more summer in november!

Weather has simply continued to be amazing!

I will come back to this and post my recent training (for my own purposes) later.



Marin build-

What can I say? Got excited about having a 26" xc bike again, of course that meant going all-in. Had my friend Eric weld a rear disc tab onto the bike and remove all the unwanted braze-ons etc. etc.. I was a bit nervous initially when I let him take the frame, but things absolutely couldn't hav turned out any better. Excellent quality of work and attention to detail too. Then I spent some time of my own creating a cool custom finish for the aluminum crankarms, brake levers and bashguard. Lastly, I sold some stuff I didn't need and financed some tasty new Ritchey parts, a race quality disc wheelset and a titanium velo saddle. Things were coming together fast... Then, as the clearcoat was drying I got a call from an old friend. I hadn't heard from Lin in a couple of years, and the serendipity of randomly hearing from a custom airbrush artist on that evening was just too much to ignore. Expect big things- I'll save the pictures for later.


I've also made a few other equipment changes here recently on the other bikes- continuing to lighten things up and sell what I no longer need. The salsa got some new Easton Monkeylite sl bars among other little upgrades. The Jamis got a 70mm raceface stem and a kmc chain. The Monocog got some real SS cogs and a new chain as well. I also picked up 4 Yakima racks for the Tahoe, so we're up to being able to carry 8 bikes when necessary. It should be helpful as it will make it easier to carpool and hopefully save some gas next summer.




HPT LACROSSE-

Went and rode there once again last Thursday and just feel that I have to mention how freaking awesome that trail system is. The main loop there is the best in the midwest that I have yet been to and by a wide margin. Nothing in the Cable or Duluth area even comes close to the absolute quality of trail. HPT is full of little technical spots and tricks and legitimate climbs in a way that is mostly unmatched in this part of the world. If you haven't been, go!