, with a name like that!

I never got the bands name but these boys rocked it out! I'm a sucker for any band that has a brass section and the Sax dude could make that horn do anything he wanted it to do!

Here's a nice pic of Hammer (Lee), C.O.B. (Mike) and yours truly enjoying a Highland beverage post race in the infield watching the band and just hangin' out. C.O.B. had a huge stack of empty cups in his hand that he finished off before we left....

The brass section here. Man these guys could play! The bass player kicked arse as well on his solo.

C.O.B. and Mr. Tankersly bench racing after it was over. Mr. Tankersly has the fastest two youngsters on the planet right now, those teenagers are fast!!

Oh yea! What trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to Papa's and Beer for some recovery food? This was C.O.B.'s first time there and he is now a huge fan!!!!

I saw this parked very close to us. I'm wanting to get another E-van after Austin gets the exploder when he gets his license. I keep seeing the Econolines with 20's on them and it makes me want want want. Perfect bike hauling ride.....

VISITED AN OLD FRIEND

2011-05-23T13:11:00.003-04:00

This weekend was quite a joy, well for me anyway not for Austin. He came down with
streptococcus and opted to stay in his bed at his mothers all weekend. This left me with no plans for myself. I had heard earlier in the week of a few rides going on, I did some investigation and found one to my liking, Roan.

I haven't climbed my old friend in a couple of years so I knew it was going to hurt, then being as out of shape as I am - compound that by as many as you like - meant UGH! I met D-Wayne and a couple of others at the shop early Saturday morning to make the trek to the top of Roan Mountain. We eased out of the parking lot headed for the 26ish mile ride to the peak. D-Wayne was in an off mood and not feeling it so he decided to head back after a bit, I had stayed with him at the beginning so I was left odd man out all by myself the other guys had checked out. Upon passing the park I couldn't remember if it was 6 or 8 miles to the top, I opted for the 8 as a guess so I would get up there not thinking I was done at 6. My legs and my lungs surprised me by doing pretty well, it was my back that gave me the biggest problem. I had a sharp pain for about 70% of the climb. I know why; from not riding as much as I used to! I stopped and stretched which helped a great deal then I managed to find the top. I miss going up there it's beautiful! The ride back was a breeze but it was pretty hot, temps in the upper 80's.

After getting back to the shop and changing the parking lot was full! There was another ride leaving out that was running waaaay late, there must have been 20-25 peeps. I told B we should charge for parking, lol. I got back to the house loaded up the BMX bikes and got a call from Chad looking for a ride to the track. I swung by, loaded him and we were off. What am I thinking? 50+mile road ride then BMX? YEP! There was a huge ABA National going on in Nashville too that I would have went to if I had known I was going to be available. That race took about 1/2 of our riders so when we got to MoTown everyone just decided to do hot laps instead of race. Then Chad rung his bell crashing so that ended that. After a bit of BS'ing we rolled back to JC and I called it a night! I was pooped!

Sunday I managed to get the Pedalfest course marked for our upcoming annual ride. It was freakin' hot too, sweated like I was riding it! After that I got a light spin in to loosen up the legs, which actually felt pretty good! It's Monday and Austin is doing better so hopefully he'll be by this weekend, I may have to put him to work Saturday @ Pedalfest, heh heh!

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

FOCUS DANIELSAN.....FOCUS!

2011-05-18T18:30:00.006-04:00

Ok Boyz n Girlz there's a new playa in da house at Hampton. If German engineering is what they say it is then the new line from FOCUS should bring some Fahrvergnügen to little ole Hampton and the surrounding community.

The looks of the Black Forest 3.0 has the same sort of grahics colors/lines/detail that the BMC's do. This one is the first to roll up into Hampton. I saddled it up and rolled around on it and for a size medium it's pretty big in my opinion. Nice group also, it's sporting a sram x9/xo 10 speed drivetrian and at around $1800 this thing should fly out the door! B plans on keeping the 29er and TT bikes in stock from FOCUS but can order anything they have...

Another sweet point about this bike is, from a mechanic's point of view, it comes nearly 100% assembled and ready to ride. It comes in a "huge" (alot bigger than the norm) box that has to be delivered by a big rig truck not UPS or FedX. All we had to do was align the handlebars and check over a couple of things and it was ready for the trail, nice!! If this thing had shown up Friday like it was supposed to it would have made it's debut at the third anual Bike at Bays but sadly it did not.

On another note my little buddy that keeps bikes for shorter times than I do (what?) Yea, impossible right? Ehhhh, but he does! Ole AKS has the soon-to-be first Niner carbon frame in this area (tri-cities) headed here soon! I may have to pop for one of those myself 'til the carbon BMC makes its way here in another 15 months.

On a BMX note.... over the last several months the NBL has been in financial trouble, well ever since they adopted the new program of "race all ya can for one fee". I came out good though, I bought the National Plan so I could race anyrace anywhere for free as long as it was an NBL track. I have more than made up for my plan because I signed up for the installment plan "pay per month". If I had to pay for races as ya go: each National would cost me $200 per weekend at a National or Regional (2 classes per day ($50 X 2) X 2 days). I've already raced several local, a regional and a National so I have come out smelling like a rose and I get to keep my license to boot and now I can race at ANY (ABA or NBL) track I want now, only thing different we now pay at each race like it used to be.

I think the merger will be a good thing in the long run and only make BMX racing more competitive/stronger. I hope they can get their heads together and make some sort of HUGE regional plan that qualifies you into the end of the year Nats, one can only hope. The BMX forums are ablaze with hate and discontent and I don't understand why. No one knows whats going to happen....

USAC Collegiate Racing; I got a tentative collegiate race schedule today but it's not official so I don't want to post it up yet until Nathan gets everything settled. There's still some holes to fill. Busy week so far.

This weekend the 12 hrs of Tsali rolls into Bryson City, N.C. Capt Dingo has been giving Gone Riding hell about their gourmet post race meals. AC though has been up in Capt. Dingos grill about it too. Very entertaining to say the least! I hope Dave hasn't been reading Capt. Dingo's posts because if he has I would be afraid to ingest that dinner.... I usually hit this up for the fun of it but this year I'm in a BMX mood so I will be at the track Saturday in MoTown while they are there puttn' throught the woods and drinkin' beer while the serious folk race. It will be the debut of the Yeti DJ at the track too this weekend. Fun times!

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

CHAINLESS BIKE RACE

2011-05-16T13:19:00.005-04:00

I just had to post some of the pics from Saturday's Bike at Bays Mountain Bike Festival. Thanks to Bruce Rutledge Photography for the awesome pics of the chainless bike race.

Thomas, above, will always find a place for the many costumes he has.

Matt is lookin' like Braveheart, a topless hocchie mama or somethin'....

Go Erin!

Not sure who this is but it's a cool get-up!! C.O.B.? That you?

Ben, the winner, had to be well dressed when he accepted his award for 1st! Or he swung by on his way to work?

This is B-Rad's son.... Trail Ninja Bowen!

Awesome job to all that helped put that on!

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

RIDERS READY, WATCH THE GATE . . .

2011-05-15T15:37:00.005-04:00

This weekend was the next race of the NBL Championships in Clemmons, N.C. I'm not in the hunt for going to the Grands this year because my budget won't allow it. I do, however, like when I have the opportunity to attend a, close by, big event like this. These races are the equivalent of NBA or NFL playoffs in the BMX world.

My plan was to head over Friday after ETSU orientation and camp out in the sploder at the track to hang out with some old friends then get a hotel for Saturday. After getting a heads up report of possible/probable torrential rain at the track I made a change of plans; get up early Saturday morning, 5am, then drive down to Clemmons, good call on my part!

After getting there, there was a huge rain delay. Then, the NBL, finally decided to get the motos started. I get to staging and line up in my slot with the other doods in my moto. Now, mind ya, the whole time there has been a drizzle of rain going on getting the second turn nice and shiny, screech, crash, boom. Someone crashes hard in that slick turn so announcer says ....... "POSTPONE!" Nice.... again. This one lasts over two hours! Are we ever going to race? Well, I take a nap in the sploder during the delay, I had been yawning all morning since I had to get up 430am, I was sleepy. Wasn't very comfy in the front seat but I'll take it.

At 2pm we finally manage to get this thing started! I was in for a day of hard racing too, 16 riders in the 20" on the moto sheets, which meant I had to go through semi's to get to the mains which means extra work for me. Thank goodness they were only using the two moto transfer, instead of three, because of weather. All I have to do is keep getting thirds/fourths and I would be in the show. The only problem I had was in the 20" semi, I had a bad start and was just behind the rider or place I needed to be for the transfer spot. The whole time I was thinking "just bobble and you're mine - just bobble and you're mine", he did and I took advantage getting the spot! The mains were full 8 rider gates (cruiser and 20") and full of rubbing and elbow bumpin' and in the end I managed 2 pieces of hardware, one 4th/one 5th, for my days patience. We finished at 6:30! ugh.....

the spoils..........

****************************************

Also......... this weekend the NTMBA hosted alot of peeps for the 3rd annual Bike at Bay's Day. Here's a link for pics. Since I was doing the BMX thang I was unable to attend but Carol handled it quite well I heard. After talking to her Saturday evening she said that a bunch of the kids were asking about me, that's' nice! All in all it's a great program that has a huge potential to grow the club that should be taken advantage of. There are many families with children out there that are MTBers that hasn't been tapped that could help add a family element to the club that I think is missing! It was great to see B-Rad's and Iron Man Dillow's kids attending keeping youth alive along with some other teenagers in the pics. Good job!

DEBRIS

2011-05-12T10:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't had the mtn bike over to Warriors in a while so when AKS kept hammering me about joining them for a ride yesterday I opted to get the knobbies out of the house instead of the road ride on the skinnies at Piney. I have lots of free time since school is out and I've been relaxing and enjoying it. Only thing on my plate is the Pedalfest on May 28th this month and the NightOwl Race in June on the 11th.

I decided to get out to Warriors early and get a lap in before the "group" ride arrived at 6. There was a ton of debris down and my gettin' in some extra mileage turned into dragging branches and debris off the trail for the most part. At one place I debated on re-routing a section of trail since a mutha of a tree fell into/on the trail for over 50ft. Then I thought what the hell, I know what I'm doing if they don't like it they can change it, reclaim it or whatever. Heck it will save probably 5+ hours of sawing up that tree that's down and the amount of riders that go through there will ride who knows where if ignored/left alone. Decision made, trail re-routed - we'll see what happens....

After returning to the parking lot I was disappointed that the "King of Ice Cream" (Travis) didn't make it. I was even more disappointed that AKS wasn't talking smack on how he was going to wipe us off the trail, he's gettin' old. I hung back with Dirty to see if anyone was running late before we left, I don't know what the rush was (well I do but I'm not sayin'). We managed to regroup on the trail and near the end we ran into Mr.Stidham rocking a brand new carbon Scott Scale 29er, that thing was "pimp" to say the least! I finished my ride out with Stidham and we met C.O.B, Capt. Dingo, AKS and Dirty back in the lot to do some "after trail ride chattin" before everyone left - well except for Capt. Dingo his leash has a timer on it and had to get home. I think Stidham and I sat in the parking lot til nearly 10 O'clock catching up on what's been going on, good times.

If the rain holds out it's Thursday night fun at the TNR then some brews at Knights afterwards. I have missed the get togethers after the TNR and I'm glad we have got them started up again after the ride. Friday morning ETSU orientation is at 11am and I'm hoping to grow the club since we are losing about 5 guys. I already have two replacements I've been told but they are for the road. After Orientation I have to load up the exploder and head to Mocksville for the BMX National this weekend. Two days of being a teenager on little hoops! Looking forward to it!

I'm hoping to get started on the trails at ETSU next week. Applebeast has flagged a nice re-route over on the water-tower side of the trails and should make for some sweet additions to our trail system there. I don't plan to make any great progress I'm hoping to just chip away at it little by little to have it ready for the Fall race. I hate to see Ben leave this summer moving back to Ohio. He's not only a good friend but one of, if not, the BEST trail manager I have ever seen in this part of the woods. He's got his ducks in a row for sure! Time to go drop some flyers for Pedalfest, cya.

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

COPIOUSNESS

2011-05-09T10:18:00.003-04:00

Wow, what a great weekend! A nice way to close out a semester of school with a holiday for your Mom. Mother's Day always makes me reflect and remember to be thankful for my Mom. I don't think most people appreciate their mothers as much as we should, I don't. A weekend of family was just what the doctor ordered. Kids on the couch Friday night watching movies, hanging out with the whole family late Saturday for Mother's Day.... awesome! There's an old saying 'you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family', I find that interesting of late.

Sunday rolls around and I need a half-ton of dynamite to get Austin up and at'em. Dang boy, sleeping all morning. Heck, I was up til 3am watching the finals of SX in Las Vegas. RV took home the championship but Reed got the win. Stewart may be the fastest rider ever but that doesn't mean squat if you can't manage to find the finish line and keep from crashing (he's such a loser, another athlete that squandered his god given talent).

After Austin drove ME to his house to take him back to his Mothers I returned and saddled up the Lynskey for a "commute to ride" ride. Yes, I rode over to ETSU to get a couple of laps in on the knobbies. Half way through I run into AC and continue my ride with him. It was a pretty good ride, the course was perfect too. Back in the far side I was descending and came upon a good sized grapevine laying across the trail. I was going pretty fast and decided to manual it at the last minute, before I could get the front wheel back on the ground the rear tire hit the vine and kicked out to the left like an uncontrolled Jeremy McGrath tailwhip. I was now going sideways at speed and upon landing I came to an immediate halt catapulting me from the bike into the ground then standing me back up not more than 2 feet from the bike, yea it was weird. It twisted my left knee somehow making for a painful pedal stroke when I needed leverage climbing afterwards. This morning it just feels tight, it doesn't hurt anymore though.

Sorry for a boring post I'll try to do better next time, I tried to add a youtube video but IE is being it's usual self so I opted not to. This weekend?.... NBL Nats!

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

DONE

2011-05-04T19:21:00.009-04:00

Woot Woot! I finished my last final with an A, yes I A'ced that sucka! I also studied more than I usually do too. Ok now it's time to get back to some riding, plain and simple riding. I have neglected the quantity of mileage on the bike in the last bit but like my last post said I did get quite a bit of saddle time last week. This week hasn't begun as well but things are looking up. Tonight it's supposed to get below freezing but hey, the weatherman told us so, why put much weight in what he said? ---- he plays with gerbils...

Iron Man Dillow teased me with a Mule Roubaix ride for this weekend up in his old stomping grounds but his plans got changed and now he can't attend, darn. I guess I will be down in Motown spinin' the 20's it looks like. I guess I really should BMX since I will be in Clemmons, NC all the following weekend trying to podium where I got my first NBL National win.

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

COMMUTING

2011-05-01T17:47:00.003-04:00

It's been a wild week here in East Tennessee! The tornadoes that ripped through here during the first of the week have the community jacked up. I'm in my own little world with the final stretch of classes this coming week, well actually I only have Monday and Wednesday and I'm done. Three finals and then ........... summer!

I have been wanting to get more mileage and needing to ride with more intensity, I need it. B changed my day at the shop from Wednesday to Tuesdays now and then work as needed. There hasn't been alot of repairs to do just ALOT of new bike sales. B can handle assembly and sales but he's overwhelmed when there's a ton of repairs. In the spirit of needing mileage I decided to take my commuting one step further, commute to Hampton as well as school! It's only 17 miles so it isn't that big a deal and it only takes 40-45 minutes at a moderate pace. I decided to make my first commute to Hampton this chilly Saturday morning, it was quite brisk, 50*. After the work day Melissa texted and asked if I wanted to get some more mileage in, heck yea. I rode over to where she works in Elizabethton and met here then we rode over to the Pedalfest route for a quick lap up to the dam and back. In the last 7 days I have ridden quite a bit, no I'm not training but it felt good to get the mileage I did this week. Over 137 with 3 road rides and 1 knobby ride. If I can keep this up I will be able to shake these last few pounds of winter blubber off me. That feeling of being really tired after a ride feels soooo good I have missed it.

The TNR (Thursday Night Ride), the local ride here in town, is at full form and there are sooo many riders that do this ride now. It's hard to believe that 8 local riders, including me, started a ride nearly 10 years ago and it has morphed into a huge weekly event that has no organization. Peeps just show up and leave at the scheduled time, like clock work, it's awesome! One thing I have noticed is that the "non-racer" types like to leave at 5:30 instead of riding with the faster "racer-types" that leave at 6:00. It's kinda neat and sorta like the Tuesday Pack Rides at Lamar, the last group usually catches the rear of the earlier group on the final climb at Buffalo. Being a slug this year I have been opting to go with the 5:30 departure but it seems that there's a fast group that leaves with the 5:30'ers as well that's just not the "racer-type". They can keep up a pretty good pace too, only 3-4 mph avg off the 6 O'clock group! I also like getting done at 7 instead of 7:30 so we can get to the Knight's beer selection sooner. So, "getting on the bike more" is improving and hopefully my ticker is getting stronger too! Viva le Cycle!

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

MORE DESTRUCTION

2011-04-29T17:52:00.005-04:00

This big thing fell at a friend of mine's house.

Here's an ariel view of the Petro truck stop at exit 29 in Glade Springs, Va. It scattered big rigs all over the place and destroyed the truck stop. I used to fill my Peterbilt up in there when I drove the big rigs.

Creeper Trail below, day before....

Check this out! This is the trestle bridge on the Virginia Creeper Trail near Abingdon, Va. around the 10 mile marker on the trail. Below is the"after" the tornado went through there. It's totally destroyed now and I heard that the Creeper is closed at Abingdon but you can still access it near Damascus, Va.

I look for a re-route soon as this would be very expensive to replace!

Please keep the people of the Southeast in your prayers please!

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

TORNADOES RIP THROUGH EAST TN & SW VIRGINIA

2011-04-28T10:34:00.006-04:00

Wow! Last night's storms ripped through our little piece of the country and made it's presence known! There were 4 or 5 cells that came up from Alabama/Georgia moving pretty quick at about 70 MPH the weather man said. Here lately the weathermen around here couldn't tell ya if it was raining while standing in a downpour. Just Tuesday they had forecasted that there would be at least 3 inches of rain by Thursday (today). Well the only rain we have seen was in the form of ice (hail) and a few showers that rode the back of the funnel clouds that ripped through here last night. I was able to find some pics from various places and post them up here....

It's ok kitty......

This is in Bristol where most of the damage occured, funnel cloud beginning.

good sized hail?

I think this was near Gray, Tn.

Hail / quarter ???

This truck was blown over at the Petro truck stop in Glade Springs, VA. close to where Mike and Ginger Stewart live! It's only 15 miles up the road from Abingdon.

Quarter sized? not, BIGGER!

Another funnel cloud forming!

This is a shot of lightning hitting the tower at Bay's Mountain in Kingsport, Tn. where we frequently ride!

The news this morning states that 15 were killed last night. My prayers go out to all the families that were affected by the storm. It missed my place but I could see the lightning and clouds last night as I stood outside watching for anything bad. I have a radar app on my iPhone that keeps up with the lightning pretty good in real time. I liked what I saw on it better than what the local news had on the TV screen. Also it was the first time in a very long time that anything this serious, weather wise, was taking place around here and you could tell it in the voices of the weathermen on TV. They were very nervous and stuttered alot during their broadcasts, so much for a tele-prompter? I think that got the message across about how serious the storms were though. Me? I went to bed after the 3rd cell passed over....

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

EASTER WEEKEND

2011-04-25T14:59:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter everyone! This year with most of the kids being grown up and having other family obligations for Easter my Mom graciously volunteered to have Easter and Austin's birthday bash on Saturday as to accommodate everyone's plans. It worked out great! Vanessa got to be there as well, I haved missed her so.....

Above; Austin with my niece Summer (Science Hill Varsity Cheerleader) his cousin, hanging out at the table. They are like Forest Gump and Jenny - they go together like peas and carrots!

Happy Birthday dood! 16 candles on that cake but no drivers license, he waited too long to get his permit now he has to wait until the end of July to get it. That's ok, I'm liking being shuttled around wherever we go. Sunday I had to have him back early because his other Grandmother was having another Easter / Birthday bash for him as well! Kids have it made in that sense nowadays. Divorced parents = two of everything!

After dropping him off I decided I would hit the trails at Bays for a spin. I was shootin' for two laps of the funfest race course but climbing the long climb up the gravel road in the warm sun took alot out of me so I settled for 1 and a half. My fitness sucks so bad right now; classes and not being on the road bike much early in the year has left me weak. Just this Thursday on the TNR Buffalo whoopped my but BAD, worse than normal. 10 more days and then I can set some sort of schedule, I need it!

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

Thanks MAXXIS !!

2011-04-20T23:25:00.005-04:00

I just want to drop a line out here to thank MAXXIS for their continued support of an ole codger like me. I have been able top be a part of the grassroots program for nearly 10 years now. The brown truck (that I'm not a fan of) dropped off two boxes last week, one huge and one small. In the small box was the new MAXXIS IKON tire. I have yet to get them mounted because of finals at school and all but they look like they are going to be pretty fast with the small knobs.

meow!

In the other box?? Well it weighed about 60lbs and was pretty big. Inside? It contained a new MAXXIS EZ-UP! Can you say SUUU_WWWHHHHHH_EEEEEEETTTTT? I can't wait to use this thing! I was going to use it for the BMX race in Morristown but the wind was blowing so hard it would have made it back to northeast Tennessee before I did. It's also the newer EZ-UP too and has the new brackets. So a big ole shout-out to MAXXIS! Alot of people I know get tired of me promoting MAXXIS tires, I don't care they take care of me! Does your fav brand tire company give you perks like this?? The truth is I would use MAXXIS tires even if I wasn't associated with them, they do everything I need them to do for my style of riding! So......

THANKS MAXXIS!

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

Riders Ready... Watch the Gate...

2011-04-18T21:08:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning I had the alarm set for 6:30 am to make a call to James Crockett, the President of Morristown BMX, to see if the races were still on. After a short chat he said come on down, it's on. Thanks to all the tarps and plastic we put in place a couple of weeks ago after our regular race. If James had not had these tarps for us to cover the track with this past weekend it would have been a bust. I arrived and immediately started helping with the tarp removal. I haven't been to Morristown consistently in about three years but everyone has treated me like I never have missed a day, that's nice! It felt good pitching in drying up a couple of wet spots where water got under the tarps. It was pretty muddy in a couple of spots but a dozen of the 50lb baseball field dryer "stuff" dried up the bad spots pretty quick. It's race time now!

I was skeptical about how I would do against some of the regions best but this is where my roots are in cycling so I was hoping for some good results to come out of this, we'll see. First motos I did pretty good on the 20" and not too shabby in the cruiser either, sorta surprised myself. I did get pimped off the track in one of my cruiser motos and that peee'd me off a bit but I got over it. After the race I helped cover the track back up because the weather forecast called for a slight chance of showers and we didn't want to take any chances.

Sunday was a different story, my legs didn't want to leave the Super 8 where I stayed that night. On top of that it was a nice 37* from what I heard on the radio, my overhead dash thermometer confirmed it! I took my bikes to the starting hill and then huddled back in the car to stay warm. Well I rarely ever warm up for anything and today was no different so when the gate dropped on my first 20" moto my legs weren't on the same page at all. I rolled off that hill like a snail on a spring morning and it was all I could do to get 4th outa 5 of us. the whole morning I couldn't manage to do anything right in the 20" class either. The next moto I spun the rear wheel coming out of the gate and almost flipped over the bars, dangit! The third? Well I effed that one up as well and didn't qualify for the main. The cruiser, at least I was managing to stay consistent both days on the bigger wheels for some reason but I usually do better on the smaller hoops. I managed to salvage a 2nd out of 6 peeps in the cruiser so that eased the sting of not making the main on the 20" somewhat. It's been awhile since I've brought home some bling so that was kinda nice. Two trophies for Saturday's race; 2nd in 20" and 4th in cruiser, on Sunday they gave plaques, I managed a 2nd place in cruiser and a big ole "I sucked" in 20". Go here for some Facebox if you would like some video to go with all my gibberish here.

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

Sea Otter

2011-04-13T21:44:00.004-04:00

Well B left out Monday morning for Santa Cruz, California as a guest of BMC. Yea, once again BMC is treating our Carter County's finest to ANOTHER trip out of Hampton. Sad thing is he's not staying for all the racing at the SOC. He's out there huddled up with the BMC peeps and all the techy stuff. Lucky dog, errrrr opps otter? When he got out there he called and said it was only 58*, wHaT? I said. No bikinis on the beach just blue skies and cool weather is all. I'm hoping that they will have the new 29er, that's being released later this year, on show. Oh and don't forget boss...... I wear a size large in that jersey they gave you ! So it's just little ole me at the shop until Friday! I sure hope I don't wake up with allergies like I did this morning. It was sooo bad I stayed in bed til 8, got up made breakfast and sat at the laptop for 7 hours doing homework and working on a digital media drawing and project. After all that I needed to do something on a bike so I was able to get a quick road ride in out at Piney. They have a cool group ride that leaves there every Wed at 6pm so I saddle up and rode out to their shop from the house. Thanks to the Tankerslys' for keeping the pace hot! I managed to keep up with those kids until the last hill, whew. Well it's crunch time! 2 more weeks of school left so these next couple weeks are going to be stress-heavy! So, on that note I'm headed to Mo-Town all weekend for some.... no, not any Tn Cup endurance racing but BMX. Big NBL series event happening at the track this weekend! First outdoor National ever so I want to be a part of it for sure, I hope I've had enough racing to be competitive because this IS my home track!

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

USAC rules! or USAC rules?

2011-04-11T20:56:00.009-04:00

SATURDAY: Wow what a change from last year! At this race last year the turnout was less than half what we had this past weekend. I think it's due to the fact that we promoted it so well. We had almost 100 riders, give or take a few! There was definitely some boyz there with some serious skillz no doubt. Some dude jumped a 20" BMX bike across the 30ft step down and the crowd went crazy! It was sweet to see some of the riders show-off their abilities!

Downhill started about 30 minutes late due to the huge freakin' line we had at registration, it wrapped around the whole upper parking lot at one time. I started signing people up early too, at one time I looked at my watch and thought.... O~M~G! After getting everyone legal and legit Thomas had the riders meeting then I swaggered up to the DH start. It's the first time I had been right at the DH start in a while. When I got up there, holy giant redwood Batman, there was this huge tree that had fell within 6 inches of the start deck for DH. It was laying on the ground beside of the deck the club built for a starting ramp and was ever bit 4ft high laying on it's side, yes laying on it's side. 2 hours later, DH in the books all official like, many riders were now qualified for DownHill at the USAC Nationals !

photo credits: David & Tracy Tankersly

Yep that's your truly in the light blue USAC officials shirt officiating my first ever race, I have to say I was a tad bit intimidated. Nothing to do different really just legit now! We managed to get about 2/3rds through slalom then lightning and alot of it! I made my first "official" decision to postpone the race for 30 min to see if it would blow over, well it did, it blew over the Veterans Administration Hospital close by in the form of an F-1 tornado! Yes an F-1 tornado! Needless to say I called the race & took the results of qualifying as the finals score then refunded every one's 4X entry fees back. In 30 minutes the weather made a total mess of the slalom/4X course.

SUNDAY: I figured that the XC course would be somewhat messy Sunday morning and it was in some places. If I had to do it all over again I would have showed up an hour earlier and walked all the course first. Coming up the 4X course was messy and sticky with red clay, it made the riders work harder for sure! We had a couple of local boys and then the rest were from Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina so I don't think it was because of lack of promotion just lack of interest. The NC guys said that there was a bunch going to attend but the rain the night before made them change their mind (I can relate), well at least we got the word out over the mountain and almost pulled riders for XC in, dadgum rain. All in all there were about 25 riders total, including two pros! After the Cat 2 & 3's finished I ran down to the 4X course and rerouted them around the mudfest climb out of the bottom and put them through the old pump track over to the backside of the XC, it worked out well!

Saturday was a huge, I say a HUGE success and Sunday??? Sunday was a flop. Special thanks go out to everyone that attended and either helped or participated, thank you very much! Special props go out to the King of Cross (Dwayne Letterman) and the TCRC for supplying materials for the course, thanks for helping! Next years XC race as of right now probably won't happen. There's a ton of work that goes into putting a legit USAC event on like that and when all those kids put in all those hours cleaning up the XC course then no one shows, well it's pretty disheartening for them, they weren't happy. I think Brooks & Dunn can sum it up best...Insert sad face here.

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

OIL & WATER

2011-04-05T09:31:00.005-04:00

Well Sunday rolled around and it rolled in COLD. Getting up at 5am to drive over to Ashevegas for the Mars Hill Collegiate Crit was rough, I didn't sleep much that night. On top of that when I arrived at the mall where the race was to take place that little thermometer in the car was reading 38*. UGH!!! If you've never been to a collegiate race they hardly ever get started on time and this was no exception. I'm glad that the host school showed up late along with the USAC officials. Instead of a 8:30 start we started at 9:15 just enough time for the sun to get up over the tree line and provide some warmth. My warm up lap was at 39* and somehow the cold found its way passed every layer I had on. At crit time it was 10 degrees warmer, ahhhhh!

I'm not in any shape to be road racing right now but I had fun. I managed to stay in the field right to the finish, which truly surprised me, I figured I would get dropped after two laps or so. We averaged 25mph which is a pretty fast crit (to me). I hung around to watch Thomas race his first B race with little training under his belt and he did very well. He stayed in the pack all the way to the end, great job Sally! The A race was pretty good with a small group getting off the front with a friend of mine Brian Sheedy in the midst. I think he finished 2nd after one of his teammates broke away for the win, good job Lees McRae!

Ok that was the water now for the oil. In cycling I don't think you could go farther in differences of disciplines than a road race in the morning and then a BMX race in the afternoon. It was funny, at the crit there were several riders from different schools came up to me and said "only ETSU shows up for road races with "those type bikes" - sweet". We may be a small school and not "team" competitive at road or XC but they definitely give us respect when it comes to anything gravity related. After the funnin' I put the BMC Team Machine up on the roof rack and aimed my xploder towards I-40 west bound. Let's go to Morristown, a make-up race for Saturday that was rained out, oh yea!

James had the track in perfect condition, so smooth. After sitting in the car for the 90 minute drive from Ashevegas my legs weren't feeling so well. My one practice lap down the track felt horrible, my legs acted like they forgot how to go round in little circles, for real. I stretched some before the 12 motos that would soon begin and it helped. All my motos were pretty good, Corey showed up and pushed me, which I'm grateful for, he makes me faster. My first straight is getting better too, I'm managing to get to the first turn 1st in front or beside the fast guys again, I just need to work on the rest. There is one jump that's giving me a fit though so a day of just plain practice may be on the radar with the outdoor National visiting us in 2 weeks. My Sunday rocked to say the least!

This week a lot is going on organizing the ETSU Nationals Qualifier, we had a meeting last night for final prep and weekend assignments so no one is confused about what's expected of them. I think I have everyone happy too. There's a Collegiate Road race at King College (Piney Flats Sat / Crit @Bristol Speedway Sun) this weekend and all my roadies are able to attend so that makes us happy although I'm stretched pretty thin at our race. As long as we don't have over 100 riders we have it covered. Usually when ETSU hosts a race (road-cx/mtn) we have volunteers galore, so far nill. I was hoping for some volunteers from the MTB community but have yet to see any "step up".....

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

WORLD RECORD !!!!!!

2011-04-02T18:20:00.005-04:00

Wow! Have you ever been involved in breaking a Guiness World Record? Well, I now can say I have! It's was almost like a bucket list moment. The night started by arriving at the Johnson City Library with the Austin man in tow to a small field full of peeps dressed on black. A sea of black shirts so to speak. I read up on facebook zombie tag event that was to be held in downtown Johnson City during the "First Friday" celebrations that are held downtown every year throughout the spring and summer, the "First Friday" of every month.... The first FB page had the date wrong but had a whopping 9K people that had replied "attending". The new page only had about 2K attending but was only up for about a week. The weather was very nippy so I think it hampered the final turnout even though we beat the standing record by over 2000 entrants.

Some peeps above really dressed the part huh? creepy!!! Austin was meeting a friend here and I knew I couldn't keep up so he and his buddy dropped me like a bad habit at the start. A friend from art class, Drea, was there to so I kinda ran with her as a team, two heads are better than one ya know! Austin went right and we went left and the chaos ensued big time. It was the closest thing to panicing mob that I have ever seen, it was kind of freaky to tell the truth. Drea and I managed to get to the first checkpoint quite easily. I checked the map and we were off to #2. This time we encountered quite a few zombies and had to ditch into yards and alleys in the neighborhood. We made #2 checkpoint and got the stamp on our hands. I have to admit this was a blast, an adult game of tag, awesome!!! Ok head downtown to the "urban" checkpoints. This was going to be hard because we had no place to hide. We weasled down through and behind the old Mr. Toad's building and encountered several zombies. We hopped a fence bypassing all those but hopped right out in front of one and she tagged Drea. Sorry Drea, I'm outta here. I skipped across the RRX and slid into checkpoint #3 and got the stamp once again. By now the ratio was about 50/50 humans and zombies, it was getting harder. I slipped out of the #3 checkpoint with a mass exodus hardly unnoticed, I headed for a steep bank that I figured most of these people weren't in shape to climb, I was right! I shot up the 75ft bank into a church parking lot only to see 2 zombies looming. I adapted a stealth ninja pose and slid by unnoticed! Down onto Main St. then behind a car, hid behind a trashcan watching 3 zombies walk by so close I could almost touch them, then off to an alley where I could hear several voices near the end. I carefully managed my way to the end all creeping down to see about 25+ zombies just swarming the safe zone around the checkpoint, not good! I sat crouching behind a shrub unnoticed paying attention to the growing human group that was fixing to blast out of the checkpoint into the zombies. I played this one well! When they bolted I bolted the opposite way, they never payed me any attention at all and slipped right into checkpoint #4 for me, two more to go now! It was now bad, zombies 65% humans 35%. Doom was afoot! I paid attention to the exiting groups and it took me several attempts to rush out on the many mass exodus attempts. I figured that the way I got there was probably going to be the best way to get out so when the time was right, BAM, I was out of there. This time I had about 10 peeps following me, dang not good, I'll get noticed for sure! back up over the hill and down the bank losing my groupies but I landed into a hotbed of zombies and was being chased by at least 20. thank goodness they had just short bursts of energy or I would have been caught. Just before getting to the previous checkpoint #3 that I was returning to out of strategy I had to do an old school Earl Campbell shuck & jive move to get into the safety zone. I was touched by a zombie by one hand but not the two hand tag that was required to turn you onto a zombie, oh yea!

Now I had a dilemma. There are sooooo many zombies lurking just outside the safety zone that it would be suicide to make an attempt to leave the security of the checkpoint. It had to be 85% zombie 15% humans by the way it looked. It seemed everyone as far as you could see was wearing white zombie shirts. The rule; if you are tagged you have to take off the black "human" shirt and wear a white shirt to symbolize being a zombie thus the whole wear two t-shirts thang. I watched as everytime someone made an attempt to get into or out of the checkpoint they were swarmed by white shirt zombies. I had to make a plan...... Ok, lets just hang out for a while check on Austin and see what happens, there's still 3 hours left of this. All of the previous happened in the first hour so far. Austin was already a zombie tagging people and having fun with his friend so I hung out patiently as I started to notice the zombies tiring of waiting for us to leave. I walked down to the end of the safety zone and wasn't noticed. Hmmm. I overheard someone say that they already had declared a winner, 90 minutes in, dang! So I just started walking back to the start. I noticed something else - don't run! It draws attention to you! I walked back like I didn't have a care in the world passing about 250 zombies and they never even gave me a look see. Wow! As I arrived back at the 94.9 FM van the game looked to have fizzled out and be, what looked like, OVER. I called Austin to regroup with him and he was amazed that I had not been "turned". He said they were swarmed and zombified before his 2nd checkpoint.

I have to say that was one of the most fun nights ever. This can be something I can tell the grand kids about one day, I helped create a Guiness World Record with friends and family! For more on the story click JC Press. With a little tweaking this event could be huge, no.... stoopid HUGE! I bet they could get 5K for this event after last night and when the word of mouth gets around. I heard the announcer talking about another one happening in the future this summer, hopefully it will.

OPPPSSS.... Sorry for the non-biking post so here's the biking part...... Mars Hill crit tomorrow in Asheville, N.C. at 8am (ughhhh) then leave Ashvegas for MoTown BMX for a makeup race that was rained out today. Tomorrow should be good!!!

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

FRAME GEOMETRY CLASS

2011-03-29T14:19:00.009-04:00

Ok all students take their seats.....................students?

I said "TAKE YOUR SEATS................. (in a thunderous voice) NOW!!!"

Thank you for your attention, now class can begin.

Now that I have a big hooped bike, by chance - because I didn't go looking for one, I have been curious if the frame geometry is the reason that I'm diggin' the way this bike handles. My first 29er was a Specialized Rockhopper with paragon dropouts (sliders). I quickly turned it into a SS (my non-thinking days, sorry SS buds) and rode it for about 9 months before trading it off. I loved how the thing rolled over rocks but not how it handled at speed in the techy tight stuff. I flipped over the bars more on that Specialized 29er than I ever have in my mountain bike riding life! There is no comparison when you compare an aluminum hardtail to a Ti hardtail so I keep that in mind as well. It's been three years and alot can happen in the cycling industry in that amount of time. I'm now finding myself grabbing the Lynskey over my carbon BMC when I head out to the trails nowadays, weird. Don't get me wrong the BMC TE01 is the best handling bike I have ever ridden so far, hands down the best, I just like rolling over rocks with no effort on the 29 hoops is all.

I have been gathering data for classes and there was no specification to what data could be gathered so I chose things that interest me and may interest some of my readers, I hope! SO here ya go, several hours of Internet web browsing and beer drinking time well spent, I think so anyway. Find your frame brand and check it against bikes you have ridden, remember what they felt like and try to compare to the others - OR - the bike you rode that you liked best (hopefully you own) look at that geometry compared to some of the others... 1 degree makes a huge difference in steering keep that in mind. The steeper the seatpost angle the better you will be situated over your cranks for more power, laid back (or bent) seatpost frame geometry skues this process because they measure the angle coming out from the BB and not at the top of the seatpost tube.

All bikes geometry have been stated in the chart on a 100mm travel fork basis except for the Niner that gave geometries in both formats 80/100mm respectively. Some of the bikes have the same geometry, only thing different? paint and maybe tubing quality or thicknesses! A good informed rider will take into consideration many things before throwing down the $$ for a frame!

I hope I helped at least one person with my data gathering research. I know, I know I may have left out some models but I only needed a 5 or 6 for class, I took this farther than I had to so as maybe to help a rider somewhere. I googled a list of manufacturers and that's where I attained the list of frames, I know there are plenty more models I missed, sorry.

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

OH SANTA CRUZ! YES!!!!!

2011-03-28T18:24:00.007-04:00

Hot off the presses ! Santa Cruz is bringing the 29er heat! An aluminum version of the Tallboy and a carbon hardtail as well! We have already sold a couple of the carbon Tallboys so if the price is right I'm expecting the aluminum version to be H~O~T! Made in China but at least they're still powdercoating them here in the good ole USA. photo credits: bikerumor Go here for all the latest news on Santa Cruz! Bikerumor has the latest dish on the bikes!

On another note I'm a sucker for a sweet looking cruiser bike no doubt! Have you seen the lineup for Huffy? Man, coming from being the bike of the gutter and the center of all low-end bike jokes these new ones have some style. They must have hired someone with a graphics background or something! Their stuff, well it doesn't look g~r~e~a~t, it doesn't look like crap anymore either! Click on the Huffy graphic for a peek.... Anything with a 6pk & a single beer holder has my vote!

On the 29er front the Lynskey Ridgeline is stayin' ............ for at least a little while..........

say what?

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

POLITICS AND A BUNCH OF HOT AIR

2011-03-27T12:52:00.003-04:00

Well the renovations of the 4X, dirt jumps and slalom course is well on it's way, only the weather has slowed any progress down on that part. The club and a few of the people that get things done at ETSU for cycling though have hit the regular "red tape" that comes with all things when you include anything governmental. One of the Dr.'s that we have to continually go through to get anything approved lost our renovation request in 1 day when Applebeast dropped it off for one of the several signatures we need to finish the parking lot. Applebeast has alot more patience when it comes to dealing with these type folks than I do, that's one reason I would never make it in corporate America, another is that I'm outspoken. Yes, I usually say things that most people think but won't say. Hopefully all the signatures that are required will be attained soon so the new parking lot can be completed.

More politics; the ETSU cycling club is now an official club of IMBA. We can use the benefits that being a club affiliate with IMBA provides such as liability insurance for the courses! Campus Rec asked me look into this and I'm glad I did. I'm surprised that no other Presidents' before me had checked on this! More news; my local MTB Club "NTMBA" was recently voted into SORBA! More positive things happening for mountain biking, heck yea!!!

Now for "Hot Air"; I hear people "talk" in both diciplines (road & mtb) about how they want races that are close by so they don't have to travel. The ETSU Nationals Qualifier is coming up on April 9th. It consists of Downhill, 4X and Slalom on Saturday and will qualify everyone for the Nationals that will be held at Beech Mountain this year in Banner Elk, N.C. in September. On Sunday we will hold an Cross Country XC event as well. I'm hoping to draw alot more entrants in XC than the last two years, if not oh well. If attendance is not what I'm hoping for then next year (2012) we will cater only to the diciplines that attend and not worry about the XC crowd. Everyone has "reasons" but if something shows up in your back yard that you are a huge supporter of and you are not willing to show up and support it? ......People probably won't miss it until it's gone....

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

Dirt Jumps???

2011-03-20T19:23:00.004-04:00

My Saturday began by getting up early, heading to the shop to lust after a Santa Cruz carbon Tallboy. B sold this beauty last week and it arrived Friday needing to be built for it's new owner asap! These bikes are just bad ass, period! Retail I think for this bike was $7500 with a full XTR build but you know B, it was alot cheaper than that. I had to know what it weighed after getting her finished so I locked the scale into the stand and hung that beautiful piece of art into the hook of the scale............. 25.2 lbs with no pedals, WOW!

The shopped was swamped all day! I felt bad for having to split after 1pm but I needed to help the guys on the trail building at ETSU since we were approved for few thousand dollars of machinery to work on the trails with. I didn't have my phone with me to snap a pic so I robbed this one from the web. This is what the guys on the team have been doing all week. I must interject that I have no idea on how to build one of these jumps but the kiddos do! The DJ line is almost finished and it will have three different lines so even a lowly XC rider like myself can ride through the line to boost their self confidence!

I wanted to get a ride in Saturday evening but since Austin is competing out of town quite a bit with forensics I have to make the most of the time I have with him, he's growing up fast, almost 16 and he's driving now too! My plan for today was return the A-man back to his mothers, come home, start (maybe finish?) some homework, ride and ride a few hours at least, I NEED IT. I left the house (on bike) headed to ETSU for some laps. AC hit me up earlier and I wanted to go with him because he would have pushed me physically but he was riding too early for my schedule so I was left solo, which I do alot of. Just as I got over to the trails I get a call from Austin's mother wanting to get his cell that he left in my car. She said it would be a couple of hours though. I still had some time to do the ride that I planned so I was going to try to accomplish the plan. Two laps at ETSU then back on the road headed to Buffalo, yep Buffalo.... Those big ole knobbies don't get you anywhere fast on the road ya know and they sing like a Alabama redneck's mudder Ford F-150 4x4 with 42 x 12.50's, very annoying. I only get to the top of Buffalo and decided that my time would run out before I could get to the firetower so I turned around and headed to the house to make sure I was back to get them his cell. It was a good ride so I'm grateful! The weather is going to be pretty nice this week so, mo bike, mo bike, mo bike! This coming weekend is a little bit too far away to go with what the weather man is forecasting but more BMX this coming Saturday if the weather does what he says! Woot woot! Then Sunday? Ugh, a collegiate crit @Clemson, that's going to hurt.

Our club, NTMBA, will be invoked into the SORBA this weekend at Dupont in N.C. so those folks should have a nice time. Boring classes but killer riding for sure, hate I'm not going to be there but I'm getting back to my roots, BMX.

Later G..........................

Riders Ready.... Watch the Gate....

2011-03-14T20:31:00.009-04:00

Woot woot - awesome weekend fo shizzle! I was able to salvage the last two days of spring break '11. Saturday morning Adam rolled over to the attic and we met up to cruise the whole two miles over to the Chasing Snakes 10K race where the ETSU Cycling team has rode bike patrol for every year the event has been held so far. We agreed to what sections to patrol and lined up with the runners. I had lead, I usually hang back in the middle somewhere and greet all my running buds while they are pounding the pavement, and was amazed how fast the front three guys were hammering. At one time the leaders were holding a steady 14mph! After sweeping the course Adam and I headed home where I was anxious to call the Morrostown BMX Hotline to see what the word was on the track condition. Upon answer I was disappointed that the track was too wet but they were going to make every attempt to race on Sunday. Well poo! I sat down and pondered............ "what do I do now?" Well I'm sitting here in a kit, might as well go ride some more so I sat out for an hour ride on the skinnies.

After finishing that ride I sat back down and looked at the clock, hmmph. I guess I could take this new Lyskey Ti Ridgeline 29er to Bays.... (insert frantic scream HERE!) 29er ??? Excuse me did you say 29er ?????????????? Whoa! You don't do 29ers boy!

I wasn't looking to get a 29er by no means until BMC releases theirs this fall. I guess I'm eating crow by riding it or I'm a super huge hypocrite but as Doc Holiday said in the Wyatt Earp movie "my hypocrisy knows no bounds"... or something like that.

There's a long story on the Lynskey bike but lets just say I'm missing one of my BMC knobby tired bikes and leave it at that shall we? We shall, thank you!

So back to heading to Bays.... I roll up the mountain and it's beautiful! I unload and see a couple of people I know, greet them and roll on out. It's been about three years since my last 29er and they have their pros and cons like all bikes so I rode the Lynskey with an open mind. (*The Lynskey is 10 times the bike my first 29er was now) First thing, rolling down the gravel it's definitely faster and the Ti? Smooth as butter! I head over to Chinquapin and run into Capt. Dingo and his wife Mel (who now has the demo Niner by the way, do I see a new bike in someone's future?). G looks at me in wonderment so I had to explain myself. After about a 20min chit chat I headed out to ride the big wheeled monster some more. I still feel the same about 29ers in the tight twisty techy single track (meh) but those big ole wheels roll over anything that gets in front of them (two thumbs up!) I'm still up in the air about what I may end up doing with this bike but for now I may ride it a few more times before parting with it.
OPPPSS! I almost forgot so I'm editing here. SUNDAY! I get to the track and slap on the TLD racing gear and just roll a couple of laps to see the change in the track and if there are any spots I need to be careful on, it's been a few years. I was surprised that most of the track was the same with some of the jumps getting a little more dirt and some lips built on the front of them. My first of 12 motos had be gasping for breath, whew! I mananged a 2nd against a very fast 13X in the 20". Next the cruiser, I was able to go 1-1-1 and was very surprised that I handled the 24" bike as well as I did. The new Haros are solid and go where you point them, I'm impressed! Carbon forks and they will be complete! One new rule change that I'm not down with is membership numbers, it benfits us racers by making it cheaper to race with the change but I lost my cruiser #955 that I have had for over 15 years, sad day! I now have to run my 20"# on both bikes. Anywho, thanks to Haro and Hampton Trails for the support this year, it's going to be sweet!

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