Cutting It Short

This is the end of my work week. Tomorrow is my birthday, and for the first time in many years I’ve decided to take the day off (from work and blogging.) I was gonna hire some strippers and have a big party, but I couldn’t find anything that would get me “excited.”





So, I have a plan to do something on the bike. That’s not any different than anything else I’d be doing on my day off, so it sounds good to me. I’m heading to the mountains for some kind of an epic solo ride. I have all day to ride, so I can get lost, have a shitload of mechanicals, or pretty much anything else. As soon as I ship Lunchbox off to school in the wee hours of the morning, I’m hitting the road. Riding until I can’t ride any more seems like the best way to celebrate the first day of my 39th year on this planet. I’ll try to come up with a ride report or something, or maybe even a shitty video.


With a three day weekend, I can ride my ass off (and drink shitloads of beer to celebrate my birfday.) I’ll probably be too tired after tomorrow’s adventures though, so I have some mechanical action planned. I just got this yesterday:



What’s inside?



A new Cane Creek 110 headset. I have one on The Big O already, but this is sorta for an upgrade on my singlespeed bike. It has some generic Cane Creek knock off headset, and it’s about time I upgraded it. I’ll put the shiny new red one on The Big O to match the rest of the red accessories, and the black one will go on my singlespeed. Should be an easy enough, since all I have to do is swap out the top cap and bearings (it’s an integrated headset.)


That little act of mechanic work can’t possibly take all day, but I have other work to do. My bike is squeaking in a few places, so it’s time for a tear down and rebuild. That will be fun, since I like building bikes (and tearing shit up.) I also got some stuff from Bike29, but I’ll get to that next week.


After the bike work, the plan is to head over to my new “secret” trail and put in some more singletrack. The route has been marked, and now it’s time to lay some trail in them thar woods. I like construction.





I think I was just looking for an excuse to use this video clip, since it’s one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, which talks about one of my other favorite movies.


Thanks to those of you that came over here looking to buy a Dirt Diva calendar. Since Dicky talked about it yesterday, my hits over here more than doubled. That’s pretty awesome, but more of you need to buy some. You can't just keep scouring the Internets for free previews and junk.



Anyway, I’ll see y’all Monday.

It’s A Secret

But, it looks like I’m gonna blab it all over the Internets anyway.



Don’t worry though, I’ll use some Jedi Mind Trick action to keep you from remembering what you are about to read.



I found some land near the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters that’s just begging to have some trail on it. Actually I’ve been contemplating putting some singletrack on this particular piece of property for years, but I haven’t really been able to find the time. Now is the time.

It’s not much land, but it has potential. And while it won’t replace any of our fine local trail systems, it will be something close to the house that’s fun. The main use will probably be for top secret new parts testing, since now I usually just ride up and down the street when I install new shit. Now I can ride some “real” singletrack and do a proper test. If shit fails, then I can walk home in a matter of minutes.


Sunday was my first trail work day. I’ve walked the property several times before, and I have a good idea of how I want to route the trail. There is actually some good elevation change in there, along with the potential for technical trail features. For now though, I have to start small.





I took these photos, and did a little more finish work to the first section. After completing it, I rode back to the house to get Lunchbox. He put down his bowl of Fruity Pebbles, grabbed his bike, and we went for a little test ride.

Me: What do you think?

Lunchbox: Wow.

Me: What do you mean, “wow?”

LB: It’s pretty fun for being so short. Can we put some jumps in?

Me: Yup. Just be here for the next trail workday.


After laying out the next section, we found some good-sized logs to use as jumps/rollovers. The plan is to cut the next section of trail this weekend, and it will have some jumps, bermed turns, and a fast downhill section. I’m pretty excited about it, which explains why I’m posting about it up here. When it’s all finished, only a privileged few will get to partake in its goodness. It’s not a destination trail by any means, but if word gets out on its location it could see more traffic than I intended. You can bet your ass I don’t plan on blabbing that all over the Internets.


It’s designed to me my own private playground, and also for Lunchbox to get in a few laps after school without having someone drive him to one of our local trails. Trailbuilding is fun, and even better when it’s so close to home. While I’m not the master of trail design and construction, this should be good for me when nothing else is rideable. I should’ve done this a long time ago.


In other news, we did another night ride last night. I didn’t get a chance to go through the photos, but if they are worth a shit then I will have a ride report. If not, then I probably won’t have a damn thing to talk about. Tune in next time to see what happens.


One last thing. Dicky did a write-up for the new Dirt Diva calendars, with lots of previews and such. Don’t worry, no women were harmed in the cropping of photos. Go check it out, but make sure your boss isn’t watching over your shoulder.

Into The Night

I got out for yet another night ride this week. This time, it was at Fisher Farm Park in Davidson, NC. I’ve never ridden there at night, but the local shop owner and trail coordinator started hosting weekly excursions at the park after the sun went down. I couldn’t pass it up.



We had a group of about nine or so, including my pal Mr. Ryde. He led us around the trail for a little while.



The temperature outside was cool, but not too cold. I took some photos while we were riding, but I didn’t use the flash for fear of messing up our night vision. It made for shitty pictures.







The ride wasn’t at a super fast pace, and we stopped every so often to regroup.



On the last lap I ran sweeper, which gave me more time to experiment with the lighting.





It was a great ride. I love riding at night for sure, and I definitely love riding two days in a row. Now, if I can only figure out a way to ride every day.


In other news, this weekend is the Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the new Uwharrie trails in Troy, NC. These trails were fun before, but lots of grant money and professional-type trail work is turning that place into something much better. People from all over North Carolina will be there at high noon tomorrow for the festivities, which include riding (duh) and some food. There also may be some hobnobbing with the locals, and an impromptu hunt for Bigfoot may break out. Come join us.


Oh yeah, here’s an update for the Dirt Divas Calendar. You can pick one up at the following local establishments:

Cool Breeze Cyclery and the Trek Store of Charlotte

Queen City Bicycles

The Cycle Path

Blood Sweat Gears


One last thing. Happy Veterans Day to all of my fellow veterans. Thank you.


See y’all Monday.

And The Sun Went Down

After the ride on Saturday, it was time to party. With all the crashing behind me, I dug into the cooler and the beer started flowing. It was the best medicine ever. There was a ton of food too. We dug right in. After filling my belly, they held a big raffle for lots of prizes.




I bought lots of raffle tickets. Unlike the last couple of these events though, I didn’t win a damn thing. Lunchbox and Little Miss Sunshine took home some goodies, so I guess that means I can’t cry about my bad luck.


After the food and raffle, it was time to play with fire.




Actually we just gathered around it and finished off the beer in my cooler.




Then Lunchbox started doing magic tricks.


Now you see him…



Now you don’t…





Bike riding, beer, and food. I can’t think of a better way to party. There was something else going on out there though. Over the last few months, the Dirt Divas have been secretly working on a calendar. I say “secretly” because it’s a little risqué.

Apparently some ladies in the club gathered on several different occasions to photograph themselves for the calendar, but I received no other details. These photo sessions no doubt involved pillow fights and tickling, but the general public was not invited. Well, I finally got a chance to see the calendar. They went on sale for the first time at the party on Saturday.



Hmmm.


I peeked inside, and sure enough it was a calendar. It has dates, days of the week, and perfectly symmetrical squares. You know, all the stuff you would normally find in a calendar.



It was tastefully done. It’s not some perverted nudie calendar. The ladies are portrayed in a classy way. While I could go through and photograph all the pictures in there, I won’t. You’ll have to buy one. I can give you a sneak peek though.




Did you notice the Awesome Strap? Did you even notice that there was a bike in that picture? Hello? Are you there?


I’m not telling you which one of our local Divas that is. You’ll have to buy one and see for yourself. They will be for sale in a few local shops here in Charlotte, as well at some upcoming events. I’ll let you know when I know the exact locations. If you aren’t local and you want one, we can figure out a way to ship one to you. They are well worth the $20 investment (and they support the Dirt Divas.) Shoot me an e-mail -The Mutt 43 AT gmail DOT com. I’m sure you know not to use spaces and to replace the capitalized words with the appropriate Internets symbols, right?


Operators are standing by. Well, sitting, but whatever.