FIRE SALE

I have been on a freaking roll lately selling stuff.

I've ditched two mountain bike frames, a fox suspension fork, a set of crossmax mtb wheels, a set mtb wheels with king hubs, a 3 generations old grouppo of xtr stuff. Some of that thru flea-bay and some of it thru various online forums, some carbon bits and USED tires have gone recently as well. I have way too many old mtb tires but you wouldn't believe that some of the old shit brings more than the new shit from all the old school mtb retro grouches.

Next Next up, a custom Parlee Z3C frame and fork!

I won't tell you how much I paid for that bitch. And I haven't figured out how much I want for it yet. I bet it does not have 500 miles on it. It's bad when you buy a bike that is too nice to ride.

But you can rest assured that no roadie boob around here wants it. They all want madones and tarmacs. Hot shit I tell ya. Just ask Dat Bike.

You may ask yourself what the assassin is going to do with all this coin????

I want a Regulator 32, my wife wants a sailboat, i want a new rifle (time to stock up on weapons and ammo,so i've been told), wife wants a new sofa, i want a new big phat 52" tv, honey buns wants new carpet.......and on.

Which leads me to wants vs. needs.

I don't need any of the crap I just mentioned. With the robust economy we are in right now it probably ain't the right time to be buying that big ticket item.

I didn't need the lot "we" just bought. Too late now! I'm hoping land will hold value better than my IRA but I just read where home value's are at a 5 year low......sweet.

I also didn't need the custom ti funky bend bars that I ordered last week, but I ordered them anyway.

The way I have it figured, the capital gain taxes are about to go thru the ROOF!

BURP!

Stan's sealant is a great thing.

Or so I thought.

As my wife likes to say of me, you always try to push things beyond what they were designed to do.

I probably should have know better than to push a product that was designed in the basement of the science building beyond what reasonable people would call enough.

I have been constantly lowering the air pressure of the big, cushy WTB's, in an effort to find the holy grail of bike handling perfection. To spare those who don't understand the physics of it all, I have softened the tire pressure to the point of making the bike feel like it has minimal suspension. It is a fine line because too much pressure lost blows the handling of the bike and makes turning sloppy, and/or slows rolling resistance.

Too much pressure and you might as well run tubes and take the weight hit.

I have narrowed the range of psi perfection down to somewhere between 18 and 22 psi based on the dynamics of the trail that I happen to be testing on.

At 18psi, a rooty trail becomes pretty smooth but I can feel the rear tire pinching on the rim. Of course, without a tube to hassle with it, snakebites are not an issue. It IS however slightly unnerving to feel it when it happens.

On a smoother layout....22 or more psi is the feel good/more efficient zone.

I should have left well enough alone.

But hell no...I decided to drop it down to 15 psi in the front. I knew right away that was toooooo low. But i kept going. Fast forward to a slight dip to compress the front enough to allow that bitch to burp, catch enough debris between tire and rim to eliminate any chance of resealing quickly, throw a slight high speed turn immediately following the burp.....and INSTANT AUGER. This all happened in about .5 of a second. I'mm talking about busted my AZZZZZZ.

To make matters worse, the first thing that hits the ground is my medically repaired elbow.

I have heard that you need to replace/redo the sealant procedure ocassionally. I am not sure how often though.

Does anyone know?

Another local team?????

I was caught off guard this week.

Seriously.

In my recent quest to just ride the bike...I have become anti affiliated with anything that resembles a "team" of cyclists (other than someone who offers up a post ride brew).

Then I hear some dudes rumbling about another local cycling organization/club/team/yahoo group/blah blah blah.

It's the same start up talk too....let's get jerseys, do a race, have a team, do a website, etc.

Off the top of my head I can think of 5 or 6 local "teams" that populate Mobile and Baldwin counties. Each of these teams have their pro's and con's.

I, for one, am going to pass on it though.

Any more feelings of righteous indignation by local groups and all that goes with it will likely send me off on a killing spree of epic proportions.

A 29er primer

A few observations after 200 or so miles with Ti-t-SS. (in rambling style)

...ALWAYS take the outside line to keep big MO up...STAND UP every one in a while (a 26" full sus bike will make you very lazy)...you ain't beating me up a SHORT, steep incline with your bike if you have suspension...going against conventional wisdom, go with shorter cranks and wider bars (yeah I know, longer cranks give you more leverage....bullshit)...keep pedaling, even when you think you don't need to...inner tubes are worthless in 29" wheels, stan's em' and take advantage of the larger tire contact area...run a smaller gear than you think you'll need...get some handlebars with a fucked up bend, they'll make you faster...Don't ride in the dark by yourself, I have seen bigfoot twice in the woods(or a methhead) and i'm still recovering...don't wear your roadie club jersey in the woods, you look and act like a douche...don't let dat bike work on your shit...oh yeah, drink Pabst Blue Ribbon, it tastes great, AND it makes you faster.

I miss big Eddie

Man I miss big Eddie. Someone called me the other day and asked if big Eddie was in jail, out of jail, or what.

I have not heard where big E is......most likely in some swanky federal lockup somewhere running some kind of scam. I bet he has a sweet gig for sure.

My 5 year old wants to be spiderman for halloween AGAIN. I think I am going to dress him up like big Ed.

Quote of the year

"Not drinking is the Single Speed World Championships version of doping"

--Jackie Phelan

zombies

"People as individuals, I like them, but as a crowd they are like a monster without a head that can be prodded in any direction" ~ Charles Chaplin in Limelight

You hear of it constantly.

Some of the most enlightening and entertaining moments of my day are reading up on the musings of cyclists.

It used to be about the bike. Now it is about the group that rides the bike.

How fast....how far....how much....how long and how can we disagree???

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I busted my ass the other day in the woods, riding by myself. JRA...well almost.

The cause???....bunny-hopping laydown on TI-t-SS......didn't come close to clearing it either.

It was great. Laying on the ground moaning like a douchebag. I could only laugh at myself.

HOLY SHEEET

This is the cover girl on the latest Colorado Cyclist catalogue.

She is sprinkled throughout the pages and to be honest, she inspires me.

I'm married and all but this chicka has it going on. Serious eye-candy.

I bet a dollar to a burrito she could drop anyone who reads the piece of shit blog.

Cause you KNOW she rides.

DAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMN