Mid-Day Break

I am having an average off day for me. Here is the timeline.

7:30- Wake up to ride
8:00- Roll out the door
8:30- Meet Tom at the trail
12:10- Reach Trek Store: West Chester to pick up car and talk shop
12:30- Get home, throw on recovery tights, and slam milkshake down
1:00- Throw laundry in and lay in bed with feet on wall to drain blood; work on blog and race calender
2:00- Load car for mountain bike ride and head out
2:20- Pick up bibs at Trek Store: Blue Ash
2:30- Meet David to head for mountain biking
3:00- Hit the trails
5:00- Hit the road home
6:00- Get home

I miss the good old days in Damascus where I would roll out of bed in the morning eat a nice breakfast, watch Mike and Mike, and roll out for a 5 hour ride. Riding out of a city kinda sucks. I'll post more on my training and race schedule when I get a few minutes to breathe.

Enjoy the awesome weather!

Race Rig

So I have finally gotten the bike dirty (o.k. this is the second time she has been dirty) and feel comfortable posting pictures of it as my new race bike. Here's the spec. as of now.

Top Fuel 9.7 w/carbon mainframe and aluminum rear end, Fox RP2 w/ remote Pro Pedal, Rock Shox SID RLT w/ remote lockout, SRAM XO cranks and cassette, X9 shifters and derailleurs, RXL inform saddle, RL stem and bars, ESI Racer Edge grips. The wheels that are installed in the picture are the Bontrager RL run tubeless with XR2 tires. To protect my new (and first ever) carbon mountain crank I also used Crank Skins and Race Face end caps. Which I have already scuffed to hell. Thank goodness I didn't leave bare carbon down there!

My dry race wheels will be my hand built wheels (DT Swiss 240s hubs laced 32/3 cross with Competition spokes to XR 4.1 rims) run with tubes and Team Issue XR0 tires. set up for racing she comes in at 23.89 lbs. Once I have the cockpit set up to where I like I will get a slightly lighter/stiffer stem and handlebar.

Now here's the kicker. Today I went out for my second ride on her and it was... wait for it... legend....

not dary. About 5 miles into the ride my chain started skipping. Stretched cables, no big deal. Or that's what I thought. It turns out my brand new X9 rear derailleur tension spring (the spring that keeps the chain tight) had given up the ghost. With less than 10 miles of trail time. Yeah. I'm not happy. So tomorrow I will order a new one and attempt to warranty mine in order to have a backup. Load of rubbish.

And with that, enjoy the trails and your fully functional bikes.

Teaser

So things have been a bit crazy out here in Ohio the past few weeks. I am now the Service Manager at Trek Store of Cincinnati: West Chester. Make that really crazy. On top of the extra hours I have been putting in at work, I have been ramping up my training. Unfortunately, this increase in training has been met with an increase in precipitation, which in short means no mountain biking anywhere in the area.

That said I do have some good news. Some of the sponsored products have begun to trickle in.
Like these...

 

And these...

(Crank Skins and End Caps)

And this...

 Maybe I'll post some more photos and details tomorrow... maybe.

Portland

While I am out here in Portland, I figured I should post on what its like out here in the great North West.

It's awesome.

The people are some of the friendliest that I have met. My first night here I went to the local brewery to eat dinner with one of my room mates. We struck up a somewhat awkward (and drunken) conversation with to life-long Portlanders. Every time I go out, whether it is to the grocers, the coffee shop, a bike shop, or some random establishment, someone strikes up a conversation with me. Yesterday on a longer bike ride, I had no fewer than five people stop and offer me help when I was reading my map or adjusting my brakes. Great people.

Being down on the water and in the mountains has always appealed to me. Well, ladies and gents, Portland is a port, therefore it is on the water. Furthermore, it is surrounded by mountains. A ridge runs right up and into the city. The is the home of Forest Park, one of the largest parks contained in a city in the country. Pretty cool. This also leads to some amazing scenery from Skyline Dr which runs the crest of the park.

The city itself has some beautiful architecture. Most of the homes are of the craftsman/bungalow style, with tons of personality to set themselves apart form each others. Because of the hilly nature of the region, many houses and garages are built into and out of the sides of hills, which leads to some really neat terraced neighborhoods. Unfortunately, I have not been through the city during the day with a camera. But at night it is breathtaking.

From a foodies perspective, Portland is pretty darn good. Gelato, classic American, burrito joints, amazing (and surprising) doughnuts, even the bar food is above average. The grocer is a little pricey, but that is mainly because everything is organic, fair-trade, hormone free, and/or free range. Plus, their meat selection is second to none. I am not even sure that Jungle Jim's has the selection of high end meats that this grocer does.

 

My only complaint that I can come up with for this city is that I am afraid of getting hit when I am riding my bike. Not by cars mind you. There are so many cyclists out here, that there are no shortage of close calls. I guess one has to pay for having perfect riding weather, an abundance of bike lanes/paths, and a nuclear city that supports the bike movement. 

In parting, I would love to move to Portland at some point in my life. Sooner would be cool, but I think that living here at any point would be a wonderful experience. Not to mention, everyone I have ever known to have moved away from Portland has wanted to move back. I think that speaks volumes.

Post from Portland!

Hey all,

I am out in Portland for a few weeks for United Bicycle Institute (bike mechanic certification). I am just going to say amazing city and I will post more later. After next week I am heading up to Seattle for a few days to hang out with my awesome aunt.

So in order to keep some people entertained I am posting this video. The first double front flip performed by a mountain bike.



Enjoy!