After The Ride

When we finished riding at Rocky Knob, the little lady and I decided that we needed to stick around the mountains and get into some shit. For some reason I wanted to shop for western wear, so she went for another ride.

I didn't pick up any fancy duds, but I did find this sweet bottle-opener/belt buckle.

After that short stop,we headed over to the nearby Appalachian Mountain Brewery for some post-ride refreshments. We bellied up to the bar and I went right at it.

It was sampling of their finest brews, although I didn't care for all of them. This one in particular had a name that's well past its prime.

Seriously? Stop using that. No one gives a shit about the Honey Badger anymore.

I drank it anyway, and the rest of them of course.

My favorite out of the bunch was the 71 IPA, which was plenty hoppy and made me feel quite special. This was, dare I say, the perfect IPA. Plenty of bite and super bitter (not to mention high in alcohol), and I couldn't get enough of it. Although they do sell growlers of their beer to take home, they didn't have any of the 71 available that day. Instead, I had to settle for the Little Red IPA . Not as high in alcohol, but plenty hoppy nonetheless.


I was happy to take something home at least.

You know me. I love beer.


They brew their own right there on site, which makes this place a must-visit if you're ever up in Boone.

They have something for everyone, including beer snobs like me. The IPAs (my favorite) were great, but I even enjoyed the stout and the porter they had. It's a shame that they aren't a little closer to me, but that just means that a few more trips up to the hills are in order.



My bike wants to go back anyway.

One Step Closer

Finally, my new bike got a chance to get out of town.

Just on the edge of the NC mountains stands Rocky Knob Park, and it would be my first out of town test on the new Enduro™ bike. 

Little Miss Sunshine and I got there in the afternoon, hoping that it would be a little warm.  It wasn’t.  It was chilly, so we bundled up and went out to play.  At least we would warm up quickly, because when you get there it’s climb, climb, climb.

It’s worth it though, because the downhill stuff is super fast and full of fun.  We reached the first skills area and decided to stick around and play for a bit.

It’s pretty much my favorite kind of trail:  climb, descend, climb, descend.  Pedaling such a heavy bike up climbs was something that I hadn’t done in a while, but it was worth it.

There was another little skills section after another climb, and the little lady worked on her balance.

I did too.

After riding up and down out there, we decided to finish on the (what I think is anyway) crown jewel of that place, the PB&J trail.  Fast, flowy, rocky, and full of jumps and berms, it was as if they built that trail just for my new bike.  I hit lines where I would’ve busted my ass with any other bike, and I had way more fun this time.  While most of my friends were out suffering in Pisgah that day, I was taking my bike out on a play date.

Even the pump track was fun.

Little Miss Sunshine can attest to that.

So maybe I should take a minute to talk about the handling of the ROS9.  In those short, technical sections, it handled like a dream.  The short chainstays made turning at slow speeds quite effortless, in spite of the long travel fork.  I rode those skinnies without incident, save for once when I got a little cocky and tried to sit on my rear wheel.  Although not really a park bike, the pump track seemed a lot more fun too. 

The day didn’t stop there, but today’s post will.

See y’all tomorrow for part two of our mountain adventure.

Holy shit, I’m so glad I built up this bike.  

Long Weekend?

Monday is a holiday here in ‘Merica.  Veteran’s Day, to be exact.  As a veteran of the United States Army, I plan to not be here that day.  In the past I’ve posted up stuff here and here regarding those that serve our country, but this time I’ll just take the day off all together.

I’ll just ride my new bike around as a tribute.

This weekend is sorta up in the air.  It’s the first time in a while that I haven’t had something planned in advance, so I probably should get cracking.  I’m thinking of heading here:

Rocky Knob Park up in Boone will be a great place to take my new bike, and I can’t wait.  Even though I sorta built it for Pisgah-type riding, a place like Rocky Knob will be perfect.  I’ve been riding this thing enough around here to get used to it, so hopefully I can unleash the beast when I take it up to the hills.  I’m looking forward to it, especially since the local rag here in Charlotte just published a story about it.

Read it here:

Take your mountain bike to Boone for bumps and jumps

Good stuff.  I've been there before, but I’m so stoked.

Stoked?

Who the hell still uses that word?

Maybe a guy like me that still uses “rad.”

See y’all Tuesday.

More Stuff

In case you were wondering, I think my knee is back to normal for now.  I’m not sure what was going on, but a little rest, some ice, and lots of beer may have had something to do with my recovery.  And I guess my Highly Classified Electrification Torture Device may have helped too.  Nothing like a little shock therapy to tell my body to shut the hell up and quit hurting.

I didn’t really get to ride Sunday at our party (other than the tricycle race), but I did have a good ride on Saturday with no pain whatsoever.

It’s time to have fun this “offseason”, and make sure all my wounds are healed so I can be ready for next year.  Or, maybe I’ll just hurt myself worse riding on all these “dangerous” trails.  Whatever.  Our social ride this past Tuesday was pretty good too, even though I wouldn’t call the place we rode “dangerous.”  I rode a couple of laps with no pain, even though it was a little chilly out and I thought that would affect my knee.  I guess I’m back to normal now, unless I do something stupid.

Never mind.  I'm sure I will.

In other news, I got some more goodies that I nearly forgot to talk about.  Since the cold season is pretty much here, I made sure to get another version of one of my favorite socks:

The Cyclismo now comes in toasty-warm wool to keep my feet warm (and yours too.)  Just like the ones I’ve talked about before, these have extra padding underneath to make clipping in more comfortable.

This ain’t old-school wool though.  They are light, not itchy, and easy to put on and take off.  They will get plenty of use this winter for sure.

Since a package was already heading my way from the hills, I made sure they threw in a pair of my best buddy’s new sock.

Yup, the Trail Ninja socks.  These are a new design of the Levitator Trail sock I’ve been wearing for a little while now.  Snazzy new designs on a super comfortable sock makes this one a winner.

And my legs look better in them anyway.

Now, where’s my new sock design?

Probably in the trash can over there at DeFeet headquarters. I’m a nobody, but you never know.  Stay tuned.

Playing Catch Up

It’s now the “offseason.”  That means that I’m no longer racing, which may also mean that my posts could get worse (or better.)  I usually like to make little equipment changes when I’m done racing, but after recently building a new bike I didn’t think I needed to do that just yet. 

Except when I realized some new stuff showed up that I mentioned, but hadn't used yet.

I finally got around to installing/testing these out, so I figured that I would cover it really quick.  I’ve been using Lizard Skins lock-on grips for so long now that I wondered if I could stand anything else.  I briefly tested out some grips on my rigid SS bike from another brand (thanks to a recommendation from a friend), but that little experiment went over like a fart in church.  It stunk, but there’s no need to bash them here.  It’s all personal preference, you know. 

Anyway, these DSP grips are super light (30g compared to the 130g I had before), but since they aren’t lock-ons I wondered if they could be installed in such a way that would keep them from slipping under normal riding conditions.  Would it be like the old days of using hairspray to install grips just to have them slip on the first ride?

Well, no.  These were a little different.  The good kind of different too.  Not like your cousin that shits on himself and acts like no one else can smell it.

The tiny little package came with grips, bar plugs, and two pieces of double-sided tape.  There is an installation video on their site, and after watching it for all of about thirty seconds I was ready to go (I got the crash course already at Interbike.)

Step one, clean the handlebars with alcohol.  Not beer or whiskey, that’s for drinking, dumbass.  Once the bars are clean and dry, apply the double-sided tape.

Leave a bout 7mm hanging over the edge of the bar (yes, I measured), peel the paper off the other side, and tuck the remainder onside the bar end.

Not tucked in yet, I know.

Step two, spray glass cleaner inside the grip and all over the tape.  Push the grip on the bar, slowly twisting it until it goes into position.

Step three, let that shit dry completely and go ride.  I let it dry for a couple of hours before I tested it out.  Your results may vary.

While I may have saved a few grams and all that, it’s not important.  What’s important is that these have wayyyyyy more grip than anything I’ve used in the past.  They feel solid under my hands, and even without gloves I feel like my hands are secure on the bars.  They come in two sizes, so even if you have smaller hands they have something that will fit you.  Initial testing tells me that Lizard Skins has hit a home run with these, so expect to see me talk about these a little more in the future.  You can probably also expect me to get another pair for my Enduro™ Bike

Maybe.  Let's not get crazy here.

A whole post about new grips?  Well yeah.  They are kinda important.  Try riding without them and let me know how that works out.

A Party Like No Other

A few things happened over the weekend, but nothing that's worth mentioning before the Tarheel Trailblazers/Dirt Divas Year End Party.  Lunchbox and I got down to Fort Mill plenty early to setup things, and to be quite honest I was nervous as hell.  Months of planning for an event that I wasn’t sure would be any good, and once we started getting everything together my nerves were shot.

We setup the stations for the games, and also I had to find a spot for the band.  While we figured everything out, most people went out for a group ride.

I brought my bike, but I was too worried about getting things right to even think about riding it.  Lunchbox setup the course for the tricycle race, and he got to go out and ride on the trail at least.  Once I saw how everything was coming together, I calmed down a bit (and had a beer.)

Once people started coming back from the ride, we fired up the games.  There was a bike toss:

A log pull:

And a trike race:

Photo cred:  Danielle Suprick

Three rounds, with four teams of two going head to head until there was a winner.  I found it odd that I was able to run the event and enter it, but Little Miss Sunshine and I teamed up to destroy the competition.

Photo cred: Eastwood

Yeah, that’s Lunchbox behind me.  He can’t beat his old man…yet.  We made it to the finals, winning easily over Jen and local shop owner Mark Sullivan.  I didn't have time to celebrate though.  It was time for the bike derby.  I was nervous again, probably because I had to emcee the thing with my less than stellar public speaking skills.  Plus, people seemed reluctant to participate.  Eventually we had a good lineup, and I got everyone rolling with the crowd cheering them on.

Photo cred: Danielle

It was a tough battle, and once the first few fell they started dropping like flies.  Lunchbox got caught playing nice trying not to run over someone that fell in front of him, and he was out.  I had high hopes for him too.

Suddenly, it was down to two men.  Dicky and Irish Luke played a game of chess for a while, then they fought it out to the finish.  Having a cool Irish accent wasn’t enough to win, so my man Dicky walked away with the championship belt.

Photo cred:  Danielle

Success, I think.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but the party wasn’t over.  After the food and the raffle, I helped set the band up and they came out and rocked the shit outta that place.

CroMoly, cycling’s only rock band drove down from the hills to cap off our party and they were pretty damn awesome…and loud.  Headed by DeFeet founder and CEO Shane Cooper, they made it a party to remember.  Big thanks to those guys for coming out and supporting us.  It was much appreciated.

In the end, all the planning and stress was worth it.  While I may have had a big hand in it, I didn’t act alone.  Many people there helped make this a great party, including those that participated in the events.  The parties down there have sucked for years, but it looks like we may have set a new standard.

I can’t wait for next year.

A Whole Lotta Somethin’ Going On

Let’s cram a bunch of shit into a weekend, shall we?

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be sitting at my computer with a couple of hundred other people trying to get into the biggest event to kick off next season.

Registration opens up for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek and I don’t want to miss it.  Last year it sold out in a little over thirty minutes, and I bet they break that record this year.  I haven’t missed one since I started, and I don’t plan to miss one now.  Feel free to log on and try to sign up too, but wait until I get in.  I mean, it won’t be worth going if I’m not there.

That’s pretty much it for Saturday.  I’ll probably start drinking beer at 9:05 a.m. either celebrating the fact that I got in or drowning my sorrows, so either way I most likely won’t be worth a damn the rest of the day.  If I’m able, I may just head to the hills on my new bike.

Maybe.

Sunday will be the busiest of days.  In the morning, I’m heading to this:

The Big Stampede has been a disappointment the last few years, but like a car wreck I just have to stop in a take a look.  The venue has changed this year (back to where it all started), so maybe I’ll have something nice to say about it this go round.  I don’t really need anything since I just built up a new bike, but you never you.

I could walk away with something I can’t live without.

I’ll have limited time to spend there, because I’ll have to high-tail it down to Fort Mill, SC for the Tarheel Trailblazers /Dirt Divas Year End Party.  I have to setup shit, run shit, and keep shit going.  There won’t be any room to slip up, so I hope everything goes smooth.

Games, rides, and a live band?

I’m ready.

So ready that I won’t be here Monday to tell you about it. 

Let’s meet back here on Tuesday, shall we?