Here we go again

Turning a new leaf, another project begins. I have spammed my 26in bike parts across the internet. Should have the majority of it sold off in a week or so. Then I will have funds to build a trail 29er.

I am really leaning towards a Turner Sultan. 4-4.8" of travel depending on shock/rocker configuration. Bushing reliability and chassis stiffness are major pluses in my book.
Sultan Details

On the other side of the fence is the Niner Rip9. 4.5" rear travel. Rear suspension similar to the DW Link design. A bit more plush, more active, and unfortunately a few reports of flex in the rear end.
Rip9 Details

Still plan on keeping the rear end of the bike locked together with the DT RWS 10mm thru axle. These have really won me over as the best way to keep the rear triangle stiff, yet not slowing down the already painful trailside flat repair.

Looks like the rear suspension by either option is going to be run by an RP23. So back to riding a Fox shock. Probably for the best. The Roco worked well, but didn't handle the chop as good.

Front end really depends on how much funds I can raise with part sales. I am really aiming for a White Brothers Fluid135 with a 20mm thru axle. But that will run me about $300 more than just getting a Reba 100mm. I think the WB Fluid135 will fit the bill and be much more confidence inspiring when the terrain gets rough or steep. The Reba is flexy at 80mm travel, I can't imagine it holding up well at 100mm and being pushed harder.
WB Info

Looks pretty substantial right? Not bad for a 29er fork ;-)


Going full 29er in my bike stable means that I need another wheelset. I am debating on new hubs or if I should just keep the saint hubs. I have been very pleased with the saints for their plug and play durability. They so weigh quite a bit more than a set of hope or DT hubs. Rims will be Stan's Flow 29ers. Tubeless is a good thing here with all of the rocks. Tires will probably get a bump to the bigger 2.2-2.4 29ers that are becoming more easily obtainable. Maybe a weirwolf 2.55LT in the back and a Specialized Resolution 2.3 up in front. That would roll pretty fast while still having gobs of traction and volume.

Stay tuned for further geeking out as I narrow in on the build spec.

Monday morning follow up

Just closing out on a good weekend. No riding, but a good weekend overall.

We did Cold Stone Creamery on Friday to celebrate Austin getting high marks all week. This was the first week that he managed to keep consistent through the entire week with no incidence of misbehavior or not following direction. Cold Stone is good stuff.

Saturday I was up and off to Monte Sano for a trail work day. Pretty cool, not only did about 10 people show up to help but the park provides plenty of tools (weed wackers, gas, pruners, etc). We ended up making it about 1/2 way down McKay Hollow before most of the crew headed back. Robert, Tim, and I kept on trucking and cleared the rest of Arrowhead Trail and out to the Hikers lot by Burrit. For the last hour or so we were just hiking and only stopping to clear downed trees and removing hazards. The first half of the trail we really cleared good. Guess next time we need to head up from the bottom, then the trail will be good for another year or so.

After getting home tired and hours late Erin dragged me off to Toys-r-us and Costco. Great, just what I needed after hiking over 10 miles was to pace the isles at costco. We picked up a couple of costumes at toys-r-us. Faith and Austin have really taken to dressing up, so we needed a couple more outfits. Faith is a very cute Dr. She walks around with a needle and pokes you while saying ouch.

Speaking of Faith...
Ground breaking news, last night Faith dropped her first deuce on the toilet. Like most things she sets her mind to she is adorable grunting away on the pot. Erin kept asking if she was done. Faith would reply, "Nope" and then keep on working. She followed up this morning with a #1. I am going to cross my fingers, it would be nice to have her potty trained early.

Sunday comprised of family breakfast, Church, naps for everyone but Austin, a little shopping, Erin and Austin's cooking of dinner, and a family dinner. Pretty simple, but at the end of the day it ends up being something that we really enjoy. Only regrets on the weekend are that I didn't get a haircut and that I didn't technu up so now I have poison oak on my wrists. Not bad.

Another Wednesday ride in the books

Got out with the SORBA Huntsville crew for a lap around the mountain at Monte Sano. The ride started out very fast paced. We headed out and back on Family Trail, then out again onto Mountain Mist and Goat trail. I had a good run and even passed a couple of guys. To my surprise my pace was fast enough to drop them by a few minutes at the 3 benches. Nothing to brag about since most of the crew dropped me by the same or more heading to the benches. At the least I can be happy that the majority of the crew was still at the benches when I arrived. This was a first as I am usually arriving and all but 1-2 sweepers have gone on ahead. I can credit my good pace to the 29er again. I am really realizing that the 29 inch wheels are where it is at in the Southeast. From others in the club I get the impression that Monte Sano has about the most technical trails in the realm.

So I gotta get on with ditching the Ventana to get funds for a Turner Sultan. it will be a shame to see it go. It was my first custom frame. It might be my last since my bike shop ties are gone out here. I have been in contact with Chad at Red Barn and he has a good deal for me on the new frame and fork once I come up with the funds.

I have been looking around for a bed rack for my bikes. I considered the pvc rack, but I think they look pretty crappy and not too sturdy. Sierra Coast Cargo Racks makes a pretty cool rack, but really come up short when it comes to securing the rack to your truck. So basically you are leaving a $300 rack sitting unlocked in the back of your truck every time you head out. I don't know about you, but I would rather put money into bike parts than replacing a stolen rack. Here is a picture for reference...


So I have cooked up an idea for a basic rack using superstrut that will bolt to the stake holes in the bed rails. I am not sure I will fully appreciate the esthetic, but I am sure it will function as I want and that is important. If it works as I want maybe down the line I will make another out of sexier materials. The cheap version will run about $100, about double the cost of pvc or wood. I got $130 by selling off my roof rack, so I guess it evens out.

The family is doing well. Austin seems to really be enjoying school. We were feeling a bit guilty that he had no place to do homework or project without the constant interruptions by Faith, so we purchased a little table for his room. He has been getting home and heading straight for it the last couple of days. He is really into writing letters and doing crafts right now. Don't be surprised if you get a letter in the mail.

As indicated above Faith is a little terror. She is into everything and takes quite an offense if you tell her not to be into something. Upon installation of our new cabinet fronts in the kitchen she got to work with a purple Sharpie marker. She colored on every cabinet and on the floor. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean magic sponges. Erin managed to get all traces of Faith's art off of the apartment. We really have to be careful where we store indelible markers from now on.

Erin is getting along well, but she really does need to make some friends and unplug from the kids. I get home some evenings to find her slightly beyond her wits-end. I have been able to make a few friends through the bike club. She really doesn't have the same kind of community to leech onto for outside of the house fun.

I think we are both starting to want to venture out and see more of the state and surroundings that we are living in. It is pretty cool being centrally located. Snow, beaches, Atlanta, Nashville, Graceland, and others are all within a few hours of home. Faith is still not too fond of extended car trips, but she is doing better now that we got a new portable dvd player and she can watch Dora and other movies to distracter from being trapped in the car. Last weekend we drove over through Monrovia and Madison. Madison has a great park called Dublin Park with a castle themed playground that we had a lot of fun at. You get more for your money with respect to homes out that way, but the commute isn't good now and it is getting worse with the increased population. We have some time to figure out the house bit though.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Wade Mtn.

Got out for a short ride on Saturday. I decided that I should try to hit some new terrain since I kind of have the lay of Monte Sano down. I headed up by the Alabama A&M campus to a little trail system called Wade Mountain.

I was greeted with a nearly empty trailhead parking lot. There was a horse trailer so I knew at some point I would be blessed with the sight of horse shit during my loop. I wasn't dissapointed in that respect.

The trail itself started out fairly benign double track.

I then found some challenging rocky climbs along the way. It was very hard to pick good lines, but the 29er just climbed a lot of stuff that I really didn't think possible. Despite the trail being a bit bumpy I was still very glad to be riding my 29er. The farther in I got the less ridden this trail system looked. I kept running through big swarms of gnats and burly spider webs. All the time I was working to clean technical climbs I was working double as hard trying to keep out of the overgrown poison oak. Bottom line, the climbs are hard to clean. The poison oak is an unwelcomed distraction.

I made my way onto Harris trail where the climbing intensity kept up. The sections I made were very satisfying. The ones I didn't make I would love to see someone do better on. About 2/3rds the way up my bars spun. Weird. I might have been riding for the last couple of months with my handlebars loose from when I swapped out stems. Kind of scary as I have done some burly downhill descents that would have been painfull to have my bars spin on. I stopped and snugged down my stem before hiking and climbing out the last bit on Harris.

Now the fun part. Funny thing is most of the DH I have come across in Alabama hasn't been very restful. This trail was no different. Rocky and technical was the theme. I also had a friendly fly or gnat buzzing in my ear every time that my speed dropped below about 10mph. I crept down the unknown trail. It was a blast. I nearly went over the bars into poison oak and rocks, but it was fun.

The rest of the trail was uneventful to finish out the loop. Some of the trail was fun with good rock gardens...

Some of the trail was fairly flowing. It was a joy to ride back out the the lot. Overall I would rate this a a place to repeat. It does need a little bit of trail work to beat back the weeds, but the technical content in a short loop is great. Kind of reminded me of DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz.

I finished out the loop in about an hour and a half. I think if you are all business you could get in 2 loops in under 2 hours and have a blast doing it. Thumbs up on Wade Mtn.

A little wet...

Well, when it rains it pours. Literally, in AL it pours. None of the warning showers typical in CA. Nope, the sky opens up and buckets start raining down. I hadn't fully appreciated that little fact of life here until yesterdays Wednesday ride. Prior to that most of the rain I had seen here was from indoors.

So the ride started out as typical with a race pace run through the Family Bike Trail (picture the upper trails at Cowell, but buffed at 2x the speed). I snap my only picture of the day at O'Shaughnessy Pt (rock outcropping that overlooks the valley). I am a bit winded from the pace and we head on. Down Warpath and onto the Goat Trail (both appropriately named for their boulder placement).

Larger image of map

So trucking along down goat trail and I am hurting. I am still trying to figure out if I am just that out of shape or if the heat/humidity are that taxing on my body. I kind of feel about the same as riding at altitude. After about 30-45 minutes I feel pretty worked. After a couple of hours I am just dog tired. Right before we hit 3 benches junction it starts pouring. I am soaked by 3 benches and we, Randy and I, turn up towards the parking lot to get out of the rain. Straight up Sinks Trail. I think it is a tough climb when dry, but when wet it is just about impossible to climb. I hiked a bit and got back to the lot in time to see the last car pull out. I guess I just wasn't in a hurry. Apparently these Alabama folks don't like the rain much. I kind of viewed it as novelty and didn't rush my climb(I know, big surprise).

That concluded my ride. I headed for home. Lots of rain in the streets. Those big drainage culverts that seem overbuilt when empty are about half full with the downpour when I get home. This morning the seat in the truck was still a bit wet.

So thus far I have found out that people in Alabama don't seem to appreciate hot weather or getting soaked in the rain. Weird :-)

WTF, has it been a month already???

Strictly a rhetorical question there. Yes, it has been a busy month. Moving is not fun, but moving long distance is just above and beyond. There have been a number of items that have caught us off guard.

So here I sit 2300mi from Santa Cruz. Our apartment is like a town house and is about the same square footage as our house on Granite Creek. Construction is a bit cheap, but all appliances, cabinets, flooring, and counters are new. We have 2 patios and look out on a gassy knoll. I will have to put together a picture tour once all of the moving scrap and clutter is out of the way. It is nice. At $975 a month we can tolerate a bit of cheap construction.

We arrived in Huntsville just in time to enjoy a 2+ week long heat wave with temperatures above 100. Perfect weather for moving large furniture and boxes. I guess it has been good, because if that is as bad as it gets we can hang. Honestly the locals were complaining a lot more than we were, which was amusing.

Work is interesting. The pace is different from CA. I show up to work at 7am, I work the whole day with a couple of breaks mixed in, and at 3:30pm I am off. None of this 9-6 business. No meetings after about 2pm. It is pretty cool. Just show up and be efficient, then go home. So by the time you slackers in CA are finishing your lunch break I am heading for home. The main hurdle with respect to work has been re-learning to use Pro/E. This in itself would not be a major issue, but the parts I get to learn with are military and aerospace and they aren't big on flat surfaces. Here is an example of one of my first projects (a hydrafoil submarine component):

It has been fun but challenging learning all over how to define in the new CAD package. Really is time consuming since it is like learning a new language. I know how to say it in english, now how do I get it said in Pro/E.

Bike riding in Huntsville? What is that? No, there are actually some fun trails right outside of town. It takes me about 20 minutes to get to them from home or work. Trails are very similar to those in Henry Cowel. The differences are a lot more rocks, a lot less steady uphill/downhill definition, and a lot more riders on group rides.

The terrain is very challenging. Lots of sections that don't look all that hard, but are quite difficult to clean. I prefer to ride my 29er here as it really does maintain momentum better through the rocks and bumpy terrain. It is a bit abusive on the rump and 80mm of travel is not my favorite. The ventana is plush, but kills me on the short risers since it dumps speed and deflects pretty bad off the rocks while climbing. I guess the bottom line is that I need to pick up a 4" travel full suspension 29er to be fully satisfied. Now I will just need to convince Erin that it is a necessity. One more trail picture(can you find the trail?):


The new hauler...

We left the neon in CA, so another vehicle was necessary when we touched down here in AL. Not a 4wd, but it does have the trd trim package. Ivan Stewart edition is pretty sweat. It gets a chichi set of alloy wheels. Erin wouldn't cut me loose with too much money to play with, so this is the best I could do. Should get the job done hauling whatever we need to and also can double as a family vehicle since it is the 4dr access cab.

I am sure there is a lot more to tell, but I will follow up later. I will try to be more diligent in my updates now that things are settling down. I pray that all is well with everyone. If you want to get in touch me cell phone is still 831-345-3893 for now, or you can e-mail to dbrummett2@gmail.com

Heading off to Alabama

Well, this has been in the works for a while now. Finally we are really in motion. I have secured a job in Huntsville Alabama. The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful and I am sure things won't let up until we are settled down on the other side.

For the big move we will be loading up a 26' moving truck and driving our own stuff. Thanks to Erin's Step Father I have a copilot for the trip. We will most likely be trading off driving duties between who is driving our blazer and who has to drive the big truck. We will have to pack everything that we can into the trailer and see if it all fits. I am amazed at the volume of crap that we have collected over the years. Not fun come time to move, yet we are not really willing to give much of it up at this point. So haul it we must do.

We will be packing up for the weekend and hopefully hit the road by Tuesday or Wednesday. I hope to get in touch with all of my friends, but really can't promise much. We are pretty crammed to get time with the family before the move and there isn't much time for recreation at this point.

Wish us luck and keep in touch via e-mail.
dbrummett2@gmail.com
eb1018@sbcglobal.net
dsb1829@sbcglobal.net