Pieces Of The Puzzle

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a bike parts swap meet. A couple of local guys decided to hold a huge bicycling yard sale in front of one our local shops, The Cycle Path. People from all over the area showed up to set up tables, truck beds, and even picnic blankets full of bike parts they no longer needed. I didn’t really think much about going at first, since I figured it would either be a bunch of crap, or a bunch of expensive crap. I’ve acquired most of the parts I need for the 29er build I’m working on, but I am still in need of a fork and a big wheelset. After scouring the Internets for forks, I was starting to think that I would never get one at a reasonable price. I decided to take my chances and head up there anyway.



When I arrived on the scene, I was pleasantly surprised. There was a shitload of people in the parking lot, both buyers and sellers. The prices seemed pretty reasonable, probably since most people just wanted to get rid of stuff they no longer needed. While this would translate into deal for me, most of the stuff was 26-inch wheel specific. Meh. I know, I still ride a 26 inch-wheeled bike, but I was in search of 29er parts. Maybe this whole 29er thing isn’t a fad after all.


After my initial pass-through, I headed into the shop to talk to the HMFIC of The Cycle Path, Mark. After briefly shooting the beeze with him, I suddenly started running into people I actually knew. I made my way around the sale tables again, talking to everyone I knew and also paying a little more attention to the items for sale. I found a nearly complete 29er bike for sale at one stop, and I noticed it had a nice squishy fork on it.


“Would you part it out?” I asked.

“Sure thing, what do you need?” asked the kind shopkeeper.


I asked about the fork, and he proceeded to remove it form the bike. I looked it over and found it to be in satisfactory condition, so I made the deal. He held it for me for a few minutes while I ran to the ATM for some cash money. I handed over the dough and I had a nice squishy front end for my 29er project, er build.



I know, it’s not too fancy, but it will work. Since I thought I would never find a reasonably priced fork, I thought I would end up ordering a RockShox Dart 3 for my new build. Yuck. I’m glad I was patient, because this fork is much better. It’s the Tora Air, so it’s a lot lighter than the fork on Lunchbox’s bike. I said goodbye to my cycling swap meet friends and hurried home.


After installing the Cane Creek 110 headset, I installed the fork and spacers. I put on a temporary stem to hold it place, and I was more than happy. While I’m not in a giant hurry to finish this bike, I am still pretty excited to see some progress. It sure beats having the frame and a bunch of random parts lying on the shop floor. I took some photos of my soon to be new ride:





I still have a long way to go, but at least this is a start. The only things I need now are some tires and wheels, and some brand spankin’ new shifter cables. I have some parts set aside, but there is still a little bit of a hold up on the building process. A few of the parts I need (bars, stem, and seat) are still on the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth, which is currently out on loan. It seems that The Chili Man liked riding it so much that he’s going to borrow it for a while. Cool.


Since The Chili Man is itchin’ to ride, I also decided to spend a little time on Sunday gathering up stuff to build a better bike for him. Initially I was going to take his bike and make it better, but that turned out to be a bad idea. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do for his bike, since it didn’t really have any quality parts to speak of. Sure, I could have added a few things, but it really wouldn’t have made a difference in the long run. Quality parts on a not-so quality bike just wouldn’t work. Just because you pour syrup on shit doesn’t make it pancakes. I had quite a few bike parts that were gathering dust, so I started building his “new” bike.



This should be a pretty nice bike for him, and hopefully he will enjoy riding it. It’s not the best, but it’s the best I could do with spare parts. I still have a few minor things left to do before it hits the trail, but that shouldn’t take much time or effort. Maybe I will have it completed just in time for the next schedule Kids Ride. I probably should hurry up though, because The Chili Man informed me that I am being rewarded for my efforts with some of his culinary delights. Hell, I’ll build him a bike every week for that kind of reward.

It’s Monday And I Need Some Coffee.

I don't really drink coffee that much, but Paul does.


Yesterday was supposed to be ride number two this year for the Tarheel Trailblazers Kids Ride. I woke up Sunday morning, headed to the store to pick up cookies and drinks for the kids, and went back home to pack up our stuff. I loaded up the bikes for Lunchbox and I, Little Miss Sunshine’s bike, and the bike formerly known as the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth. Wait, that’s three of us. So, why did I have a fourth bike? Well, after months of pestering, I finally convinced my neighbor, The Chili Man and his son to join us on the rides. I offered to let him borrow my “spare” bike, and after a short test ride the day before, he was hooked.


He immediately noticed the difference between a department store bike, and a “quality” bike, just from one ride. I tried to tell him that the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth was actually a piece of shit, but he wasn’t having it. I guess he’s ridden some really bad bicycles in his day.


After getting all of our crap ready to go, we were just about to leave for Colonel Francis Beatty Park down near Matthews, NC, when the rain started to fall. At the same time, I got a message from one of my friends on that end of town that said it was raining down there too. At that point I made the call to cancel the ride, posting the info on the Tarheel Trailblazers site. Just as I finished, I saw the Chili Man about to head up the road to meet us. We stopped him and gave him the news.


I felt like this was somehow my fault, although I have no control over the weather (that’s too bad.) I was excited about the kids ride, and even more happy that my neighbors were finally getting a chance to join us. They were okay with it though, I guess. After the rain stopped they decided to head out for a neighborhood ride, with Lunchbox joining them. I stayed in the garage, sulking (and doing other stuff that I’ll talk about tomorrow I guess.) I really like the kids rides as much as the kids do, so hopefully the next one will happen. I also hope that The Chili Man can join us next time, since he is a pretty wacky guy, and very entertaining. That should make the kids rides even more fun.



Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that his real name is Jackie Moon.

Stayin’ Awesome

While this is the last part of my review of the Awesome Strap, it’s probably not the last time I’ll talk about it. I did a little more riding since my initial ride the other day. And guess what? I had the same great results.



I headed out to the U.S. National Whitewater Center to get in some good tough mileage (for this area anyway) with my Awesome Strap in tow. Since I don’t keep it on my seatpost all the time, I got a chance to see how easy it would be to screw up the installation again. Again, no problem. I attached the Awesome Strap to the seatpost and didn’t look back. I headed out on the trail, again hitting every root, jump, and bump as best I could.




After riding the first lap (around 11 miles), I checked to see if I had lost anything. This time, I had so much faith in the thing that I didn’t even think about it being on there. And guess what? Everything was tip top.



Yes my friends, it truly is an Awesome Strap. I won’t hesitate to use this thing on every ride from now on. I had no problems whatsoever, so I think I’ll be very comfortable using this during my next race, the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. Do yourself a favor and go buy yourself one of these Awesome Straps. Or better yet, buy two. Just don’t tell them I sent you, since they will probably make fun of you for being associated with someone such as myself. Thanks again to Dicky for putting me on the path to awesomeness.


Speaking of the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek, I guess I can say I am as ready as I can be. I’ve actually been riding every day, which is new to me. I can usually only get out on the trail on the weekends, but I have been fortunate to be able to get in some lunchtime singletrack action. While it has done wonders for my skill level, I don’t know if I am truly ready to ride for a whole six hours. This will be a first for me, so I am approaching it more like a steadily-paced ride. Survival, if you will. I’ll stop whenever the hell I want to, but I plan to keep going until my legs fall off or the race ends. Whichever comes first I guess. If I were a betting man I would pick the former.


I don’t have a “race” strategy, per se, but I do have a few ideas. Since this is only my second endurance race, I’ll be winging it for sure. While there are several of my local friends in the race, I don’t think I’ll actually be competing with them. Maybe I’ll bring the camera along and photograph the people I know as they pass me by. One thing I’ve considered is wearing some sort of music playing device. I will need something to keep my mind from wandering, as I have been known to hallucinate and talk to myself on long rides. Is that normal?


Other than the music, I guess I’ll come up with some kind of “feeding schedule” during the race. For as much as I weigh (225 as of today), I’ll need to take in a lot of calories each lap. Since I won’t be wearing any sort of back sack, I’ll be hitting the drive-thru area of my pit and taking some food to go. Little Miss Sunshine has been gracious enough to offer to be my pit crew for the event, which should save my ass. She has been known to take great care of me, and I know I’ll need it.


As for this weekend, I don’t know what’s in store yet. I’m on call for work, so things could get pretty shitty for me. Maybe I’ll use that time to give my legs a break from all the riding I’ve been doing. I really should spend that time coming up with a plan for Warrior Creek so I don’t die. One thing’s for sure, I won’t have to worry about carrying around that damn noisy seat sack anymore.

Well, Is It Really Awesome?

Well, as awesome as the Awesome Strap might look, it has to perform on the trail. Next would come the true test. I decided to ride one of our local trails, one that has plenty of roots, rocks, and bumpy shit to see if I could lose some junk outta my Awesome Strap. I don’t really want to lose my junk, mind you, but I needed to make sure I could trust a strap that calls itself awesome.


I headed out to my usual lunchtime riding spot, North Meck, and got ready for the test. This place is the rootiest trail I can get to for now, so it would have to do. That being said, there are plenty of bumps, jumps, and rooty goodness to put this Awesome thing through the works. No, it’s not some epic ride or anything, but it is just rough enough to jar the shit loose from the Awesome Strap (if that is at all possible.)




I hit the trail at full speed, making sure to touch every root in my path. I jumped every jump, and tried to bunny-hop a few squirells for good measure. I even clipped my elbow on a tree at high speed just to make sure I covered everything. During that first lap, I resisted the urge to stop and check to see if the Awesome Strap was holding everything in place, although I did give it a reach around once. It was pretty happy about that (I think I heard a squeal.)






When I finished the first lap, I stopped to check the status of my new bundle of joy.



Still tight as a shark’s ass.

I’m happy to report that the first test lap was a success. None of my stuff moved at all inside the Awesome Strap. As a matter of fact, the Awesome Strap didn’t change positions on my seatpost either. While I was riding, I hardly even knew it was there. The thing I noticed most was that my legs didn’t rub on it at all (I’m a Clydesdale, so my legs aren’t toothpicks ya know.) I also didn’t hear the all too familiar sound of my seat sack rattling around underneath me. This was a good thing.


I headed back out on the trail to do a little more “testing”, and I had the same results. Like I said before, this was no epic ride (only 3.5 miles per lap). This was a “controlled” environment for testing, since I could easily retrieve my lost items if the Awesome Strap failed to be awesome. Since the fine folks at Backcountry Research aren’t paying me to write this review (who the hell would?), I was trying to be as objective as possible. While they did give me free product, I still gave it a thorough evaluation. It wasn't love at first sight by any means (although it did look pretty cool, er awesome), and I was apprehensive about giving it a thumbs up just for the sake of getting in their good graces. More testing is in order though, even though I’m pretty sure that I will have the same successful results. Tune in tomorrow as I hit yet another local trail in a hopeless attempt to be awesome.

Time To Get Awesome

I obviously can’t get awesome all by myself, so I needed some help. Let me explain.


My “friend” over at Bad Idea Racing has been using the Awesome Strap for a while now, so I thought I would try it. Why did I put the word “friend” in quotes? Well, I guess I don’t know him well enough to call him a friend. Sure, I’ve talked to him a few times (I’m sure he doesn’t remember), but that’s about it. While I do read his blog from time to time, I guess I am just a fan at this point. Besides, he’s way too famous to be my actual friend. Plus, I still ride small wheels (for now) and use gears so that’s probably a no-no as far as being pals with Dicky. Hell, I can’t even approach him to get an autograph on my copies of Dirt Rag. I’m just too starstruck I guess. For some reason I fell under the spell of his Awesome Strap review and decided to order one. So, let’s get back to my awesomeness.


At first, I hesitated ordering the Awesome Strap, since I have plenty of velcro straps in the shop that I thought would do the trick. I never tried them though, and I can blame that on laziness. I decided to let someone else do the work for me, and I’m sure I’ll be better off for it. However, I carry a lot of shit in my seat bag, and I wondered if the Awesome Strap could hold it all.



I decided that it was time to try something new. Besides Dicky’s review, I had several reasons for wanting to ditch the seat sack:


I was getting tired of replacing them all the time, since they seemed to wear out fairly quickly. Most notably would be the holes that opened up, causing me to lose the contents all over the place.

They rattle around, making weirdo noises (I make enough weirdo noises when I ride), so I was growing tired of having one strapped to my seatpost and hearing that shit all of the time.

I no longer wear a backpack when I ride, unless it’s while performing Bike Patrol duties (I carry a ton of first aid crap.) So, I couldn’t transfer the seat sack contents to a back sack for normal everyday riding and races.


I finally broke down and ordered the Back Forty, figuring that it would be sufficient for my needs. It was only $10.95, and they offered free shipping. What a deal. It showed up after a couple of days and I was pretty excited. I was even more excited when I opened the package:



Yep, not one, but two Awesome Straps. Was there some kind of shipping mistake? Had these guys heard about how inept of a racer and mechanic I am and decided to send me two because they knew I would break one trying to install it? My questions were answered with a handwritten note on the order form:



Wow, I got a bonus Awesome Strap for knowing someone I hardly even know. How about that? More importantly, who else is watching? I know the government is always watching, but now I have other people checking up on me as well. Big thanks to the folks at Backcountry Research for hooking me up. And also I’d like to thank my internet friend and new hero Dicky for helping me get on the path to awesomeness. Now I owe him I guess.


It was time to get down to business. After I watched the instructional video on their website, I was ready to begin. I emptied the contents of my seat sack and prepared to get awesome.



Seat bag contents: 3 CO2 cartidges (one in the inflator), two tire levers, Crank Brothers multi-tool, tube, spare derailleur hanger (I’ve broken a few on local rides), SRAM master link, and some tie-wraps. Geez, that’s a lot of shit to carry.


I starting loading up the Awesome Strap, and I really didn’t have any issues cramming all of my crap in there. I grabbed my new little bundle of joy and had it pose for a photo:



The only thing I didn’t try to squeeze in there was a manual Kenda pump I got a few years ago at a race at Sugar Mountain. I started carrying the pump with me all the time after a CO2 mishap at the Tree Shaker last October, but it fits nicely in my jersey pocket. It’s old and beat up, but I still love it and it does the job. Hell, maybe I should cram my water bottle in there too while I’m at it.


I went outside and proceeded to strap some awesomeness to my seatpost:


It was tight like a tiger


The only thing left to do was to take it for a ride. While the Awesome Strap may indeed look awesome, it had to perform on the trail. I can’t have my shit falling all over the place like some kind of trailside yard sale and still be awesome, can I? Tune in tomorrow to see the results of a potentially awesome test ride. You know you want to.

Not Talkin’ Bout Motorcycles

Yesterday's post was it. No more (unless I sell it of course.) I did do a bit more spring cleaning on Saturday than I told you yesterday though. I actually got to play mechanic on some of the bikes in the B-43 fleet. Since I couldn’t go ride, this was the next best thing. Wrenching on bikes is a great stress reliever, so I was glad to have things to do.


First, was the one and only Tigger, Little Miss Sunshine’s bike. She took it for a spin after work the other day at North Meck, and she had a great time. However, when she got home she told me that there was a “customer bike” in the shop. She proceeded to tell me that there were some shifting issues, and that it should be looked at immediately. Payment would be worked out later (I’m thinking banana pudding.)

After throwing it up on the stand, I looked it over. Was this an issue that was caused by my ineptitude? Nope, it was just your run of the mill cable stretch, which is common on bikes after they have been ridden a while. I made a few adjustments on the rear derailleur, and it was smooth shifting again. Even though it only took me mere seconds to diagnose and fix the problem (yeah, I’m that good), it will still cost her. Why, just yesterday I saw the ingredients for some good ole’ banana puddin’ in the kitchen, and she was mixing it up. She finished it just in time for us to have it for dessert last night. Mmmm, good.


Next up was my one true bike love, Goose. After riding so much lately I think I may have decided on a proper steerer tube length for my fork. No more jacked to the max, or giant stack o’ doom for me. I had placed the headset spacers in different configurations, so I at least knew the shortest length I could get away with.



You see, that shit on the top of the stem just looked too ridiculous. It had to go.


I removed the stem, marked the steerer tube, and grabbed the pipe cutter. It was time to say goodbye to the stock length, and say hello to a normal looking stack.



After I lined it up, I started cutting.



I cut it perfectly the first time (I told y’all I’m that good), and grabbed the file to smooth the rough edges. After that, I decided I would try a little bit lower stack height, and I swapped out the spacers accordingly. Yes I know I just cut it, but remember that I said that it was the shortest length I wanted. Now I am free to try lower positions with the option of going back to the height I initially desired. You can’t uncut it, after all.



It’s not much lower than what I had been riding, but little adjustments like that can make a big difference. I hope to get in plenty of rides between now and the start of the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek next month. If I like it where it is, then I will cut it again. If not, I’ll remove the top spacers and put everything underneath the stem. It’s not rocket science, after all.

After the fork business was done, I gave Goose a well-deserved bath, making sure to get the grit and grime out of every nook and cranny. I washed it after the one race I did on it in the 2010 Winter Short Track Series, but I have to confess that I wasn’t that thorough. The one race we had in the snow was muddy, so I knew I needed to really give it a good cleaning.



I had this really annoying sound from my bottom bracket, and I just knew that it had some dirt in there. I removed the cranks and cleaned out the bottom bracket shell and bearing with a clean rag. Honestly, I’d been meaning to do this for a while now, but the beating my bike took in the Winter Short Track Series was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I regreased everything and put it back together, and I was very happy that no permanent damage was done. After a quick once-over on the drivetrain (and making a few adjustments here and there), good ol’ Goose was as good as new. Now at least my bike will be ready for the six hour sufferfest I’m doing next month. All I have to do is get in a few more rides to decide on a final stack height on the stem, and I’m set.

Since all of the local trails were soaking wet, I knew I wouldn’t get out at all until early in the work week. I still needed some mileage though, so I grabbed the road bike on Sunday for some climbing and car-dodging fun. It wasn’t that fun, mind you, but at least I got to ride. I learned that day that the road bike is good for getting some quality miles, but there is no way I could give up the mountain bike. I also learned that a good day on the road bike is not better than a bad day on the mountain bike. There is no substitute for good old fashioned singletrack fun. I am in no danger of becoming a full time roadie, that’s for sure.

Spring Cleaning

If you read the title of today’s post, you would probably assume that I didn’t make it to the Kerr Scott Trail System this past weekend. Well, you would be correct. After checking the weather report several times a day up until Saturday, the forecast was less than promising. Sure, I knew the weather here wasn’t great, but I was hoping that the rain would miss that area (or at least they would only get a small amount). That turned out not to be the case. I didn’t think that it would be a very good idea to make the trip from Charlotte to Wilkesboro and take a chance on riding in shitty conditions. I’m not sure if the trails actually “close” up there, but I didn’t want to make the hour and a half drive to find out. With my out of town off-road adventure pland thwarted, I chose to head out to the B-43 shop to do a little cleaning.


First, I decided to do something I had been putting off for a long time. Let me elaborate. You see, I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was pretty young. Friends, family, and even strangers would let me ride their two-wheeled machines, and I developed a love for a motor on two wheels. When Lunchbox was still in diapers, I bought myself one of those fancy crotch-rockets, and I rode the shit out of it. Many years later when I met Little Miss Sunshine, I found that she too liked to ride a steel horse on the open road.


We rode together a lot at first, but my love of pedaling eventually took over again. I became less interested in the hassle of motorcycle maintenance, and more concerned with hitting the trails on a less-complicated steed. So, a little less than a year ago I decided to sell my beloved Yamaha FZ-750. Although I never regretted it, I did miss it from time to time. Little Miss Sunshine also lost the love for riding motorcycles, and her trusty steed remained parked in the garage for nearly three years. Sure, I road it from time, but there was no use in keeping something that we really didn’t use.


With that, we decided that it was time to sell it. At first I resisted, thinking that I would ride it every once in a while (enough to justify keeping it I thought.) I tuned it up about six months ago, and took it for a spin around the block. After that, it sat around, unused again. We decided that enough was enough, and that it should be put up for sale. I brought it out of the garage on Saturday morning, and I took it for one last ride. I headed out on a nice windy country road, and I have to say that I really did enjoy it. However, this time it wasn’t enough to make me want to keep it. I would rather pedal one of my many bikes than let a machine do all the work for me. So with that, I parked it in the driveway and decided that I would no longer be a motorcycle rider.


I grabbed some cleaning supplies and got to work. I wanted to get it nice and shiny so I coulod take some photos. There would be no turning back this time. Every time I thought about how much fun it was to ride a motorcycle, I quickly realized that the love was finally gone. No more leather jackets, helmets, or twisting the throttle on an old country road. My two-wheeled adventures would be on a human-powered bike from now on. After I got it all cleaned up, I snapped a few photos:



Yes my friends, it will be put up for sale now. I’ll probably stick it on Craigslist for now and see what kind of interest we get. It is a 2005 Yamaha V-Star Custom, with only 5,561 miles. Yes, that is the real mileage. Most of those miles were accumulated in Florida, with only about 200 put on it here in North Carolina. Am I offering it up to you, my dear readers? Well, yeah, if you want it. That wasn’t really the reason for the blog post today though. I was just sharing my thoughts like I always do, but if you want to buy this beast, you can just shoot me an e-mail. It’s going up on Craigslist later today.


What else did I do this weekend? Well, I guess I’ll save that for tomorrow. I can tell you everything on the first day of the week. What the hell would I write about otherwise? See y’all tomorrow.