Ergon

The Ergon grips showed up at the shop today. What a relief, my hands and arms were tired of the traditional grips that came with the bike. No more pain or numbness. Seatpost and brakes should be in soon. The race bike is shaping up, now I just need some dry weather so I can get on some singletrack.

The grips look good, hope that someday I can get a pair in Ergon Green

Beyond Saturated

Today marks the seventh day in a row we have had measurable rain and plainly put I am sick of it. The sun peaked out for about two hours today, long enough to bring on some thunderstorms just a few hours later. This weather is killing me, my brand new mountain bike hasn't been ridden off road as much as I would like.
The good news is that I have been logging some solid run time in the last week and a half. My run sessions have been kept on the short side, 35-50 minute range. This seems best for me, longer runs at this point seem to take to long to recover from. I believe that was part of my problem last year, I always wanted to go for long runs at the wrong time and I ended up injured. This year, quality not quantity.
Sunday I woke up to what I thought was just a cloudy, overcast sky until I got outside to find a heavy mist/light rain combo falling. Crap! I thought to myself, I have all day, I'll wait it out, no way this keeps up all day. That was at 8a, fast forward to 5p, same exact conditions. At that point, I was done with sitting indoors on my only day off. So, I kitted up and headed out in the rain. Three hours in the rain, on a mountain bike, on the road is not my ideal Sunday ride, but you take what you are given. I needed some quality time on the bike and I was going to get it anyway I could. Most of the ride was urban, I'm sure people were wondering wtf? is this guy doing out in these conditions. I like to think that maybe I just might motivate someone out there to get out and exercise.
The new bike is awesome, I love it. Talked with the good people at Avid and they are sending me a set of Juicy 7's to replace the ill Juicy 5's. Avid's customer service rocks, very good support for their products. Also, I have a set of Ergon GX2 grips that should arrive late this week. They can't come soon enough. The regular grips that came on the Stumpy are killing my hands on longer rides. Ergon grips really are worth the money, you can't put a price on being comfortable. One more addition, a Thomson 410mm seatpost. I have the og Specialized seatpost maxxed and I need an additional 3cm of height to achieve optimum leg extension. I really wasn't happy about shelling out 55 bucks for a new sp for just over an inch, but the fit will be just right. I'll be able to get the nice saddle to stem drop that is sometimes elusive with 29ers. I'll post a pic when I get all the new bits installed.
Hope it's drier where you are. Congrats goes to my Mom and her Airline High School tennis team for a job well done at state. Great way to go out!

First Impressions of the New Bike

I've gotten three solid rides in on the new Stumpy and I have to say that the bike has performed well. I am becoming a fan of the 29er wheels, the most positive standout feature is that I don't get "hung up" in technical rock gardens. The larger tires just seem to float over obstacles as long as I have the strength to keep them rolling. Another positive is obstacles such as logs and rocks just seem smaller now, not that I am cleaning sections I haven't before but now I have the confidence to approach and clear those obstacles at a higher velocity. I thought tight switchbacks would be a problem with the larger wheels, not yet. I cleared all the switchbacks on my local trail with ease and a couple technical spots I consistently had problems riding w/o dabbing on my Scalpel, I crossed without putting a foot down.
Now for the things that I disliked about the new rig. Numero Uno was and still is the brakes. They are mushy, long travel before pad engagement, and the rear howls like a banshee. Gonna do some work on the rear brake tonight to see if I can get rid of the terrible noise. A new set of XT's may be in my future shortly. Second was the technical climbing, or more specifically getting back up to speed after a technical section on a climb. The bike just felt a little slow rolling after a short technical bend in the trail. Nothing major, the benefits of the big wheels far outweigh this small grievance.
Bottom line is that I am really pleased with the bike. It actually rides very similar to my old Scalpel. However, this bike fits me correctly and is a better climber. I'll have more thoughts on the ride as I get more ride time logged.

Holy Sh#t

I may be the last one to see this video, I don't know how long it has been out but a friend sent it my way today. This guy is insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

New Ride

Picked up the new ride for this season. Man, it's a good looking rig. I've got it somewhat dialed in, so far only short rides on pavement. I have a longish ride planned tomorrow that should point out any adjustments that need to be made. I'm excited to see how the big wheels roll on some tight, hilly, rocky singletrack. The weather looks beautiful for the rest of the week and I am stoked to put in some miles on the new rig. Maybe, possibly the first AMBCS race of the season on Sunday?

Mini Vacation in Jasper

Took a mini vacation to Jasper last week. Jasper is fast becoming my favorite area in Arkansas, so much to do for the outdoor enthusiast. My vacation started off with a 44 mile road ride into Parthenon. This was the toughest 44 milel I have ever ridden, there are some real hills in the Newton county area. The ride was just short of 3 hours, 44 miles in three hours is slow. Thursday and Friday we went hiking, finally got to Hawksbill's Crag. I have photos galore, enjoy.

Spring in the Ozarks

The weather today was spot on. 72 degrees and sunny. The icing was that I didn't have anything to do after work. Took the road bike out for a couple of hours.

Signs of Spring are popping up all over town

Climbing up Horsebarn rd