I got a new vessel to haul the bike to the trailhead:
I've loved sport wagons since I was a kid. I can't tell you why but the wagon blows up my skirt... and the sleek German version is uber. It's got a load of fancy features like self-leveling suspension and adaptive headlights and such but what I really dig is the the straight six and the man tran.
There are some car-camping trips to Gowdy and Glendo in our near future.
Ja.
I was reminiscing about the good ol' days of the internet when one could call up spectacles of queerness for the sheer wonderment and then carry on with a nugget of thoughtfulness. I replayed All Your Base... a few times and it was just as good as it ever was, then I recalled the Badger-Badger-Mushroom.
Badger song (Badger badger badger , mushroom mushroom) - YouTube
In my window office at City Hall in Manhattan, Kansas, I used to loop this as a stress-reliever. I'd start one then start another and another and another... as many as a could until it was all a cacophony of badgers, mushrooms, and snakes. Ahhh, true relaxation.
Alas, I fear the golden years of internet dissonance are behind us. We're left only with sophomoric spasms of diarrhea that is Tik Tok, Twitter, etc.
I think I see a snake.....
I won't say that I wasn't tempted...
No matter. That rock is 9 feet tall and is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Micheala and Cavendish in Missouri:
How we trained:
I spent a few days on the Royal Gorge Trails last weekend and I've figured out my favorite loop. It goes like this:
Twisted Cistern -> Overlook Loop-Rock Hardy -> Canyon Rim -> Far Out ->Canon Vista -> Smores -> Dream Weaver -> The Maze -> Dark Side of the Moon and Made in the Shade for an encore.
Overlook Loop goes CCW to the top of Rock Hardy then CW out of it. Made in the Shade is slightly more enjoyable CCW with an uber-flow down to start and a beautiful slightly techy climb back out.
I love the Canon City area. Fun trails all around. Sure, it's no Moab or Sedona, but like Hood River, OR or Eureka Springs AR, trails can be reached by riding from your doorstep and there are lots of options not too far away.
The scenery is breathtaking, of course, with a high desert mixture of pinons, junipers, and cacti perched on rock canyon walls with snow-capped mountains for a backdrop. I probably should have snapped a few pics but I was way to zoned in on riding so I pilfered the image above from gohikecolorado.com instead.
Incidentally, Potassium Feldspar makes for an excellent riding surface and its found in abundance at the Royal Gorge. It's not too grippy, not too slippy, not too edgy, not too wedgy. It fractures angularly but not in an exact way. Its imperfect, pink, and there- like a good friend.
Manitou Sherman fork from early post-Y2K:
Recently released Lake CX 238 shoes:
I must be a sucker for urban camo b/c when I saw the Sherman 20+ years ago I really wanted one and when I saw the new Lake shoes in the same colorway I got a very itchy add-to-cart clicky finger. Alas, self-control prevailed in both instances.
Here's a very good Tgorm for you with a nice Santana-ish groove in the middle: moe. - TGORM - MarDeMa - Live from the Orpheum Theater - Flagstaff, AZ -2/6/12 - YouTube
Turns out I'm really attached to The Crusher.
A rear hub bearing in my Salsa Woodsmoke seized several weeks ago and I've been doing what I can- supply chain issues not withstanding- to get it back in commission.
I've been having some bad dreams where people I *think* I know and trust are coming and taking my food just as I'm getting ready to eat it. I think its got something to do with me not having The Crusher available.
Today I pressed in the new bearings and got it all tuned up.
That is a bearing press of my own making. Sometimes you just need some friends to take up space.
Favorite song right now: Burn In A Bottle by An Angle. I wish I could share it with you but I couldn't find a linker... so here's something same-same but different: Angry Drunk - YouTube
While installing my new PNW Range bars today, I used an old Indian trick that I've been using for years and I wanted to share it with you.
Jamming a wine cork in the ends of a handlebar- road or mountain- significantly dampens the high frequency buzz and makes the ride more comfy. These corks happen to be Chateau Saint Michelle Merlot 2017- a nice pairing for the Intense Recluse, me thinks.
The PNW logo matched very closely to the Intense. I'm not a stickler for colorways- I would've normally chosen black or grey- but I took a chance this time and it turned out nicely.
I chose the PNW bar b/c I wanted to replace my 10mm rise bar with a 30mm rise bar. the PNW was the right price at $69 including 2-day shipping. I ordered it on Wednesday and it showed up on Friday- Nice! Industry 9 has a lot of work to do if they want to match PNW's service (they probably don't). I ordered a set of bearings and the installation tool on February 20th. The bearings arrived yesterday but no tool yet...
In other news, the hair salon is slowly but surely morphing into a bike shop.
This should come as a shock to no one.
One of the bearings in my Industry 9 rear hub seized up. The hub has approximately 2000 miles on it, so I'm not happy about the failure. It's an Enduro steel sealed bearing and that's the only one I could find that is currently available as a replacement. I'm not happy about that either.
Anyhoo, whilst I had the hub in a state of disassembly, I decided to service the freehub. If you've not seen these before, the pauls are the little do-dags that catch up the hub and turn your intension into motion.
Together, they make great noise. The same can be said of the boys in Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, who feature in this outlandish bank-robbery getaway scene:
Baby Driver Opening Scene (2017) | Movieclips Coming Soon - YouTube
I did a very nice hike on Saturday. I've not been able to head in at Blueberry TH due to it being closed for the last several years and the extra-strict regulations about parking around the Mt. Rushmore Monument. Well, the kind gentleman at the main parking gate let me park in the Mt. Rushmore lot, so I was able to explore uncharted (to me) territory.
I consider this a selfie. Look closely and you'll see why. It was a great hike. I started out using Grizzly Bear Creek as a course and then turned north towards Horsetheif.
George was never far away.
In other news: The Aztecs are laughing at us.
Cane Creek Helm is EXCELLENT.
I wanted to follow up on my initial impressions of the Cane Creek Helm installed on my Salsa Woodsmoke. I have 50+ hours on it now and it is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Setup is so intuitive and easy. I didn't change any of the internals and it is fine. It's got something similar to DVO's OTT (can't remember what it's called) and it works great at sucking up all the micro-chatter while maintaining great support. It's not quite as good as DVO's iteration but it's fine for a hardtail and actually it's better for a hardtail in my opinion.
I realize (real eyes) this may be turning into a LCD Soundsystem fanboy site but seriously.... the vocal note at 5:15.....
