moraine = morepaine

last weekend (yeah, it took me a week to review my race last weekend) i raced in pittsburgh's MONTH of MUD series race at Moraine state park . the course was wet with lotsa leaves- this created problems. wet east coast courses are tough because your tires get no tractability and you cant take turns and steep downhills too fast. moraine was also really tough because there were TONS of big boulder you had to ride over- these rocks were the size of mini coopers and you had to be technically perfect to make it up and over them- i was not perfect. besides the big rocks there were a bunch of small basketball-sized rocks which made a rock garden that was, in my estimation, about 1 mile long- doing this for a few laps was tough, and it didnt help that i did not know the course.

the riding was like these pictures for many miles



needless to say, i crashed a few times on the rocks, and they weren't even the worst part. the wet logs/ piles of logs you had to ride over were tough because, well, they were wet (and im not super amazing at them regularly). i tried them all the first lap around and that was a bad idea because ididnt know how they let out. on the real big one i went over with some real gusto but didnt realize how far the drop was on the other side and i went right over the bars and was on the ground. a few no-no werds were said, as the master rider behind me left me in his proverbial dust (it was more like wet decomposing leave debris).i got some pretty gnarly cuts via chainrings/logs/other things






ok, so they werent even that bad, but i got blood on my bedsheets at home and it is cool for that reason. anyway, i finished the race, taking more precautions the second lap, and this helped me gain more ground back. i think if your careful when you ride you go faster because everything is more fluid and you mess up/ fall less. i ended up finishing the race somewhere in the upper middle half of the group of 50 people... and i didnt get passed by any women either. i didnt win anything besides the new dirt rag magazine which was kinda a disappointing issue in my opinion.

well, i got some new bike parts and i attribute them and my beefy 2.35 kenda nevegal tires and dh tubes for my decent finish. lotsa people with lightweight stuff got pinch flats but i didnt because i ran those beefy tires and tubes. and the thomson seatpost totally increased my speed because of the way it held my seat in the appropriate place.




the ergon grips have proven real comfy too and i may get some for my fixie because my oury's just arent as nice. my gt is working great. it took a thrashing at the race but held its own. my wheels took tons of abuse and they are still kinda true- i havent trued them since i got the bike- but they still ride good. ive recently become a handbuilt wheel snob, but mavic makes some awesome intermediate level wheels.

tubes v. no tubes

so i just read an article by Tony Ellsowrth (Ellsworth bikes- i always dreamed of owning one) about tubes and tubeless systems and it echoed my opinions. i ran tubeless for 2 years 2007 thru 2008 (until i got my gt i guess) and i liked how i didint get pinch flats- however, i never got pinch flats to begin with. but mr. Ellsworth explains that tubeless tires are super heavy, and i noticed that with my tubeless nevegals. also, in a race (or even a long ride), you need to hope that the stans/slime (hate both)in your wheel stops the air leak. i ran a tubeless maxxxxxxis crossmark when i first got my zaskar and my tire would go flat ever 2 days. it normally wouldn't be a problem, but it made me mad on a carbon race bike. after a while of messin around i noticed that there was a tiny pinhole in my tire and it just didnt really hold air overnight, and i didnt want to risk it on a 2+ hour ride. that being said, i came to the conclusion around july of this summer that tubes are the way to go. tires are lighter, which is a plus because they are the farthest part from the hub that is rotating (multiply grams x 4 to get true rotational weight). also, tubes arent that heavy, and they are easy to replace (i am the flat tire czar etc). they make ultralight tubes- i had them on all my mtbs, but the ones in my gt gave way during the last 3 weeks- and they are really light. i ride them in my IF ss and when i first installed them in the wheels i was blown away by how light they were (again, remember rotational weight). i do, however, run DH tubes in my tires now on my gt because they were free and i know they wont pop on rocky race courses. i go back to a previous point, if your running a sealant during a race you better hope it works, if not you need a new $60 tire (who carries them during a race?). a tube takes 2 minutes to change at most (thats with the presta cap and valve retention ring jawn)- and the co2 pumps work great (i just had a 8 dollar flat tire fixup cause i dont carry a handpump now- thans beto). all in all, i liked my tubeless nevegals when they worked, but they were a beefy non race tire- they still went flat every few days too. but, for racing i think tubes and tires are the way to go until someone creates a better system.

oh, i raced the other day and it was awesome, but im too lazy/bizzy to write about it. school work sucks... and riding bikes in the last of the pittsburgh mediocre weather is important.

raced today

i had a good race today, but i left pre-results ( i think i did ok) and they are not posted yet, but i had fun. more soon...

tire levers

changing tires/tubes is the one repair job EVERY bike should know how to do. i dont know why people pay someone else $5+ to do it, but hell, it pays my bills in the summer. ive changed a lot of tires and tubes, and im pretty good at it (in some parts, im know as the tsar of flat tires). there are three tools you need to take a tire off, and two you need to put them back on- two hands and a lever for removal, and two hands for installation. ok, so you might need a lever to get the last part of the bead of a tight road tire on, but thats a rarity. im in no position to explain how to put a tire on, but i did just use 2 different lever to change some flats (i had 2 different ones lying around my room) and ive decided which one is better. its between the sexy blue park tool levers...

and the pedros levers ( i like the pink ones best)...


i find the park tools one to be inferior. the lip on the lever is narrower and doesnt grab as much of the beat when you need to remove the tire. the pedro's lever is slightly larger (wider) and you can get a better grip on it. these things sound trivial, but it makes a big difference. i have some super shitty performance brand levers and they make it tough to get a tire on/off- they suck. anyway, i also find that the pedros lever dont crack as easy. though they do inevitably break, they arent made from as hard a plastic, making them less prone to simply snapping in half. lastly, both levers have those hooky things to fit onto the spokes. though i never use them (in fact, just having them is dumb because if you know what your doing you dont need them), the pedros ones stay on the spokes way way way better. i usually like park tools- my hex set, ts2, dishing gauge etc. , but pedros tire levers (among other things, like lube) are far superior to parks.

when im old

... when im thrity i wanna be a good mtb racer, even though i feel like racing isnt my true calling, i wanna be the funny guy who shows up to every race but looses but always has beeer and a grill and a few dirty jokes

bad weather

chain-l is still awesome, after more riding (8 miles today) in the harsh rain and mud. ive put about 100 miles on my fixed gear with it in all conditions and its so quiet and awesome.

... anyway, im just really loving my zaskar recently. i just acquired (aka free) 2 older gt frames from the co-op where i work, ones a zaskar and one is a no namer (i think an outpost or timberline). im going to build the zaskar up into a trials-esque bike with a sweet machinetech x mavic 217 wheel i got for free. the other no name one was a complete bike and i rode it on some trails for a few miles (after i rode my carbon zaskar) and it was way way way worse than my carbon gt... obviously. it made me realize that my new zaskar is super awesome- the best geared mtb ive ever ridden- and way better than nostalgic old mtbs.

today, as the looming pittsburgh winter arrived, i realized that my time on a bike will be limited. i realized that i dont want the mtb season to end (technically it never ends cause i ride in all weather, but its hard to get motivated when its windy and wet and snowy and 10 degrees) and in order to keep myself motivated through the harsh next few months ive planned on doing 3 races. a M.O.M race at moraine park, and Heather Rizzi's races during thanxgiving and christmas. road season is practically around the corner (ughghch, i dont knwo why i do it), but soon thereafter, its mtb season again.

stuff...

ive been riding a lot recently, but its getting cold so i want to get in as much riding and racing as i can- im not afraid of the cold, but the pittsburgh winter is brutal. Ive created a nice 14 mile loop i ride a few days a week and ive gotten a bit faster (ironically, as the season begins to wind down). it supposed to snow tomorrow but i want to try and get in a 40 mile ride- its a lot to ask for a park where the longest loop you can make without crossing paths is like 7 miles, but without a car, its all ive got.



anyway, ive had this sample of chain-l lube that i got from a rep last year and i recently applied it to my mtb and road bike and its amazing. it did not wash off in the rain (three wet mtb rides of 10 miles or more and two wet thirty mile road rides) and i havent re-lubed my zaskar in over 100 miles- about 2 weeks of riding i guess. i usually use pedros or tri-flow, and i like their stuff, but this chain-l is real quiet and only needs to be applied every 500-1000 miles. it is more expensive ($12 bucks for a bottle) but i go through like 4 pedros a year (plus the lube i use when i work on my bike at work) and those are like 8 bucks each. the stuff stinks and many shops dont have it - hopefully people will start to demand the product- but i really have been surprised by the lube and i think its going to be my only lube from now on. this stuff would also be awesome for commuters/ bike messengers who ride their bikes every day in all conditions. i was skeptical at first because i thought pedros, progold, tri-flow, finish line etc. were the standard for chain lubes, but i found out i was wrong. as chris king, indy fab, thomson etc. are the standards in their respective areas, i believe chain-l is the tops when it comes to lube.

new parts

so i got my ergon gx1's in green today and they seem to be real good. my friend in pittsburgh uses them and philly's own Harlan Price (rides for indy fab and ergon)uses them so I had to get some. theyre good, except on the right part of my handlebar there is something missing. i broke my remote lockout- the little button where your finger pushes snapped off- but fox was nice enough to send me one for free. thanks fox.

besides that the weather here has been awful and i dont feel like riding on wet leaves and over wet logs ( its a bad combination and i learn from my mistakes).