Downieville Registration Opens...

Downieville 2007

It's on. Got me one of the coveted spots on lock down for the 2007 Downieville DH. After adding a T-shirt count me $86 buck poorer. Whatever, at least I got my spot.

If you haven't done it yet, get in gear. 2 years ago the field of 200 was filled in 2 weeks. Last year the event sold out in 3 days. This year??? Stay tuned, but my money is on 1-2 days.

The cross country probably ain't going to happen for me this year. Something about it being before the DH makes it a lot less appealing. When they run it after I can deal with the suffering as added fun for the weekend. But I wouldn't sacrifice my dh run for that 3-4hr suffer fest. No way.

Another Otter in the books

Well, that's a wrap. Another Sea Otter comes and goes. I didn't even find the time to make it down to the expo. Not racing turned out to be a good choice as it was raining sideways for the sport and beginner DH races on Saturday. Like I say every year. Me not racing either means good weather for all or at the minimum I am not soaking wet and cold waiting in a line for an hour to do a 2min race. Either way I win.

Some new and exciting stuff:
- Crossmax 29er wheels showed up (also proving that Mavic will indeed support 29er movement)
- Hutchinson UST tubeless 29er tire (now you can run a real tubeless tire on 29ers)
- Marzocchi prototype fork (rumored to be the 55 series). ATA, RC2 damping, and a 20mm axle. Oh, and they finally added a better cable guide.

My weekend? Pretty much a wash. No real riding. I had wanted to clock a longer ride, but it just wast in the cards. Birthday party for a friends 1 year old daughter on Saturday. Showed up mid-day after shopping for a present and proceeded to drink beer for the rest of the day. Sunday was a work day at the bike shop. Always nice to swing a wrench for a day. Sometimes it is just more enjoyable than sitting behind a computer. After work we decided to attack the better part of a case of Gordon Biersch light. I think I threw back seven before calling it a night. Then I swung a leg over my bike and did a short loop up and over in HC. 29er still hokking up great on the climb. I had a bit of a hard time this morning remembering what route I took, but I am pretty sure I had fun. Every once in a while it is good times to get a little pissed and then hit the trails for a romp through the woods.

RE: the week in review
Well, I never promised a rose garden or any other shit. So to recap last week. It sucked. Too many hours at work. Rides were short. Got a new rear tire for the 29er, but didn't get a chance to ride it until yesterday. Boo hoo. Life goes on and I am not really any worse for the wear. Hope everyone else is doing well.

It's on

Yeah, that's right. Read it and weep. Or better yet come out and watch me cry as I climb that stupid hill again.



Oh come on, how bad can it be?


Oddly enough I don't remember there being that much downhill before the wall to get back out. Must have blocked that part out. Going to have to get me some sport legs and hit this one like a man.

Check the site for more details. Free t-shirt if you register before the 14th.
NVDC Site

Weekend review...

Good weekend overall. Did the Friday night movie and pizza gig over at my sister's place. Another kind of weird Matt Damon movie about the CIA.

Saturday was the MTBR Sea Otter Pre-ride. That always ends up being fun. The ride this year really did break up. I think there was an A group running 2 laps at race pace. There was a B group that did a straight 1 lap. I think there was a C group that did about 3/4 of a lap. And I ended up clinging onto the B+ group as we put in a lap and some additional riding on the back side. Brent and Bret did their own deal and hammered out a couple of laps in just a bit more time than my B+ group. In the end I was feeling a bit slow about 20mi in, so I bailed out with one of the other B+ riders to just climb out Skyline. So our B ride turned into about 25mi while the full B+ crew hit closer to 30mi. It turned out to be the right call for me. I had time to pull up, get out my lawn chair, and put down about 1/2 a beer before Bret and Brent arrived.

After a couple of beers and lounging around it was time to head off. BBQ at Kyle's turned out to be a lot of fun. He has a pretty cush pad tucked right up to the Morgan Hill park system. So we got to hang out and enjoy the view off his back porch of rolling hills and valleys. He had brewed up a Belgian style ale that was quite tasty. Lots of stories being passed around and an overall great vibe. Fracis even hooked me up with a pair of MTBR socks for clinging onto the B+ ride as long as I did. Good times.

Easter was a flop. Well, for me. I made it through the morning, but ended up with a migrane that lasted through the afternoon. So I crashed out and napped through the worst of it. Might have been too much sun, dehydration, and beer from Saturday. Not sure. The kids were cute and dressed for the day. Candy flowed, darts and airplanes were flying around, and lots of family to hang out with. Austin surprised us by quietly finding the most Easter Eggs in the hunt. I don't know what the Grandparents hooked him up with (I checked out for a nap), but I am sure he didn't make out too bad. One more holiday down. Things should mellow out for a bit now.

Out...

Is it Friday already

Time flies when you are busy as hell at work and have social/family engagements after work all week. Either that or my senility is starting to creep on faster than I recognized. I can't really say I have much to show for the week. Read my last entry for ride reports. I haven't thrown a leg over the bike since Wednesday. No biggie though, I will get a good 20mi in this Saturday.

For anyone who is interested the MTBR Otter pre-ride will kick off tomorrow at 9:30 from the parking lot by the showers alongside the track. Click for details Rumor is that there might be a Greg sighting. It would be good to get him back on the bike. I kind of miss riding with the guy. Anyone else want to join me? After the ride one of the guys is having a bbq with some tasty home brew in Morgan Hill. I plan to hit that for a bit before cruising home or to San Jose.

Of course it is Easter on Sunday. That one kind of crept up on me too. As in whoa, there goes another couple of hundred bucks for candy and toys. Love this stuff. Go forth, multiply, and support your local K-mart/Costco on every holiday my son. Okay, holidays aren't all bad. I am just a bit grumpy in general over the turmoil in life. Hanging out with the family, drinking beer, and snapping some pictures is always a good way to spend a day. Throw in some candy and excited kids and you have a party right there. Bring it on.

Hopefully I can catch some of you on the trails this weekend. For the rest, have a Happy Easter.

The 29er, anyone getting tired of me talkin about it?

Numbers are in. I think I am done tinkering with this bike...
Well, as done as any of my bikes ever are. I am still playing with stem height and saddle position, but that will work itself out eventually.

Just for the record...

Stock bike weight 31.5lb+/-
Modified build 29lb

Changes from stock
Tires: WTB Exiwolf 2.3 ---> Bontrager Jones ACX
Stem: EA30 120mm x 5* ---> Thomson 110 x 10*
Handlebars: EA50 635 mid rise ---> EA70 685 mid rise
Brakes: Avid BB5 160mm ---> Shimano hydro 180mm (deore 555 fr, XT 765 r)
Seat: WTB Laser V Comp ---> Giro somethingerother I had with Ti rails (comfortable too)
Seat Post: EA30 ---> FSA SL270
Pedals: plastic flats ---> Shimano PD-M540
Front Derailleur: Deore ---> XT
Tubes: WTB light 29er ---> Bontrager ultralight 26 x 1.95
Grips: Stock raleigh ---> Odi ruffian lock-on
Chainrings: Trushift steel ---> Shimano XT alloy


Pretty stealthy with all the black and a few red highlights. I think if I get a wild hair it will eventually get a couple of red ano accents.

Other than a ride on the Ventana this weekend the 29er has been getting all my lovin. With the new stem and hydro brakes on it I am really feeling at home on top of it. I can now do track stands, something that was pretty sketchy with the front end flexing all over. Climbing, cornering, and ability to float over sand are still putting smiles on my face with every ride. I have noticed another benefit of the 29er wheels. You can actually ease up and rest for 20-30 yards without really losing speed. Very nice when hammering a climb. You can take a couple of breaths refocus and continue.

Got in a good loop yesterday. First ride of the season that I actually felt on. Ended up mid-ringin the fire road climb even with the steeper 29er gearing. Nailed all the singletrack climbs on the route. I even hit the jumps and drops that were in the 1-2.5' range. Much more confidence riding this bike than my typical xc builds. This thing just wants to go and yesterday I did too. It was a very satisfying day.

Today was a fast lunch lap through unmentionable trails. I took it easy today and just cruised the climbs. Rode in jeans and a DH jersey. It was actually hot out on the trails. Spring is hitting hard around these parts and I for one am taking full advantage.

Gotta love e-bay. Just received an order of some new gear. 2 3/4 sleeve jerseys, 1 insulated vest, and 1 lined jacked for about $50. Sometimes being able to fit into XXL isn't the worst thing. Always a gamble buying gear online since you never know how it will fit from brand to brand. Worked out great this time though.

Okay, I am out. Gotta do some work up in this mutha!

Got a case of the Mondays

Kind of a busy weekend for me. I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of bed. I just kept rolling over and hitting the snooze bar. The only thing that dragged me out of my haze was a memory that I had a 9am meeting. Crap. So I scramble out of bed, to the shower, and out the door. I arrive at work at 9:03am. Late. Fortunately the person who called the meeting didn't show, so I get off the hook with no issue for my tardiness. Who the heck schedules 9am Monday meetings anyways?

The weekend ride report is a little slim. We had a big crew head up into the Forrest of Nisene Marks on Saturday. By the time we hit Sand Point the crew had spread out quite a bit, so a 20-30 minute break was taken while the stragglers rolled in. Then we headed out to Santa Rosalita and the Demonstration Trail Head. Between people turning back and SP and those who were moving slow the crew at the top had slimmed to 6. 3 of us weren't feeling spry enough to drop the Demo and climb back out, so we split up and headed back down to Aptos via a couple of different routes. All in all it ended up just Jon and myself in the end both grunting and tired at about 4 hours of riding.

I dunno know about Jon, but I was definitely feeling that I deserved a couple of pints after that amount of climbing and based on how worked I was feeling. So I met up with Stu and split a pitcher of Fat Tire. Sitting in the patio at the Brit I was just stoked to be out enjoying the beautiful weather.

It was nice to get back on the Ventana. It hasn't been seeing too much love since the Raleigh arrived. It is running dailed and gave me no grief. The Talas was a welcome feature when I hit the wall and other steep climbs during the day. Only bummer was that I didn't hardly get the wheels off the ground. Too bad, because this bike just feels so good in the air.

I worked for Mike on Sunday. Nothing major to note there. But we did come across an oddity towards the end of the day. It was the Raleigh Coasting Bike. It is truly a strange rig. Cool, but weird too. It has the new Shimano Dynamo powered cpu smart-shifting 3spd. I was kind of turned off by the big hemispherical nut gaurds at both ends, but won back by the 6 pack rack up front. We tried it out to make sure the bottle opener worked. It did require a slight adjustment so that the bottle wouldn't hit the tire, but I think it is all set now. Check it out if you get bored.