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!

I crash, therefore I am.

I rarely crash.  I tend to ride within my limits and that gets me down the trail pretty rapidly, at least quick enough to be a respected trail riders among my peers.  But every now and then stuff happens.  Memorial Day was an example of that.

Just one of those things, really...never saw it coming and it had nothing to do with skill or speed or poor line choice or handling mistakes or whatever.  Act of God type of 'stuff' and WHAM!...all crumpled and dirty, wondering what happened.

Sigh.

"When pigs fly, you really can't blame them if they don't stay up there too long."
-  Unknown

The real impact was divided between my left shoulder, neck/head, and hydration pack.  Of course, my landing zone was the only section of rocks along this entire 6 mile trail, so I chose poorly.  I figured this was broken collarbone zone, but it seemed not to be...had no feelings of that kind of damage during inventory.  So FFW, who had his own OTB earlier, but was saved from larger damage by a bit of shrubbery, and I finished the ride a bit worse for the wear, but not in any real pain.

But things like this tend to dent us a bit.

"What does not kill me makes me sore, scarred, creaky, and arthritic."
- grannygear

Notice 'stronger' is not an option.  They lied about that part.  So now I am working my way back toward some sense of normalcy as I try and keep in shape with road rides and hill repeats...no dirt.  grannygear is sad.

But grannygear is also smart enough to know that angels carried him over the portals of greater destruction because this could have been a lot worse, so I will take it as best I can and move on.

The limps, scars, twinges, impingements, rusty hinges, swellings, bumps, lists to port, pins, bolts, screws, sutures, staples, bursitis, arthritis, and the heartbreak of psoriasis...all these we collect with great effort, expense, and diligence as we fight against time and gravity...and lose on both accounts.

“The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum.”


Oh yeah...that is me all over.  What may begin as a 'perfectly' designed human machine that we enjoy in our youth, all well 'ordered' and all, falls to disorder over time, self inflicted damage not withstanding.  Lately I am becoming the poster boy for entropy.  My right knee...martial arts class.  Lower back...trail maintenance work.  Left wrist...well, too many falls to remember over the years capped by the last crash a couple of years ago.  Now my left shoulder.  Entropy, entropy, entropy, as Gomer Pyle used to say.


Still, I would not have it any other way, at least no one that is a viable option, I mean I rather would not ever grow old and get broken, but that is not a box to get checked off, at least not in this lifetime.  But to live is to risk, is it not?  And each time I suit up, click in, and roll out I risk things a bit.


And this rolling collection of aches and pains, this poster child of entropy in lycra, this broken down old example of flying pigs and the immutable laws of the universe misses the simple thing that is a bicycle being pedaled across the dirt and all that has meant to him all these years.


We will be back, God willing, to risk it a bit more.

"Well, this will take a while to fix."

Roses, chivalry, and a single gear.

I cannot come to grips with why, when I think of doing a long, wandering, hard ride into the horizon, that I see myself on the singlespeed.  How romantic of me or what?  How stupid of me or what?

I think of this as I go through a mental check list in preparation for a Memorial Day ride with FFW on his newly acquired SS Salsa scooter.  Not a killer route, but it gets our attention on a geared bike and I think it will be quite adequate to shatter our old legs that day.

I always love a good ride, right?  Who doesn't?  And although riding alone has great perks, good company is sweet indeed and having FFW along makes for something to look forward to.  But honestly, despite the fact that this ride really is not best with one gear at my command, it is the SS factor that excites me the most.

How odd.  How difficult.  How romantic.  Don Quixote would be proud of me. Regarding 'The Don' - "While mostly a rational man of sound reason, his reading of books of chivalry in excess has had a profound effect on him, leading to the distortion of his perception and the wavering of his mental faculties."  Wikipedia knows me all too well, it seems.  Too much chivalry in my diet, no doubt.

I think that, if I rode a bit less within the group dynamic of the angry pack of weekend warriors looking to KOM the trail on 5" travel, geared carbon wunderbikes, and spent more time on my own in the forest, that I would go SS 100% and just live with the downsides.

"Wait...there are downsides?", says the romantic in me?  Rocinante, tell me it aint so?

Then of course, there are bikes to be tested and evaluated and all that and so it goes.  No chance of a 'single' existence. 

I pondered this when I was armpit deep into WRIAD.  I was seriously considering this as an SS ride and the reality of that thought was a bit less appealing after about 8 hours of sandstone and wind.  I was glad to have both gears and squish on that day, but now I find myself thinking that "next time", if there is one, would I go purist and eschew all that fluffery?

I wonder if this is akin to childbirth?  During the delivery and for some time after, reality is right there smackin' you down and the experience leaves you a bit shattered, wary, and not eager to do it again, or so I imagine.  Then time goes by and there is that romantic notion and the pain seems distant and reasonable after all and soon enough you are planning another go 'round.

Maybe I should ride with a red rose in my teeth, dashing cavalier knight that I am.  "Hello, ladies...I ride with one gear, slaying dragons and all that."  But that would not do, no that would not do at all.  I would suck in that rose in some fit of oxygen deprived hoovering and that would be that...aphids and all.  An inglorious end to be sure.

But just a bit romantic, as it should be.

Me and FFW.  I am the taller one on the right. After all, it's my blog.

Believe!

This message brought to you by the Hopeful Bicycle Manufacturers Association

 It has been interesting watching the 650b spin machine getting warmed up again as 2013 nears and the rush to the market with the 'tweener' wheel size begins in earnest.  At Sea Otter '12 I asked many industry wonks (off the record...if that is ever truly a reality) as to their thoughts on the movement to a third choice.  Now, it is always hard to tell just who is playing the cards very close to the vest (like some big company that starts with a red S) and who is really telling it like it is, but there seemed to be a few main points I heard over and over again and one I listed that I never heard even once.  Guess which one I never heard?

1. We had a few prototypes of our 650b ________  (insert tires, rims, forks here as needed) that were shelved due to lack of interest, now we have orders for 2013 and we are filling those orders.
2. We are not sure where it is going or if it will be received by John Q. Public, but we are keeping an eye on it.
3. What we see is a 'push' by manufacturers to the marketplace for 650b rather than a 'pull' from the marketplace by the consumer.
4. It really is not "perfectly in between" sizes and is much closer to a 26er than a 29er.
5.  We are completely sold out on the 650b concept and believe that it is the best wheel size for the majority or riders and applications.  We are so stoked to be offering that new wheel size to the future!

So, my perhaps snidely (word?) responses:

1. Money talks and we will sell anything to anyone that has a valid checking account tied to it.  Companies are in the biz to make biz.
2. Well any large bike company has to be at least 2 years ahead of the game in R&D or they will have no bikes to sell.  So if this is 2012, then the 2013 models have been finalized and are being built now and the 2014s are well along the drawing board.  Parts are ordered, sales forecast, marketing in place, etc.  Believe me, all the big players have been riding 650b test mules or I will eat my hat.  No one wants to be off the back and miss the boat like many did for 29ers, but will it be a row boat or a naval destroyer?   Will all of them jump in with both feet?  So far I hear that Scott has bet big.  We shall see if that is right.
3. I agree.  650b is waaay more push than pull.  "Who can we sell a new bike to now?"  "What will entice the happy owner of a very adequate bike to plop down the credit card for the latest thing?"  
4. Seems like that to me too.
5. No, I never heard that one, but then I hardly asked everyone.

A local to me dirt based rag has been thrashing a 650b FS lately and I ride with those guys pretty often.  I heard a gathered group of riders asking about the new 650b scoot at one rest stop in excited tones..."I heard that it is the perfect in between size!"  "I heard that it has the best of both worlds!"  "My buddy says that it will kill 29ers...waaay better."  So the reply from the magazine wonk was kinda funny and telling too.  To paraphase a bit...Well it is a great bike, very fun and it has the best of both wheel sizes.  But it feels a lot like a 26" wheel though.  Oh snap! 

I suppose that, in the early days of my journey to 29er-ness, that I may have waxed on a bit about the bennies of big wheels to anyone that was a skeptic, but then skeptics were the norm then, not the exception.  Now, not so much.  Now I don't talk about it as much and I never get into the silly debates of why this wheel size is faster or scientifically proven (leave that to the Germans) or 'better'.  I don't really care.  I know that I like it and that is enough for me.  It is not blessed of God or the end all of bike designs and there are things that will always bug me about 29ers that will never change due to the realities of things.  But I like them and so do a lot of buyers with cash in hand.  They are truly different in a dramatic, easily perceptible way.  You may not like it, but you can tell right away they are not a 26er.

I may even end up liking 650b more than I do now, which so far has been just like going back to a 26" wheel to me.  Fun, sporty, etc, but hardly earth shattering.  Maybe I will be converted over time.  Likely not, but I have no axe to grind.  I want to ride what works best for me and what I like the most, regardless of label or dimensions and I have no desire to whack others with a big stick about it either way.  Of course I have an investment in seeing 29ers do well as twentynineinches&sixfiftyb.com is a long url.  But really, there is room for everyone to play and ride happy without being so divisive.

It is odd how personal many make it on the forums like on MTBR.  On both sides of the fence, it gets kinda nasty like it really matters who 'wins'.  Sometimes the personal attacks on character against someone like GT by a poster who has never met him, sat down with him, ridden with him, or has any clue about him as a person are so transparently ugly it amazes me.  Shame on them.

I do plan on getting on some really good 'tweener' bikes in the future though, as opportunities arise.  Until then, I will watch with a mix of amusement and disgust as the market forces and the internet cowboys have the 'see who can spin the fastest' contest.  Meanwhile, I suggest this as an ad poster for 650b benefits.  You are getting sleepy...sleeeepy.  Or nauseous if you spin too much.