Back To Diary
1/29/04
Oh the expletives that are on the tip of my tongue right now. i
get so riled when things go wrong, especially when those things have to do
with my bike. how wonderful it would be to have my own personal mechanic,
they could take care of the fucking up part and accept all the responsibility
his/herself. i'm an easy going guy, i wouldn't chew them too hard, but
when i am responsible for the fuck up that is another matter. supposed
to be getting some new bearings for my front hub, should come in tomorrow,
but i brought my bike home tonight. so i am sitting there looking at
it trying to figure out how i am going to get it back to the shop tomorrow
so i can install the new bearings if they come in. decide i will strap
my front wheel to my back and bike into eureka. begin the process of
removing my front wheel. first loosen the pinch bolts, which always
seem to be tighter then i remember cranking them. finally wrestle those
free without stripping, then to the axle. so i pull out my 6mm allen,
plug it in, and proceed to wrench. the single shiver lock bolt was sooo
tight! after applying enough force to bring the forearm veins to the
fore i recall the words of a mentor who told me that some times glancing blows
are more effective then steady torque. so i pull out my trusty mallet
and bang away. nothing. bang some more. nothing. really
bang, movement, bang, more movement, oh whoops. the allen found its
way around but sadly the bolt's inertia was too much to overcome and the
integrity of the material was not to hold this night. so now i've got
a locked on front wheel that will take some serious sweat to get off. that
job will have to wait until after this weekend and i will have to race with
a loose hub. oh well, could be worse. still i don't know how
i am going to get the thing off. guess i am going to have to tone down
my torque in the future. i'll get over it, and get up for saturday's
spotted owl.
1/26/04
Ahh, and the work week has begun. More repairs today then I can
shake a stick at, but i managed to get through them as always. The
highlight was fitting my little bro for a new suit, an armored suit. Says
he is going faster then ever, hitting the ground harder then ever, and therefore
needs some pads so he can go faster still. A lesson that I learned
the hard way, or rather impressed upon my benefactors the hard way, if it
wasn't for them I might still be a snail without a shell. Don't know
what is with those Australian cats and their bare arms, well it is really
just a psychological trick that makes it easier to pin it and disregard the
consequences, but I like getting up quick and without blood. Got my
road ride in this morning. After seeing the nasty forecast for the
week decided I just better go the distance early on. As I was relating
to my buddy Matt today, every single boring road mile has been well worth
it in trail fun. I mean that rather then hurting or feeling like the
rig is getting the better of me, I can just ride fast, ride smooth, try new
lines, and have a good time without having to be so damn serious. With
some miles under the ol belt I can stay dry, find time to clean my rig up,
and save my legs a bit for the Spotted Owl. The hardest part is going to
be finding some meditation time, especially with the tendency to course obsess
in the shop. No bad thoughts; trust the bike, trust the tires, trust
my legs, and trust the gut. Oh by the way, stoked on the recent response
the web page has been getting. The numbers speak for themselves - Oct
30, Nov 60, Dec 90, and this month NorCal DH has busted into triple digits
with over 100 visits and counting!
1/25/04
Call it an epiphany, momentary lapse in logical thought, silly exhibitionism,
loneliness, or just an attempt to keep myself entertained when i am not working
or riding on bikes. Most likely the later, and to fill that time what
better way then to write about them (bikes). So if it entertains, educates,
or just consumes those boring hours at the desk then this little musing
of mine will not be in vain.
Yesterday made the trek out to Hoopa for some runs on the Spotted Owl
DH course. It was me, Matt Snyder, Jason Reimann, Christina, Amos
Pole, Patrick Jackson, and even managed to drag my little bro off the couch
to come ride in the mud. Muddy it was as blue sky intermingled with
drenching drizzle to keep the ground slippery as could be. First run
down i did a fair share of hiking. Went psycho with my new machete
and used up my little bit of tape to make the course a little more defined.
The labor paid off during the next six runs. The course is sweet.
Technical and fast, a challenge around every corner. By the
end of the day the trail had burned in considerably, nice ruts in the sharp
corners and off cambers. I felt good and my bike was working great
after a week of tweaking and cleaning, got off the bike a couple times, luckily
my thumb took the brunt of the impact both times. I made out better
then Amos who tacoed his front wheel on our second run. Matt was sporting
a prototype fifth element shock (his shock and the spring off my giant) which
was working sick, hope his new stiffy spring shows up soon. Now i am
very excited and can't wait till next weekends race. Going to be a
fun party and some competitive racing on the course. If you were hoping
that i would reveal some secrets here then you are out of luck, try checking
back after the clock stops. Worked today, gotta earn, gotta save. Looking
for a truck for summer racing if anybody knows of one. Till next time.