The other night I had the honored priviledge of being invited out to karaoke with the one, the only, Gary Fisher. Although it has been a while since i have sang anywhere more public than my own shower, I managed to do a decent rendition of my favorite band’s best song, “The final countdown”. Gary, on the other hand was out in rare style as he astonished the crowd with hit after continuous hit. My favorite moment was  when Gary won mvp of karaoke by belting out some Micheal Jackson.

fig.1- “…billy jean is not my lover, she’s the girl who says that…”

But more important than singing with Gary, was my chance to discuss with him, my ideas for a new mascot to symbolize just what the 29er Crew is all about.    I started telling him about what I thought exemplifies  a winning mountain bike team and I could see by the light sparkling in his eyes that he was in total agreement.   I explained  how the mascot should encompass various themes such as the skill  to handle any terrain,  the knowledge of how to sneak up on the opponents, and finally the ability to fly like the wind when headed towards the finish line.   After a few more songs,  and many more apple-tinis, we heard the bartender yell last call.   Gary finally asked me just what the mascot should be.   So here it is ladies and gentlemen…the brand new just out of the box Gary Fisher 29er Crew’s mascot for the 2009 season:

fig. 2-  The Winged Kitten of Death

So yes…hello again to all you faithful fans. This past week marked the start of the dirt crit series out on Sauvie Island called, The Kreuger’s Kermesse.   It was fast paced and dusty, but I managed to snag second place and send a teammate on for the W.

figure 1. A shot of the podium

 As you can see from the photo,  everyone was out wearing their best and brightest team jerseys. I personally,  am completely amped that Vanilla chose to go with the pink bunny kit for this season.  The only downside to the race was the gnarly batch of blisters I received as a result of trying to man my hands up for ‘cross by not wearing gloves. 

figure 2. “look Madge, I soaked in it!”

There is one positive outlook on the blisters though.   They’ve  given  me something to whine about and an excuse for my second place finish at work this entire week.   “Yeah, I was about to take the race but then all these blisters started popping.  So I decided to help my teammate bring in the win.”  

I wonder what next weeks minor injury is going to be?  I’m also wondering if Tsai will  ever sober up

Got home today (buzzing from a 2hr ride on dry dusty trails I hadn’t ridden for over a year and some new singletrack that had been hiding right under my nose) to find a letter from Trek… Expecting to find an invoice for my obsession with fresh rubber, it was ace to find some crankskins instead! Schweeeeet!

Big thanks to Travis and the guys at crankskins for sorting me out just in time for a big block of racing! Power to your pedals!

This is another great write up from last years race http://www.velonews.com/article/13665   You can register for this years race at http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7075  Hope to see all of you in Portland in November!

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I have been riding my SuperFly and loving every minute of it. I get more questions about that bike then any other bike I have owned. It has been a fun summer. I have enjoyed racing for this team and look forward to some big races next year.

Racing here in Oregon is quickly switching to Cyclocross.  Although my mountain bike is not ready to be put away, as the promoter of the upcoming SSCXWC08 I can’t help but start to get ready for the cross season. I would love to see some of those new Fisher Presidio’s rigged up as single speeds for this years sscxwc08. I encourage any of you to come out for an awesome race. It was quoted as being the best race ever attended by many spectators and racers. It is a full weekend of events and is pretty much nonstop action. A great write up of last years race can be found at: http://cxmagazine.com/single-speed-world-champs-crowned-in-portland   It was amazing! You can find details and registration information for this years race also at cyclocross magazine online at: http://cxmagazine.com/sscxwc-2008-portland-singlespeed-returns   If you have any questions please feel free email me: sscxwc@gmail.com  I hope to see some of my fellow 29ercrew members out there. I would be happy to help find housing for any of you.

Be careful what you ask for! When I said I wanted to spend my Birthday riding I didn’t expect to fly to Shannon for a long weekend in Ireland to sample some new trails.  Stood in the car park of the Ballyhoura trail centre in the rain, rebuilding the Superfly after the flight over certainly takes pre-ride bike fettling to a new level…

It had been tempting to make the most of the hire car and drive up to the Irish NPS that was happening the same day, but the weather was so bad it got cancelled, making our choice to ride at Ballyhoura all the more wiser! Although we still got soaked to the bone, the ‘weatherproof’ trails of the 51km Castlepook loop were great fun, well, apart from the boardwalk sections which were treacherously slippy!

For something completely different, the following days riding was on the tourist trail and saw a visit to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. With postcards purchased from the underground visiors centre it was time to escape the crowds for some quiet coast roads and Hans Rey-lite action on the huge rock formations before the flight home…

I opted out of the WORS Border Battle this past weekend for the sake of saving a few dollars in order to get my cross bike in line. However, the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Series (WEMS) held a rain day race Saturday. I figured it couldn’t hurt to go out and do the 3 hour solo event. As I pulled into the parking lot I my attitude improved as I got used to the laid back atmosphere of a WEMS event. The 3 hour field was not particularly stacked. Though I recognized a few faces most of them I have since forgotten. A le mans start uphill got things going right as I was the first one off the front. Not 5 seconds later Ronsta was spinning his single with me in tow. I tried to hang on Ronsta’s wheel but soon drifted off and was left to ride the remainder of the race solo. The only riders I passed were those participating in the 12 and 6 hour events, and quite possibly some 3 hour racers. I paced it farely well, but didn’t feel as exhausted as a standard 25 mile race would have made me feel. I ended up completing 6 laps (somewhere in the low 30 mile range) in a little over 2 1/2 hours. I didn’t have enough time to complete a 7th lap and as I retired I was told Ronsta had pushed it out for a 7th. Less than a minute before the 3 hour cut-off he came through with a complete 7 laps. Nice work! I didn’t have a pit crew or any water girls, but props to Team Pegasus for fumbling through my cooler and handing off full bottles of H20.

100 mile mountain bike racing. One of the finer formats of mountain biking to evolve out of the plethora of short lap rat races so prevalent in the 1990s. Closer to a big long fun ride. Often only a race for a select few. Those who race hard and fail to appreciate the difficulty of the distance can be found laying along side the trail or totally shelled at an aid station. For sure the slumlords can bring down their wrath the hardest even 6 hours into the race. But the character and nature of the event is very dependent on not only the course but the demeanor of the volunteers, the supplies at the aid stations the atmosphere at the start, finish and the overall production of the event.

Virginia’s own Shenandoah Mountain 100 is without question one of the most rewarding race experiences of the year and it is not only because of the amazing course and ripping single track downhills. The character of the race is FUN from the weekend camp out to the pre-race dinner and most especially the post race party/camp out. An atmosphere where once you finish it doesn’t matter how well you ended up but that you finished and all you’re friends are around, fresh French fries are awaiting you and you’ve just been handed a pint glass to sample from one of the many delicious kegs. Stay tuned, it is always the event of the year. And you get to check out killer views like the one above looking down the dowells draft decent.