Beers will be ripped, flasks will be nipped.

Thursday November 14th (and the weekend after) Austin, TX Keep Cross Weird!

Bandit Cross: Ruining It For Everybody from Quality Bicycle Products on Vimeo.

Nailed it!

It's nice to finally put some well-shot video to the various photos I've seen form two weekends ago in PDX, especially the fork mounted bike hauling trailer and several people boosting onto the concrete partition. Check it out below!

Work Hard. Ride Home. from PDW on Vimeo.

The Godfather

If there is a godfather of the dirt drop bar, it's framebuilder and lifelong tinkerer Charlie Cunningham.  He, along with his life parter Jacquie Phelan have been pedaling around dirt drop-equipped bikes for over three decades.  Cunningham is no stranger to technological development, having built his first aluminum bike in the 1978, but unlike other manufacturers who shunned the influence of drop bars from the road cycling scene, Cunningham and others (like Scot Nicol of Ibis fame) realized the benefits achieved by a properly placed drop bar on an off-road bike.  They're fantastic for climbing, reduce fatigue from trail shock, and are excellent at keeping your hands in place on descents.  In addition to his development of the flared dirt drop bar (production models were made both by Specialized and his own company Wilderness Trail Bikes), he's produced a number of quirky, but extremely effective designs.  These include the roller cam brake, bolt-on toe flips for pedals, a full size frame pump tucked inside of a seat post, and Grease Guard.  Check out this interview originally published in Rivendell Reader 27 Summer 2002.  Most images culled from Jacquie's Flickr.

Snow Yonder.

Some might think it's totally ridiculous to head out into the wild when inclement, unpredictable weather is 100% guaranteed to smash the motivation out of you.  Others find it a character building experience to stretch your limits.  A friend recently told me that he often acclimates to frigid weather by sleeping naked in his sleeping bag and only adding one article of clothing at a time until he can finally stand the temperature.  He's the kind of guy who can go on a 22 day expedition with limited equipment.  Us cyclists tend to be of a more fickle, needy nature.  We seek out warmth wherever it appears and often wear EVERYTHING we bring with us on a cold ride.  This often means that on multiple day rides, everything is soaked through with moisture and will be uncomfortably worn for the rest of the trip.  Head over to Yonder Journal to read about Brovet #2: The Cumberland Passage Permanent.  What was intended to be a chill leaf peepin' ride ended up intersecting with an early season snow storm.  What ensues is of course was a test of even the toughest cyclist.

Merckx Monday

This image is the result of the first ideas in my head relating to Dirt Drops.  I was thinking about iconic road culture and memes related to them.  Eddy Merckx has been the impetus for much cultural worship surrounding cycling and several flips have been made on his name.  This particular one came to me as I was looking at John Tomac in the drops and thinking about how he was, for a few years, The Cannibal of mountain biking.  He dominated both XC and DH disciplines for much of the mid-to-late 80s.  In 1990 he was signed to Team 7-11, who of course rode Eddy Merckx bicycles.  Adding a road team commitment heavily influenced his decision to ride his mountain bike with roughly the same set-up as his road bike.

The Abominable

Homework!

Study this diagram over the weekend and report back on Monday!

Museum of Mountain Bike Art and Technology

And then have a beer to celebrate what you've learned.

Flare Friday

I'm going to start something I call #FlareFriday. It will involve a photo of a bike set up with drops or someone riding them in a rad fashion. Here we have John Tomac airing out at the 1987 Rockhopper XC event in California.

I don't intend this blog to revolve around one bike component, but for now this will give you a general idea of where I'm headed!

Red Bull does it again!

This is a hot tip from Sean T. @ Team Dream Team Bicycling Team

Gee Atherton charged with chasing down 400 cyclists, all clad in the garb of the hound. The fox chases the hounds in this scenario!

Seven Mudhoney S

I had my first new bike day in seven years earlier this month. Unfortunately, a few rides in I went OTB and broke my collarbone. It's going to be another few weeks before I can ride it again, but oh what a fine bike to stare at! The build isn't quite complete. I built it with some parts bin bits as the SRAM 10 speed S-700 shifter/brake sets are quite expensive and an the crank I wanted didn't seem too pressing. Everything else is pretty much as it will sit for awhile.

Dirt/Drops

The intersection of dirt and road, or where the pavement ends.