Bombs Away

Trek Demo Days are fast approaching!

-Saturday & Sunday – July 12^th and July 13^th - Seven Springs Ski Resort – Downhill runs!

-Saturday, July 19^th – Mohican State Park Trail Head (10am till 4pm)

-Sunday, July 20^th – North Park (Pittsburgh, PA) – demo truck will be park near the pool (10am till 4pm).

Things to Come

Within a weeks time I will be cutting 90 some grams of rotational weight from my bike.

Leave it up to Campy to make my life as a mechanic a living hell..11 speed is now here.

Crossed Up

If I can`t ride my bike then I`ll tinker with it. Today I wanted to go down to Cinci to race at East Fork State park but my body did not. I have been fighting a saddle sore since Tuesday and since then it has gone from the size of a elongated dime to the size of a grain of corn. Despite its small size it has kept me off the bike for 3 days straight and I AM DYING to ride. Hopefully the combination of lots of Neosporin and time out of the saddle will kill this super zit.

Last night I spent some alone time with my truing stand and finished off another two wheels. I installed Stans yellow tape and a tire and tube inflated to high pressure to help pack the tape down. This morning I remove the tube and installed a valve stem and sealant. With my new wheels tubeless I cut around 150 grams and gained a more durable wheel (32h, 3 cross) and better flat protection. The bike as shown weighs 14.6 lbs, no pedals and 15.2 with pedals.

With more riding the rim braking surface will turn silver as the anodizing is worn off. The chain will also stretch out with more riding and will need to be replaced so it wont fall off.

I Love Mary

Good ol Moose Call, just blow over the tube.

Turning Nipples

The Pieces PartsThe End Product

One wheel requires no less than 2 hours of work. Twenty minutes of lacing and the rest of the time is spent tensioning, stressing, truing and repeating until the wheel is perfect. Then the wheel is ridden until it looses tension and then is brought back up to the specified tension. After the initial bedding in period the wheel never should go out of true or lose tension. I have three of the four wheels laced up and one fully built and with my current amount of free time I might finish by next Wednesday.

Lawyer Tabs

------Fox F29 -----------Variable Speed Dremel ---------Fast Wheel Removal

"This is a Tough Race"

This is a tough race. I think Tim Carson said this a few times.

**Tired and sore
The race was the third Vultures knob Groovy series race, the weather was looking like rain and my tire was looking bald. I paid my entry fee and went out for warm up loops. The wind really started to pick up and the rain came down. The race was intended to begin at 6:00 but was delayed due to lightning and then delayed again for lightning, forty minutes later the race started.

The course had been cut down to a shorter and less dangerous loop with the removal of the over-under and the trail conditions had gone from gravy to poo in one hour. The field was stacked well, Carson, Walker, Twining, Clark and Wilhelm. I was looking at an up hill struggle. The race started and I entered the single track 6th. I soon moved up to 5th within the first mile and had almost captured forth by the end of the first lap. My legs were great, plenty of pop. My tires (Karma front, Crow rear) however were less able. I was taking corners sub muddy racing speed and was spinning the tire on the flats and downhills, my rear end was all over the place. A mile form the end of the first lap I crashed hard enough (my only crash) to take me out of the race. I was right on Clarks wheel and was pushing hard. My rear end got way off to the right in a downhill and when I hit the bridge at the bottom I fell and hit my knee on the bridge. Now I don`t want to be a skirt but it really hurt and I struggled to return to the start/finish area. My knee was looked at by Rody Walter, and was given an icebag to reduce swelling. (Thanks Rody) While waiting around I was told Brad DNF`d also, but due to bike problems. As the race went on more riders finished and DNF`d. There were a good number of DNF`s but I`ve seen much worse.

The Expert race finished something like this, Twining, Carson, Walker(who broke his shoe and switched with a spectator), Clark.

I would also like to make a special note that I am now riding for Gary Fisher Bikes, thanks to my friend and Trek inside sales Rep. Bob Myers.

New Kit, Pretty

Dr. Knob and Bubbles

Mr. Bonifant

...not really sure but he was on a 29er

Tim Carson.. Mr Blur

Dave Walker and his prototype shoe combination.

That big naked guy.

Tullis got a bo- boo, Rody assists in cleaning the wound, it could of used two stitches for sure.. Gnar.

Ryan Wayne Skinned his Knee pretty good by the looks of it.

My Machete

Tuesday is trailday. I headed over to the Vultures knob race course (a 12min ride from my house) to do some trimming before the race on Saturday.

I decided to take my cross bike instead of a 29er. It was looking lonely in the corner of the garage.

The Cherrybomb.

These berries are sweet but not ready to eat. I had to cut this branch down, it was hanging low in the trail.