These two ladies have crazy bicycle skills, better than Kevin Bacon in Quicksilver. They make all those fixed gear free style dorks performing elephant trunk skids look like fixed gear free style dorks performing elephant trunk skids.
Warm, sunny, and perfect again in So.IL. About time. I rode the trails last night and they were dry in all but a few spots where water appears to settle. The bike is riding fine and I managed to survive my first spill last night. I was rolling a little hot on a oak leaf laiden trail and washed out on a sweeping left hand turn. I was surprised but managed to slide safe into to home plate. No damage, no injuiry, we be good.
Plans for the weekend have not been made, although raking, riding, and rifting reers is the 3 R's I will live by.
After two months of waiting, stroking, and tuning my new Independent Fabrication mountain bike it finally hit the trails last night. It took only 10 minutes on the trails to figure the ride of the bike out, and by the nights end I was swinging the Deluxe into corners and jamming its pedals up short hills. It is difficult to really tell what the strongest feature of the build is as everything is new, but I will feel safe in offering the IF Deluxe 29er frame design as the greatest upgrade from my previous rig. The bitch rolls like a tank and cuts like a razor. Next ffter the frame, would have to be the wheels that really stands up and wants to be noticed. The I9's are stiff as hell, stiffer than my Mavic SLR's, light, and se se sexy. Add the instant engagement from their 6 pawl free wheel and you have the stuff of legends; get up and go. Next in line for upgrade love would be the whole Sram ensemble; from cranks, gears, and to the fork; top notch and so nice. Specifically, the Avid Elixir CR Mags are the best dics brakes I have ever had, set up was a breeze and lever modulation is second to none. These brake do not skid when you want power control in corners, they simply slow you down. Smooth and easy.
Below are a few pics, more to follow and hopefully plenty of stories of rides with friends. Thanks to Kevin, Joe, and Lloyd at IF for the design and Brandi and crew at Industry 9. I never thought a bike could be so nice (or better than my previous exceptional IF MTB). I can only offer the homage of a simple thought I had while riding last night; I want every ride on every bike to feel as solid, powerful, and predictable as the IF Deluxe did tonight. Simply awesome.
Profile of love.
Profile of love in half.
Standards for performance.
Every bike, all the time.
Cash green power, stiffer than XTR fo sho!
The heart? Not sure, but certainly a critical center.
I9 is off the hook, I went for classy low flash. Although all Gold with white rims was so tempting.
XO is precision, Cash green is money.
My new cockpit, so nice and easy to love.
The end of the beginning. Many more to come.
Key words: Speed. Carve. Smooth. Fast. Precise. Evolution of the wheel.
The new bike is built and the first bike path ride happened yesterday. It was great, I will ride a few trails this afternoon. It will never be as clean as it is now, I am almost tearful. But, a picture is worth a lot, and I will snap a few this afternoon under a perfect blue sky.
Big nice group ride. Had fun on the Planet X, kept up with the group for the most part, traction the greatest challenge with the trails. My nutrition was lacking and I felt a little bonky by the end. Bigger bottle and a little more sugar would be the best option.
The family and I are driving to VA for the week of thanksgiving. We plan to drive from IL to H'burg on Friday before. The on to W'burg. I would love to ride in RVA and W'burg. Email me your plans.
If I am lucky my wheels will be in by then, if not, hmmm.
Race Across the Sky played in E'ville last night to a rowdy audience of about 20. I was surprised at the lack of people as the area is pretty cycling heavy. Either way it was great. The footage of the race was excellent, the Heli shots were rich and inspiring and Lance was not too cocky. Wiens was a class act, Travis Brown looked nervous as hell when speaking on the panel, and Ken was classy and real. Shriver was there. The panel was a nice idea, it set up the context of the film well and seemed to be appropriately balanced with input from each member.
After watching the film, I see the challenges at Leadville are the high elevation of the event, almost more that the distance. The terrain seemed fairly modest and hardly the grand separator of the field as with other more popular ultra MTB events. But, by no means does that limit the greatness of the event. It has its challenges and they are unique and will require a top athlete to conquer. I left wanting to do this race. Which, I think was the feeling the producers wanted. I did not feel this was a "we love Lance" film, rather I felt this was a mountain biking is great and this event is great film. For me this was what the film needed to be. Lance added a little validity and exposure, which was good.
Overall the production really followed the NBC Ironman format. Focus on the event, the rigor of competing, the passion of the participants, the pro's and their proness and, the human interest stories of the competitors. For me, that was a little weak, a unique format may have really knocked our socks off. But, I enjoyed it either way and see the film sparking a new rise in MTB popularity. Our, meaning MTB, events at the grass roots level offer more than road cycling, in my opinion. The venues are often better, the riding and racing allows for the strongest rider to win which really levels the field of competition, and we are cool. In saying that, it would be great to see the late 80-90's surge in popularity again. I loved the old days and the richness of variety in events, competitors, and racing scenes. I feel the ultra style event will grow and no longer function as a niche within a World Cup dominated race format. We will lift and seperate within the MTB world.
In closing, I enjoyed the film, and only wished it showed at 8am on a Saturday so I could have ridden afterwards.
Hard to believe but the film Race Across the Sky is coming to Edwardsville. The trailer looks great and the footage of the race and mountains should look fantastic on the big screen. I can barely wait.
I have Fandagoed my tix and should be ready for the tailgate around 5pm.
Everything else is fine, no wheels yet. DOH!
Rumor has it Russell the Muscle's frame shipped, dang homey is rolling big now. I was reading a metro St. Louis cycling forum and it appears there are many 29er skeptics in the area. I am not sure what the hate is about, but I will investigate and report back.
Sunny fall weather returned to southern Illinois with a beautiful week in the forecast. That means off road and on road rides for me in the evenings, two if I am lucky. Lots of great memories of night rides over the last 2 decades.
I was planning on racing the Berryman Epic, but no wheels yet and the race in 5 days would indicate a no go.
I ordered a bunch of weight weenie shit for my 29er. Might as well tune my bike while it sits in the stand. I ordered up ti bolts for everything that needs shear strength, then alloy bolts for everything else. I will knock about 34 grams off my bike for a little over a dollar a gram. Not bad.
The riding at the local trails is nice. The trails are well maintained and designed by bikers. Nice flow, feel great in either direction and are within 3 miles of my house. We all need a local stash to bleed on.
