Crankskins Wrap your crank(s)!

Head over to Crankskins.com to protect your entire rig, not just your cranks.

Farmall Hill Challenge #3 Race Report

The weather could not have been better to wrap up this year's spring Farmall Hill Challenge series. I was hoping for another adventure race like last week's mud fest, but with blue skies, a calm breeze, and plenty of sun I think everyone else there was pretty content with the conditions. Chelsea finished up school  for the year yesterday and was able to come so I was stoked about that. It's always more fun when she's there cheering me on. She snapped that sweet pic to the left too (and she pretends she can't take pictures).

That course is just silly fast when it's dry. There are some hills that turn into launch pads, and some descents that become blindingly fast. A couple of the steep climbs were a little peanut-buttery from last week, but thanks to my Specialized Fast Trak rear and The Captain front I was able to ride very aggressively, confident that the tires would be the last thing to hold me back. The captain is so predictable up front that it almost steers for you, and the Fast Trak is super quick, but has better traction then seems possible for such a low rolling resistance tire. Not to mention-they carve like parabolic skis. That combo is hands down my favorite ever for any conditions anywhere. I prefer Specialized Renegades for perfect weather and trail conditions, but when there's uncertainty in play the Captain/Fast Trak is my go to combo.

At the start I blew off the line like a homade bottle rocket and held the lead for almost two laps...lol. I felt like a Zebra being chased down by a Lion, haha. Eventually Andy August reeled me in and I spent the rest of the race chasing him, keeping him just barely in sight. He gaped me though while I was recovering from my start and I came close but just couldn't catch him. After seven grueling but wicked fun laps I pulled 2nd overall and 1st in my Category so i'm stoked. I can't wait to give it another go at the August series.

Up next-Burn baby burn!!! Headed to the Burn 24 with a couple of teams to represent Crankskins this weekend. The southern heat is going to be brutal, but from what i've heard and read both the course and venue is excellent. 24 hours are my favorite kind of racing so i'm really happy to be going! Not happy though about the spike in gas prices since we planned this race so long ago, but hey,  you only live once right? Almost packed, got a dinner planned with Chels tonight since i'm heading out of town, beautiful weather, can't wait!!!

Hippie Tech Suspension and Crankskins at Sea Otter!

I've ridden so many different suspension configs throughout the years and hands down, second to none are the forks/shocks from Hippie Tech Suspension. The guy is a genius, and he treats your shocks with the same love he'd show his own. I don't know how he does it, but his suspension is just pure euphoria to ride-not to mention how freakishly light his stuff is. Sending your suspension to HTS is like sending them to fat camp. I put thousands of miles on Hippie Tech Suspension the past couple seasons and it's plain and simple the greatest around. It's hard to describe, you'd have to ride it to understand because I don't have the time or the resources to even begin to try and describe it.

I was so stoked to come across this article right on the home page of MTBR tonight! It was also pretty cool to see Hippy representing Crankskins in the article's photo.

http://seaotter.mtbr.com/2011/04/19/hippie-tech-suspension-teflon-infused-anodizing-and-slick-hippie-fork-upgrade/

Specialized Stumpjumper 29er

OH YOUR GOSH! I can't even begin to put this rig into words. It fits me like a glove, and just wants to take off when you straddle it. It's a 2011 Specialized Stumpjumer 29er. Many thanks go out to Crankskins for coming through so huge ("huge Rochester huge!"), and of course to Advance Cyclery for the frame.

Anyways...I just spun around casually today to get my cockpit configured and I can't wait to actually rip on it tomorrow. What a ridiculous rig! I'm so stoked. I need to get the legs ready because between the two of us i'm the slow one for sure. I made the switch to Egg Beaters too, which are going to take some practice when it comes to clipping in, but judging by the way they feel once engaged I am really looking forward to them. Ej had some sweet Crankskins for it too. Check them out in the photo below. I wrapped the frame with all sorts of his transparent protection so it should be Tom proof...we'll see. Other then trimming the super long hydro hose it's all but ready to roll.

Saweet skins!

What a beautiful rig :)

Time to jump some stumps...

Glory glory glory!

My new frame's patiently waiting for some components! Advance Cyclery came through huge with this beautiful Stump Jumper 29er frame. It's silly light with a sleek paint scheme, functional cable routing, bomb proof design, and it's bound to be quick. I never would have guessed i'd be riding this but it's crazy how life works out. Such a sick frame! Very stoked to have such a sweet steed to rip on this year.

Check out the sick rear shock. It's got custom super uber inverse hydro ultra premium dampening with uber alpha nitro rebound control and it can be switched on-the-fly between EACM (extra awesome cool mode) and AHTTM (accelerated hypo techtonic tronic mode).

First things first-gotta get it all wrapped up with my Crankskins frame protection kit and then it should be ready to roll.

An update regarding the mystery plant:

I think I see it's teeth starting to 

come in. 

Cyclocross rig!!!

My new wheelz!!! 07' Specialized Tricross Expert Double

Just a few shots of me having some fun on my new cross rig


I finally found a cross rig a couple of weeks ago and I have been living in a state of euphoric, cyclocross induced haze ever since. It's such an amazing combination of speed, torque and finesse. I could not have found a better deal on it either. I finally had some luck come my way :) A kid at a college about two hours away was selling it on Craigslist-never taken off road, original fuzzies still on it's original tires. I just wish he'd WRAPPED HIS CRANKS! The only blemish on it-a heal scuff on the crank arm. I've put more miles (and dents) on it in two weeks then he did the entire time he owned it, but I wrapped it pretty well with a healthy helping of Crankskins 8mil protectant so it's good to go.

It's got Zertz inserts and a carbon fork/rear triangle so it provides an amazingly smooth, supple ride. It's got a carbon crank set, carbon headset, carbon seat post, and some decent wheels so it's wicked light. It comes in at just over 17lbs with a Garmin, water bottle, and some knobby tires. 

Since the rear end is designed to have some flex to it i've been working on learning it's arc and I am getting more confident loading it. It's amazing how the rig can be snapped around, the thing just flies through the woods. It tracks like it's on rails and launches out of turns. It stops much like an ocean liner though-lol. It's short wheelbase has taught me a few lessons too. The subtle flex in the rear is almost impossible to explain-it's got such a tiny sweet spot but figuring out how to manipulate it does wonders for flow in rooty/rocky terrain as well as when hopping and sprinting up rough hills. When I plan on it to react though, and I miss that tiny little sweet spot man is it punishing. I am learning the things not to do on a cross rig almost as quickly as i'm learning what it can do-lol. It only flexes under very specific circumstances, and could not be a stiffer pedaling platform. It is certainly the most responsive rig i've ever had the privilege of mounting.

The first thing I did was loose the slicks. I slapped some Continental Speed Kings on it and was delighted to find that I love them just as much on the Tricross as I do on mtb's. I prefer them so much that I even put one on this template up top. They're the perfect match for my 'gonzo' riding style. I prefer running firm tires on my mtb, so i'm right at home with 50-55psi. All in all i'm very surprised at how natural the transition has been.

I'm going to do my first cross race this weekend. I've never had a fully rigid rig before, and certainly nothing even close to a cross rig so i'm thrilled to be learning so much with every ride. Ripping the trails on it has been much like a bike boot camp. I was supposed to do my first cross race last weekend but I came down with something awful. I don't have any great expectations after watching those racers rip it up at Ellison earlier in the season, but i'm looking forward to trying something new and also to the fitness I should be able to gain from such intense efforts. I think that I am going to find that I enjoy Cyclocross racing a lot, but that I really just prefer to use the cross rig as an all mountain machine. I've literally never had so much fun on a bike. Can't explain it, but I feel like I just found my soul mate of bikes. 

Now that i've had some time on it i've realized that a lot of my ride time while on suspended rigs is actually down time while i'm waiting for the suspension to do it's thing. With the cross rig it's so much faster. No time to do anything other then survive. What a rush. If you find yourself making a mistake there's not even time to try and correct it, rather you have to just make your next move. What happened is over, what's happening is out of your hands-the only control you have on a cross rig is your next move, and by the time you figure out what that next move is it's usually too late! Constant, crazy intensity that requires a special focus and zen which I have not been able to achieve in years. 

I think it's going to allow me to really step up my riding in time for next season both technically and aerobically. It's gearing is so hard in comparison to my mtb that I can already feel it making me stronger, and the long road and trail blended rides a few times a week are a nice break from real life, as well as exactly what I need to grow my fitness.  

I'm really glad to finally be crossin' it! :) :) :)

Test Post

Again, another test. Gotta make this lengthy to see how the template scales. Gotta make a bunch of lebels, ect.



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maybe a photo from CTS 2010:

Gotta get this thing working!


Let's see...