My completeness

She is back together and as beautiful as ever.

Size matters

I so want a Mini. No, I mean I really so want a Mini. I would be losing some major cargo space if I parted with the Outback, but the fun would make up for it. Is it just a dream or can I make it a reality? Could Pookie & I fit ourselves and all the gear necessary for a weekend MTB racing getaway in there? I know one thing, carrying all the gear necessary for 24 hour races would be a challenge...

Just dreamin'

Next year, Colorado in August would be pretty nice. I've endured one too many 90 degree days with 90% humidity this year.

I see red (I wanna be like JHK)

I think I may have finally figured it out: red is the fastest color. That's why JHK has red grips. Therefore, I will get red grips, thus making me fast.

Quiet please!

Hey, wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world? Try riding the original GF Rig with the metal eccentric bottom bracket. After just a few hours of tourque it sounds like popcorn and rice crispies. Enter the Carver lexan eccentric Bottom bracket. Shhhhhh!

This baby will be sliding into the freshly-painted white frame as soon as the clear coat dries...uh, and as soon as I have a chance to pick it up from my friends and East Coasters...

Phases

Powder coating phase: COMPLETE

Decal phase: COMPLETE

Next phase: clearcoat

Stay tuned for more updates.

Monstah

29er? Ha! I spit n your 29er.

Look over here at Gajitz for a glimpse of what is on the mountain biking horizon.

More doping

Vitamin water? Really? Before long you'll have to fast for 30 days and drink nothing but plain water in order to pass a pee test.

You've no doubt seen the "Dopers Suck" slogan on t-shirts and cycling socks. I wonder if Floyd Landis wears stuff with "I Suck" printed on it.

High impact, without the high impact

I've heard that the first real human "feeling" is not love, or hate, joy or sadness, but the realization that you are alive. I would guess that it's so powerful because the next realization that you logically come to is that you are also going to die. Now stick with me here, this isn't a "waiting for the inevitable" type of blog post, this is actually the "every day counts" type.

What I'm getting at is that we as human beings should take advantage of every day and live it to the fullest. Obviously, some days are better than others. As athletes, things like muscle and joint pain can sometimes turn great days into something less.

This entire year I've lived with on-again, off-again knee pain. Mostly on-again. It has affected my riding, racing and every other athletic endeavour. I wish I could point to a specific incident that injured the knee, but I just can't think of any one event that may have caused this. I am however quite certain that the high-impact plyometrics and resistance exercises that I've been doing for the last few off-seasons has had an impact.

One step that I will take leading into Fall is to use yoga as my cross training to eliminate most of the knee-hurting, high-impact stuff. No running (unless it's from a bear, or perhaps my wife), no plyo, less tennis (unless I can get a clay court hook-up) and more singlespeeding. Yes, singlespeeds are knee friendly...if you stand up and crank!

Now I need to go buy some incense.

Let's all do the doper dance

Cyclists do it.
Baseball players do it.
Football players do it.
Tyler did it but said he didn't. He got caught.
Floyd did it but said he didn't, took a bunch of money from people that believed him, then got caught.
Ivan did it and got caught.
Now someone (else) said Lance did it. Lance said he didn't.

I guess the real question is: Would you do it if there were no adverse affects? No? What if your career and your income depended on it? Hmmm, gotcha thinkin' a little bit now, eh?

Another fine refurb example

Someone has this '07 Rig listed on ebay...she's a real looker.


I'm finished with multi-gazillion dollar mountain bikes with high-end shifters and 2 x 17 drivetrains. I'm (again) going back to my roots. What's this, three times now that I've abandoned the singlespeed for a bike I eventually grow to hate? I should eventually learn my lesson.

So here I go, running back into her arms again. She always takes me back.

In an effort to show my appreciation to her I will have her adorned in white. Maybe even add some shiny polished goodies.

Ah, the times we've had, and will have again. It's like deja vu all over again.