Chubby MoFo

Back In the Saddle

2010-10-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

No, not that damned Aerosmith song...I am back in the saddle of a mountain bike again. It also seems that I have (again and again and again) been neglecting the Blog world. New things in life:

The kid that I own is 16 months old, walking and talking all sorts of crazy
I am in a bowling league on Thursday nights....my average is nothing to rave about
I am the proud new owner of a 2008 Specialized S-Works Enduro SL Carbon

I have a few things that I need to "fine tune" on the 'ol S-Works rig, but all in all it is a sweet, sweet rig that will be getting some use before the snow falls. The "list" on the Enduro is going to look something like:

Completely disassemble and overhaul the pivots
Tear down the fork and shock in order to replace the seals, bushings, etc
New cables and jacket
Overhaul the Juicy Ultimate brakes (Juicys are notorious for sticky pistons)

I Cant Handle This Bullshit

2010-08-09T18:20:00.001-07:00

Fork showed in the mail today, and all of its oil was everywhere but inside of its legs. I am seriously so beyond sick and tired of people lying through their fucking teeth when selling their stuff...I mean really, how tough is it to be a decent human being?? I have bought/sold an ass-load of stuff on Ebay and have never ONCE had a problem with anyone...then the last couple of things I have scouted have been complete and utter nightmares. To say it bluntly, I'm pretty fucking sick of it. It really isn't that hard to list what "problems" the item your are selling has so the person on the other end has been informed of it and can then make a confident purchase. So here I sit in the same god damned spot I was before...with a jacked up fork that I can NOT ride on. This just reaffirms the fact that people generally equal shit. Maybe tomorrow will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

"new" bike

2010-07-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

So a couple of you have had to hear me bitch and whine about how the new (to me) bike that I just picked up has a whack ass fork and headset in it. Well, the headset is an easy (and by easy I mean cheap) fix....but a new fork, is NOT so cheap.....at least for me because I like nice shit. Anyway, I managed to find myself a bad ass NOS Manitou Sherman Jumper fork and not to mention....wait for it....its.....Winter Camouflage "color". This is a pretty awesome find actually, considering they are looked at as the best jumping fork ever made. Should be enjoying life on two wheels soon again!

Park Tool Professional Stand

2010-07-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have myself a dank Park Tool repair stand that I would like to sell to someone, as I don't really use it near as much as I figured I would. The stand is a PRS-3 OS2 model...single arm, super burly, will hold any bike you could ever strap onto this hog. These guys retail in the high 4's to low 5's depending and the freight charge could choke a donkey...buy mine for $200, or trade me that sweet ass analog delay pedal collecting dust in your closet, word.

Also, I have a Thule rack that once sat atop of a Honda Pilot that I am looking to part with because....wait for it, wait for it....we traded the Pilot for an Accord. Rack setup includes: 52'' load bars, foot kit, two (2) Criterium stand up trays (the top of the line Thule makes) a 13 cubic foot bag, and a medium sized fairing with only the finest manufacturers stickers. The whole schmere is $400.....better than the $719.45 it retails for. Anything of interest? Holla at cha boy.

New Toy(s) redux

2010-07-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

Although I was very excited to get a hold of a nice Telecaster from a gentleman from the City of Angels, I had a feeling deep inside that things would get complicated. Story goes like so: I am the master of spending lots of time on the interwebz finding the best shit for the cheapest-ish price....which is how I found my Telecaster. A nice (at least I assume he's nice) fellow named Larry who is from Los Angeles was selling his 1997 Tele Standard with various electrical and cosmetic upgrades for a price that was about $50 or so dollars less than anyone else out there...not to mention that I talked him into shipping it to me for an extra $25. The upgrades on said Tele were a new Seymour Duncan hot wound Humbucker that fits in a single coil routed mount, as well as a matching hot wound single coil in the neck position....other upgrades were a super nice aftermarket pick guard. After talking "shop" a bit, Larry explained that he builds his own tube amplifiers and ships everywhere which leads me to believe he has packaging down to a science (which he actually did after inspection). Now the part where this turns to shit...a little anyway.

I wait 5 days and a large box shows up on my front porch. I open the box and spend about 20 mins taking the stellar packing job apart and finally get to the guitar. I am so excited to play it I check the tuning quick and realize that there isnt a tuning machine for the High E string....its in the bottom of the box. Upon further inspection of the Tele I find that the guitar is NOT exactly what I was told it was. The Tele was some crazy ass version that was not a Thru Body strung model and instead of having the nice ass bronze compensated saddles it has some whack hard tail with surface rusted hardware....pissed. Not only were parts on the Tele "funny", but the pickups (which are Seymour Duncans) are actually some other model which isn't too big of a let down but still not what I was buying. The body of the guitar has some gnarly marks on it and the fasteners for the electronics are a bunch of crazy ass shit that should NOT be used on a guitar....let alone screwing together some A-holes rigged up compost bin in their backyard.

All in all, I happen to be friends with a gentleman who plays guitar for (and is an experienced guitar tech for) Janitor Bob and the Armchair Cowboys so all is not lost. Worst part about this whole thing is that I have to deal with UPS's claims department....which I would rather rip my penis off and throw it in the woods than have to do. Here's to buying shit that you can actually put your hands on before you buy and transport yourself...

The New Toy(s)

2010-06-22T16:01:00.001-07:00

Fender Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue and a Peavey Classic 50 4 x 10

Brief Hiatus

2010-06-22T15:48:00.001-07:00

Well hello again world, it has been a while. First off by "brief hiatus" I do not mean that I have taken some time away from wearing briefs....well, it technically could because I don't wear those ball constrictors anyway but....I digress. A few things have happened since the last post I made 2 or so months ago. Most important happening was that I am no longer an employee of Harlans Bike and Tour, nothing to speak of there it is what it is. I now work for a pork producer that offers me 10-17.5k more a year plus benefits ( I say 10-17.5 because there is a monthly bonus that is included at my place of business) ...its a bit of a drive but its fast paced work and has caused me to lose 12.3 lbs in my first 3 weeks of working there....bonus #2.

My last post was about Black Hills Fat Tire Festival so here is the skinny....we drove 5 hours, drank massive amounts of Busch Light, Miller High Life and managed to find 40oz PBR....score! The riding was dank as usual, was able to ride some cool shit that I would have never assumed was tucked away up in those Hills....Jason Jonas is hard at work building our 2nd installment of videos for the annual trip. One really bummer-ish side note about this was that I recently parted ways with the RFX....had some things that needed attending to and selling the rig was the smartest way to go about it. I did however pick myself up a nice Fender Telecaster and a tone-filled Peavey Classic 50 tube amp with 4 ten inch speakers to take up some of my time. I will pick myself up another dirt slaying monster, it will just be a bit later down the road...no biggie!

Lastly, the puny human that I call Ainsley just had her 1st birthday on June the 18th....we headed to Mitchell for a fun weekend of camping, sipping of brews and watching the kid go haywire on a massive cup cake.

Fat Tire Festival

2010-04-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

So the Black Hills Fat Tire Festival is nearing....a handful more weekends and it will be time for me to get destroyed in the black mountain hills of Dakota. Last year I was unable to make this as my daughter was slated to show sometime around those dates....not this year, this year I have the green light so its game on. Lodging will be handled by Mr. Ross Sailor as his backyard can handle tents, otherwise dear ol dad lives there and would be more than happy to let a haggard crew of mountain bikers kick it in his oversized backyard....not to mention his hot water never goes away, he has a Rinnai. All in all I will be hotly anticipating this weekend of good times.

Ponca Nebraska

2010-04-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday was such a nice day that a group of us decided that Ponca Nebraska was going to the be place that would get assaulted by a grouping of AM / FR bikes. 5 dudes packed up the Silver Bullet (Adams V70R) and headed on down. The trails down there are fan freaking tastic with the occasional tree or log in the way...seems it was a bit early for the parks people to get on top of trail maintenance. All was well though, as we ripped the place up and even managed to see Dana Dane pull of a crazy line on some boat docks that were lined up on the asphalt. One great day, that will lead to many many more great days!

The Mighty HammerSchmidt

2010-04-11T07:30:00.001-07:00

So in my endless pursuit to make a great bike "better" I ordered up a Truvativ HammerSchmidt. The HammerSchmidt (if you aren't familiar) is Truvativ's way to revolutionize the crankset by basically combining a single ring crank that functions as a double (utilizing a Planetary and Sun gear setup) and a chain guide. Upon opening the box, I was a bit intimidated by all of the "crap" that it contained. All in all the install was actually very easy and looks super clean once installed. The most noticeable difference with the setup is the fact that you can shift whenever and however you want....pedaling backwards? it shifts....hit a massive kicker and are 30 feet in the air? it shifts.....want to pedal backwards while flying 30 feet in the air and let out a 20 second 3 octave fart? it shifts. The second most noticeable attribute to the 'ol Schmidt is the clearance....loads upon loads upon loads of clearance, in fact...there is a video of a rider rolling right over a 36" tall tree stump and he doesn't touch the crank. At the end of the day I am done messing with this bike....I swear. Time to put all sorts of mileage on it.

Holy Sheep Shit

2010-04-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well I'll be a monkeys uncle...is that dirt on my bike?!? Real, actual, makes things dirty dirt.....why yes, yes it is. Me and my homie (yeah, I said homie) Dana Dane took our "you could jump off of a roof and not bother the suspension too much" bikes out to Newton Hills. I know, Newton is boring with the exception of a hill or 2 that pisses you off but hey...its close and I have NOT been able to ride on anything yet so....it works. Dana Dane (see above) recently wrangled himself a sweet, sweet long travel trail rig by the name of Zealot....which hails from the Brodie clan. If you have not heard of Brodie, look em up...those crazy ass Canadians in BC know what they are doing when it comes to bikes that you shouldn't be riding at Newton Hills. At any rate, Dana and myself thoroughly enjoyed the hiking trails that start at the Lookout Tower. I ran into a choice dude at Newton as well, good ole Mike Eggebraten...who was in tow with a certain Kluck character as well as a few guys from Scheels. All in all, today was quite honestly the perfect day to ride and I could only dream of a place that has that sort of climate on a daily basis....365 days a year.

Riding Again

2010-03-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (wednesday) was my first real day of riding again. I had an appointment with dear Dr. Bell that was supposed to be my last and as it turned out it was. It felt great to get back on a bike after so damned long. The Van Dessel that I am riding feels like a rocket with the 42:16 gearing that I am running...plans are to take this pig on LBL as well. All in all it was a successful day on a bike.

Surly In Cans

2010-03-16T21:38:00.001-07:00

A few people already heard me run my mouth about how Surly is now available to liquor stores in 4-pack pints on my Facebook page....so I'm going to open my mouth again....here. Surly is available in So Dak in the 4-pack pint configuration. The liquor store that I lend a hand at has NOT brought any into the store yet, but....I have voiced my concern about said situation and it is being taken care of. Surly shall flow from TNT very, very soon. I have a pretty good idea that my paycheck will probably be turned into Coffee Bender or any of the others to choose from on a regular basis. Joy!

Commuter Style

2010-03-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

For a while now I have only had one, yes one, bike. In an attempt to build up a spectacular mountain slaying machine, I aborted the other bikes that I owned and built up a Turner RFX. In recent news, I have found myself a nice little rig by the name of Country Road Bob. CRB (as I will call him from now on) is a single speed 'cross / commuter / do-it-all rig that the fine people at Van Dessel manufacture. I have been so lucky as to find myself a CRB that does NOT have the goofy ass "s-shaped" down tube...which in my humble opinion looks like a bicycle that did not heed the warnings and decided to keep living on Three Mile Island. All in all, this thing will be stiff as Skeeters Peter (yeah, a Cheech and Chong reference) after I give it the little bit of love that it deserves. Looks like I will NOT have to borrow a bike for LBL after all. Carry on.

Flandreau

2010-03-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

So in an attempt to go out and do something different Angie and I went to Flandreau. I know, that wasn't really all that different considering its a pretty common thing for most people in So Dak to do. The main reason was to go and eat some cow at Mad Mary's steakhouse. I will say (although I'm not a huge steak eater) that the 7 oz Sirloin and 1/4 rack o ribs special for $13.99 was well worth the $13.99. The ribs had a wicked good sauce on them and the sirloin was covered with mushrooms and onions, so life was good. We did unfortunately donate about $40 worth of quarters to the Native Americans who own said casino, so....we have that going for us.

Whatev

2010-03-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

So although my 'stache kicked all of the asses of other 'staches in the area...I decided to let it go. I was actually creeped out more than anyone else, I mean c'mon.....every morning waking up and forgetting its on my face until I look in the mirror. Anyway, in other news...I have been hitting up the gym on this ridiculous machine I call my ankle. It actually feels really great to ride a stationary bike, although boring as all hell. The best part is sitting in the sauna and/or the hot tub...probably not too smart as probably every unwashed ball sack in the place has probably touched that water...which has touched my incision line, shudder. All in all, things are progressing...Fat Tire Festival in Spearfish here I (and Adam and Jason and Dana and Dusty and Porter) come.

Almost Forgot

2010-03-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Now, I do know that being within a couple hundred yards of a school looking like this is a horrible idea but.....its Mustache March, put up or shut up.

Ankle Update

2010-03-01T18:15:00.001-08:00

So since I have nothing else to bore you people with I will toss this nugget of goodness out there...I can walk without the assistance of crutches. Now, to most of you this is of no concern because...well...who cares right? Well, to me this was rad to say the least....although I HAVE been a shitty patient and decided to bear weight on this stupid thing a week or so early (think me with WAYYYYY too many beers in me hobbling through the really fun night at QBP). At any rate, I am told that I have 4 weeks of using the boot on a daily basis before I can walk all terrible-like in a regular shoe. The only good thing about this experience is that people treat you like you have a handicap tag tattooed on your forehead...score! Aside from that, the worst part is telling the weak ass story 1.3 million times. Well, I am going to go walk on the treadmill for a mile or so since we have one of those contraptions now....next, I am trying for a stationary bike like the Schwinn Pro or something cool like that...you know, so I don't break my other ankle...

Bike Swap Tomorrow

2010-02-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Just like the title says...Bike Swap Tomorrow, show up with your cool, not so cool and downright shitty stuff...one mans trash is another mans treasure. Its for a great cause, putting some dank ass single track in this city crafted by some people who call themselves FAST. Join FAST as well, there will be sign up sheets at said Bike Swap along with some T-Shirts that you might remember having seen before that will go towards the project as well. I'll be there along with my co-worker Sean (I'll be the fat guy with the beard that only goes to 3 now) so say hello and buy some cool shit from somebody down there.

Neighborhood Meeting # 2

2010-02-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

There isn't anything I can put here that you don't know if you were there....and most of you who follow me were. Here is my contribution:

When (more like if) I make it to the age(s) of the upset patrons of the Leaders Park Area Township Regional Section thing, I will NOT be crotchety...below is a list of things I will do and / or have:

1. Bikes in my garage that get ridden daily
2. A sweet old picnic table that I WILL let you turn over and ride down the sledding hill
3. Yard Gnomes in terrible poses (think awkward sexual or Gnome Nativity)
4. A wife with a "weight problem" who will still sunbathe without a monster fence, because she doesn't really give a shit
5. Beers...really cold ones that as long as you look 14 you can have

Dig it.

Frostbike 2010

2010-02-21T18:43:00.001-08:00

Just got home from Frostbike....ok well, I got home about 4:45 but I digress. This was my first Frostbike experience and I must say that it was more fun than a barrel of monkeys...really. Frostbike is sweet because you can walk around a huge warehouse full of distributors who actually want you to talk to them (unlike Interbike) and let you play around with all of their new (and current) shit! I would have to say that the coolest people there were the Surly guys and girls which is a no brainer but I would also say that Woody from Hope was also a bad ass dude as well. All in all it was a great trip that really got my blood boiling for another year of building cool bikes and fixing some shitty ones. The real highlight of the trip was this morning at Cane Creeks headset seminar. Not only did we get to learn some really valuable information about Cane Creeks line and their expertise BUT we were also given a sample kit which included a FREE 110 headset. For those of you who are unaware of the 110, it is literally the BEST headset that money can buy...no joke. My years of being a mouth piece of Chris King headsets has fallen the wayside. Don't get me wrong, King and his people are masters of machining and hands down have the best bearings that you can drop coin on BUT where they fall short is the lack of the split compression ring that they don't want to pay Cane Creek to use. All said and done, the o-ring system that King uses in place of the split compression ring likes to distort and lets the cup smash into your steerer tube over and over again causing scoring...which is NOT good. I will however be putting a Chris King bottom bracket on my bike (if I don't spring for Hopes ceramic one first).

Less steel, same amount of Ti

2010-02-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

Had an appointment to kick it with my Orthopedic Surgeon today in order to harvest the staples that were at the time holding my skin together. Just as I assumed, the procedure went off without a hitch so that makes one more small step for healing kind. Although I am a few ounces lighter minus the 29 staples, I still have this (and will continue until I'm a dead man) Titanium stuff holding my bones straight. Good news is I only have 3-4 weeks of crutches left....bad news is, I still have 3-4 more weeks of crutches left. The world keeps turning, so I'll keep bitching.

Baby-less

2010-01-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend our kid was taken out to the west side of the state which left us with some time do "whatever the hell we want". Friday night for no good reason we decided to go out to the Red Eye bar for a beer or two, which was decent. Saturday night was Ang's work christmas party out at Dakota Vision Center....this is a good time. The mother of an employee whipped up a MASSIVE schmorgasbord of excellent food and I also managed to find myself more than a few Amstel's at the bottom of the cooler....not too shabby. The night ended with a small group of us going to Woodys Bar....the new Liebrary replica across from the Thirsty Duck. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised....it wasn't exactly how it thought it was going to be and actually had some patrons who hold doors for crippled types (a.k.a. ME). A couple of Blue Moons with orange slices went down nicey nice (high five) and all was well.

Lee Majors

2010-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

Today was my day to have the busted ass ankle that I own fixed. Check in time was 9:45 am at the Sanford Surgical Tower, which led to an IV and some TV watching. At roughly 11:30 I was wheeled into the operating room and I hopped up onto the table with youthful abandon. The next couple of minutes were the strange ones. An anesthetist explained how a drug to make me drowsy was coursing through my veins as we spoke and as the mask pumping pure O2 was put over my mouth I was told to take in a few deep breaths. It only took two breaths for my face to start tingling and in an attempt to be a complete smart ass I attempted to give the ol' Borat two thumbs up and say "nicey nice"....I'm pretty sure I managed to get out "ni.......". The cool and/or goofy thing about being put under is how you manage to lose so much time...I mean, one second I'm on the table and it seems like 3 seconds later I am in Recovery talking stupid to the wall....when in all actuality its been over an hour and I have what looks like a caterpillar for a leg. All in all, with all of the new additions to my ankle area you all might as well start calling me Col. Steve Austin.

No good...no good at all

2010-01-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Things have been going pretty well lately with finished projects and plenty of things going on at work. I guess I should have figured that something bad would happen. On my way out the door to work a shift at TNT earlier tonight, I managed to find a small patch of ice on the last step that caused me to snap my ankle like a twig. That was by far the most pain I have EVER felt in my existence and was actually the first bone(s) I have broken in my 28 years on this planet. The Medial and Lateral Malleolus suffered fractures and need to be repaired via titanium pins....joy. At the moment I am feeling OK, as the Vicodin is coursing my my brain. Do yourself a favor and salt the hell out of any area that might be icy in your neck of the woods.

Finito

2010-01-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished the Project RFX and I must say, I am certainly happy with the results.

The build was a bit different than originally planned, but I think its also a bit BETTER than planned so...here goes:

2006 Turner RFX in British Racing Green
2010 Fox Van R shock
2007 Fox Talas 36 RC2 fork (20mm) w/upgraded Enduro seals
Hayes Stroker Trail hydros (8") w/ upgraded Goodridge steel braided lines
XT rear derailleur and shifters
LX front derailleur
Thomson setback post topped off with a Brooks Swift
Race Face Diabolous crankset w/ Dangerboy toothed bash guard
Hadley Racing hubs laced to DT Swiss EX5.1D hoops via DT Swiss spokes
Continental Rubber Queen tires in 2.4 width
Oury grips on a Syncros Gain riser bar all hooked to a Hozfeller stem
FSA Pig heavy duty headset

My favorite part of the bike is the bolt on thru axle for the rear, should stiffen things up nicely back there. Now....to ride it! On a side note, the Surly Karate Monkey that was once mine....will be mine once again. It never ends.

Alive-ness

2010-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

It seems I have fallen off of the radar AGAIN for an extended period of time, shit'll happen. At present things have been a bit busy in life...I have taken a second "fun" job as a liquor jockey at TNT Liquor in the Eastway Center. Aside from the second job I have been trying to find things to do at the shop (along with everyone else) as its somewhat slow. Lately I have been painting anything that looks like poop and changing it to Battleship Gray, not to mention putting the finishing touches on Project RFX. The 'ol Turner shaped up to be a bit different than the original list had it looking...but things are nice; I have all of the parts in hand with exception on the wheelset that should be showing up sooner rather than later. Much like Snakebite, my cronies and I have built up a list of spring/summer/fall type goodness involving two knobby tires...below is the list of things that are somewhat concrete:

may 14-16: FAST kick off (ie tim mutha truckin wegner)

---------------------

may 28-31: Black Hills Fat Tire Festival (BHFTF) http://www.bhfattirefestival.com/

--depart fri am / return sun pm

--stay at ross's or ant's pop's (ie free lodgin)

--enjoyin the culture of new belgium and the free guide service of ross sailor

--only payin for food and brews while gas is split 4-ways (volvo or taurus x)

--ant, jonas, adam, dana...?

--bee n friends may join from wy

---------------------

june 17-20:

june 24-27: CO Front Range

--depart wed pm / return sun pm

--stay at scottie j's (ie free lodgin)

--meet with COMBA (similar to FAST)?

--ride Buffalo Creek and other infamous trails

--ant, jonas, adam, jon r, ross...?

--bee n friends may join from wy

----------------------

july 16-18: MORC trail ridin

--stay at Adams humble abode (ie free lodgin)

--ride Leb, Murph, Teddy, Afton, Hillside, etc...

--ant, jonas, chad (bee's lil bro), jon r, pierson, mikesee, etc...?

----------------------

august 27-29: Salsa 2-4 http://www.salsa24fest.com/

--stay at Adams humble abode (ie free lodin)

--registration is approx $85 prior to July 1st (goes towards MORC and get free socks and t-shirt)

--must bring all gear; night, cold, rain, summer, sleeping, etc...

--convince manya fans from sufu to join in the festivities

--ant, jonas, adam, pierson...?

So gnaw on that chunk o fatness and feel free to come join the good guys and help bring home the big win (my Full Metal Jacket way of saying "come along").

I Is Still Alive

2009-10-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

So I have been a ghost on this here blog for quite a while. I have been pretty busy with work, a baby and other extraneous ventures but alas I have popped back up on the radar. I have been biding my time being the shops Ebay boy which is enough to make me want to eat a bullet (turns out the moron to normal person ratio is way the hell out of whack there) not to mention guiding the puny human to greatness. Although things are fast and furious arond the MoFo's house, he still has found time to rejoice with more forward progress on my latest (and greatest) venture: Project Turner RFX. The Turner is my first suarez with the "boutique" market and so far I have been happy with the idea of building one up to punish. So far my parts box contains so: (1) Fox Talas 36 in turd brown, (1) pair of Hayes Stroker Trail 8'' hydraulics in pearl white, (1) RaceFace Diabolus crankset (holy freaking pretty), (1) XTR cassette.

Parts to follow soon:
(1) Crank Brothers DirectSet headset
(1) Easton Monkeylite AM bar and stem
(1) Azonic Outlaw wheelset in grey anodized
(1) Pair of Tomac signature Nevegal tires
(1) Shimano SLX front derailleur (for double)
(1) Shimano SLX rear derailleur
(1) Salsa Tooth Fairy <-----look this thing up once, its pretty legit
(1) Pair of Oury grips
(1) Brooks swift saddle in antique brown
(1) Thomson seatpost in silver

I think thats the plan anyway, that was a mouthful...

Black Hills Action

2009-08-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

So a group of gents that included Adam, Dana, Brandon, Cam, Jason and myself went to this awesome place that some of you might know as the Black Hills. Our trip departed on Friday the 7th and by the days end we had traveled 350 miles and ridden quite a few miles of single track on the marvelous project known as M-Hill. M-Hill (if you haven't heard of it) is a large undeveloped area in downtown Rapid City that has tons of elevation and on most every inch of its trails you can take a totally legit picture....I HIGHLY recommend you get yourself there. Aside from the first day of our mini vaca, we managed to get ourselves onto the Tinton Trail which is a bastard of a climb but a super fun and technical downhill. Also on the docket was a trip up to the famed Bone Collector. The ride along BC was nearing dusk and just for added measure we managed to get a wicked downpour for a good 5 minutes. There will be pictures of this monument of a journey in the near future, once we get pictures from two different cameras compiled and put to disc.

Its Been A While

2009-07-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

So it has been quite a while since my last rant on this thing called Chubby MoFo. Since where I last left off (stitches in the leg piece) I have been a busy little guy. First order of business has been helping along the puny human that cries, pukes and poops in order to help her grow up to be one of the huddled masses like the rest of us. Aside from Ainsley (and work) I decided to put the DH bike on Ebay, which sold, and instead pay off the stitches in my leg (see previous) as well as stockpile a bit of cash for the upcoming debauchery on the 7th, 8th and 9th of August (a MTB trip to the Black Hills).

I also figured I would drop a line or two about the Bianchi SOK 29er that I have been upgrading and riding. As it turns out, WTB's SpeedDisc line of wheels are complete shit...in an honest to Buddha JRA moment my front wheel tacoed to beat hell and sent me over the bars, mind you, I have ridden the thing twice...no jumping or pissing around on it, bow-shit if I say so myself. With that in mind I did pick up a set of Mavic TN719D hoops laced to XT hubs...nicey nice!! I did however find out that Bianchi is going to warranty the wheel so I will have a back up wheelset...neat. Aside from that, the SOK is getting a SRAM X.O makeover in the shifter area (and soon the rear der) thanks to John at Origin-8 and a Shitmano XTR front derailleur...life is good.

Why DH bikes are stupid

2009-06-30T20:41:00.001-07:00

Sike

2009-06-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Ha, I lied...I bought a White Brothers Fluid 29, should be here Monday as should the Avid Elixir CR brakes that are replacing the bunk ass Juicy 7's that the SOK had on it.

A note on hydraulic disc brakes: If you decide to go with Juicy 7's you will either A.) Fucking hate them because they lose pressure for no good reason at the worst possible time or B.) Love them because yours were not bunk like the last two sets I had and love how powerful and how great the modulation is...hope yours is situation B. At any rate...I hope to be on my 29er by next week.

Rock Shox Reba SL

2009-06-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to sell the Rock Shox Reba SL 29 fork off of the Bianchi SOK 29er that I recently bought. I was battling with the decision of whether I wanted to go the White Brothers Magic 29 route or the Fox F29 route. Well, it seems as though the Fox F29 has won me over....much mulling over and research led me to the decision. I have heard great things about the Magic fork (thanks Snakebite) but Fox seems to have won this round. With that said, anybody know anybody that could use a perfect condition Reba SL?? $300 takes it, as well as a 160mm avid rotor and the adaptor.

Audi Five Thousand

2009-06-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

We made it out of the hospital on Sunday, finally.... At any rate, we had a group of people at the house and lunch ready when we got there. Felt to good to be away from the hospital, I heard "you should enjoy the help as much as you can" about 7.4 million times and yes I agree but...at some point WE (angie and I) have to quit crawling and learn how to walk as well. First night was a baby scream fest, but alas we have made it alive and well. Back to getting greasy at Harlans today, something I am looking forward to very much....as it turns out I REALLY enjoy my job and missed it these past 6 days. Well, thats about it for now...I'm sure there will be more harrowing tales of poop, pee and puke in a short while but until then I bid ye farwell.

The Times They Are A Changin'

2009-06-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

Not only an epic song from the past, but also a metaphor for the present circumstances surrounding my life. As it turns out my fiance Angie and I created a puny human and she decided to come into the world this morning at 12:20 a.m. The puny human is named Ainsley Aaron Muller and is (and already have actually) changing my life in a major way. I will still enjoy all of the things that make life great ie: full sus mountain bikes, hardtail mountain bikes...well bikes in general and beer of course. A great variable has been added and will make the above things even sweeter considering they will come a bit more "few and far between" nowadays. This little creature came into this world via Cessarian Section which was an awkward thing to witness but left me a 240 pound bawling baby....high five! I p0nder the future of this lifeform, like: is she going to dig Roxer the Boxer? is she going to be a funny pain in the ass like me? is she going to dig bikes? <---- duh...shes my offspring. I see this girl as a bad ass Rachael Atherton clone who rolls up on a Commencal with a huge Fox 40 on the front, will it happen...doubt it, but it would be awesome!

What the public wants..the public gets!

2009-06-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

As it turns out the public would like to see the carnage of my recent ride down the Corp of Discovery trail. Here is what I have compiled:

Your Handlebars

2009-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

A recent (and a first for us both) trip to Ponca State Park for Adam and I led me to one very evident fact...handlebars are really strong. What led me to this fact you may ask...the golf ball sized bump on my right cheek and the ugly purplish-reddish black eye that I have now. The story goes like this:

There happens to be a really sweet trail at Ponca called "Corps of Discovery", this particular trail has a few really nice "optional" routes that involve you dropping in pretty gnarly-like and make it fun. About 40 yards from the exit of this trail there is an optional route that leads you up to a large mound where you roll over two exposed tree roots and then down a steep decline...which I decided to take. Not only did I decide to take this optional route, but I figured I would take the part that is a sheer 8 foot drop instead of a steep ramp down....well, the Norco loved it but apparently the bars didnt like the idea and swatted me in the face.

This experience was that of a learning one actually. This is what I learned: Although it is imperitive to spot your landing, once you have it spotted do yourself a favor and get your weight over the saddle....not the bars. Also I learned that the digger didnt hurt near as much as I assumed it would, therefore....I will probably get hurt worse sometime in the future. At any rate, Ponca rules and I highly recommend this wonderland.

The Gravity Beast

2009-05-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

So here is that wacky gravity rig I spoke of last post. It looks a bit different now (only 4 hours later) as its missing a rear shock and a chain...two problems which will be solved in the not so distant future.

Never Good Enough

2009-05-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

So as it turns out I go through bikes like some sort of "bike pimp" (at least thats what Adam calls me) and I have wrangled myself another beast. This time I have moved around some resources and picked up an unlikely candidate...a Downhill rig. I know, I know..."where are you going to ride that" and "did you have a dumbass attack" has already been tossed my way, well...here is the deal: As fate would have it, my old man happens to live in Rapid City and Angies mom is going to soon enough be a resident of Piedmont...which will lead to us going out there at least once a month with the baby coming.

In preparation for the monster I purchased (it should be here by wednesday of next week) I bought myself a pretty group of Race Face armor and a stellar 661 full faced helmet, so this ought to be really really good....or really really bad. Oh, I almost forgot...the rig I am picking up is a 2007 Norco A-Line with a 200mm Marzocchi 888 in front and a freshly ordered 2010 Fox DHX RC4 soaking up by big ass in the back...hopefully this overkill beast of mine will be on some Leaders Park runs in the not so distant future!

Bike 2 Work Day 'n Stuff

2009-05-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

So the Sioux Falls Bike 2 Work Day pancake feed was a successful venture this last Friday morning, Sean G. even suckered me into getting up at 4am and help him set up and man the Harlan's table....all in all, another good thing for cycling in the Sioux. Aside from that, the Bunyan's 2 Bobs ride is quickly approaching...I'm sure it will be a good one as well. Speaking of B2B, I hope I am able to make it to be quite honest....the human being that is in Angie's ever expanding belly is scheduled to make an appearance somewhere near the June 4th date, expect to see this guy tugging a KHS kid trailer behing the 'check. On a side note, SAGBilly (aka Jon Ron) and I ran a glorious pub crawl last night and even managed to make it out to Toppers (ex Brass Rail) try that place on for size, I HIGHLY recommend it!

1 Step Closer

2009-04-30T19:50:00.001-07:00

So I stripped down the Vigorelli and have all of the parts stacked neatly in a cardboard box awaiting an out of town guest to hand me cash and make them his. In the meantime, I have my wheelset ideas all ready to take shape...should I build them? ...probably not, thats what Kevin is for. Next on the docket...components!

Chase and some Ultegra to boot...

2009-04-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

So I have decided to sell the Cannondale Chase I recently acquired, as well as the Ultegra group off of my Vigorelli. The whole idea behind the sale of said items is to fund a Campagnolo Centaur group to outfit the Vig. As it turns out I seem to have a problem when it comes to really cool stuff (i.e. Campy, Chris King, etc.) If by chance you know someone who is and/or may be interested in a quality groupset with less than 50 miles on it give me a holler. I posted the group on Craigslist.com
*******************SOLD!!!!!!!!!********************************* Hooty Hoo!

FrankenSingle Lives!!

2009-04-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the newly acquired Single Speed that I was blabbing about at LBL and probably some other occasion....the Centurion LeMans 12. This rig was donated by a customer who did not want to spend the coin to repair it, lucky me! The whole beast was stripped of its Sun Tour Power shifters and a new Shimano 17t freewheel tossed on...ok, I put MKS Lambda pedals on it too. The gearing is set up as a 40, 17 which is super quick and perfect for a Bar Monster. Next on the docket is to switch out the white cable jacket for yellow....because I can.

Post LBL

2009-04-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I have just returned from the dirty south and arguably the funnest weekend I have had in many a year. It went down a little something like this:

Day One:

Friday was merciless, as I looked up at the clock every 15 mins only to realize exactly that...it had only been 15 mins. Once the clock hit 5 bells I was on a tear to get to John Rahns house so we could get on the road to freedom. The drive down was quite scenic through all of the Reservations...one can never really understand how much Native Americans love the sport of basketball until you drive through the Winnebago Reservation. At our stop for the night (Fremont) John and myself thought it a great idea to order up lots of the beautiful concoction you all might know as beer....I pulled up a piece of carpet around Midnight...game over.

Day Two:

John and myself wake up at 6:15am ready to rock and roll and end up cracking our morning beers as soon as we step out of the car in Lincoln. The next hour and a half was full of much beer drinking and listening to the magic tunes of none other than Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine. The day started out with rain so I was prepared to be soaked all day when all of a sudden the clouds parted and we were left with a 65 degree sunny day that could not have been any better! 57 miles of road meandering from Lincoln, NE to Crete, NE where I had some sweet potato fries and a Philly. The ride home didnt happen for John though....his Castro Valley decided to give up the ghost and popped 4 spokes...suck!

Day Two (later):

John and I headed up to Fremont before the rest of the crew and decided to drink a bit at the local eating establishment, which ended up with John trying to buy a farmer a shot of Jose Cuervo...and the farmer deciding that his better judgement would prevail and he happily declined.

All in all there were 11 of us on this glorious ride! I am anxiously awaiting Schnoctobeerfest in October.

LBL

2009-04-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

So I have been waiting for a certain ride to take place, one that is said to be full of fun and shenanigans....yes, I said shenanigans. In the blur that comprises my day I seem to have spaced off the fact that this ride (known as LBL...Lincoln, Beatrice, Lincoln) is THIS weekend. Thanks in whole to the Kernel for jogging my memory, otherwise it would have passed me by and I would have been pissed to say the least. I am short a Single Speed rig anymore so I will be doing this with the 'Check, but hopefully someday soon I will find a worthy frame to once again build up and have myself a single.

Takin' Shots

2009-04-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

So as I made my daily commute to the shop this morning I was struck by a passing vehicle on Cliff Avenue just hardly south of Avera McKennan. I was minding my own business roughly a block or so from work when a passer bys side view mirror hit me in the left shoulder. I did NOT go down somehow, but to add insult to injury the clown in his cage decided that he had better flip me off and honk at me while simultaneously riding the curb all the way to 26th street. By this time I am beside myself pissed and started cranking away trying to catch this car at the red light....as it turns out the gods must have been smiling at this guy and turned the light green. I'm not exactly sure what I would have done had I caught this magnificent specimen of jackassery but I'm sure it would not have been pretty. I claim to be no tough guy but c'mon....almost running someone down on the street and then flipping off and honking at them?!? Keep an eye peeled for a white chevy something or other with a Wisconsin plate...

Cable-less Shifting

2009-04-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today at work a rep who normally comes through pretty regularly decided to show up again today. Not only did the rep decide to show up, but there were visitors in tow. The visitors (from Yakima and Shimano) came in with a new assortment of nice wheelsets as well as a(n) Orbea Orca full carbon road bike equipped with...wait for it, wait for it....electronic shifting. When I first heard of this new electronic shifting I immediately thought to myself "is this really necessary" and after having had a chance to ride a bike equipped with such a thing I am left feeling the same way.

The biggest "attraction" to electronic shifting is being able to shift while under load. The rep who wanted me to try out the Orbea told me to "start sprinting and shift while doing so"...well thats what I did and although the drivetrain did make shifts, it did so with a super-annoying over-the-top clunk!! I will give you the fact that I am a novice biker and mechanic and probably don't know shit but I do know this....if I dropped the coin to pick this stuff up (roughly 2 grand on top of the cost of a Dura Ace kit) and it let out a clunk and a bang everytime I shifted I would be pretty pissed to say the least.

In conclusion, an amusing talk with my pal Clay C about this newfangled shifting setup left me completely stoked with my cable actuated and single geared rigs instead. Hooray for (lack of) technology!

In Full Commute Mode

2009-04-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

So this is the current state of the 'check, basically just transplanted the commuter friendly bits of kit from the Volpe and voila. The first picture is of the new TRP cantilevers that I decided to roll with. At any rate, its time to put a grip of miles on it!

Suck

2009-04-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was supposed to include me going up to Minneapolis / Saint Paul for the Art Crank show...turns out Kevin was heading to Tacoma so I ended up having to stay back. BOO! I feel pretty bad actually because I have made plans to go to those glorious cities more than a few times and hang out with C and his wife, but my plans always manage to fall through! To add insult to injury it snowed like a mad bastard last night...but its cool, its melting like a mad bastard as well. Hopefully we are in store for good weather and good luck on my end!

Stellar Day!

2009-03-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

So Mr. Jon Rahn sent a text of interest to me earlier today...its contents were as such: "riding to Brandon, meet at Sanford" So I decided to try it on for size. All in all Jon Rahn, the Hochstatter and myself rode ourselves to Brandon. On the way the Hochstatter ate shit on a railroad crossing at roughly 16 mph....I felt TERRIBLE for the guy, luckily he only suffered a skinned knee....luck! All in all, the ride took roughly an hour from Sanford to Brandon on the way out...the ride home was only....wait for it, wait for it....22 minutes. Tailwind (and guiness(s) in Brandon) rule!

WOOOOOOT!

2009-03-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

The deal went through! Say hello to my new Cross Check!

New Addition(s) to the Family

2009-03-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

So I ended up striking a deal with a local boy where I traded my Cannondale Scalpel for a Cannondale Chase 1 and an undetermined amount of cash money...all in all it was certainly fair for the both of us....his lightweight body gets a lightweight XC rocket and my fat body gets a super beefy rig to match (which I have upgraded and plan to upgrade more!!!) Aside from said trading of goods...I may be on the receiving end of a Surly Cross Check in the best color they make it in and it has plenty of Campy parts to boot! Pics when (and if) the deal goes through!

Starlight Ride

2009-03-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

So last night 1900 hours at Fawick Park in front of Davids bronze penis we started the Starlight Ride. Earlier the weather had been fairly crappy but I figured "what the hell" and I would ride anyway. As they end of my day at work came closer, magically the sun came out and I knew it was going to be a good ride. There ended up being 11 of us riding the loop last night, with one new-comer which is certainly a good thing.

On a side note: Phil Tau (the shop manager at Harlans) decided that it would be a good idea if Sean, Kevin and myself all teamed up our powers (like some redneck Captain Planet) and did a Leap Frog attack on the Gut Check 212 (www.gutcheck212.com)...looks like I had better get myself on the A train to Hillsville for some training.

Its Spring Today...

2009-03-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Now, I do know that it is matter-of-fact that tomorrow is really Spring...but, the way I look at it is like this: When the city sends out their Pelicans (street sweepers) is when it really turns to Spring and as luck would have it, my ride from downtown all the way to home was smooth as a babys ass. I would have taken a picture of this glorious occasion but my camera was at home and I am too dim witted to remember my Blackberry has one on it...que serah serah.

Another Great Day

2009-03-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another super nice day outside. That coupled with the fact that I was off of work at 5:30 left me with plenty of time to RIDE! I jumped on the bike trails at the Pee Wee football fields down off of 14th and Southeastern, then I proceeded to ride around to 12th....then decided that I would ride up near Dunham Park and see what my mom was up to. All in all yesterday was about 22 miles worth of time NOT in a car...stellar!

Its Warm....Finally

2009-03-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

So with Monday's temperature in my brain on Sunday night, I was looking forward to the ride. The 3 miles into work was nice as was the 30 minutes of lunch I used as a reason to ride to the bank(s) and back. Work was not as busy as I figured it would be considering. I anxiously awaited the big hand to reach the 7 and I was off for a ride before heading home. All in all it was a good day, not to mention running into Craig Lein in the downtown area, who always has something amusing coming out of his mouth.

St P Day

2009-03-13T21:03:00.001-07:00

So tomorrow is the day of green beer and getting pinched and all of that shit. At the shop we had our "pre-game) by letting Sean plug his iPod into the stereo and listened to bagpipes for most of a day. Tomorrow is the St P Day Parade, so I suppose I had better get my beauty rest so I can meet at Spoke N Sport with the rest of the lackeys. If you feel up to it (not TOO hung over I mean) you can meet us at either SNS at 12:30 or right near the Coliseum at 1, be there or...we wont be able to find you...

Enough of the Snow

2009-03-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright...I will call in a favor to a friend of mine and get the snow "shut off", as you all know I hate riding bicycles so I said "fuck it" and called for some snow...figured I could get a couple more good sledding runs in, I'm kidding I..I dont sled although my stature is perfect for the downhill.

Aside from the duties I have already listed, it has just been steady workin' at the shop...build new bikes, eat lunch...laugh at Sean or Kevin or Phil or Cal or Rick....repeat. It's actually quite amusing anymore since they let me out of my cage and I can talk to customers now.

All Thule'd Out

2009-03-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

So this is a picture of a 2005 Honda Pilot. The interesting piece is the Thule rack located on its roof. This is a new acquisition that will be hauling bicycles as well as all sorts of ill shit with the 13 cubic foot bag I bought as well. Yes, I understand the point of the bicycle is to ride it...but trips to Minneapolis (like for the ArtCrank poster show April 4th) will be a bit easier. I am easily recognizable by the cycles to which I own, or a bright ass blue Electra Townie 7.

A Word About Addictions

2009-02-25T19:38:00.001-08:00

So this makes Brooks number two. This little beauty is a B-17 Narrow in Antique Brown. Brooks saddles are dangersouly addictive, stay away from them!

Wow...

2009-02-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

So I check out Argusleader.com this morning to see what the staff came up with after their poking around at the swap and I found the above picture, they must be seriously hard up if they are taking (relatively) close up pictures of me and that out of control buck thorn on my face! It's actually a bit amusing as it looks like I am giving Jeff the stink-eye, when in all reality we were having a pleasant conversation about the swap...now I see how the Enquirer works!

Bike Swappity Swap

2009-02-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

So the Bike Swap is finally upon us. I am getting myself up and out to the garage so I can start hauling the bounty that I have to sell (hopefully). I have pulled together a few wheelsets, bottle cages, chains, frames, forks, so and and so forth...certainly enough to build a bike, albeit a Frankenbike but oh well. I'm sure I will see some other nefarious characters in the building as well. Well enough of my banter. Till next time.

Look What I Found Today!

2009-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

Big up to FedEx for stopping by the shop today to drop a sorry looking box (think tattered and held together with clear tape) with something very dear to my hefty ass inside...the VIG! The King headset was transferred out of my "bike swap" inventory because I KNEW it would look so, so nice! This little guy is like riding a rocket and in the 3 mile ride to my home I could do nothing but think about how many miles of road it will see. Next objective on the checklist is to replace the Gossamer crank with a compact Ultegra unit and more than likely an Open Pro wheelset...not to mention lots and lots of fun rides. Who's with me?!

Riding Some Rides

2009-02-15T19:56:00.000-08:00

So now that I have a suitable road bike on its way to me from Bianchi in Californ I. A. I need to get a hold of some people with information on some upcoming rides to ride said road bike on. I do know that the B2B ride is on its way (I want to get myself a super sweet CityBilly something or other) and that the Tour De Korn is in August as well...anybody else riding anything cool that I could tag along on as well??? Thanks in advance, yo.

Bunyons to Bobs Beast

2009-02-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

So I had spoken with some of the CityBilly peeps at Monk's a while or so ago and decided that this coming B2B was for me (the rhyme wasnt on purpose). At the time I bitched about how I would probably need to get a hold of a road-ish bike as the Karate Monkey (before I sold it) would probably kill me on such a ride. I saw that Snakebite was selling a road bike...but it turned out he has this thing called height that dodged my carcass some time ago so no dice there. I eventually got a hold of a Bianchi Volpe which would fit the bill nicely with its triple and perfect geometry for the ride....stoked I was. Well, as it just so happens I have managed to secure myself another piece of equipment that will be even BETTER. Dont you just hate it that you read all of this drivel and I just leave you hangin??

New Light Setup

2009-02-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

So I sold off the Blackburn X setup that I had to John Rahn (good ol irishman like sean) who was in need of one and got lucky and picked up a SWEET Sigma Evo X Pro Mirage setup from the man of the hour Cal at the shop. This thing is INSANELY bright, two lamps (one spot beam, one wide beam) and also came a wicked nice blinky too! Apparently at one point Phil (Tau) borrowed the Evo for a night ride and it was so powerful it knocked out his computer leaving him without, nice. So if you happen to see a bike with a headlight as bright as a motorcycle...it was probably me.

More Reports of Carnage

2009-02-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

A continuation of the previous entry about my bad luck with ice we have some more news about the same night...turns out Adam (weischedel) decided to butt heads with a chain link fence over the via-duct and beat up the compression knob on his nearly new RockShox Revelation U-turn fork. I will leave you with this: Please Hammer...don't hurt 'em!

A Note On Ice

2009-02-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

Just a little helpful information for the masses, stay away from ice. On my ride home saturday night I managed to find myself a rather large patch of ice about one and one half blocks from my residence. The sad note about said patch of ice is the fact that I saw it ahead of time and dismounted my bike but still managed to slip and fall on it....twice. Now, I do understand that the beers I had consumed at Monk's, Top Hat and A Touch of Europe with Adam and Sean did contribute to my eating shit but...anyway. I was lucky as I only walked away with 5 bruises (that I can tell) and a broken adjuster on my helmet (that can be fixed).

Hooty Hoo!

2009-02-01T08:58:00.001-08:00

Well its about damned time, the Scalpel has been built and life is good...rode her to Monk's and Top Hat as well as A Touch of Europe for too many beers with Adam and Sean. All went well except for the patch of ice that kicked my ass...and the police cruisers that watched me fall and questioned me for 20 minutes with their cherries on like I was a wild'n out crackhead...thanks. Anyway, its done, Im happy. Que Serah Serah.

R.I.P. Karate Monkey

2009-01-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

So I made a tough decision yesterday and ended up selling the Karate Monkey frame and fork...it'll all work out though because I sold it to my co-worker Mr. Sean Gallup. As it turns out the KMX will be built up and see the light of day, just with different components and under new ownership...but honestly it could not have been sold to a more solid dude. In the meantime, the funds have been transformed into desperately needed components to finish the Scalpel, finally! I will get some pictures of the Franken-Scalpel up when the monster comes to life...hopefully by this weekend so it can get in the FAST picture I think we are taking. Until then the trusty Volpe will prevail!

On a side note: This years Bianchi San Jose (same frame as the Volpe, but a flip flop hub) now has disc brake mounts which is pretty cool...the only reason I mention anything about the San Jose is because it is so F'ing nice (and its fresh in my mind because I built a 52cm today)

Hot off the Newsdesk

2009-01-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

This just in...drinking 3 St. Bernardus Prior 8's and having your buddy buy you 3 shots on top of them makes you feel like shit the next day...ALL DAY. Save yourself, don't do it.

Very Understanding Wife Type Lady

2009-01-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

The above set of images is a look into the area of the house that most people would refer to as the "office", I guess you could call this my office of sorts...big speakers and bikes, I kinda like it. The look of horror as I moved things around and organized was picture worthy, but I was too slow on the trigger...maybe next time. Anyway, these few snapshots are proof enough that I have a "very understanding wife type lady", chalk one up for this guy. Oh yeah, as it turns out Scheels is finally good at something...selling hundred dollar fox helmets to me for $39.99, not that I have much to protect up there. Godspeed.

Eye opening day

2009-01-23T17:10:00.001-08:00

So I woke up early this morning for no good reason and came to the conclusion that I was going to ride the Volpe in. I received a call an hour before I was to be at Harlan's that my tax money had shown up so I figured "what the hell" and made it a stop on the way to work. I am honestly REALLY REALLY glad that I chose to ride today, something clicked in my head on the 2 mile (maybe) ride in to work that let me in on the secret that THIS was freedom and it left me with the most satisfying feeling that I can remember. I have finally grasped a hold of the passion in me for bikes and biking and am thankful everyday that I get to wake up, ride my bike (the Volpe is hands down my new obsession) and learn about them with the group of guys that are available to me. I hope everyday is like today was... PS. Angie and the Roxy ambushed me on the way in.

Here a rig, there a rig....EVERYWHERE a rig!

2009-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

So I added another two wheeled thing-a-majig to my home, for those of you who might ask...its a Bianchi Volpe 'cross machine in (wait for it...) GANG GREEN, the best color to grace steel in the history of humanity. Thanks to Sean at Harlans for the chance at this steed, I am eternally grateful.

E-mail...whats that??

2009-01-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, give or take, I ordered myself a few of the "trail building" DVD's from the Federal Transportation website. I received one copy in a nice bubble mailer with the invoice inside shortly after which was nice, but the real puzzling sidenote is the second DVD I had ordered that somehow showed up at my mothers address. Not sure exactly how or why this went to my moms pad, as this is something I would have had to type in manually...and since I don't live with my mom....well, you get the picture. The best part of the mailing that went to my moms house is this: The same bubble mailer showed up carrying invoice, but the invoice (that was two pages long for some reason) had the quantity as 0 and the explanation of "out of stock". Now please let me know if I am stupid here or not but....was an e-mail saying this same thing (thereby not wasting 2 sheets of perfectly good paper, a bubble mailer and 42 cents to mail it) out of the question? I did not have to think too long OR hard about that statement as the first word of the organization that sent it to me is FEDERAL. Mystery solved. Carry on. Ant

There Goes the Neighborhood Squared

2009-01-16T16:13:00.001-08:00

As it turns out I managed to get out of bed long enough (I have had some bullshit stomach flu since late wednesday night) to make it to the appointment where my fiance and I found out the sex of our puny human. Verdict is that we are going to have a little girl joining the family somewhere around the date of June 4th 2009. Probably not much of a shock to the masses I was a tiny bit disappointed as it would have been stellar to have a little boy to teach the finer things in life (how to throw a sinker and how to be a within-reason smart ass) but I am certainly warming up to the idea of a little lady with cunning wit and whip-smart come backs. I mean, girls can ride bikes too, right?!?

From the Archives

2009-01-15T15:02:00.000-08:00

This poster is a bit old but it still makes me laugh when I run across it, must be the obvious truth of it all...then again, on the other hand it makes me really quite pissed off because it makes you and I the scapegoats. I LOVE AMERICA!! (nah, I really love Sacco and Vanzetti)

There Goes the Neighborhood

2009-01-14T18:45:00.000-08:00

So in my earlier post today I spoke of an ankle biter. I found out quite a few months ago (about 5) that I will be a father. It was pretty crazy news at the time, but I am really really excited for the fact and I will probably be all dictator-like and goad my kid into digging bikes. Having a kid is actually going to be such a good positive and motivating factor in my life, considering my past existence on this planet could have certainly been much better. I have big plans of hauling my kid around on the KMX conversion and cleaning my self up (health-wise) so I don't end up with Type 2 diabetes because I chose to be a fat lazy slob instead of a self-aware human. So if you see me ingesting things that I should not be (beer does NOT count, ha) slap it out of my ham hocks and send me packin'. For now, Godspeed. Ant

Almost Forgot

2009-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

So I recently bought a Specialized Langster off of the Bay. I was interested in either going with a Bianchi Pista or San Jose but found the Langster for a helluva price outfitted with some nice parts so I went all in. It is set up fixed 42:16, had the wheelset upgraded to a set of Velocity Deep V's with Conti Gatorskin rubber, Specialized Phenom 143 (for my fat ass) and a pretty narrow riser bar to boot. My "upgrades" were the Blackburn X series LED light and the Thomson seatpost. I rode it to work a couple of times last week but it's really cold and I'm a pussy so I have been driving the Civic all week. My plans for the spring / summer are to hopefully sell my Honda and to invest some into smarter clothing choices for next winter. My other plan is to get the KMX ready in the same timeframe and get it all decked out so I can haul around my ankle biter when it (I say it because I'm not sure of its sex yet) comes!

C' Dale Report

2009-01-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

So I am roughly halfway done with my XC winter project the Cannondale Scalpel. So far it looks like the following:The parts list so far is as follows:

RaceFace Evolve XC Crankset, Evolve 100mm Stem and Diabolous Riser Bars
Oury Lock On Grips
Chris King ISO Disc front hub 100mm spacing in Pink.
DT Swiss XR4.1 Hoops
RockShox Reba Race suspension fork
FoxShox Float R rear suspension
WTB Shadow V saddle
Hayes Stroker Carbon Hydraulic Disc Brakes 185mm

The remaining items I plan on purchasing will hopefully be taken care of and this beast built in time to ride some of our newly planned out singletrack in Leaders Park! The remaining list is as follows:

(1) Chris King ISO Disc Rear hub 135mm spacing in Pink.
(1) SRAM X.9 Long Cage Rear Derailleur and matching X.9 Shifter Pod
(1) Thomson Elite Seatpost in 250mm
(1) Wippermann Nickel coated chain
(1) SRAM P980 or 990 Cassette
(1) e.thirteen 32 special Chain Guide System

New Jobby Job

2009-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

So January 5th was my first day working at Harlan's Bike and Tour. I figured sitting around all winter collecting an unemployment check was going to be entirely too boring so I took a job at Harlan's. So far its been a really good experience learning the ins and outs of the business and learning certain functions such as setting hubs correctly and truing wheelsets.

Happy Holidays N all that...

2008-12-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

So I had an early christmas at my moms place on wednesday afternoon and received a super nice coffee maker, bean grinder and a host of helpful this and that's. The most helpful was a bit of cash that will be turned into X parts (carry all kit? 1 x 9 trinkets?)

Yesterday (thursday) was christmas for my fiances family and us in Mitchell which netted me three t-shirts and one hat from those special guys in MPLS at Bike Jerks!! My mother-in-law is a stellar broad for sure!

Chest pains...

2008-12-22T17:33:00.001-08:00

So I worked up the courage to tear apart the Monkey today. It needed to happen eventually, but it is really pretty hard to look at it reduced to a bunch of spendy parts sitting in cardboard boxes and tupperware containers filled with Simple Green. It will all be worth it in the end when the KMX rises from the above pictured ashes! So it looks like my bike riding adventures are suspended for the time being...two bikes in pieces all over my house, it really sucks. :(

Not only the dismantled Monkey brought my spirits down today...but this shitty weather that we are on the receiving end of isnt helping at all either. Oh well, I know what one of my christmas presents is already so that is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Until next time...I bid ye farewell.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

2008-12-21T16:58:00.001-08:00

So I fell asleep at 5 P.M. yesterday (dont ask me why, Im no sure) and when I woke up today, it was Sunday. Nothing too spectacular or special about Sunday...it just is. My day was as such: Go to gym and ride stationary bike, eat a tasty #13 at Jimmy Johns and last but not least cook the masterpiece that is above said text. I recently started changing myself into a Vegitarian, mostly because I hardly eat meat anyway...and milk messes my guts all up (think...scratch that, dont think) At any rate the oven roasted winter veggies on a bed of peppercorn infused fettucini was marvelous...so marvelous that it will fuel me to tear down my beloved Karate Monkey bright and early tomorrow while the misses is doing the optician gig.

P.S. I had a mishap which involved spilling some veggies on the kitched floor...but alas, I have a vacuum (named Roxy).

2008-12-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well looky what we have here...a possible look into what may shape the future styling of the KMX?? Like I said, its possible.

2008-12-17T16:22:00.000-08:00

Once again a long gap in between my last post and this one and I'm sure my loyal readers are totally upset (cue the cricket noises). Since my last post there have been a few things that have happened....it got really F'ing cold for one and for two the Sioux Falls Single Track project has moved ahead yet again. Thus far we are at the point of meshing a few proposals into one and dropping it on the desk of the important party(s). I think if we keep the head of steam we have built up rolling we will be riding single track in the not so distant future. Also, I have decided to experiment with Weight Watchers....and by experiment I mean get on it. I will not be attending meetings and whatnot but I will follow the guidelines and continue to ride that heavy tank I call a bike and see where it leaves me.

Lastly, I have decided to have the Monkey and the Xtracycle that I picked up not too long ago sand blasted and prepped so that after I weld them together (and die grind those welds down nice and pretty) I can lay down a primer/basecoat/clearcoat with the in between wet sanding and show the city what I'm workin' with. Ant

Sioux Falls Single Track!!

2008-11-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

So I found a craigslist.org ad that talked of getting some fellows (and fellow-ettes) to organize and get rolling on some single track trails in the Sioux Falls area. At any rate, the main man in this endeavor who goes by Adam and myself have been scouring our fine city to gain some sentiment. Today at a meeting with some other gentlemen we have come up with some great ideas and hopefully have a good head of steam built up to bring this to fruition. It is going to be one hell of a undertaking, but I am more than ready to get it rolling.

2008-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since I have written anything...Im a terrible blogger. Anyway, its been a scad of weeks and I have let go of 15 pounds so far...more pics of my ever lightening ass coming up. The XC rig is torn to shreds but is getting closer to finishocity...not to mention I decided to build up some DT Swiss XR4.1 rims hooked up to some minty red anodized Chris King disc hubs!