So Close yet so Far...

 My heart jumped when I heard that Eddy Merckx was producing modern steel road frames.  In fact, one was ridden in the last stage of the 2019 Tour de France by Oliver Naesen of AG2R La Mondiale.  Wha?... could the world be coming to its senses??

No.  It seems the steely gallop of Oliver on the ride into the Champs Elysees was nothing more than a publicity stunt.  But then, why go to the trouble of publication if not for the worth of what's being publicized?  Hmmm.....

Alas, the steel frame is only available with a carbon fork (throwing up a little in my mouth as I type this).  That will not sit with me.  The greatest thing about a steel frame- by far- is the steel fork.  Why ride a steel bike with anything but a mated steel fork???  I don't get it.

In other news...

My Heart Magazine album has developed a distinct *pop--crackle* in the middle of Mother Earth Blues.  With fear of sounding like a Vinyl Nerd, I must say, it's the freckle on the face of the pretty girl that you'd have never noticed otherwise.

Dance Yrself Clean

I enjoy watching movies with great soundtracks to experience the music in a fantastic context.  In fact, I'd say my favorite movies are where visual effects- the movie- are set to great music.  Oliver!  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Juno.  Dark Shadows.  Nights in White Satin and Season of the Witch are amazing in Dark Shadows.  But that's not what I came here to talk about...

Over the last decade or so, my long-term life planning has basically been based on what bike I'm getting and when:

• 10 years ago:  Custom steel hardtail
• 5 years ago:  Full suspension mtb
• 2 years ago:  Titanium gravel bike
• 1 year ago:  Carbon hardtail mtb
• Presently:  New mo' betta' full suspension mtb

I can't think of the right word for it, but it's a little disgusting to me as I think about this and contextualize it.  At the same time, it gives me a structure to lay out my life on.  I'm already thinking about the steel road bike I'll want to procure in 2023.

Ever-body got a thang, I guess.

My favorite Jango entry right now: LCD Soundsystem.

Peregrine 1:43

I appreciate what SRAM has done for the one-by cause.  With their Eagle MTB drivetrain system, they've enabled all of us to eschew the now irrelevant front derailleur.   In fact, the front derailleur today seems silly for anyone who never used one on a mountain bike.  But I still won't go one-by on my road bike- I gotta have that super-jump turbo-blast that only a snappy front shift from 39 to 53 can bring.  But I digress...

Being a person who can never accept the norm for what it is until I fully scrutinize it, I've been riding my own version of the one-by for several years now.  It's not that I don't think Eagle works, it's just that I have to do things differently- if you know me, you understand.  So I've been rocking what I call the Falcon on my Thunderbolt for the last several years.  This consists of an 11-36 cassette mated to a 26-tooth chainring rather than the standard Eagle which uses a 10-50 cassette.  Yes, I've given up a little on the top end and on the low end, but I've rarely been left wanting at either.

I'm closing in on the day- July 27th- whence the Intense will be complete and I've decided a new, more advanced, one-by system shall be employed.  I call it The Peregrine.  It is an 11-40 cassette with a 28-tooth chainring.  GREAT TASTE!  LESS FILLING!  More on the low end, more on the top.  And I can still use a medium length derailleur- something important to me and only a few others on this planet.

In other news, here's something completely relevant right now:

Reset :: MARZOCCHI

I've decided to start over.

I was always a skateboarder.  For as long as I can remember my mindset has been focused on grinding and sliding.  *Pop* … sheurrrrrrr!! Yeah, all that stuff.

When I gave up the board for the bike many many moons ago, I never let go of the inner desire to find the line- on the board.  For forever, everywhere I went, I saw wallrides, curbs to grind, benches to knack.  "I could No Comply that!" ...but I wasn't on a board.  I was on a bike.

I was caught between two worlds.

The other day, I went for a hike.  I wasn't on a trail.  I don't hike on trails.  I was groovin' through the woods and having a great time and suddenly it dawned on me that I was seeing MTB lines.  Whoa.  Just like I used to see skateboard lines everywhere, I was seeing trail lines.

So it made me think: OK, I'm a Mountain Biker.  I"ve been riding the dirt since '95 but never let go of the skateboard mindset.  Well, I think I'm in the MTB mindset now.

So I decided to do something real-life about this episode of curiosity so I ditched all my old riding crap and started all over.  Yeah Mang, Bike, Gear, Helmet, Gloves, Sunglasses... all of it!!  Even music.  I'm all about the Mountain Biking music now.

So the first thing I did was get a new bike with some DVO suspension.  DVO is a bunch of leftover Marzocchi guys.

Should be rad.  That's all.

Singletrack, Cold Mountain Lake, and Car-Camping

Took a couple of days off to ride some trails and get back to what's really important.

It was a Chamber-of-Commerce day here in The Hills on Friday- Sunny, 70, and deep blue skies.  No better conditions to burn in some fresh trail with a couple of friends.

(My photo timing is terrible)

There's a fresh one out there.  A little sinuous fiber that has materialized and reached out to the Northern Hills.  It is The Missing Link.  Hunter of the shadows is rising...

Pine Cone Crusher

I'm taking the Pine Cone Crusher on a weekend of trail-riding and camping this weekend.  Fresh singletrack, a cold mountain lake, and sleeping in the back of my car.  What could be better?

But this post is not about the trip.  This post is about the bike.

The PCC is a Salsa Woodsmoke carbon hardtail with a 120mm fork.  **Yawn**  Oh wait, it's got 27.5X3.0 tires tucked into sub 16-inch chainstays.  For my friends who care about this kind of stuff- I have your attention.  For the rest of you- read about the camping/riding trip in my next post...

It's a tight whip, yo.  This bike made it's debut on a weeklong trip to Sedona and it was so much fun!  I rode pretty-much all the green and blue singletrack in Sedona and about 1/3 of the single-black trails.  No double-black.  It rocked.  This thing moves to the sound of Metallica's Ride The Lightning all the time.

MISSILE TIME!!

Fresh Singletrack

There's nothing like rolling on fresh singletrack.

Get connected.

"Oh, Hell No!!"

Bernie Mac is one of my favorite actors of all time.  I can't watch his stand-up b/c it's too dirty but I like his characters in movies and TV.  I think he truly is acting when you see him in a movie- acting on his best behavior.  He used to say "Oh, Hell No!!" a lot.  God rest his soul.

I was thinking about Bernie as I rode Hell Canyon today.  I also had Hell is Coming by Phish playing in my head. And Hell, California, Pop. 4 by Love/Hate.  Hell's Bells by AC/DC.  Hell Is For Children by Pat Benatar… I think that was it...  I'm simple-minded.

Well, the good news is that Hell Canyon is a complete blast!  There is no bad news.  I'm not sure if it was designed as a MTB trail or if it just turned out really well, but it absolutely carves.  It's a short loop at just over 5 miles so a couple of laps are in order if you make the trip out there.

I rode it both ways and I prefer it counter-clockwise.  In this direction you start out with a long gradual incline through the canyon.  At the head of the canyon you turn a 180 and grunt up a steep climb that takes you out of the canyon.  Then it's all fast and flowy across the upper canyon wall and it finishes off with a fast, relatively tech-free, decent back to the TH.  It's a helluva good time!

I should've snapped a pic but I didn't think about it.  It was one of those rides where I forgot about everything but the ride.  Hell yeah!

4/19 and counting.....

I spent a good part of the day yesterday buffing out some local singletrack.  Kickin' pine cones.  Throwin' branches.  Cleaning off the mess from recent logging.

It's not one of the more popular trails in the area but it's a real beauty.  It's one of the oldest true purpose-built MTB trails in The Hills and it's always puzzled me why it hardly ever gets ridden.  Maybe it's *too hard* or maybe it's b/c it's not a loop.  Pa-shaa- there's nothing wrong with a fun out-and-back.

Anyway, I was excited yesterday evening at the prospect of riding super-clean, super-awesome singletrack the next day.  And then I woke up- literally, woke up this morning and looked out the window to the sight of three more inches of fresh snow.  #whenwillitend

I didn't ride today.  Instead I went and hiked Hell Canyon.  I've never been there, so I figured snow/rain/sleet/fog was a good way to see it.  As I hiked the trail, I daydreamed about riding it.  Then I started thinking about all the other trails I want to hit as soon as possible and as often as possible.  It's a pretty long list.

Always Love

There is a lot of fear, anxiety, threat, and darkness right now.  The whole world is waiting for the next bad headline.  The Darkness has come on us silently and secretly.

Now is the time to find something you love and embrace it.  Roll around in it and be ridiculous with it.  Cover yourself with it.  Live it.  Give it life and let it bring you life.

Depression is a horrible thing.  Worldwide Depression is Great.  But it can be overcome with Lightness.  If each of us turns a tiny bit of Darkness into Light soon the entire Planet will radiate with Brilliance.

How?

Love.  Always Love.

I'm going to ride some fresh singletrack.  Peace be with you and yours and Godspeed.

C'mon little tomato, let's Ketsup!

Thought I'd get everyone up to speed with what's happened here in the last 3 or so years.  Here goes...

I got a brand new truck with all the latest whiz-bang features.

Then it snowed...

So I went to Colorado and rode my bike.

That was nice.  I took my Fatty b/c I was in Canon City and wasn't sure if I'd see snow or not.  I didn't.

When I got home, it snowed again.

So I went to Oregon.

I rented a bike and rode it up and down the beach.  Many times.  And in many different ways.

I also rode in Hood River.  Super cool town and super fun trails all around.  I could live there happily.  Then I went home.  Guess what- it snowed.

So, I went to Arizona.

I couldn't live there.  Well... maybe.  Okay, I could.  So much super-furry singletrack.  Better than Moab.  Did I say that?

That's about it.

It snowed again today.

Strange Days

Well, here I am with freshly installed internet at my home and ready to start sharing again... I guess.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, I installed the internet at my house myself.  Yes I did!  The Golden West dude told me that he couldn't enter my home or have any face-to-face contact.  So, he dropped off the stuff I needed in my driveway and talked me through it from his truck.  Luckily, my home had been hooked up before and the process was relatively simple.

Wait... you mean I didn't have internet for over 3 years???  Yes.  I was *forced* to get it due to my need to work from home.  Turns out it's not such a bad thing.

Hi!