Why the Dirtbomb was meant to be.

Six hours in the saddle, sun, sleet, wind, rain, darkness, paved roads, dirt roads, fire roads, singletrack, sand, dust, silt, mud, and even slick rock, all concluding with a collapse from exhaustion. I used to be fond of quoting Robert Ives when I said "I may not be the fastest person on a bike, but I can suffer better than anybody." After yesterday, I realized I'm not all that great at suffering either.

You missed the first one....

But there are at least 4 more in the series. Not for the faint of heart.  Or for type A buttholes.

 

january gravel

is generally alot like december gravel. bike shown is a holy roller drop bar soulcraft dream bike come real set up fixie and with nerd touring tires for a ride in NW iowa. 4200ft of climbing in a 60 mile loop. us lincolnites lengthened it a bit by commuting to the ride from bellevue which is just south of omaha. ride left from the new(er) pedestrian bridge from omaha to council bluffs in iowa. it's the only pedestrian bridge in the country that connects two states. thanks as usual to cornbread for the pics. hes good at it. i am not.

Ride your BIKE!

Yes, the temperatures here in San Jose has done nothing except to beckon one to the bike! Here is how my Saturday equated.

Day off+sleep in+late breakfast (danishes from Fleur de Cocoa - thanks Nikola!)+coffee+several hours of riding+music+yoga+beer+wine+Sweet Mango for dinner+friends+movies=happy!

Oh, and before logging out - props to WTB for the saddle. I am liking my new Deva, and I am tough egg to crack when it comes to changing anything bike related once I know it works. Especially if it works well.

CHEERS!

My 15 minutes is here....

For a couple weeks in November, Mike Evans was out here in the shop filming the making of a Soulcraft frame.  Now my secrets are out.  He did a killer job.  Hope you enjoy it.


FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

'Arybody has they own kind of winter, and a shameless thank you..

Now lookie here... The weather around these parts has been down right frightful. To celebrate the deluge of sun and fun, I went all out and gave my baby some new bar wrap. They say you can't wear white after Labor Day, but nowhere does it mention that your bike can not.

I would also like to take an opportunity to thank one of our team sponsors (if the Bad News Bears can be a team, then by god, so can we). The sponsor in question is GU, and among all of the other amazing products they make, they are responsible for an item that is hands down, and bar none, the best thing that has ever come down my pipe in terms of energy delivering consumables. Their line of Chomps, and most especially their blueberry/pomegranate flavor has rescued me from epic bonks, sugar crashes, and the worst kind of hangover.
Thank you GU. You have saved me from myself more times than I care to recognize.

Winterness

It's finally snowing in Flagstaff, so there's not much riding happening. Cross-country skiing, instead, with the occasional trip to Sedona.
My best friend from college, Leif, came to visit, and it was good to ride with him. He's the one who introduced me to mtn biking in the first place, and he's from Bodega so he's also the one who told me about Soulcraft all those years ago :)