Carbon delivers the goods

This has been the longest time I have been on a carbon HT now, at least by a little bit, and the only time it has been a single speed bike and I am pretty darn impressed.  It is quite possibly the highest performing SS overall that I have ridden...light enough, stiff enough, very, very smooth riding, climbs like magic, aggressive handling but not over the top.  Great high performance all day bike.

Carbon is such a black box in many ways but if this is a good example of what it can be...and it looks to be exactly that...then we are living in a good time to be a bike rider in search of tall mountains and winding trails.

I still think that when you get right down to it that steel is still the best for value VS. performance in a hardtail bike but this Stumpjumper SS is amazing.  In fact, I think I need to go ride it again.

Be right back.

One Trick Pony

New filly in the barn soon.  Let the build-up begin.

Specialized Stumpjumper Carbon 29 SS

Wined and Dined

A few weeks ago was a media event in the high mtns above Salt Lake City, Utah.  Specialized bikes was rolling out some of the 2013 models for media and dealers from around the globe and I had an engraved invitation.  I did the engraving part, but don't tell anyone.

I flew from the heat of Beautiful Downtown Burbank (remember that line?) to the heat of Salt Lake.  Hmmm...at least the surrounding mtns are bigger here and I hope I am heading up into them.  But first we made a bus stop at the western distribution warehouse for Specialized where we fed a bit and then took the three hour tour.  Stepping into the main warehouse, it was mind blowing.  You know the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where they stash the Ark in the endless govt warehouse?  Yeah.  This is here...pretty sure.  I never saw it, but it has to be here somewhere.  The pic does not do it justice, but your could race rally cars in this place.  I did not know that many bikes were sold ANYWHERE combined!  Amazing.  Another standout thing was the general demeanor of the place.  Banners everywhere like the one in the pic.  If you believe the inner web, the Big S has hot coals and pincers right next to the bubbling cauldrons the evil minions stir to cause grief and subjugation to the masses.  I did not see that anywhere.  I did catch a whiff of sulphur though.  Must has been the legal dept offices.

See that bargain S-Works frame on eBay?  Might be a fake-works.  This was a frame that looks pretty legit, but is a bad copy and not even close to the real thing in strength or reliability.  Scary. Well, when you get that 'great deal', at least the money you saved can be used to pay your orthopedic surgeon.

At the main event at Snowbird Resort in a high canyon above Salt Lake, we settled in and...oh look...food.  What a surprise!  Crackers and water, obviously.

The vision was shared by Mike Sinyard, big kahuna of the Big S clan.  He looks fit.  Say what you like, but he sure has gotten a lot of folks on good bikes across the world.  Quite a captain of that ship.  I wonder what will happen when he passes on the compass?

There was nothing too earth shattering, just refinements, but this new carbon rim is pretty interesting.  1600g for $1200.00 bucks.  Roval wheel with a DT Swiss 350 series hub.  But looky ma, no bead hook.  Really?

I love chairlifts at 10K feet.  Really I do.  The trails at the resort for the demo rides were not really very good, but it was OK to get a quick impression of an XC/Trail bike.  I rode a couple of FS scoots and a couple of hard tails.  Two of those were S Works bikes.  Man...light, expensive bikes are so fun to ride.  Yeah, they cost big bucks, but they perform.  Oh...see that fuzzy pic of the old dude climbing where I am chair lifting?  Ned 'the lung' Overend.  Yep...Deadly Nedly.  My hero.

The best part of this kind of gig is not the high zoot bikes and the dessert trays.  Well, the desserts are pretty good.  But the people are the best.  I got to hang a bit and talk to Ned.  What a decent, ordinary grand-pa type.  You know the grand-pa that will rip your legs off you on the trail climb and then you thank him for riding with you cuz he is a legend?  Freaking fast old dude, man.  There was a cyclocross race that he was in one evening.  The players were a mix of journalists and racers and Ned was mid pack at the start.  By the end he was in third.  Who won?  Todd Wells.  Duh.  But man, I think Ned would have been second if he had two more laps to stretch his legs.  Meanwhile, the chicks raged too.  Here, tiny person Amy gets center podium flanked by  Rebecca Rusch and another fast lady rider.  Amy is so short that she rides with her tires flat all the time to get more stand over.  I swear it's true.

Speaking of Rebecca Rusch, she was there of course (on the right in the pic below), doing the 'support the sponsor thing', I suppose, but she sure does a great job in that roll.  Always personable and classy, always ready to help other lady riders...a class act.  I vote to make her a Specialized Ambassador when she 'retires' from the full on race schedule.  You heard it here first.

The last day we were shipped by van up to a nearby canyon where we piled out on our hand picked test bikes for what promised to be a great day on trail.  A 1000' climb at altitude (Puke Hill) and then a 3000' single track descent.  Well, that was fun.  I grabbed a new Epic 29er and that was a great choice, although I would not have minded a heavier trail bike for the rocks...no biggie, but it would have been more of a 'wheee!!!' moment on a bigger bike.  Still, the Epic is IMO the best package in the entire Specialized 29er FS lineup.  Very broad application and very dialed.  One of the all time greats and it just keeps getting refined.

If I could have taken one bike home with me it would have been the new Epic Marathon.  Just under S WOrks spec, but still high end and I love the understated look of it.  This is the choice of serious riders with means but no pretenses IMO.

So, I will leave you with two artsy fartsy shots of trees and wine bottles as I slip back into a reality with no dessert tables or air conditioned shuttles and chair lifts.  Sigh.  Still, better to have wined and dined for a short time then never at all and I still have the two pounds I gained to remember it by.

Ah, memories.  Hey...that rhymes with calories!

Living the Low Life..

...Or "How I am learning to love being dropped".

The area I ride in is not typically that steep or super-techy. But every so often there are times when it makes a lot of sense to get your weight back behind the saddle or taste the wrath of gravity. In the early days, we had a product called a Hite Rite. It was a simple spring that, when you were riding along and needed a lower seat position, allowed you to open the seat post clamp quick release and push the saddle down with your body weight, then close the QR again. Opening it up again allowed the spring to pop the saddle back up and off you went. I still have one of those in a box somewhere.

In case you need to be convicted about your descending.

However, as time went by and everyone got in a weight weenie state of mind, we ditched our QRs and just went to single bolt clamps.  So much for the Hite Rite.  And, I basically learned to ride steep things with the saddle up.  No biggie 99% of the time.

So fast forward about 20 years and here I am, still not dropping the saddle, although baggy shorts (when I wear them...which is not often), are an incentive to drop the saddle or get caught up in the web of crotch material and die.  But a new product has arisen in that time that really is the logical evolution of the Hite Rite, something basically referred to as a 'dropper post'.  They give you a multi position option for lowering the have a bar mounted control so you do not have to ride with one hand to enable it, and pop the saddle back up to normal whenever you are ready to go.  A bit heavy and sometimes mechanically challenged, the dropper post changed the game and no one with an all mountain or heavy duty trail bike would be caught dead without one if they had their druthers.  I basically ignored them.

So about a year ago I was sent a Specialized Command Post to try which is Specialized's version of the dropper post.  The product manager was pretty stoked about the bennies of the post and how it transforms some aspects of riding.  I was skeptical, but I mounted it on the Epic Marathon and gave it a shot.  It did not last long on there.  One, I was bummed at the thought of adding any weight on the bike.  Two, when I did drop it, I felt out of balance, like I lost some control of the bike.  Three, well, I really did not need it.

The Command Post came off and went back into the box.

A year or so later, I am chasing the rabbit of a Global Marketing wonk down a trail in Colorado on a new FSR 29er with 5.5" of travel and a dropper post on it and I have one of those 'light bulb' moments.  On that trail, littered with tight turns, root drops, etc, and with all that travel in the suspension that encouraged speed and daring, the dropper post was once again back in my mind as something worth having.

And now, as I have been on an FSR of my own over the last few months, the Specialized Blacklite dropper post has become indispensable.  Really, I would not want to ride this bike without it.

Of course it makes sense that for rough and fast trails, getting air, etc, the nature of the bike is accentuated by the ability to get the saddle down and out of the way.  The bike becomes a big BMX-er then, and you can soak up bumps with the knees and, of course, get behind the saddle and then quickly back over it again.  It encourages fun and a 'stunty', playful feel that I do not get, say, on the SS hardtail with 80mm of travel.

The high life.  Now it's up....

...now it's down.  Low and loving it.

But the other day I was dropping down a typical So Cal singletrack, steepish, loose, rutted, and bermed in the turns.  I did not really need to get behind the saddle...not that steep...but the dropper post allows you to get LOW.  And, I am here to tell 'ya, LOW is where it is at.  The ability to lower your body weight on the bike in turns and downhills is golden.  In fact, I think many times when we used to get behind the saddle on steep parts, what we really wanted to do was get lower, we just did not know it.  getting lower allows you to stay centered on the bike and retain better steering, where being totally committed to be behind a raised saddle takes away too much steering and braking control.

Think about this.  If you could flip a lever and turn you bike into a recumbent, where you were seated at just above the BB level, you could stay right in the middle of the wheels and never go over the bars.  So getting low allows for your body weight to be centered and low AND you can still get behind the saddle and have the option of scratching your butt on the rear tire if you need to.  I actually (despite the pic above) seldom use the full 'slammed' position, but the 'cruiser' setting is about perfect.

I predict that more and more XC Trailbikes will be spec'd with dropper posts.  If I was at 100-120mm+ of travel and I had any pretenses of rough trail use, I would find it hard to run sans a dropper post.  It really is that good.  For a pure XC race bike?  Well, no need for that on a groomed race course like the Leadville 100 dirt road race, but for something like the Breck 100?  Oh yeah.  That I can see.

I also predict that there are other old dogs like me who will begrudgingly try a dropper post and learn to love being dropped.  Who would have thunk it?

If Less is More, is More, More?

I have always thought that the best thing about 29ers is that they do more with less...less travel, less gearing, lesser tires, etc.  See the rise from the ashes of the hardtail as a viable mount for proof of that.

But lately I have been riding this beauty around the hills and valleys of So Cal and something interesting has been happening.  I am having a LOT of fun.

 

 What has really surprised me was how much I am using this bike.  I was a bit conflicted when I began to build it up as I was not sure how much I would use it.  I am not the type to collect expensive things I do not have a purpose for.  Seems vain and wasteful.  So I figured that I would use this bike a few times a year for harder, more techy rides, road trips to Moab, etc.  Now I find that I am riding it several times a week.  Huh...imagine that!

Now first off it makes me feel better about building it and not having it sit around.  Secondly, it has opened my eyes to what big wheels and some more suspension travel can offer, IF it is packaged well.  the FSR weighs right at 31lbs and that makes it at least 4 lbs heavier than any bike I own.  It pedals really well, has a nice compact back end so is agile, and the slacker HT angle and longer wheelbase is something that you get used to in short order.  In fact, after riding this, I always feel like other bikes are too short and nervous.  But man, it is a hoot to ride on any trail so far, at least pointed down.  I did struggle a bit on a steep climb on singletrack where the slacker HT angle and higher h-bar let the bike's front wheel hunt and peck a bit, but I think I could get used to that and compensate.

But other than that...I love pedaling it around.  It is geared low (22x34) on the granny side so I can sit and stoke along on long grinds and the de-tuned Mini Brain rear shock keeps everything buttoned down.  The slacker HT angle and longer travel makes anything but the smoothest trails a playground.  Bounce off of that rock, wheelie over the gap, preload the rear suspension and turn the trail into a pump track.  Sooooo fun.

And now I see more peeks into 2012, one of them being this 130mm travel Kona Satori.

Looks pretty similar in intent to the FSR, eh?  This is what Kona says about the bike's priorites:

  "The inspiration for the bike came from our US sales force, many of whom are die-hard 29er lovers, all of whom are extremely skilled bike handlers who like to push trail and rider limits. The design brief was to make a slacker (head tube angle is 68°), shorter, longer travel (130mm) dual suspension 29er that could find that sweet spot between plush travel and aggressive geometry, without sacrifice climbing efficiency and trail quickness. It’s purposed specifically for those who ride on rough, rolling, technical terrain where big wheels and longer travel enables you to lay to waste anything in your path."

Lay waste.  Cool.  I am still on the fence about whether biggie travel 29er bikes...150mm and more...are something that is too viable, but maybe I just need to ride one to have my vision broadened a bit.  But, I am still surprised how very close I am to making a bike like the FSR my #1 rig.  I wish it was a bit lighter.  That would take $$ in adding parts like an upper level SRAM 2x10 driveline instead of the heavier Shimano 2x9 bits I have on there.  I already have carbon bars and great wheels run tubeless.  I would not run a smaller tire or give up the Command Post, so really it comes down to new and expensive shifty bits or a carbon frame....and there is no carbon framed FSR...yet.  I bet there will be for 2012.

And add in the rumored Ibis Mojo 29er that will certainly be carbon and at least 130mm, the new Kona announced recently, the gracefully aging but a bit out of step RIP9, and the DW Sultan and there are a few bikes in this vein to chose from.  If you can afford a carbon version when they are out there to buy, or do not mind riding a 30lb bike all the time, then a long legged bike like this is maximum fun-time on trail.

Another level down is the Tomac Diplomat, a rumored Bigger Mama from Salsa, and the Intense Spider, all said to be at 120mm.  Will 120mm-130mm be the new 100mm?  Will 80mm bikes just go away, even for racing?  The new JET9 RDO carbon is set for 100mm rear and tuned to a 120mm fork iff'n ya' wanna'.  Tall boy too.

I said in the past that 100mm or 4" was the sweet spot for a 29er FS in that it is enough to still feel very fast pedaling but still ride pretty rough trails in comfort and control.  If that is true, that 100mm is the 'sweet spot', then 130mm just may be the 'fun spot'.

In fact, I bet that soon 120mm will be the bottom end of XC bikes that are not a race specific model and will be competing for trail space on the weekends against the Kona Satori and the FSR.  I am wondering if 120mm will be the new sweet spot?  Could be.  I need to try one to find out.

In the meantime, if a blue and black blur passes you on the trail and the rider is giggling like some adolescent at the cartoon matinee, it might be me.  I would have said hi, but I was having too much fun to stop and chat.

Be the windshield.

Windshield...meet bug.

You know the old adage..."sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield"?  Yesterday morning I was trying to get ready for a morning ride with my wife and her cronies.  It is a very casual pace, so I often add some extra credit laps to the morning.  I wanted to take the SS out, but I needed to replace the torn front tire and the chain as it was pretty worn.  Neither of those things are too hard, but it seemed like everything was fighting me.  By the time I got it done, I was running late and that ruled out a pre-lap before I met with the Sunday AM Cruisers.  I headed out anyway and got a ways down the road before I found my rear tire to be a tiny bit low...forgot to check it.  Off the bike...out with the pump...etc.

Then, when I did finally get on trail I was just off my line in every corner, so-so on the climbs, and just basically living a bug's life in search of an oncoming piece of curved and tinted safety glass.

Well, that sucked.

So, about 02:00 in the PM, I was enjoying the extra time in the day after the 'Spring Ahead' time change.  I thought about an afternoon nap after the wife and I had made a car run to the local Honey House to grab some of the bee's finest work.  Instead, I suited up and pedaled out again, this time on another bike, the Epic Marathon.

I really like my SS, but the Epic is still the finest ride I have in the garage.  I always love riding that bike.  But when I have to rotate between perhaps 4-5 bikes to get the testing duties done, I never get in-sync with any one bike.  Every time I ride is a lesson in 'getting to know you' all over again and sometimes that sucks.

This time out none of that mattered.  The tired legs did not matter.  The narrow handlebars, different tires...none of that mattered.  The hills gave way one by one as I ignored the pain and when the first loose, blind corner in the singletrack rushed at me, I bent my elbows, leaned forward behind the glass and pitched the bars over, expecting any minute to meet an oncoming insect.  I shredded that trail.

Bug...meet windshield.

Men on a Mission and other things of national importance.

Guitar Ted is on the right, me on the left.  Pretty sure.

Well pretty soon here Guitar Ted and I will descend on LV-town like two men on a mission, not like a mission from God, but a mission to seek out the goodness of what is new in 29er stuff on display at Interbike.

I doubt we will look as cool as the two righteous dudes in the pic and my Suburban is certainly not the chariot that theirs is.  Regardless of all that, we will do our best to suffer through the few days of bike riding and walking the show, taking pics, talking bike stuff, arranging tests or product, etc.

It is fun and I would not miss it for all the tea in China (which, I take it, is quite a lot...I dunno).  But it is a lot of work.  Relaxing it ain't and it is just part of the job of keeping your finger on the pulse of the 29er world.

This season will see huge interest in Europe for big wheels.  The coverage by c_g on twentynineinches.com was pretty deluxe and the difference between last year over the pond and this year is stunning.  It seems to be mostly hardtails, as everyone tests the waters with biggy toes dipped in 29" deep pools of water. There is a lot of carbon right off the bat, something that took a while here in North America.  The Euro market seems very, very performance focused, like everything has to be weighed and engineered within a fraction of a nano-gram or it is verboten.  Interesting.  Is everyone over there a hardened (or wanna be hardened) racer?  Maybe.  Don't they just ride for fun?

I wonder if, in order to get around the lingering impressions that 29ers are slow and heavy, that they are overcompensating with euber-stiff and light bikes to get folks looking and riding?  I mean, where are the EU versions of a Vassago Jabberwocky?  I imagine they are there, somewhere, but maybe not getting the press right now.

The boon to 29er riders will be huge from this.  Already there are getting to be a lot of tires that I have only seen at EU-Bike.  Some of them will stay over there, but not all.  More bikes to put parts on means more reasons to invest in new parts and products, things that we will get to buy as well, perhaps even resulting in falling prices, but I would not hold my breath for that.

I am going to I-Bike in waaaay less than prime shape.  My fitness is OK, but my mobility and strength is nowhere near Bootleg Canyon ready.  Shame, that, but it is what it is.  I will do what I can do.  Maybe I will need to be a bit more selective in my riding or take more pics/vid than ride bikes. 

The Rockhopper SL 2011 SS frameset is going back to the mother ship as testing is wrapped up on it.  Even though I had limited time on it, Ed the Tall came in and pinch hit for me, logging multiple hours of trail time.  He had some kind words for this budget frame as he compared it to his much beloved Selma SS.  No, he is not stepping off his Selma for the Rocky, but it was not a huge loss for the $440.00 frame from Specialized.  I wanted to see if I could solve the twisty steering issues the 2010 complete bike had, and I did.  the Recon fork and my own decent quality wheelset made a huge difference in ride performance as far as coloring between the lines with confidence.  I was actually considering making this my primary SS ride to replace the Jabber, but I just have not been able to feel the love from either of the alu SS frames I have spent time on.  There are good things about them, but I just cannot get past the ride and nearly intangible quality of steel over alu.  I guess I am set in my ways.  Until Ti romances me or I give in to carbon, I doubt an alu hardtail is ever going to be my dance partner.

This showed up on the doorstep the other day.  A 140mm Reba RLT Ti 29er fork with 20mm Maxle Light.  Wow.  Surprise, surprise, surprise.  Now I am working on obtaining suitable test platforms.  A Lenz Moth is in the works, but that will take a while.  Not sure what will be up first, but I sure would not mind building up a Speshy FSR frame.

I kinda consider the 140mm Reba a long travel XC/AM fork rather than a real heavy Freeride fork.  Lots of room for forks like this Reba.  I can totally see having a bike like this in the quiver; something at 30 lbs with long legs and the hope of riding to the top of a hill.  Moab, baby.  It would be a killer bike for Burro Down. 

What is interesting to me is the continued interest in bigger duty 29ers.  MC's thoughts on the MTX-33 rim and bikes like the Lenz Lunchbox and especially the PBJ are pushing the limits of 29ers as DH bikes.  If there is a rim now, and perhaps even a tire like the WTB Dissent that will survive, the Manitou Dorado fork converted and the White Bros 150mm are pretty much the only game in town.  I am not sure if that will change at I-Bike.  I bet we will see a longer travel fork from Manitou in some way or another to compete with the Reba 140mm, but anything bigger?  Not sure.  Where is Marzocchi?  They are the AM/Freeride guys, aren't they?  We shall see, now that White Bros is re-doing their forks for 2011.  Maybe there is a surprise there.  I bet this will not hit harder till 2012, but I could be wrong.  I have been a skeptic regarding 29ers and 7+ inches of travel as a good idea.  It looks like I will be eating crow.

Speaking of skeptics, the belt drive is once again seeing improvements and refinements from Gates.  I hope this gets sorted out, even though I take issues with many of the talking points that the belt drive proponents spout, I would like to see it actually work for the masses, should they choose to use it.  Hopefully I can swing a leg over one at Demo Days.  I am not sure that this channeled belt and cog is that much of a change as there still are the issues of tension, racheting, cost, 'cog' selection and sizing, and getting a frame built around the girder like chainstay specs that Gates calls for.  I dunno.  It still sounds like a lot of trouble to just NOT have a chain.

Well, more later from the quest for knowledge, knobbies, and schwag at I-Bike.

A new pony in the barn.

 Earlier this year I had the chance to test ride a 2010 Specialized Rockhopper SL SS bike.  I found it flawed, but still a fun bike to ride and not at all bad for the price.  I also felt that the frame was good enough to offer as a budget minded frameset.  That has happened for 2011.  Recently there were mutual gauntlets tossed down between the product manager for the Rockhopper line of bikes and I.  It was friendly, but he felt that I was a bit, well, harsh about the bike considering the cost of the thing and I felt that I was quite fair and that perhaps the parts compromises made in the name of cost cutting were holding the bike back.  I wondered aloud if it would be worth another shot at the 'Hopper SS as a frame-up build with a bit better parts selection, but still keeping to a moderate budget.

Deacon, the Specialized manager person, agreed that the idea had merit and so this is on its way, so I have been told.

I love the BB set-up on this thing.  It was trouble free before, so we shall see what a longer visit brings.  A fork is coming from RockShox...not sure what it is, but I suspect it is a new Recon 29er.  We shall see...could be a Tora or Reba.  There may be some new brakes from the latest line of hydro stoppers...that is pending as well.

Other wise I will be moving over parts from the SS Jabberwocky, which for the last year has been faithfully taking me everywhere that I asked it to.  The Jabber is a fine bike, but there are some plusses to the 'Hopper...and some minuses too.  I know it will be lighter, so that will be good.  I am pretty sure I will prefer the handling of the 'Hopper as well, but the past test bike did not quite ride as well as the steel-is-real Jabber.  Aluminum, ya' know.

Anyway, more details to come when the big brown santa comes to town.  It should be a fun build.  I may even play with a different crank set-up if I can come to a cheap and clean solution.  I am torn between staying old school with a tapered BB Phil Wood style and some version of a matching crank...or...go new school with a external BB (maybe a Chris King) with some kind of older XTR...or...just keep running the XT Octalink II cranks I have now.  Meh!  We shall see.  Suggestions?

Meanwhile, the clock ticks.

Goodbye, Colorado.

As I sit in the condo, looking out over a lake, where some bird is doing a fine imitation of a rubber bulb squeeze horn (or a rubber bulb squeeze horn is imitating a bird), the Tour is on VS. and I am full of breakfast.  The shuttle arrives soon and it is all downhill from here...literally.  I will not get any higher then this till the plane takes off.  Just turning over in bed at 10K' sends your heart rate up!

It has been a killer few days.  The trails here on the Keystone slopes are lift served, fun, and challenging.  The views are typical Co. high country spectacular and the weather has been perfect.

Specialized is an amazing company.  I have gotten to know many of the key people that bring the products to market and they are all good folks so far.  The vision they have and the ability to keep putting out great stuff is pretty impressive.  To all you at the Big S who made this happen for me, I thank you - Nic, you are the best and you look taller on TV.  Eric and Racheal...thanks for all the support.  To Rebecca R.....go win that race.  Nice gals need to finish first.

SO, back to the hot and brown of a So Cal summer.  There are lot's of things on tap with testing stuff and new bikes and gear to review.  I think there may be a new SS ride working its way to me and that is cool to look forward to.

Meanwhile, I will take a few more moments to savor the day then turn toward home and the waiting arms of those I love.

Me and Rebecca.

Yeah, I know it should be Rebecca and I, but I like the sound of it the other way better.

So, here I am at the MTB Demo tent, talking to Nic Sims of Specialized about the possibility of getting a ride on a 29er Camber, and a young woman walks up to Nic and asks him a question.  I have no idea who she is, but she looks very pro in her full on Specialized team kit.  Nic says to me, "Mike, I want you to meet Rebecca".  At that moment, I glance at her jersey and see '24 Hour World Champion' screened onto it.

Oh.  THAT Rebecca...as in Rebecca Rusch.

I actually say to her, in a disarmingly witty and suave moment, "That Rebecca?".  "Yes", she says.  That one.  Cool!

So, it turns out that a film guy is here to shoot some footage for the next movie covering the Leadville 100 (remember last year's Race Across the Sky?)  and this day will cover some time for Rebecca leading up to her race.   She was asking Nic if he had anyone that would not mind being on camera in a trip up the ski lift with her and the camera guy.  I guess they just needed an extra so it was not her all by herself.  I was headed up anyway with the Stumpy FSR 29er, so up we went, chatting and such.

Then, she asked if I wanted to be in the singletrack footage in front of a guy filming us with a helmet cam.  Sure, I can do that.  Then, I actually wore the camera on my head to get some faster sections of trail filmed that was a bit beyond the limits of the camera man.  Cool.

I will tell ya, Rebecca can ride a bike.  Not doubt about it.

Video guy... Frank, IIRC,  fiddles with camera mid-mtn.

She can ride that 29er hardtail pretty fast downhill.

After that, we had lunch with her and some other media folks.  She is a very cool lady to hang with, is quite the rider, and I wish her the best of luck.  

I may end up either in front of the camera or behind it if any of the footage gets used in the next movie.  Or, my moments of fame may end up on the 'cutting room floor'.  Either way, it was a lot of fun.

Sometimes you are just standing in the right place at the right time.

Monday is for travelers.

From 06:00 till 06:00 I was either sitting in a car, an airport, a plane or a bus.  Yuck.  Tiny planes, too.

But now, I am here and it is pretty darn nice.

The view from the back porch.

I am way up in the Rockies...I think it is the Rockies.  Out of Denver up into the hills for a couple of hours, right outside of Breckenridge.  I looked at the altimeter and it read PDH.

Pretty Darn High.

Can I even ride at 11,000' anymore?  We shall see.  I used to be able to, but I was younger then.  And while I may be wiser now, I don't think that counts for much in this case.

Dinner rocked.  Time for bed.

Airports.

A necessary evil.  Heading to Denver, Co for a look at the 2011 Specialized bikes 'n stuff.  Meanwhile, sitting in Burbank's Bob Hope Delta terminal waiting for the circus to begin.  Watch for more posts here and on twentynineinches.com/thecyclistsite.com.

The 'Other Office' - God's Cubicle

Somedays ya' just gotta ride to work and, as luck would have it, this week was ride to work day.  Trouble was, none of us felt like working.  So, we decided to ride to the 'other office' and spend some time in the bigger cubicle where the only 'office dividers' are set by your ability to pedal and endure and the skills you need to survive.  In that way, the limits are set, not by fabric covered panels with pics of faraway places on them, but the desire to move yourself to the faraway places you see in front of you...the next summit, the distant valley. Near and far horizons beckon tired legs and sore backsides.

Yesterday that was just part of the 30-ish mile, 4 hour loop that three of us celebrated a mid week Thursday ride with.  We met at Ed The Tall's extravagant hacienda and guest ranch;  Jammer on his new Specy Epic Comp 29er, myself on the Epic Marathon, and Ed pedaling the Dos Niner 'Awesome Inch' softtail 29er.

I was trying out some new skins, the Schwalbe Rocket Rons, a new 29er tire, and I had the Osprey Raptor 18 hydration pack ready for duty, filled with Elete Electrolyte Add-In treated water....and oatmeal raisin cookies.  Ok..a Snickers bar too.  Ah, and those little cheese filled cracker packs.  And a banana.

Across town, bike path to surface streets, playing 'chicken crossing the road' with the commuters heading to the voluntary cubicle confinement of another kind, and then the foot of The Beast.  OK, not that terribly bad as climbs go, but it always makes me suffer for some reason.  Anyway, over the saddle and then to a LA County Fire Camp 9 where we could see the valleys below, over the Santa Monica Mtns,  and, if it were not for fog, the ocean in the distance.

It was windy, too.  Santa Anas were raging, a warmish, dry wind out of the north was alternately pushing us along or pounding us into shifting two gears to keep going, depending on the direction of travel or the whim of the wind gods.  The goal, besides just riding for the sake of riding, was a little used singletrack that I had never been on, but had heard of.

Ed the Tall had ridden it and KT the Man, but I have never heard anyone else mention it.  Weird.  Ed said it was "typical San Gabriels type trail" and that could mean you need to pay attention.  What a gem it was!

Did I just ride that?

"Yes, Jammer...", says Ed the Tall..."and there is more"

This trail was worth the time to get there, but I can see why not too many ride it.  It is not in a place that makes for an easy loop from town.  Still, it was sweet...under the canopy of pines and oaks, not too techy at first, then the trail would slough off a bit and get to a few inches of tread with a dropoff to the left that would hurt...a lot.  Peeler log drops, tight switchbacks, swoop and dive, brake and pedal.

The delicate dance.

My commute vehicle in it's cubicle for the day.

Back up to Camp 9 on the pave', then more dancing down a steep and winding trail to a creekbed singletrack under the Sycamores.  Yeah, nice day at the office.

The wind opened up the can of 'whoop-you-know-what' on us on the way back across town, but by then we were just hammering, Ed the Tall standing out of the saddle and defying the wind to 'do it's worst', teeth bared in a symbol of his disdain for this paltry attempt at nature to deny us an easy passage (or his lips had blown back and were stuck on dry gums...not sure which).

Rolling back to the carefully manicured lawn of the Ed the Tall estate, we were spent and laid there like so much debris the Santa Anas had blown in;  bits of paper and dry, crackly leaves collected in the corner.

A typical day in the other cubicle.

Spring is happening all over.

Wow, what a great Spring it has been.  Finally, the snows abated, likely for good this time, and the local backcountry trails and roads which get to the high 5K' range are clear, warm, and green like you would not believe.

I wanted to get out on the SS Rockhopper for an extended ride to wrap up my testing before it goes back to Specialized and I needed to try out the Camelbak H.A.W.G. pack on a longer day.

The ride is 12 miles of climbing in one direction...not sure how much there is all told...and a lot of that is on singletrack that is a gymnastic workout, techy, twisty, pedal-brake-turn, pedal-brake turn, etc.  On the SS it is quite the ride.  Then the swoop begins and it is bliss - a ribbon of moist dirt that beckons you to leave the brakes alone and trust in your abilities and the rolling of 29" sized dice.

I spent the hours on trail with KT the Man, maybe one of the few rides left before he moves away to take on a cool job driving the demo van for a bike company.  KT is someone I respect very much.  Not just because he makes me want to be a better rider, but for the way he has faced some hardships that would have stopped many folks from keeping on with life.  After all this, he still rides a bike better than I do and likely ever will, and that is fine with me.  He deserves it.  Good friends never really leave you, but I will miss the rides.