all palooza-ed out.

Singlespeedapalooza was pretty frickin' awesome. The ride down on Saturday was a beautiful day. I packed into the car with three good friends and we headed out for NY. We got some funny looks from a lot of people on the ferry, with four grown men packed into a car with four bikes on top.
We were on the FREE ferry because the old bridge to NY is in need of some repair.
We got to the trailhead around 5 and there were quite a few people preriding the course. West coast Ti meets east coast Ti. I would rock a IF, but I don't have enough tattoos and I can't grow cool facial hair. I also love my Mooto-x.
After the dusty dry lap on super fun singletrack on Saturday, it rained most of the night and Sunday morning, turning the course into a big ribbon of greasy glop. I was able to get a good starting position and stayed with the lead group on the fire road start, and into the singletrack. I waited to pass people until we popped out onto the road again, where I took advantage of the big (for the course) climb to catch up to Eric (our driver) and pass him right before we entered the first long section of single track. I made a few more passes on the newly cut single track (which turned into a mudslick by the second lap) and was alone for most of the remainder of the lap. I was feeling pretty good and in the top fifteen as I finished my first lap, and then I felt a bit of a wobble in my pedal stroke. I figured I could most likely finish the lap and be done, but I was mistaken. Half way through the final lap my crank arm on the drive side decided it was done and started to point toward the ground, just like the non-drive crankarm. I hopped off the trail and waited for Eric, who was nice enough to throw me his multi tool. I retightened and kept going, hoping to make it home. Unfortunately, I had to tightened the crank arm at the top of most of the climbs, about six times total. I finished in 18th and immediately downed a few hotdogs and some mighty tasty terrapin ale. I would go to Georgia just for more. I was kind of bummed at the end of the race, but overall it was a great time and I got to meet Dejay Birtch after. He even gave me a sticker, making this trip wicked frickin' good.

Tapering is hard.

It is really hard to stop riding as much as I want. This weekend is the first race of the season, and I am finding it hard to limit my riding and want to jump out of the car and tackle people I see out riding while I have to be "smart." Last night I went for a ride anyway. What was going to be quick and low key, turned into an 2 hour sprint. The trails near my house are open and there were tons of people out, even at 6 o'clock. I started my ride and had lots of people out enjoying the trails who I felt I had to pass. I guess I got my comeuppance, (I am reading lots of Dickens') and in the last mile of trail I passed a group, then got a stick caught in my spokes which snapped my UST valve stem in half. Not much I could do without a tube or pump, so I got to walk out.

Tonight will be the first ever meeting of my new school's mountain Bike club, we are going for a ride after school, and I hope to take some pics.

Pic-shurs

Jason, holding up that tree.
A little crash.

Trails so dry you can still read the letters.

The identity of this single speeder has been withheld for his safety.

Jason, picking his line.

Wet and not so wild.

Last weekend was alright, bike wise. Got to ride on Saturday on a very cold (30 degrees) day. The toes were not happy, but I was able to stop in the Hollow to take the pic above. At least it was a sunny day.
Sunday brought trailwork and some MTB riding. The trail work was fun, met some new people and found out the locals trails were dry. They aren't now that they are under an inch of water, but hopefully they will dry soon.

^^^^^^ Tucker, the 3 legged dog, master squirrel hunter^^^^^
This week has been a wash so far. Two days of cold rain and I haven't motivated to do anything. I did do some hiking and trail work on Monday, but yesterday was a complete bust. Watched tv with Wifey and went to bed a 8. Hopefully the coming sunshine will allow me to commute Thursday and Friday, and then maybe a trip to Mass. on Saturday for a long, long MTB ride.

The Maiden Voyage

All dressed up and ready to ride

Today was the first ride on the new bike. I am pretty excited about it, seeing as it is most likely the last bike my wife will ever let me buy. All built up, with pedals and cages it weighs in at 22lbs. Not too bad, considering the bargain basement deals on the parts used to build it up (very cheap fork, free crankset and seat) The wheels, bar and seat post I paid for, and they could be lighter, but I like the way they ride and I am happy for now. The cleanest this bike will ever be.

I got home around 4 after driving sideways down the highway due to the gale force winds. The thought of a road ride by myself was a bit of a downer. I wanted to ride the single speed since I hadn't ridden it yet and it was just mocking me from a corner of my shed. Then, my friend Marc called and wanted to ride over to a quick drying collection of trails that are a good warm up ride away from his house. I was ready in 5 minutes and we were out the door.

After a fun ride over some recently flooded bridges and through rush hour traffic, the trailhead greeted us with dry ground and blue skies. The riding was excellent. Not just because it was the first ride on my new bike, or because it was the first dirt ride of the year, but also because the trails were in great shape. There were quite a few leaves on the ground, but the mud was minimal (better than after a summer rainstorm) and the trails were riding well. We both were a bit disoriented and the loop we rode did a fair amount of doubling back, but we found the best parts of the trails and rode for a total of two hours. A great maiden voyage on the new single and for the first dirt ride of the year.

The ride end with recovery beverages at my house, and was way, way better than suffering through the Northern Vermont wind tunnel on the road bike.

The slow ascent into the Pain Cave

The last pitch (it ends at the cell tower)

The hills, mocking me from afar.

This weekend's ride was planned so I could meet wifey at our friends house in Warren Vt. This sounded fun at the beginning, because we were going to have brunch when I arrived. It was not so fun when I got to the start of the climb (2 miles of climbing, Appalachian Gap) and was greeted by snow, hail and finally, sun.

The ride was pretty low key, although it was a lot more climbing than I had planned for. The snow didn't stick to the road, and the descent into Warren was very dry. I am not the most accomplished descender, and I was very thankful for the good conditions on the way down.

I was also able to build up my new frame, although all hopes of riding it this week are washing down into the sewer in the torrential rain we are having.

IT'S HERE!!!!

^^^This pic is fuzzy because I am shaking with anticipation^^^^
My new frame!!!! One of the best benefits (aside from riding really, really sick bikes) of joining the GrassMoots team is that I was somehow able to convince my wife that I needed another bike. Not just any bike, but a new Moots. I was able to sell my niner frame and keep all the parts, (pretty nice parts, too, I might add) and I ordered a new Mooto-X frame, with sliders for my new single speed. I used to think that steel was the perfect, economical choice for a single speed. But, I had a chance to get a Ti single speed, the holy grail of bikes (okay, maybe just in my opinion) and I plan on riding it until I die. Or get tired and need to rest, whichever comes first.


I am excited to try the sliders for single speed, as I have tried everything else. Eccentric bottom brackets are alright, although they can get noisy and they change the Bottom bracket height for different cog sizes. Horizontal drops are a pain, chains going slack, removing the brake to change a tube, too much work. I am thinking the sliders will be the perfect solution.

I also got a bunch of goodies, like a kit and socks. Sorry, no pics of them, I am still coming to grips with my new smurf suit. Maybe next week.