Ouch.

So there i was, balanced at the top of a 2 foot drop off, following a steep slider down from the tight singletrack through the woods. It was the first time i had ridden the fixed off road in anger and a couple of issues had plagued the ride so far. Firstly, the dreich. Fortunately i had a pair of pearl izumi gtx shoes on - winter boots lined with thinsulate, and wrapped in goretex. Toasty tootsies, despite the wet.

Secondly, having changed the chainring that morning, i had not considered whether this would change the chain line. Which, due to several dropped chains i had found it did. All that for 1-2mm. Ah well. Schoolboy error/live and learn.

So there i was.

The riding at mugdock is not epic. It is a small park area on the outskirts of glasgow. However, it is both close to my home, and the trails there are good. Woodsy, tight, slippery, rocky technical with grunts up and steeps down and enough exposure to keep you interested.

One of those sections runs down a fall line, the over a collapsed wall. Hence the 2 foot drop.

The learning curve i am on for riding fixed off road seems to be steep. Perhaps exponential. I came off the bike more today in 2 short hours than i have in the last 2 months of riding generally. Several of the falls hurt bad enough for me to question my reasoning and longevity. Still. I want to do this. Not least to boost tecnique, but also out of sheer bloody mindedness. It *is* fun, just in a grunt grrrr exhale BAM ouch sort of way.

So there i was.

On the edge. I knew my cranks would rotate and the pedal would hit the ground just as i tried to roll the edge. This would perhaps launch me sky ward. So, experimenting with new technique, i decided to hop the rear wheel up and counter rotate the cranks before taking the drop. This would leave my cranks enough room to rotate around the drop.

As i hopped, the front wheel started sliding forward over the edge. No way i could stop it, so i jumped over the front of the bike. The run out is short and has a number of rocks in the grass. These allowed me to use my shins to arrest my forward progress quite quickly. Somehow, i had caught the saddle behind me as i jumped, and dragged the bike with me. Good:- it missed the rocks. Bad:- it hit me.

Ouch. That hurt.

As blood oozed out of my leg, and after a quick check of my other limbs, i went off to find the other techy bits.

Peace, love and death metal.

I know you love it, so - eagles of death metal are touring next march in the uk.

We saw Gogol Bordello last night. My ears may recover, and its true to say the gypsy punks from the lower east side via ukraine are tremendously entertaining. Catch em if you can.



After mull, it took a fair amount of time to reaquaint with this time zone. Nevertheless, we are finally beginning to see a slight drop in demand at the surgery, which is good. Its like a pile driver at the moment. Always is at this time of year.

Riding? PAH! not a bit, though the pacenti neo moto and the equalizer rim arrived c/o Kirk Pacenti and they are a nice combo. It should pull the fixed/fat back a little as its a trifle slow steering at the moment. Not so much on account of geometry, more as the enormous contact patch creates enough steering drag when turning that a 1/2 degree more head angle will help.

Really liking the fixed off road. I guess its mostly people like Tomi of cog fame, and the harrisonburg massif (the old hugh jass lives on) and endurance man dave nice who have inspired this. Also, it will give me a chance to enjoy slow and slippy, technical rides in winter that would usually become a little dull.



Ive ridden those trails and they are fun. Riding them fixed? you have to see it.

Anja is staying at the moment, having finished her tenancy and being pre a london move. She dominated the socttish female riding scene, and now shes comin' to gitcha. We'll all miss her, but its one of those things isnt it? having friends all around the world is a beautiful thing.

Im eagerly watching jeff's blog at the moment. Things seem to be pretty dynamic there and, in keeping with a lot of folks i know, moving towards 'bike-packing' type riding is becoming the thing. Check the truss fork bags. Ace.

Feel the need to rest and relax. Soon i will spend a bit of time with friends in ardnamurchan. A remote spot on the west coast of scotland, ill try and gather some thoughts, make some plans and try and read some books that might inspire me. There doesnt seem to have been any time to take stock, let alone sit still, for so long now im not even sure i know how to do it anymore.

So. enjoy the coming week as things (hopefully) wind down to geamhradh proper and we try and get everything sorted for the puffer.



Physics? dont need no stinking physics...

Mull

Back. What a week end. We owe davey graham and crew a thank you for putting on a great event.

There were a few casualties from the excess of booze consumed on friday night, as the cold rains lashed the island, but the race was fantastic with good performances from the vc moulin squad and the usual suspects.

I managed to get round on the fixed blob-o-bike and actually enjoyed it.

Picture is marty's. He needs to work on his heckling though, what does clown bike mean eh?

Cross season is over. It was great.

Dundee and fatitude.

So, we decamped for dundee and the cross championships. After 13 races, there is but one left. This race crowned the champs and ross creber stormed the course like, well, like a pro. Even with his eyes shut.



Anja continued her winning streak and all in all it was a reasonable race. Some fool raced in short shorts and a hawaiian shirt as a nod to the man with the best 'tache in the business - magnum, PI. Most of the usual suspects were in attendance. Well, i say most, because the mo'vember challenge for the cross finals was attended by ..... me. Does that mean i win, despite my rather wispy effort?

Who knows...



I also spent today making the roshambo into a fat front/26" rear bike. In order to do so i utilised some london fixed kit. The ratio is 38:18 and it seems good. I spent some time on some steep slidey trails and some stairs today as a 'feasibility' ride. Onwards...



At the moment i am investigating some wtb 27mm wide/550g rims due out soon, according to mike at black mountain cycles in point reyes station, CA, as i think the ultimate set up for this type of bike might be a 650b rear wheel. We'll see...

Just asking

Are some things still worth dying for? Is the American idea* one such thing? Are you up for a thought experiment? What if we chose to regard the 2,973 innocents killed in the atrocities of 9/11 not as victims but as democratic martyrs, “sacrifices on the altar of freedom”?* In other words, what if we decided that a certain baseline vulnerability to terrorism is part of the price of the American idea? And, thus, that ours is a generation of Americans called to make great sacrifices in order to preserve our democratic way of life—sacrifices not just of our soldiers and money but of our personal safety and comfort?
In still other words, what if we chose to accept the fact that every few years, despite all reasonable precautions, some hundreds or thousands of us may die in the sort of ghastly terrorist attack that a democratic republic cannot 100-percent protect itself from without subverting the very principles that make it worth protecting?
Is this thought experiment monstrous? Would it be monstrous to refer to the 40,000-plus domestic highway deaths we accept each year because the mobility and autonomy of the car are evidently worth that high price? Is monstrousness why no serious public figure now will speak of the delusory trade-off of liberty for safety that Ben Franklin warned about more than 200 years ago? What exactly has changed between Franklin’s time and ours? Why now can we not have a serious national conversation about sacrifice, the inevitability of sacrifice—either of (a) some portion of safety or (b) some portion of the rights and protections that make the American idea so incalculably precious?
In the absence of such a conversation, can we trust our elected leaders to value and protect the American idea as they act to secure the homeland? What are the effects on the American idea of Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Patriot Acts I and II, warrantless surveillance, Executive Order 13233, corporate contractors performing military functions, the Military Commissions Act, NSPD 51, etc., etc.? Assume for a moment that some of these measures really have helped make our persons and property safer—are they worth it? Where and when was the public debate on whether they’re worth it? Was there no such debate because we’re not capable of having or demanding one? Why not? Have we actually become so selfish and scared that we don’t even want to consider whether some things trump safety? What kind of future does that augur?
FOOTNOTES:
1. Given the strict Gramm-Rudmanewque space limit here, let's just please all agree that we generally know what this term connotes—an open society, consent of the governed, enumerated powers, Federalist 10, pluralism, due process, transparency ... the whole democratic roil.

2. (This phrase is Lincoln's, more or less)
by David Foster Wallace

Gratuity

Looks like the piccies are sorted, eh?

Beer me.

Been drinking beer from the Williams Bros brewery in Alloa (a~LOW-ah as some would have it ;-)~ ). They have a couple of gems. The good times, and seven camels particulary. What interested me was their grozet initially, a beer using goosevberry as part of the preservative.

Tonight, im on joker, a premium pale ale, and very nice it is too. Dark golden, zesty, not too hoppy but with floral hints and a profundity to the taste that is very satisfying. Recommended. 5% 500ml costs you £1.89.

Waltz with Bashir.

We saw Waltz with Bashir last night. A moving and thought provoking film, that also acted as an education for me. I had no idea about the massacre at Sabra and Shatila, 2 refugee camps for Palestinians in west Beirut on 15-16 september 1982.

In essence, the Israeli Defense Forces allowed Lebanese Christian Phalangist militiamen to enter two Palestinian refugee camps, where they massacred somewhere between 800 and 2000 people. Women, children and men.

It has been said that it was some form of revenge after the killing of Bashir Gemayel, who was looking likely to become president and was the Phalangist leader. It has also been said that the motives were more complex and politically driven. Whatever, another dark hour for humanity.

If the human race ever ends up in the dock, we are going to have a hard time persuading the jury we are anything but a selfish, nasty, power hungry group of xenophobic arseholes.

Go see.

Slack

Raced at plean. One of my favourite courses. Fast, twisty, through the trees. Even better, it was cold. As in c o l d. Minus 5. Needless to say the slack babbath t (sleevless, natch) was the purrrfect choice. Dunno where i came yet. If you separate the seniors out from the vets and juniors and women, im sitting in 10th for the season. Happy enough with that....next week - the champs in dundee. The tache is nearly there...i think i might keep it at this rate.







I used some embrocation at the week end. Good timing for that purchase eh? Its pretty good indeed. Infact, i'd say its indispensable for the winter rider....



The day prior i made a new chilli con carne. Pretty simple, so i'll run through it here. Worth a try. Cook onions slowly. I used a mix of bacon fat and olive oil, which worked well. Add good quality beef mince. For 4 people id use 2 good size onions and 500g meat. Then, colour the meat, add mexican or normal oregano, some heated and ground cumin to taste and chilli powder. The recipe calls for quite a lot - half a cup. I used slightly less with success. Then a cup of beef stock, 3 cans of beans (i used 2 black beans, and 1 baked beans) and some tomato or passata - maybe 400g or so. A healthy table spoon of brown sugar and a few glugs of red wine vinegar.

Cook it down for maybe 1/2 an hour and have with corn tortillas and a fresh salsa (in this instance evil jungle prince - mint, cucumber, radish, habanero, white onion, tomato and cilantro doused in some lime juice) or maybe rice.

Blammo.

Fatty

So, if i put my chunky rear wheel, with a london fixed cog on the 6 bolt disc side on my roshambo, itll run the fat front wheel and fork with good geometry...

Killing 2 birds with 1 stone? try fixed off road, and check out a lower bb frame with the fatty? the stays end up being 1/4" longer, the bb 1" lower, the head angle may be as much as 1/4" degree steeper...

I think its a goer...

I know you know i know...

SSWC09.

For it is a human number...

Plowing through sand.

Mid week, we realised the cat was, err, how to put this pleasantly, ... stinky.

Not sure why, but there was no hiding from the fact that she was going to need a wash.

If you think herding cats is difficult, you should try getting into a shower with one. Although she looked a little forlorn and bedraggled afterwards, there is no doubt she is smelling all the sweeter for it. Not sure if my chest will heal up any time soon, but a small price to pay for non-foul nuzzles.



Cross on sunday in the seaside town of irvine. Near the inventor centre...included were several steep grassy climbs, rideable and non rideable staircases and just for the belgian aficionados, a beach trail which was 400m or so long.

Not content with that, it hailed, sleeted, blew freezing arctic winds and was generally pretty inhospitable. Especially when the commissar decided he ought to read through the entire bcf rule book on the start line.



We skipped prior to the start and boogied some shapes, but we were all freezing when the whistle went.

Due to a fairly hefty, boozy day prior, marty and myself felt a little fragile. Still, we held our ends up pretty well i think. Anja won the ladies and chris stomped his humu all the way into a very respectable position. Im sure he was actually smiling as he overtook me.

The bikes were wrecked by the sand and wet. I dont know if i have ever wet-washed my roshambo, but there was no denying the fact it was needing it yesterday. The good news is, that once i used some penetrating oil on the sprocket and chain, and some isopropyl alcohol on the brake lever mechanisms, everything seems to spin and work as it should.

It was a mixed-bag way to say good bye to my 35th year, and enter my 36th. I was mediocre on the course, until i eventually got going in the last 10mins. Never did manage to haul back the rude bugger who nearly took out anja and me and several other people with his selfish riding. In saying that, moules frites later on was a perfect way to warm the cockles. Today, I was given some amazing, thoughtful gifts by family and friends, and an early night last night means i feel up for a run this morning to try and clear the cobwebs, before we go to see wilson tan support white denim later on.

Genderanalyzer

Yeah, yeah. Everyone is doing it...

Mine.."We think http://dRj0nswanderings.blogspot.com is written by a woman (84%)."


Uh huh.

Mo'vember.

Day whatever...lost track. Mo creeping towards being slightly more full...dunno, seems the other competitors are leaving the chase. I may win by default. Who knows?



Cross double header this week end. Pics on flickr, scottish cyclocross. Saturday had us ploughing a furrow in Cowdenbeath for the Stephen Lyle memorial cross. Windy, grassy, mud. Hard fought racing. VC-Moulin has some write ups, Anja took the ladies win, Andy charging hard in the men's, and i did ok, taking a scalp or two on the penultimate lap. Pleased with the underlying strength. Or maybe i can just plough better than most. Who knows?

Sunday had us in Glenrothes, wind low, dry fast fast fast course. A long straight and a brutal stairs/run up takes its toll, and the legs were leaden after yesterday. Even so, managed to get round. Anja won again, ahead of a hard charging elieen roe. A real battle royal. After peebles, i lie in 23rd overall. A little dissapointing, but i got my first call up in glenrothes and went balls-out for the hole shot, but ended in around 7th. 38:18 isnt great for sprinting on wet grass! Marty and i have some plans afoot for the series final, apart from the mo's.

Stay tuned...

So its time to stop being weak.

Ive been languishing in a tired state for too long. I suspect that there is more than a little mental input into this. Sleeping a lot, tired all the time. Blah.

So Inspired by reading about gym jones in a recent edition of outside, i have decided to *up* the ante on the dynamic weight bearing training rather than resting.

Burn it loose.



Today: Kbells
1 min squat with 20kg
5 turkish get ups with 25kg each side
1 circuit of alternate dips with 2 16kg 10 reps, pressups and lifting on 2 16kg, and shoulder presses again with 2 16kg kbells, repeated.
weighted lunges with 2 16kg kbells, repeated 10 times each side, then repeated again.
a weighted squat with 20kg for 1min and 10 secs

Yeah.

Evil ninja

Peebles cyclocross. Sunny initially, then wet, cold and windy. Happy bd Sam; well done anja; marty zabriskie; susans photos and peanut brittle.

All good.

Supra beasto

We went out for a local night ride on tuesday - daveoptionalchops, anja and the alpine massive. Dry weather, slippery under tyre. Rocking and rooting, diving and bombing. Rode the odd bike (from now on known as El supra beasto) in anger. 4" tyres are pretty amazing things. The deformation over uneven ground due to the low pressure (i ran 14 psi) allows an increase in traction that is difficult to explain. You can quite literally charge into things and let the pneumatic suspension and huge foot print massage your way through.

I like it. The bike is fugly. Tis true. But its all about working out what i like and what i dont. At the moment, my lean is towards at least 1.5" off the bb height, and a longer top tube/more relaxed seat angle. Couple this with a lower standover, taller head tube and perhaps an adjustable seatpost...and im on the right path.

Huge, evergrowing and pulsating from the center of the face.

Hope. I hope.

Everything that happens will be historical. But Obama winning this election is a sea change in more ways than one. Ideologically, yes. But it wont surprise me if the age of the voting public is younger for this US election than in any recent election.

I can only hope for the future.

Happy us.

It is our wedding anniversary today. I'm a lucky man to have trina as my wife. She is even tolerating this mouser mischief...

Amazing.

It lives...

So, the Frankenbike has finally been ridden. Noteworthy: within 2 minutes, i had managed to get 2 dog craps on th front wheel. Actually, one may have been cat (p-phone...?!).

Also noteworthy, it rides pretty normally. As in, the number crunching left me with a bike that deals with the 55mm offset/69er+ set up pretty well.

The bb needs to be about 1.5" to 2" lower i reckon....for proper moto feel, but that is for a different (custom) frame...so we'll see once ive ridden it for a bit.

Been under the weather for a few days. Spent all of sunday in bed. As in, i was up for 2 hrs in 24. Still shaky but less fever and headache going...will be taking it easy for a day or two yet.

Bigger, better, borrowed...

From guyswhocuttheirownhair...

You know it makes sense.

Moose

ok. I'm in.....

Diamond geezers.

The black diamond heavies are playing Mono on the 30th of october. Supported by wilson tan - gotta be done.

Skewered.

Found an old USE safe T headlock thingy. It is 5mm threaded 0.8mm pitch, so it works perfectly as an alternative to the qr axle. All i needed to do was work out how to transfer the hardware from the dt rws to the new axle, and bob's your uncle.

Here is a photo essay.

The old man mountain supplied skewer is top (though this is the front one). Its not a great piece of kit. Vague closure, and not the most secure, as all external cams are in my opinion.

Below is the rws that will act as a donor for parts. It *is* a very secure skewer. But, it aint long enough to stretch all the way through the alloy rack carriers and the hub...



This is what you get when you ease an rws apart. The splined thread on section needs thread locked onto the axle, then the red bolt carries the spring that allows the lever to move as a ratchet. Simple, light and solid.



The threaded rod was donated by the old USE safe T head lock. All i needed to do was bind two nuts on it, and a 6mm allen key provided plenty of torque to remove the alloy top section. Next, i used a tap to clean the thread with wd 40 and then alcohohol. The rws head was threadlocked in place and the mechanism replaced. The axle was cut to size and...



Bob is your uncle.

More wheels.

I love building wheels. Cliched i know, but it truly is a zen like practice, and it is nice to know that the very structure responsible for your enjoyment was made from component parts by your own hand.

The town bike needed a new front wheel. For some reason, all the tension went from the right side of the wheel over the space of a few days and the creaking and wobbles set in, prompting me to reach for the spoke boxes and loctite. The Xt front hub was retained, and dt double butted black comps, to alloy nips with a bonty mustang gave a really nice wheel. I am becoming a fan of slightly fatter rims for road riding. Seems to make the tire nice and stable, whilst minimising the chance of pinches.



Next i stripped down the rear dt singlespeed on the tIF. It has served well for 2 years, but the bearings had developed a small amount of play. Having had the dt tool kit for while, and spare bearings (bought needlessly after strathpeffer a year or so ago) i set to work. Easy peasy, though i did put the star ratchet retaining ring in the wrong way up initially(on account of rebuilding it upside down compared to the instructions). Easily sorted, and as new. Bonty duster with red alloy nips and dt comps in black. Swish.

Time spent fettling.

I wanted to ditch the square taper crank and bb from both the town bike and the roshambo. Square taper is just not as stiff, or long lasting *for me* compared to shimano HT II. With the help of dave at alpine bikes, i faced and fitted the bb and crank to the roshambo. I completely failed to fit the 105 triple, despite fiddling with several bb's and spacing configurations. Yet again, it went on with masses of space between the drive side crank and the frame, with the non drive side hitting.

The shimano mtb bb cups are less deep than the road ones, so i was using an xt and all the spacers on the other side. No joy, still hit.

BTW: If anyone knows why on some frames the cranks are off set to the drive side please let me know. We looked at some of the bikes in the shop and some are and some arent. Weird.



On returning home, i used a 5mm (red) 1" headset spacer and a rubber sheet trimmed to fit and seal it onto the axle. This is 2 mm thinner than the original plastic spacer on the crank. I then used the 105 bb and a 2.5mm spacer on the non drive side of the town bike (a dambala) and it all went together beautifully... nice.

Cross, baby!

So, 3 races into the tight scottish cyclocross season (see schedule on scottish cyclocross linky over to right, down there...). 3 very different races. Bannerman high, a course with everything - sand pit, tight corners, run ups and mud. Aviemore, a neato technical (for cross) course with 2 monster steep sealed climbs to slam the legs to 11 each lap. Then today, Auchentoshan. Wild, wet and windy. An unforgiving run up a 45 degree muddy slope from a small stream halfway through a quick but wet course.

Think i did ok today. Certainly had some vim and vigor in the legs, i kind of like cross when its really wet and windy. I like to suffer and hang on with grim determination despite the conditions. John and marty and jac all punctured out. Chris duncan and anja (who won the womans race) reprasented the vc moulin with Andy wardman who came within a whisker of winning the hard fought mens. Chris rocked the humu and suspect enjoyed the conditions (broadsliding with abandon) more than most.

All good clean fun. In a muddy, wet way..cross rocks.

Playing away.

Friday night, after a looong week at work and a slow recovery from a cold for me, gareth and phil arrive in time to have a beer or two and put bicycles back together after another 'no-bikes-unless-they-are-wrapped-up-with-the-wheels-off-so-they-can-be-classed-as-luggage' journey from london town.

Early doors saturday, load trina's and my cars, install passengers and point anja and me towards aviemore, where, after a huge feed at the mountain cafe, we intend to ride in the sunshine of the afternoon, before getting ready for scx round 2 at the famous glenmore lodge.

A sparkling ride with chris, jac, mark, marty and dan on some inappropriate 'whips', pin-balling off rocks and roots with smiles spreading fast, we fed our appetites with the sublime trails of rothiemurchas. Some carbo loading and a few jars was followed by a well deserved snooze.

Sunday: bright and crisp. Beer primes placed. A moderate number of entrants, but most of the usual faces, and the course - formed with assuredness by mark, marty, jac, chris and carl from glenmore - had the racers smiling under their grimace. The pace was hot, several mechanicals, and one or two primes.

Anja took the ladies win, despite interfacing her rear derraileur and spokes, phil roared into 5th and the rest of us fared pretty well, other than gareth who bowed out from a top ten with a rear puncture, close to the end.

This is what we live for.

Neo Belgium

Backlash

Cross bike love

Gentlemen

What do we have here?

Well, that is a 9mm rws dt swiss thru bolt skewer, one of the best ways to tighten up the front end of your bike without resorting to the 20mm (or new 15mm) standards.

The bottom left end cap is from a dt 440 fr front hub (which at the moment is very hard to find with the 9mm rws end caps. Near impossible, infact. The other end cap is for a dt 240 front hub and shows what would need to happen in order to allow me to use the 9mm rws skewer and get the best from the 25 mm axle in the 440 fr hub.

The stepped, conical drill bit will make drilling the required hole with my new toy easier (see below, where p-phone is helping me mount a vice with old headset top caps and star nuts to the tray on the pillar drill i just bought).



I have also discovered (d'oh!) that 135mm rws skewers will *just* fit the front of the pink bike with the old man mountain rack mounted. 2 options here: use the aforementioned pillar drill to widen the aluminium brackets to accept the thru bolt version, or just use the standard qr style axle.

Finally i'll feel better about the security of the front end. There has been a lingering worry because the IF forks have downward facing dropouts, i use a 180mm rotor and with me and the load, there may be enough force to pull the hub out of the drops. I have noticed a micro amount of shift a couple of times.

Next~? well, i *may* be able to increase the diameter of the rear old man mountain rack brackets so that i can use (ti?) m10 bolts with the bolt-on end caps for the dt 240 ss rear i have on the pink bike, again increasing retention strength. Only issue, i wont know how much i will weaken the brackets. Might ask omm and see what their thoughts are....

Avant-garde yodelling.

Damo opened my ears to triple r radio, melbourne. The other day - to give you some idea of the eclectic playlists - i listened to some avant-garde yodelling. To be fair, it was quite KLF, buuuuuuuuuuuut its all good, ok?

So whassup, eh? why no speak in so long, eh?

Busy at work.
Busy building wheels (why so many have needed replacing this year, i dunno).
Busy looking at pillar drills (more on this later).
Busy watching a dvd of Deadwood.
Busy using our new recycling service.
Busy stroking the cat.
Busy in Yorkshire.
Busy running, in preparation for cross season.
Busy listening to music.
Busy laughing with friends.



We supported at the 3 peaks cross race last week end...everyone was a star: philgarethshaggyjacanjaemilydeannigelchrisdscottishphil360jenn and the photogs were in good form too...see vc moulin for write ups, including anja's third place female. In your first 3 peaks? a podium? yup. Hardcore.

Interbike

I'm sure there is no need to inform you interbike is on at the moment. There is plenty of cool looking stuff, from the excellent use of the d.w link by turner and pivot, to the city bikes from trek. All types of riders are represented. The thing i am liking the most are the return of beautiful paint schemes and the more subtle than previous use of anodising. 2 examples in particular stand out for me: the salsa selma, and the ruegamaer bike on the edge stand. These photos are lifted from the ligero wheelworks site, whose wheels i could spend days looking at...

15 lbs and change.

Got the Epic Designs bags on to the bike for the first time. I've had them for awhile due to the sterling efforts of eric (if you havent read this do so) but i havent been here, or able to spare the time to go for a "bikepacking" trip.

So, i loaded up with everything i need, including belt and braces in some cases, and total weight of everything is great. More importantly it all fits into the packs with room aplenty to spare. The best thing is that due to the 'trunk turtle' design, i have easy access to things i might need quickly. Everything is lashed down and stable and i am confident that technical singletrack will be fine.

The aim for this trip is probably east coast, with a planned stop off to see some friends racing/comissaring at glentress. From there, who knows....

I'll report back.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!

Happy talk like a pirate day, land lubbers!

I give you swashbuckle.

Mo' deetee.

440. Soon with a 9mm thru axle rws. Maybe a 20mm, or a 15mm thru axle if crisp can. We'll see. Bontrager duster and dt comps with red alloy nips.

I ain't got the blues...

Oregon custom bikes.

Oregon once again shows it has more than its fair share of excellent bike builders.

This photo is lifted from john's (of goodtimes bicycles) flickr, who makes amazing frames himself.

The bomb.

This wheel (paul disc word, mavic ex 721, dt comps, prolock brass nips, single ply minion DH) went together so quickly its almost frightening. The other wheel i built this morning (deore rear disc with london fixie 6 bolt cog, dt comps and alloy nips, and open pro rim) went together so badly, it was frightening. 4 rounded nips, replaced spokes on drive side (292 for 290's, as the spoke calculator recommended 291.5 and they held nowhere near enough tension) and a supercomp nipple added at a critical moment that almost had me apoplectic). Ah well.


OOOOOOOOOOOOOOMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dinner is poured...

Sweet riding town bike...

raining outside.

As the cat's facial expression and body language makes it so very apparent, its been raining a lot outside. So there hasnt been so much playing about. Back to k-bells (my legs are done) and bike projects. In addition, i have been listening to some music i have acquired recently, that i havent had a decent amount of time to actually pay attention to. Grinderman, jon spencer blues explosion, black crowes, rjd2, scott h biram, left lane cruiser...blah.

Vice whip.

Photo from velonews. I MUST HAVE ONE!