Isn't it fun to say that things are "on like Donkey Kong"? I find it sickly satisfying, perhaps because I know it's bothering somebody out there to no end.
I also like doing the double-post. I won't put a single new thing up for a week at a time, so when I actually sit down and start typing, I make it worth my while and get in a two-for-one.
Anyways, the New Mexico cyclocross race series started today. Just had a look through the results and saw that there was a pretty good turnout. Check it out for yourself:
www.nmcross.com
I've definitely got the hankering for a cross bike lately, since I sold my previous one over the summer.
Well, that's about it. Mostly, I just wanted to plug the nmcross site, since I recently noticed that it is one of our top referring sites, and thanks to Mike for putting us on there (I think we earned our spot yesterday with Danny doing some last minute bike surgery to Mikes cross bike). Everybody should try and make it out to one (or several). It's definitely good old fashioned low key local bike racing fun. Don't worry if you don't have a cross bike, any old mountain bike will get the job done.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Stupid good-for-nothing rain.
I know we live in the desert, and we're supposed to be all happy when it rains, but seriously, when you put in a 6 day work week, and then it rains on your day off, it's kind of lame. My plans of a Otero / Cedro combo loop were squashed, and I pouted, for hours.
Did manage to get a couple quick hours in the south foothills today, which was quite fun because there was unbelievable traction. Riding the singlespeed by myself with headphones on, pushing my luck and testing my tires around every turn.
Ran into Painter Paul, who was breaking in his new ti Voodoo 29er singlespeed, which we sold him on Saturday. He was excited, to say the least. I predict that bike is going to have very, very many miles put on it in the near future.
Hopefully next weekend will satiate my riding needs for a little while, as we're planning a short but sweet trip to Durango to hit up Hermosa Creek. If weather doesn't permit, our backup plan is Gallup. Either way, I'm gonna get some miles in on some sweet out of town singletrack. Maybe we'll be able to hook up with the Turgeons, and then proceed to get our asses handed to us.
Things at the shop have been unbelievably busy still. I thought Septemeber would taper off, and it didn't. The first few days of October have been slammed too, with a selection of custom builds being picked up last week and more scheduled for the week to come.
Tony has expanded his riding resume the past couple weeks by attending the BMX races. I'm not sure which category he's racing in (or even how they categorize BMX) other than he's riding a cruiser, but I do know that he took home a sweet 2nd place trophy last week, and I think he might have scored another today. So if you come in the shop, look for the trophies sitting on top of the glass display case, make a giant scene along the lines of "DUDE! YOU GOT SECOND PLACE! SIIIIICK!" and I'll get you a beer for your hard work.
Beers can also be earned by asking Tony if you can pet his hair, or by saying "hey, how 'bout a beer."
Okay, that's it for tonight. I'm sitting here eating some kind of spicy cilantro something flavored hummus, drinking pretty cheap wine, and I'm starting to wonder if that combination was a bad idea.
Did manage to get a couple quick hours in the south foothills today, which was quite fun because there was unbelievable traction. Riding the singlespeed by myself with headphones on, pushing my luck and testing my tires around every turn.
Ran into Painter Paul, who was breaking in his new ti Voodoo 29er singlespeed, which we sold him on Saturday. He was excited, to say the least. I predict that bike is going to have very, very many miles put on it in the near future.
Hopefully next weekend will satiate my riding needs for a little while, as we're planning a short but sweet trip to Durango to hit up Hermosa Creek. If weather doesn't permit, our backup plan is Gallup. Either way, I'm gonna get some miles in on some sweet out of town singletrack. Maybe we'll be able to hook up with the Turgeons, and then proceed to get our asses handed to us.
Things at the shop have been unbelievably busy still. I thought Septemeber would taper off, and it didn't. The first few days of October have been slammed too, with a selection of custom builds being picked up last week and more scheduled for the week to come.
Tony has expanded his riding resume the past couple weeks by attending the BMX races. I'm not sure which category he's racing in (or even how they categorize BMX) other than he's riding a cruiser, but I do know that he took home a sweet 2nd place trophy last week, and I think he might have scored another today. So if you come in the shop, look for the trophies sitting on top of the glass display case, make a giant scene along the lines of "DUDE! YOU GOT SECOND PLACE! SIIIIICK!" and I'll get you a beer for your hard work.
Beers can also be earned by asking Tony if you can pet his hair, or by saying "hey, how 'bout a beer."
Okay, that's it for tonight. I'm sitting here eating some kind of spicy cilantro something flavored hummus, drinking pretty cheap wine, and I'm starting to wonder if that combination was a bad idea.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
More Europe Pics: Day 3 in Chamonix
Here's some more photos from our Euro trip. Funny, it seems like that trip was a lifetime ago, but I've been asked numerous times the past couple days how it went, and then I realize it was only a few weeks ago, and I haven't seen said person in a month.
Day three we took the hour or so drive to Chamonix. We were very excited to have a sunny forecast after our first two days being rather overcast and wet.
The drive gave some awesome views of Mont Blanc peaking out behind the clouds every little while.
We drove to a little area just outside of the town of Chamonix, which I forget the name of. From there, we hopped a gondola, then a chairlift, and made our way to the top of a mountain.
The views from the top were, how do you say, ah yes, very nice.
The biking was also very nice, as they say. The trails consisted of singletrack, the type dreams are made of, that generally pointed downward with a nice gradient, for thousands of feet at a time. Of course the whole time there were views of small towns, Mont Blanc, and a glacier to keep you distracted.
Although the trails were some of the most fun I have ridden in my life, we couldn't simply just rip down the mountain. The views were too overwhelming, and forced us all to stop regularly for photo ops.
We rode up the gondola and ski lift three times that day. Each time at the top there was a fairly mild climb to get you to the singletrack. We went down the face of the mountain which the lifts went up twice. The trail was fantastic and flowly, and ended with the most unbelievably fun set of switchbacks I have ever been on. We did that trail twice, and I think I became a better mountain biker because of it.
We also went up and over the back of the peak once. That gave us another unbelievably fun descent on a slightly off camber singletrack with views of a glacier, then dumped us into some steep and very techy stuff which led us all the way out into a valley. We had a short road ride back to the nearest town, and then hopped on a train and returned back to our starting point.
The train only technically allowed 4 passengers at a time, and there were seven of us. When the lady came by to give us trouble, Gareth our fearless guide explained to her, in French, that there were just five of us, and two were actually quite small, so it was okay. That was good enough for her. Then we didn't have to pay for the train ride some how, and that, my friend, is the benefit of hiring a tour guide.
We finished the day by riding back to Chamonix along a rolling, rooty, rocky cross country trail that followed a small river. The trail was a blast, with no shortage of things to jump over and off of. There were a couple of very loose and techy, steep climbs along that trail. Gareth was leading, with all four of us following on our Mavericks. At the top of each techy climb, I noticed Gareth looking back, and seeming a bit surprised to see us all there with him. He later told me that most people don't usually make those climbs, and that he was beginning to think that maybe there was something to these Mavericks after all (the guides were all Maverick skeptical when we arrived). To that I replied "yes, the bikes are, how do you say, ah yes, very nice."
We were all very thoroughly excited, and eventually agreed it was one of, if not the single best day of mountain biking we had ever had.
Such an occasion of course called for a beer.
We found a Canadian themed microbrew in Chamonix, and I was able to drink the closest thing to an IPA I was to find the entire trip. We then had nachos, and for nachos in France at a Canadian themed restraunt, I was quite impressed. The copious amounts of paprika was a bit odd, but I was starving and it didn't phase me one bit.
From there, we had more beers, and then an extremely loud drive back, overpowered with drunk and excited political conversations by the drunk Americans in the back, while our gracious guides undoubtedly wished they had brought ear plugs.
It was, how do you say, ah yes, bad to the bone.
Although the trails were some of the most fun I have ridden in my life, we couldn't simply just rip down the mountain. The views were too overwhelming, and forced us all to stop regularly for photo ops.
We rode up the gondola and ski lift three times that day. Each time at the top there was a fairly mild climb to get you to the singletrack. We went down the face of the mountain which the lifts went up twice. The trail was fantastic and flowly, and ended with the most unbelievably fun set of switchbacks I have ever been on. We did that trail twice, and I think I became a better mountain biker because of it.
We also went up and over the back of the peak once. That gave us another unbelievably fun descent on a slightly off camber singletrack with views of a glacier, then dumped us into some steep and very techy stuff which led us all the way out into a valley. We had a short road ride back to the nearest town, and then hopped on a train and returned back to our starting point.
The train only technically allowed 4 passengers at a time, and there were seven of us. When the lady came by to give us trouble, Gareth our fearless guide explained to her, in French, that there were just five of us, and two were actually quite small, so it was okay. That was good enough for her. Then we didn't have to pay for the train ride some how, and that, my friend, is the benefit of hiring a tour guide.
We finished the day by riding back to Chamonix along a rolling, rooty, rocky cross country trail that followed a small river. The trail was a blast, with no shortage of things to jump over and off of. There were a couple of very loose and techy, steep climbs along that trail. Gareth was leading, with all four of us following on our Mavericks. At the top of each techy climb, I noticed Gareth looking back, and seeming a bit surprised to see us all there with him. He later told me that most people don't usually make those climbs, and that he was beginning to think that maybe there was something to these Mavericks after all (the guides were all Maverick skeptical when we arrived). To that I replied "yes, the bikes are, how do you say, ah yes, very nice."
We were all very thoroughly excited, and eventually agreed it was one of, if not the single best day of mountain biking we had ever had.
Such an occasion of course called for a beer.
We found a Canadian themed microbrew in Chamonix, and I was able to drink the closest thing to an IPA I was to find the entire trip. We then had nachos, and for nachos in France at a Canadian themed restraunt, I was quite impressed. The copious amounts of paprika was a bit odd, but I was starving and it didn't phase me one bit.
From there, we had more beers, and then an extremely loud drive back, overpowered with drunk and excited political conversations by the drunk Americans in the back, while our gracious guides undoubtedly wished they had brought ear plugs.
It was, how do you say, ah yes, bad to the bone.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Survived another Interbike
Well, we made it to Vegas and back, our whirlwind 48 hour trip went pretty well.
Flying out at 7am Weds morning, got in last night at about 1am.
Did a little partying for our one night there, no need to go into details though.
Actually, we're all pretty tame and lame. Went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner, which remains my single favorite thing to do in Vegas. It's really nice that Interbike coincides with Oktoberfest. It is not nice, however, for the ol' liver.
We also made it to the New World Disorder premier. I don't remember which # they are up to, but it's pretty high. The movie was really good, the premier party and the club at which it was located left something to be desired, but we had a good time.
The show seemed to be pretty productive. Our experience was quite a bit different than last year, when Danny and I wandered around trying to get brands, getting generally ignored and blown off, mostly because we didn't actually have a shop yet.
This year, we're getting courted by reps from different brands, and people actually seem to care about meeting with us, you know, because, I don't know if y'all have heard, but, we're kind of a big deal around here.
I think the coolest bike I saw at the show was the 11th anniversary limited edition Surly 1x1.
The bike had 24" Large Marge rims (same width as the found on the Pugsley, I believe) with 3-something inch wide slicks on it. I don't know why, but I saw that bike, and instantly wanted to own it. Not many other bikes at the show had that effect on me.
Back at the shop this morning, all three of us operating at about 60%. I think we were all hoping for a nice and slow day, but that wasn't to be. We pretty much had everybody we know who rides bikes drop by to say hi at one point or another. It's really nice to be so busy, I just wish sometimes I could be in charge of what days we are busy, and what days are slow.
And as Danny's lovely special lady friend would say, "do you want me to call the wambulance?"
A lot of guys were getting ready to head up to Pajarito tomorrow for their last hoorah of the summer, which is reportedly going to include a collection of breweries, bands, and of course some lift assisted mountain biking.
Tony will be there, doing what Tony does best. If Danny and I weren't working, we'd be there to, and if you're not working, I'd strongly suggest that's were you get to.
It's going to be a good time.
That's about all I'm good for. Hasta la taco.
Flying out at 7am Weds morning, got in last night at about 1am.
Did a little partying for our one night there, no need to go into details though.
Actually, we're all pretty tame and lame. Went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner, which remains my single favorite thing to do in Vegas. It's really nice that Interbike coincides with Oktoberfest. It is not nice, however, for the ol' liver.
We also made it to the New World Disorder premier. I don't remember which # they are up to, but it's pretty high. The movie was really good, the premier party and the club at which it was located left something to be desired, but we had a good time.
The show seemed to be pretty productive. Our experience was quite a bit different than last year, when Danny and I wandered around trying to get brands, getting generally ignored and blown off, mostly because we didn't actually have a shop yet.
This year, we're getting courted by reps from different brands, and people actually seem to care about meeting with us, you know, because, I don't know if y'all have heard, but, we're kind of a big deal around here.
I think the coolest bike I saw at the show was the 11th anniversary limited edition Surly 1x1.
The bike had 24" Large Marge rims (same width as the found on the Pugsley, I believe) with 3-something inch wide slicks on it. I don't know why, but I saw that bike, and instantly wanted to own it. Not many other bikes at the show had that effect on me.
Back at the shop this morning, all three of us operating at about 60%. I think we were all hoping for a nice and slow day, but that wasn't to be. We pretty much had everybody we know who rides bikes drop by to say hi at one point or another. It's really nice to be so busy, I just wish sometimes I could be in charge of what days we are busy, and what days are slow.
And as Danny's lovely special lady friend would say, "do you want me to call the wambulance?"
A lot of guys were getting ready to head up to Pajarito tomorrow for their last hoorah of the summer, which is reportedly going to include a collection of breweries, bands, and of course some lift assisted mountain biking.
Tony will be there, doing what Tony does best. If Danny and I weren't working, we'd be there to, and if you're not working, I'd strongly suggest that's were you get to.
It's going to be a good time.
That's about all I'm good for. Hasta la taco.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Burner Pics, as Promised
Okay, so I promised pics from the burner, and I have a few. These are a small selection of the photos taken by our friend Long, who was at the race taking amazing pics like a fiend.
You can see all the pics by following the following link
http://picasaweb.google.com/bikeworksABQ/BurnerPics#
I asked Long for his info, as he has a website started and such, since he is an aspiring photographer and I wanted to give him a plug since I think he takes some awesome pics. So he kindly wrote down all the pertinent info, which I left at work, possibly never to be seen again. But I'll get his info up here eventually, because it's not easy to take good action shots of biking, and he does it very well.
I'm also experimenting with posting whole lots of pics on the picasa web albums, which seems to be something Google has thrown together recently. It seems to be smooth and easy to put tons of pics up there, so hopefully I'll be sharing more in the near future.
Buenobye
You can see all the pics by following the following link
http://picasaweb.google.com/bikeworksABQ/BurnerPics#
I asked Long for his info, as he has a website started and such, since he is an aspiring photographer and I wanted to give him a plug since I think he takes some awesome pics. So he kindly wrote down all the pertinent info, which I left at work, possibly never to be seen again. But I'll get his info up here eventually, because it's not easy to take good action shots of biking, and he does it very well.
I'm also experimenting with posting whole lots of pics on the picasa web albums, which seems to be something Google has thrown together recently. It seems to be smooth and easy to put tons of pics up there, so hopefully I'll be sharing more in the near future.
Buenobye
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
