Back From Vacation

It has definitely been a while since my last post. I will blame this on finals, vacation, and possibly even my laziness. Finals went awesome and i am glad that is all over and that i will soon be a junior, but the best part is that i will get to really dive into my major next year. Now there is also a bad thing coming from school being over. My daily schedule of going to bed at a relatively decent time and working out every day is no more. This has made my strength on the bike suffer quite a bit. It also didn't help that i just got back from vacation in Ireland (wish i had brought my mtn bike, the place is awesome) and did not do anything but eat awesome food and see awesome places. Oh, did i mention that my first racer is Saturday and i got back yesterday? So i am both excited and in quite a bit of fear. But hey, whatch ya gonna do?

On another note, my father and i did the whole Teflon tape to the bottom bracket of my mtn bike so the stupid thing would stop squeaking. It was looking really good and i thought it would stop it for sure. Well, it didn't. It is much quieter but still quite annoying. I think there is one more thing we can do that they recommend. And it better work. I also installed the Token Titanium/Alloy Skewers. Stupid things don't work either. The front skewer loosens right up and falls out after no time at all. So frickin annoying. Whatever, i'll use them on my road bike.

Speaking of things with two wheels, i may or may not be picking up a Kawasaki KZ1000 on Saturday. This can neither be confirmed or denied at this time.

Whelp, that is all for now. Here's a sweet vid.

It's Been A While

It has been a few crazy weeks here at Ball State. I've had more test, exams, quizzes, and presentations than ever before. Now sure i could have had time but all i had on my mind was business etiquette in Egypt, accounting, and statistics. Not even a bit entertaining. So i'll try and make up for it in this post.

I went home the other day to do a little more work on my bike. I needed to install a new Niner Cogalicious Cog, put some more goo in the wheel because for some reason they are still not holding air like they should be, and do the whole Teflon tape on the bottom bracket. Everything went well and i can't complain too much about anything. Although i can say it is a little annoying right when i thought i could put everything back together i realized i needed another spacer for the rear wheel. But that was solved by using a headset spacer for now.

Cogalicious

Unfortunately i have don't really have any other bike related news. I haven't gone on a ride in a while (although i might today if i get all my studying done). The days it is nice out i can't go and the days it is gross out i can go. Story of my life. So i have had to waste my time in other ways. Like miscpix.com or reddit.com. Where i learn all sorts of interesting and useful things like:

Oh did i mention i made one of the best foods in the world last weekend? It's my kind of pre/post/during workout snack. Puts hair on you chest and will grow the length of you penis 4 inches in only 4 weeks!

Bacon Infused Pancakes

Well hopefully i will get to ride today and i promise to update my blog at least once a week.

Sweet vid.


PROJEKT ROAM: Chasing Gravity-Episode 1 from projekt roam on Vimeo.

Weeks End

The weather is getting warmer. Best news i have heard in a while. Other than that just the usual has been happening round here. Just school, gym, friends, and shenanigans. I didn't end up going on a ride on Thursday cuz the wind was about 30-40 mph. And there are only a few things i loathe more than riding against the winds.

On another not my dad just got a new bike. Haven't seen it in person yet but he sent me a picture of it on his phone.

Wit da skinny tires

And do big ones

It's a Salsa Fargo. Awesome touring/adventure/mtn/road/commuting bike. Hopefully when the weather gets warmer i will be able to go on a road ride with him. Note how the handlebars are curved. Can't wait to steal it from him and see how they feel.

That's all for now. Gotta go to a concert for class (awesome way to spend a Saturday night)

Hilarious vid.


BUCS 2011 X.C Carnage! from Joe Bowman on Vimeo.

SB 2011 Recovery Week

Just got back from SB (spring break) a couple days ago. It was a success. And went a little something like this...

Yep, Speedos

So pretty much every day was spent taking years off my life and eating amounts that could have saved colonies of African children (yep). It was staying up until four AM (or later) and then getting up at a beach the next day at 8 AM (or earlier). Didn't manage to work out more than once or even run on the beach. So all the squats and leg press and such were lost. All lost. I'm basically back to about where i was a month ago. This isn't going to help my cycling one bit.

I am not back into the grind of college life. Homework and quizzes and tests. Although the highlight of this week (other than sleep and working out and eating regular amounts of food) is that it may get up to 70 degrees on Thursday! I will finally be able to ride my bike that i just cleaned up for this occasion. I am, of course, planning on stepping on the bike and feeling that all my hard work has paid off. But with this last week i may not feel so well. But whatchya gonna do. It was a nice break before that last part of school. And then i will move on to who knows what. Anyone got a job they need filled?

Whelp time for a bit of homework.

Heres a sweet vid that has been going around the interweb for a bit now.

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Oh did i mention i met my trophy wife on the cruise.

I do look like a strange shade of red, BUT look at her!

Well Poo

It's doing that stupid thing outside again. That cold, wet, white, and fluffy thing that prevents me from riding a bike. Snow. This has been one of the reasons i haven't been posting for a while. Absolutely nothing exciting has happened. Now sure i have found ways to entertain myself. Things that are both beneficial (like working out and eating right) and things that are not all that great (the regular college shenanigans). But still no bikes.

Stupid Midwest Snow

I guess it is not entirely that i haven't "done" anything with a bike. I did get out my single speed road bike (yet another single speed) and clean it. Man did it need it. Paper towel was black from the rims. No wonder i couldn't stop very well at the end of last year. Just need it to warm up so i can get it dirty all over again.

Spring Cleaning

I also came to the realization that i really need some QR skewers on this bike. Really inconvenient to be at college without all the necessary tools. So thats all i've been doing. Still not a whole lot of excitement, but what you gonna do.

Oh and my wrist still hurts. I can bend it back almost all the way now, but my palm still hurts a lot when i bench. So i haven't benched in like a month. My titties are shrinking...

Enough complaining, time to go work out, here is a sweet vid.

Part 1 of 2 is Finally Here!

So after a month of waiting my Token Titanium/Alloy Skewers are here. This is the first set of skewers i bought. And because i thought they were long lost i got an extra pair (USE Tula Spin Stix). Which aren't here. Of course not.

So i haven't had time to try em out yet. Just look at em, touch em, and weight em.

Light huh?

Very surprising. Thought for sure they would be at least 50grams. How nice of them to make it lighter. I did't have time to try them on my bike. And now that i am at school i don't have my bike.

And why was i at home? Just preparing for Spring Break 2011. Getting all the necessities.

Yes i  have a drag suit. From my many years of swimming. So me and Boner and Zombie and a couple other ladies are going on a cruise down in the Caribbean. Should be quite a time. Sure the only problem is that i will be doing many stupid things and eating too much and not being able to work out like i can while i'm here at school. So there's that. But it will be a good time.

Oh and the weather here is just delightful. Supposed to hit 61 here in a few days. Hopefully i can get out for a bike ride. Whelp gotta go work out.

My Unprofessional and Premature Niner One 9 Review

This coming review is highly unreliable. I have only really ever ridden one other 29er single speed in my life. It is now my long lost love. A 2007 Raleigh XXIX. Rigid and single. Another reason you should disregard most of what i say is because i have only ridden my new bike once. Indoors. For a few hours and even less miles. So think of these coming words as a First Impressions review comparing my old bike to my new. Here it goes...

First thing i noticed was actually during the final stages of the build up. The EBB. Those stupid things are just a pain in the butt. Seriously. To shift the EBB to the right place you have to put an allen wrench in the hole in the hole in the side of the EBB and shift the crankset abound so it actually pushes on the allen wrench. There has got to be something i am missing? Perhaps a tool? Anyways, this is just the one thing that bothers me. But everything is just awesome.

Needs Some Of These

The second thing i noticed while riding the bike is the acceleration. HOLY CRAP the thing moves. Just about flipped over backwards. Now this is mostly because of the fact that the bike weighs probably close to ten pounds less then my old Raleigh (by "my old Raleigh" i actually mean "my Dads Raleigh i sort of borrowed for an extended period of time"). Most of the Lbs coming from the massive WeirWolf 2.55 up front and the Maxxis Ardent 2.4 in the rear. Both with heavy tubes. Compared to the light wheelset and light Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25's on my new bike, they are beasts.

The third thing i noticed while riding was the feel of the suspension fork vs. the rigid fork. Now this took me some time to get used to. The Raleigh had a non-suspension corrected fork. Real low and real agile and real clean. The first time i went out on my Niner it felt a bit... sketchy. I really wasn't used to the extra few inches you sink down and when your weight shifts forward. Kinda made me nervous about everything. But after an hour of riding it around Ray's Indoor MTB i started thinking it was the best thing ever. It really made me excited for the Brown County Breakdown this year, becuse last year i did it on the Raleigh and after 40 miles thought my hands were going to just fall off (really wreck my career as a hand model). Maybe to the 60 or 75? Just have to wait and see.

Whelp time for me to go to class. Hopefully this shed just a shard of light on those who are thinking of purchasing a Niner One 9. I highly recommend it. And in a few months when this snowpocalypse is over, i will write a review when i ride it on some good old dirt.

Vid stolen from BikeRumor