Monday Mailbag Giveaway

What's your priority?

Friday I received an unexpected package from a strapping young company. Inside, hopefully, were some of their other product goodies to try out. Having dealings with folks like Dicky and Peter, one never knows what to expect from mystery mail packages but, thus far anyway, Backcountry Research has yet to disappoint (or scar the delivery person).

Possibly?

Inside I found their Toolie Roll and a V-Belt, along with upgraded versions of their Awesome and Awesome Back 40 Straps. I had looked at their Toolie Roll before online and thought it was a clever idea. I think Hensley has something similar, or maybe it's the old tube iPod case he made that I'm thinking of, but anyway, I always thought such tool pouches were a novel idea and one of those items that would be nice to have. Kind of as a perfect gift for the bike nut you don't know what to get for his/her birthday.

The Toolie Unrolled

Being in the waste not want not (aka cheap) camp, I've been reusing an old Thomson stem bag as my primary tool hauling device. It holds the typical tools I use most often or might need to use before a race or ride, or might need to use on a friends bike at a trailhead.

Cog assortment, chainwhip/pedal wrench, lockring tool & socket, Allen wrenches

The Thomson bag has served me well as a tool hauling device, though it is a bit of a pain to get things into and out. I often have to dig out all the tools to get what I need or I end up tearing my cog bag trying to jam tools back into the pouch. The canvas exterior though helps keep the tools from rubbing holes in spare tubes in my bag and snagging the lycra. The main downside of the Thomson pouch is that the tools will fall out as it doesn't really close up well.


The Toolie Roll rolls open making access to the tools much easier. It also makes a nice work pad to help keep things like a pool table (which is where I tend to put things) safe from accidental grease or grime from bike tools or small parts.


A compact size when rolled, equating to that of the Thomson bag but with a wrapped up top (think big rubber burrito) to keep the tools inside the pack at any angle. The compression strap helps keep it all snuggled up. Definitely one of those items you don't really think you needed until you get one. (Pretty safe to assume I'll be purchasing a few of these for some friends around the holidays, so don't go stealing my idea kids)

Life IS timing

It just so happens that I'm in need of a replacement belt as my old reliable is getting rather unraveled in its reliability. I also could have used this belt a few weeks back for the XTERRA tri as all the cool tri kids seemed to have something like it for attaching their number during the run. Dorks like me had to pin them to our jerseys.

The V-Belt is made out of a tougher grade nylon (?) than my old belt, so I'm hopeful the unraveling issue will be null and void. It also is convenient that the belt came when it did as I'm soon to be in need of it's services more and more.

I must admit when I first saw it wrapped up in the box I thought Rich had seen the puppy photos and sent one of their Dragonslayer dog collars. Seeing its length when I opened it, I then thought it was one of their Kompresser belts but I couldn't find the cargo loop and wasn't sure I'd even use it. That's when I noticed they made a belt. A V-Belt. It has a strong clasp and a handy strap keeper. It's been doing a solid job holding up my baggy shorts, what more could you ask?

Pile-o-Awesome

I have some extra straps now and feel I should pay it forward since I've been fortunate to get bundles of freebies from Rich at Backcountry Research. I've given a few to some friends that I thought would be interested in adding a little Awesome to their rides, but now I'll open it up to the wider audience at hand. I'll ship an Awesome Strap or an Awesome Strap Back 40 to whomever is first to leave a comment correctly identifying the bike I'm riding below:

Summer Weekend Scenes

field of dreams

dreams in field

easy way

hard way

in the way

waiting

20 Days and Counting

Meet J.D.

One of the things that's been going on behind the blog came to fruition today. Meet J.D. He's 6 weeks old so it'll be another 20 ish days before I can bring him home. H. and I drove out tonight to go look at some Catahoula pups. J.D. and I had some bonding moments that reminded me a lot of when Poey was picked out. I think she'd approve of him.



I can't wait until he's running behind me on the trails, swimming, and generally being silly like Dish.

Fight On

I was lucky to get out for a ride today with good friends. Laughter, camaraderie, smack talk, and pain. Even got to hang out a bit after the ride and H. was able to join in for some funny stories and immaculate quotes. For instance, Jeffy's quote about infinity "Man stuff like that just weirds me out."

My deepest condolences go out to Eldon aka "Fatty". I met Eldon for a brief moment in time at Leadville. He was riding with a recorder capturing audio snippets of other racers he encountered along the race. That's when I found out about his blog.

His wife passed last night after a very long and hard fought battle against breast cancer. I know all too well the pain and sadness, madness and loss associated with the battle of breast cancer. Eldon, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Fight on.

Cooped Up

After a marathon yard work session by Slumlord Joe, me, and H., I finally got around to building yet another coop for the girls to jump their steeds over. We're about all cooped up now. I need to get some heavy duty hinges to finish a movable corner jump and that should wrap up most of the scrap lumber jumps.

Dull post today, for which I apologize, but some exciting things (for me) are happening in the background today. (I guess I could entertain with shots of my small engine repair project going on with my mower, or my recent furniture rearranging, or my 2.6" and 2.5" tire experiment, but I'll leave those for some other time). Hopefully, I'll be able to divulge details later on this week. For now, I leave you with the obligatory (via contract) Moots mug shot. I couldn't take my bike to the beach, but I could still take my mug.

A Good Cure for Vacations

Not even 12 hours after getting out of the car from vacation, H. and I were back to business. H. and Hannah on their way to Auburntown for a horse show while Officer 8Ball and I were gearing up to hit the N/S trail at LBL. It's usually best when faced with a week and a half of non-activity and an ailing ankle tendon to just jump right back into long arduous rides. Even better when done after being away from home and having minimal food supplies (2 powerbars, 2 pieces of licorice, and a beef jerky for 8 hours of effort) and money for said trip.


Waking up to no breakfast options I sipped on my last ensure alongside some coffee. The ensure was to be my midway feast on the ride, but I was starving. By 10:45am breakfast had worn off and a quesadilla from the local grill and chill tied me over as we drove up to the Land Between the Lakes. Mike and I were wanting to change up the ride some. Instead of riding early in the am and finishing the ride in the hottest portion of the day, we decided to start out in the hottest portion of the day then enjoy dusk/night riding for the return trip. We definitely nailed that, 90ish degrees with 900% humidity is always fun. Sad part is that I think the humidity level raised even higher as the sun fell. It was like riding in a pouring rain without the mud, we were sopping wet but our bikes' bearings didn't have to suffer.

A typical trail start with 8ball, get a few hundred feet in and stop to adjust the EBB. Luckily this was the only mechanical for the day, aside from a stick briefly derailing my chain.

I'm a huge fan of out and back trail systems like the N/S or the Womble. They offer a different feeling and flow than the local loop trails. Despite ORAMM, SWANK65, and the Snake seeming to be much tougher terrain, the N/S out and back never fails to not kick you deep into the pain cave. Perhaps it's because once you reach the length of Swank or Snake in terms of mileage and time, you still have 30+ miles to go.


The trail has been getting rougher and rougher each time I head out. Most has to do with lake flooding and a bit of fall line trail. Baby heads cover the ups and downs as well as the lower bay nooks. Deep sand and old dead fall make the legs feel dead in some portions, but 70% or so of the trail is fast and fun, albeit chattery.

Lay off the steroid donuts. This bridge collapsed as beefcake here was walking across it. (not really, the spidermonkey move is required to cross it)

A bit before the North turnaround point, we paused to watch the boat races. Some were getting up to 140-160 mph!

A point to point trail offers the rider the feeling of being alone in the wilderness. You don't hear chainslap from riders elsewhere on the loop or frequently cross paths with anyone. Pretty much just you, your bike, and wildlife. We passed some huge bobcat footprints, a toyota stuck axle deep in the mud, 3 snakes (2 massively huge copperheads at night), a boat trailer parked across the trail, and 2 rednecks having safe sex in the woods just off the trail. How do I know they were having safe sex? They still had their life jackets on.


We got 2ish hours of excellent night riding in out of 8 hours/64 miles of bike fun. The lack of calories taken in and the 35x18 gearing was putting a toll on me, but I managed to ride solidly and still have fun. Since the only potable source for water is at the North end, I mounted up the clamp on 3rd bottle mount that gRant gave me. In it I placed the water bottle battery for my headlamp. 2 24oz water bottles in their normal holders and a 1.5L platypus foldable water bladder was carried in my Epic Designs frame bag along with food, lights, and spare tubes. This was the longest off-road ride I've done with the frame bag. It solidified my love of carrying the weight on the bike vs the body. It worked perfectly and is quick and easy to get into and out. gRant had told me when I ordered my Moots that I should get the 3rd water bottle bosses, but I said "nay". Upon delivery of our Moots frames, he again told me I'd regret not getting the 3rd water bottle bosses. Again I said "nay".

Well, it would be pretty nice to have them, but I'll not say I should have because, like Dicky, I derive joy from saying gRant was wrong, but not as much fun as drinking beer with Peter (I'd say drinking beer with Dicky but we all know he just holds the empties).

Moaning Myrtle

Take a beach condo with 3 rooms and 2 baths and add 9 adults, 3 teenagers, and a 3 year old. To that add sun, sand, salt water and you've got the ingredients for a grand vacation filled with all the hilarity and drama of an mtv reality show.

H. and I were lucky enough to be invited by her family to join them at their annual trip to Myrtle Beach. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim have been going there for the last 21 years, if not longer. H. hadn't been in 14 or so years and in a rare alignment of planets and good horoscope juju, we were able to get away for a week to enjoy some time with the family (why does that line make me think of an REK song?). (I'll not mention that we drove through some of my favorite mtb riding areas twice with no bike - oh the horror!)

While some were able to read and relax on vacation...

Some of us had our hands full.

With 2 teenage boys, one would think the day would be filled with water sports and beach activities, but instead they were busy with sleeping in, texting (that's the same as text-paging, Joe), and watching cars go buy and discussing what a sweet ride it was or wasn't. Ah, youth. It didn't bother me as I've always been one who can happily entertain myself. I boogy boarded until the abraisions got too painful, then just swam and played in the surf. Aunt Nancy felt sorry for me and texted the boys to come down and play and they appeared instantly out in the surf alongside me. If only I could wield such power over man.


Luckily Hagan showed up on Wednesday so I had someone non-forced to play with on the beach. We played in the waves, "swam" in the tidal pools, built sand piles, dug holes, and generally ran around in our ADD manor enjoying all things beach.

Hagan Swimming. The batman sunglasses were shortly lost to the waves and replaced with spiderman backups.

Tracks of my Snoots (I wish).

Brothers: Landon and Hagan chill out to a little Crocodile Hunter TV before geriatric dinner

Thursday morning, H. and I snuck out early in search of some wifi. After following billboards reportedly offering free wifi at a McD's allegedly "just ahead on the left" for miles, she spotted a better free wifi offering: Krispy Kreme. The connection was slow and made the web mail apps act up so we just tended to the high priority ones and left blog updates and such for later. Later is now. Now or later.


The beach was fun, despite not having a bike, and it was a rare ability to spend quality time with relatives scattered about the states. The trip home proved to be just as comical. About 3 hours into the trip there was a knocking coming from under the front. We stopped at a Subway to grab some lunch and investigate the noise. The skid plate decided to drop off the left side and drag/knock while driving down the interstate (Landon I'm looking at you). Most bolts on the Mazda are 10mm and before the trip I decided to take my 10mm wrench with me just in case. Well it was a just case so I just removed the skid plate, easy peasy right?

We get our food and start back down the interstate only to hear a louder knocking coming from the front right. What the F?!!! Another stop and some duck tape later, we were back on our way. The skid plate holds another plastic shield in place over the serpentine belt. Without the skid plate, the part just knocks against the shell of the belts. First taping didn't hold so well, but H. fixed it up after the next stop. They don't call it "100mph tape" for nothing. It held all the way home despite the torrential rain and winds and is still holding strong as of today.

Ah, vacations.