last minute chaos

time to roll the co trail!
should be epic.
40lbs of gear, 23lbs of bike, 8lbs of water.
maybe too much, but the more i eat and drink the lighter the load gets.
until the next re-supply.
beauty and grandeur of the high mtns will hopefully dispel feelings of sufferation.
i'm stoked to find-out!
but will desperately miss seneca and jenn while away.
and that's a good thing.
when getting home is as good as the journey's away.

fat man on a bicycle

I've been riding fully loaded, testing-out the panniers, looking for weaknesses. Andy mentioned that any gear strapped-down is bound to fall-off, couldn't agree more after 4 days of rides. I slapped 35lbs of random stuff (a dictionary, clothes, a hammer, you know, whatever was laying about in my garage) into the panniers for testing, plus the panniers weigh 5lbs. the weight feels fine on climbs if you like pedaling at 3mph in the grannie gear while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and dive-bombed by horse flies, but on loose logging roads and technical singletrack it's pain - a little taste of what it must feel like to be a fat man on a bicycle. pain.

My goal is to sort through my gear and get the weight down to under 30 (including the panniers, food, and water) before the trip. I'm more than a bit jealous w/Glenn and Tim's special ultra-light panniers made from sail cloth. My Arkel panniers are tough to rationalize, but they sure are sweet! they pop on and off in seconds, have fully waterproof interior sacks, full side zips, side pocket for camelback, top pocket for tools, outer shell for wet smelly stuff to dry... but they weigh 5lbs!

I realized I don't need a front rack, but am thinking about slapping it on in case we need to haul a case of beer or a pizza from a town into the backcountry... maybe i'm just being silly, but it seems like a damn good reason!

Got a HUGE hook-up from Brad Beveridge yesterday, his Fox 29'er fork w/the proper offset for my bike - an $800 borrow. I owe big brad in a big way. The nerves and tendons in my hands are gonna be thanking Brad for yrs to come for not having to do the CO Trail rigid! Years ago, it was Brad who introduced me to Andy, Justin, and Daren, opening-up the north shore ride scene to me - those guys taught me how to ride a bicycle - and are still doing me huge favors today.

group ride

w/the co trail ride looming, the thursday afternoon group ride out of stark mtn bikes (waitsfield, vt), hit the spot. training can take the fun out of riding, nothing a group ride can't fix. 8 guys on the ride yesterday, solid riders and peoples, but one casualty, hope everything's ok there. a lack of rain has the trails riding insanely fast - as is the new Ti Deluxe 29'er. a cpl long technical descents i'd hold back on when alone i could take some chances on last night and it was great! the 29'er rolls over so much more, handles well in the corners, and at speed the rigid fork flexes a bunch more. was able to follow the squishy bikes down, something i'd never have been able to do on the 26'er rigid - and usually not on the 26'er w/80mm up front. i am 100% sold on the 29'er - it's the shit! i also slapped a carbon bar and a 2.3 wtb exiwolf tire up front, they both helped absorb the bumps making last night's ride one of the best fully rigid rides i've ever been on! thanks guys. (should have taken a few pics besides the above pic of the final rays of the day, next time).

been doing some loaded rides on the 29'er for the trail; only the essentials:

cpl more rides before shipping this bad boy off to denver... really should test those panniers soon! but can't quite commit to the weight they represent. still thinking i should switch to two waterproof sacks...