Check out this video of Glacier Surfing. These guys went to a spot where the glacier calves constantly, and then they get towed in and surf it. The article in Outside mag said they sometimes had 40 foot faces.
[tag]surfing, glacier, Alaska[/tag]I bit the bullet tonight, and ordered up a new fork for my Giant Reign. My Nixon has failed too many times, and is being sent back again. They hopefully will send me a brand new fork, that I can then just sell and be done with.So, ordered a RockShox Lyrik 2-Step Air Fork. These things are grossly expensive, but, uh, well, uh, ok, I have no way to rationalize it. Why did I choose this fork, especially given that I've stayed away from RockShox for soooo long now? Basically, it had the right mix of things for me: 20mm Maxle (didn't have to be Maxle, but 20mm axle is the only way to go for me), adjustable travel, and adjustable under 160 where the fork performance is not diminished/altered, ok weight, not a Manitou, etc. Fox 32's don't have 20mm, and I didn't want to go with a Fox 36. Marzocchi doesn't have a 20mmm axled for that fits the bill either. Maverick could have been interesting, but I guess I didn't trust them in terms of how it'll hold up.This weekend, since my Reign has no working fork, I'll be riding the Niner at Oakridge. This is my first time to Oakridge now that I've moved to Eugene, and I'm quite excited to get out there and see what all the hubbub is about! We'll see how badly I want my Reign back (or not!?) after riding the fully rigid Niner.
Niner 1x9Originally uploaded by Christopher Bailey Yesterday I converted my Niner to a 1x9 drivetrain. Came out quite nice. I used a Spot bashguard and an N-Gear JumpStop to keep the chain on the chainring. I had already shortened up my chain when blocking out my big ring, so that was dialed. Pulled off the front deraileur and shifter, dropping probably 3/4 of a pount. Bike weighs exactly 27.05 pounds now according to my digital scale.I have also put on a WTB Weirwolf 2.55 LT tire up front, but haven't been very impressed. Here's my review of that. I've basically been riding this bike as 1x9 for the last several rides anyway, so should be great.
I've returned from a week of travel, and am very eager to be back on the bike. While I was gone, I received a new Syncros FL Stem, and the Panaracer Rampage 29er tires. This weekend I'm planning to head out to a local, small trail system here in Eugene, with my GPS and maybe camera, and map it out. The trail map I have shows it as a simple line, but in fact, it's at least a loop, and has several off-shoots. Nothing spectacular, but as a fun exercise I'll go map it out and try out the Niner with some real mtb tires and such.I may sport the Endura Humvee 3/4 shorts again too. I'm still mixed on whether I can pull off the nicker variant, but I like these things a lot. They're nice and light, the cell phone pocket works very well for me for town riding (unlike the review I read - but super fit messenger boy probably gets more movement out of it than me :) They're an ideal town riding short/knicker.
24 Solo is a superb movie about Chris Eatough's quest to win a 7th World Championship for 24 hour solo mountain bike racing. With darn near every mountain bike movie made these days being about hucking, jumping, and big mountain riding, I was both skeptical that this movie would be exciting and interesting, but also hopeful for a breath of fresh air. I got both! I found 24 Solo to be riveting. I was really glued to it, drawn in to the story, and impressed and intrigued by Eatough. Then you throw in the unexpected (to me anyway) Craig Gordon, the guy who practically died doing the race. I haven't followed 24 hour racing much, so didn't know about Gordon. Gripped Films did a really good job of weaving this story into the movie. The movie covers some personal bits of Eatough's life, his training, shots of him riding on his home trails in the snow, a race in China, and of course the World Championships. It also interviews other racers, and some big names. The movie is more of a documentary if you will, and if you think, oh, no big hucks it can't be good, I strongly urge you to reconsider. If you're into mountain biking, big adventure, impressive performances and quests, then check it out, it's great. I also like that they didn't skimp on the length. This is a feature length film, or feels like it, at 75 minutes long. Further, the music is good (and isn't a bunch of crappy metal that is supposed to get you all psyched up, but winds up annoying you instead). Hi quality, great story, and I fully recommend it.
This is a really fun little time waster mountain bike game on the web, check it out!
This past week/weekend, eight friends and I attended Mountain Bike Oregon. ??There were some rough edges for the event, but we wound up having a pretty great time, and some superb riding. ??Matt took his new Sportsmobile on pretty much its maiden voyage here, and I slept in the top bunk during the trip - very cush, and certainly nicer than camping. ??Some of the others had an RV, and Rich and Barry each slept in a tent. ??On Thursday when some of us had arrived, we did a quick two hours on the south side of the Salmon Creek trail. ??This is a really cool trail. ??I'd expected something kinda lame, since we could just ride to this, and heard it was just a quicky loop from town, but it was very good! ??Very scenic bridge/river crossing bit at the end too. ??Friday was the big epic shuttle of the Middle Fork. ??33 miles I believe, about 5 hours +/- riding time. ??The chaos began in the morning with a bus ride gone wrong: driver got lost. ??What was supposed to be a 1.25 hour shuttle, became 3 hours! ??John, our Google Earth guy, used a GPS and the map and got us on the right track, and we all made the ride and loved it. ??Saturday we did the Tire Mountain/Alpine shuttle, which was just awesome. ??I was totally knackered on the climbs, but the descents were so sweet! ??Lots of long, flowy, fast, tight singletrack, some extreme switchbacks, and just great stuff! ??I ran out of water with about an hour to go, which sucked, but oh well. ??This was a really great trail.??Sunday it had rained all night the night before, and was still in the morning, and most of us had to get going, so we just packed it in and headed out after breakfast in the rain (the MBO folks had put up some tents/EZ-Ups, so it was fine). ??A few of us took pictures:
I rode my Reign for the duration. ??It was great on the Middle Fork, but I think I'd actually rather of had my Niner on Tire. ??There were some rough spots, but I just love my Niner, and the lower center of gravity.The Specialized folks were at MBO, and I got to take a quick spin on their new 5" travel 29er. ??No doubt about it, that's my next bike - will be getting rid of the Reign for that.Just signed up for the August date of Mountain Bike Oregon, an awesome 3 day riding fest. I've started to ride some of the trails in Oakridge, now that I live an hour away, and it's very good stuff. In fact, my first ride there was on the Middle Fork (not quite all of it, as there was still snow at the top), which is a featured shuttle ride for MBO. Anyway, check it out. Matt, John, and Shannon will be joining me so far.
Another great blog, linked to from Jill's Subarctic Journal: Mike Curiak???s blog is about custom 29er wheels, riding in the winter in Alaska, Iditabike, and so on. I've been spending some time reading it tonight, as there's a lot of good stuff. For example, check out his custom Moot's snow bike, including the rigid double-triple clamp titanium fork, that doubles as storage for camp stove fuel. As it turns out the whole bike stores fuel! Or, he's got a rather interesting entry on the food he ate during the 2000 and 2002 Iditarod Impossible (1100 mile Iditabike race). I know if I ate 240 Clif Bars, I'd be in a hospital, if even alive. Yikes. The bacon, even if turkey, on the other hand, yum :) Anyway, some great reading there.
Michael Clark is a superb photographer, and happens to take a fair number of "adventure" photos, which include mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, backcountry skiing, and so on. If anything, take a gander through his "Adventure" section of his portfolio. There are some really stunning shots in there.
I'm a cyclist (mountain biker at heart, but spend a lot of time on the road as well), trail runner (no pavement for me!), skier, hiker, like to camp, romp in rivers, and generally spend as much time as I can in the mountains. I also love to surf and hang at the beach, but I don't get to do that much these days. I moved to Eugene, OR a few years ago, and am continuing to explore my local outdoor opportunities. The Lake Tahoe area of Northern CA is probably my favorite place to mountain bike (love the rocky trails!), but I love to ride any new trail I can get my hands on.
I also post trip reports from friends here; guys like Matt who is based in Silverton and skiing as much backcountry as he can year round (he goes to Las Lenas every summer), Rich, another backcountry skier as well as kayaker, and so on. Good times.
