Cyclocross, the only way I know how

My 'cross season in 2011 immediately took a turn for the better when I started using my lightweight hardtail instead of a cross bike.  A number of factors probably contribute to this, but the biggest one is the fact that I ride a mountain bike better than I ride a 'cross bike.

So for the 2012 'cross season, I'm going deeper with the super light weight 29er hardtail.  This time around, it's a Felt Nine Race aluminum bike with a carbon fork and mostly XTR 2x10 components, with a bit of Dura Ace thrown in.  I'm doing Stan's Crest wheels with Geax Barro Race tires.  All told, I'm about a pound and a half lighter this year than last, somewhere around 19 pounds total.  That's lighter than plenty of the 'cross bikes, so there won't be any excuses, not that I need any excuses to lose badly.

Last Day of Kindergarten for Eli

 This was Eli on Thursday, his last day of Kindergarten.

And this was Eli last August, on his first day of Kindergarten. 

They grow up so fast.  He loves school and his teachers and fellow students love him.  We can't wait for First Grade.  Great job, big guy!

Dashing little guys, huh?

Last weekend for Mother's Day, we took the beautiful Mrs. K to Aya Sophia.  It was a wonderful morning.  The boys looked quite fetching.  Yes, that's apple juice they are drinking.  Tyson was a bit too cool for my photo and kept his sunglasses on.

Mountain Biking is moving right along

Last weekend at Greensfelder, I had a great race.  I love that course, and things just fell into place.  I got second place overall in the Cat 1 race, although it was a distant second.  Today I raced at Broemmelsiek and came up with the same result...second overall.  But today involved a lot more suffering.  90 degrees with a course that doesn't give any time to rest...yep, that'll kill me.  I feel some fitness coming along, and my technical riding is making me happy.  I could get used to having some extra spending money, too!

Thanks to the crew for putting on a great race today!

New 29er Wheels from Mavic

Mavic's first try at a nice 29er wheelset was a bit below the mark.  The Mavic rep stopped by the other day and showed us the new line-up.  There are three, from downright reasonable to downright bling-tastic.  The photo is the top of the line model, new from the ground up.  Light, stiff, durable.  They accommodate all axles front and rear.  Real UST.  1600 grams or so.  Yep, a grand out of your pocket.

Unique Medals at the Greensfelder Challenge

It's pretty common for medals to be given out at mountain bike races.  Usually, they are pretty standard.  The guys that put on the Greensfelder Challenge went a different route for the medals and came up with something really unique.  After talking to Bob Arnold, I can see why normally we get pretty basic medals.  He was saying that every little design feature costs extra money.   A close look at these puppies tells you that they must have cost quite a bit extra.  I know, it's "only a medal" to some people.  But I appreciate them.

Cool Dude Hair

We were getting crazy with the hair gel one morning before school and this is what happened.

More Movie Cars

 Someone mentioned the Munstermobile, the macabre rumble-seat equipped car of the Munster family.  Man, I bet this thing drove like crap.  But, it's cool and I bet cruising this down your favorite road would make you feel like a movie star.

Another crazy creation by George Barris (Batmobile, Monkeemobile, Munstermobile, etc) was the mean machine from the bad 1977 movie, The Car.  It was actually a 1971 Lincoln Mark III.  I really like this thing.

Speaking of the Batmobile...I feel that this car reigns supreme in all of cardom.  Produced from a 1955 Ford Futura concept car, the Batmobile was just too much for my adolescent mind.  In reality, it weighed nearly 3 tons and was motivated by a pedestrian Ford 390 V8.  That's OK...I'll keep pretending that it was the baddest car ever.  Plus, it had parachutes.

The Monkeemobile, 1967 Pontiac GTO

Ebay can be a wonderful place.  Full of amazing and fantastic buys.  And full of just plain weirdness.  Well here, folks, is your chance to own a piece of all the above.  I give you, the Monkeemobile

Starting life as a 1967 Pontiac GTO, those crazy guys in the band had some killer wheels.  You can bid on this gem, or you can do like I did and gaze endlessly at the folly of the 60's.
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New Brakes for the Mustang

 I've been getting the shudder while braking on the Mustang for a while now.  I have put off changing the rotors because it's a dirty job.  It's not hard, exactly, but it is time consuming and dirty.  These fresh front rotors and new pads went on quite easily, pretty much done in 90 minutes.  The old rotors were certainly toast, but the old pads could have been reused.  But, since I was already in there, out with the old and in with the new.

On the test drive, I noticed still a bit of shudder.  Just as I feared, the rear rotors were warped as well.  Dang, and I HATE doing rear brakes.  The pistons in the rear calipers are always recalcitrant and these were particularly hard.  After a couple of hours of hate, I called Marty and he gave me the 911.  Off to Autozone I went and got a piston tool and the job was finished soon after.

I'm still sore and my fingernails still have dirt under them.

Bed Crashers

Our bed is frequently violated by one or both of the boys.  Pretty much 3 or 4 times a week they come in during the night and eventually push us out of our king sized bed.  This is a photo of them once the sun had come up, well after we had to abandon our normal sleeping positions.  Look how cute they are, all snuggled up together.  Even so, I will use this to blackmail them when they are older.

Kona Hei Hei 29er Part Two

Early in the year I showed you a Hei Hei Supreme.  We ended up using it as a demo at the shop and one of the guys bought it and is going to be racing it.  I started feeling the pains of separation from my favorite full suspension bike.  So I got one for myself and pimped it.  While I left my Felt Nine as an XTR bike, I had to present this one as a Sram bike...complete with the new XX Grip Shift.  I am a twist shift fan, and this stuff blows away my old stuff.  One parts spec that is not in line with the Sram stuff is the XT brake set.  I'm not giving that up, and if I do, it will be for the Hayes Prime Pro's.  Brake feel is a personal thing, and so far I'm a slave to the XT's and the Prime's.  This bad boy is all delicious, all the time.

Man stuff

There must be some caveman-like gene deep in my bones that gets awakened when doing man stuff.  You know, like lifting heavy stuff, working on things with tools, etc.

Today I unclogged two drains that have been giving me trouble.  The kids bathroom sink (surprise, surprise) has been slow to drain and finally just stopped up.  My own sink (part of a double sink, mind you) is the focus of much family action and it just stopped up.  Bucket in hand, I got busy and took the pipes apart.  And now they flow.  Nice.

The Flex has been flashing "Change My Freaking Oil NOW, JERK!" on the dashboard lights.  So I did that, too.  And, completely opposite from the Mustang, which is an oil change nightmare, it was quick and easy and I didn't spill even the smallest drop.  Nice.

So easy, even a Caveman can do it.  Sorry, Geico.

Raleigh Edge Trials Bike...sort of

We were working on this bike earlier in the week at the store.  It's a 1988 or 1989 Raleigh Edge.  It has a 26" front wheel and a 24" rear wheel.  I remember selling them when they were new at TC.  They were meant to mimic trials bikes from the era, but it was really much more of a mountain bike with odd sized wheels.  It did accelerate well, but I never took it off road.

This example was in exceptional shape, still sporting the original tires...which were dry rotted and we replaced them.  Neat blast from the past.

Vipercuda?

Autoblog always has the craziest stuff.  Today, it's the Vipercuda.  Tomorrow?  Who knows.