rad, send me an angle

yea!

Coyote Hill Classic 2008

A beautiful day for a race, a common theme it seems this year. So far every race in this series (root 66) has had just about perfect weather. I hope that continues.
On top of the excellent weather this race had everything going for it

Awesome Dry course ( @ least driest I’ve seen it)
A huge turn out (21 in my category)
And One of the best venues (Vermont is such a pretty state)

I personally had a lot of fun riding this course. it had fast twisty sections and just enough slow murky sections to make me appreciate the fast ones even more. A bit of a bumpy, up / down, twisty course. Other than the one fire road at the beginning of the race it was difficult to find an opportunity to reach down and grab a the water bottle. I heard some complaints about sore back and arms from all the rocks and roots.

After the dnf last race I was happy to get through this one with out any issues. good whether and not having any major mechanical problems are key to having a fun race. more important than the result.( that sounds like something a loser would say).

Here’s how it finished up

Justine Lindine 1st
Adam Snyder 2nd
Thom Parsons 3rd
Mike Meridian 4th
Me 5th

Honorable mention to Greg Carpenter who was riding well and had a mechanical in the last half of the last lap ( that sucks). Getting to see all the riders you worked so hard to stay in front of blow by so near to the finish.

I don’t know wat is worse getting a unfixable mechanical @ the end of a race (you can at least walk back and get with out getting a dnf ) or @ the beginning (where you get a dnf and loose the opportunity to get in a workout) both blow pretty bad I suppose.

Next race in the series pats peak ( kinda reminds me of a mini mount snow)

crazy European techno xc video

yea ! ! ! !

photos from sea otter! ! ! !

pictures from sea otter trip certacy of Josh kissinger
deciding weather or not to wear arm warmers. i did

with anna
stunt course

demoing spot's belt drive 29er
Josh and excellent view showing off scab, turcouse water
squirrels love apricot cliff bars
4 squirrels on one lap, I think that is a record
riding in ventura


sweet monster truck near the venue

Brialee Ramblin Rumble 2008

Sunday, May 11, 2008: Brialee Ramblin Rumble

a swampy bike destroying course. lots of souppy sections where pedaling trough sounded like my bike was being tortured. A beautiful day and a decent turn out for my category (pro semi pro) I didn’t count but it looked like about 15 or so.

the race didn’t go very well for me. bad start, followed by a flat tire in the first 5 minutes of the race. I had just put on some new bontrager dry tubeless tires (I guess they are pretty weak). I only had one co2 and that wasn’t enough to fill the 29er. The tire was rolling off to the side when I would go hot into corners. In the 3rd lap a branch wedged into my rear derailleur tearing it off my bike. that was the end of the race for me. I wasn’t alone other riders in my category had problems. Here are the ones I heard about. (excuse me if I get the facts wrong)

Thom Peterson john Foley and Andrew Freye all had bad falls

Andrew also had a flat tire

Aaron Oakes missed a sign and went way off course

I am sure the majority of riders who raced had at least a minor problem. it is just that kind of course, easy to get flat tires, easy to miss a turn, easy to fall, and easy to break something.

the top two riders were on single speeds. Sean Cavanaugh won and Thom parsons came in second. Andrew Freye came in third.

Next race in the series is coyote hill. This one is a lot of fun. One of the best in the series

bike tread conversation

if you race mountain bikes you've probably had the bike tread conversation. seem like every racer has there ideal tread pattern for every trail condition. conversations can go on for hours about what tire to use for a preticular race. the more competitive and serious the rider the longer and more heated theses conversations can get. i feel theses conversations are a bit unhealthy. they cause paranoia.

just wanted to let readers know i am aware of my unhealthy habits

Bontrager dry ust: very light compared to my maxis ignitor and rolls noticeably faster too. doesn’t handle corners as well.(still better than most 26” xc tires). The tire tends to fold over easier . I had to put a little extra pressure in to stop that from happening. first time i used this tire i got a flat ( mabey bad luck)

Panracer rampage ust: similar tread pattern to the Michelin at but knobs are closer together and not as high. Oh and the knobs have ramps on the back sides of them that help the rampage roll smother than the Michelin AT.

Maxis ignitor 29er: excellent handling tire, felt a bit wide for a 2.1 tire. good sized side knobs that grip very well in corners, tread fills with mud pretty easy, a good aggressive xc tire. A bit heavy but worth it if there is a lot of loose slippery stuff.



Michelin tubeless AT 26er: pretty high spread apart knobs. Don’t fill with mud very easy. Tended to get punctures along the rim if tire pressure was low. Pretty fast rolling considering the size of the knobs but not the best tire on dry days.