IMBA what its all about

Doesn't that picture just saw it all? Amazing what a little bit of mud on an otherwise dry ride will do. A 5 foot patch of mud turned my IMBA sticker all brown and muddy. That's cool though, it probably actually looks better. IMBA helps ensure we all have a place to go out and ride and love our mountain bikes. If you aren't a member, you should check out their website www.imba.com and seriously consider joining. You get a cool pair of socks and help make sure you still have a great place to ride. LONG LIVE LONG RIDES!

Desert Riding

Hey,
Veterans Day today, and since I am a Federal Employee I was off. In all seriousness, thank you to all the veterans who have served this country and enabled us all to live the lives we have. Not a job I would want to have to do, but I am extremely grateful there are those who answer the call and are willing to serve. THANK YOU!

So for my ride I headed out to the Sweetwater Trails here in Tucson. As the name suggests, sweet. It is about an hour ride out there from my house and I spent about 45 minutes doing a loop. Let's just say my 30 minute ride to work doesn't really prepare you well for a long ride. I was worked by the time I got home and still feel really tired. My legs are pretty tired, but it was great to get out on the trails and as you can hopefully see, it was a beautiful day. Hope you had a great day too.

Sharing the Road

I'm not sure if you have been following the "Road Rage" trial in Los Angeles, but if not, here is a good recap on velonews: http://www.velonews.com/article/99813/road-rage-verdict-victims-speak

Pretty disturbing incident, but it makes me think about the situation of riding on roads in general. I will admit I get mad at drivers often and unfortunately sometimes start yelling, but I don't think that is the right thing to do. I realize my actions reflect on all cyclist to the majority or drivers. I try to foster a positive interaction if possible, so I try to smile and wave when I get a drivers attention. Mostly I just don't want to be hit and ride safely to avoid confrontation. I realize that in any situation that potentially escalates to violence physics wouldn't be on my side. 2 ton car vs. 175 lb me is not a fight I plan on engaging in if possible. I just try to remember to stay calm and ride respectfully when a car cuts me off or veers close because the driver isn't paying attention. I do get mad, but also try to not make the situation worse.

I find that most people don't want to hurt anyone and feel pretty bad when they endanger you when they don't mean too. If you start yelling they feel threatened and feel like they need to defend their actions, but if you don't yell, but indicate that they could have hurt you, then tend to feel bad and apologize. That is a better outcome than both of you leaving angry and mad about the other person. If you can get through to the other person and let them know that you felt threatened and could have been hurt they driver usually backs down, but if I start yelling it just makes it worse. It is hard in the heat of the moment, but like I said, I try to remain calm. It is tough, but we need to share the road to avoid any problems. Nothing wrong with being a good citizen to your fellow man. My point is, don't make it worse for yourself and potentially others by indulging the feeling of anger. It is safer to stay calm and better for you in the long run.

Be safe out there.

Check This Out!

Check this out:


http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/interbike-gt-causing-a-ruckus-in-2010-23449



It shows the awesome looking 2010 GT Ruckus. That is one awesome looking bike. Once of the cooler things is the Truvativ HammerSchmidt FR transmission. I recently sampled a bike with the HammerSchmidt transmission at is was amazingly cool. It basically gives you the benefit/simplicity of a single chain ring up front but the benefit of two rings. You can shift while pedaling or not pedaling or pedaling backwards and it doesn't matter, it still shifts. Freaking cool. So you get to use less chain, less chance for mis-shifts and better chain line. All good things. I guess the only down side is that it is heavier, so not really applicable for cross country. But speaking of cross country I recently also got to try SRAM's new 2x10 XX drivetrain. It is the new two ring set up in front with 10 gears in back. I was super impressed. It has a ton of gears but shifts with authority. The front shift was especially positive and fast. I think it offers a true performance advantage, and I would love to race it next season if the opportunity presents itself. I guess we'll see.

If you get a change surf on over to the GT website:

http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/

All the 2010 bikes are up and they look great. Have fun!

CROSS TRAINING

Hey,

With a title like that I bet you think I'm going to talk about Cross racing (which is very cool, by the way) but in fact I am talking about a different kind of cross training: RUNNING. That last couple of weeks I have been running in addition to my commute to work. It's been fun doing something else for a little relief in the off season, such that it is. The reason I say off season such that it is, is due to the fact the off season in Arizona is not what I am used too. I grew up in Albuquerque, NM and lived in Ohio for a number of years. In those places the off season was from October till March give or take. Because it is cold at those times so there isn't much racing. Except cross racing that was mentioned above. Anyhow, I moved to Arizona in 2004 and am still not exactly used to the weather here. I mean it is October 4th and was 86 today, and this past Monday it was 101. To someone living some place cold that must sound glorious, but seriously, there can be too much over 100 after awhile. Actually, 86 is pretty dang nice, so I'm not complaining. My point is that the race season begins in January in Arizona and hangs on pretty much year round in some form or other. So come October, I can feel a little weary of training rides. So I look for some form of cross training. Bringing me back to running.

In a round about way running got me into cycling. I ran cross country back in high school and loved the competition and being on trails. I wasn't terribly fast and was too busy in college to have the time to put in to be on the cross country team at University. The first mountain bike race I entered reminded me of a cross country running race and I was hooked. It was on trails and had the same competitive feeling. I actually find the two types of racing pretty similar and offer much of the same pain and fun.

As such, I ran for an hour and twenty minutes today to see how it felt. Surprisingly good actually, but I was going at a comfortable pace. I think part of why I like running is that since it isn't my competitive sport of choice I can just run without considering how fast I am going. When I ride I realize I am always somewhat considering how I feel in relation to racing and what I can do to optimize my fitness to get ready for races. Obsessive I know, but that seems to be how it is. When I run I worry about none of that. I am just out for a run and enjoying the scenery and the weather. I know it is a good way to get in a decent workout with less time than the equivalent type bike ride.

That and if I get to a cross race and I will be ready for the running parts :)

BMX Racing

So I tried out BMX track riding last night for the first time in my life. My friend invited me to try out his 24" GT Cruiser and to check out the whole BMX scene.

Man those 24" wheel are squirrely the first time you try them out. I rode the bike around the parking lot then took it up on the hill to the course. I didn't race, but took it on a few practice laps.

When I got on the start ramp for the first time I was pretty nervous and would have sworn it was a straight vertical drop to the first jump/ ramp. Make no mistake, I jumped nothing last night, so I only call it a jump based upon what other people were doing :)

It was pretty fun, but the rhythm section was pretty unrelenting. I started to eventually get the hang of it, but I can see the potential to really hurt yourself. Hopefully not, but if you get carried away, it can be a pretty unrelenting course with the bumps coming at you pretty fast. I have no idea how people wheely thru the jump sections, but I started to feel how to pump through the dips.

Fun. Not sure if I'll get one, but pretty fun. I would like to ride one some more to really decide. Maybe next week......

The 26" bike is dead, eh?

I'm not sure if you saw what Matt Panocha of Velonews fame had to say on the subject of 29" wheel bikes vs. 26" bikes, but it is worth taking a look:

http://singletrack.competitor.com/features/from-matt%E2%80%99s-mind-not-really-a-final-word-on-29ers/

Anyhow, I agree with him in some ways, and don't agree with him in many ways as well. I know a lot of people that ride 29" wheel bikes and with all of them it seems like it is the second coming or something. Some even going so far as to say they will never ride a 26" bike again they are so good. Well, I took the bait and had a 29er for a bit. Then I jumped back on my 26" bike a realized how great it was. To me, the 26" wheels feel much faster and more maneuverable. Yes, the 29" wheel roll over rough terrain well, and certainly feel stable on a downhill, but that stability leads to feeling sluggish to me. I don't think a bike can respond too quickly. I personally prefer a 26" wheel bike and especially like a full suspension 26" bike such as my lovely GT Marathon carbon.

My other issue with 29" bike riders is that for some reason most of them seem to have a huge chip on their shoulders about how bad 26" bikes are. I don't like to make generalizations about people, but so many of them I have run into seem to feel the same way. Somehow for them for the 29" bike to be good the 26" bike has to be horrible. I just don't get it. I say ride what you like and think is fun. That is the most important thing. Get out and ride and stop worrying about if your 29" wheel bike is better then my 26" bike. So that's my two cents worth on wheel size........................at least for the moment.

Finally a new computer

Hey,

Sorry about my absence lately, I have been trying to get my new computer configured. I am finally getting some of the settings transferred. Yeah! I can start posting soon and sounding off on such issues as whether the 26" wheel big is dead and other such topics..........

RACE #6 - Signal Peak Challenge

It has been nearly two weeks since the race, and I think I have finally recoverd. I thought after the Sandia race that I had seen the worse of it, but this was a whole other level of suffering. I hadn't given the course its proper due before the race began. A little background. The race was called "Signal Peak Challenge" It was about 20 miles north of Silver City, New Mexico down a beautiful winding mountain road. The day before the race my wife and I drove over to the course and met my father who drove down from Albuquerque. We set up camp and prepared dinner next to the course. It is such a beautiful place. Tall trees that smell like vanilla and green in all directions. Wonderful. I was feeling pretty good about the race and excited to see what I could do the next day.

I can't say I wasn't warned. There was a sign at the start that said "Enter at your Own Risk": Hmm, that can't be that serious can they? I should have listened.

It was a 32 mile course that I figured wouldn't be too bad. Granted the base elevation was 7,500 feet, but it only climbs to 9,200. I mean that is only 1,700 feet. Nothing, right? Well, after 1 hour and 10 minutes of climbing I realized it might be a big deal. Now that was just less than half of the first lap. After the climb the course descended and climbed back to the start finish area and another trip past the previously mentioned sign. And these laps were brutal affairs. Steep up after steep up after steep climb after another steep up. I'd never been on a course that started and stopped at the same spot, but some how managed to climb the entire time.

Another problem is that I miscalculated my water consumption and the amount of time I would be out on course. By midway through the second lap I was completely out of water and there was no feed station where they were helping out with liquid. The end result was that I was dehydrated by the end of the race in a big way. Too bad, because I lost two spots as a result of it, but still managed to finish 5th. AWESOME! I would have loved top 3, but 5th is great! I am still pretty stoked about that. We'll see what I can put together at the next race........

Adventure Ride

Summer in the Sonoran Desert here in Tucson often means monsoon. If you are lucky that is. In a good year we get about 12 inches of rain, but most of it comes in a few storms in July and August and December and January. I have been riding the 30 minute commute to work lately and decided early in the week to go riding after work on Wednesday out to Fantasy Island (http://www.mountainbikebill.com/AZ07TucsonFantasy.htm) a cool local trail system. Rain was predicted for Wednesday, but I wasn't worried, since rain is often predicted but rarely comes. So Wednesday after work rolls around and I am still ready to go ride. I look to the south and the east and see dark skies, but figure I can miss it. You see south and east are the direction I need to head. So I start out and can see and feel the storm coming, but I still figure I can make it. It was probably 20-30 mph wind I was riding into, so I thought good it will increase fitness. After about 30 minutes with 15 minutes still to go the the trail head it starts to get serious with lightning and more rain, but I figure the storm and I are headed in the opposite direction and we'll pass each other. Yeah, that's what will happen.

I was mostly correct. I got a bunch of rain, but missed most of the lightning. Some of it was really close, but luckily I missed any flash flooding. By the time I get to the trail head it is raining lightly, but there is a lot of lighting and the promise of more rain. I decide to press on. About 5 minutes in I get a feeling that I was a engaged in a bad idea and something bad was going to happen. As such, I decided to turn around and head home. I hate to cut a ride short, but I have learned to trust such feelings. I found out later why. About 15 minutes later it really started to rain and my tire went flat. I thought, 'no problem' I have two spares. Well it was a problem, neither would hold air and it really started to rain while I worked on it. So great, I have a 45 minute ride home now with a flat front tire. I try to call my wife several times to see if she can come get me, but the call won't go through. Seems the storm has moved on over to our house. She told me later there was a ton of lightning and rain at the house when I was trying to call. She was worried about me, but figured since I didn't call, things were OK. They were, but it was a long ride home in intermittant rain and lightning.

Only one mishap. As you well know, a flat tire rides decently in a straight line, but doesn't turn so well. Most of the ride was on a bike trail, but small portions were on road. Well on one of the road portions I caught the rim on a asphalt curb transition and went down on my right side. Nothing too serious and I slid a ways on the wet sidewalk, but I did re-cut my knee that was injured at the Sandia race a few weeks ago. Not a major set-back, but it hurts a little bit to bend and the flesh gets stretched. Alls well that ends well. Besides the flat it was a great ride. When it rains to rarely it is super fun to get out and cruise around in it.

So go out and have an adventure ride yourself.

PAIN CAVE

I traveled to Albuquerque the the other weekend for what turned out to be a pretty brutal, but awesome bike race at the Sandia Peak ski area. As you can see from the shot to the left I managed to put my knee into the ground pretty well. I actually lost some flesh on that one, but that was the least of my problems. Continuing the theme: 'Racing at Altitude Hurts' it was a high altitude suffer fest.

The race consists of two loops of a 16 mile course. 8.5 miles up and 7.5 miles down. The climbs took me 1.25 hours and the descent takes about 20 minutes. Serious climbing. It starts at about 7,500 feet of elevation and goes to 10,678 feet. That is high, and the air is notably thin to the likes of me. It was awesome to race on the green, but man it hurt.

The course climbs between grassy ski runs and pine tree forests. Completely gorgeous and luckily cooler in the trees and higher up. Basically it was awesome, but really, really hurt. The altitude put some serious pain on me. To give persepective, it took me 3.5 hours to cover the 32 miles. A similar distance at an Arizona race takes me around 2:10 or 2:15. Wow, that is a big time diferential, so it gives a sense of the immensity of the climb and how steep and tough it is.

Awesomely, I came in 6th which I think was me best finish of the season.

There are a few more New Mexico races coming up next month. Hope I can improve on my finish.

One last shot taken just after the race. It sums up pretty well how I felt.........

Summer has arrived

Hi, Greetings from the heart of summer here in Tucson. It has been over 100 deg. F for most of the past two weeks. That means it has been hot. I can hang with it till about 105, then it really gets to me. The other problem has been that it has also been humid getting ready for the monsoon. That means I am twice as drained. Mostly menas you need to learn from the lizard. Lay low during the day and be active from dusk till dawn. Only problem here is that I need to do stuff during the day and sleep at night. Good think dawn comes early here. In Arizona we don't do day light savings time, so the sun is up around 5:30am or sooner. And then it is hot by 6:30 or 7:00 so that getting up takes on some extra urgency to avoid extreme heat stress and dehydration. My person favorite is getting dehydrated.

So inspite of the obstacles, I have actually gotten out and ridden quite a bit lately. Something interesting about being out there early and alone in the heat. Kind of fun. I've even gotten some intervals in. That is hard though, because I am usually so thirsty by the time I get home I end up spending the next four hours drinking constantly to try to catch up. Mind you I ride with a 100 oz Camelbak and usually drink though that after two and a half hours. There is an interesting article in the latest Bicycling about the differing technology approaches of various teams competing in the Tour de France. Allen Lim with Garmin talks about how much energy is used to stay cool and that to speed recovery you need to cool down quickly after riding. I usually hop right in the shower with only the cold water on. It works OK, but the water isn't really cold. It is ground temperature so it is coolish, refreshing but certainly not cold. I am considering how to build an ice vest to aid cooling my core down. It hasn't been perfected yet. Maybe soon.

Speaking of Rodale press, the last issue of Mountain Bike had a review of the GT FORCE CARBON. http://www.bicycling.com/gear/detail/0,7989,s1-16-84-2212-0,00.html They like it a great deal. Doesn't surprise me, since my Marathon Carbon is fantastic and I imagine the Force is more of a good thing. I am considering if I need one. I would love to see how it rails around the local trails.

till next time

Flagstaff Finale

The last race of the Arizona Series was this past Saturday up in Flagstaff, AZ. Great riding up there at 7,000 feet. Up there being the operative word here. The course was on the Dry Lake Hills and Ft. Valley Trail systems, in the Coconino National Forest. This is easily the best race course of the entire series. Just fantastic riding and super fun. Technical descents, long climbs, twisty single track, it had it all.

The race started at an hour early at 10:30 AM to avoid the expected heat, but it was cool around 70, unlike in years past. It was still the right decision with what the course had to offer. I got the GT tent set up at the entrance to the venue next to the kids race course. Great location:

I was really hoping for a top 5 for the last race of the series. I positioned myself on the front line before the start and felt pretty decent. I had felt horrible the whole week before, so this was a relief. Once we got started I was able to sprint into the lead which I know would be short lived. It was an uphill start into the wind, so others were happy to let me lead. Then once it turned away from the wind I was swarmed and passed by 3 people before the first single track that lead to a rock desecent then a slight uphill to an even longer uphill. After the single track there was a fire road climb. I'm unsure of the distance, but it was about 45 minutes of climbing at that point in and out of the sun. Even thought it was cool, I was sweating pretty heavily. I felt descent, but couldn't bridge up to those ahead of me. Unfortunatley everyone wanted top 5 this race. After the climb there was long off camber descent with big drops. The Marathon Carbon ate it up with ease. Man that bike just rips descents. I was able to pass the guy ahead of me, and make up a place, but there was another hour of racing to come. There were more climbs and more descents, but I never made contact with the leaders again. I actually started to feel strong toward the end, but I didn't have enought left to make to the top five. I had to settle for 10th. A bit of a disappointment, but I guess that's racing. I did the best I could, and that is how it shook out. I need to find some more long climbs to train on to prepare for some more high altitude races later this season.

Wish me luck with my training, because I really want that top five somewhere......

White Cycling Shoes - Redux

I got my new pair of white cycling kicks this week. What can I saw, they are WHITE! Wow, I was a little surprised when I opened the box and they were just so, so, WHITE. But it's what I said I wanted so no backing down now. As you can see I decided upon the Sidi Dragon. They fit very well and are comfortable, so that is awesome. They are also a bit dirtier then this picture indicates, so that is good too. I'm excited to have them for the race next weekend. It is the final in the Arizona Series and in Flagstaff again. Different course, but more similar to the Flagstaff Frenzy of a few weeks ago. I'm glad it wasn't today. I felt pretty tired when I rode today, so hopefully I will be feeling more energetic next week. ..... we shall see.

RACE #3

Ah Flagstaff, what a great place to race. Race #7 of the Arizona Series (http://www.mbaa.net/), the Flagstaff Frenzy occured May 16th. The race went great for me, but I still only came in 7th. I would have liked to do better, but that is how it goes.

Check out the cool rorshach test I ended up with on my chest due to all mysweating during the race:

So back to the race. I had the best start of the year so far. I was on the front row, and this made a much bigger difference then I thought. I usually start in the back row and end up on the back of the back by two minutes in. Guess what, when you start in the front, you can be in 2nd or 3rd spot two minutes in. Interesting how that works. I will need to be up front from now on. It was a climb intensive course, and that usually works well for me. I was in 5th spot at the top of the major climb at the end of the first of two laps.

Let me just say that the Marathon Carbon is a comblete monster on the downhills. I am just amazed at how good it is. It has taken my descending to a new level. That said, you still need to properly tighten your stem for it not to come loose on a descent. I hit a big rock and the stem went sideways on me. Not as bad as it could have been, but a bit distracting, and it caused me to loose a few spots that I was able to recapture on the long climb on the second lap, but it would have been nice to have not lost those spots. Mental note, make sure all the bolts are tight before the next race. So besides the stem that has nothing to do with the frame, the GT Marathon Carbon is completely awesome.

Well there is another race up in Flag in a few weeks and I hope to do better at it. I know the bike won't let me down, hopefully I will have my climbing legs on. Thanks for reading!

Race #2

The race up east of Payson Arizona, the "Mogollon Masher", went down this past saturday. When my wife and I got up to leave at 5:30am in Tucson it was 72deg.....It was a four and half hour drive to the race venue so we got started. It was hot all up to Phoenix and we even had to run the a/c on the road up before Payson. However, once we got to Payson it cooled considerably due to the altitude. By the time we got to the course and the race started it was 58deg. This was great for me, since I perform much better in the cool then the heat, however not great for my wife to spectate, since we had worn shorts, but luckily she somehow thought to bring a jacket.

We arrived about an hour before the start and I was able to convince a course marshall to set up the tent right next to the entrance to the venue. This worked out great and all the racers had to pass the GT tent on their way to the start. Sweet. I got to talk to some nice folks about how great my bike was and handed out some brochures to interested fellow racers.

Interesting course. Mostly flat, but some deceptive actually climbing involved. I heard about 500 feet per lap. Not terribly technical and definitely a power course. Funny thing was that since the snow up there has only recently melted, there were two stretches of mud/ standing water to ride through. So, 9 mile loops with probably 20 feet of mud each lap, and yet somehow the bike and I got completely covered in mud. Cool, it is the Dirt Coaltion afterall.

The race went pretty well, and I gauged my effort well and arrived at the finish line 7th. I actually out sprinted a guy who came in a few seconds later. It was a tough up hill sprint, but I dug deep and took it. Very satisfying indeed. I really want to get on the podium, and I think I need to work on my start. I am always back of pack in the first quarter mile and then move up from there. I can't tell how important the first minute is in a 2 plus hour race, but I would like to be faster out of the blocks.

Thanks for reading

White Cycling Shoes

I've been thinking about white cycling shoes lately. For some reason I have become obsessed. This is slightly embarasing to me, so of course I have decided to share. Interesting in that I don't really like white shoes in other contexts, but somehow on the bike that look awesome. I have come to decide that white mountain bike shoes would look great with the GT Dirt Coaltition kit. I realize they are probably multiple sound arguments against white mountain bike shoes, but I won't hear them. I mean come on, what would rocket up a hill faster then a GT Marathon carbon then white shoes?

The main stumbling block is price and fit. They pair that springs to mind is the Sidi Dragon SRS that is available in white, but they are spendy and I don't know how they fit. I know you can get Rocket 7 in white with black stripe, but man, they are even more spendy. There must be some other option, but I don't know it....................we shall see.

I found out last week that I have qualified for the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships scheduled for July 16-19, 2009 at Sol Vista Basin in Granby, CO. That is some cool news. I have never been to Granby, Colorado, but I think July will be a fine time to visit. Living in Tucson does not prepare one to race at altitude, but never-the-less it should be worth the trip. I'm sure many other Dirt Coalition members will be there.

Unfortunately over the past week I have had to cut my riding back a bit. It is starting to get hot here in the old pueblo and I have been feeling low energy. Figured it was time to cut back a bit and recover. There is another MBAA (Mountain Bike Association of Arizona www.mbaa.net) race upcome this weekend up in north-central Arizona. I have never ridden this particular course, but I hope it is fun.

Take care and have fun riding!

Stiff like a........railroad truss?

Hi,

Hope all is well. I just returned from a wonderful camping trip to Aravaipa Canyon (http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/arizona/preserves/art1946.html) northeast of Tucson. I went with my wife, father and best friend Dave. How's that for a great group?

Aravaipa canyon is a beautiful amazing place with way more water then I am used to seeing in the desert. It is a perenial stream located in a wilderness area that has a lot on endangered fish in it and bighorn sheep. I actually saw my first wild bighorn sheep herd on the trip, a crane, and a bunch of leopard frogs in various colors. Very cool.

So since my last post I had my first race on the new bike. It was the Prescott Punisher up in Prescott Arizona. I came in 9th. I would have obviously loved to have gone top 5, but that is racing. It was actually cool, which was a first for the 20 plus races I have done in Arizona. That was nice, so I didn't get dehydrated like I often do. Beautiful course, and of course great bike.

Speaking of the bike, the more I ride it, the more I like it. It is a fantastic bike with so much good about it. The on thing I want to focus on this time if front end stiffness. The lateral stiffness of the frame it fantastic. I would call it subtle, because it doesn't beat you up, but it goes where you lean and point it without complaint. I didn't realize how much my other bikes flexed at the head tube till I started riding my GT Marathon Carbon. I love how stiff it is. I have been trying to come up with the appropriate analogy for the front end. I like 'Strong like a Gorilla' as a phrase, but that doesn't really do justice to lateral stability. Strong and stiff are not the same thing. What I am talking about is how much the front end resists twisting when you lean on it. So stiffness is what I think I am talking about. I don't know a lot of appropriate stiffness analogys. So lets go with "Stiff like a box truss" I know it ain't great, but it will work for the moment. Thanks for reading!

First Race

The new bike arrived last week. I chose the GT Marathon Carbon. It is awesome. I have had it out for several multi-hour rides and it is going really well. The suspension works very well and is smooth and fast. I am excited to see how it will be at the first race this weekend. The venue is up in Prescott Arizona and should be pretty fun. It looks like the weather might be rainy, so that will be even more fun. It so rarely rains in Arizona and I have never been to a bike race where it has rained, so that would be cool. Hopefully the bike sheds mud well.

Back to the bike. I am a little surprised the reveiws haven't been more over-the-top enthused. I have ridden a lot of high-end full suspension designs, and this one works really well. In fact it is the best full-suspension bike I have been on. It works so well that is just makes you feel fast and smooth, not bouncy. I'm very happy with it.

Hopefully the race will go well this Saturday.

Team Kit

Hi,

The team kit showed up the other day. It is awesome and very cool looking. I went for my first ride in it today at a place I refer to as "The Urban Trail" which is really a wash that runs near a golf course and some houses in the foothills in here in Tucson. Anyhow, the jersey and shorts are great. They are made by Sugoi http://www2.sugoi.com/usa/eng/ The colors and fit are impecable and the chamois pad on the bib shorts is super comfortable. I can't wait to get out and race it! Fantastic stuff. The specific model of the shorts is the RS Bib short. The chamois pad is well placed in the shorts and very comfortable for pedaling. I am so happy about this. I have to admit I was slightly concerned before the team kit arrived that the shorts might not be comfortable. I know you have ridden shorts that just don't do it for you. Luckily that is not the case. These things rock and look cool too. What more could you ask for? Thanks GT Dirt Coalition! Look for us at local races and on the trails.
Thanks for reading.

Moeller 03_10_09

Hi, Welcome to my blog. I was just selected by GT bicycles www.gtbicycles.com to be a part of the GT Dirt Coalition. I am so excited to race with thier support. Additionally, IMBA http://www.imba.com/ is involved as well. Trail access and building new trails is a huge issue for cyclist everywhere.

I hope to touch on this issue and other cycling related themes in the coming months.

Thanks for reading.