Goodies in the Mailbox

Shimano Deore DX pedals.

Come to Daddy... and I don't mean that in an uncomfortable or inappropriate "Penn State" kind of a way either.

Who's the twit...

...that built this thing!? I'm no engineer but there may be a little adjustment or two needed on that fork alignment there...

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_435853_-1?N=86154594+4294963200

Gotta love big box stores and their "Bicycle Shaped Objects"!

and thems that got away (eBay!)

Weekend of weirdness here at the gleaming towers of One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the Americas. I can find and bid on worthless crap better than any lonely fat bald man alive! But much like my way with the ladies, I am utter fail at closing the deal. These beauties slipped through my fingers like spilled malt liquor and tears.

Dean stickies. Feed the lonely geek within. $8.49.

SDG in dirty red. This one was advertised as being "perfect for that fixie project" so you know I had to try to save it from hipster oblivion hell-fire and damnation. $55.

Grove Hammerhead bar stem combo. Rough but sweet. $100 bones.


Boom!

Last but not least, Salsa Ala Carte, unmolested by the minions of the Debil from Wisconsin. $305.

Fear the Debil!

An eBay Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! To celebrate the holiday I bought some worthless crap off the interweb.

Black Altek levers. I'll ride these like a lonely chihuahua rides a throw pillow.

Classic Continental Navigator tire.

XTR m910 rear hub. The prettiest hubs to ever strut the XTR moniker. Sweat it.

Now get off the computer and go eat some turkey with your family already.

Santos in October

Rolled into Santos on Halloween weekend to do the unofficial Ride of the Living Dead. We didn't get too far, as my riding partner pooped out about 15 miles in, so it was a stretch to get to 30 much less 50+ miles. Oh well, everyone has a crappy day on the bike now and then.

Entering Christmas yellow alternate from the new Ross Prairie trail head trail.

Lots of flowy pine needled trails in Santos. Its a hoot!

I was on the Phoenix.

Open fields near the mid point trail head.

Not all marked trails get full maintenance it seems. This one is over run with black berries and prickly pear cactus.

I posted a while back about "Scrub Restoration" at Santos, and here is the result. Apparently 'scrub restoration is a euphemism for rape and log the woods.

Random reinforced concrete in search of a well meaning artificial reef program perhaps?

30 miles isn't as far as I'd wanted, but hey, everyone has a bad day on the bike now and then.

EWR update!

Spent a little chicken on the EWR to determine if it lands on the eBay out door or if it once and for all finds a warm fuzzy place in my heart. Early feedback is positive.

New 9 speed Sram chain and cassette update the drive train.

Truvativ Noir carbon (eek!) crankset and Team GXP bottom bracket bearings

Then I got down to the glamor side of the weekend... Now you see the cheap-ass headtube sticker and...

...now you don't!

I marked the holes to drill and tap, and then a little double sided tape to hold it in place as I set the stainless hardware with a bit of Lock-Tite. Note that the screw heads are properly clocked, thank you very much.

The done deal.

The drive train.

The Rock Shox Valdez.

And to top it off, a fresh 100mm 5deg Thomson stem to shorten the front end to the prescribed measure from the EWR folks.

Next stop, Dirt!

So Small

We went to Crescent Beach late October to close out the summer. It is always a pleasurable trip, and the South Beach Grille provided another great lunch prelude to our shell-picking stroll on the beach.

They start out so small, these children things. Ten years from now she'll be yelling, "I hate you! You ruined my life! Why can't you understand that WE"RE IN LOVE!!!!"


Then I'll have to lock her in the shed until she's thirty-two.

Meh! I've seen bigger... !

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45083208?ocid=ansmsnbc11

So it ate a whole deer? I mean, big deal, right? I could eat a whole deer too.