Dryin the Dirt

*NEWS FLASH* Dateline 3/26/08, Burlington Iowa...Dehn's is firming up pretty good right now, the trail report from last nights ride confirms that you no longer have to pedal on the downhill sections. I think (sometimes) that barring any sort of freeze and thaw cycle from here on out, a rider could get a good base workout in for the upcoming "SYLVAN ISLAND STAMPEDE" scheduled 4/13/08. In other news I must announce its OFFICIAL, "I do not like MAXXIS tires", however, I WILL run them down to the cords anyway unless of course I wash out one too many times and destroy more equipment than I normally do. Back on subject there are a number of fallen trees that I'll get to this weekend (if I can borrow a chainsaw) who knew there could be so many dead and dying trees in the woods, and with the soil off-trail so loose, those rootless rotten ones are falling at a record pace...

Chaos theory part 1

Since I am a creature of habit or incredibly lazy, I tend to stick with what I know. Case in point is tires, specifically mountain bike tires. For the last three years at least, I purchase a new set of Conti explorer pro supersonics each spring and run them down to slicks by december. Hardpack, softpack, mud, snow, gravel, pavement, slickrock, makes no difference to me at all. Besides the lazy part, I hate changing tires cause I've run STANS conversion goo for the same amount of time, that, and prolly the most important reason is cause I know these tires actually work with STANS goo. Back when I gave a rats ass about the weight of my XC bike I was running Conti Twister supersonics and at 340 grams per tire and 1.95 wide, a light and quick combo, HOWEVER, I had a really BAD experience with this set up not once but twice. I coated myself with white latex on the trails, and coated the inside of my truck after a tire completely blew off the rim. Explorer supersonics are a little beefier at 440 grams but the tread is larger, but riding em non-stop gives you a perfect tread depth about july. This year I'm trying something old yet new to me, MAXXIS igniters + STANS goo + 1.95 (again). If you've been to Guitar Teds blog you've read about his experience with Stans stuff, I'm kinda having the same issue with leak down but its getting better with each ride, I can already report that front wheel traction is NOT as good as I had hoped, but we'll see as the trails firm up...Speaking of which, Dehn's will have a new route around the sewer repairs of last summer, cause right now and every time it rains this section turns into an unrideable SWAMP...Stay tuned!

Come again..?

I heard Scott Murphy is in YELLOW at the TOUR DE TAIWAN, or maybe its John Murphy. Regardless I bet they're both from IOWA...

Bridges of Des Moines County

Not really a romantic DRAMA, but more like the condition of such...You can get across this bridge on HWY 99, however, if one attempts it wearing bike shoes and booties it becomes a gymnastic balance beam on banana peals...ask me how I know!

An Ode to WINTER...

I don't know what an "Ode" is but it sounds poetic, regardless the Fam went Snowboarding for the final time this weekend. Thanks to Al Gore we can now enjoy winter sports far into what has traditionally been SPRING, (you really need to hike up your Carbon footprint people). It had been awhile since we traveled to Sundown (Dubuque Ia.) so we headed north. According to the Office, Sundown was sporting a 5' foot base and groomed packed powder, while technically true, it was much closer to five feet of SOLID ice with sugar on top. Being reluctant (read "broke") to purchase our own boarding gear, we need to rent equipment where ever we go, the state of this rental stuff varies from place to place but it will get you down the hill, that being said, for those of us who are "goofy footed" (right foot forward) they simply turn the mountings around on any given board that have been THRASHED by all the 'regulars" (left foot forward). What this does is put the ripped up edge on my heel side so all my backside cuts become SKETCHY, if not downright dangerous...(footnote here, I WILL own and WEAR a helmet the very next time I strap into a snowboard) You can guess where this is leading right? My "normal" wipeouts became epic on the ice block slopes, and I've been popping ibuprophen since Saturday evening. I may even purchase my own Board for next year (fingers crossed) cuz in the immortal words of Mr. Hooper, "I can't take this abuse much longer"...other than that, with the arrival of DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME, the Tuesday night Roadie rides begin again, Tis the first green of spring!