I think that this will do....
Fuji DSR 1.0
word on the street is just over 22lbs, and it even comes in Bad Goat black and red
Note: Brad inspired me to do this.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
XC whips
So I am goig to make a stab at XC racing this year, what with all the Pyscowpath and Federation of Dirt events on the calendar . In the past most of my racing has been geared more towards endurance events on the SS, but after a geared CX season I have been thinking about getting a geared bike for the XC season. I talked it over with el grande Poppi and we kicked around some different bike choices from our shop companies. I have never ridden a full suspension bike and thought that I should at least give it a whirl before investing in yet another hard tail.
I think that this will do....
Fuji DSR 1.0
word on the street is just over 22lbs, and it even comes in Bad Goat black and red
Note: Brad inspired me to do this.
I think that this will do....
Fuji DSR 1.0
word on the street is just over 22lbs, and it even comes in Bad Goat black and red
Note: Brad inspired me to do this.
Don't believe the rumors
I am not dead.
I have been stepping and fetching trying to tidy things up after the epic slaying of the thesis monster and the clean up from Barnyard CX.
I have been thinking about many things over the last few days but I stumbled across something in a shop yesterday that resuscitated a a dead project....penny stoves.
DG put me on to these (Instructions here) and I made 3 but never really found a good way to support a pot over top of the stove, then I found these windscreens that are designed to use with Trangia alcohol stoves and cost about 6 dollars at a local shop. they can be had online here
Note that my stoves are actually quarter stoves. New Heinie cans have numbers lightly embossed on the bottom, so a penny does not provide enough surface area to cover the base of the priming cup.
Boils a quart of water in about 4 and half minutes, and weighs less than a wet fart.
The hardest part of making these little things is drinking the Heineken.
I have been stepping and fetching trying to tidy things up after the epic slaying of the thesis monster and the clean up from Barnyard CX.
I have been thinking about many things over the last few days but I stumbled across something in a shop yesterday that resuscitated a a dead project....penny stoves.
DG put me on to these (Instructions here) and I made 3 but never really found a good way to support a pot over top of the stove, then I found these windscreens that are designed to use with Trangia alcohol stoves and cost about 6 dollars at a local shop. they can be had online here
Note that my stoves are actually quarter stoves. New Heinie cans have numbers lightly embossed on the bottom, so a penny does not provide enough surface area to cover the base of the priming cup.
Boils a quart of water in about 4 and half minutes, and weighs less than a wet fart.
The hardest part of making these little things is drinking the Heineken.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The wild pack of honkies
Like a wild pack of Honkies going Tonkin we descended on the the MATC campus today with one thing in mind.
Destruction.....of snow drifts. Certain parts of the course have been scoured clean of any wild white fluff, but in other spots it is 2 feet deep.
AAA and I started cutting the lines for this weekends event, and things are looking good.
We got the first loop opened up with some fast swooping lines.
The entire course will be 3 meters wide and free of snow (yellow or otherwise).
So fear not! there will be XC and CX racing this weekend.
Remember, we will have inside registration, a warm lobby to take a break and secure some vittles, and hot racing action all afternoon
Destruction.....of snow drifts. Certain parts of the course have been scoured clean of any wild white fluff, but in other spots it is 2 feet deep.
AAA and I started cutting the lines for this weekends event, and things are looking good.
We got the first loop opened up with some fast swooping lines.
The entire course will be 3 meters wide and free of snow (yellow or otherwise).
So fear not! there will be XC and CX racing this weekend.
Remember, we will have inside registration, a warm lobby to take a break and secure some vittles, and hot racing action all afternoon
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Cross courses don't set themselves up
When I first developed this grand delusion of promoting a CX race in manhattan, one of my first thoughts (as a new unaffiliated promoter) was, where am a going to appropriate enough course stakes to lay out a 2 km course?
If I was back home in my beloved dirty south I would just run over to the sawmill and get mill slats. But the scarcity of trees, and the ensuing lack of sawmills meant that I was gonna have take a more creative approach to appropriating stakes........enter Boss Cross.
Myself and Dubas, met Slater for Boss Cross IV, and afterward we were responsible for disassembling the entire course.......more on this later.
Lined up for the 3/4 race with about 15 0ther folks that think of self flagellation as being too "main stream". I managed to start out about 7 wheels back, and after the first couple of laps I managed to bridge up to Gilhousen and get by on the long pavement section. It was pretty windy, but most of the race was dealing with a crosswind so I was not worried about going it alone. And I did for about three long laps getting about a 10 second gap, and then I looked back to see Gilhousen coming around with 2 to go. I tried to jump on but I just never could close the gap until the last half lap. managed to sneak around and ride into 4th place for some monies. Zach stayed real steady all day and finished in 7th. Slater was using the "Shock and Awe" effect of his facial hair to keep the rest of the 3/4's in check. Zach found out that there were only 3 guys racing in the 1/2 race, so he rode another hour to get his entry fees back.
Then the real work started. Joe and Jeremy were joking about us taking down the course while they drank beer. I commented that they better not be planning to drive home cuz we were gonna be a while. It took Slater, Zach and I almost 3 and a half hours to clean the course up.
We were not gonna fit too many more stakes in the back of my truck. We are set to go for this weekend, and are looking forward to some good times at Barnyard CX
If I was back home in my beloved dirty south I would just run over to the sawmill and get mill slats. But the scarcity of trees, and the ensuing lack of sawmills meant that I was gonna have take a more creative approach to appropriating stakes........enter Boss Cross.
Myself and Dubas, met Slater for Boss Cross IV, and afterward we were responsible for disassembling the entire course.......more on this later.
Lined up for the 3/4 race with about 15 0ther folks that think of self flagellation as being too "main stream". I managed to start out about 7 wheels back, and after the first couple of laps I managed to bridge up to Gilhousen and get by on the long pavement section. It was pretty windy, but most of the race was dealing with a crosswind so I was not worried about going it alone. And I did for about three long laps getting about a 10 second gap, and then I looked back to see Gilhousen coming around with 2 to go. I tried to jump on but I just never could close the gap until the last half lap. managed to sneak around and ride into 4th place for some monies. Zach stayed real steady all day and finished in 7th. Slater was using the "Shock and Awe" effect of his facial hair to keep the rest of the 3/4's in check. Zach found out that there were only 3 guys racing in the 1/2 race, so he rode another hour to get his entry fees back.
Then the real work started. Joe and Jeremy were joking about us taking down the course while they drank beer. I commented that they better not be planning to drive home cuz we were gonna be a while. It took Slater, Zach and I almost 3 and a half hours to clean the course up.
We were not gonna fit too many more stakes in the back of my truck. We are set to go for this weekend, and are looking forward to some good times at Barnyard CX
Friday, December 4, 2009
a pleasant heft
The thesis monster is slain.
Its always amusing to watch peoples faces when you hand them a thesis or a dissertation.
I have a committee member that grades by weight.
They hold it in their hand, gently lifting it up and down, smiling ever so slightly, as they try to figure out how many pages it is, without actually looking.
I have another commitee member that just finished his PhD less than a year ago and when I handed him his copy (hot off the press), he took it in boths hands, and said" its still warm" like I had handed him a loaf of bread.
Its always amusing to watch peoples faces when you hand them a thesis or a dissertation.
I have a committee member that grades by weight.
They hold it in their hand, gently lifting it up and down, smiling ever so slightly, as they try to figure out how many pages it is, without actually looking.
I have another commitee member that just finished his PhD less than a year ago and when I handed him his copy (hot off the press), he took it in boths hands, and said" its still warm" like I had handed him a loaf of bread.
Monday, November 30, 2009
mind bullets....shooting blanks
I suck at working at night. I have come terms with it, but sometimes I still feel obligated to go into the office after dinner to attempt to lay wastes to the thesis monster after ceaseless toil all day. Well I wrote about a page of a impact chapter (something that my advisor thought of over the weekend) but at this point I really do not care. I need to not think about Nitrogen right now
I spent a lot of time working on this thesis early in the game so that I would not be running wild trying to get everything done at the last minute, and a day before it needs to go to my committee he comes up with "interesting" things that we (I) should add........hey, shouldn't you have thought about that 6 months ago!
As a side note, I am pretty grammatically apathetic regarding the blog right now.
All out of mind bullets.
I have been looking around at what I am gonna try to do this next year, and I am going to spend as much time as possible going to races in the upper midwest. There are a few events that are on the horizon, but I will have to speak to the rest of the motley flock regarding what events we will travel to. I personally would like to see us travel to a mountain state race......I hear great things about the Laramie Enduro good distance, relatively low altitude, modest price, and its somewhere I have never raced before. Its also in the end of July/early August, which is a great time not to be in the great plains. We could also have a front range foray the week leading up to the LE. They also have a tandem category! Its also off of Happy Jack Rd. in the Curt Goudy State Park which coincidentally is the source of much debate in our house (we have talked about naming male progeny Happy Jack.....Al was not amused) I though it sounded fun!
In other MTB news The Ouachita (pronounced watch-ih-tah) Challenge dropped the 80 mile race, so now its just the 60 mile tour and the 60 mile race. meh. Chalybeate mountain on the 80 mile race was no fun anyway, a blight on a otherwise fun weekend.
Been running again, its a good kind of discomfort. The dull ache after a long run. lets you know you are alive. and out of shape.
I spent a lot of time working on this thesis early in the game so that I would not be running wild trying to get everything done at the last minute, and a day before it needs to go to my committee he comes up with "interesting" things that we (I) should add........hey, shouldn't you have thought about that 6 months ago!
As a side note, I am pretty grammatically apathetic regarding the blog right now.
All out of mind bullets.
I have been looking around at what I am gonna try to do this next year, and I am going to spend as much time as possible going to races in the upper midwest. There are a few events that are on the horizon, but I will have to speak to the rest of the motley flock regarding what events we will travel to. I personally would like to see us travel to a mountain state race......I hear great things about the Laramie Enduro good distance, relatively low altitude, modest price, and its somewhere I have never raced before. Its also in the end of July/early August, which is a great time not to be in the great plains. We could also have a front range foray the week leading up to the LE. They also have a tandem category! Its also off of Happy Jack Rd. in the Curt Goudy State Park which coincidentally is the source of much debate in our house (we have talked about naming male progeny Happy Jack.....Al was not amused) I though it sounded fun!
In other MTB news The Ouachita (pronounced watch-ih-tah) Challenge dropped the 80 mile race, so now its just the 60 mile tour and the 60 mile race. meh. Chalybeate mountain on the 80 mile race was no fun anyway, a blight on a otherwise fun weekend.
Been running again, its a good kind of discomfort. The dull ache after a long run. lets you know you are alive. and out of shape.
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