MTB

Starting Hoka pair no. 5! If I ever become a multi-millionaire there is one thing that I will be wasteful about: New shoes. I'd run them a couple times and then get a new pair. Nothing is better than a stiff and solid shoe.

This weekend was pretty great. At the end of last week I decided to skip the Xterra's Last Stand Duathlon at Ft. Custer. Trust me, I did not want to skip it because I had so much fun racing it last year but common sense (I do have a little of it) told me not to do it. Since I missed a week of training from being sick, and then had a sub-par week of training since I was wrecked from racing the 5/3, I decided the Du would Du (haha) nothing but set me back even more.My summer schedule is pretty eclectic because I have a mixture of long and short races. And unlike winter I'm not chasing any series. However, I do have two big hundred milers coming up in June that are back to back and I spent the weekend focusing on my endurance. Even though I'm tired from training I feel really good. And after being sick for almost two weeks FEELING GOOD FEELS REALLY, REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I mean, holy crap I can breathe and pedal again!!!So instead of racing I had one of the most low-key weekends of my life. I spent a lots of time with my family...PS. Naomi is still alive and kicking. She was in the back seat doing what she does best-sleeping! This probably goes without saying but there was lots of coffee..Tacos at the farmer's market...Speaking of the farmer's market, I had to laugh when I got home and unpacked. Clearly I skipped past all the veggies. Oops. Mental note...start eating more carrots or something.And riding....I had some really great days on the bike (did I mention that I can breathe and pedal again???) Between the three days I managed to pedal across a mixture of road, singletrack and gravel.It was all great. Especially the singletrack parts. I just couldn't take any pictures of that because I've learned the hard way that uncoordinated people like me shouldn't try to ride one handed over rocks and roots.Now it's time for a rest day. In 3 days I got a little over 13 hours of riding in and my legs need to recover. All of a sudden it's summer and riding in 80 degrees felt completely shocking and regardless of how much liquid I carried over the 3 days I managed to run out. However, don't think for a minute that I'm complaining. I'll take this weather any day of the week!

...But if you try sometimes well you might find You get what you need..." Rolling StonesI have been incredibly lucky the past few years and have been living 'The High Life' in Breck during the summers. I am very grateful for the opportunity I have had living in Breck. I surely loved that place...sadly it is not available to me this year as the owner is doing some renovations at this time.I've been on the hunt for a suitable place in Summit County. I had a couple of options, one was to rent a bedroom/bath an amazing house (seriously it looks like lodge) with a kitchen bigger than my whole house, but with others living there full time. I would equate this place to a "reality show house". The price was very good, but I'm planning on working on some software certification training - so I'm thinking having a lot of people around might be distracting. NOW - if I was young, cute and single - then I would rent in the big house in a second. Alas...I'm old and boring... Then I found an acquaintance (I met through a friend-of-a-friend several years ago) has a really nice place in Summit County. After some emails back-and-forth, he has agreed to rent to me. With my schedule, I will pretty much have the place to myself most of the time and he says if he is around - we might cross paths one or two days a month.I feel super lucky to have this opportunity. I picked up the keys, signed the lease and paid the deposit today. Super stoked!!! I hope to have some of my pals up for training runs and such! Back in 'the high life' again!keys and lease to my place in Summit County - yeeHAW. Summer - here i come!

As seen in Squash It. Click to enlarge. © Nuno for Defgrip, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: odyssey bmx, print ad, sean sexton, squash it

Rest In Peace to Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and one of the founding member of The Doors. © Nuno for Defgrip, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: ray manzarek, rest in peace, the doors

American Classic 101/Dirty Flea SS Wheels: First Impressions- by Grannygear Editor’s Note: For the last posting on these wheels with an interview with American Classic’s Bill Shook and more, go here. The new wheels quite likely will get moved around across a couple of bikes for testing, but right now they are on the resurrected OS Bikes Blackbuck.  Sporting a few new goodies besides the wheels, here is how it looks for now. Besides the new 101/Dirty Flea wheels, the hoops are shod with some 2.3 Specialized Ground Controls running tubeless and for now, a slightly low 32/21 gear combo using a Stylo crank and a very nice quality spacer kit from Spot Brand bikes.  It makes all the other aftermarket kits I used seem kinda cheesy.  The bars are the new Answer Pro Taper SL bars and Rove G2 stem.  The new Pro Taper carbons are good looking with textured clamp area, cut marks, etc, and come in flat and rise versions.  These are the flat, 8* sweep, 720mm wide ones and weighed 208g.  The Rove G2 stem looks robust enough to do the job of keeping the 720mm wide bars in check.  The stem is 151g in the 100mm version shown here.  Keeping with the Answer Products theme, I slipped on a set of Fall Line XC grips. For front suspension duties, I installed a Manitou Tower Pro, 15QR in 100mm travel.  The Tower series has always been a strong performer and it looks great on this build, is very tunable, and stiff.  A WTB Pure V saddle on a 27.2mm carbon Syncros seat post keeps my backside happy.  The brakes are a new set of Avid XO Trails with 160mm rotors front and rear. Of course the wheels are the stars, but a bike is the sum of its parts.  The wheels look good on here, very understated, and the entire package has gotten a lot of compliments. On trail with the new wheels so far has shown no signs of unwanted flex or anything bad.  They spin up well and seems to accelerate with a nice pop forward.  The hubs are fast engaging enough for me in the present set-up and they seem to roll well, holding momentum.  The Pro Taper SL carbon bars and stem are giving me a great feel at the helm so far.  Once you get used to carbon bars, it is hard to go back to alu.  The good ones seem to dampen shock well and still not get all mushy when you pull hard on them.  The stem seems resolute so far under hard torque.  The fork is what all Tower forks have been for me so far.  Smooth in its travel, it goes where it is pointed. The Blackbuck is an interesting bike.  It has a close-between-the-wheels feeling and even with the 100mm fork on there, is very agile and a killer singletrack scooter.  The geometry is interesting in that it has parallel seat and head tube angles.  So I am right at a calculated 70.4* HT angle (unsagged) but also with the same ST angle and that keeps me back behind the crank quite a bit.  I ran the saddle up forward in the non-offset seat post clamp and that helped.  I actually think I liked this bike better with an 80mm travel Manitou Tower Pro on it over the 100mm version.  It is interesting getting back on a steel frame now after being on alu and carbon for an SS bike and recently Ti in the geared hard tail.  I have to admit that the carbon Stumpjumper SS frame has spoiled me.  If I cannot get in the groove with the Blackbuck, I will move on. Regardless of that, for comparison’s sake I think I will run these wheels on the Stumpy SS after a while, replacing the AC SS wheels on there now.  That will be an interesting swap, I think.  I have a set of Maxxis Ikons that look plump, fast, and ready to hit the dusty trails of So Cal summer so they may end up on there too.  As the miles add up, we will report back. Note: Sun Ringle’ and American Classic sent over their products at no charge to Twenty Nine Inches for test and review. We are not being paid, nor bribed for these reviews and we will strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout. Twenty Nine Inches - 29er Bike Reviews, Rumors and News

So a few weeks ago I received some issues of 43 Magazine in the mail. These issues weren’t free, I actually sought out to purchase these because I was that excited about a few images I had seen online.  This was the first time in my BMX filled life that I felt the need to purchase a skate magazine.  43 Magazine is unlike any other mag that I’ve seen in the action sports world, it has a heightened artistic feel to it and the photography in these is top notch. Looking at them actually got my juices flowing to go shoot riding photos more than some BMX magazines do.  I highly recommend you glance at the site or snag some for yourself, if you see them at a local bookstore or steal em’ from any skater buddies you may have. They are definitely a treat for anyone into photography or design. Click below to see a few more images. © timothyburkhart for Defgrip, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

Mad Fiber makes some impressively light carbon wheels which we’ve had great success with in testing in both cyclocross and road environments. Their carbon spoked and carbon rim tubular wheels are the lightest test wheels we’ve ridden, and have withstood some hard hits and botched... ...view the full story & post your comments at our site: http://cxmagazine.com

Summer is here. Even if it’s raining outside right now. Winter is finished. And spring? It’s a short season in Utah. And with the arrival of summertime, I’m starting to sense the annual urgency that comes with peak racing season. The events that seemed so far off when I registered or committed to them, are now almost reality. Training cycles are no longer about getting fit. They’re about being ready to race specific events. Finally! And of course, the event that has dominated my energy is the Colorado Trail Race. It’s bigger than anything I’ve ever done. A lot bigger. I have no idea if I’l be prepared for July 21. There’s only one way to truly find out. But until then, I’ll keep pedaling, packing, reading, and scheming. The turning of calendar pages has brought doubt, questions, and introspection. Am I really qualified to try something like the CTR? Pfft. Is anyone, really? Probably not, and yet…. After all, it is just a bike race. In fact, it’s almost not even that. It’s just bike riding. And I do that almost every day. Easy, right? Resistance is a predictable, but devious, force. It creeps through the shadows, waiting for the right moment to start whispering imminent demise. “You will fail.” “Why bother at all?” “Be happy with what you have.” I’ve let Resistance beat me before. I’ve let it talk me out of doing, and being, more of the things I’ve always wanted to do, and to be. But I’ve also beat Resistance. I wouldn’t be writing these words, and I wouldn’t be planning to race my bike all summer long if Resistance and I did not fight with each other so regularly, and if I did not also win so regularly. But that doesn’t mean that beating it back gets any easier. I’m about to embark on something new, different, and uncertain. And like the Colorado Trail Race, I really don’t know if it’s something I’m ready to do. I have no idea if I will succeed. But I do know that the closer I get, Resistance has more to say. “You will fail.” “You will fail.” “You will fail.” Maybe. But so what? When did failure become so poisonous? Why are we so afraid to fail? There isn’t any way to (eventually) succeed that doesn’t involve failure. So fail away. “But! People will laugh. And scorn. And mock.” Yes, they will. Misery loves company. And so do people who have never fought, let alone defeated, Resistance. I’m going to keep getting ready for the Colorado Trail Race. I’m going to keep riding my bicycle over big mountains. And I’m going to keep ignoring the persistent whispers that delight in things that never were, or will be. “You will fail.” No, it’s too late for that. I’ve already won. The post It’s Too Late For Failure appeared first on Grizzly Adam.net.Related posts: Late Fall Late Afternoon: Moab Refocus Colorado Ambitions Recalibration

If you're were into mountain bikes in the late '90s there's no doubt the Kranked series of freeride films got your heart racing like nothing else. We caught up with filmmaker Bjørn Enga to see what he's been working on lately. http://goo.gl/jpj6W