Seasons Change

Lately, most of us here in VT have been feeling like we have been getting away with something.
Well, we have. Unseasonably summer like conditions have given way to the weather we should have been having all along. Last eek, we were in the high 70s, wish perfect cloudless blue skies. The trails were bone dry. The turning foliage vivid and bright.
Now it's back to our normal program, cold rain, and muddy trails. We all knew it was coming. I even went and changed the tires on my RIP to Kenda Nevegals, a big meaty tire with lots of tread and grip. They have proven themselves to be a really good tire, hooking up in just about any scenario.

This weekend was the last hurrah. A bunch of us headed up to the Kingdon Trails in East Burke and met up with a crew from Maine, the same crew that was kind enough to show us the goods over at Bradbury Mountain. We were glad to reciprocate. It poured hard the day before making trail conditions very wet in spots, but still tons of fun. The sandy nature of the soil out there certainly helped in keeping most of the trails in good shape, with only the muddiest of mud holes being a problem.
Sadly, we were too busy riding to take any good pictures, but boy, there were a couple of times when I wish the camera had caught some of the hijinx on the trail. Like the time that DA and I boosted out of Sidewinder. No one was more surprised than we were. DA was ahead of me, and overshot the turn on the biggest transition on the trail. Shot right off the trail. I was on DA's tail, and managed to grab enough brake to avoid T-boning him. Nothing like two handfuls of brakes going uphill in a panic stop.

The ride was awesome, and it made me a little sad that these days will be few and far between in these coming months. Oh well, I like snowboarding too...
The guys from Maine were all super cool, and I hope that we'll all be able to ride together again soon.


The IMBA Trail Crew popped into the shop today, to hang, and chat about some of the upcoming projects we have in the region for next year. Lots of cool stuff in the works. There is nothing better to do on a rainy day, than to go hang out at you local bike shop and BS about bikes and riding bikes.

I have some other cool things to report on in the coming days. No riding for me though, my IT bands are killing me, and I think that I'll give myself a little time to relax and recover. Like the Stone's say "What a drag it is getting old".
(they would know)

What a Weekend!!!

Three exclamation points for a few reasons...



Let me tell you about a 23 year old rookie pitcher making his 2nd Major League start. Clay Buchholz threw a no hitter on Sept 1 2007 against the Baltimor Orioles. Mandy and I were there to witness it with and some good friends. How often do you get to see that happen? Not often.


Keller and I may have had something to do with it. We decided around the 7th inning to start making clucking chicken noises as Clay wound up. We would then scream "Buchholz!" on the release. Needles to say, it worked. We may be doing it for the rest of the season.

I count myself very lucky, not many folks get to be at the ballpark for a no hitter.

During the remainder of the weekend we connected with a new and now good friend out at Bradbury Mountain in Maine. He showed us some phenomenal trails. We had a short ride window, but he made sure every second was action packed. DA hooked up with us for the fun.





Thanks for the ride of Funness Escalation Kevin! We owe you one!

To sum up, Bradbury is a really fun place to ride. While we barely made a dent in the trails available, what we did get to ride made us yearn for more.

We'll be back.... and you can count on it!

Ongoing Review - White Bros Fluid 110

I can safely say that the White Brothers Fluid 110 fork is exceeding my expectations in every way.

Having spent a few rides fiddling and twiddling with the settings, I have finally found the settings that work for me. The ride is first rate. It goes where pointed without fuss, tracks true, and eats any sized bump and asks for more. What more could you want from a fork?


An observation I have on the fork, is that you will perceive that it is not very plush when you push down on it. It feels quite firm actually. For a while, it was causing me some concern, but I always seemed to forget about it once I started pedaling. Then I figured out, that if I didn't notice it while I was actually riding, it wasn't actually a problem. I decided to call White and get the lowdown. Turns out, it's by design. Plush forks react to everything, whereas stiffer forks, when valved appropriately, react to everything appropriately.

I'll get into the techno geek stuff in a later post.

Let me say this though. It works. And I am happy.
Worth every penny.


The ride shots are from this week out in Sterling Valley in Stowe. A fortuitous schedule change made it possible for Mandy and I to go out for a spin together. Conditions were late summer perfect. Not too many days left like that one. The trails we rode were technical, rooty, rocky and tight. A great place to test out a fork's capabilities. Due to time constraints, we were forced to bail early, not getting a chance to descend what we had climbed.


Still, any ride is a good ride, and boy do we have a doozy planned for Sunday.

We'll be hitting Bradbury Mountain in Maine. It promises to be a rockin' good time.

Happy Labor Day!