I've been good!

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

All week Niner has been posting giveaways on the facebook, with challenges attached of course.  I've been participating every day as some Niner swag would be SWEET for the One9 build.

Thursdays challenge was to "string your Niner up with Xmas Lights"

Mission accomplished.

Clark Griswold would be proud!

The shot I submitted to Niner

I'm not sure that will inspire riding in the post apocalyptic world, but Happy Holidays everybody!

sweet berms

As I had planned, I hit up Col FB yesterday and I have one thing to say.  DAAAAAAMMMMNNNN that new section is SWEET!!!

The berms are killer.  Perfectly places and just speed inducing!  There are there wooden jumps, and one rock placed launcher.  For the first two wooden jumps you need to know the trail to get your speed up before you come upon them.  The last one has a constructed wooden roller into it, so all you have to do is point and shoot.

I didn't partake in any jumping as the trail is new (soft) and it was still a little dampish out on that section.  But it is a GREAT little addition to the trails out there.

I hadn't ridden Col FB in a little bit and I almost forgot how great of a trail it is, albeit a shortish loop.  But the trail they have there is some good stuff.  Plenty of roots to navigate.  As I was going over every root I was thinking about how this trail will look on a rigid singlespeed - completely different for sure.

Not sure where I'll be riding today... maybe Steve's.  Dunno.  But I do want to ride.  I'm trying to get off the lazy wagon and get back on the bike riding one... Strava has a new "goal" feature that let's you set... wait for it... a goal for the week.  It can be in either miles or hours.  I'm more concerned with getting out more frequently - I went with miles.  I figured, I try to hit at least 12 miles on a mountain bike ride, so a goal of 50 would be at least 4/5 rides a week.  Of course, if any of those rides are on the road then mileage will blow up.  But I figured it's a good starting point.  I can always increase the goal.

I also want to pick up a bottom bracket tool so I can get that sucker on.  Who knows... maybe a ride and some tooling around on the One9... man, what a beautiful bike day that would be.

Sometimes, waiting is good

I spent WAY too much time google mapping my adjust route from the other days road ride to avoid having to "frogger" my way through traffic.  In the end, it was a good thing I was so studious about my new alternative route... because I discovered the easy greenway access wasn't so easy after all once I street viewed the bitch.

Here we have google telling me, "no worries, you can bypass Independence, grab the greenway and be on your way."

That looks cool, I wonder if there is a tunnel under, or maybe some overpass I can't see... let's check it out! (Thank goodness I did!)

Here we are coming to the dead end where the trail should start and cross you over Harris...

ummm... greenway?

Ok, so maybe the picture is old... and there is a path now??  Let's investigate further, shall we?

Let's see about crossing Harris.

well, it's nice there are dips and grips in the curb where you can sprint through traffic...

and stairs to the legit greenway.

So, in the end I scrapped that idea.... maybe there is some legit crossing, but from the google evidence it seems doubtful.  So, instead (after wasting time and energy) I put together a more fluid neighborhood loop.  Two stop lights to contend with.  One crossing a busy road, and as such it is a bastard waiting for the light to change, especially as it doesn't seem to sense a bicycle - so without a car around I get stuck at a cycle-less light.  The other light is no big deal as I take a right into a bicycle lane.

Of course I was feeling less then energized during the ride, and I missed the cut through "greenway" on my first lap.  But, in the end I think I have a decent more local route that can be repeated to get the miles.  Decent elevation changes throughout so I can certainly get some efforts in there as needed/desired.

Today I will be getting dirty.  The weather should be amazing and the trails should be good to go now.  Looks like I might be hitting up Col. FB to check out the newly opened black diamond addition.  From pictures I saw posted on the local forums, looks like there is some big jumps out there - we'll see how bold I get.

Tayhaus Pete

Look what I got in the mail today.

I've never held a crankset (or arm) in my hand before, and I must say it was heavier than I thought.  I know this isn't the lightest set out there, but I got a deal on it - and right now deals are where it's at (to an extent).  But it's all good, all those pretty rings will come off and be replaced with a singular.  I was thinking of going to get a bottom bracket wrench today and putting this bad boy on... but since I don't yet have the singlespeed ring to put on the crankset, I may just wait...  I dunno.  I'm excited to have an actual part I can install on the One9, and with all the rain we've had it doesn't look like the trails will be friendly... so that would leave me with riding the streets again.  Which leads back to wanting to get on installing what I can... we'll see how it all shakes out today.

Over the weekend I hit the streets, cause of the rainy crap we got.  I followed some of the local "bike routes" that have street signage throughout the Charlotte area, and patched them together with some "unofficial" routes that were posted on the city's map.  It was a lot of city riding, meaning stop lights.  Traffic wise it was a great ride, mostly good routes.  BUT, it had me cross Independence.  Yeah... at a non-traffic light intersection.  On a Sunday, it was doable... during the week that would be ABSOLUTELY MENTAL.  For those not from the Charlotte area, Independence is a crazy busy 6 lane (3 on each side) divided "highway."  

I have no idea how crossing that is in anyway a good "unofficial" route that would be labeled on a map from the city for bike routes...  YIKES.  Luckily it looks like there is a greenway not to far off that I can hopefully utilize to bypass the highway crossing and still get across, in a safe leisurely manner.  So, that will be adjusted and tested at a later date.

Last night we had an indoor picnic of sorts.  Chilidogs, deviled eggs and 'gansett.  I don't know about you, but I don't need my condiments telling me how they should be used.

"For Hot Dogs & Hamburgers - A Serving Suggestion"

Thanks Texas Pete, but I think I can figure out what to do with your "Chili Sauce."

woah

Tragedy, rain, and then the end of Survivor.  Not that all are on the same scale in any manor... but they all happened.  And as such, blog importance is at an all time low.

I'll be back tomorrow.

But for now, let's all love one another just a little bit harder.

a cat?

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

The HiFi is back and ready to go.  Although, looks like the bottom bracket and fork will need a little extra love in the near(ish) future.

Tonight is a birthday dinner for Annie's dearest friend, and Saturday Sean and I will get out for a ride... somewhere.  Maybe we'll do a little "training" over at Renni... or maybe we'll do a proper ride out at Uwharrie... I guess it all comes down to how well I behave at this celebration.

If you can believe it, I almost forgot about this song...

While that was "bike related," this will not be...
well, if we stretch real far there is a strand of "bike" connected - I stole this from Dicky's media assault over on the facebook.
I don't know about you but I absolutely LOVE this.

Seriously.

26+ minutes of delight!

On the flip side, Annie hates it.  So I don't get to blast it all day everyday like I want.  I do, however, wish the cat did a bit more, but I'll settle for the sweet music.  (And fart sounds... digitized farting is the new auto tune)

if I must

I got my "final reminder" email yesterday that my REI dividend would be disappearing at the end of the month if I don't use it up.  Well, you don't really have to twist my arm too much... First, I did have to consult our financial advisor over here (Annie) to ensure we didn't need anything more important from REI.  Sure enough, we didn't have any pressing business with REI.

So, I was put up to the task of reviewing their bicycle offerings that would suit my newest acquisition.  After a thorough combing it came down to an easy decision, I'll be receiving my new crankset for the One9 on December 19th.  Not only was this purchase less then what I had envisioned for my build, but I also got a substantial discount (and FREE shipping) due to my dividend.  

I'll leave the details vague... mainly so I'll have more to talk about later.  But I'm psyched to finally have a part coming specifically for the singlespeed build, and for the opportunity to actually install the first part for the One9.

The following is hypothetical:

If I can get enough parts together maybe I can even race the One9 for the Winter Series...